ã€ŠNanny and the Alpha Daddyã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 1 Betrayal

    Moana

    It was a hot summer evening, and I had just spent the entire day job hunting.

    Finding work as a human in a world dominated by werewolves, especially in the midst of the hustle and

    bustle of the city, wasn¡¯t easy. Even though I had a degree in Early Childhood Education, no schools

    wanted to hire me because I was a human. Werewolf parents were outraged at the thought of a

    ¡°worthless human¡± teaching their children, as if my skills, drive, and education meant nothing.

    So, I was now limited to service jobs, which were also unfortunately hard toe by because the job

    market was oversaturated with other humans who were also desperate to pay their bills.

    If I didn¡¯t find a job soon, though, I would lose my apartment. Myndlord had already given me a thirty-

    day notice. If I didn¡¯t pay my rent ¡ª and the three months of rent that I already owed ¡ª by the end of

    the thirty days, he was going to evict me.

    At least I still had my boyfriend, Sam. He wasn¡¯t extraordinarily well-off either despite being a werewolf,

    but at least he had a job and could pay his rent. We had been together for three years now and had

    known each other for five, so maybe it was time to talk about moving in together soon.

    As I was walking down the packed city street, a thinyer of sweat caked to my forehead from

    spending the day running from business to business as I tried to find someone who would hire me, I

    started to realize how hungry I was. I couldn¡¯t afford to eat out, but the delicious smellsing from the

    restaurants I passed began to make my mouth water.

    One particr restaurant across the street caught my eye, but not because of the smell of food.

    I stopped in my tracks, my eyes widening.

    Inside the restaurant, right in the window, was Sam. He wasn¡¯t alone; he was with another woman, and

    they were¡­

    Kissing.

    ¡°You¡¯ve gotta be f*****g kidding me,¡± I said out loud, causing a few passersby to turn their heads and

    give me weird looks.

    Sam had told me that he was busy recently, that he had a lot of work¡­ Was this what he was really

    doing? Cheating on me with some other woman?

    The fury bubbled up inside of me, and without thinking, I stormed across the street and toward the

    restaurant window. My stomach turned as I came closer. This woman was gorgeous ¡ª basically a

    supermodel ¡ª and that didn¡¯t make me feel any better about the situation. Not only was Sam cheating

    on me, but he was cheating on me with someone who looked like that.

    She was thin, blonde, and tan with long legs, wearing a skimpy evening dress and high heels. I do get

    compliments on my face, body and long red hair, but in that moment, I felt so worthless as I stood there

    looking at Sam and his mistress.

    How could he do this to me?

    I stopped in front of the window. Neither of them even saw me standing there, they were so absorbed in

    their makeout session.

    Belongs to N?velDrama.Org - All rights reserved.

    So, I banged on the window.

    Sam and the mystery woman both jumped, their eyes widening when they saw me. I stormed over to

    the entrance and ran inside, ignoring the strange looks from the restaurant staff and customers, and

    ran up to where Sam and the woman sat.

    ¡°How f*****g dare you?!¡± I yelled, my hands curled up into fists at my sides. ¡°We¡¯ve been together for

    three years and you¡¯re cheating on me?¡±

    The woman looked back and forth between Sam and I with an embarrassed expression on her face as

    the restaurant fell silent, but Sam¡¯s face showed only anger and resentment. Without saying a word,

    Sam stood and grabbed me by the arm, dragging me out of the restaurant. He was too strong for me to

    resist, so I stumbled after him and back out into the busy street with tears streaming down my cheeks.

    ¡°You¡¯re making a fool of both of us, Moana,¡± he growled once we were outside.

    ¡°I¡¯m making a fool of us?¡± I replied, my voice still raised. ¡°You¡¯re making out with another woman in

    public!¡±

    Sam merely rolled his eyes and pulled me further away from the door. His werewolf eyes burned a

    bright orange color and his face was wrought with anger.

    ¡°Control your temper,¡± he whispered, pushing me roughly up against the side of the building. ¡°You¡¯re

    just an ordinary human. You should feel lucky that I even entertained you for three years.¡±

    His words stung, and my vision became clouded with tears.

    ¡°Why her?¡± I croaked as a s*b caught in my throat.

    Sam, the man who had told me he loved me for three years, merely chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re useless to me,¡±

    he snarled. ¡°She¡¯s a Beta. Her family is incredibly wealthy and powerful, and thanks to her, I¡¯ll be

    starting a new job at WereCorp next week.¡±

    WereCorp was the biggest corporation in the world. Not only did they control all of the banks, but they

    also developed the newest and most widely-used cryptocurrency of the 21st Century: WCoin. I never

    used it ¡ª humans weren¡¯t allowed to ¡ª but it made a lot of werewolves extremely rich when it first

    came out.

    He continued, ¡°What have you done for me aside from mooching off of me because you can¡¯t even get

    a job of your own? You¡¯re nothingpared to her. How dare you even question my decision to move

    on.¡±

    There was nothing else I could say; nothing else that coulde to mind aside from getting the hell

    away from him. I shoved Sam away finally, pushing myself away from the wall. ¡°f**k you,¡± I growled, my

    rage taking over as I raised my hand and pped him hard across the face. Passersby were looking at

    us now, but I didn¡¯t care.

    Without another word, I turned on my heel and stormed away without looking back.

    As I walked numbly down the street and wiped the tears from my eyes, I thought about what Sam was

    like when we first met; he had been nothing more than a bullied Omega in high school with no

    confidence, no prospects, and no friends. I had helped him gain confidence with my love and support,

    and this was how he repaid me? By leaving me for some blonde, all for a job at WereCorp?

    Nothing angered me more than knowing that my boyfriend of three years, and best friend for five years,

    had left me so easily over money and power.

    I was still fuming when I stepped out into the intersection, too numb to look properly before crossing.

    Just then, I heard the sound of a car h*nking and looked up to see a luxury car driving straight for me.

    Cursing to myself, I stumbled backwards and fell into a puddle just before the car hit me.

    The car came to a screeching halt next to me, which was surprising since I assumed that they would

    just drive away after nearly hitting me, but what surprised me even more was the person who sat inside

    the car when the window rolled down.

    Edrick Morgan, CEO of WereCorp.

    Edrick was known not only for being the youngest CEO in the history of thepany and the heir to

    thergest fortune in the world, but also for his stunning appearance ¡ª and although I was incredibly

    hurt and angry about everything that had happened today, I couldn¡¯t help but notice his strong jawline,

    his muscr shoulders and arms, and his incredibly handsome face.

    I opened my mouth to say something about how he had nearly hit me, but before I could, he looked me

    up and down and tossed a w*d of cash out the window, driving away with a rev of his engine.

    Edrick Morgan, the CEO of WereCorp, had nearly hit me with his car¡­ and tossed me money like I

    was some beggar.

    All werewolves really were arrogant as*holes.

    I threw the cash on the ground and stood, cursing under my breath as I realized how soaked and dirty

    my clothes were. I¡¯d have to go home and see if I could scrounge up some change to take them to the

    laundromat so I could continue job hunting tomorrow, but admittedly for now I just wanted to drown my

    sorrows.

    I walked for a few blocks, finally spotting a bar that seemed nice and quiet.Taking a deep breath and

    smoothing down my stained shirt, I walked through the doors and approached the bouncer.

    The bouncer narrowed his eyes at me and looked me up and down, taking in my dirty appearance

    sniffing the air in front of me.

    ¡°No humans allowed without a member escort,¡± he growled, folding his arms.

    I frowned. ¡°Member?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m a paying customer. Just let me buy a drink.¡±

    The bouncer shook his head and began to usher me toward the door like I was some sort of nuisance.

    ¡°Is this even legal?¡± I said, raising my voice. ¡°You can¡¯t just discriminate against humans like this! Is my

    money worthless here just because of¨C¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s with me,¡± a stern and clear voice suddenly said from behind.

    The bouncer and I both looked up and turned to see a man in a suit standing on the stairs.

    Edrick Morgan.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 2: The Werewolf CEO

    Moana

    ¡°She¡¯s with me.¡±

    The bouncer whipped around to face the man standing on the stairs. I stood there, my eyes wide, as I

    realized that the man who was mysteriously helping me get into the bar was the same man who had

    almost hit me with his car on the street and then promptly threw me a w*d of cash like I was a beggar:

    Edrick Morgan, CEO of WereCorp. I considered just turning around and leaving, but before I could,

    Edrick came down the stairs and waved the bouncer away, fixing his steely gray eyes on me.

    ¡°Come on,¡± he said, peering around me to look out the door and onto the street. ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going

    to rain again. You don¡¯t want to be walking around in the rain, do you?¡±

    I felt as though there was something a bit condescending in the wealthy werewolf¡¯s tone, but he was

    right: it had been raining for most of the day, and had already begun to sprinkle again. I didn¡¯t want to

    walk home in the rain and get more soaked than I already was, so I silently followed Edrick up the

    stairs.

    ¡°You¡¯re still wearing those dirty clothes,¡± Edrick said in a somewhat cold tone of voice as we reached

    the top of the stairs. ¡°I gave you money to rece them. Why didn¡¯t you use it?¡±

    I frowned.

    ¡°I may be a human, but I won¡¯t take money from rude and arrogant people who throw cash at me out

    the window of their car like I¡¯m a beggar on the street.¡±

    Edrick sucked his teeth and looked me up and down for a moment before curtly turning to a woman

    who stood nearby. She seemed a little older than me and wore a in ck staff uniform. He muttered

    something to her that I couldn¡¯t quite make out and she nodded, turning to me and smiling with one arm

    outstretched.

    ¡°Right this way, miss,¡± she said as Edrick turned and disappeared into the main room of the bar. I

    nced over my shoulder at him onest time as the woman guided me away, leading me upstairs to a

    private room. As she unlocked the door and opened it, my eyes widened. The room was full of racks of

    expensive clothing, shoes, and essories.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked, turning to face the woman.

