Jared chuckled nervously as he tried to crack a joke which didn't quite crack through the atmosphere. It was tense, almost like a coiled spring as everyone was waiting for the worst to happen so that they could be relieved. I on the other hand didn't care for whatever it was they were trying to do because that was not my focus. I just wanted to see that this man knew his place and respected people whenever he got to meet them not because of what he had. "She is a feisty one and I don't think I deal with cats.""Cats would scratch your eyes out and leave you blind so I would suggest that you be careful while dealing with them." Darcus butted into the conversation. This was going to be a long night and I was prepared for it. I saw Chris shaking his head probably hoping that this didn't turn into a full-blown war but I didn't care as much as he did because this man was irritating. "Please guys, we are going to be having more visitors. I wouldn't like for us to show them that there is
Lucinda's POV. Jared and Chris were on their feet immediately as all the alpha strike to surround these two who had decided to make a spectacle of themselves. I didn't think that it was beyond words but they seemed to think so and wanted to deal with the situation however they liked. I placed my hand on Chris' to stop him from doing something that might cost him a lot. He would try to separate people who didn't want any atom of peace and I didn't see any sense in that. It would have made a lot of sense if he just stayed away from them, forgetting that they ever existed. I kind of figure that it will be hard for him to do stuff like that because then it would make him feel like a bad person but deep down I wanted them to iron this out deeply and then never have to come and fight for things that didn't matter. I would have loved it even more if they could relax their stance and try to speak to each other just to hear what they had to say. Darcus kicked Alpha Martin in the belly m
Lucinda's POV. All of the reasons why it was going to take a long while before I was able to detach myself from the mix was simply because I had a lot on my mind and was hoping that I was able to deal with it before allowing anyone to try to come my way and even become more stupid. All the men turned to stare at me as though I was not a human and didn't have the right to call them out when they were talking bull crap. "Yes, I understand that we are trying to mediate peace but that is not telling the person who is at fault to ride on and try to scold another person. Do you know how big Alpha Darcus is? He is only here because of the relationship he shares with both of you." I pointed at Jared and his brother who nodded. Everyone on the table knew that I chose to speak facts. There was absolutely no reason for them to try to make us feel annoyed. "So what are you saying? Are you saying that we do not have a right to be mad at him? Are you saying that he was right with whatever acti
Lucinda's POV. Darcus charged at me immediately, his hands spinning me to the wall and growling in my face. I would be mad to say that I was not intimidated by how intense this was. I felt shivers run down my spine as I tried to figure out what to do to help myself out of this mess that had been created. I desperately wanted to escape his hold but his warning growl stopped me from taking an inch further. "I have allowed you enough. You are almost becoming a nuisance and I'm not going to tolerate that." He mentioned. I felt exhausted by the way he was holding my neck but there was nothing I could do at that point. I just surrendered to him so that he did whatever he liked. "I will not have you come here and insult my intelligence simply because I have decided to accommodate you. Do you understand that?"Even if I didn't there was no way I could make my opinions clear. All of them were the same, takers, they were going to take and take until they couldn't take more than enough and w
Darcus' POV. The minute the door shut, I hissed in pain, trying to hold my legs. This had never happened to me in my entire life and for once I couldn't help but feel like someone was trying to poison me. It had to be from the food that we ate on our way here. Why would someone try to poison me and make me feel weak? Was this a connivance between Jared and Martin? Was this their way of bringing me down because I did not subscribe to most of their laws? If Lucinda wasn't here, I was sure that these guys would have harmed me without even hoping that I was able to fight my way out of this. Chris was not around because I had sent him on an official mission and that was the perfect way for them to get rid of me without even trying. The weight of the implication of Lucinda's absence weighed so much on me that I began to think of a lot of things. What is the probability that I will be able to survive this if she returns? Not only that, who was I going to accuse when everyone had been so
Lucinda's POV. I looked at this man in front of me and realized that dragging back and forth was not going to give me the answers that I needed. Instead I was only going to be stressed out by him so I decided to take the high road out which was to pretend like I didn't care when I actually did. "I should have never gotten involved in the first place and I apologize for my mistakes but I hope that you are able to let anyone close because it's going to be disastrous if you are going through life alone all the time. And Chris who is supposed to be here with you is nowhere to be found which I find highly suspicious but I guess I'm not supposed to say a thing because I'm just a bloody concubine or breeder." I responded, hiding the fact that I was hurt by the term. Nothing else was going to satisfy the way that I felt but I tried as much as possible to keep it in and not show to the world that I was hurt by his statement. "You are miffed that I called you an ordinary concubine. Why shou
