"I am sorry." I waved off Celeste's apologies.She cried and cried and I felt there was more to her tears than she let me see but someone came to prepare my bath soon.A small omega with kind eyes knocked on the door and when I opened up, she jumped back. Relief crossed her face when she didn't see Valens anywhere in the room."The alpha is scary. Oh lord." She fanned herself. "When he came with Astrid to my room, I thought I was about to be banished." The girl talked a lot and her voice was calming, helping me get my mind off the bad memories I had to revisit for Celeste."Umm, I think I'll go." Celeste picked up her purse with her red eyes and tear-stained face."It's okay. I'm fine now." I hugged her. "Thank you for visiting. Maybe we can get something to eat tomorrow?""Thank you. That'll be nice." She squeezed me before she left with a watery smile."You smell fresh," the omega who prepared my bath said. She leaned into me, making a hand gesture as if blowing my scent into her no

I was awestruck."How long have you planned this?" I asked, in awe of my surroundings. He'd put a lot of effort into this, I could tell.The restaurant was empty. The inside was lit up and it displayed a happy birthday message to me with lights. My eyes stung a bit with tears that I held back."Quite a while." His thumb stroked the back of my palm. "Are you happy?" I nodded.Yes, I was happy. I didn't think I ever needed a grand gesture but it turned out I did. I felt special and cared for. Important. He'd taken his time to plan something this big just to surprise me and make me happy for my birthday.My birthdays were never special after my parents died. Days were blurred into one and every day could have been yesterday because they were all the same, birthday or not. I didn't pay much attention to it because other things called for my attention but I realized then how I'd missed surprises. Wonderful surprises. The only surprises I ever received from the pack were bad ones."Thank yo

*LUCIEN*I stared out of the window until the skies darkened, lost in my thoughts. A lot of things had happened in such a short time and it made me appreciate things I took for granted before.My father was missing, my mother was hysterical and my sister wasn't talking to me. There was also the issue of my mate mating with someone else and my mum packing her things and leaving the house this morning without a word to us. In a nutshell, my life had fallen apart and it didn't look like it would be fixed any time soon.When I finally managed to pull myself into a semi-working condition to grab dinner, my wolf perked up. A voice like a rushing wind slammed into my mind.It was the Alpha's Call.The Call was rarely used except on the occasion of the Feast of the Moon. In fact, I'd never heard the Alpha's Call except in the times of the Feast but when I heard it then, even if it didn't sound like the Call I was used to, my wolf recognized it and I knew what it was for.It was physically imp

LUCIEN"It's unfortunate that I'm stuck with you." Skylar scrubbed a hand down her face. "I can't even tell Bethel because who knows what hoe he'll blab it to after getting high." She hissed, falling into a seat."Do you have a plan, or did you call me out to nag at me?" I eyed her, propping my elbows against my thighs as I leaned forward in my seat."Their Mating Ceremony can't happen, so we're going to disrupt it.""How do we go about doing that?" She looked at me with disgust shining in her eyes. It wasn't my fault I wasn't an evil mastermind like her. I'd grown up with love and care so I had no reason to be such a schemer. Unlike her."We need something against Aysel.""Why her? Why not Valens?" Again, she gave me a disgusted look. "Stop looking at me like that." I fingered the neck of my shirt."You are idiotic. I knew you didn't have a lot of sense but I'm surprised I'm only now seeing how daft you are." She stood again, pacing the room. "Because he can leave her. She can't leav

When we got back to the penthouse, I flopped into bed with tired legs. I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep immediately.The bed dipped beside me and I felt Valens' warmth against my left side. I wondered if he felt as sated as I did then. He turned and I felt his stubble graze my cheek. We'd had fun today and I'd discovered a side of Valens that I didn't know existed. The playful side. I'd seen his stern side, his domineering side, his sexual side but today I saw him smile more times than ever and he made me laugh often."Tired, huh?" He stroked my arm but I didn't want to admit to being tired so I shook my head. Unfortunately, I let out a yawn right after."Woah there, don't swallow me," he teased. I covered my arms with my palms to hide my darkened cheeks. "Listening to a lie is funny when you already know the truth.""Stop." I laughed underneath my palms."Look at you ordering me about." I took my hands off my face to look at him and my breath caught. He was leaning into me,