    ¡°We like to provide the best for our patrons,¡± the woman replied with a smile. ¡°This room is specially

    designed for our female patrons toe and freshen up, touch up their makeup, or perhaps change

    their clothes in the event of a wardrobe malfunction. It¡¯s not normal practice to allow a¡­ human to use

    our facilities, but seeing as Mr. Morgan owns the majority share of this club, you¡¯re wee to wear

    whatever you like. Take your time.¡±

    Before I could say anything else, the woman closed the door and left me alone.

    I looked around at all of the expensive clothes and fine jewelry with a puzzled expression on my face;

    was Edrick Morgan not so arrogant and cruel as I thought? Did he feel badly about our encounter in the

    street and wanted to make it up to me, or was this all some sort of sick joke?

    Either way, I was still too distraught over discovering my boyfriend with his mistress earlier, and this

    seemed to be my ticket to having a good night¡­

    I eventually emerged from the room wearing a simple ck dress that reached my ankles. It was made

    of a soft silk, with thin straps and a plunging neckline. I also picked out a pair of strappy ck heels

    and a clutch purse.

    When I came down the stairs with the woman, I felt my heart start to race as I noticed Edrick look up

    from his table. His eyes lingered on me for a few long moments that felt like an eternity before he

    looked back to continue his conversation with the other man who was sitting with him.

    ¡°Topensate for the ident earlier on the street, Mr. Morgan has agreed to cover the expenses of

    the evening,¡± the woman said. ¡°That includes any drinks and food you order, as well as the clothes.

    Please feel free to take a seat at the bar.¡±

    I looked down at my dress, feeling my face go a bit hot. Something like this was so far from what I

    normally wore, and now it was mine? I nced up to ask the woman if she was sure I could keep the

    dress, but she was already gone.

    Swallowing, I walked into the main area and slid up onto one of the barstools.

    ¡°What would you like to drink?¡± the bartender said.

    ¡°Um¡­ Gin and tonic, please,¡± I replied, fiddling with the sp on my purse as I nced around at all of

    the other bar patrons. Most of them seemed too preupied with their drinks and their conversations

    as a woman in a red gown softly yed the piano on a small stage.

    The bartender returned with my drink a few momentster. I muttered some words of thanks and

    swirled the liquid around in my ss as I attempted to settle into my seat and try not to act too out of

    ce.

    ¡°What¡¯s a beautiful girl like you doing sitting all alone?¡± a male voice suddenly said from beside me. I

    jumped a bit and turned to see a middle-aged man in a suit leaning on the bar next to me with a drink in

    his hand. He had salt-and-pepper hair, a somewhat stocky build, and smelled strongly of whiskey.

    I couldn¡¯te up with an answer, so I awkwardlyughed and took a sip of my drink in the hopes that

    the man would get the hint and leave me alone, but he persisted. Despite Edrick Morgan¡¯s burst of

    kindness in letting me into this bar and paying for everything, I was still uninterested in doing much

    more than having a drink or two and going home for the night. After finding my boyfriend with another

    woman, I wasn¡¯t interested in conversation.

    ¡°Let me buy you another drink,¡± the man said, leaning closer to me. ¡°Something better than gin and

    tonic. I¡¯ve got plenty of money, being a beta and all; you can have anything you want¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine with this,¡± I said with a weak smile, trying to hide my disgust overhearing the word ¡®beta¡¯.

    ¡°Thanks anyway.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense,¡± the man said, either not noticing or not caring that I wasn¡¯t interested as he sat on the

    stool next to me, his body ufortably close to mine. ¡°I¡¯m Mark, by the way. Mark Schaffer.¡± He stuck

    out his hand for me to shake, and when I did, his palm was a bit sweaty.

    ¡°Moana,¡± I muttered, pulling my hand away as soon as possible.

    ¡°Interesting name,¡± he said. ¡°You know, I¡¯m the Beta of¡­¡±

    My mind went nk as Mark continued to prattle on about his money, his lineage, his multiple vacation

    homes, this and that¡­ I tried my best to appear polite, but eventually, I couldn¡¯t take it anymore.

    ¡°So that¡¯s why I prefer the gulet yacht¨C¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to use the restroom,¡± I said suddenly, interrupting his spiel about which type of yacht was the

    best. He frowned as I abruptly stood and gathered my purse, clearly annoyed that I cut him off, but I

    didn¡¯t care. Without another word, I walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind me, taking a few

    deep breaths as I leaned on the sink.

    I stayed in there for a few minutes, sshing some cold water on my face and checking my phone,

    until I was certain that Mark had gotten bored of waiting for me at the bar, then headed back out.

    Thankfully, he was gone when I walked back to my seat. I let out a small sigh of relief as I sat back

    down, but that relief turned to annoyance when the bartender approached me and handed me a red

    drink in a c*cktail ss, informing me that Mark had paid for it.

    Sighing, I picked up the ss and looked over my shoulder. Mark was sitting at a corner table,

    watching me like a hawk; not wanting to cause any sort of fuss, I raised my ss and mouthed the

    words ¡°Thank you¡± before turning back and sipping on the drink.

    Belongs to N?velDrama.Org - All rights reserved.

    As my head started to get light and the room started to swim around me a few minutester, I realized

    that taking a drink offered to me by a strange man at the bar was a horrible idea¡­ but I was too far

    gone already, and as I tried to get up from the bar, I felt myself stumble into a man¡¯s body.

    ¡°Whoa there,¡± Mark¡¯s voice said as his arms wrapped around me. ¡°Looks like I need to get you home.¡±

    I felt my heart start to race as Mark began to guide me away, too weak and disoriented to tell him no.

    Just then, as my vision began to fadepletely, I felt another hand on my shoulder; cool, and not

    sweaty like Mark¡¯s.

    ¡°Where are you taking her?¡± Edrick¡¯s stern voice said, so low it was almost a growl.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just taking her home,¡± Mark stuttered. ¡°S-She had too much to drink. We¡¯re old friends.¡±

    ¡°Is this true?¡± Edrick said, leaning down anding into view. As his gray eyes locked on mine, all I

    could do was shake my head.

    I wasn¡¯t sure what happened after that, but the next thing I knew, I was in Edrick Morgan¡¯s warm

    embrace in the back of a car.

    ¡°Where do you live?¡± he asked.

    I tried to answer but he stopped me after I mumbled a few unclear words. ¡°I¡¯m taking you to a hotel

    then.¡±

    In my semi-conscious state, the feeling of Edrick¡¯s warm arms around me made my body tingle.

    ¡°Stay¡­¡± I slurred, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. Edrick jolted away, muttering something about my

    state of mind, but something about the smell of his cologne made me persist¡­

    And soon, I felt Edrick Morgan, the wealthy and handsome CEO of WereCorp, rx into my touch.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 3: One Night Stand

    Moana

    I woke up to sunlight and a fresh, warm summer breeze streaming in through arge set of open

    French doors. As I cracked my eyes open, the sound of the city street below filled my ears, and the

    feeling of my throbbing head on a plush pillow alerted me to the fact that I was not in my own bed.

    Groaning, I slowly pushed myself up onto my elbows and scanned the room as shes of what

    happened the night before began to flood my mind. I remembered being at the bar, in the silky ck

    dress that I had picked out¡­ I remembered drinking a gin and tonic, and being osted by a middle-

    aged man with sinister intentions¡­

    Other memories came flooding back, too.

    I remembered being in the back of a car with a handsome man. His neck was warm and soft as I

    pressed my lips to it. He tried to hide his arousal at first, but he eventually gave in to his desires as he

    led me to the elevator that led up to the expensive hotel room he had booked. We made our way to the

    room, stopping periodically to press our lips together and touch each other¡¯s bodies in the hallway. I

    remembered how electric his hands felt on my body as he gripped my waist through the silky ck

    dress, and how quickly he removed that dress once we were safely inside the hotel room.

    He carried me over to the bed while I kissed his neck and nibbled at his ears, his body pressing into

    mine as heid me down on the soft nkets. I clung onto his chest like my life depended on it,

    fumbling to unbutton his shirt; he eventually became tired of waiting for my clumsy fingers to undo the

    buttons and did it himself, revealing thick, toned muscles as he pulled his shirt off.

    We spent the night in ecstasy, moving as one in the moonlit hotel room.

    As I came to the realization of what happenedst night, I slowly turned my head to face the man who

    laid asleep next to me. Even asleep, the man was still as handsome and s***y as ever, with the sheets

    pulled down around his waist to reveal his chiseled torso and the top of his groin, making my face get

    hot and turn red.

    But¡­ He was Edrick Morgan. He was my cheating ex boyfriend¡¯s new boss.

    I bit my lip and quietly climbed out of bed, searching for my panties.

    ¡°Ahem.¡±

    I spun around with my panties in my hand to see Edrick sitting up in bed, his cold gray eyes fixed on

    me. Without a word, he stood ¡ª making me blush as hepletely revealed his nude body ¡ª and

    walked over to where his pantsy on the floor. I quickly pulled my panties and my bra on as he put on

    his boxer briefs, then watched as he picked up his pants and dug into his pocket for his wallet.

    ¡°Here,¡± he said darkly, digging into his wallet and pulling out a thick wa d of cash. He walked over to me

    and thrust it toward me. ¡°Take it, but keep in mind that this is a one-time deal.¡±

    ¡°Here,¡± he said darkly, digging into his wallet and pulling out a thick wa d of cash. He walked over to me

    and thrust it toward me. ¡°Take it, but keep in mind that this is a one-time deal.¡±

    I took a few steps back, my sheepish expression turning to one of anger and resentment.

    ¡°You¡­ think I¡¯m a prostitute?¡± I snarled.

