Maverick Peterson POV
The prickling sense of unease that persisted in the back of my mind kept me from focusing on the document in front of me. Setting it aside, I stood up and threw on my coat.
As I stepped outside, the servants nearby bowed their heads before returning to what they were doing.
'Hurry Maverick.'
'What do you sense, Shadow?'
The demon blood in my veins enhanced my werewolf half's senses to the point where I could know what was happening at the edges of my territory. It had reached the point where I blocked it all out to stop the sensory overload and left it to my inner wolf to let me know what was happening.
'There are werewolves near the border by Prerana.'
I grimaced.
That place was disgusting to say the least. One trip had been enough to solidify my opinion that my ancestors were right to break away from the kingdom and create their own country.
The memory of dark brown hair and dark brown eyes flashed before me before receding into the background.
Well, the trip hadn't been a complete disappointment. It wasn't enough to urge me to go back again, but it had given me something pleasant to reminisce about.
I wondered how that woman was doing.
I hadn't intended to sleep with her, but she had been remarkably persistent, even inducing a false heat with drugs. If she was going to throw herself at me, who was I to ignore such an offering? I made sure to compensate her and her family for the incident before I left since I had no intention of taking a random woman as my wife.
Summoning several of my knights to come with me, I teleported us close to the border.
The smell of blood greeted us, and we all tensed as we slowly approached the source. What we found was a single corpse, but no signs of a struggle or fight.
What happened?
When Shadow had informed me of people near our border, I had been expecting some kind of scuffle. Something wasn't right for there to only be a body.
'Maverick, look.'
Bending down to inspect the body myself, I sucked in a breath at the sight of her face.
No wonder the scent had been familiar. It was that woman from over a year ago. What could have led her to head for the border? Who killed her?
'Her scent. Breathe in her scent.'
Loosening my control over my senses, I inhaled the air. Was that demon blood I smelled? What would a demon be doing here? Demons avoided places like this where they would be hunted down and killed unless they had adequate protection.
Then it clicked, and my eyes widened.
It should be impossible. I had been certain that our night together wouldn't bear any fruit. That was why I had been fine with leaving her behind. If I had known she was bearing my child, I would have taken her with me.
The implications of what happened sent my blood aflame, and I ordered, "Search the area. Find the ones responsible for hurting my mate."
They didn't hesitate to follow my commands and transformed into their wolf forms before scattering in different directions.
This might reignite the war between our two countries, but I didn't care. They had harmed people under my protection. Even if I had not known, she and her child were my responsibility.
Gently cradling her body close to me, I noted the tear tracks on her face. Guilt ate away at my consciousness. She died alone, and most likely in pain.
When I found those responsible, I swore that I would repay them tenfold for their crimes.
It didn't take long before a group of werewolves were dragged before me, bruised and bleeding. One had his face so disfigured that even magic wouldn't save him.
At my unspoken question, one of my knights held out a baby and said, "He was tormenting the baby."
Baring my teeth at the offender for a moment, I turned my attention to my child, my daughter. She had obviously inherited all of my features and none of her mother's. It was a miracle that she had kept the child and kept her safe all this time.
"Don't you know who I am? Once our parents hear of this, you'll regret it," the sole woman in the group said.
The man next to her tried to dissuade her, but with his face having undergone a new arrangement, his words came out garbled and unclear.
"So, you're the ones responsible for killing my mate," I said unimpressed.
"That whore has a mate?" she shrieked.
The closest knight backhanded the bitch for me, and I was tempted to order them to tear out her tongue so she wouldn't spew any more foul garbage.
"You dare lay a hand on Grand Duke Peterson's mate and child. Death would be far too swift a punishment for you," another of my knights said.
Finally realizing who she was talking to, she wilted beneath his gaze. How she could miss my black hair and black eyes was beyond me. Only a moron could miss such obvious features up close.
"Th-there has to be a misunderstanding. She can't be your mate. She's just a lowly maid who slept with all kinds of men," she said to defend herself.
"Are you saying that I would somehow mistake my mate for any woman whoring herself on the streets?" I demanded.
The thought of her sleeping with others infuriated me, but I had only myself to blame. Our relationship had been nothing more than a fling. I didn't have any feelings of love for her. I barely knew her outside of our one night together.
Unable to stand being in their presence any longer, I ordered, "Take them away. We have plenty of time to find answers for them."
"As you wish, Grand Duke," the nearest knight said. "What would you like for us to do for your mate and child?"
"My mate will be buried with honors as my first wife. Our daughter will be named the heir," I said after much deliberation.
This was all I could do for her now, and I prayed that her next life would be better and vowed to raise our daughter well.