Lucinda's POV. “Scrimm.” The glass door squeaked as I sneaked to the balcony, enjoying the way I dealt with the situation with so much Grace while my heart was still beating. A lot of people might ask why I was trying to help someone who had decided to make my life a living hell by the terms of his contract.The truth was that I also didn't know what the hell was wrong with me and quite frankly I was hoping that I was making the right choice and wasn't about to sacrifice myself on the altar of being the perfect person. A lot of things were wrong and I honestly didn't know how to navigate that. Also, I felt a little miffed at the fact that I was unable to do everything I had wished to do in my entire life and slaughtered it on the altar of becoming a breeder.I picked up my phone and immediately reached out to Marcus who had been calling non-stop. "Marcus, I was in a meeting with the Alpha and I couldn't pick up your call. I hope there is no problem." His answer was long silence a
Lucinda's POV.Didn't know what I was expecting but immediately I got into the room my jaw dropped at the beautiful dress laid on the bed. Gleaming to perfection. A gold shimmery strapless dress stared at me in the eyes as we looked at each other silently trying to figure out what exactly was happening here. I gazed at Darcus with my lips slightly parted. "How is your leg?" I broached the subject carefully. "We are attending a gala tonight. It's your first public appearance, and a number of Alphas would be present. As the presiding chairman, you are going to be having intellectual conversations with their companions.”His annoying ass was enough for me to sock him in the jaw but I maintained my smile, watching him carefully and hoping that he didn't make the mistake of thinking that I was going to let him get away with his insults. "Thank you for getting me this.""I didn't want you to embarrass me tonight."I held in my retort, smiling at him gracefully. "What I wouldn't give to
Darcus' POV. Martin stood before me, looking everywhere but my face and I decided to point him over here. "I gave you only one job. Take her to the zenith. I don't want her lacking in any way. I want her to be able to defend herself when it is time and know what to say and what not to. Are you sure it's something you can do?" I inquired from him just so that I had his commitment. He was a child genius and I wanted him by my side in making sure that this woman wasn't embarrassed by those people who didn't care but just wanted to push her down the ladder. He nodded, bringing out his books which his mother had handed over to him before her passing "This is going to help her become the best luna anyone has ever seen. But I need to ask you a question, Alpha. Do you think that after this training, anyone would want her to remain in the limelight? There has got to be a lot of things to be done.""You do not understand how this works. I know what you might be thinking and it is not true.
Lucinda's POV. Flinging such a demand at me and expecting that I jump just because of this offer was enough to send me spiraling but I refuse to give anybody such power over myself and decided to just let things go. "I would not take your money to leave that man alone. So you can probably just move it away and forget about it. What do you think?" I asked with a small smile, hoping that they didn't push me to do something that will make me even run mad. "You are not going to be here trying to sabotage everything that we have worked so hard for. I know your plans and I'm going to make them disastrous before you even can take a step." Alexia promised as soon as she came closer. At this point I wanted Abigail to say something but it seemed like she would rather just relax and watch things play out well so she formed her own opinion. "And this is suddenly supposed to make me feel like a bad person isn't it? Have you discovered that I don't really care about your life as much as you th
Lucinda's POV. I already figured that he was not expecting me to go down that route and that even pushed me further. He staggered a little bit, making me laugh. He definitely didn't think that I was going to accept the feet just like that when I had the opportunity to redefine things. My mind was focused on something even greater which included dealing with issues as though there was no tomorrow. My major reason for taking such a step was to make sure that I had everything covered and that was exactly what I planned on doing. The most important part for me right now was also to make sure that I had everybody just right where I wanted them. Darcus jumped in front of me and grabbed my hand, almost tearing it out of its socket. It was probably his alpha instincts getting the best out of him and refusing to let him get defeated by just a woman. I was about to redefine all of those biases and make sure that he remembered who ran this.Why don't you take a break and let's see what w
