“I don’t understand.” Killian says as Ella plays with his cheeks in her small hands. She never responded this well to Sebastain, not to anyone but Alice or me. It was like she knew this man was her father. “I thought these were Sebastain’s children.” His eyes meet mine, and I furrow my brow. “Killian, I was pregnant before I even knew Sebastain was still interested in me. I found out I was pregnant on our anniversary, on the same day you brought May home with you.” His face falls a little then, and I wonder if he’s finally ready to take some responsibility for what happened. Because the reality is, if he’d never brought May home, there would never have been a reason for me to leave. I would’ve welcomed him home and told him the news, and we would’ve started our journey together to be parents. “Would you two like to have some tea?” I look to where Alice has come back out of the house. Her eyes are fixed on Killian, and it makes me feel a little prickly. I could practically smell h
The next few days pass by fairly smoothly. Killian listens to what I have to say, he doesn’t argue with me or say anything mean. He asks me thoughtful questions about how to better run his pack, and seems to cling onto every word that comes from me. On the fourth day, we’re sitting in the classroom like always, when Sebastain suddenly comes barging in. “How are things going in here?” He asks, walking behind me and touching a strand of my hair possibly as he does. I narrow my eyes at him over my shoulder a little, but don’t say anything about his action. “I think Killian has learned a lot.” I settled on. Killian’s eyes are watching Sebastain’s movements behind me, and it gets harder and harder to ignore the growing tension in the room. “Uhm… we were just discussing the best pay to teach young wolves…” I mutter, trying to break the silence a little. “Do you have any suggestions?” I ask Sebastain. He hums, and rubs his chin a little. “It’s important for young wolves to have good
These past few days I’ve spent with Everly have reminded me of something, something I thought I had completely buried. I was in love with her. Learning that the twins were in fact mine, and that she hadn’t gotten knocked up by another Alpha, made my bitterness fade away. I was still the only one to blame for our divorce, I know that now. But just sitting with her, listening to her talk about a pack she no longer had ties to, made me miss having her around. It made me miss how smart and creative she was. She could always figure out a way to get something done, no matter what she had to do. I had to help May with the most basic of tasks, like how to write a check. The Luna of the pack almost always handles the majority of the pack's money, so the fact that she didn’t even know how to write a check was a very telling sign of her leadership style. Which evidently was to delegate, delegate, delegate. Everly always liked to get her hands dirty, get things done. She liked doing gr
“Thank you for your help today.” I thank the doctor who had been helping me the last few hours as I prepare to leave. He nods and smiles a little at me. “Of course Luna…” I tilt my head at the hesitation in his body language. “It seems like you want to say something.” He looked around nervously, like someone was listening from the corner. I had just been taking a shot in the dark with my statement, but his reaction confirmed what I had said that much more.“No... not really. Just… be careful. What you eat. It’s what made you sick.” He stares into my eyes like he was trying to communicate something with me, and I turn around a little. “Okay.. thanks again.” I say hesitantly. I want to poke around more, but he turns around in his spinny chair to click around his computer. That was weird to say the least. I’m still thinking of how strange it was as I left, heading towards home. Something I ate made me sick? I try and think back to what the hell I could’ve eaten that would make me t
The next morning I wake up to the sound of clinking in the kitchen. I sit up in bed, my nerves tingling, my ears prickling. I glance over to where I had dragged the twins bed’s in to sleep beside mine, and let out a sigh of relief when I see they’re still safely sleeping. I slowly crawl out of bed, creeping to the kitchen. I set each step down slowly and carefully, so they can't hear me coming. I hear low voices talking, but I can’t pick up anything specific they're saying. When I round the corner, they stop, and I’m surprised to find both Sebastain and Alice in my kitchen, seemingly cooking food. “Hello.” I say cautiously to the pair. “What’s going on here?” Maybe I was just damaged from Killian's whole affair partner thing, but I found myself feeling a lot more suspcious about intersex-relations that ended up being perfectly innocent. “Good morning, Luna.” Alice says sweetly to me. “You’re looking much better today.” I smile hesitantly, watching her set a plate of pancakes
Over the next couple of days a very chilling realization hit me: I was a prisoner in my own home. I woke up the day after almost fainting in the kitchen, and my bedroom door was locked. I banged on it a few times and Sebstain unlocked it, looking down at me with worry. “Are you okay?” he had asked, his eyes scanning me as if looking for wounds. “Why is the door locked? Where are the twins?” “Oh, they’re eating breakfast. Come on, let's go see them.” He turned to leave, very pointedly ignoring my question about why my door was locked. “Hey babies.” I coo when I walk into the kitchen and see my children sitting in their highchairs eating bowls of soft cereal. I pick Ella out of her seat as she stretches her tiny arms up to me. I bring her close to my face, kissing her warm cheeks a little.“Are you feeling better today?” I turn to look at Sebastian as he leans against the frame of the kitchen entryway.“Yeah, but I felt fine yesterday… until I didn’t.” I set Ella back in her chair,
