LOGINKiaraThomas was still by my side, and our hands were intertwined lovingly. I rested my head on his shoulder to let it relax while we continued waiting for news.Why were they taking so long?“I promise you that as soon as the pack tells me the situation is safe, we’ll go home to rest. You’re pregnant, and you can’t be here.”“I don’t want to leave, Thomas,” I murmured, closing my eyes.Sleep was taking over me.“I’m not going to let you stay like this. You’re hurting yourself.”“At least here I have easy access to information.”“No, you’re trying to control what’s happening. You’ll get the information anyway because we’ll know what happened when they tell us. Your priority is not Jake, Kiara. It’s your children.”I felt the truth slam into my head-on. I was neglecting myself and my children because of what happened, and it wasn’t a valid excuse to relax with something so important and serious as my pregnancy.“You had chemotherapy a few hours ago. You’re exhausted.”I squeezed his ha
KiaraThe hours at the hospital felt eternal and exhausting. Waiting and dealing with uncertainty weren’t working for me. Waiting for news and remembering what happened was all our brains could think about and constantly relive. I was exhausted, with my emotions raw and exposed. That was exactly how I felt while sitting in a deserted waiting room, surrounded by the distant sound of machines, footsteps, muffled voices, and the pain of the rest of the people who were in the same situation as us.I was sitting next to my mother-in-law, Juliette, and although neither of us spoke, our shared anguish spoke for us. Juliette had her hands resting on her skirt, her fingers interlaced so tightly that her knuckles were completely white from squeezing so hard.Her eyes were red from crying so much, yet she still didn’t collapse. It amazed me how strong a mother could be when her son was between life and death.I was tired of looking at the clock every five minutes. Tired of lifting my gaze every
KiaraThe sound of the gunshots left me deafened and dazed. It was as if everything in my life had stopped. I saw my life and my children’s lives flash before my eyes. But the first shot was so terrifying that I almost fainted. When everything started, the first thing I could do was cover my head, but Jake had already taken care of that to protect me. We were on the ground, together, him on top of me. I let myself fall to the floor when he threw himself to shield our children.The smell of gunpowder invaded my nostrils while the danger remained imminent. We didn’t know where the shots were coming from or aimed at. I only knew I had to duck, that I had to make myself small, and that my bones were trembling. We had an idea of who had ordered us to be killed, but we didn’t recognize the shooter’s car.When I fell, the gravel scraped my knees, and I felt the cold humidity of the ground under my hands. I lifted my head just a little, trembling, hoping to see Thomas and Juliette alive. They
JakeI liked this less than he could ever imagine.Having Thomas and Kiara in the pack was not something I chose freely, the weight of the situation forced me to take responsibility.If he wanted to protect Kiara, he’d have to temporarily accept the proposal until we were done with Kerian and his pack once and for all. Thomas was as prideful as I was, and taking orders was not something he handled well.“I can protect my wife on my own.”I gave him an incredulous look. I folded my arms, ready to shred his stupid idea apart.“Believe me, Thomas: I like this less than you do, but it is what it is. A beta like you, alone… with a defenseless woman to protect and two babies inside her, is too much for you to handle alone. I’m not asking for your opinion. I’m telling you what we’re going to do.”“You can’t come here and tell me that.”“I can, because I’m the father of Kiara’s babies.”“And because you still love her, don’t you?”His words caught me off guard.I could expect any insult from
JakeI saw through the security camera that someone’s car was parked outside. It was Mom’s car. I quickly opened the door so she could get in. Mom looked at me over her sunglasses, completely useless today since there was no sun.“Get inside now, Mom,” I ordered, and Mom hurried her pace. She knew something was going on.“What are you doing here, son?” she asked as she walked in.But I didn’t answer immediately and instead called Thomas, hoping he wouldn’t be an idiot and actually pick up. Thomas answered just as I was about to hang up.“What do you want? Why are you calling me?”“Come to Mom’s house now. Are you free?”“I’m not free. Why would I go?”“You need to come. It’s important. You’ll get more information when you show up.”I hung up on Thomas.At that moment, I walked away from them and went upstairs to talk to Gregory about the situation.“So Kiara received a message, and you did as well?”“Nobody signed a name, but we know it’s him. He’s playing. We’ll have to do something
JakeThe silence was so suffocating I could barely breathe. I was driving with Kiara beside me, not speaking, but with my mind somewhere completely different. I wanted to look at her and ask why she had gone so pale, staring at her phone, but I knew she wouldn’t trust me enough to tell me. Kiara had been rejecting me all morning.Even so, something inside me tensed. Kiara didn’t get scared over just anything, but something had unsettled her. I tried to see her phone, but she turned it off immediately.I asked her because I didn’t want to be left wondering. She hesitated for a second, but gathered courage and, angry, showed me what her phone said and accused Irina, but I had a different hypothesis about who it was. Irina wasn’t capable of doing something like that. Kiara looked way too convinced, so I was going to ask her. Her conviction almost convinced me.However, I also received a message, and my suspicions increased.It wasn’t Irina. But what if it was him…?Kerian.The alpha of t







