Lea: “It was done,” Diego said, making me frown in confusion as I tried understanding what he was referring to. He showed me a picture, and there, in the middle of the cemetery, was my father’s grave alongside my mother’s. It barely had anything on it to identify who was buried by her side, but the words Bartolomeo Auditore and Isabella Auditore made my stomach churn as my air tightened. “You can visit him when you want to. The two of them, actually,” he said, and I nodded in thanks as my lips quivered. His mother, Luna Claudia, was standing by the stairs as she looked at the two of us, and it took everything in me not to cry. However, I was thankful for the woman who walked toward me, her eyes softening as she put her finger under my chin. “It is good to let them out while you can. There would come a time when mourning would be harder and you are going to be tired and exhausted because you chose to block your pain in when you had the chance to let it out.” She said, her voice t
Diego: It took everything in me not to claim the woman as my own then and there. “You are ONLY making it harder on us,” my wolf, Ares, said. “Shut up,” I said, glaring at my desk. My office was the one place that I could think of going to. I needed to clear my head, and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to do so with the woman being in front of me. She was here because I needed to free my pack from my father’s hold. And the last thing that I was going to do was put my mother in a situation where she was going to feel like she was at risk of him hurting her at any given moment. The man has done enough damage to her, and that wasn’t something that I was going to allow anymore. “You can always claim her, and with the allies that you have, her own bloodline, fight the man.” Ares suggested. I rolled my eyes, knowing that he was not making any sense. Had that been an easy thing to do, I would have done so. But the consequence that came with it was one that I did not want to find m
Lea: I took deep and slow breaths as I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for how things were going to end up going. I knew that challenging the pack’s Luna, the Alpha’s mother, was not going to be to my advantage, but I also knew that she had to understand that I wasn’t like the other girls within the pack. I wasn’t going to let her decide what I wanted or didn’t want to do. It wasn’t going to be something that I allowed, and as long as her son knew that I was going to work, I doubted that she should be making a fuss out of it. The bedroom door was knocked, and though I caught Giovanni’s scent, I couldn’t help but jump in surprise before I calmed myself down. I walked to the door, having made sure to lock it before I sat, I knew that the man wouldn’t be able to get in. That, of course, depends on whether or not he decides to break the door down. “You remembered to lock your door.” He stated, and I crossed my arms over my chest, not saying a word for a few seconds. “Is everything
Diego: I waited for Renata to respond, but the woman only shook her head as her heart raced. “Diego, I did not want to…” “You are not denying it,” I said, raising an amused eyebrow. “You looked me in the eye and took me for a fool…” “I did not want to,” she said, stopping me. “I wanted it to stop, but fucking hell, I have been trying to give you a baby for years. I tried, time and time, to talk to you about it. All you have ever done when it concerns me is shut me off.” “Oh, really? And you saw it as correct to go on ahead and sleep with another man while you were with me? Say that I did not find out about the miscarriage right now, how were you going to explain the fact that you were carrying ‘my’ baby.” I asked, glaring daggers at her. Her lips quivered and she shook her head. “I didn’t feel the child, but you expected to find a way to lie about it, didn’t you? You wanted me to mark you as my mate before the baby’s heartbeat…” “I didn’t want to lie to you nor did I want to hurt
Lea: It took me a second to process the fact that the Alpha was standing in front of me. And the fact that he was asking to come inside my room only confused me more than I already was. “You can come in.” I said, taking a step back. I have barely been here a few days and the Alpha was seeking my presence? I smiled as I watched him walking inside, forcing myself to look as welcoming as I possibly could in the situation where I couldn’t help but find myself wondering why on Earth the man would want to be by my side when he has a whole pack that would be more than willing to be by his side. He sat on the couch that was in my room and I sat on the edge of the bed, watching as he laid his head on the armrest, his pain evident in his eyes. “Are you okay?” I asked, choosing to try and understand what was going on. I didn’t understand what this was about, but I could tell that something must have happened if he was in such a situation. “Do I look okay?” He asked, and I looked down at
Diego: I walked to my room, my anger getting the best of me as I tried to think straight. The fact that Renata slept with another man was one thing that I couldn’t find myself accepting. I didn’t even know who the man was, and the idea of him being here within the pack was something that raged me. I pinched the bridge of my nose, and I sat on the edge of my bed, knowing that I was going to need to think straight. I needed to manage to calm myself to be able to run things right now. I needed to focus on the things that I wanted to take care of. The pack was going to need my attention, and I wasn’t going to be able to do so if I was going to be thinking of what Renata did. The topic was going to die down, and I knew that Renata was going to try to take advantage of things. However, this was too much for me to handle and take at one point. My bedroom door was knocked twice, and I looked up as I caught Lea’s scent. I frowned in confusion and got up from bed, opening the door for her
Lea: “I heard that you were in my son’s room last night.” Luna Claudia said, surprising me when I walked down the stairs. I had to fight back jumping as I looked at her. She raised an amused eyebrow at me, and I smiled. “He passed by last night, and I went to apologize to him.” I said, and she raised an eyebrow at me, and I looked down at my feet, avoiding her gaze. My cheeks reddened, and she walked toward me, studying my expression. “I will not ask any questions on what might have went by to have you apologizing to him, but I must admit, I am proud of the progress.” She said, and I looked up at her. “Did he tell you why he passed by?” “Not at all,” I said, and she nodded. Her eyes studied my expression, and I could tell that she was looking for a mark that would reveal anything that meant that the two of us might have had a night together. “We barely spoke, and I went to the room to go to bed.” “I see,” she said, and she nodded. She took a step back, and she smiled. “Progres
Diego: “So, madre wants you to enter my bed,” I said, looking at Lea whose eyes avoided mine. The two of us were walking around the pack grounds, and though we were outside the Estate, I knew that for her safety, for now, we needed to stay within the pack. I still didn’t have control over Zenith and I didn’t know what Ryker would be trying to do if he managed to find her outside. I didn’t even know how she was going to be able to go to work without the risk of her getting killed, but I knew that I was going to be dealing with this somehow. “You caught onto that.” She stated, avoiding my eyes. I smirked, and she looked away from me. “I am used to her wanting to do so, but I never did expect her to be as open about it.” I said, and she looked down at her feet. I knew that one part of her was going to want that to happen. As my mate, it was going to be something that she and her wolf would want, but it wasn’t something that I wanted her to have hopes for. I didn’t want this right