“I’ll be back later tonight, Alice will take good care of you.” I smile weakly at Sebastian as he kisses my forehead before leaving my bedroom, closing the door behind him and locking it. He told me earlier he had some kind of committee meeting he had to be a part of, so he would be bringing Alice over to take care of me. I used to feel kind of excited when she came over, but now I just felt uneasy about her being in my house and taking care of my kids. I felt uncomfortable every time she picked one of the twins up, and wanted to rip my child out of her arms. I throw the blanket off me quickly, sliding to sit on the edge of the bed with an annoyed huff. I reached under my tongue and pulled the two pill capsules Sebastain had given me before leaving for my “pain” and tucked them under my mattress. They were a bit soft from sitting in my mouth for too long, but Sebastain seemed hesitant to leave me these days and he lingered for a while after giving me my pills. I have not eaten for
I know I need to get back to my pack, but I can’t help but worry about Everly. I got a very strange phone call from her last night when the power went out. It was brief, but the first time I had heard from her in a few days. She had stopped showing up for our lessons all together, and even though they said I would be given another chance after receiving instruction from a different instructor, I couldn’t bring myself to leave yet. Everyone in this pack was gossiping about how she was sick and not leaving her house, and how the Alpha had even moved in to keep an eye on her. They seemed a little excited about it, to be honest. But that gossip combined with her weird phone call, made me think there was one person in this equation who wasn’t exactly willing. And even if Everly was willing, and I was just making a huge awkward mistake, I needed to know she was okay before I left, because there was one similar theme to all the rumors: the Luna of this pack was seriously ill. So I contact
“You’re kidding, right?” Beatrice asks me after a moment of staring at me with a slack jaw. I consider, then shake my head “Seems like a weird thing to kid about.” I say earnestly.She laughs a little incredulously, shaking her head. “Why?” She finally asks. I shrug a little. “Well, I don’t know you well enough quite yet to completely hand it over to you, but from what I’ve seen so far, I’m at the very least interested.” She looks like she’s having a hard time believing my words, which I really don’t understand. She seems strong, physically and mentally. Seems smart and knowledgeable about her pack. People seem to listen to her, respect and look up to her. I still wanted to get to know her a little better to make sure she wasn’t going to make the personality shift all my previous candidates had made. But there was really good potential in her, that much I could tell for sure.“This just seems… out of nowhere.” She says, sitting back in her seat a little.“I mean, not really. I’ve b
We walked into my office, Beatrice close behind as I held the door open for her. She mutters a quiet “thanks” and I move behind the desk as she plops into the chair on the other side.“So.” I say once we’re sat. “Tell me about yourself.” She raises her eyebrow a little, like she was expecting something else, which I’m sure she was. “Uh. I mean… What do you want to know?”She rubs at the back of her neck a little, looking suddenly awkward. “Anything. Where you grew up. What your parents are like, what you spend your time doing.” “Well. I grew up here, in Sebastian's pack. He… found me, after my pack was wiped out by a group of rogues.” Her face changes a little when she brings up her former Alpha, contorting into a pained, regretful expression. “I think I was seven when he found me. He was barely a teenager himself, but I still remember how big he had seemed to me when he’d first found me tucked away in a bush. I don’t even know how long I’d been hiding, but he’d said it looked like
I guess the universe was getting bored with toying with me, because two days after I’d had to boot Andrew, my most promising candidate yet made themselves known. A woman. Her name was Beatrice Longfall. Though her connection to her once royal bloodline was weak at this point, it still shone through when she was working and leading her pack mates.Apparently, she’d been off with a few others for a while now, looking for Sebastain. To no avail. Her and the twelve pack members who had been with her didn’t look pleased when they’d returned, irritated almost. They all just said they couldn’t find him, but I wondered if that was true. What if they had found him, and he had refused to come back? I’m sure that stubborn pride of his wouldn’t allow it, even if it’s what made sense. I didn’t pry too much though. I first saw her leading a group of guards out to the borders, her walking in front as they all strode behind her. All it had taken was one snap of her fingers, and they were all shift
I sigh heavily, letting another file I’d built for a new potential Alpha fall into the trash can. This one’s name had been Andrew Powell, a long residing pack member with good combat skills. When I'd asked around about him, all anyone had to say was good things, and everyone seemed to know him. With that in mind, I had eagerly pursued him, and of course, he was just as eager to accept the challenge.He’d started off great, doing his best to make a good impression. Then it was like something changed, and he let the mask drop. He started acting like he already had the Alpha title, parading around telling everyone what to do. So this morning, I’d brought him into what I was currently using as an office, and told him he was no longer being considered for the Alpha position. Of course he had gotten pissed, started telling me I wasn’t even qualified to make this kind of decision, and that maybe he would just take the title without my blessing. At least I knew now I was right in my choice.
