LOGINPOV: Selena
“You must think you are so lucky, Lina.
You got yourself a millionaire from the bloodline of sentinels. This must be the best birthday gift ever, huh?
Your mom is such a hero to get you such a cute and wealthy suitor. Have you told your boyfriend that your wolf is as tiny as a little puppy?” my sister asks me after Richard left to attend an important business meeting.
“Keep running your mouth at me, Jackie, and I’ll make sure you don’t get a dime out of me when I get married to Richard!” I told her in a mocking tone, smirking evilly as Dad looked at me dangerously.
“Married?
You want to marry that man that you know nothing about?” he screamed at me, glaring dangerously at me.
“Yes, Dad, I will marry him because Mom chose him for me. He wants us to be married in two days so we could attend Alpha Edmond’s party on Saturday,” I let out proudly, too excited to hide my feelings.
“Yeah, I heard the Alpha is back too; I heard he has been in prison all this while and not on a business trip like the Beta and elders make us believe. But that is no longer important because he is back now, and he is giving out huge contracts to business owners with good backgrounds and backing. Is that why you are attending the party with Richard? Are you two trying to get contracts too?” Aunt Vera asks in a sarcastic tone, laughing at our expense.
“Forgive my laughter, dear daughter; I don’t mean to be rude to the real owner of the house in which I live. But don’t you think your company and Richard’s are too small compared to the companies Alpha Edmond works with?” she asks, gazing at me as if I’m stupid. I would have kept quiet and ignored her if Jackie didn’t guess the right answer.
“They are getting married and merging the company together,” she let out aloud, smirking proudly for the first time since I have known her.
“That’s right, y’all. Richard and I will be married and our assets will be merged to form a perfect union, a power couple,” I told them proudly, loving the look of frustration on their faces.
“You are taking everything from me to give to your boyfriend?
Are you fucking insane?” Dad screamed at me, his face turning red with anger.
“Yes, Dad, I will merge my company with his after our marriage. Now hand over all my documents before morning because I’m eighteen years old, and I’m getting married and leaving you and your family!” I told him firmly, taking a deep breath and savoring the moment I had waited for all my life.
I had dreamt of this day all my life, and as I waited for the documents to be given to me, I felt a sense of relief and pride because Dad did not make a fuss about it like I expected. Vera and Jackie only eyed me furiously. But they left and allowed me to enjoy my victory. And that was so satisfying.
I had only one day to prepare for my private wedding with Richard. He doesn’t care what I wear as long as I’m his. I loved the fact that he accepts anything I say. He values my ideas and suggestions, and he makes me feel appreciated and loved.
I chose a long sleeve body-hugging lace gown with a mermaid cut and a deep V-neck that showed some cleavage. My dad was too furious to walk me down the aisle, so I walked alone with a satisfied smile plastered on my face, prepared to tie the knot with my prince charming, Richard. I love him with everything in me; he is my savior and my protector.
It was our wedding night, and just as I promised, I was ready to transfer all my assets to his name as my husband.
"Sign the documents, my love; show how much you love and trust me," he coerced me, backing me up against the wall and kissing me passionately.
"I trust you, my love, and I will do whatever it takes to make you happy," I confessed, giggling excitedly as he flicked his tongue on my earlobe. He handed me the papers as we drove to our hotel for our honeymoon. Damn, it's going to be a great night. So fucking perfect, just like I planned. I signed the papers without a second thought, and he smiled proudly, kissing me so passionately.
We met with our friends at our wedding party, and we had so much fun, partying and celebrating the beginning of our happily ever after. I knew getting married would make him treat me better. I could tell by the way he was always putting his hand on me tonight that he is more into me than before. I could see that he loves me more now that we are married.
"Let's get started on our honeymoon, my love. I want babies, lots of them," I let out excitedly, trying to stand up to my feet but failing miserably.
I'm drunk!
So fucking wasted!
I could feel myself struggling to stay awake; I couldn't sit straight, so I laid my head on the table to take a nap.
"I want to go home, Richard. Take me home and make me yours forever," I let out in my drunken state, not minding the people seated around me.
