Arielle’s POV:I sighed heavily as I watched the door shut with a thud.Just like that, our do-over date had ended. And I was now feeling lonely.Standing up from my chair on the dining table I had set up, I began to pick the plates of half-finished appetizers. We hadn’t even gotten through the appetizers.The thought of it just made me laugh out loud. My laughter filled the suite, and it sounded mirthless and aching.Well, I thought, this was the life of being mates to an Alpha. But could I do this? Could I be an Alpha’s mate? Could I be the Luna of the Pack that would help to guide everyone?The voice of that old woman who claimed to be the moon goddess had said so during my trance-links dream. But it was hard to believe. I, Arielle Grey, becoming a guide for the Pack, like the mother of the Pack.Could I bring myself to sacrifice in the same way that Richard does every day? He clearly put the pack first in all his decisions, and in every step he took. If he ever had to choose betwe
Arielle’s POV:Those words I heard did have an effect on me, and I couldn’t for one just deny that. It was like an avalanche of emotions suddenly built up inside of me, waiting until the last drop of weight that would send everything come rolling downhill.Still, I had to be strong, I reminded myself. I was not just Arielle Grey, pack doctor. I was also a member of this pack, and I was protected. But more than that, I was the mate of the Alpha of the Redding Pack, Richard, which made me a future Luna. I had to learn to be stronge despite all odds.“Was that what he said?” I used a false calm expression to hide all my fears behind it, building a wall to block all of that out of my mind for the time being. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched as Ethan displayed a look of surprise at my reaction, or rather, my lack of reaction. “I didn’t exactly expect any less from Leon. But you and I already know that, don’t we?”A familiar scent caught my attention, and I suddenly was aware of
Richard’s POV:The two of us were at a standstill, facing each other like foes surveying their competition on the battlefield. I noticed that the Rogue had his hands clenched by his sides into fists. He was very angry, and I relished in his anger.“I would say something inflammatory at this point,” Leon began, the silence being broken by his voice, rough and tight with hidden depths to his emotions. “But I’m not here to fight. I came here to talk, Alpha Richard Wells of the Redding Pack. I came for what’s mine.”I had to fight to control my tongue this to me, and instead ground out, “I have nothing of yours. So don’t even think about saying it.”“Saying what? I came for your pack doctor. You already know that is the reason why I’m here, don’t you?” He gave me a predatory grin, which made me growl under my breath. I wanted to slam his head into a tree and rip his fucking throat out with my teeth. But I had to control myself.“Dr Grey isn’t yours, either. And you have no right to negoti
Arielle’s POVWe were at a standstill.Instead of being outside, the three of us were at the clinic. And we weren’t the only ones there. It turned out that Darren had also sent three other warriors to look after me. They were now patrolling the place, Lilian having convinced them that she would be watching Ethan.I was nervous, and anyone who had eyes could see it. There I was, seated in the couch of my office, biting my lips and tapping my foot on the floor incessantly. My hand had found its way to my hair and I was slowly unraveling the bun I had put my hair into previously.Ethan was in the office with me, as was Lilian. Lilian was more focused on watching Ethan, and I didn’t blame her, having not seen his good side before. But I hoped to at soon, the tension would end. Ethan himself was seated at a chair in front of my desk, and his eyes were darting about the place, sometimes focused on me, and sometimes looking around the office. But he was avoiding Lilian’s intense glare, that
Richard’s POVI was not happy.“Why didn’t you send word to us?” I heard Darren ask his mate Lilian, and I could sense the tension in his voice. “The Rogue is still in the office with Arielle, alone. You know he could be dangerous.”We were walking down the hallway of the clinic, and I was moving in long quick strides, leaving Lilian and Darren trailing some ways behind me.I already had no idea how to feel, with the way that Leon had boldly come into my territory talking rubbish about how Arielle was going to come to him.But now, this?Why had she made this kind of decision, to spare a Rogue?I didn’t waste any time; as soon as I got to her office, I opened the door quickly, and walked in.My vision narrowed upon the man whom I had definitely never seen before in my life. He was a stranger - he was the Rogue.I didn’t pay attention to anything else, and I strode towards him with determination.I felt a lot of satisfaction within me as there was a flash of unmistakable terror in his
Arielle’s POV:What could I say to convince him?I was spent; I felt like I had been tense, my shoulders even hurt from the way I had been overthinking since for the past few hours, waiting for Richard to return.And now, this.I was still on my knees, feeling the pent up tension leak out of my body through my tears. I wasn’t crying just for Ethan. I was crying for everything; for Leon’s message he had sent as an ultimatum to me, for the obstacles I still had to face as the mate of the Alpha of the pack, for all the pain I had gone through at my age.Why was all this happening?“Get up,” Richard was saying, and I could see a flash of an intense emotion in his eyes before it was quickly replaced by blankness. I watched him clench his hands into fists and unclench them back again.He even repeated the command a second time.Still I couldn’t get up. I wouldn’t get up until he finally listened to me. I need him to give me a listening ear, and not to ignore my pleas like I meant nothing to
Richard’s POV:I wasn’t startled by Arielle’s question. In fact, I had definitely expected her to ask me such a question.After all I had left a date looking a little bit worried as Darren had called me and interrupting what would’ve been a pleasant night.‘Do you want to talk about it like this instead?’ She asked me to the mind link.I shook my head, releasing her from my embrace and leading her to sit down on the couch.Once the two of us were seated, I clasped my hands on my lap.‘Now, how do I begin?’She responded quickly, ‘From the beginning.’ There was a tinge of humor in her tone that made me relax a little. But then she spoke, sounding a little more concerned than before now. ‘Richard, remember not to leave anything out. I know you don’t want me to be hurt by anything but I need to know all these things. I’m your mate, remember?’I nodded, squaring my shoulders before I then began to speak out loud, instead of talking through the mind link. It would be a little bit easier th
Arielle’s POV:I don’t know how long that I had managed to sleep for, but it was already a few minutes past 7am when I opened my eyes.I didn’t get up immediately, instead i I just laid there, staring at the patterns on the cieling of my room, with my body relaxed and my mind moving in a flurry.I was thinking of the things that had happened in the last couple of hours - no, more like in the last night.I took in a deep breath and released it slowly through my mouth. I did that again, and again, until the knots that I could feel in my belly subsided just a little.There was too much going on, I decided, slowly finding the strength to get out of bed. With Leon’s ultimatum expiring in the next two and a half days, with Ethan who was Leon’s second in command needing to decide where he stood - either with me and the Redding Pack, or with Leon and the rest of the Rogues.There were just too many things happening, too many people involved now. And I was right in the middle, at the epicenter