AriezelSlowly I felt myself drawn out of the slumber I was in to face the light from the window.I smiled as I looked out the window, watching children play from the distance farther. It was a good sight in the morning.The reminder of the good in the world made me smile, and I couldn't help but keep watching.The windows before weren't this big. Although it made all the more sense considering that I had found myself in this new room out of nowhere.The moment I woke up in Asher's arms the first thing he did was to suddenly change my room. I found myself being led to a completely different and larger space later on that day, Now several weeks after that day, everything had relaxed some. He kept me on practical bed rest to ensure that I had fully healed and we had spent something like a honeymoon together.A knock came to the door, making my shoot up in alarm. Asher had left the night before stating that he had things to do till the morning, so it couldn't have been him. The second o

AriezelI wanted to tell him.I pondered in the confines of my room for what seemed like the millionth time. I wanted to tell Asher of my past. Reveal everything.He had done so much, been so patient. Every show of love he did, every kiss and ‘I love you’ he said, sent me further spiraling into guilt. It had been a long time coming, from friends to lovers and now his mate. One he claimed.A warm brush on my shoulder made me flinch, before I recognized the scent.Asher's lips touched my shoulder.“What Are you thinking of?” he asked.I shook his head, ignoring the bitter guilt that followed. “It's nothing.”I knew he didn't fully believe me and thanked the moon goddess that I couldn't see his worried face so I didn't spiral further into guilt.His hand lightly brushed my side and I ignored it.“If that's the case, I guess it's time for…”He brushed my side again more intentionally. I discovered his intentions too late.“Tickle fest.” Laughter forced itself out of me as I squirmed a

AsherThe surprise written on his face gave me satisfaction. He recovered from his shock, rearing back in retaliation.“We're not done here-”“Oh I think we are Derek.” I cut him off.I was far from done with him.I reveled in how his face transformed from shock to veiled rage. By calling him by his title rather than name, I had disregarded him and his leadership.“What did you just say?” he spoke threateningly.I didn't stand down, tilting my head to the side.“Alpha is too great a title for someone like you. Perhaps I should call you something more fitting. How about an abuser?” I asked“Excuse me?” he asked.“No. Even that's too tame. Wife beater seems more appropriate considering everything, right?”I craved the reaction that would come, proving that my hunch was real. I wanted to know beyond all doubts that he was the one that had caused the bruises on her skin, the nightmares. I needed to know if he was the one who made her afraid.To my rage and satisfaction, he did.“Shut the

AriezelI held my breath. Even though now I was at the forefront of it all, everything still felt daunting at the last moment.But this time I wasn't afraid. Despite the trepidation I felt, there was not one iota of hesitation in me.As I looked up at him, my thoughts were affirmed. I loved him. I loved Asher, and it was enough to share my secrets.“Derek." The name sounded so foreign to my lips, an evident sign of how long I had gone without thinking of it. Without thinking of him, until now.The thought of Derek's cruel face, the words I heard in my haze was enough. He knew about my child.But he wasn't important. Not now, as I sat with my mate and love about to tell him my past finally.“Derek said he was my mate... because he was.”The guillotine had struck. I had finally revealed part of the truth I had hidden for so long.“What?” Asher spoke, his incredulous tone evident.A flood of guilt came to me, even though I knew it didn't belong. It shouldn't have bothered me. After all,

AriezelWhat happened to him?I paced around my room in the middle of the night. That night, like the others, I had waited for his arrival, hoping that he would come and explain himself. As the hours passed my heart grew weary as it had for the past three days, and in the end I knew he wasn't coming.His absence, like before, left me restless. Usually I would have buried my sadness within, ignoring it in turn for sleep and carrying a torch of hope within me as I leaned into his lingering scent for comfort. But not this time.After the way he dismissed me in his office, I could no longer bury myself in vacant hope. I could no longer stand by and wait helplessly for whatever was to come.Instead my mind ran wild and I began pacing, wracking my brain for what felt like the hundredth time for what had changed in him. And so immediately at that.I hadn't expected to find a solution quickly, if at all. Yet it still filled me with frustration nonetheless.All I knew for certain was that it r