NEILLA'S POV
The following morning breezed in with the skyline illuminated by the rising sun which infiltrated through the sheer curtains that hung on the window facing my bed. My eyelids were heavy, swollen from the bitter years I'd cried from the previous night.Throwing the blanket over my tired form, I turned away from the light, feeling very reluctant to rise up to start the day. Matteo had taken me home, breaking the law for my sake in order not to have me witness the rites coming to an end.There came a knock on the door. I flinched at first, then burrowed further into the bed as shame washed over me again.The knock came once more and I turned deaf ears to it. Soon, it grew insistent, the short raps turning into loud bangs against the wooden door."I know you're in there right now, Neilla. Pretend all you want, it won't change the fact that what happened yesterday was in fact a reality. Fucking get over it bitch."I sprung up from the bed in shock. That was Mirald, Matteo's girlfriend and mate.Yup! He had a mate and no, we weren't enemies tearing each other's heads out. Weird as it might sound, we actually went along pretty well.I admit that I had a tiny bit of a crush back then on Matteo, the way his unruly hair blew about in the breeze and his blue eyes twinkled and shone in the sunlight. His dimpled smile and attentive nature. I was beyond heartbroken to find out that he wasn't my mate. She was the new girl working in the shelter for orphaned pups.It didn't help that the feelings I had for Matteo wasn't reciprocated since he merely saw me as a little sister to pester and Mana Sylveon treated him like her son. I squashed whatever feelings I thought I had and squared my shoulders to focus on other things, throwing all of my weight actively behind for distraction.Now, we were really close friends thanks to her free spiritedness and her equal passion for the pups. If the other matrons didn't know me from the start, they'd have concluded that she held way too much compassion for those little ones."Don't let me break down this door." Her warning pulled me back to reality as I threw the covers off of me, moving towards the door.I plastered a huge smile on my face immediately I yanked the door open to reveal a glaring girl behind it."Hi, Miraldina." I bit out between clenched teeth, stepping aside to usher her in with a sweeping motion of my free hand while the other held the handle."What happened to you? You look like you woke up in a freakin' dumpster! Why are you doing this to yourself?" She half yelled, stomping her way over so she could close the door herself since I was standing like a frozen friggin' bimbo."I'm fine." I muttered more to myself, angry that she could read me like an open book. I walked back to the bed, plopping down on it with a huff.She drew near, placing tenderly a hand on my forehead then gently placing two fingers underneath my chin in a bid to make me look at her.I found compassion in there alright. She was looking at me the same way she would those little hopeless pups but this was way more intense. She was peering into my eyes as though searching for answers I had none to offer."If this is entirely about Rylan, the whole paleness and dull brown eyes, then there's something more to it."I drew my head back, breaking the eye contact and standing up to put my bed in order. It was, all of a sudden, looking like an eyesore. "There's nothing wrong, Mirald. You're overthinking these things."I heard her sigh behind me as I proceeded to pull the curtains open, allowing the sunlight swim in and light up my room. Still, my mood was dampened even though I wished the sun could somehow lift my spirits the way it touched every other place."I never would have thought in a million centuries that Rylan would openly embarrass me like that, picking another as his Luna even when the rest of the kingdom regard us as mates already." I blurted out, feeling weary from bottling up my feelings."You know--" Mirald began."My wolf has refused to talk to me despite all pleas. She blames me for pushing away our mate. I've tried more than a few times to explain the point here. I just want to wake up and see that all of this that have happened is a nightmare." I folded another blanket, absentmindedly placing it on the bed."I've done everything he asked me to. Read books I never even had any initial interests in. All for the sake of the mate bond which he took and rubbed into the mud." I was pacing the room back and forth now, anger fueling my pain. "He had every audacity to introduce her to me and attempt to make me a second option when I'm his mate, Mirald. His bloody mate.""Neilla, calm down.""I thought we'd be perfect together, a beautiful match made to last. A match designed by the creator herself." My vision started to have a slight tinge of yellow. The angrier I grew, the more curses slew from my lips."Neilla--""What?!" I snapped. My chest heaved up and down as anger blazed through my chest like a fiery tornado. Then I came back to my senses when I saw the look in her eyes. She looked disappointed."Mirald," I began hesitantly, "I'm sorry.""Yeah, you better be." She eyed me up and down before