    Edrick merely shrugged and tossed the cash at my feet. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you are or you aren¡¯t,¡± he

    said coldly, walking away and pulling his pants on with his back turned to me. ¡°No one sleeps with me

    without the expectation of getting something extra in return. Your aloof demeanorst night faded away

    pretty quickly as soon as I dressed you up and paid for your drinks, so I know what you¡¯re after. Just

    take the money and leave.¡±

    I frowned, narrowing my eyes. ¡°I never wanted your money,¡± I said, my voice shaking out of anger as I

    picked the dress up off the ground and put it on. If I still had my own clothes, I would¡¯ve left the dress

    on the floor, but I had no idea what happened to my stained outfit at this point.

    ¡°By the way,¡± Edrick muttered, ignoring what I said and buttoning his shirt with his back still turned to

    me, ¡°you should learn not to take drinks from strangers. You¡¯re lucky I was there to save you from that

    guy. Learn from basicmon sense next time.¡±

    I paused, gritting my teeth, and pulled the dress on the rest of the way before answering.

    ¡°You¡¯re just as cold and heartless as they say.¡±

    Edrick didn¡¯t answer, and I didn¡¯t care to stick around to see if he woulde up with one. With a

    hmph, I grabbed the strappy heels from the night before and stomped barefoot over to the door. My

    hand rested on the doorknob for a moment as I fumed, and when I swung the door open, I called over

    my shoulder onest time.

    ¡°You can¡¯t just throw money at everyone when you have a guilty conscience,¡± I growled before walking

    out and mming the door behind me.

    ¡­

    As soon as I got home, I tore off the dress and the heels and threw them in the corner as the anger

    over both Sam and Edrick bubbled up inside of me. Frowning and muttering to myself, I stomped over

    to the fridge in my underwear and pulled out the milk to pour myself a bowl of cereal. Cereal was just

    about all I had to eat, but the thought of taking Edrick Morgan¡¯s money after a one night stand made

    me feel worse than going hungry.

    As I was just about to take my first bite of cereal, my phone started ringing. I rolled my eyes,

    anticipating for it to be Sam trying to beg for me toe back, but squinted when I noticed that it was

    an unknown number.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I said, stirring my cereal with my spoon, half expecting a spam caller to be on the other end.

    ¡°Good morning. Is this Moana Fowler?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied.

    ¡°My name is Nancy Grace. I¡¯m calling from the Au Pair Agency.¡±

    My eyes widened, and I dropped my spoon, not caring as it sank down all the way into the milk. I had

    been trying to find a nanny job through the Au Pair Agency for months now, but they hadn¡¯t found any

    suitable work for me yet. It had been so long that I hadpletely lost hope at this point.

    ¡°We found an assignment for you,¡± Nancy said in a sing-song voice. ¡°It¡¯s a full time, live-in position with

    a single Alpha father. Are you avable to make a house callter today to meet the family and

    complete an interview?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes,¡± I said, using all of my energy to keep myposure. ¡°I¡¯d be happy to.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Nancy replied. ¡°You¡¯re expected at two o¡¯clock today. I¡¯ll text you the address once we end the

    call.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much,¡± I replied.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Oh, and Moana ¡ª you should know that you¡¯re not going to be the only candidate for

    this position. I would rmend taking extra care to make a good first impression; working for this

    family is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and the pay is unparalleled.¡±

    I felt my heart sink at Nancy¡¯s words and opened my mouth to ask who the family was, but before I

    could, Nancy hung up and I was met with silence on the other end.

    Furrowing my brow at the abrupt end to the call, I set down my phone and stared at it as the notification

    with the address details popped up on my screen.

    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    What sort of family would be paying a nanny so well like this?

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 4: The Interview

    Moana

    I pulled up to the address of the house a couple of hourster wearing a brand new set of clothes.

    During the time between getting the phone call and arriving, I took out my credit card, which I only used

    for emergencies, and ran out to buy something new to impress the family. It was just a crisp button-

    down shirt, tailored pants, and loafers, but as I pulled up to the enormous mansion in the mountains

    and saw the line of women at the door, I was d that I had purchased the new clothes. I made sure to

    double check that the tags on the clothes were hidden, which I had kept on in case I didn¡¯t get the job

    and would need to return them.

    As I parked and walked up the pathway to the front entrance and got in line with my resume in my

    hand, my heart started to pound.

    My heart started to pound even more when I noticed that women were not only filing into the mansion,

    but were alsoing out with sad and defeated expressions on their faces. One girl, who was very

    pretty and looked a little younger than me, even had tears streaming down her cheeks as she came out

    with her resume crumpled up in her hands.

    Was the employer so awful that he was making these poor women cry during their interviews?

    As the line got shorter and I slowly made my way inside, I felt a lump rise in my throat. The inside of the

    house was stunningly beautiful, with dark Tudor-style wainscoting and creaky wooden floors. There

    was a massive double staircase in the front foyer, which was where the women would go when their

    names were called ¡ª up one side looking excited and confident, and down the other side looking

    defeated after their interviews.

    ¡°Name?¡± a woman¡¯s voice said from in front of me. I looked up to see an older woman with gray hair

    that was pulled back into a tight, slick bun. She wore a dark blue dress with a high cor that was

    buttoned all the way up and had a clean gray apron on top that looked like it was freshly ironed.

    Needless to say, as she stared at me with her thin lips pressed into a straight line, she made me

    nervous.

    ¡°Moana Fowler,¡± I said, feeling my voice cr*ck a bit under the pressure.

    The woman muttered something to herself and looked down at the clipboard in her hand, making a tick

    mark next to my name.

    ¡°You¡¯re human?¡± she said, shooting me a somewhat disgusted look. I nodded. ¡°Very well. Take a seat.¡±

    I walked over to the area where other women were sitting and found a spot in a plush armchair in the

    corner, where I sat quietly and mulled over my potential responses to interview questions in my head.

    My train of thought was broken a few minutester as an older woman came running down the stairs in

    hysterics. ¡°She¡¯s a little monster!¡± she said, tears streaming down her wrinkled face. ¡°In all my years of

    being a governess, I have never ¡ª and I mean never ¡ª met such a cruel little thing.¡±

    The room fell silent as the woman marched out, followed by a few other women who must have

    decided that whatever waited for them upstairs wasn¡¯t worth it. I, along with several others, decided to

    take the risk; I really needed this job, regardless of the child¡¯s behavior. The children at the orphanage I

    volunteered at absolutely loved me, even the difficult ones, and I was certain that I could find the good

    side in this child, too.

    I sat there for hours while I waited for my turn to have my interview, and eventually, as the sun went

    down and I sank into the plush armchair, I found myself involuntarily nodding off. My night out with Mr.

    Edrick Morgan left me more exhausted than I was willing to admit.

    I sat there for hours while I waited for my turn to have my interview, and eventually, as the sun went

    down and I sank into the plush armchair, I found myself involuntarily nodding off. My night out with Mr.

    Edrick Morgan left me more exhausted than I was willing to admit.

    ¡°Moana Fowler.¡±

    I jumped, awoken abruptly as the stern woman from before called my name and looked up to see her

    standing over me.

    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said, sitting upright and nervously wiping a bit of drool off of the corner of my mouth

    with the back of my hand. ¡°Is it my turn?¡± I looked around to see that the waiting room waspletely

    empty.

    Belongs to N?velDrama.Org - All rights reserved.

    ¡°Go home,¡± the woman said sternly, stepping away from me and gesturing toward the door.

    ¡°But¡­ I haven¡¯t had my interview,¡± I said frantically, standing with my resume clutched in my hand. ¡°I¡¯m

    sorry I dozed off, but it¡¯s been hours¨C¡±

    ¡°E doesn¡¯t wish to see any more candidates,¡± she interrupted. ¡°Especially not young, pretty girls such

    as yourself.¡±

    I felt my heart drop into my stomach as I shook my head vehemently.

    ¡°No,¡± I pleaded, ¡°please let me see her. I promise you won¡¯t regret it if you just give me a chance.¡±

    The woman stared at me for several painfully long moments before sighing. ¡°Fine,¡± she said, turning

    and starting to ascend the stairs. ¡°But don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you.¡±

    I excitedly followed the woman up the stairs, where she silently led me down a wide hallway that was

    lined withrge, ornate wooden doors. Finally, we stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway.

    She opened the door and let me in without a word.

    ¡°I told you I¡¯m tired!¡± a small voice growled from behind a high-backed chair that faced the empty

    firece. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see anyone else!¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯d like to see you,¡± I said softly, stepping toward the chair.

    A small head of blonde hair poked out from behind the chair and red at me, appraising me, for

    several moments as I stood in the middle of the room. Suddenly, as if my appearance didn¡¯t meet her

    standards, the little girl leaped out of her seat and rushed toward me, her childish face twisted into an

    angry snarl and her werewolf fangs bared. Between the mop of messy blonde hair poked two pointed

    little ears on either side of her head, which twitched backward aggressively.

    I stood my ground and stared down at the little ball of fury, which only became more furious as I

    continued to ignore her disys of aggression.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you running like the rest?!¡± she shouted, her high-pitched voice turning into a squeal.

    I crouched down to meet the little girl¡¯s gaze. Her hair had fallen into her eyes. I slowly extended my

    hand to brush it away; she flinched, growling and baring her teeth, but let me do it when I persisted,

    revealing sparkling blue eyes.

    ¡°You¡¯re very pretty,¡± I said softly, watching intently as the little girl¡¯s ears pr*cked up and her lips slowly

    closed. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    She paused, staring at the floor, and when she spoke her face was still pointed down at it. ¡°E.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, E,¡± I said. ¡°My name is Moana. Can I ask why you want to scare me away?¡±

    ¡°My daddy is a handsome and rich man,¡± she said, her voice now a whisper. ¡°All of the young and

    pretty girls like you just want to work for him so they can marry him and take his money. No one wants

    to be here for me. I told Ms. Selina that I didn¡¯t want to see anyone else, but she brought you instead.¡±

    I paused for a moment, feeling tears pr*ck at the backs of my eyes at the little girl¡¯s words.

