Filed To Story: Goddess's Design His Fated Mate (Willow & Reuben)
“That’s not happening,”
I shook my head.
She gritted her teeth, glaring at me. “Then I’ll be staying next to Wyatt and Lori’s room, and that’s final!”
she firmly announced.
“Done,”
I smiled.
She was taken aback by my sudden agreement. After a moment’s thought, she realized the room she had chosen was actually the room that was between the childrens room and mine. We’d be separated by just a wall. “You ”
She caught on to my trickery, opening her mouth to protest, but I ruffled her hair and walked away. “I will be late. Don’t wait for me ”
“Who’s waiting for you?!”
she growled at my retreating figure. I chuckled and left the packhouse to meet Oran, who had been waiting for me in the garden.
“Reuben, don’t sever ties with Bix ”
Oran approached me in a panic, momentarily forgetting the urgent matter that he wanted to discuss. He had witnessed how effortlessly and ruthlessly I could cut people out of my life. Once I made that decision, there was no turning back. “That guy doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut,”
Oran added when I didn’t respond.
I lit a cigarette, observing him. Oran and Bix were the sons of my pack’s former Beta and Gamma. We had grown up together, but Oran never appreciated mediating our conflicts. He’d always step in to resolve things, but this time, he understood the gravity of the situation. He had to step back, and it frustrated him. Judging by his appearance, he had likely sent Bix to the pack hospital before coming to see me.
“Reuben you know why Bix acted out like that, don’t you? These last six years have been tough on all of us, watching you change like this So he lost it in the moment and said some nonsense ”
“Just tell him not to come near me anytime soon,”
I interrupted, taking a long drag from my cigarette.
Oran breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, “Okay.”
“What was the urgent matter you wanted to tell me?”
I exhaled a puff of smoke.
Oran’s expression turned grave as he remembered the original reason for this conversation. “The Silver Moon Pack has been wiped out,”
he informed me.
“Wiped out?”
The hand holding the cigarette stopped abruptly. The Silver Moon Pack was among the top five packs, they had not an enemy but our ally for decades. We had numerous treaties and a strong friendship. No other pack dared to even make a noise in their presence, let alone declare war. How could the Silver Moon Pack have been wiped out? “How did that happen? Who dared to attack them?”
I asked, my brow furrowing.
“I don’t know. Actually, nobody knows. Word has it, the entire pack was celebrating the Alpha’s birthday last night, but by morning the pack was found engulfed in flames,”
Oran explained.
“In flames?”
I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“Yes, what’s more, when the neighboring pack arrived to assist in extinguishing the fire, they discovered no bodies or remains of a single member of the Silver Moon Pack!”
Oran exclaimed, surprised by the shocking nature of the information.
“How in the world is that possible?”
I questioned incredulously. “An entire pack burns and there’s no trace of the bodies? Did the corpses or bones just walk away or bury themselves?”
Oran remained silent, giving me a meaningful look. “Reuben, all the packs are terrified after this mysterious incident. If a powerful pack like the Silver Moon Pack can be wiped out in such a manner, then anyone can. There’s something else at play here that we’re not able to see,”
he concluded.
“Indeed,”
I agreed, turning to stare at the first floor of the packhouse, where Willow’s room was located. “This isn’t a normal incident,”
I remarked, observing Willow as she arranged a plant on the windowsill in her room.
“So what do you think?”
Oran asked curiously.
“I believe this is just the beginning ”
I paused when Willow spotted me too.
Oran followed my line of sight. As Willow’s and my eyes locked, she looked at me for a couple of seconds then closed the curtains. Shocked by her boldness, Oran looked at my reaction. I crushed the cigarette in my palm. So she did not believe what I had said earlier, “You have finally made Willow stay by your side, Reuben. Though the sword of rejection seems to have gotten sharp at your neck after revealing your impending marriage with Ella.”
My muscles tightened as I looked down at the crushed cigarette in my hand, “No matter how much she hates me at this moment, I will regain her love over the next three months,”
I dropped the cigarette on the ground and looked at the window again, “Three months
Willow
I lay in bed staring up at the crescent moon all night long. Sleeping in the room that was next to Reuben’s was already distracting me, especially when we were only separated by a wall. Whenever I closed my eyes to sleep, Reuben’s words echoed in my mind again and again.
“There is nothing between Ella and I.”
“We are fiancee only on paper.”
“Ella does not love me and I don’t love Ella.”
I only want you ”
I rested my hand over my crazy heartbeat as I sat up on the bed. Why was I not able to forget it? He has to be lying to me. The news of his marriage was all over the media. She was his fiancee, everything had been laid bare in front of my eyes, yet my wolf was suddenly calm after Reuben’s earlier claim. I had felt sincerity in his claim that he did not love Ella.
I only want you ’ his words echoed in my ears as my heart started to drum in my chest again.
“No stop thinking about it,”
I buried my face in my hands and wanted to scream.
The whole night, I had been struggling with diving into different pools of emotion that had been raised by Reuben’s claim. I was torn between the betrayal of the past, trust, and the present. The night felt as long as a year yet I had not managed to catch an hour’s sleep.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.