Anna sighed to herself as she disembarked from the taxi, before turning to hand the driver the fare.She waited for her change, staring over her shoulder at the windows of her parents' home that looked out onto the street. It was already 9pm, and Anna had left her twins for a little while at home so she could do the one thing that Jacob asked her to. That, and to see if talking to her parents was worth doing.As she walked in, she was surprised to find her father seated on the couch, a burnt out cigarette stub in his hand. She had never seen him smoke before.“Dad.” She got his attention, and immediately he stood up and walked over to her.“Where have you been? We’ve been calling you for ages now.”“I’ve been at work, dad.” She sighed, looking around. “Where is mum?”“Inside,” he gestured up the stairs. “Talking to your sister.”Anna’s eyes widened and she immediately looked up the stairs to check if her sister wasn’t about to come down and attack her. Sophie had looked that way last

The fear that Anna felt wasn’t for herself but her children.So long as she could get them to safety, she would be okay, she reasoned to herself.But there was no one on this street. Unfortunately Anna had the worst luck right then, for not a soul had passed by.What would happen now?She took a good look at Sophie under the glare of the streetlights, trying to figure out whether she could convince her to let Andrea and Andrew go. But her sister looked like a few chocolate chips short of a cookie.Just as she was about to open her mouth to possibly damn herself and her children, another voice interrupted.“Excuse me.” Sophie’s gaze moved over Anna’s shoulder as a deep baritone voice was heard.Anna didn’t move - the pocket knife looked pretty sharp and Sophie was still brandishing it in her face.“What?!“ Sophie snapped at the man that Anna couldn’t see.“You shouldn’t be threatening people in public like that.” The man said, and Anna felt a shiver run down her spine as he brushed pas

Of course, you’d say such a thing, William couldn’t help but think in his head.“You should consider yourself lucky that you have a willing bride at your side,” William snapped at his younger brother. “Instead of complaining so fucking much.”“Why, I didn’t know that you cared, brother. I only am the younger brother of the Alpha after all. What right do I have to even speak up for myself?” The sarcasm in Ethan’s voice was enough to wake the dead. “Give me the girl and I’ll deal with her the same way I do my other girls. And this time, she won’t be able to escape.”William growled and stood up, walking over to his brother. Ethan may have been tall but William still rather towered over his brother, both in muscle bulk and in height.“You will watch your tongue,” William advised Ethan not as cruelly as he wanted to. His voice was low and promising. “And if you hate the thought of getting married to her, then maybe I can take her off your hands.”William wouldn’t admit it, but the thought

The silence that reigned after William stepped away from Anna was so thick with tension it could be cut by a knife. Anna shifted on the couch and slowly stood up.“Sir, I should be going to the hospital now. To check on this.” She pointed to the wound on her arm.William cleared his throat and nodded before suggesting. “Perhaps you should go to the company clinic. It’s part of your employee benefits, after all.She blinked slowly.She had forgotten.Another reason the Hayes company worked well for her as an employee was the employee benefits. How had she forgotten that bit of information?“Oh, I didn’t think of that!” She breathed. “That’s a lot easier than waiting to be seen at the hospital… especially with the twins, and all.”William tilted his head at her, trying not to appear too interested.He had to remind himself of how he couldn’t have her… even when she looked so beautiful and her scent called out to him in this way. He couldn’t have her.She was married with children.“I’m

“You… what?!” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “They’re your children, William!”Anna didn’t know when she had said his name out loud, and he continued staring at her, his gaze cold and filled with unbridled anger.“Then you’re the one that has to do a lot of explaining, because I don’t recall ever fathering those children, Anna.”His tone was final, and she hated it. He was such a stubborn man.Meanwhile, William was thinking furiously. Had Ethan somehow seen the two children and sensed them as kin too?His mind recalled the way Ethan had looked so pleased with himself despite his forced engagement. It wasn’t pleasant.“So tell me how I could have had them without you being involved.” She demanded to know. “Because you can’t ask me to explain something like that! We met over five years ago! I didn’t know who you were and we were both drunk!”“You mean that you saw I was drunk and then you you you me,” he hissed at her. “Isn’t that right, Anna? You had to know who I was or y