    ¡°You know,¡± I said softly, holding out my hand with my palm up and feeling the dread lift out of my

    stomach as E touched my fingers, ¡°I was an orphan when I was your age. I understand what it¡¯s like

    to not feel wanted.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± E said, looking up at me with wonder on her face. ¡°You¡¯re not here to steal my daddy

    away?¡±

    I shook my head, holding backughter as I thought about how silly it would be for a wealthy Alpha

    werewolf to be interested in me, a human.

    ¡°No,¡± I said gently. ¡°I¡¯m here for you.¡±

    E and I both looked up as we heard the door creak open. I looked over my shoulder, still crouching,

    to see the woman from before standing in the doorway. ¡°It¡¯s past your bedtime, E,¡± she said, sping

    her hands in front of her.

    ¡°I want this one,¡± E said, walking cheerfully past me and ski pping out the door as if she hadn¡¯t just

    been threatening to bite my face off.

    The old woman ¡ª Selina, as I had discovered her name was ¡ª cast me a disbelieving look, her eyes

    narrowing as she sized me up.

    ¡°Hmph,¡± she said under her breath once E was out of earshot. ¡°What did you do to make her choose

    you?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Finding amon ground is a powerful thing,¡± I said, following Selina from the room.

    When we got downstairs, Selina opened the front door to let me out. ¡°We have your address on file,

    and a car will be waiting for you first thing in the morning to take you to sign your contract and begin

    your first day. Be ready at six o¡¯clock sharp, and not a momentter.¡±

    Smiling, I nodded and walked past Selina with a light feeling in my body despite her curt attitude, then

    paused and turned around to face her. ¡°What was the father¡¯s name, by the way?¡± I asked.

    Selina pursed her lips and looked at me coldly. ¡°You¡¯ll receive the details once you sign your contract,¡±

    she said, promptly closing the door in my face and leaving me alone on the doorstep.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 5: L¡¯affaire Au Pair

    Moana

    I woke up at 4:30 the next morning ¡ª a bit earlier than I needed to, probably, but I wasn¡¯t taking any

    chances with this job. I spent the next hour practically scrubbing myself raw in the shower, fixing my

    hair, ironing my clothes, and taking extra care to make sure that there wasn¡¯t a single stray hair or

    speck of dust on me, because today was the first day of the job that would change my life, and I had to

    be perfect.

    I then spent the final half hour of my preparations pacing and staring out the window, willing myself with

    all of the strength I had to not bite my nails, as I waited for the car that Selina had mentioned. Lo and

    behold, as soon as the clock struck 5:59, I saw a ck car slowly pulling up out front, and I practically

    flew out of my apartment and down the stairs so that I was opening the car door by 6:00 sharp.

    ¡°Hmph,¡± Selina said, looking at her watch as I mbered into the back. ¡°Six o¡¯clock on the dot. A little

    out of breath, but at least you¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and buckling my seatbelt. ¡°It¡¯s a bad

    neighborhood, so I didn¡¯t want to wait outside.¡±

    Selina didn¡¯t answer. The driver pulled the car away from the curb and started heading down the street.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be stopping to sign your contract with thewyer first,¡± Selina said, her voice t as she looked

    out the window with a modicum of disgust on her wrinkled face. ¡°Then, you¡¯ll get a tour of the

    penthouse apartment where you¡¯ll be spending most of your time. I suspect you won¡¯t be needing to

    return to your old home to collect your things?¡±

    I thought back to my apartment and its contents.

    ¡°Well, I have some clothes and things there¨C¡±

    ¡°Your employer will supply you with anything you need: clothes, toiletries, books, and anything else you

    might need or want. Unless you have sentimental belongings you need to go back for, I wouldn¡¯t

    rmend wasting your time and energy on such a move.¡±

    I nodded, clutching the tiny silver locket around my neck. That locket was the only sentimental thing I

    owned, and it was always around my neck. Everything else in that apartment could burn, for all I cared.

    ¡°Very well,¡± Selina said.

    We spent the next several minutes of the car trip inplete silence. Although Selina was seated

    directly across from me in the back of the expensive town car, she didn¡¯t turn away from the window to

    look at me even once. I didn¡¯t let it get to me, though; growing up human in a world dominated by

    werewolves prepared me for this sort of treatment. There were many werewolves who saw humans as

    equals, but there were even more who saw us as an inferior race. Selina was likely one of them.

    The driver eventually pulled the car over in front of a brownstone withrge bay windows with a sign

    over the door that read ¡°William Brown, Esq.¡± Selina got out of the car without a word and started for

    the door ¡ª I did the same, standing behind her as she rapped on the door with the brass knocker.

    The door swung open a few momentster, and a young woman led us in. The office smelled like a

    sicklybination of mahogany and burnt coffee, and it was eerily quiet. Neither Selina nor the woman

    said a word; the woman only shut the door behind us and gestured toward a half-open door at the end

    of a short hallway, and when we entered, there was an old man sitting behind an enormous wooden

    desk.

    The door swung open a few momentster, and a young woman led us in. The office smelled like a

    sicklybination of mahogany and burnt coffee, and it was eerily quiet. Neither Selina nor the woman

    said a word; the woman only shut the door behind us and gestured toward a half-open door at the end

    of a short hallway, and when we entered, there was an old man sitting behind an enormous wooden

    desk.

    He was asleep.

    Selina cleared her throat loudly and sat down in the chair across from him, and when he still didn¡¯t

    wake, she swiftly kicked him under the desk.

    ¡°Wake up, William!¡±

    ¡°What? Oh!¡± the old man eximed with a start as he was unceremoniously awoken. I stifled augh

    as I stood in the doorway, but my smile quickly faded when Selina abruptly turned around and gestured

    with her head for me to sit.

    ¡°Right,¡± William said, putting on his sses with shaking old hands as he opened a drawer and pulled

    out a stack of documents. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    The c*ckoo clock on the wall behind him ticked in time with my racing heartbeat and filled my ears,

    driving me practically insane, as the elderlywyer licked his fingers and flipped through the

    documents. Finally, after a painstakingly long time and a curt ¡°ahem¡± from Selina, he produced the

    packet of paperwork for me and set it down in front of me with a pen.

    ¡°You¡¯ll just have to sign this basic contract and an NDA,¡± he said.

    I leaned forward and picked up the pen, scanning over the contract. My eyebrows raised as I noticed a

    couple of interesting uses thrown in: one mentioned that I was not allowed to be romantically

    involved with my employer at any point, and another stated that I was prohibited from bing

    pregnant with my employer¡¯s child without permission.

    ¡°Um¡­ What are these uses for?¡± I asked, pointing to them. William leaned over and nced at

    them, then waved his hand dismissively.

    ¡°All very standard.¡±

    ¡°But I¨C¡±

    ¡°Just sign the agreement,¡± Selina growled under her breath. ¡°Unless you think you will break the

    uses¡­¡±

    ¡°No, no,¡± I said, quickly scrawling my signature down on the dotted line and sliding the contract back to

    William. ¡°I would never. I was just curious.¡±

    Selina let out another ¡°Hmph,¡± and stood, smoothing down her skirt.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s finished,¡± she said, nodding politely to William, who seemed already exhausted from our

    brief interaction. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Moana.¡±

    ¡­

    We arrived at the location where I would be working and living a few minutester. It was vastly

    different from the Tudor-style mountain mansion I had visited the day before, but equally as massive

    and beautiful. Selina and I walked through the marble lobby and took the elevator up a few dozen

    storeys beforeing out into a gorgeous entryway with cherry wood parquet floors andrge, arched

    windows that were reminiscent of an expensive Parisian apartment.

    E was waiting for us when we arrived. She looked much more put-together and far less feral than the

    night before, wearing a prim baby blue dress with ruffles and a bow in her hair.

    Much to mine and Selina¡¯s surprise, E threw her arms around me in a tight hug and then took my

    hand, leading me away from Selina and around the massive apartment on a tour ¡ª which took over an

    hour since the ce was sorge, and I was thoroughly exhausted by the time it was over. E¡¯s

    bedroom alone was bigger than my old apartment.

    Finally, after she introduced me to the twin maids, Lily and Amy, E led me to what would be my room.

    ¡°This is your room!¡± she said, pushing open arge set of double doors with her tiny hands. I stifled a

    gasp as I saw how sp*cious and beautiful it was, with even a small balcony that overlooked the city

    below.

    ¡°This is¡­ mine?¡± I asked, unable to contain my disbelief.

    ¡°Mm-hmm,¡± E said, climbing up on the bed and bouncing a bit. ¡°Come feel the bed!¡±

    Smiling, I walked over to the bed and sat down next to E.

    ¡°Wow, it is bouncy,¡± I said, to which E giggled and flopped onto her back, arms outstretched. I took

    the silence and the fact that we were alone as an opportunity to get to know E a bit better ¡ª as well

    as to pry a bit for information on this mystery father to make sure that he wasn¡¯t aplete weirdo.

    ¡°So, can you tell me anything about your parents?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you have a mom?¡±

    E shook her head, stillying back and staring up at the ceiling. ¡°Nope. I never met my mom. She

    died when I was born.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I replied, my voice faltering. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    E merely sat up and shrugged, hopping off of the bed to walk over to the dresser and y with the

    ornate drawer kn*bs. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m happy with just my daddy. He¡¯s always nice to me¡­ I just wish he

    could spend more time with me.¡±

    I stood and walked over to E. She turned and looked up at me, her eyes just as blue as they had

    been the night before. ¡°I¡¯m sure he wishes he could spend more time with you, too,¡± I said.

    ¡­

    That evening, after spending the entire day together ying games, E and I were sitting on the living

    room floor while Amy and Lily prepared dinner. I was watching as E drew a picture with crayons,

    helping her to draw things that she couldn¡¯t quite figure out yet for herself, when I heard the front door

    click open.

    E jerked her head up and suddenly dropped her crayons, jumping up and running out into the foyer.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± she yelled. I took a deep breath and stood, smoothing down my shirt and quickly fixing my

    hair as I prepared to meet my employer for the first time.

