I sit down in my office chair with my hand over my mouth, shell-shocked to shit at what Mia has just told me. All this time I had a mafia princess as my surrogate, an abused illegitimate heir given to my biggest enemy and I was none the wiser.She’s a fucking Cotroni; the daughter of my father’s best friend and the reason Maxim’s father was considered a failed Alpha heir. I wasn’t even aware he had a different daughter from Rosalie, but as I looked at Mia better, I could see the resemblance. She’s not lying, I know she’s not fucking lying so why am I so hesitant to believe her?If she’s Giovanni’s daughter, that means my heir will be even more powerful than I am. If she’s Giovanni’s only blood heir…wouldn’t it be better to keep her as my Luna?“No. Fuck, no,” I say aloud, shaking my head even as the thought forms in my mind. Yes, it would benefit me greatly to have her as my Luna, but I do not want a Luna, right? No, I don’t…I don’t need…My office door opens and Maxim saunters in wi
My brother saunters into my office with his hands in the pockets of his slacks; an Ioannides trait. The same face, same color eyes, mannerisms, and cruel streaks but even as we are spitting images of one another, there are major differences.For one, we both have tattoos right up to our necks, but they differ in designs. Bastien wasn’t tormented like I was and he experienced true love once upon a time. Where I suffered trauma at a young age, he experienced it later in life.He pours us each a glass of whiskey, then gestures for me to join him over by the leather sofas.“So, what were you going to call me about?”I take the glass and shake my head. “Before you even ask that, why are you here? Is Sin City getting boring?”He chuckles, crossing one leg over the other knee. “On the contrary, business is booming. But my reason for visiting is to ask if you’re hoping to part with Alpha Kinnead’s sword.”“You want to place it at the auction?” I ask, and he nods. “Then, by all mean, take the
My news didn’t affect him as much as I thought it would, but then again he has such a good poker face. The man was made to lie and manipulate the same way as all Alphas do - lie, cheat, take what’s left of you, and toss you to the side.I should have known better, instead, I allowed myself to believe Alpha Nikolaos might be different. How foolish!Now here I am yet again, struggling to fall asleep with thoughts of the Alpha plaguing me. The look of betrayal in his eyes when I turned to face him, the way he comforted me after the pack house was invaded.“You’re deluding yourself, Mirabella; he simply wants your womb and nothing else. Do not romanticize this…It’s madness!” I repeat the mantra again, hoping it sticks but I have a restless night again.But the scent of autumn keeps me awake all night, taunting me with reminders of what I’ll never have. I just have to hold on for a few more months…then I’ll be free of this.I am woken up by an odd scent permeating my room and my eyes shoot
I hate being this far from my own territory and deep in someone else’s, but as I watch Giovanni’s massive mansion come into view, I know this is something that needs to be done. A phone call won’t suffice when it’s something this important.Maxim is still at the pack house overseeing things while I tend to this matter; no way am I leaving the place without a leader at its head. Especially not after what happened.Giovanni’s guards usher us in and when I get to his office, I can hear his booming laugh already. I grit my teeth; my respect for this man burnt to a crisp after finding out what he did to Mirabella all her life. Cecilia was his lifelong mistress; I don’t want to know how many of his children she got rid of before Mirabella was born. Did she think having his baby would keep him at her side? I suppose most mistresses would think this way. But her one decision led to her daughter having the worst life - abuse on top of abuse.I gnash my teeth and enter his office with a force
Maxim is standing at the door, looking at me with an odd expression. I had just gotten dressed and was about to write in my journal when he opened the door. I stand up and look at him. “Can I help you?”He cocks his head to the side. “Is that any way to speak to the person who’s getting you out of this room?” “What?” I ask with a frown and he simply chuckles. “Come, Mirabella. I’m sure you’ve missed the back gardens,” he says and walks out, leaving the door open. I swallow hard and take a step back, remembering how he fooled me last time. It’s the reason I’m in this room right now, the reason Alpha Nikolaos has me locked up.He walks back and looks at me with an eyebrow cocked. “Are you coming?”“The last time I followed your instructions, I ended up in here. Why would I follow you now?” I say, then I promptly sit down. “Please, leave me alone.”Maxim walks in and gets down on his haunches in front of me. I refuse to make eye contact, but his gaze is burning holes into the side of
I woke up this morning and felt the flutters again; I went to bed and felt them, as if the baby was saying good morning and goodnight to me. I know this is normal, and I know this is supposed to happen but no one mentioned how attached I’d feel.“Are you still having morning sickness, Mia?” My attention snaps to Dr. Lilah as she looks at the clipboard in her hand. “What about the dizzy spells and brain fog?”I shake my head. “They’ve all eased up in the last two weeks or so, but I do feel more tired than usual.”She nods. “All normal. Have you felt movement at all?”Sighing, I look down at my belly and the baby does another flutter before I answer. “It started a day ago; light flutters.”Dr. Lilah perks up and claps her hands together. “Oh, fantastic! That’s the best news I’ve heard all month!” she gushes, writing down something else on her clipboard. After this, she refills my vitamin prescription and I go on my way. My weekly check-ups have been stretched to monthly, so I don’t see
This woman drives me fucking crazy. I went on my knees for her yesterday as if she were my queen, called her my Luna, and vowed to protect her. Now she’s parading around in a fucking swimsuit right below my office window while my warriors make her laugh. How can one movement change me like this? The second I felt my child move, every single part of me snapped to attention. My beast growled deep within me, and that little link I felt to Mia now pulled tautly. I’ve been trying to push this feeling down, but the more I do, the more I fucking realize…She’s mine, and I don’t want her to leave.When did this become so fucking complicated? Knox looks at me with a grin and I nearly want to punch his fucking smug face. I know when it became complicated; when I sampled her during her heat. Now I want more of her. I want her close to me; I want to feel her skin on mine, I want to hear her say my name without the fucking title like she did yesterday./“Why don’t you just make your feelings kn
The warm shower washes away the embarrassment of being rejected. One minute Alpha Nikolaos acts like he wants me, the next he looks at me as if I’m the most disgusting thing he’s ever seen.It happened the second I touched his skin. In my stupid haze of pleasure, I forgot about the one thing he’s dead set against. How could I allow myself to do something like that? This man, he muddles up my head so I don’t think clearly when I’m around him.But why is it only his bare chest? What happened to him?/“He…has a past filled with pain. It would be a pity to see you add to it.”/Is this what Maxim meant? Is this why he hates being touched and yet he can touch me? With a sigh and my mind made up, I get out of the shower, put on my PJs and go to his bedroom. This needs to stop now; either he tells me what he wants from me or I give this ring back.I open my bedroom door and see Josef sitting in his usual spot, playing with his knife and not looking up at me. “Is the Alpha here?” I ask.He loo