Heading out of the restaurant, I heard the guy who had the bloody nose say something about calling the police, but the conversation faded out when Zach and I stepped out onto the street. “You really throw a punch,” I broke the silence between us as we headed for the BMW parked not too far away. The tight frown on his face immediately faded as a tentative smile took its place. “Yeah? You’re not mad at me for doing that?” He asked, a child-like look in his eyes. I chuckled lightly. “Why would I be? Yeah, I’m a bit flustered and shaken by it all but I think it was bada**,” I explained, still holding onto his hand. His grip on my small hand had my heart thundering and I could feel the heat rising to my face. Zach scoffed in disbelief. “Are you sure you’re not mad at me? I mean, if I would have been with Mark or Cassie, I would have been getting a lecture right now.” He rolled his eyes. “You stood up for me, no one has done that for me before. Absolutely no one,” I said to him in a sh

It was night when we reached back at the Villa. The lights in the compound shone bright as the fancy car finally came to a stop. I was feeling a heaviness in my chest that I could not quite understand but I decided to keep that to myself. A guard opened my side of the car for me and I mumbled a few words of gratitude to him as I got out. Waiting for the Alpha, I kept looking to his side, and when he came down from the car, he had a stiff look on his face. I could not help but think that it was because of me. And let’s face it, the chances of it being because of me were very high. “Are you okay?” I asked him quietly as we walked into the huge Villa. “Don’t ask me that,” He replied in a monotone. “You know I’m not, so that’s just a stupid question. Do you know how messed up all of this is? I feel like I’m not even in control and I’m the f*cking Alpha!” He raised his voice, frustration etched on his face. I swallowed and was about to say something in response but someone beat me to

The Alpha’s expression softened as he processed my words. He took a moment, then sighed. “Rue, you don’t have to punish yourself like this. You have a room for a reason. I have been looking for you since this morning, do you even know what time it is?” “I keep ruining everything when all you want is to help me,” I replied, trying my best to avoid looking into his eyes. “That’s not true.” He shook his head, but I knew that he knew that I was right. He took a step closer to me. “Now, stop this, and let’s head upstairs. Then you can shower, we have somewhere that we have to be.” Somewhere to be? What was he talking about? He may have noticed the look of confusion mixed with tiredness on my face because he added, “We need to see the council; the Elders. We have not sealed the deal with Mother Teresa yet, Rue. You are still at risk of Darco.” I nodded slowly as I took in the information. He was right. It must have slipped my mind. I was still the dark alpha’s property. We needed to co

Elder Robert’s stern expression wavered, a mix of surprise, disbelief, and eventually, anger. The room fell into a heavy silence as the Alpha’s ultimatum hung in the air. “Zackery, what is this? You’re the Alpha of the pack but that does not mean that you get to dictate terms to us. We are the Elders!” The aged lady spoke up, her tone laced with authority and concern. “I told you,” Elder Robert began, talking directly to his colleagues. “This boy is too damn hot-tempered and unstable to lead the pack. You two should have listened to me years ago when I talked about removing him and begging Storm to come back.”I had a feeling that everything was about to go to crap. It was clear. Elder Robert did not even bother to lower his voice when he was talking to his colleagues. We all could hear him. Zach shook his head as his eyes got teary. “I don’t think that I stuttered when I told you guys what I was going to do, and I stand by that. You have twenty-four hours or I’m going to wire the

Sitting in a limo with Zach and Beta Mark, my heart was racing. I was just an omega and an orphan at that. I did not deserve this kind of lifestyle, I knew that. I also could not help but feel guilty that I had a better life now compared to the other omegas that had not escaped Mother Teresa’s evil grip. I had promised them that I was going to help; that I was going to come back for them. But here I was, in a limo that could buy me, on my way to a royal ball. A freaking royal ball! So you see, it was a bittersweet experience. When the luxurious car came to a stop, the door was opened for us. I knew that Cassie wanted to kill me. I could still remember the look of pure anger on her face when she stormed away after finding out that I was the Alpha’s date. Since then, I have not laid an eye on her. She did not ride with us in the limo, so maybe she had decided to just stay at the Villa. As for Beta Mark, when he found out that I was Zach’s date, all he did was remind the alpha of my