    ¡°Hey, princess. Did you have a good day?¡±

    My eyes widened as I heard his voice.

    Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.

    It seemed I already knew this wealthy, handsome father I had heard so much about.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 6: Another One Bites the Dust

    Moana

    I stood frozen in the middle of the living room, my back turned to the door as I heard footsteps

    approaching. How did this happen? How did I wind up finally bing employed, only for it to turn out

    that my new employer was the same person who I had a one night stand with just two nights ago?

    The footsteps came closer. I felt like a deer in headlights.

    ¡°Good evening, Miss Moana,¡± that all-too-familiar voice said from behind me. ¡°Can we speak privately

    for a minute?¡±

    I slowly turned around to face Edrick Morgan, the handsome and wealthy werewolf CEO, the extremely

    well-known public figure, the man who I had slept with two nights ago¡­ The man who tried to throw

    money at my feet like I was a prostitute.

    He stood in front of me with E in his arms, the perfect picture of a loving father.

    ¡°Y-Yes,¡± I stammered. I watched as he set E down, then gestured for me to follow him; as I did, it felt

    like I was swimming through mud, like my limbs were heavy and useless. Was I dreaming?

    We walked through the living room and into his study; I remembered it from my tour with E earlier. It

    had enormous bookshelves lining the walls that rose all the way to the ceiling, with arge carved

    stone firece and two tall, arched windows. There was a mahogany desk in the middle of the room

    and a small seating area by the firece. At the time that E showed me this room, I had found it

    stunningly beautiful. Now, it felt like a coffin.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± I said as soon as the door clicked shut behind us. I stayed by the door, watching as

    Edrick casually walked over to one of the plush chairs by the firece and sat down. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that

    you would be the employer. If I had known, I wouldn¡¯t have applied. I promise this isn¡¯t a ploy to get

    money from you¨C¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Moana,¡± Edrick said, rubbing his tired eyes. ¡°I knew it was you when I hired you. I did it on

    purpose.¡±

    I scrunched my eyebrows together. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°E may be stubborn, but I¡¯m notpletely detached from the hiring process,¡± Edrick replied. ¡°I

    wanted to give you a chance.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ You treated me like a beggar. Like I was a¡­¡± I lowered my voice so E couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°¡­a

    prostitute. And now you give me a job opportunity? What¡¯s the catch here?¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t take the money I gave you on the street,¡± he replied coldly, standing. ¡°After that, you

    wouldn¡¯t take the money I tried to give you after our one night stand, because apparently your pride is

    more important than paying your rent. I may seem like an arrogant as*hole to you, but I do not owe

    anyone and I know a desperate person when I see one ¡ª so I did the next best thing since you don¡¯t

    seem to like handouts, and I gave you a job.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t take the money I gave you on the street,¡±

    he replied coldly, standing. ¡°After that, you wouldn¡¯t take the money I tried to give you after our one

    night stand, because apparently your pride is more important than paying your rent. I may seem like an

    arrogant as*hole to you, but I do not owe anyone and I know a desperate person when I see one ¡ª so

    I did the next best thing since you don¡¯t seem to like handouts, and I gave you a job.¡±

    I took a few steps toward him, clenching my fists. ¡°I passed that interview fair and square,¡± I said. ¡°Why

    are you making it out like I¡¯m a¡­ a charity case?¡±

    Edrick scoffed and folded his arms across his chest. ¡°Oh, please. Your application was tossed into the

    reject pile the first day you sent it. I decided to give you a second chance, when there were dozens of

    other people with better experience and a better education.¡±

    A lump started to rise in my throat as Edrick spoke. Was this all I was? A charity case? A pathetic

    example of someone who was just supposed to be grateful that the all-knowing and powerful Edrick

    Morgan gave me a chance to work for him after sleeping with me in a hotel room?

    ¡°You know,¡± I growled, taking another step closer, ¡°for a man whoined that his one night stand

    was just after him for money, it¡¯s awfully convenient that you would suddenly want me to live with you.¡±

    ¡°You signed the contract,¡± he replied, fixing his steely gaze on me. ¡°You know the stiptions of the

    uses. And I highly doubt you have the courage to break them.¡±

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    Suddenly, the door creaked open. Edrick and I both looked up to see E standing in the doorway,

    tears streaming down her cheeks.

    ¡°You promised you wouldn¡¯t try to steal my daddy away,¡± she snarled. Even from where I stood, I could

    see her little fangs poking out and her ws extended. ¡°You¡¯re a liar!¡±

    ¡°E¨C¡±

    Before I could stop her, the little girl turned on her heel and ran away, sobbing. I whipped back around

    to re at Edrick, whose gaze had shifted from cold to concerned in a matter of moments. ¡°You should

    be ashamed of yourself,¡± I said, walking toward the door. ¡°You knew exactly what you were doing when

    you hired me.¡±

    I stormed out of Edrick¡¯s office and found E¡¯s room, but the door was locked when I tried to open it.

    ¡°E, please talk to me,¡± I said through the door.

    There was a brief silence, followed by an angry ¡°Go away!¡±

    Sighing, I turned around to see Selina standing at the end of the hallway, her thin arms folded

    disappointedly across her chest. No doubt she had heard the entire interaction and was looking down

    on me, too. I couldn¡¯t stay in a ce where everyone was suspicious of me, like I was some sort of

    grifter just trying to weasel money out of a wealthy CEO. I would rather be homeless.

    I stormed past Selina and went to my room, where my purse with my few belongings sat on the

    dresser. Hopefully, myndlord hadn¡¯t locked me out of my apartment yet. Without a word, I stormed

    out of the apartment building and back out onto the dark street, collecting my bearings for a moment

    before finding the nearest subway and heading home.

    Just as I feared, my apartment was locked up tightly when I returned, with an eviction notice on the

    door. I hit the door with my fist and cursed out loud before heading back out onto the street; it looked

    like I was going to be putting another charge on my credit card, this time for a motel¡­ And dinner,

    because I was starving.

    As I walked down the street, digging through my purse to see if I had enough cash to buy a couple

    slices of pizza, I suddenly stopped short and felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise as the

    overwhelming feeling of being watched came over me. I slowly turned my head to see tworge men

    walking toward me on the dark sidewalk.

    ¡°Evening, miss,¡± one of them said, his voice gravelly as though he smoked a pack of cigarettes a day.

    His eyes were a glowing orange color, which was utterly terrifying in the dark, and I realized as he

    came closer that there was a long scar running diagonally across his entire face. The other man was

    equally as frightening, with a long leather jacket and an almost hungry look on his face.

    ¡°U-Um, I don¡¯t have any money,¡± I said, starting to walk away briskly. My heart started to pound as they

    continued to follow me, and I began to swivel my head this way and that, looking for anyone who might

    be able to help.

    ¡°We¡¯re not here for money,¡± the man in the leather jacket said. ¡°We¡¯re here for you.¡±

    At that moment, every fiber of my being screamed for me to run.

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 7: Captive

    Moana

    ¡°Hey! Stop!¡± the scar-faced man shouted.

    I ran as fast as I could, willing my legs to pump harder, to push me further away from the imminent

    danger that I sensed. I could hear the sound of footsteps pounding on the sidewalk behind me; I was

    just a human, and these men were werewolves. I should¡¯ve known I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance trying to

    outrun them.

    I screamed for help, but no one came ¡ª no one ever came when a woman screamed for help in the

    city, and I cursed them for that in that moment.

    The sound of the men running behind me came closer. I felt as though my body didn¡¯t belong to me,

    like I was watching from a third person perspective as I ran for my life.

    The two men gained on me. They were so close now that I knew that one misstep on my part would

    allow them to catch me. I felt a hand brush my shoulder and I shrieked, pushing myself faster as I

    nced over my shoulder to look¡­

    Whack!

    I ran into something hard and gritty: a corner of a brick building. As I stumbled backwards, my head

    reeling from the impact, all I could feel were hands grabbing me. My vision faded, and thest thing I

    saw was the scar-faced man¡­

    I came to in the back of a car. My head was throbbing and I felt as though I would vomit, which kept me

    from being able to scream or fight. Where were these strange men taking me?

    ¡°She¡¯s awake,¡± the gravelly voice that belonged to the scar-faced man said.

    I groaned. I tried to speak, to tell them to let me go, but all that came out was garbled nonsense. They

    stopped the car and got out, opening the back door and lifting my limp body out of the seat.

    As they half-carried me toward whatever fate thaty before me, my head lolled back on one of their

    shoulders. Above me towered the massive apartment building where I had just been earlier that day.

    Edrick Morgan¡¯s penthouse.

    I felt myself go even weaker. The man in the leather jacket said something incoherent and picked me

    up fully, carrying me in through the brightly-lit lobby. I heard the sound of the scar-faced man saying

    something to the concierge, followed by the ding of the elevator.

    I cked out again.

    When I woke up again, I wasying on something soft. The room was dim, lit only by the glow of a

    standingmp.

    I groaned and attempted to sit up; somehow, I managed to do it, although the dizziness got worse

    when I did.

    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°You hit your head pretty good there, huh?¡± a familiar male voice said. I winced as I felt a damp cloth

    touch my tender forehead, another hand supporting my back from underneath as I struggled to stay

    upright.

    ¡°Where am I¡­?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re back in the penthouse.¡±

    ¡°Where am I¡­?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re back in the penthouse.¡±

    I blinked several times. Finally, Edrick Morgan¡¯s devilishly handsome face came into focus. He was

    crouching in front of me with a concerned expression as he dabbed at my forehead with a damp cloth. I

    thought, as I slowly came back to consciousness, that I secretly caught him showing a bit of concern

    for me; under any other circumstances, I would¡¯ve felt like we had chemistry between us.

    ¡°Why did you bring me back here?¡± I whispered, too weak to speak any more loudly.

    ¡°Why did you run?¡± he asked instead of answering me, his face turning cold again as soon as he saw

    me looking.

