**GWEN**"He is still not speaking to you?" Abby asked me, wagging her fingers in front of her mouth as she gobbled the hot spaghetti. I gave her a sad shrug. "He doesn't even sleep in the same room with me. And when he sneaks in at night thinking I'm asleep, it is to pick his clothes and sneak out. He is so stubborn!" I hissed haughtily. Most times I wanted to stand up and tell him to his face he was full of shit! There I lay missing him like he was my next breath and he was busy being tenacious all because I won't bend to his will and send my family away. One week! One good week and he still won't speak to me. And guess what? I have been doing my best to keep my family happy as much as I could despise his indifference. In fact, today, Tyler offered to take them on tour around the pack, and I didn't waste time to agree. Hence I came here. I couldn't stay there, alone and bored. Charlotte was hardly around as she went on with her life with her new friends. She met my parents four

**GWEN**"What do you mean by that?" He asked me, in a milder tone. I didn't even know what I meant. All I knew was that I was tired of everything. I didn't need him trying to fight every man on my way. I was not a child. And definitely would never cheat on him. If only he knew that. If only he trusted me. "I-I need to rest a bit before dinner," I said, shuffling away. I opened the closet and rummaged through, searching for nothing. My head clouded. Tears incessantly poured down my face. I wished things would go back to how it was between us, at the same time I was scared. Until when are we going to continue like this? We are sweet today, and then by tomorrow, we are back to square one. "Little wolf...""Ju-just go, for now, Ashton." I managed to choke out. I didn't want him to see me like this. I didn't want him to go too. I didn't even know what I wanted now. Just him! It irked me, but that was the truth. "Okay." it was sad. Even more sad to me that he would give in that easily

**GWEN**"Show me how much," I moaned, my finger sinking into his scalp to drag him closer. I felt like I was drunk and still needed more wine. I couldn't get enough of him. Our lips clashed in a battle of prowess, each fighting for dominance while at the same time trying to showcase our frustration over the lost nights. I desired everything about this man down to his faults. His madness, his insecurities. My pussy got wet merely knowing he was jealous of seeing me with another man even as it frightened me. No one had ever wanted me this way. And it had to be him. The King of Lycans! It was enough to turn me on. "You have no idea what you have signed up for," he mumbled in a hoarse voice, grabbing my lap as he stood up from the sofa and the next thing, I was slapped against the wall. "Argh!" I cried out, but my words were cut short by his tongue that thrust deep down my throat, and back out, eliciting more moans from me and the need to match his attack. When his lips left mine, i

GWENI couldn't believe what I just heard. Ashton killed his ex? But...how? How is that even possible? I tried to wrap my head around it but the more I tried, I kept arriving at a dead end in my head. By now, my appetite was gone and like him, I found my hand frozen, my spoon lowering to my ceramic ware. Right at that point, even the white lights from the spiraling chandelier suddenly appeared dark and everything around me seemed to turn vile, my food inclusive, like a venom in my mouth.He killed a werewolf and yet he hated us and saw us as the problem. Meanwhile, we were the ones supposed to demonstrate such behavior towards him. We were the ones hurt. The ones wronged. Who killed their lover because they broke their heart? Is Ashton this much of a monster? How much of this man do I not know?"Unfuckenbelievable!" Charlotte cried out, slapping the gray napkin she had been using to wipe her hands roughly on the table as if the poor object was the present cause of her wrath. "You-wha

ASHTONFive months later...When I was a pup, Dad would often rouse me from sleep very early in the morning to walk miles, run, and do several things that would be considered abnormal for a pup of my age. Back then, I often looked forward to it with a grudgeful heart, wishing to be like every other pup who enjoyed their morning respite with no discomfort , all in the name of me being a future Lycan King.And my mother, she was the exact same if not stricter than my dad so I couldn't even look to her for salvation.After the death of my father which forced me to become King at an earlier age, I came to appreciate everything he did for me, and even more so, my mother for her hardhandedness. But today, I could wholeheartedly say that in all those training, if there was one aspect they never prepared me for, it was the emptiness, the big hole, the depression in our heart that was created when we lost a loved one.The harsh blow dealt on us by love."My decision is final," My voice carried