~Unknown~I kept back in the shadows of the courthouse parking lot, watching the drama unfold in real time.I saw the lady lawyer arrive in a car with another man, the husband most likely.I saw them stall in the car and then get out. I saw the reporters circle around them like vultures.Then in a burst of anger, I saw the woman command the attention of the reporters like a pro and tell them off.'Now, that was interesting to watch!' I chuckled to myself. She must be quite something.But not even that was as surprising to me as seeing Ahmad and Boulin, Nik's beta and gamma swooping in to rescue the lawyer.That was the most interesting thing of all! I'd been mildly interested in knowing who he decided to employ as his lawyer.But now, my interest and curiosity was fully peaked. Not only did he snap at me on the phone when I talked about her but he even has his pack members protecting her now?Who was this Bella Smith? And what did she mean to the great Nikolai Reese? The beta and ga
~Bella~At the sight of Kid Rover walking into our office, Maggie gasped and fell into a dead faint.I screamed and ran towards her. "Maggie! Maggie!" I cried, shaking her incessantly.I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Excuse me," the person said.I looked up to see Miss Irene standing over me, looking as cool as a cucumber."Let us handle this. We're used to things like this happening," she said.I nodded and moved back. Of course, they were probably used to women everywhere fainting at the sight of the pop star.She signaled to one of their accomplices, a young girl no older than eighteen in big glasses and an oversized sweater.She hurried over and whipped out a bottle of smelling salts from her bag. She promptly shoved it under Maggie's nose.My friend jerked awake. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed.I grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her. "Maggie, are you okay?""I'll be okay if you stop jerking me around," she wheezed."Oh, sorry." I let her go. "I'm so sorry about this," I said to K
~ Bella ~I stood in front of the conference room, practically shaking with fear.Maggie had informed me a few minutes ago that all the parties had arrived and were waiting for me in the conference room.I should have gone in but I was stalling for time, hoping I could regain my nerves first.I tried to remember everything I knew about breathing exercises but I was drawing a serious blank."You can do this! You can do this, Bella," I chanted, psyching myself up. In my hand, I held a file of papers including the contracts that Irene had delivered to me. I pressed it tightly to my chest. Parker and I had spent all of the last two days poring over it for every loophole possible.He'd also been grilling me for these past two days, trying to prepare me. But even though he'd done a great job, I still felt ill-prepared."I'm going to mess this up," I muttered to myself."Now, that is concerning," a deep voice said suddenly behind me.I squealed and jumped almost two feet into the air. I
~ Nikolai ~I stood behind my mate, watching proudly as she took charge of the meeting again without missing a bit.My blood was still boiling with anger at the nasty things that stupid man had said to her.I'd instantly seen her reaction to it. Her face had fallen, and her confidence with it.In a surge of protectiveness, I'd found myself jumping to her defence.But now, she'd taken control again and was handling the meeting like a pro. I felt a wave of pride well up inside me. 'That's my girl! That's my mate!' it sang."Reading through the contracts, I can admit that we are in a tough position here. The terms of the contract mean that you own not only his music catalogue but also his likeness," she was saying."It's a good thing that you know that," the woman on the other team said. The man took over again;"Since Mr Hall has signed that contract, he is bound by it. We only came for this meeting out of formality. He has no choice but to either stay with us or leave the name Kid Ro
~ Nikolai ~Karl surged to the surface like a wildfire, straining to attack the kid."Snap his hand right now!" he growled inside my head.I struggled against him fiercely. It was even harder because deep down, I wanted to do the same thing. I didn't want him touching Bella.There aren't many times that I actually win against Karl but this time, I managed.I guess I was strengthened because I didn't think Bella would appreciate me breaking her pop idol's hand in front of her.So instead, I pinned the kid with a deadly look. He caught my eye and immediately backed up. He let go of her immediately, a scared look flashing across his eyes. "I-I have to go," he muttered."I'll see you at the next meeting, Mr Rover," Bella called to him, completely oblivious to our little exchange.He hurried away without a word, throwing an uneasy look over his shoulder at me.The manager stopped to shake her hand as well. "Thank you, Mrs Bella. You did an amazing job. I look forward to concluding this c
~ Bella ~For moments after Alpha Nikolai left the room, I remained curled up against the wall, crying.I couldn't for the life of me figure out what had led to such a drastic change in Alpha Nikolai's mood.One second he was smiling, telling me he was impressed. The next second he was punching a hole in the office wall. My ear was still ringing from the loud crash. I brushed the plaster from my hair.'I can't believe that I was actually warming up to him. He is a monster! A monster!'Tears streamed down my face in torrents. My body still shook slightly from the fear and adrenaline rush.Honestly, I'd thought he would kill me right then and there. That moment where his fist flew towards my head... his eyes had actually glowed red. If he'd hit my head, my brains would be all over the floor right now, no doubt.How could a person be that strong? He could have easily crushed my skull with his fist!It was a brutal reminder that the person I was dealing with was not human. He was an a
~ Bella ~I froze as I heard Alpha Nikolai's deep, husky voice over the phone.The last time I'd heard his voice, he'd been growling at me.Right now his voice was uncharacteristically soft, almost appealing.But the memories from earlier continued to play in my head, causing the back of my neck to prickle in alarm."Bella?" he repeated. "Are you still there?"I shook myself back to attention. "Hello? Hum... yes I am. And yes, I got the necklace.""Did you like it?" he asked.I nodded then remembered that he couldn't see me. I cleared my throat."Yes, I did," I answered. "It's very beautiful. Thank you.""And did you get my note too?" he pressed."Yes, I did," I answered again. I was not giving him any leeway because to be honest I was a bit mad at him for what happened earlier."I meant it, Bella," he said. "I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have lost control like that."I sighed. I couldn't even stay mad at him when he sounded this quiet and pertinent. I had a feeling not many p
~ Bella ~"What did she do this time by the way?" Maggie asked.I gave her a quick rundown of my encounter with Mrs Meyer at Parker's office earlier.Maggie threw her head back and laughed. "You have to give it up to her though. She really takes her job as your arch nemesis very seriously!""Well, I'm going to teach her a good lesson this time again. I guess she didn't learn her lesson last time. Remember how it went?" I asked, snickering.Maggie doubled over laughing, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. "Girl, how could I forget?"The last time we'd decided to 'teach Mrs Meyer a lesson', I'd come up with an elaborately delicious plan.Maggie and I had enlisted the help of an old friend from back home to place a call to Mrs Meyer while we listened from the door. Even though we only got to hear one side of the conversation, it was highly rewarding.It'd gone something like this;"...Hello?" *Pause "...Yes, this is the office of Parker Smith." *Pause "...I am his secretary, Mrs