VALERIA I sauntered down the street, heading to the abandoned salt mine beneath Emberthorn in an attempt to stay away from all my problems. The heat emanating from the pavement was scorching causing me to wipe my sweaty brow as I tried not to gag at the stench of rotting garbage on the sidewalks. The walls were peeling, and weeds had taken over every crack in sight. As I stepped over shattered glass, a pungent odour of mildew, mould and urine filled my nostrils. As days turned into weeks and weeks into months, my stomach began swelling uncontrollably. Initially, I wrapped materials tightly around my belly for fear of being noticed by Emilia but now there's nothing I can do about it.It can't be avoided, so I decided to go open. I slumped myself onto an abandoned chair with my swollen belly gently pressing against my lap while exhaustion caused me to close my eyelids, my chin sank on my chest as I let out a deep sigh. Serving Nickolas and Emilia was a

The sun seemed to have noticed how gloomy it was going to be today. In the halls of Brutus's home, there was a young boy who happened to be his younger brother. The teenage boy had a frown on his face as he made his way towards the sitting room, where he knew his brother, the scariest Alpha of all, would be. The guards guarding the place seemed to know who he was, as they made no attempt to stop him. "Brother! How could you?" He yelled, his medium-sized hands clenched into a fist as he glared at Brutus, who pretended not to hear him. "You're yelling..." Brutus stated calmly, sipping on the coffee in his mug while his gaze was focused on the TV. Balling his fists, the teenage boy with a head full of brown curly hair stumped his feet towards the table and slammed his hands lightly on it before picking up the remote. The television suddenly went off, and Brutus, who had been unbothered by anything his younger brother had been saying, suddenly grew mad. A vast difference from the man

VALERIA I watched Xhafer hand Giselle over to Emilia. I felt my heart rip into a thousand pieces, unable to understand why Miss Sophie made that choice.She shouldn't have handed my daughter to Emilia... Emilia would hurt her. Tears uncontrollably streamed down my face.I shuddered when a hand tapped my shoulders."Val? Why are you crying?" Eleanor asked.I whirled around and wiped off the tears on my face as I shook my head."It's nothing,"I could feel the eyes of people around me bore into me. Raising my face, I scanned around the room.I clutched my gown so hard that my nails pierced into my palm as I stormed out of the kitchen.I heard the sound of footsteps running behind me, but I didn't stop. My head was flooded, and I wanted to be all alone by myself."Val!" "Val... Valeria!"Eve's voice stuttered behind me... I had nothing to say to her. I've made a lot of bad choices in the past, and all of those choices are affecting my daughter.I tried to save myself and my

VALERIA Giselle held onto the doorknob, slowly turning it so it didn't make a sound. She had begged Xhafer to take her out... at least she was suffocating. It's been weeks since she stepped out of her room. Xhafer had promised her that he would sneak her out at twilight. She was uncomfortable and needed to leave, not giving herself a chance to wait till twilight for Xhafer. Tears stung her eyes as her face turned crimson, and the sunset rays bathed her skin as she ran out of the corridors, hiding away from the eyes of the guards and maid because Emilia had given them a strict warning not to ever let me out. Giselle ran down the stairs, heading to the garden, where she had made her secret place. The dried tears on her face glittered as she bent and hid beneath a bunch of flowers. She held her legs up to her chest, crossed her arms around her legs, and gripped them tightly. "Is it wrong that I want my parents to love me?" Giselle rubbed the back of her palm on her eyes, wiping off th

VALERIA A ripple of shock surged throughout the hall... my eyes were pinned on him as I waited for a response. The hall was drop-dead... they remained still, trying to process what I had just said. Emilia's nose flared up as she smacked her hands on the table and stood up. "What do you mean by that?" Nickolas bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the hall. The room was tense, and Emilia's face rippled with disaster. There was no fear in me. I’m ready to take what's mine. Emilia placed her hands on Nickolas and asked, "What's she talking about?" "This is blasphemy!" "What do you mean by that? Do you know the consequences of your allegations?" Nickolas growled, his face twisted into a sneer. My heart sank to my stomach as I lowered my head. I couldn't believe that Nickolas could say that, but what was I expecting? "What's the meaning of this, Valeria?" Sam's voice echoed throughout the hall as I swallowed