Darien's POVGlee threatened to leak out of my insides as I ended the call with Jordan. I could feel the sudden gloom descending. Very good. Deliberately, I made a show of locking my phone and gingerly placing it down on the table with a straight face. Finally, I looked down at the whimpering girl. Sophia looked small and helpless kneeling in front of me. Exactly as I wanted. The girl was a piece of work, to put it lightly. Usually I would not go to this extent, but she was damn well getting on my last nerve. She needed to learn her place if her stay here was going to be peaceful. And if that meant dangling her freedom like bait to a shark, then so be it. She would learn what happened when you dared disrespect Darien Gray. "Please…" she suddenly let out, nearly choking on her words. "Please let me go…I never did anything w-wrong. My being here was a mistake..a-a mix-up. You heard Alpha Jordan say so…I beg you.."Her eyes were wide and moist with unshed tears. I cocked a brow in am

Darien's POV"Another family dinner?" I ask, already displeased by the words of the other person. "Now, why on earth would they want to do something like that? Especially at a time like this?"it was highly unreasonable, in my opinion, and I could not fathom why they would want to put themselves and us through any of that. Cursing under my breath, I brought the speaker of my cell phone back to my lips."Are you coming?" I asked the person on the other end of the line. If I was going to be subjected to this unpleasantness, I would prefer to have at least one reasonable being who could hold a normal conversation.My sister laughed dryly. "Well, it's not like I have a choice, so you know what the answer is. The only reason I'm coming at all is because you're going to be there."I only grunted, although I was glad. "You are going to be there. Right?" She repeated, and I knew she was looking for confirmation from me. I smiled wickedly, remembering the time I had told her I would be presen

Sophia's POVMy jaw dropped in horror as I watched Darien walk out of the guest room with a smirk on his face. His words replayed in my head like a record on loop, and I suddenly felt a little scared. There was absolutely nothing I hate more than being left in the dark and not knowing what could possibly come next. It made me feel anxious and tiny, and like I did not have a say or direction in my own life. And this is exactly how I had been feeling for the past few months. It is how I have been feeling my entire life, to be honest.It had been three days since the incident with Alpha Jordan happened, and it did not hurt any less than it had that night. I still thought about it quite a lot. I still replayed the event over and over, wondering if things could have played out differently if I had acted on his command. No matter how much I tried to push it out of my mind, I still turned right back and went through the motions of blaming myself for everything. Being so close to freedom a

Darien's POVAt the sound of Father's voice, the whole room fell silent. I paused in the middle of picking up a piece of sushi and froze, exchanging looks with Eloise. Finally. The man of the fucking hour. I knew something was missing. He marched into the room, and glancing at each of us to make sure we were all here before advancing towards us with obvious dissatisfaction on his face. "Oh, darling, finally," Mother was the first to speak. She stood from her chair and glided down the room to get to the door where Father was standing. "The kids were making such a ruckus, and I was wondering when you'd be here. You know I don't know when to–""Not now, Janet!" Father boomed, cutting her off mid sentence. "Stop with your whining. So you mean to tell me that you cannot control these youngsters?! Maybe your judgement is being clouded by the fact that they are your children. You are Luna! And they are your subjects, so I suggest you start doing your job."My jaw clenched. I hated the way

Sophia's POVAs soon as the knock sounded at the door, I jumped from the bed and walked over to unlock it. It was easy, especially since I was unable to get much sleep the previous night. I had spent most of it tossing and turning and worrying about today. I had convinced myself that Darien's words from yesterday were nothing but a means to scare me, but after what he had done to me, I knew that he was not the sort of man that gave empty threats. What did he mean, anyway? Being a personal maid was not a new thing. It was something I had done long enough to be used to it. Back when I lived with my mother and stepfather, the menial jobs I took on included working as a servant for wealthy Alphas and Lunas, so it wasn't a big deal. But the way Darien said it was highly suspicious. It gave a impression that there was more to it than just cleaning up after him. I hoped I was wrong and that paranoia was just getting to me, but I could never be too sure with Darien. I decided that I would no