LOGINCHAPTER 191~KIM~“Luna Elena handed me the results the night before the test was taken, with some money. She…”“Of course, she did,” I rolled my eyes and walked away.Whatever it was that the young man had to say, I didn’t need to hear it. As far as I was concerned, I had heard enough.I paced about the infirmary premises.It didn’t take very long before the medic and Elena were brought out with their hands tied behind their backs.I insisted on waiting for another vehicle, which Sam drove with myself and my kids with her.“The truth is out there.” Sam said,“What does it matter?” I probed, “Elena cannot be prosecuted. She is carrying Richard’s child and as such is immune. Mike will only be suffering on her behalf.”“That’s true, but after she has the baby, Alpha Richard can ask her to leave.”Sam was doing everything she could think of to make me smile, or see this as a win, but this was far from a win.I had thought that Tresna being Alpha was all that mattered to me. I needed to p
CHAPTER 190~KIM~My condition was simple.I wanted Sam on the medical team that would handle everything that had to do with this test.Elena opposed at first, which was the phase two confirmation that I needed that something was up. When she saw that no one on the council or even Richard had a problem with Sam being on the medical team, she had to shut her mouth and just as extra because I could, I demanded that the samples be taken immediately.Richard and I drove in one of the vehicles to the infirmary, while Sam followed the same vehicle Elena was in.The job was simple—we were looking out for anything that did not sit very right and more information to expose whatever this was about.When we arrived at the infirmary, there was a team that had been put together.“Who knew you needed a team of four medics to take cheek swabs?” I asked rhetorically and in a mocking tone.“That’s all the more reason you shouldn’t add any more persons to it,” Elena replied, extremely pissed.“Sam is n
CHAPTER 189~KIM~“You have to be kidding me! There is no way this is acceptable.”I furiously paced Richard’s room from one end to the other. All the space in the room did not seem to contain how aggravated I was.“You really need to calm down. We don’t want you triggering…”“Who cares about any triggers, Richard? Who cares?” I yelled in his face. This topic was supposed to be far behind us, but at least now I knew what she meant when she said “Unless…of course…”“Just when you think you know what she’s capable of, she pulls a rabbit out of her hat. It’s always something with Elena, always something! And now she wants me subjecting my three-month olds to unnecessary…”“Kim,” Richard called calmly, “they don’t have to be subjected to being poked with needles. We can take their hair sample, or even a cheek swab. We can…”“You are unbelievable!” I screamed. “Nobody will take even as much as the carbon dioxide they exhale just to prove a point. Nobody!”With that, I stormed out of his
CHAPTER 188~KIM~“I know we have…”“Shhh…” I tried to begin the conversation that we both knew ought to be had after about seven minutes of walking in silence, but Richard calmly asked me to be quiet.I quickly obeyed, assuming he was going to go first and at least save me the awkwardness, but Richard said nothing even five more minutes later.“Whatever it is you are thinking…”“Nothing,” he replied. “I am not thinking about anything. Past or future. I am here. Living in this moment.”He sounded quite peaceful.“And what exactly is the moment?” I probed.“Listen to that,” he said, pointing into the stroller.When I looked down, the kids were smiling and cooing, throwing their little fists into the air.I had been with them for a couple of months and although they weren’t troublesome for the most of it; I hadn’t seen them smile this broadly, or this level of activity.They were probably in on Richard’s strategy to ‘live in the moment’.Richard’s smile was broad, running from ear to ea
CHAPTER 187~KIM~Of course, it was a ninety-nine-point nine percent match.‘Why else would Elena consent to a paternity test.’She was now two months pregnant and it was confirmed that Richard was the father of her child.I was the first to leave the premises and I was in regret that I went there in the first place.Since everyone was still there, eating and drinking from the mini-party Elena threw, I was the first to get back to the mansion.I retreated into Catherine’s room and as soon as my back hit the bed, tears flowed down my cheeks.Zahra and Tresna were really the goddess’ gifts to me. They were wide awake, but made no sounds, giving me room to mourn and grieve and just exist in whatever time and space I was able to create.A soft knock landed on the door hours later.“Come in!” I yelled, expecting it to be Sam that came to help with the kids and also bring me something to it, but when the door was pushed, it wasn’t Sam behind the door.“Elena!” I jumped out of bed and pushed
CHAPTER 186~KIM~“Are you going to say anything?” Sam inquired.I stared at her in silence.I’ve pretty much been this way for weeks now.“What do you want me to say?” I asked Sam.It was probably the only full statement I made in weeks.The routine was simple.Sam came around, helped with the kids. I took care of them as much as I could too.Richard came to my door to knock a couple of times, but I wouldn’t respond.He slipped notes under my door that I didn’t bother to read, because as far as I was concerned, there was absolutely nothing he could possibly say to me in this world.Sam read some of the notes and summarized them, including the fact that he was requesting a paternity test for the child.It wasn’t about the child.The fact that he had something to do with her would probably hurt less if he was bold enough to tell me. If he didn’t try to deceive me and hide it.Richard did not trust my love for him. It was either that or he didn’t think I was stable enough to handle myse
CHAPTER 5: ELENA’S NECKLACE~ Kim ~The world tilted pleasantly as Richard's face drew closer to mine. Scotch had a way of making everything feel inevitable, like gravity itself was pulling us together. His hands were warm against my face, his thumbs brushing the curve of my cheekbones with a gentl
CHAPTER 4: The Consummation Clause~ Kim ~Dinner that night was torture.The entire family had gathered — my parents, Elena, Richard, and Richard's mother, Catherine Fell. She was an elegant woman in her sixties with silver hair styled in a classic updo and sharp green eyes that seemed to see ever
CHAPTER 3: The Wolf's Den ~ Kim ~ My feet moved before my brain could talk me out of it. I walked toward the cabin, drawn by curiosity and something else I couldn't name. Why had Richard chosen this exact spot? Was it coincidence? The cabin was beautiful up close. It looked like a sanctuary. A
CHAPTER 2: A Taste of Freedom ~ Kim ~ I stood on the sidewalk outside the Fell mansion the next morning, breathing in the city air deeply for the first time in four years. It smelled like grease and gasoline and humanity and life. I loved it. "Where to first?" Galina asked, linking her arm throu