exhaling. "Look, we need to get you out of this room and in front of those kids. Okay? Before you do something stupid like jumping out the window with the curtain wrapped around your neck because some idiot broke your heart."For the first time since yesterday, a smile broke out on my face. I poked her head playfully. "Careful there. He's still your alpha."She scoffed with a roll of her pretty eyes as she started to rummage in my wardrobe for an outfit for me. "My alpha is dying. He isn't my alpha yet. He's still an acting alpha and until he becomes crowned, I'm not going to be a loyal dog."I grabbed a pillow and aimed it for the back of her head. She spun quickly around with an angry look. "What was that for?""Your dog jokes are annoying. You forget you're also a dog, you silly mutt." I feigned anger but couldn't keep the straight face as we burst out laughing.She returned back to her self-imposed mission; finding me an outfit since I was bad at assembling them together and that was her area of specialization. Plus, she was my friend. "That smile suits your pretty face, Reneilla. Let it remain there, giving your dull eyes glow."I sighed, plopping back down on the bed. "Is it that obvious?""I tell you that even the pups will notice that their fave is not in a good mood. You know the younglings are more in tune with their emotions than we adults are. You don't want to get them worried, okay?" She turned to drop a purple hoodie that said 'purps rule'.I think they meant pups, right? Well, that's what I make myself think anyway since I loved taking care of those cute little bundles of mischief and trouble.A grey sweatpants followed next, along with a grey headband to hold my hair in place. Mirald then danced along to the tune of her whistle as she stopped in front of me."Today's going to be a very busy one for us as I think there are new intakes. According to Lenora, some of those kids were adopted yesterday after the fresh attack on more of those homes closer to the border. Some were wounded physically, while some scarred for life."I gasped, taking in the news and failing to keep myself from creating a mental image out of her words. A slight tremor of fear coursed through my spine, chilling and raw. My vision of the background started to blur and my stomach turned and churned.This is not good, I thought, dashing straight into the bathroom to throw up whatever I had left in my stomach.NEILLA'S POVThis is not good, I thought, dashing straight into the bathroom to throw up whatever I had left in my stomach. Mirald followed closely behind me, holding up my hair as I retched nothing but bile into the washing hand basin.When nothing more climbed up my throat, I sank back down on the cold tiles, leaning my back against the wall for strength. It felt like life was drained out of me at that moment. An invasion could be happening in the next room at that point, and I wouldn't even have the strength to bat an eyelid. I was that drained."What's up? Spill." I managed to look up at Mirald with a confused expression. "What do you mean spill?"She dropped down to her knees next to me. "I know you're pregnant, baby girl. Even if you choose to hide it from me. I'm a special wolf, dog. Don't miss out that important fun fact."Pregnant? How?I'm sure my face mirrored my inner turmoil as I turned to look at her slowly. I couldn't be pregnant. "I'm not pregnant. I really am not. W
NEILLA'S POVI arrived at the orphanage feeling in a worse mood than I'd been, feeling betrayed and played for a fool. Ever since my wolf relayed the truth to me, nothing felt the same anymore. I refused to speak nor listen to her, blocking our communication line and ignoring Mirald all through our run on the way here. I was being a petty wolf but I needed somewhere to channel all of my anger. She didn't deserve to receive the cold shoulder for mistakes which my wolf made. If only she opened up early enough on being pregnant. Now I needed to think sanely without the urge to kill somebody getting in the way. "You good?" A cool voice brought me back from my reverie. Why on earth was I always zoning out?"Yes, I am. Thanks, Stella." I mustered up a pathetic excuse for a smile but even a blind person could tell through my façade. "You look extremely pale and very unlike your usual self." She commented again, placing it upon herself once more to lay a hand on my forehead to feel me up
RYLAN'S POVIt's been three days, three fucking days since we signed the treaty with the Bloodtrail pack. I've had no time to rest for three hours straight. Shuffling between meetings and whatnot, attempting to ease the increasing tension amongst the families around the borderlands. A lot of them were relocating while most had settled in the town's central for the time being. If that wasn't enough trouble for the first inhabitants, they now had to squabble for space, food amongst other things and I'd be a pathetic liar if I said I had this under wraps.I didn't. Hell, I couldn't even wrap me a present if I was handed a bow and some tape, talk more of the situation at hand.How did my father cope? I wondered as I kneaded my temple with both fingers, wincing at the gradual crescendo of the council's voice. Here they were again, arguing shamelessly and ignorant to the fact that their voices could be heard from miles away. Every now and then when we thought we'd dealt with an issue at h