Darcus' POV. I stared at her just to be sure that she knew what she was asking for. I knew that women were a little more impulsive than we were but not up to this extent, all that I could think of right now was how I will be able to deal with this without any repercussions. I didn't want to beat the shit out of her, but from the fierce look in her eyes, I knew that she had a different agenda and thus, I needed to live up to the name that I had already created. Even if she managed to throw me down, people were no longer going to respect me for getting that I was only doing this out of genuine love. I came to a halt in my mind. I was not supposed to love this woman. She was a stranger like every other of my breeders but I couldn't deny the fact that I'm beginning to fall head over heels in love with this woman who had wormed her way into my life. It was a drastic move and honestly, I only felt like I needed to do something that would set the record straight not necessarily to spit
Lucinda's POV. I might have pretended like her words held no weight, but honestly that was not even remotely true because all I could think of at that moment was, making sure that I had everything already mapped out. Her words kept echoing in my mind, thinking about how she expected me to be very okay with the fact that the man loved me but he was not showing it. How was I supposed to believe all of that without having double thoughts? This has gone on for so long and then I am a little worried. "You've got to think and find a solution." If I needed Darcus to come closer to me, then I have to be fast about it and make sure that everything was right on track. The best way to make him closer was to make him my friend, and that would only happen if I made the move almost immediately instead of leaving it to chance. My head was banging with various scenarios that would end up with me being disgraced. I was very concerned about how things would end up instead of how I would be able
Lucinda's POV. I was kicked out of his room, with a little fear gathering in my eyes That was not the man that I knew. He sounded like he was talking deep from his soul but I didn't just know how to place my finger on it. I had more than enough reasons to be worried for myself and many things that must have come up but I refused. I knew that I had messed up a lot and it was going to take a whole lot of time and energy to be able to be restored. I had reasons to also be worried out of my mind but I kept them buried forever. There was no sense in making a huge deal out of something that probably never held water. "Are you okay?" Abigail demanded from me immediately she saw my countenance. Of course I wasn't okay, but I was not going to be a baby about it or make a huge deal out of something that I could just relax and watch play out. "I think he is upset with me but I don't know what I did. I honestly would not do anything to offend him and that's why I'm a little bit worried. I
Darcus' POV. I saw red.I was smelling a male on her, but here she was acting as though I had no sense at all. The last woman I gave permission into my life turned it upside down and left me scarred till today, and she attempted to do the same thing to me. I let out a trail of laughter, watching her eyes grow conflicted. Yes, you've got a feel of the heat especially with the wars threatening to break out and then somebody that I considered close also trying to play a fast one on me. "You've got to be kidding me. Hanging out with a man when you know that you have bound to me is an overstretch of your liberties. I should have always known that you didn't consider this a serious agreement because I have let you get away with many atrocities."She attempted to shake her head but I cut her off. "Oh, you better be ready to give me some explanations because I need serious ones. If you decide not to respect our Union because I have been lenient with you, I think you need a redefinition o
Lucinda's POV.My heart gave an erratic lurch, as I stayed at the woman who probably wanted me out of this place at all costs. She didn't care what it was going to mean to me or anyone else, as long as she had me dumped out. I lifted my lips into a wry smile. "I wouldn't have expected you to understand that people have engagements. I mean I know that it might be foreign to you.""Yeah, right."Her eyes lifted into more anger. "Yes, of course.""Damn it, you are just trying to hide the fact that you must have gotten yourself into trouble and I have figured it out so you want to sweep it under the carpet by using these guys." She started her claims, coming at me with fingers in my face. "Do they freaking know that you do not love them as you claim?" Even though I wanted to indulge her, I knew that Darcus was waiting for me somewhere and I needed to do something about it. "Why don't we have this conversation later? Probably when you are more calm. I think you have a stick of your... Y
Lucinda's POV. Immediately after I returned from Marcus' house, I rushed into the house hoping that no one noticed my absence and that no one had gone around, luckily their mouth trying to tell everyone that I was missing. That would be a disaster and I almost didn't want to be in such a situation. The only thing that could stop me right now was if Darcus came out and asked what exactly I went out for. As soon as I walked in, Abigail breathed in relief. She was the only person that I had told where I was heading towards and had given me the go-ahead. She didn't even completely know what my mission was, and I just said it so that she would be able to ascertain and give up a false impression that would make those people ready to be confused. She rushed towards me, clasping her hands over mine. She looked me in the eye while looking around just to see if anyone was listening to our conversation. "See, I understand that you need to leave, but at the same time, I still want you to be