Anna couldn’t help the tears rushing out, her body giving in to the weariness she felt. But through that episode of weakness, the one thing a part of her couldn’t fathom was why William was still there comforting her. She had expected everything but that. If he had pushed her away, or said disparaging comments, maybe she wouldn’t have had the courage to let her tears fall.Maybe she would have wiped her tears furiously and rushed into the house in embarrassment. Instead, she felt exposed to a part of him she had never seen before, and she didn’t, for the life of her, know exactly how to react to that.William was silent, feeling so much hurt at the sight of his mate sobbing uncontrollably in his arms. It seemed, he mused silently, that despite his desire to stay away from her, all his instincts to protect her as his mate had overridden his decisions and will. It was like this woman was breaking down his walls one after the other, practically bulldozing through them without any regard
“Anna, where are you?” Her mother demanded to know, sounding exasperated and concerned. “Is the interview not finished yet?”Anna slowly processed those words while she turned to the wall clock whose numbers flowed in the dark. Her eyes widened once she saw the time: 5.03pm.Damn it.How had she not noticed the time?!“I’m on my way.” She promised her mother. “Are the twins okay? Have they eaten?“ She asked while picking up her purse and leaving her home to call a taxi.“They had a snack an hour ago.” Her mother said, sighing heavily. “Just get here, okay?”The call ended and Anna proceeded to do just as her mother had asked for the first time in a long time.…“Mommy,” Andrew sounded excited to see Anna as she entered the house, brushing past her father.“Baby.” She pressed a kiss on Andrew’s head and then on Andrea, hugging them tightly. “Did you have a good day?”They both nodded with smiles on their faces.“Anna,” her father caught her attention, and she turned around. “Why don’t
It was nearly midnight, and Ethan was bored. He growled under his breath as he watched the night sky from the front porch. The new moon phase was always his favorite because he could easily appreciate the beauty of the stars. The stars were twinkling in the sky and he enjoyed looking at them.Oh, who the fuck was he kidding?He hated being stuck inside the damned mansion all day.Unfortunately, he had spent nearly the entire day entertaining his mother.It was exhausting being the favorite sometimes; he didn’t know why William sometimes acted so envious of him.A smirk came onto his face as he remembered all the times when they were much younger and William was such a good brother. He cared enough to always bring Ethan along with him wherever he would go, and when their father - the previous Alpha - would want to take just William with him on business, William would put his foot down and insist that Ethan be brought along too.Those were truly good times.However, that all changed the
William opened his eyes to the insistent vibration of his phone. He let out a soft groan, turning his head away from the source and closing his eyes back. In his attempt to get some rest, he was not successful, as the vibration continued to force him back into the realm of reality. He let out a growl, cursing under his breath.“Fucking little…” he muttered as he picked up the phone roughly.It took him seeing the time and date in his phone as well as the multiple missed calls from Lily to remember how badly he had screwed up.How in the world had he forgotten the meeting with Alpha Drake yesterday?!He thought back to how his day had gone, and recalled his need to drink away his frustrations after seeing Anna break down and blame him for her problems. He had tried his best to calm down that guilt that was eating away at him, for the small, very insignificant price of his sobriety.Unfortunately now it was all catching up to him, and he didnt like that at all.Nevertheless, the day mus
William didn’t know what to say, but he was adept at denying until proven guilty.“Mother, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He stated.“Don’t be smart with me.” She snapped. “You can’t try to fool me even if you tried! Who is Anna? I heard you mention that name.”“She’s nothing but an employee of this company.” He sounded measured even though what he wanted to do was demand his mother to stop asking so many questions. “Perhaps you should stop trying to eavesdrop on my conversations with my subordinates.”Her eyes flashed, although her son did have a point.“Hmmph! Perhaps you should be more responsible and pick up your phone when I call you.” She sounded miffed now. “Alpha or not, William, I am still your mother!”“That’s obvious.” He muttered to himself. “Regardless, I was busy last night.”“Busy?! Then you should have picked up the damn phone, William! Ethan’s wife-to-be came into the pack looking for you yesterday!”His head shot up as soon as he heard that, all thoughts
Lily regarded her uncle as his brows were furrowed, clearly confused about her words.“If you’re asking about whether he is a threat to our plans,” he eventually said. “I don’t think that he will be.”Finishing off the fruit and grabbing a napkin to clean off her hands, Lily simply asked her uncle the next question. “Does that mean you don’t know about him?”Alpha Drake could tell there was tension in her words now. As much as her words bruised his pride a little, he also didn’t like the implication that she thought he was brushing aside her feelings, knowing how temperamental she truly was.He had to assure her.“Lily, tell me,” he asked her. “Why are you thinking of Ethan being a threat to us? Have you seen anything?”Lily pursed her lips, stubbornly glancing away with her striking eyes.“It’s just a hunch, uncle.” She responded.She very well knew that she couldn’t tell her Uncle Drake about how Ethan had seemed to look through her mask, and truly seen her. And she had noticed he h
Ethan smirked at his brother. He didn’t believe a thing his brother was saying.“You mean to tell me,” he drawled. “That the little pretty redhead means nothing to you. She’s nothing?”“Exactly,” William growled, wondering how he could beat some sense into his brother. Calling Anna a little redhead? That just set him on edge and pissed him off even more. He had to fight to control himself lest he do something harsh. “That woman means nothing to me. And don’t you worry. I am going to take responsibility for my children.” He added. “There’s no need for you to blab about this, or I will make you suffer for it.”Ethan took the warning in stride. He knew how his brother could be after all.With a smirk, he boldly asked, “Does that mean then that I can have her?“Ethan! You overstep!” William stepped forward, and Ethan shut his mouth with a click. For someone who didn’t care about her, he was really pissed off when mentioning that.William glared down at his brother, knowing he couldn’t ris
Ethan was silently watching Anna and the children as she settled them into their seats from across the table. Already the twins were eating their meals paid for by him.He was pleasantly surprised that she would agree to go out for dinner even though he had sensed some hesitation over the phone. But it didn’t matter. He was going to have to convince her that he meant no harm and use this as a way to get something over William for once. Nothing else mattered but that.“Thanks,” Anna said to him and brought his mind back to reality. He smiled at her in a charming way. “For the meal. They really like it.” She remarked, trying not to look as awkward as she felt.“It’s my pleasure, Anna.” Ethan put on his patented look of innocent concern and leaned forward. “Actually I wanted to ask you a few questions. Don’t take it the wrong way.”So there was something he wanted, Anna thought, beginning to feel wary.She had made this decision to go out for dinner with him because she didn’t think it m