RYLAN'S POV"I'm afraid it's not something we think we can handle. It's your mate, your majesty. It's Neilla." The guard hashed out as he struggled to gain composure over his stuttering. "She's here and she's fuming."Before I had a chance to respond to the guard or issue a command, the door to the conference room opened and out came the entire entourage of the hags. For no reason, my eyes sought out the head of the council only to find he already had a mutinous expression on his face. I gave him a hardened look that promised 'he'd soon have his head rolling down a river before he'd take that action of mutiny'. As though he read the murderous intent through the smoldering ember in my eyes, he looked away from me, replacing his comment with the a gentle head shake. He exited the large hallway before anyone of us did. The remaining council members stood there in place patiently waiting for my next line of action.Ignoring them, I turned to the guard. "Where is she now?"He stretched h
NEILLA'S POV His eyes closed briefly for a second and we charged in for the kill. My hand swung high in the air...a sharp slap to his handsome face as the end result. Another beautiful chorus of gasps filled the air again to my satisfaction."Outrageous!" A miserly looking old man dressed in a pretty expensive attire shot out.I watched his eyes fly open with resentment, blazing a deep orange that bordered on red. If that was the color of his other side, it meant that the ancient Alpha was withering away faster than we all thought. One look in those terrifying eyes was enough to have me shaking in my boots but I didn't want to back down like a coward.After all, I didn't ruffle up the guards for no reason.I looked at his raised hand that stopped midair as he fully settled his eyes on me. He closed his eyes again for a brief second, battling to control the demon he had for a wolf. When he opened them for the second time, they were back to his usual opal green irises. "How dare you,
RYLAN'S POVAs soon as the hallway became void of people, I found lust fogging my brain and propelling me forward. All rational thoughts in my brain out the window. From the point she stormed into the palace looking like an aggravated tiger, all the blood in my body rushed to my dick. I'd never seen her in such a state before; murderous brown eyes filled with malicious intent to draw blood.Call me a sick psychopath but the sight of her perky breasts heaving up and down in anger while in the cocoon of the purple hoodie was a massive turn on. Between the goddess and man, I struggled not to look like a crazed person even as I approached her. I was on the brink of near insanity and the only cure for my madness was to be in close proximity to the one who somehow was able to stir my blood in the most exciting yet scary way ever.Been around her always brought forth the need to cater for her and that was not because she was an orphan. I itched to cradle her head in my arms, kiss her until
NEILLA'S POVTwo hours after, I got back to the shelter to pick work up from where I'd left off. Mirald was nowhere in sight but soon showed up in the room I was. Someone must have informed her of my arrival. She dashed in breathing hard like she'd just taken a marathon race in ten seconds. In a heartbeat, she was right behind me, breathing down my neck for reasons best known to her. If I took a quick guess, I could bet on my bottom dollar that she was on a self-imposed mission to find out the reason why I'd spent too long at the palace. "Bitch, you were away for almost the whole day. Did something happen?" I rolled my eyes at her exaggeration. We both knew I was only out for a couple of hours. It was barely midday. "If I wasn't your friend, I'd say you make mountains out of puny little molehills."She delivered a sharp slap to my arm. "Do not avoid my question. What was so important that Rylan sent a guard to you?""Ow!" I winced at the pain that spread throughout the area she str
NEILLA'S POVBefore she gave a reply, a very flustered looking Stella stormed in. She was vibrating from the tips of her hair down to her brown heeled boots. Her action had us springing up from our seats in shock. One look in her eyes and I concluded that all was not well."Neilla! You should see this."Without thinking, I made my way with haste out of the room, Mirald on my heels. A small circle had gathered in the centre of one of the rooms. That's when I noticed how quiet this part of the building had gone. Like a shush fell over the room.Even the younger pups had fear in their eyes, evident in the glossy shimmer on their lower eyelids. They were terrified of whatever had befallen the victim. I pushed myself into the middle of the circle to witness for myself.True to my fear, it was one of the pups I'd grown to develop a mother-son relationship with and loved to death. It was Ethel. I flew into panic mode, my heart nearly having a heart attack when I realized he was no longer br