"Stay right here, my love; I'll be right back," he told me, kissing me passionately, making me moan delightfully. That kiss was the last thing I remember.
The next morning, I woke up in a strange room, feeling so sore between my legs. There were stains on the bed, proof that my innocence had been taken by my husband. I smiled in satisfaction as I got up and ran to the bathroom to meet Richard.
I felt a bit sore, but I still desired to be ravished by my husband. Last night I was a bit drunk, so I didn't recall the details. This morning, I would take the lead in seducing my husband and riding him to orgasm. I did not bother with my nightie, which looked to have been ripped off my body last night.
"Babe, where are you?" I called out to him in a singsong tone, giggling excitedly as I opened the bathroom door and came face to face with a stranger.
"Who the hell are you?" I yelled in shock as I grabbed a robe that was hanging on the wall, trying to hide my body from him.
"There's no need for that, sweetheart; I got a good view from all angles last night," he let out coyly, smiling in satisfaction.
"Oh no!
Oh my God!
Oh no!
What have I done?
No, it's you!
What have you done? What did you do to me? How did I get here? How did I get into your bed?" I asked in shock, my eyes fixed on the charming but cocky guy that was staring at me lustfully. He looked vaguely familiar, but that was not my problem right now!
"Where is my husband? How did this happen to me?” I yelled in anger, trying so hard to hold back my tears.
"Husband?
You’re married?
How did you get chosen as my surrogate? Did your husband agree to this? Is this a thing between you two?
I mean, does this happen often in your marriage?" the man asked, approaching me with a seductive grin on his face. I took a step back, feeling a rush of panic and confusion wash over me. This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to wake up in a stranger's bed, feeling filthy and guilty as hell. Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to make sense of the situation.
"I don't understand. What did you do to me?" I demanded, my voice trembling with fear and anger. The man chuckled softly, reaching out to touch my face with a gentle caress. I recoiled at his touch, feeling a surge of revulsion and disgust.
Nah...
That’s a lie. I don’t feel repulsed by him; I think I’m even attracted to him, and that is the most annoying thing. I don’t know this guy; I have never met him before. Then why the hell do I feel so drawn to him? Why am I attracted to this sexy stranger?
POV: EdmondThe dinner was Gramps’ idea. A formal thing, announced with the air of someone bestowing a gift rather than issuing a command. A family dinner, he had said.“To present Alexia properly. To make things official.”I had sat across from him in his study and thought about eleven different ways to refuse and discarded all of them, because refusing meant a confrontation I wasn’t ready to have tonight.I was picking my battles with the strategic patience of a man who intended to win the war even if he conceded a few evenings.So I sat at the head of the table in my own dining room while Gramps occupied the other end like a king who had temporarily misplaced his throne.Alexia sat to my right in a dress that cost more than most people’s monthly rent, performing the role of radiant fiancée with the commitment of someone who had been rehearsing this specific scene her entire life.She touched my arm twice. The first time I looked at her hand and said nothing. The second time I moved
POV: SelinaI didn’t sleep well that night.I lay on my back staring at the ceiling with the restlessness of someone whose body was tired but whose mind had decided sleep was an optional activity, replaying the afternoon in the specific cruel way that memories do when they know they have you cornered.The way he had crouched beside me on the pavement without hesitation. The way he had reorganized the bags like he had been carrying my groceries his entire life.The way he had argued, completely sincerely, for nearly four minutes about why one shop’s tomatoes were categorically superior to another shop’s tomatoes, like this was important information, like this was a hill worth dying on.The way he had laughed when I told him he was being ridiculous.I hadn’t heard him laugh in weeks. I hadn’t realized how much I had been carrying the absence of that sound until it came back and something in me exhaled for the first time since everything fell apart.I turned onto my side and pressed my f
