Melinda’s POV
“Melinda?” Kramen’s voice sounded as he walked into the study. “What are you doing here like this?” He crouched beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder, “I couldn’t find Aster at her clinic. So, I went and called Laura instead. She is waiting in the bedroom to examine you.”
“You are finally here.” My lips curled into a wry smile as I raised my head to look at him with a tear-stained face. “I was waiting to congratulate you….”
“Congratulate me?” His eyes flashed with concern, making the sting in my heart dig deeper. “Are you okay, Melinda… You look so pale and the way you are talking…” He pressed his palm against my forehead. “You don’t seem to have a temperature….”
A long, suffering sigh left my lips. All this care, preparing meals for me, treating me with so much affection
KEITH’S POV “I knew I made the right choice.” Alpha Alexander stated, placing his hand on my shoulder. Startled, I raised my head and looked at him, my eyebrows set in a deep frown.“You have passed all my tests, Keith.” Holding my shoulders in a firm grip, he helped me to my feet. “You are clever, steadfast, loyal and a brilliant strategist.” I gaped at him with a bewildered expression as he continued, “What is more, you love Melinda with all your heart. You are willing to sacrifice everything for her happiness.” His lips curled in a bright smile. “No one in this world can match up to you.”“You mean to say, this entire thing was a part of some damn test?” I gasped, shaking my head in disbelief. “I don’t understand. Why in the fucking world would you go to such lengths to test me?”“I will explain everything in due time, but for now, let us get over with the formalities.” He said as he led me to the chair placed at a higher elevation than the rest. Making me sit on the chair, he si
MELINDA’S POV “Melinda,” Keith’s excited voice sounded through my phone. “How are you?”Me, I am shattered, heartbroken. It is like my soul has been shredded into a hundred parts and trampled; like there is nothing left within me.Drawing in a shaky breath, I forced myself to speak, “I am fine…”“What about our baby?”Our baby? Tears streaked down my cheeks and I had to thrust my fist into my mouth to muffle the sob.“Place the phone on your abdomen.” He continued in an excited tone. “I want to give our baby some good news….”I swallowed hard and grunted, “Okay…”My fingers trembled as I held the phone close to my bosom. Every word that Keith spoke was like a fresh stab to my wounded heart.I wanted to stop him; tell him not to have any false hopes, but I lacked courage. I didn’t have it in me to break this earth shattering news to him; at least not over the call.“You know what? Today is the best day in your Daddy’s life.” Keith said in a voice mixed with equal parts of pride and mi
Melinda’s POV “Kain?” I called out as I walked into the hall. “You were going to stay back with Ariana and make sure she is safe, right? Why are you here?”“Umm… I don’t know….” He mumbled, setting the cutlery on the table. “Yesterday, I started feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden. I was filled with this strange urge to see you.” He poured a glass of juice and handed it to me, his lips curving into a small smile. “I am glad that I came. The state of mind you were in….” He shuddered, and his eyes flashed with concern. “What exactly happened, Melinda?”“Umm…” I lowered my gaze, “Nothing really… I was just feeling depressed….”It is not that I wanted to hide anything from Kain. I just felt that Keith must be the first one to know about everything.“Must be the mood swings.” Kain said, his expression turning serious. “I had read it in a book that hormonal changes during pregnancy can make you depressed and irritable.” His eyes lit up suddenly, and he rubbed his palms together. “I also
Melinda’s POV Groaning, I stretched my arms again, trying to reach into my pocket. The mere act of pulling out a silver needle seemed arduous, given that my hands were bound behind me with silver handcuffs. Each time I tried to move my hand; the metal burned into my skin painfully.‘Corel,” I called out to my wolf. ‘This seems like an impossible task. Do you have any suggestions?’‘No,’ she snapped. ‘You are getting what you deserve. I told you to focus on the right things. If you had told Keith about the call instead of coming here stupidly, you wouldn’t have landed in trouble!’“Are you helping or not?’‘Nope,’ she snapped obstinately. ‘You are the one who created the mess, you fix it.”‘Arrghh!’ I grunted with frustration. If I didn’t get out of here, that rascal would try to use me as a bargaining chip to manipulate my mates. Tugging hard at the cuffs, I stomped angrily.The chair tilted to one side, making me lose balance. It swerved in the air for a dangerous moment before topp
KEITH’S POV “What did you say? Melinda is missing?” My heart sank hearing Kain’s words. “How in the fucking world did such a thing happen? What in the damned world were you and Kramen doing?”“She locked me inside the house and left in a cab before I could break out.”“She did what?” Every word he spoke intensified the rage building within me. “What is the point of your existence if you can’t even protect our mate?”“Don’t worry… I will deploy…”“No need…” I cut him off as I grabbed the car keys and rushed out of the house. “I will handle this matter myself.”Hopping into the car, I put the phone on speaker and connected Alpha Alexander, Kramen, Justin on conference call.“Kain, now tell us what happened in detail.”“I was in the kitchen cooking pasta for Melinda when she insisted on going alone, saying that she was feeling suffocated. When I didn’t agree, she rushed out of the house and locked the door from the outside. By the time, I broke out, she had already left in a cab. She h
MELINDA’S POV I sat on the floor, blinking my eyes in utter confusion. One moment we were in that gloomy, stingy cell and the next, I was here in this weird-looking cave with pillars that looked like they were made of glass. What just happened?I groaned, stretching my limbs. Why did my arms and legs feel so weak, as if every part of my body had been broken and restructured again?Looking around, my gaze landed on the girl, who was sprawled across the floor. She had passed out again, but a bit of color had returned to her face, making her look better. Crawling closer, I patted her face, “Hey… Are you okay?”Her chest heaved as she sucked in a deep breath through her mouth. Her eyelids fluttered and a single word left her chapped lips. “Water…”I licked my dry lips and swallowed; her mention of water flaring my own thirst. Getting to my feet, I looked around. Where was I going to find wat
Melinda’s POV “I think someone is here….” Oleander said, her body becoming fully rigid. She grabbed my hand, prepared to teleport us again. This was when I was hit with the familiar scent of lemon and mint.“It is my mate, Keith.” I said, extracting my hand from hers. “We are safe now.”There was a soft whoosh behind me. When I turned around, I found that Oleander had already disappeared. I had heard that witches don’t meet others unless absolutely necessary. Probably that was true.“Melinda,” Keith’s surprised voice echoed in the cavern, making my stomach twist into a knot. It had been so long since I saw him face to face. My heart thrummed erratically as I turned around and raised my head slowly to look at him; afraid that my heart would explode due to the impact.His face washed over with relief and his eyes sparked with joy, “Melinda, I have finally found you.” Rushing over to me, he grabbed me by my shoulders; his eyes raking over me from top to bottom. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
Melinda’s POVCrash! At some point, the door to my bedroom was slammed open. My gaze lifted to the doorway in hope. However, the next instant that hope was crushed when I saw Kain instead of Keith.Don’t get me wrong. I know Kain did this because he was worried about me. But, at this point, this wasn’t what I needed. What I craved was for a little understanding on Keith’s part.If he had just given me a chance to explain rather the outright judging me, I would have been content. I would have still chosen to keep Kramen’s action a secret and accept his hatred. But, I wouldn’t have felt so shattered.“Melinda…” Kain’s agonised voice fell in my ears. “Please, let me take wash and clean your wounds.”“Go away, Kain….” I rolled on the bed and turned my head to the other side. “I want to stay alone.”“I am sorry, Melinda.” He said in an obstinate voice as he scooted over and gathered me in his arms. “I can’t leave you like this.He carried me to the bathroom and set me under the shower, tur