Was this how Everly felt when I had been unfaithful in our marriage? Did she too feel this sadness, this envy, this anger?All I could think about was hearing those words from her, “I’m pregnant. And it’s not yours.” Over and over again like a broken record.Pure, unfiltered rage courses through my veins as I stomped out of our house, swinging the door open so hard it cracked against the wall behind it. I ignored the stares from the pack members I’d had outside with Ella and Eli, and didn't stop to answer their questions of where I was going and if I was okay. The twins would be fine with them for a little, maybe better than if they were left in my care.Because I was anything but okay. My woman was pregnant with another man’s child, and I had a very good feeling on who’s it was. I could tell by her hesitation, the tone in her voice. It was that bastard’s, Sebastain’s. The image of them screwing pissed me off, and made bile rise in my throat. I didn’t even want to think about them
“Hey, babe. How’d it go today?” Killian’s voice says in my ear through my phone. I swallowed thickly at his question, clenching the phone in my hand so tightly I was scared it was going to break. This was the part I was dreading. Killian and I were just reconnecting, and now I was about to tell him I was going to be gone for some undetermined amount of time. Not to mention… There was a baby growing in me right now. What if I was gone for months? I would show back up with a swollen belly. That would be nothing if not jarring. I mean, it’s not like I had cheated on him or anything. But I still felt guilty, horrible even, at the life growing inside of me. “It was okay.” I say, then fall silent. I know he’s waiting for me to tell him more, what I chose to do, because I hadn’t even told him my plan. It was kind of a last minute call. That, and I’m too weak. He had hugged me with such warmth before I left, kissing my cheek and telling me he couldn't wait for me to come home. “Uhm. I gues
Three days later…For some reason, Sebastian’s pack land looked different to me this time around. It seemed less foreign, for sure. I had lived there for a while, and spent plenty of time wandering around. Less intimidating, maybe, now that I knew there was no scheming man waiting around the corner. I walked behind Adam and a couple other committee members who had tagged along, a woman named Marlin, a man named Thomas. This morning, Adam and them had shown up at my door, and told me we would be travelling here today, to announce my decision to the pack and appoint a new Alpha if my choice was to leave. He told me I could have them fight me or each other, do a poll, whatever I felt was the best call to pick the new leader. Sebastian didn’t have an official Beta, so while that would normally be the first logical choice, unfortunately it wasn’t an option this time around. Strangely enough, none of them had asked what I was going to do yet today. Adam kept eyeing me, like he was doubti
Since returning to Kilian’s pack things had been… different. I was happy to be back with Killian and our kids. We were finally together, able to raise them side by side. I wasn’t having to look over my shoulder because I had to be on guard all the time, and Killian was paying me more attention than ever before. Apart from that, there were a few more serious things going on. For example, Sebastian’s pack was left without an Alpha. The committee members were breathing down my neck, telling me I either needed to relinquish my position over to someone else, or step up and take charge of the dozens of wolves looking for a leader. And don’t even get me started on Felix’s pack. They weren’t in my top list of priorities, I can't lie. Most of them had run off, only a few of the new members who had been forced into Felix’s pack had stuck around. Honestly, I had kind of been hoping Sebastain would show back up. I would be more than happy to hand his pack back over. I didn’t want it. I hadn’t
The ride back to Killian’s pack was mostly quiet; he’d ask me something every once in a while, about the twins or his pack. But I think we both had a lot on our minds. I know I did. The car had dropped us as close to the pack lands as it could, and we walked the rest of the way. “God, I’m glad to be back in these woods.” Killian said as we walked along. He had his face tilted to look at the tops of the trees, and was smiling a little for the first time in what felt like forever. It was kind of cute, the way he was acting like he was literally being recharged just by being in his woods again. “What are you smiling at?” He asks me, bumping his shoulder against mine a little. I shake my head, and look up at him. “Just… happy we both got to come back here together.” I say. “Did you miss this place at all?” He asks, looking down at me. I nod a little. “Yeah, I guess I did. Or really I missed the good memories I had attached to it.” He nods along. “Like… Do you remember that one nigh