Willow Baker POVMuffled noises reached my ears.What was that sound?I had thought I had lost my hearing when I could no longer hear those monsters or my baby's cries in my final moments.Had they changed their mind and come back to torment me?Had they decided to heal me just to break me all over again?I deserved it. I deserved it for being a failure as a mother."Willow." The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. "Willow, you must hold on. Do it for the baby." My baby. My baby needed me. "Push."With my head full of cotton, all I could do was obey the voice's command. I didn't know how or what I was pushing, but I pushed with all my might.A baby's cries cut through the haze, and, for the first time since I regained consciousness, I could clearly see what was happening in front of me.Asa was cradled in another woman's arms. The sight drove my normally silent wolf mad, and I snarled at the woman to return my baby, my pup, to me.The woman didn't seem bothered in the sli
Maverick Peterson POVStopping what I was doing, I glanced at my surroundings. It felt like I had been doing something else, but I was drawing a blank, which was completely unnatural. With demon blood, I shouldn't be having memory problems.'What's wrong, Maverick?''What was I doing?''You were going over the documents your father assigned you to look over.''Doesn't something feel off?''No? Perhaps you have been pushing yourself too hard.'I grimaced.That didn't sound right, but I couldn't think of any reason for the dissonance I was experiencing. It felt as if I was supposed to be in mourning, except no one in the family died recently. I couldn't think of any friends or servants who had died recently.It was quite perplexing, to say the least. Perhaps father would be able to tell me what was wrong if Shadow didn't have any answers.Anything Shadow couldn't help with meant that the problem was a demon issue and not a werewolf one.Setting aside the papers and making sure everythin
Willow Baker POV"Are you really sure you should be up so soon? You haven't fully recovered," said Sheila as she rocked Asa and hovered over me.I smiled. Seeing her so full of life and worry, I had never been more grateful that the Moon Goddess gave me a second chance and allowed me to see her again. "I'm fine. I shouldn't impose.""Leave her be. She's not a child, Sheila," said Rickey as he drank his coffee.I pretended not to hear him. While I couldn't forgive him for trying to kill my baby in his pursuit for revenge, I knew that grief could drive people mad. Besides, I had already paid him back.My hands shook in my lap as I recalled exactly what I did to him. I can smell his fresh blood scenting the air. His eyes were staring at me with such hatred as his life had been drained out of him."Willow?" The feeling of a hand on my shoulder startled me as I jerked away. Sheila's expression screamed worry. "I think you should rest. You don't look so good."I placed my hand on hers as I
Willow Baker POV"You ungrateful bitch, where were you? You were gone for two days," Rose shrieked into my ear as she yanked on my hair.I kept myself from flinching and answered, "I was feeling unwell, so I thought it was best not to stick around. I wouldn't want the young miss to get sick because of me."She shoved me aside with a sniff and studied my figure. "You finally lost weight, you pig. You must have made yourself sick by stuffing your face with food. That's what you get," she said with a high-pitched laugh.Remaining silent, I could feel my nails digging into the palms of my hands. Last time, I didn't have any difficulty letting her words flow past me. What I thought hadn't mattered I just needed to do as I was told.Now I wanted to slap her and pull on her hair to show her exactly what it felt like. I wasn't the only one she harassed, but I was her favorite punching bag. I never went against her, and no one would have cared if anything happened to me except for Sheila.'I s
Willow Baker POVOne Month LaterI never knew screwing people over would be so satisfying. No wonder people like Rose did it all the time. It was really satisfying watching the other servants squirm and suffer this past month at the hands of Rose.'I told you.''Hush you.'Since I had already knew firsthand several of their tricks, it was easy to turn their plans around. The best part was that no one knew that I knew what they were up to and was purposefully getting them punished.After all, I was just worthless Willow. The stupid werewolf who submitted to everyone regardless of status whether they were a purebred Alpha or a barely passable Omega, I would always bow my head and do whatever was asked of me. Nothing was too low for me to do.Which was why I was the last person for them to suspect of sowing chaos throughout the househ
Willow Baker POVOne Week Later'Finally. I thought we would never leave that damn place.'I didn't reprimand her for her language. She wasn't wrong. It had taken an extra week before I could sneak away to visit Sheila and Asa. Even though I had warned them ahead of time, I'm certain that they were worried about me.Well, at least Sheila and my baby, not Rickey.Knocking on the door, I waited for Sheila to answer the door. The moment she laid eyes on me, she herded me inside as she patted me down and inspected me for injuries."Thank goodness." She breathed a sigh of relief when she found nothing wrong. "What happened?""I have something I need to tell you two," I said without hesitation.Her small smile turned into a frown at my words, and she rushed to grab her husband. We settled into the living room as I held onto Asa.
Willow Baker POV"Now I think we should have a quick little chat before Sheila gets back," said Rickey.That's when I realized my error.Normally, he would avoid staying in the same room as me unless Sheila was there. Since he didn't like or trust me, he would always stick close by if he could. Now it was just the two of us, ignoring Asa who had no clue what was going on.He had purposely sent Sheila away for whatever he had planned. Nervously holding Asa close, I kept my eyes open for any hostile intent.Instead, he sat back down and clasped his hands together on the table."I don't like you, and you don't like me, but we both obviously care for Sheila." I wasn't sure where he was going with this and didn't lower my guard. "That's why I'm not going to point out that there's something suspicious about what you said."I tried to think of what he meant, but I couldn't come up wi
Willow Baker POVThree Months Later"Ready?" asked Rickey as he secured the backpack onto his back.I nodded my consent as I held Asa close to my chest. "They shouldn't suspect a thing for a couple of days. It should give us a head start."Looking at me and the baby, he said, "We'll need it."He wasn't wrong. With a baby, we couldn't travel in our wolf forms, and since none of us had access to magic which could only be used by those with strong demon or angel blood, we had to settle for traveling by foot. It was really unfortunate that there were no other ways for us to travel easier or faster.I could only hope that Rose remained duped until we crossed the border, but the chances of that happening were slim. If my previous life is any indication, she would find out sooner rather than later.It had been a struggle to find the right time to leave. No