Cassias Littlefyre was the apple of his mother's eye. Many would say that he had the wit and intelligence of his mother and the looks and fearlessness of his father. As a baby, he walked before the other children. He would climb on top of everything. He frequently gave Layla small explosive attacks of anxiety. She often worried that he didn't feel pain because he never seemed to feel it. The healers would reassure her that he did…but she would always be skeptical on that front. Cassias was a happy baby who grew into a happy silly little boy. Alistar wouldn't really know. He spent most of his time elsewhere. There were nine months he was gone without a word. He didn't even bring Javier with him. Vanished. Layla suspected that there was a baby involved but he would never come out and say. That was four years ago. They left her childhood home and her father's pack shortly after Cassias' birth. She desperately begged Tabitha to join her but Alistar would not let anyone from her old pac

Layla sat at the foot of the banquet table as far away from Alistar as she could. She couldn't stand the sound of his voice. She knew he would be bragging and she couldn't bear to hear it. The falsehoods and misinformation was never something she could play along with, especially to her father. She preferred to sit with Cassias more than anyone else and was more than happy to do so. "Where's his nanny?" Tabitha innocently asked between bites of roast and garlic potatoes.Layla immediately turned red from embarrassment. She was always an honest person but ever since she went along with Alistar's lie, the dishonesty snowballed into an avalanche of deceit. It was difficult to keep up with all the lies she had to tell to cover for him and his lies. She was flustered and panicked but after six years, she couldn't do it anymore. So instead she told the truth, "he doesn't have." "Oh?" Tabitha responded. Layla could hear the tone of judgment in her voice, Tabitha did not hide it well.

Layla steadied her breath but it was useless. The anxiety was taking control. There was next to nothing that she wanted more than anything was to see Solomon. But it had been so long and so much had changed. She was a mother. She was in the Thundermoon Pack. She had fallen further and further away from being worthy of being his mate. All too often she had forgotten the fact true mates weren't chosen by mere humans but by the Goddess. And on the night she met Solomon, there was a full moon - a sign from the Goddess herself. She had blessed their union. It was baffling and confusing that the blessing was somehow not enough to validate their connection. Their connection was quickly thrown into question and easily challenged. Wasn't that what everyone wanted, blessings from the Goddess? Isn't that Alistar pretended to have with her? She frequently questioned if she would have chosen Solomon without it. He was an extremely attractive man. His smell was intoxicating. But would she have p

Solomon nor Simon really knew what to do with Layla. It was as if she was possessed. She kept repeating, "you are my mate" and then laughing to herself. Solomon tried to connect with her via telepathy but her thoughts were too jumbled and her wolf was too frantic. He would have to wait till she told him. He was used to and very comfortable with waiting for her. "I have to go back," she said abruptly. "I have a son!""Did you forget?" Simon asked skeptically. "What kind of mother are you?""Shut your mouth," Solomon said bitingly. Layla smiled as she gave back the cloak. "Thank you for this." She turned to leave. "Wait!" Simon called after her, Solomon growled disapprovingly. Simon glared at his older brother. At eighteen, he lacked the maturity of a man as he clung to the behaviors of a child. "I need a response. Are you coming or not?" "What?" Layla was thrown till Simon gestured towards the small crumpled scroll in her hand. "Oh, this. This is a trap, but I will go. I'm not

Layla choked on her spit and started coughing. "What did you say?" She asked between coughs. Alistar began to pat her back to help clear the nothing stuck in her throat. She glared at him and moved away from him in the bed. "No, seriously what did you say?"Alistar began to rub her back again, "I said that it is time for another child," he said as sweetly as he could.Layla jumped out of the bed and began to pace next to the bed. "Are you out of your mind? There is no way in hell.""Layla, don't be like that," he pleaded half-heartedly. "Come back to bed, it's very late." "I'm going to be like that. I don't want another child. I don't want to be pregnant again." Layla was floored. There wasn't a moment during her pregnancy with Cassias that was pleasant for her. She was sick and bed ridden. She lost an alarming amount of blood during her labor. It would be a cold day in hell before she would agree to do it again. "Come on," his voice was gratingly saccharine. She wanted to vomit