Dylan's frown deepened as he clutched the manila envelope tighter. After listening to Enzo's annoying recap of his instructions, he crushed the burner phone with his hand and threw it into the nearest road drainage. He had heard the whole thing over and over again for the past week, but despite his constant assurance that he already memorized it like the back of his hand, the blonde werewolf still insultingly felt the need to remind him.
The image of Isabella, his now-pregnant mate, popped up in his head, making him feel even more annoyed than he already was. The last thing he wanted was to leave her alone in such a state, especially if she was with another male werewolf who used to supply her with pheromones when he wasn't around. It took all his might to not transform and throw a tantrum right then and there. After taking a deep breath to gain his composure, he walked towards the Hayes estate. He never imagined that a day like this would come—when he would walk u"Isabella, come quick!" Upon hearing James's voice filled with such haste, I automatically jumped to my feet and turned towards the door in attention. While occasionally darting my wide eyes to the surroundings in hopes of finding some kind of clue as to what caused the hurry, I brisk-walked out of the room. I didn't understand the ruckus, but his alertness was kind of contagious. "W-What is it?" I asked as I watched him bend over to his knees to catch his breath after a jog. He then pointed a thumb over his shoulder while still struggling to even out his breathing. "Television. News. Right now. Dylan—" The moment I heard his name, I went running in the direction that he was pointing at. I had no idea where he was telling me to go exactly until I saw Enzo standing by a doorway of another cabin. He looked at me as if he had been waiting for me, so I stopped just a few steps away from him. "That was fast," he said flatly before pushing himself off the doorframe to head inside. I
Dylan groaned, dropping his pen to massage his temples. With a quick glance at the wall clock, he just then realized that he had been working on some paperwork nonstop for six hours now. He was aware that he had always been a workaholic, but this time, he was trying to wrap things up so that he could return to his pregnant mate. The thought of leaving the girl alone was making him antsy. Well, technically, Isabella wasn't alone—she was being looked after by another werewolf and some other male humans whom he never really bothered to get acquainted with, which was probably worse.When he looked back at the documents scattered all over his desk, his vision spun slightly, so he rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He didn't like wearing his glasses but as the situation already called for it, he reached for the top drawer and fished out a plastic spectacle case.Just when he got back to working and signing papers again, Dylan heard a soft knock on his
"The thing is, sir…" Isaiah spoke before taking a deep breath. He then lifted his chin to look at his eyes directly. "They want a political marriage arranged as soon as possible.""Marriage?""Yes, sir. A political marriage between you and their alpha's daughter, Amelia Crawford."Dylan could feel cold sweat running down his spine—not only because they wanted him to get married, but also because that marriage would mean the dissolution of whatever conflict they have had with the other pack in the past, present, and the future. Rather than a mere partnership, it would be closer to what the humans would refer to as 'friendship'.Any werewolf's pride would not handle giving in to such requests."That's no good," he replied, burying his forehead into his palm. "If I agree, the pack would lose the little trust they have in me."No werewolf would want to serve an alpha so weak that he had to resort to a political marriage, he thought to himself.
Enzo touched my forehead with his palm to feel my body temperature. Despite not liking his touch, I was too weak to do anything. My breaths were short and ragged while my vision tunneled. According to the doctor, it was to be expected for me to suffer from severe pregnancy symptoms since my human body wasn't strong enough to carry werewolf genes, but that didn't mean that I was up to it. I hated getting sick the most."You're still burning," he mumbled under his breath before bending down to reach for the tub of ice water he had brought minutes ago. I heard it splash as he wrung out the towel and placed it snugly on my forehead."Thank you," I told him. My voice was small and raspy, but the silence in the room made it possible for me to be heard. "You didn't have to do this."Despite his usual nonchalance, it was no secret to everyone at the camp that Enzo had been dutifully taking care of me whenever my pregnancy symptoms kicked in, may it be morning sickness, cravin
"And in exchange for their assistance, they want us to get married."It took me a while to recover my voice, and when I did, all I managed to croak out was, "What do you think about t-that?"Dylan retracted his hand and my cheek immediately felt empty. He turned his body to stare at the shabby ceiling. I didn't understand why he was more fascinated by moldy wood rather than my gaze but chose to not say anything. Well, with my voice backing out, it wasn't like it would be easy to."To be honest, it's a great opportunity to get things done faster and easier."My chest throbbed.I hummed in reply to let him know that I was listening."The pack was fine with the proposal, too," he continued, still staring at the ceiling. "And it's not like…""Like what?""It's not like I'm attracted to her or anything.The way he trailed off made me think otherwise.I wanted to scream 'no' but didn't want to spoil the undoubtedly perfect opp
It was hard to open my eyes the next day. Crusts of dried tears shut my eyelids closed but after a quick rub with the back of my hands, they fortunately came off easily. As my mind began to recover from the sleep, I realized that there was something soft and warm pressed against my cheek. The harsh sunlight made me squint for a moment until my vision adjusted to the brightness. Enzo was staring down at me with a strange look on his face. He usually wears a stupid grin but today, he let his emotions run bare."Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked with a raspy voice. My fingers wandered to my cheek and true enough, that his hand was there. His expression softened even more, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. "I had a talk with Hayes last night. From the looks of it, your reunion with him must've been unpleasant."Memories of last night flashed in my head and my heart immediately throbbed painfully at the reminder. I propped myself onto my elbows before resting against the wall.
"That's enough," I heard him say. Not a second later, the television screen went black and I found myself staring at Enzo's reflection instead, a hand reached out to point the remote towards it.There was nothing about the press conference that I didn't expect, except maybe for the fact that the marriage was announced a lot sooner than I thought. The unpleasant surprise rendered me speechless and unmoved on the couch with my tightly clenched fists sitting on my lap. I could feel Enzo's sympathetic gaze on me but I didn't dare meet his eyes.I was heartbroken but strangely didn't have the energy to act on it. My eyes stung but no tears ran down my cheek. Despite the rush of a horrible mix of emotions, my head was clear—an idea popped up."Enzo," I called out. From his reflection, I saw him flinch, his eyebrows raised up in question. "Put me out there.""What do you mean?"This time, I unclenched my fists and stood up to face him. The determination in my eye
Dylan, surprised at the sudden contact, immediately held Amelia by the shoulders and pushed her away albeit just slightly so as to not arouse suspicion. They were in front of hawk-eyed journalists after all. The camera flashes made him dizzy, but he still mustered enough strength to force yet another fake smile.To compensate for the kiss that might have been warily cut short, he snaked an arm around her waist before facing the crowd again. His lips felt dirty and a strong urge to wipe any traces of her on his skin with the sleeve of his jacket was getting harder to ignore with each passing second. The remaining sliver of professionalism was the only thing that kept him from doing so."Anyway," he spoke into the microphone. "That is all for today's press conference. Have a good day."As the pair walked out of the stage hand-in-hand, the audience burst into a ruckus of overlapping last-minute questions and camera flashes. Dylan brought up his other hand to cover his ey