    I didn¡¯t answer. Sighing, Edrick set down the washcloth and propped a couple of soft pillows under me

    to help me stay upright, then stood and walked over to the window to look out onto the city street.

    ¡°You already signed the contract,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s rude of you to run off like that. I¡¯m only trying to help.¡±

    ¡°Trying to help by sending two terrifying men to attack me on the street in the middle of the night?¡±

    Edrick turned back to face me. His expression was, unsurprisingly, cold and emotionless.

    ¡°What did you expect me to do? They were never going to hurt you. From what I heard, you took off

    screaming before they could even talk to you.¡±

    I groaned again and shut my eyes, tenderly touching my fingers to my forehead as a wave of dizziness

    took over me. Through my closed eyelids I saw Edrick¡¯s tall form approaching me once more and

    crouching down in front of me. He picked up the washcloth again and held it to my forehead. As he did,

    I heard the door click open.

    ¡°Thank you, Selina,¡± he said. I cracked my eyes open to see the housekeeper hand him a bottle of pills.

    He opened it and dumped two out into his palm, then held them out to me along with a ss of water.

    ¡°It¡¯s just Advil,¡± he said, noticing my hesitation to take the pills. ¡°For the pain. Don¡¯t worry, I wouldn¡¯t

    drug you.¡±

    I frowned, but gingerly took the pills and popped them into my mouth, washing them down with the

    ss of water. I heard Selina¡¯s footsteps receding, followed by the sound of the door clicking shut

    again.

    ¡°You know, we did try to call you,¡± he said, sitting on the arm of a chair across from me and folding his

    arms across his chest. ¡°Several times, actually. As it turns out, you left your phone here by ident.¡±

    He pulled my phone out of his pocket and tossed it onto myp. The screen lit up as he did so, showing

    five missed calls.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, slipping my phone into my own pocket. ¡°But you should know that I don¡¯t have any

    intention of continuing to work for you.¡±

    ¡°I figured you would say that,¡± he replied. ¡°I suppose I could just as easily find someone else to fill your

    position, and would honestly prefer it myself at this point, but it seems E is quite taken with you.¡±

    I furrowed my brow. ¡°E seemed too upset by our¡­ brief history¡­ to want anything to do with me.¡±

    Edrick merely shrugged, then called over his shoulder toward the door. ¡°Come in, E. Tell Moana what

    you told me.¡±

    I sat up fully and looked over my shoulder to see E sheepishly walk into the room. She was looking

    at the floor and fiddling with a bow on her dress, looking embarrassed.

    ¡°Go on, E,¡± Edrick said softly. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I yelled at you,¡± she whispered. She looked up at me then, and her eyes widened when she

    saw me. ¡°What happened?¡±

    I reached up and touched my forehead, then shook my head and held my hand out for her to take. ¡°I¡¯m

    okay. Just bumped my head, that¡¯s all.¡±

    E tentatively shuffled up to me, cing her small hand in mine as she studied my face. ¡°I thought you

    lied to me,¡± she said. ¡°But then I remembered that you asked me about my parents, and daddy told me

    that you didn¡¯t know who he was when you came to see me yesterday. So I forgive you.¡±

    ¡°Do you want Moana to stay?¡± Edrick asked.

    E nodded vigorously. ¡°Yes. We had so much fun today. I want to have fun with you every day.¡±

    The little girl¡¯s words made me smile and forget about everything else. How could I say no to her?

    ¡°Alright,¡± I said to E, ncing briefly at Edrick as he looked on with an icy stare. ¡°I¡¯ll stay. But only if

    you promise to talk to me next time you get mad at me. Okay?¡±

    E nodded in agreement. ¡°I promise.¡± Then, she pulled me closer and cupped her hands around my

    ear. ¡°If my daddy is going to be with someone, then I suppose I¡¯m okay with it being you.¡± She pulled

    away with a smile on her face, then patted me on the shoulder and ski pped out of the room before I

    could respond.

    What she had said was so adult-like¡­ Children could be so strange sometimes!

    ¡°So, that settles it?¡± Edrick asked once she was gone. ¡°Will you stay?¡±

    His voice was t, but I could sense a hint of pleading behind it. Somehow, I knew that E wasn¡¯t the

    only one who wanted me to stay.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll stay.¡±

    ¡°Thonks,¡± I soid, slipping my phone into my own pocket. ¡°But you should know thot I don¡¯t hove ony

    intention of continuing to work for you.¡±

    ¡°I figured you would soy thot,¡± he replied. ¡°I suppose I could just os eosily find someone else to fill your

    position, ond would honestly prefer it myself ot this point, but it seems Ello is quite token with you.¡±

    I furrowed my brow. ¡°Ello seemed too upset by our¡­ brief history¡­ to wont onything to do with me.¡±

    Edrick merely shrugged, then colled over his shoulder toword the door. ¡°Come in, Ello. Tell Moono whot

    you told me.¡±

    I sot up fully ond looked over my shoulder to see Ello sheepishly wolk into the room. She wos looking

    ot the floor ond fiddling with o bow on her dress, looking emborrossed.

    ¡°Go on, Ello,¡± Edrick soid softly. ¡°It¡¯s okoy.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I yelled ot you,¡± she whispered. She looked up ot me then, ond her eyes widened when she

    sow me. ¡°Whot hoppened?¡±

    I reoched up ond touched my foreheod, then shook my heod ond held my hond out for her to toke. ¡°I¡¯m

    okoy. Just bumped my heod, thot¡¯s oll.¡±

    Ello tentotively shuffled up to me, plocing her smoll hond in mine os she studied my foce. ¡°I thought you

    lied to me,¡± she soid. ¡°But then I remembered thot you osked me obout my porents, ond doddy told me

    thot you didn¡¯t know who he wos when youe to see me yesterdoy. So I forgive you.¡±

    ¡°Do you wont Moono to stoy?¡± Edrick osked.

    Ello nodded vigorously. ¡°Yes. We hod so much fun todoy. I wont to hove fun with you every doy.¡±

    The little girl¡¯s words mode me smile ond forget obout everything else. How could I soy no to her?

    ¡°Alright,¡± I soid to Ello, gloncing briefly ot Edrick os he looked on with on icy store. ¡°I¡¯ll stoy. But only if

    you promise to tolk to me next time you get mod ot me. Okoy?¡±

    Ello nodded in ogreement. ¡°I promise.¡± Then, she pulled me closer ond cupped her honds oround my

    eor. ¡°If my doddy is going to be with someone, then I suppose I¡¯m okoy with it being you.¡± She pulled

    owoy with o smile on her foce, then potted me on the shoulder ond ski pped out of the room before I

    could respond.

    Whot she hod soid wos so odult-like¡­ Children could be so stronge sometimes!

    ¡°So, thot settles it?¡± Edrick osked once she wos gone. ¡°Will you stoy?¡±

    His voice wos flot, but I could sense o hint of pleoding behind it. Somehow, I knew thot Ello wosn¡¯t the

    only one who wonted me to stoy.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I soid. ¡°I¡¯ll stoy.¡±

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 8: Sleeping Potion

    Moana

    After the entire debacle on my first night of employment, my first week went by smoothly and without a

    single hitch. E was a sweet little girl to take care of, and she caused very little trouble, if any at all. In

    fact, by the end of my first week, I started to feel a little guilty for epting such a high sry for such

    an easy job and started helping Selina and the maids around the penthouse when I wasn¡¯t busy with

    E. Helping out with cleaning, cooking,undry, and grocery shopping not only made me feel better

    about epting the sry, but also made me feel less bored when I had nothing else to do. It didn¡¯t

    make Selina and the maids any more friendly toward me, but it certainly seemed to soften their

    demeanors a tiny bit as the days marched on.

    I also kept a distant, but polite, rtionship with Edrick. He wasn¡¯t around very often, usually only

    coming homete at night, so it was easy to keep a distance.

    I started to notice a strange urrence, though. There was a drawer in the kitchen that Selina would

    periodically open using a small key; I didn¡¯t pay it much mind, just assuming that it was something

    private, but I was helping out with peeling potatoes in the kitchen one afternoon while E was busy

    with her violin lesson when I noticed Selinae in with a paper pharmacy bag. I watched quietly as

    she discreetly opened the bag, unlocked the drawer, and dumped the contents of the bag into the

    drawer.

    ¡°Selina! Can you help me?¡± Amy suddenly called from the other room. She sounded like she was

    struggling to carry something heavy.

    ¡°Coming,¡± Selina replied. She left the empty paper bag on the counter and scurried away, inadvertently

    leaving the drawer open.

    I tried to focus on peeling the potatoes, but I was nothing if not a curious person ¡ª probably a trait I

    picked up during my upbringing at the orphanage ¡ª and couldn¡¯t help myself from quietly sneaking

    over to the mysterious drawer.

    My brows knit together when I opened it to reveal bottles upon bottles of pills.

    ¡°Ambien¡­¡± I whispered to myself as I picked up one of the bottles and read thebel. Why were there

    so many sleeping pills in this drawer?

    ¡°Ahem.¡±

    I jumped when I heard Selina clear her throat from behind me, identally dropping the bottle of pills in

    my hand and watching in horror as it rolled across the floor, eventuallying to a stop in front of

    Selina¡¯s feet.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± I muttered.

    Selina sighed and stooped to pick up the bottle. She brushed past me and tossed it back into the

    drawer, closing and locking it again.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to snoop,¡± I said in a rushed voice. ¡°I just saw you left the drawer unlocked, and¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Selina replied as she dropped the small key into her apron pocket. ¡°I suppose it was only a

    matter of time before you got curious.¡±

    I turned and watched as Selina walked over to the oven. She slipped a quilted oven mitt onto her hand

    and pulled out a steaming loaf of bread, then used the mitt to wave away some of the steam.

