Lea My heart shattered when I saw the look in Manuel's eyes. It was a look that said Natalie's words were true. They were having a baby. I felt a sharp pang of pain rush through me. When did this happen? I had just finished pouring my heart out to Manuel, telling him my feelings like the fool I was. I told him I loved him. Only to hear that he’s having a baby and getting mated. Goddess, tell me this is not true. My eyes flickered from a guilt-ridden Manuel to a gloating Natalie. She smiled smugly at me as if she had just won a race. A race I didn't know I was participating in and I lost pretty badly. "Y-your baby?" I asked to confirm. I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to hear it from his lips. "Of course it’s our baby. Manuel and I will be having our mating ceremony soon." "Natalie!" Manuel growled. I glanced at him, my eyes pooling with tears as I stared into his blue ones. Please tell me it's not true, Manuel. Please… My heart sank when he dropped

****Trigger warning. The following chapter contains some SA scenes.**** Lea. I felt helpless. Adrian was pinning me down to the bed while he did what he wished to my body and I couldn't do a damn thing. He took my nipple into his mouth and a wave of disgust rushed through me. He repulsed me. Did he enjoy doing this? Was he a sadist who derived his pleasure from forcing himself on me? And why was I so weak? I felt like a thousand ants were crawling on my skin as I gazed up at the ceiling. Manuel… will you come for me? Save me, please… Tears rolled down my face uncontrollably. Adrian spread my legs and I felt him rip my lace underwear off my body. My heart thumped louder this time. So I was back to this… back to being violated… back to being beaten…. Back to that pathetic life that I thought I had left behind. Why did I think Manuel would protect me forever? No one would. No one was coming to save me. Bile rose to my throat when I felt Adrian position his tip on

Emilio I had spent the last week pleading with Natalie to come clean with the Alpha. But she kept making excuses. I was no longer having any of that so I decided to come back and tell him myself. Her obsession with him was getting out of hand; if I didn’t stop her, she might end up committing a crime. I had just driven through the border when Manuel called me and instructed me to pick up Luca and some of our warriors to go and search for Lea. As usual, I didn’t ask anything because I could tell from his voice that it was a serious situation. Luckily Luca was not too far so I picked him up and we headed for the location the tech team had managed to find. When we arrived, the sight was disturbing. The Alpha had lost control and ripped all the men apart without leaving anyone to lead us to their boss. All this because they touched his mate. This is why I hate the mate bond. It makes you do irrational things. The Alpha I know wouldn't lose his mind like that and lose the on

Lea. I awoke to blue guilt-ridden eyes staring down at me wistfully. My heart squeezed, seeing him look so distraught. He suddenly curled his lips into a small smile that made me melt. “Feeling better?” He reached up and brushed the hair on my face away. “You’ve been out for two days. You got me so worried babe.” I felt my heart flutter like a bird’s wings. Babe? That was new. But it made me feel giddy inside. “Do you want to freshen up then you eat something? I want us to talk today. I want to know everything.” My heartbeat accelerated. I didn’t want him to know everything, what if he sees me differently? What if he thinks I’m dirty- “Hey, look at me.” Manuel’s voice snapped me out of my reverie. He slid his hand under my neck and helped me up into a sitting position. He cupped my face, tingles erupting between his fingers and my skin. “I’m not trying to make you remember terrible stuff. I just want you to open up to me so I can understand you better. I just realized I h

Lea. I was geared up for… you know, a good fuck but it seemed that wasn’t what Manuel had in mind when he carried me back into the mansion. We did go to our bedroom but he bypassed the waiting bed and approached the glass doors leading to the balcony instead. I frowned, looking over his shoulder to the bed. “Um… I think you’re going the wrong way.” I muttered. Did he want to do it on the balcony? A chuckle that made my core throb rumbled through his chest. “I’m going the right way, babe.” He whispered huskily. My hands were encircling his neck with my legs coiled around his waist while his large hands held my butt in place. I pulled my head back to stare at his face and pouted. “Maybe we should do it inside, what if someone sees us?” He quirked up an eyebrow, his lips curling into an amused smirk. “What do you think we are going to do?” My brows met in a frown. “Weren’t we about to… didn’t you want to make love?” I said the last part in a whisper, my face flushing. H