chapter two

Laila's POV

The main hall was filled with dignified pack members as well as elders and all of them were dressed to the nines as they beamed up at the thrones set right at the front of the hall. And right on one of those thrones with a crown signifying the Luna position, one I previously wore, was Fiona, the woman who had all but made my life a living hell, blushing and beaming while she looked sideways at the other throne with love and adoration.

The subject of her affection, the man I had given my heart to as well as someone I took as my savior was sitting on the other throne, whilst holding a baby in his hands. They looked like the perfect couple.

I noted something that instantly made my chest grow tight.

He was smiling.

The ice-cold Alpha Damien was smiling. He was looking down at the baby in his hands and beaming like never before, something he had never done in our years of being married.

My eyes grew misty and my lips quivered as I stared at this happy scene before me. I didn’t need to be a genius to realize what was going on.

In the time I was gone, Damien had all but replaced me with Fiona and now they had a child. I had accidentally stumbled onto their child dedication and now, I was forced to watch them be happy.

He never looked for me nor did he try to save me and there I was waiting foolishly on him everyday whilst in captivity. Instead he was shagging the woman who kidnapped me as soon as I was out of the picture. From the looks of things, there is a big chance that Fiona got pregnant when I was still by Damien’s side.

The tears had begun to fall at this point, blurring my vision. Without thinking, I took a step forward towards them. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do or say but my eyes stayed locked on Damien as I took another step.

Suddenly, a cloth covered my nose and mouth and I was pulled out of the hall quickly.

“Hmmmph” I struggled but it was to no avail as I was dragged away.

After a while, I detected that something was seriously wrong with the cloth that was used to cover my mouth because with every breath I took, I felt like the strength was drained out of my body.

Realizing that I was being knocked out yet again, I put in my all to struggle again but it was to no avail as I soon found myself falling unconscious.

Before I went out, I was able to see a tattoo on the hand of my attacker. A tattoo I knew to belong to the right-hand man of that vicious woman, Fiona.

The same man who had taken the forefront in torturing me all these months whilst I was locked up.

I whimpered weakly as I came to for the second time today. My head throbbed and I groaned as I raised my hand to massage my forehead.

Recalling the events that had occurred before I was brutally knocked out, I felt a myriad of emotions. Fear, anxiety, but the most prominent emotion was heartache. I sniffled as my eyes welled up with another round of tears.

How could Damien betray me like that? If he didn't want to be with me, he should have told me immediately Fiona came into the picture instead of cheating on me with her and abandoning me to die in her hands.

I bit my lips and looked up at the now blurry ceiling from my position as my heart grew tight.

No! Don't cry Laila! With how sinister that woman is, it's not impossible to say that she might have deceived Damien and orchestrated everything. She might have even kidnapped me just to take my place because she knew how much Damien cared for me.

That's it! Yes! I’m sure that Damien is totally innocent. I just need to expose that malevolent woman's true colors to him and then we'll go back to how things were. Maybe now, he'll even smile at me too just like he did before.

First though, I needed to find out where I was and then escape. I didn't know where Donovan was nor where he had put me but I surely didn't want to wait to find out as wherever that psychotic man went, that woman was bound to follow.

With that, I nodded to reassure myself and then I swiped at my wet eyes before I pushed myself up to sit up.

My brows immediately furrowed when I noticed my surroundings. Everything about it was odd.

First off, I was in a nicely decorated room and Donovan had laid me on a bed which I never noticed due to my state of mind. Secondly, the layout of the room was all but familiar to me mostly because I had chosen this design when I was making renovations a few years back. It went without a doubt that I was still in the pack house.

Why did Donovan leave me here and that too unbound? Was he not afraid that I would escape?

Eventually, I decided not to overthink because I had way more pressing issues and that was getting to Damien as soon as possible.

I shot to my feet and then dashed out of the room making a beeline for Damien’s bed chambers which was oddly close to the room I was in.

When I got there, the door to the room was slightly ajar making me pause in my footsteps.

Was he in there? What would I say when I saw him for the first time in so long? Did he miss me as much as I missed him?

My palms grew sweaty and my heart began to thrum in my chest as I stared at the door. Eventually, I just threw caution to the wind and decided to go with the flow so I pushed open the door and walked in.

Almost as immediately as I walked into the room did alarm bells begin ringing when my eyes landed on the king-sized bed in the room.

Right there in the center of the bed was a baby. No. It was Damien's baby. The same one whose dedication I had walked in on. The baby who truly was a striking image of Damien was laying there still and unmoving, his face blue and pale - a clear indicator of death.

On his small and delicate neck, purple and bluish bruises signaling where he had been choked were scattered.

Before I could stop myself, a tear slid down my face.

I should have been relieved that that woman's baby was dead and gone but i didn't. Instead all I felt was pain and a very hollow feeling eating me from inside.