Throughout dinner, Sophia could see that Eleanor was dying to find out what had happened between her and Ethan.So she was not surprised that the moment they got back to the Alpha’s villa, her best friend dragged her to her bedroom and immediately asked about it.If finding her mate had gone differently, she would have been over the moon and excited to share the news with Eleanor. But given how it had gone, she decided now was not the right time to break the news to her best friend.There was already so much going on. She didn’t want to make Eleanor worried about her. It was enough that one of them was already going through love troubles.“Nothing,” she said, walking to the window and peering outside. “He mistook me for someone he knew.”“Really?” Eleanor asked. She sounded unconvinced.Sophia dared not look at her. It would be so much harder to lie if she did. “Yeah. I know, it’s ridiculous. I saw how he looked at me when he ran out of the restaurant, and that’s why I followed him. W
When Eleanor saw the man waiting outside the conference room, she was surprised. She recognised him right away as the man who had been involved with Mia at the party.Alpha Walter. He was the last person she had expected to see at Blackstorm. But she was happy to see him.She was convinced he knew something about Mia’s background. Thomas joined them in the conference room soon after.Alpha Walter introduced himself again as the Alpha of Shallowend. It was a distant pack and small in size.“What brought you to our pack?” Thomas asked. He sounded defensive, as if he was anticipating that the man would cause trouble for Mia.Eleanor wondered whether Thomas was no longer interested in finding out the truth about Mia’s background. He had caused quite the scene that night after the party. Had he fallen for Mia’s fake tears?She wouldn’t be surprised if he had decided to trust his mate blindly.“I would like to apologise for what happened at the party,” Walter said, looking contrite. “I didn
Mia’s life had been horrible from the moment she was born. Her mother was a sex worker, and Mia had never known who her father was.Her mother’s main focus was her job–she did everything she could to keep her customers.When Mia came, she was an unwelcome distraction who could destroy her business, so she kept her hidden. That’s how Mia ended up spending most of her childhood hidden in a small basement.She never got to play with other kids or go to school. Her mother kept the door to the basement locked to keep her from escaping. Rarely, her mother let her spend some time in the upper rooms when she wasn’t expecting anyone.It wasn’t until Mia was sixteen when a man who was stalking her mother discovered that she was living in the house.The stalker happened to be one of her mother’s customers, and when he saw Mia, he attempted to molest her.Fortunately, her mother showed up just then and accosted the man. When the man started beating her mother, Mia took the opportunity and ran out
Leaving the Shallowend pack was bittersweet for Mia. She felt both lost and free.Lost because she had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Free because for the first time in her life, there was nobody controlling her life.She did not want to leave her son, but there was nothing for him in her new life. Being with her would only make his life worse. He was better off remaining in Shallowend. As Dante’s son, he’d be treated a lot nicer than they’d treated her.After leaving Shallowend, she knew that if she relied on other people, she’d forever be stuck in the kind of life she had just left at Shallowend. Her mother, who should have protected and loved her, had kept her hidden, depriving her of all joys of childhood.Dante, who she had thought could protect her from his father and brother, turned out to be helpless against them.If she didn’t do something to change her life, people would always take advantage of her. She wanted a life where nobody dared look down on her or treat her badly
Walter pointed at the baby in Solomon’s arms as he approached Mia. “Unless you want your new hosts to find out about your child, you’ll give me more than a million dollars. I have photos of you and the kid, and if I think even for a second you are going to break your part of the deal, I’ll send them to Thomas. Do you understand?”Mia’s fingernails dug into the table behind her. After everything she had done to get away from her old life, it had still caught up to her.Now, she wished she had never attended the Alpha party. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have run into Walter and he never would have found out where she was.“How did you even manage to get into such a powerful pack?” Solomon asked. “Did you sleep with the Alpha or something?”“He is my mate,” Mia replied through clenched teeth.“Oh,” Solomon muttered. “Makes sense. I wonder if he’ll still want to keep you around if he finds out you are the daughter of a prostitute.”“Fine, I’ll send you more money,” she said. “Just wait.”“
The next morning, Eleanor was having breakfast in her room, contemplating how to have more time with Henry during his visit.This was the best time to go over everything and discuss their plan in length. When he went back to his pack, they might not get an opportunity to meet face to face soon.Her main concern was not raising Thomas’s suspicions.While she sat there thinking about how to arrange a meeting with Henry, the sound of commotion from downstairs reached her. It was early in the morning and she wasn’t expecting any guests.Curious, she left her room and walked to the stairs. Voices reached her as she made her way downstairs, and when the living room came into view, she saw several people gathered around the table.“What’s going on here?” she asked, beckoning to a nearby servant.“Mia is holding a tea party for some of the Omegas in the pack,” the servant replied.“Oh?” Eleanor mumbled. Mia had not mentioned anything like that to her. How bold of her, to hold a tea party in t
Henry stood on the other side of the table from Mia, his commanding presence towering over everybody.“Since you know so much about me, what else would you like to bring to everybody’s attention concerning me?” he asked, narrowing his eyes and resting his hands on the table.Mia shrunk in her chair, her prior confidence gone.“It appears to me that you have so much to learn, seeing as you think it’s appropriate to run your mouth about your Luna and her guests. Who do you think you are?”The room had gone silent, nobody moving as they watched the scene unfold in front of their eyes.Eleanor was surprised by Henry’s sudden appearance and his straightforward admonishing of Mia’s comments.She was glad Henry defend for her unreservedly. He did what her husband hadn’t done and wouldn’t do.However, no matter how untrue Mia’s sentiments would have been, even if Eleanor denied them, word would have still spread. It didn’t matter that they were baseless assumptions on Mia’s part.In the end,
Henry stepped closer to Eleanor. The hairs at the back of her neck stood and goosebumps broke out all over her arms. She could feel the intensity of his eyes on her even without looking at him.“Why is your wolf missing?” he asked, his voice so close to her ear.Her heart sped, both at his closeness and his question. She swallowed and took a step back. Looking up at him, she asked, “What do you mean?”There was no way he could know her wolf was missing. She still smelled like a werewolf, so what had given it away?If anyone else had made such a discovery despite the lack of symptoms that something was wrong with her wolf, she would have been wary.But somehow, she wasn’t afraid of revealing the truth to Henry. She was sure he wouldn’t harm her despite knowing her weakness.It was crazy–she had only known him for a short time, and there was a lot about him that was still a mystery to her. And yet, she felt safe with him.“I know your wolf is missing,” he told her. “You can tell me the