    ¡°May I ask who it¡¯s for?¡± I asked. ¡°The pills, I mean.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Morgan has been having trouble sleeping for years now,¡± she replied, her back still turned to me as

    she turned the loaf pan upside down and let the fresh loaf of bread inside plop down onto the cutting

    board. ¡°His dosestely have been getting stronger. I¡¯m not sure if the pills even help him at all at this

    point.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not good for his body,¡± the maid, Lily, said as she shuffled into the kitchen with a basket of clean

    linens. ¡°Those pills are too strong. And, they¡¯re addictive. I me it on that woman¨C¡±

    ¡°Lily!¡± Selina growled, whipping around to re at Lily.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Lily muttered before continuing her work.

    I frowned, figuring I wasn¡¯t going to find out who ¡®that woman¡¯ was, and returned to peeling the potatoes

    as I thought about Edrick. Every time I had talked to him since I met him, he never seemed overly tired

    ¡ª and, now that I thought of it, he had woken up at almost the exact same time as I did when we spent

    the night together in the hotel.

    ¡­

    I had the chance to witness Edrick¡¯s sleep deprivation firsthand that very night.

    I had just put E to bed. She insisted that I read her not one, not two, but three bedtime stories before

    she finally fell asleep halfway through the third story, so I was up muchter than usual. Normally I

    would be tucked away in my bedroom by the time with my headphones on, listening to quiet music

    while I drew in my sketchbook on my balcony, which meant that I rarely bumped into Edrick at this time

    of night.

    As I was walking back to my room, however, I heard the sound of ss breaking in the living room,

    followed by a mu ffled ¡°Sh it.¡±

    I hurried toward the sound of the noise, worried that Edrick had hurt himself; when I emerged into the

    living room, I saw him standing in the middle of the room frowning down at the floor. He had hisptop

    bncing in one hand and was staring down at the floor in front of him, where a wine ss had

    shattered on the wood and red wine pooled up around his bare feet.

    When he heard me enter, he jerked his head up to look at me. His face looked sickly and pale. There

    was something else behind his eyes, too.

    He was drunk.

    ¡°Do you need help?¡± I asked.

    Edrick shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s alright. The maid will clean it up in the morning.¡±

    I frowned and brushed past him to retrieve a towel and the broom from the kitchen. ¡°Nonsense,¡± I said,

    ushering him out of the way when I returned. I bent down in front of him to wipe the wine up off of the

    floor, then swept the broken ss into the dustpan and dumped it in the trash. ¡°See? It took five

    seconds.¡±

    Edrick swayed slightly in his spot for a moment before turning on his heel toward the kitchen. ¡°I need

    another ss,¡± he mumbled.

    My frown deepened. I grabbed him by the shoulder, taking him by surprise, and guided him over to the

    sofa. ¡°Sit here,¡± I said sternly, as though he was a child. ¡°I¡¯ll get it for you.¡±

    He didn¡¯t protest as I went into the kitchen to get him another ss ¡ª but as I got out the wine ss

    and lifted the half-empty bottle to pour, I decided against it and instead filled a ss with fresh, cold

    water. When I returned and handed the ss to Edrick, he frowned.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t wine.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not,¡± I replied. ¡°You¡¯re drunk enough as it is. Would you want your daughter toe out here

    and see you like this? Besides, alcohol won¡¯t help you sleep. If anything, it¡¯ll keep you up and leave you

    with a headache in the morning.¡±

    Edrick was silent for several moments as he stared at the ss of water in his hand.

    ¡°You know about my sleeping troubles?¡± he asked, looking up at me with raised eyebrows.

    I nodded. ¡°I saw the pills,¡± I responded, pausing. ¡°Is it like this every night?¡±

    Edrick nodded hesitantly. ¡°Every night. Except, there was one time recently¡­¡±

    His voice faltered, and before I could tell him to continue, his face shifted back to its usual cold

    expression. He set the ss of water down on the coffee table and began typing on hisptop.

    ¡°Thank you for the water,¡± he said. ¡°You can go now.¡±

    ¡­

    As I slept that night, I had a strange dream. I was standing on a cliff, looking out over the sea. There

    was a disembodied voice speaking to me.

    ¡°I am your wolf¡­ My name is Mina¡­¡± the voice said slowly and softly, like the wind.

    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    But when I looked for the source of the voice, there was no one there.

    I awoke with a start in the morning, feeling ufortable after my strange dream. Had I already spent

    so much time living with werewolves that their customs were starting to work their way into my dreams?

    Shuddering, I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

    As my sleepy vision began to focus, I nearly screamed.

    Someone was in my bed¡­ And it was Edrick.

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 9: Bedmates

    oana

    As soon as I saw Edrick sleeping on the other side of my bed, I immediately averted my gaze down at

    myself to make sure that I was still dressed.

    I was still fully clothed¡­ And this time, I knew for a fact that I hadn¡¯t h***ked up with him. I was

    completely sober when I went to bed, so I would¡¯ve remembered.

    So, why was Edrick in my bed?

    While I was still processing what was going on, Edrick¡¯s eyes suddenly opened and he stared right at

    me. I yelped and jumped out of the bed, running to the other side of the room.

    ¡°What are you doing in here?¡± I asked, my voice shaking.

    Edrick slowly sat up and looked around, looking equally as confused as I was. ¡°I have no idea,¡± he said,

    looking down at himself in the same manner I did; no doubt to also check to make sure he was fully

    clothed. ¡°I was really drunkst night. I guess I confused your room with mine.¡±

    ¡°Your room is all the way on the other side of the penthouse,¡± I growled. ¡°And it¡¯s an entirely different

    layout. You weren¡¯t so drunk that you would have made such an obvious mistake in your own home.¡±

    Edrick was silent for several moments before throwing the covers off of himself and swinging his long

    legs over the edge of the bed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, standing and sying out his hands with his palms

    facing outward in a disy of surrender. ¡°I really don¡¯t know what happened. Last I remember¡­¡±

    His voice faded and his brow furrowed.

    ¡°What do you remember?¡± I asked incredulously. I was appalled that he would have me sign a contract

    stating I wouldn¡¯t get romantically involved with him, only for him to vite those terms within the first

    week by crawling into my bed in the middle of the night.

    He shook his head, frowning as he stared down at the floor. ¡°I was awake for quite a while after you

    went to bed. I couldn¡¯t sleep¡­ But suddenly I started thinking about you, and the night we spent

    together in the hotel.¡±

    My frown deepened. ¡°So, after all of the fuss you made with the contract and making me promise not to

    get romantically involved, you got sentimental over our one night stand and climbed into my bed while I

    was sleeping?¡±

    Edrick shook his head again, this time more vehemently. ¡°No,¡± he said, his face turning slightly red. ¡°It

    wasn¡¯t like that. There¡¯s just something about you that helps me sleep. I remember when we slept

    together in the hotel, I slept like a baby that night for the first time in years. I don¡¯t know what it is, but it

    must¡¯ve drawn me to youst night. But I¡¯m sorry. It won¡¯t happen again. Unless¨C¡±

    I c****d my head to the side, partially frustrated by Edrick¡¯s back and forth attitude and partially

    intrigued by it. If he wanted to be involved with me so badly, why didn¡¯t he just say so without

    beating around the bush?

    ¡°Unless what?¡±

    ¡°Unless¡­ I¡¯ll pay you to sleep with me. With clothes on, of course. Nothing sexual.¡±

    I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that go against the contract that was so

    important to you?¡± I asked. ¡°What, are you trying to make me break it so you can weasel a fine out of

    me or something?¡±

    ¡°Moana, I¡¯m a billionaire,¡± Edrick said with augh. ¡°I don¡¯t have any desire to ¡®weasel¡¯ any sort of

    money out of you. But I do need to sleep, and you seem to be the cure for my insomnia. We can write

    up a supplemental agreement ¡ª in exchange for a sry increase, we¡¯ll share a bed. Just until I can

    get back into a normal sleep schedule, and then maybe I won¡¯t need to do it anymore. It won¡¯t hurt your

    contract at all. ¡±

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    I narrowed my eyes and thought back to the image in my mind of the drawer full of pills in the kitchen,

    followed by the image of Edrick drunkenly swaying in the living room while his daughter slept just a

    couple of rooms over.

    ¡°If you really promise not to make it sexual¡­¡±

    ¡°I promise,¡± Edrick said. ¡°I¡¯m only thinking about what¡¯s best for my daughter. Who, by the way, can

    never know about this.¡±

    I paused for a moment, still feeling hesitant about agreeing to something like this, but a sry increase

    for simply sleeping next to someone was tempting. I could just see it as a way to pay off my student

    loans more quickly, and maybe he was right about it only needing to be temporary.

    ¡°Alright,¡± I said with a pensive nod. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    ¡­

    I spent the remainder of the day feeling distracted by my new agreement with Edrick. E didn¡¯t seem

    to notice that my mind was wandering a bit as I helped her get ready for the day and attend her

    lessons, and if she did, she didn¡¯t say anything.

    Was this a bad idea? Thest time Edrick and I slept together, it had turned into a one night stand and

    a subsequent argument. I couldn¡¯t deny the feelings that arose in me when I woke up to find him

    unexpectedly next to me, even though we were fully clothed¡­

    Would we be able to go through with this new arrangement without things getting too hot?

    Later that night, once E was sound asleep in her bed and Selina and the maids were asleep as well,

    I quietly made my way across the penthouse to Edrick¡¯s room. I made sure to put on an extrayer

    over my pajamas as an added barrier, just in case.

    I quietly knocked twice on the door before opening it and slipping inside.

    I had only been in this room once, very briefly, when E gave me her tour. While E¡¯s and my rooms

    were both light and airy, Edrick¡¯s room was more dimly lit. He seemed to like keeping the curtains shut,

    and there weren¡¯t any decorations inside. The furniture had a minimal feel to it, and everything was a

    dark color. It made therge room feel empty and deste, especially with its high ceilings. As I walked

    over to Edrick with the signed copy of the supplemental agreement in my hand and gave it to him, I

    pulled my cardigan closer around my body and shivered. I wasn¡¯t sure how I was going to sleep well in

    here.

