CHAPTER 3

Veldana POV

"Look at me you little piece of shit!" I saw a woman roughly tilt Leila's face up to look at hers. I rushed over and stood between both of them.

"What has she done to you to deserve such cruel treatment?" I was very defensive and protective of Leila, my daughter, that I didn't mind the woman's status.

"And I'm guessing you're her mother." The woman looked at me with disgust.

"No wonder, she is just as ill fated and miserable as you are. I don't want to see you or your daughter near my child again! Do you understand me?" 

I flinched at the thunder in her voice, it was not a rhetorical question, it was a threat.

"Everything is going to be fine sweetie. Mummy is here." I stooped to her height and dried her tears before pressing her to my chest.

"Mummy, I did nothing. Her daughter called me a Bastard..."

"You're not. Don't listen to any of them."

If only they knew who her father was, they would worship the very ground she stepped on.

"Come, your teacher said she wanted to see me." 

Leila shook her head.

"No need Mama she gave me this already," she held out an envelope to me. 

"My teacher says if we can't pay the 10% of the school fees, I'll lose the scholarship opportunity and I wouldn't be allowed to attend school again." Her big grey eyes shone like crystals. She had his eyes.

"That was why the students started taunting me...and...and simply because I was hungry and asked that girl to give me her leftover lunch instead of discarding it, she called me a..."

"Shhh" I covered her mouth with my hand.

"It's fine. I prepared food for you at home." I forced a smile, Leila had to deal with my pennilessness and most times she only went to school with a few bread sticks or whatever food that I returned with from my work place.

I felt tears sting the back of my eyes, I couldn't give her the life she deserved and she was being mocked for being hungry.

I wanted to scream out my lungs and ask the goddess what crime this innocent child had committed but I didn’t. I understood that the sins of parents were often suffered by their children but what about the blessings?

"Mama, are you crying?" With her tiny hand she caught the tear that escaped my watch and rolled down my cheek of its own accord. 

"No I'm not sweetie," I pressed my face in her palm. "Something entered my eyes." I lied.

I always did so she would never see my pain. I mostly cried in the shower for the same reason.

When we got home she ate before having a bath—proof that she was very hungry. My heart broke.

Soon it was her bedtime and I tucked her in bed and kissed her forehead.

I could have read her a story but she fell asleep very quickly. Too quick.

 I sat at the edge of our bed and watched her chest gently rise and fall as she slept soundly—she was my only achievement so far. I sighed lightly and looked out the window. 

The sky outside was starless—a mirror of the life I was living—dark and empty.

My eyes swept the room, and when it fell on the calendar I cringed a bit. Six years, it had been six years since I was sent out of ‘Cold colony Pack’—my birth pack.

I tossed myself across the bed avoiding Leila, I spread my arms out and gazed at the patched ceiling as the memories came flooding. 

I was truly alone in a foreign pack.

Leila stirred beside me. My little bundle of joy. Her birth had been the only decision that I didn't regret.

Things weren't always that way, they had changed less than three years ago and though I have suspicions on why, I never pay attention to the thought when it comes.

I had managed to pull through my pregnancy period and started working shortly after delivery as a TV host.

I easily climbed the ladder, Leila earned a scholarship from one of sponsors of the shows I hosted and soon I was a household name.

"Veldihost" that was what everyone called me got from Vel the host—a nickname that had started in the office somehow spread like wildfire till I adopted it as my moniker.

I didn't receive any query, no prior notice and no compensation for the abrupt termination of my working agreement. Just an email that I had been relieved of my job. Since then no one agreed to hire me despite knowing how good I was at the job. I let bygones be bygones since I couldn't buy a gun.

"Prepare for shift." My alarm buzzed, it was almost 8pm and my shift was for 8pm. I had a request for a special presentation that night so I had to apply a little makeup knowing I would earn more if they were pleased with my performance. 

Yes, I had become a singer at a nightclub. 

Life outside ‘Cold colony’ was the real cold colony—much more difficult, I became the Alpha's scorned daughter, I struggled without money to feed and when I lost my job, my troubles doubled but I couldn't go back to my father.

'If you don't lift your lazy ass, you'll eat those memories soon.' Dana, my wolf scolded me.

Without wasting time, I got dressed in a short black dress, my hair neatly tied in a ponytail and my lips stained with red.

Locking Leila in, I headed for the club where I sang at night—it was my best bet as I could barely afford money to pay my daughter's school fees even with the scholarship or even give her a decent life and daily meals. 

As I walked the street, a billboard caught my attention—a picture with appreciation to the revered Alpha of Goldcrust where I resided. He had become Alpha three years ago yet he had taken the pack from average to high ranking even over Cold colony in such a short time but I wasn't surprised he had always been good at everything he did.

I got to the address and a black sedan waited to convey me to the performance venue.

"You're almost late." My manager hurried me when I arrived. I mouthed an ‘I'm sorry’ and dropped my coat before following her to the VIP hall.

The place screamed luxury, gold trinket chandeliers hanging from almost every spot, people smelling like expensive cologne walking in as well.

"Follow me Vel, pay attention." Freya, my manager pulled me gently by the arm and I obliged.

Top officials in the pack were having a celebration; that was the most I was told and since I was hand picked to perform, I didn't pry beyond my job description but when I got to the stage... 

Something in me shifted...

A familiar combination...the smell of dry grass, pines and cinnamon. Calming to my pulsating heart rate.

His scent hit me before I saw him, the unsevered bond we still shared pulling at me, I hesitated a bit backstage but the thought of Leila strengthened my resolve. 

"I'll just sing and leave like I do every night." I had no idea the booking was for him but when the curtains parted, I saw him. How did I forget his birth date?

Same steel grey eyes that once adored me, he looked more handsome in person than any magazine cover or billboard could portray. He wore a dress shirt with no tie, instead he left a few buttons from the collar undone giving a view of his well laundered inner white tee.

Six years yet nothing had cracked his flawless look, same chiseled jaw—I noticed he looked bigger in the arms like he had taken gym visits seriously. 

'You're staring.' My manager rebuked me through the mind link and I took my eyes off him for a second before taking a last look at him. He looked unreal.

Maurice Veyr, Alpha of Goldcrust pack, my mate and one time lover but he sat across the room from me looking indifferent like he didn't know who I was or he didn't feel the pull of the mate bond like I did.

Like my scent didn't intoxicate him like he did to me.

"Sing,"