POV; SelinaI knew his car.That was the first problem.We have been meeting secrets for so long that I knew the sound of the engine before it rounded the corner, knew the particular way it slowed on Creston Avenue without fully stopping.I knew the exact window of time in which I should not look up from my phone if I wanted to preserve any version of the dignity I was trying to maintain.I looked up every time, every single time, without fail, like my body had made an agreement with itself that had nothing to do with my better judgment.And every time I caught the tail end of his car moving away down the street, something in my chest did that thing, that specific painful thing, that I had stopped pretending was anything other than what it was.I missed him with a completeness that frightened me. Not the missing you feel for something gone.The missing you feel for something present and unreachable, something close enough to see and touch and completely forbidden, which was its own pa
POV: SelinaThe leather of the backseat was cool against my back as she settled her weight onto my lap. Her skirt had ridden up, I noticed this the way I notice weather, immediate and total, and the bare skin of her thighs pressed against the fabric of my trousers."Eddie," she breathed, and her voice had lost its composure, the careful architecture of it crumbling. "Someone could see.""The windows are tinted.""That's not..."I kissed her again before she could finish. Harder this time. Her mouth opened under mine and the sound she made, half relief, half hunger, travelled down my spine and settled low.Her fingers found their way into my hair, gripping, pulling just enough to register as pleasure with an edge. The car had grown warm, or we had, and the windows were beginning to fog in slow circles from the edges inward."I've been losing my mind," I said against her mouth. "Every day. Every single day without you.""Me too." The words came out fractured. "I thought it would get eas
POV: Edmond"What did you tell him?""That things were moving forward." She opened her eyes and looked at me sideways, that look she had, the one that landed somewhere in the center of my chest."It wasn't a lie." I looked at her for a moment."No," I said."It wasn't a lie, and it’s not the truth either."“He’s not strong enough to handle the truth. If he knows we are no longer together, he may be forced to withdraw into his shell and slow down his recovery. I can’t bear it if his treatment fails again. I need him to recover faster so we can get back out inheritance,” she stated firmly.“He will be fine, Lina. I will not let anything stop his healing progress, I won’t ...”“Thats the problem, Eddie. He trust you so much and it’s going to break his heart when he finds out the truth. I can’t let him find out, that’s why I need you to stay away from us. If you keep coming here and your grandfather finds out about your secret visits, we’ll get in trouble again, and this time, Jason will
POV: EdmondSaturday was supposed to be simple. I had a full morning of calls scheduled, a lunch with the board that had been rearranged three times and could not reasonably be rearranged a fourth, and an afternoon that belonged entirely to the stack of contracts sitting on my desk judging me quietly every time I walked past.I knew Selina went to the farmer's market on Saturdays.Not the large one downtown that everyone knew about. The smaller one on Whitfield Street, three blocks from her building, the one that set up between the old library and the dry cleaner with the faded yellow sign.She had mentioned it once, months ago, in a conversation that had no reason to stick in my memory as firmly as it had. She had said the tomatoes there were the only ones worth buying in this city, and she had said it with the particular conviction she reserved for things she considered non-negotiable.I had cancelled the lunch with the board by nine-thirty. I told Marcus it was a conflict. He had l
POV: Selena“Don’t cry for me, my little Lina. You will be well taken care of after I’m gone. Your father will take care of you, and on your eighteenth birthday, after your first shift and after you meet your wolf and unlock your gifts, someone will come for you. Someone special that deserves my pr
POV: EdmondThree weeks.Twenty-three days, to be exact. I had counted every single one of them like a man serving a sentence, which was exactly what this was, a fucking sentence. It’s a cage dressed up in expensive furniture and a woman who smiled too wide at dinner and called me ‘darling’ in fro
POV: Selina“Come on, Lina, don’t do this now. Don’t ruin the perfect moment we just shared, please. I’ll have this sorted out, and there will be no need to move out. Understand?” He asked me, kissing my lips.He pulls me into the shower, his hands exploring my body as he whispers, “I want to make
POV: Zoey“You just dug your own grave, Zee. I will make you pay for this humiliation!” Richard texted me a few minutes after they left the party. I read his message and scoffed within me, enjoying my first taste of revenge. I can imagine him pacing my sitting room in anger, cursing and swearing at