    ¡°Are you cold? I have extra nkets,¡± Edrick said when he saw me shiver, eyeing my extrayer of

    clothing.

    I shook my head and walked around to the other side of the bed. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I pulled back the ck

    nket and hesitantly climbed into the bed, making sure to stay all the way over on the edge.

    ¡°You know, I¡¯m not going to touch you,¡± Edrick said with a scoff. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so far away. And

    there¡¯s no need for the extrayers of clothing.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to take my precautions,¡± I replied coldly, and stuffed an extra pillow between us as a barrier

    before turning away and going to sleep.

    When I awoke the next morning, it was almost as dark as it was when we went to sleep, save for a few

    slivers of sunlight peeking through the dark curtains. Instead of feeling cold as I expected, however, I

    felt surprisingly warm andfortable.

    Still half asleep, I nuzzled into the strong arms that were wrapped around me, hardly noticing that the

    pillow between us had fallen to the floor.

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 10: Mina

    Moana

    Smiling to myself with closed eyes, I nuzzled deeper into the warm embrace of my bedmate, inhaling

    the smell of his chest.

    Wait¡­

    My eyes shot open, as did his at the same time. We stared at one another in disbelief for several long

    seconds before I felt my face get hot. There was no denying the chemistry in the air between us as we

    gazed at each other beneath the warmth of the sheets, but I knew deep down that this was wrong.

    Edrick was my boss, and I had signed a contract to not get romantically involved!

    Blushing, I quickly pulled away and climbed out of the bed. I noticed that the cardigan I had worn to bed

    the night before nowy on the floor, so I picked it up and quickly put it on to cover myself while Edrick

    sat up slowly in bed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said, my back turned to him as I buttoned my cardigan. ¡°Maybe this isn¡¯t the best idea.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± he replied. His voice was low and gravelly from sleep, and it admittedly made me feel even

    more attracted to him. ¡°But I have to say that I haven¡¯t slept that well in ages. Excluding our night in the

    hotel, of course.¡±

    As I finished buttoning up my cardigan, I felt my face flush an even deeper shade of red. No response

    came to mind, so without a word, I quietly slipped out of Edrick¡¯s room and hoped that no one would

    see me.

    Unfortunately, that wish did note true as I almost immediately bumped into E, who was standing

    outside of her father¡¯s room.

    ¡°Oh! Good morning, E,¡± I said, trying to act nonchnt as I smiled at the little girl.

    She stared at me for a few moments, processing, before she spoke.

    ¡°What were you doing in my daddy¡¯s room?¡±

    I felt a lump rise in my throat. How could I possibly exin to a child that her father was paying me to

    sleep with him? While the simple agreement was that I was only there to sleep beside him to help him

    sleep and not be romantically involved, there was no way to exin that to the wary little girl

    without making it sound like I was a prostitute.

    ¡°Um¡­ Your daddy just called me in here to tell me that¡­¡± My voice faltered as I tried toe up with

    an excuse. ¡°¡­That he wants me to take you out for breakfast before your training today.¡±

    E¡¯s face lit up, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

    ¡°Really?¡± she said, her excited voice turning into a squeak.

    I nodded. ¡°Really. Go get ready. We can have crepes for breakfast at the bakery next door. I know

    they¡¯re your favorite.¡±

    E squealed with delight and ran off. I pulled my cardigan tighter around myself, letting out a sigh of

    relief once she was out of sight. At least I had a way with children.

    I quickly went to my room and got dressed in something suitable for the summer heat: afortable

    cotton dress and a pair of sandals. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, and by that point, E was

    already excitedly banging on my door and singing a made-up song about crepes. As we made our way

    downstairs and headed to the bakery, my strange new arrangement with Edrick Morgan felt distant in

    my mind.

    As we were eating our breakfast together, however, something new came to my mind¡­ A voice.

    It was clear as day, and sounded nothing like my own inner thoughts. It was a woman¡¯s voice, but it

    was fading in and out.

    ¡°Hello¡­Moana?¡± it said, sounding distant and weak.

    I jumped a bit in shock, nearly dropping the forkful of crepes as I lifted it to my mouth.

    ¡°Shhh¡­I¡¯m Mina¡­ Your wolf. You can just talk to me through¡­ our mindlink¡­¡±

    I tried to calm down. ¡°I had a wolf? But¡­ I was human! Well, if you are really my wolf..Where were you

    then?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry it¡¯s taken me so long to appear¡­ I¡¯m still weak, but I¡¯ve been awakened by someone close to

    you. I¡¯m not sure who, but I sense a strong connection¡­¡±

    E c****d her head, speaking with her mouth full. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she said, breaking my train of

    thought.

    I forced a weak smile and nodded, not wanting to reveal what was really going on inside my mind just

    yet. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine,¡± I replied, reaching out to wipe a bit of whipped cream off of E¡¯s mouth with my

    napkin. ¡°Don¡¯t talk with your mouth full.¡±

    I can no longer connect to Mina after that, but what happened was real. I just realized that I never really

    knew who my real parents were. This ¡®Mina¡¯ said that someone near me had a close connection. I

    thought of E, of the housekeeper, the maids¡­ Could it be possible that I was rted to any one of

    them?

    ¡­

    It was Saturday morning, which meant that E had her weekly werewolf training today. As Selina

    informed me, E had to go to these training sessions every week along with other werewolf children to

    learn how to use their abilities, control their wolves, and to get the chance to shift freely in a safe space.

    I had attended the first training with Selina and E, but this week, I took E alone and was allowed to

    leave her there for a few hours, which gave me some time to do whatever I wanted.

    Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.

    I hadn¡¯t been to the orphanage in some time, so once we dropped E off at her training, I agreed to

    meet the driver when her training was finished as he had other work to do in the meantime, and

    decided to take a taxi to the orphanage. Not only was I missing the children there, but I also wanted to

    speak to someone about my records¡­ Maybe they would have some answers about my lineage, and

    could tell me whether I was human or not.

    When I arrived, the children seemed preupied with arts and crafts, but a few of them perked up

    when they saw me.

    ¡°It¡¯s Moana!¡± One little girl said, waving her tiny hand enthusiastically as I stood in the doorway of the

    recreation room. I waved back and smiled.

    ¡°What are you all up to?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Mr. Ethan is teaching us how to make papier mache,¡± a little boy, whose face was covered in glitter

    and the white water-flour mixture used for the project, replied.

    ¡°Ethan?¡± I said, c*****g my head and furrowing my brow.

    ¡°Ethan Bradley,¡± a male voice said from behind me. I spun around to see a young man about my age;

    he was tall and had long brown hair that was pulled into a bun at the nape of his neck, and wore a

    white apron over his clothes that was covered in paint. I immediately recognized him as a well-known

    artist from the city.

    My eyes widened. ¡°Wow,¡± I said, holding out my hand to shake his. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I¡¯m a

    huge fan of your work.¡±

    Ethan smiled and shook my hand. ¡°The kids here tell me that you¡¯re quite the artist yourself¡­¡±

    I blushed, thinking about my sketchbook at home. ¡°I sketch now and again, but I wouldn¡¯t consider

    myself much of an artist,¡± I replied. ¡°But I do find thebination of art and child psychology to be very

    interesting.¡±

    Ethan paused, patiently mulling over my words, before replying. ¡°Why don¡¯t youe to my exhibit

    next week?¡± he replied, pulling a small card out of his apron and handing it to me. ¡°And bring your

    sketchbook. I¡¯d love to hear more.¡±

    I took the card, a grin spreading across my face. ¡°I¡¯d be happy toe,¡± I said. Ethan smiled and

    returned to his work with the children, leaving me in the doorway.

    ¡°Moana!¡± a familiar voice said from the stairway. I looked up and smiled to see the director of the

    orphanage, Sophia,ing down the steps. ¡°What brings you here? I heard you got a new job; live-in

    au pair, right?¡±

    I met her halfway, adjusting my purse on my shoulder with a nod. ¡°Yes. I had a little free time, so I

    thought I would stop by. And¡­¡± I bit my lip, looking at the floor for a moment. ¡°I discovered something

    recently. It¡¯s about my identity. I was hoping you could tell me about how I came to be here when I was

    a child.¡±

    Sophia¡¯s smile faded, reced by an expression that I couldn¡¯t quite read. She nodded slowly, turning

    to go back upstairs. ¡°Follow me,¡± she said.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 11: Tooth & Nail

    Moana

    ¡°Follow me,¡± the director of the orphanage, Sophia, said. Her sad expression when I mentioned my

    identity gave me cause for concern, and as I followed her blonde head of hair up the narrow wooden

    stairs to her office, I felt my heart start to beat faster than it had been before.

    Sophia led me into her office and gestured for me to sit as she closed the door behind us. I sat on the

    edge of the straight-backed wooden chair across from her desk, clutching my purse nervously in my

    lap.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t tell you about your heritage sooner,¡± Sophia said as she walked over to one of the tall

    metal filing cabs at the back of the room that contained records of current and past children at the

    orphanage. ¡°It¡¯s our policy to not bring it up, for the sake of the children¡¯s m*ntal health. I hope you

    understand.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± I replied. I watched as Sophia pulled open one of the drawers and began thumbing

    through the rows of man folders. Sophia had been here since I was a child; at the time, she was a

    spry young woman, around the same age as I was now. Now, as I watched her search for my file, I

    noticed the slight hunch developing in her aging back, the tufts of gray hair that hadn¡¯t been dyed yet at

    the nape of her neck, and the subtle wrinkles starting to form on her hands and forearms.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± she whispered to herself, rifling through the folders until she found one with my name on

    it. ¡°Here we go.¡± She pulled it out and walked over to the desk, setting it down in front of me.

    I nced up at her nervously for a moment, waiting for her nod of approval before opening the folder.

    Inside of the folder, aside from my basic intake files and other basic information, there was only one

    thing: a single, sharp canine tooth.

    I furrowed my brow and picked up the yellowed tooth, turning it over in my hand. There was a distinct

    cr*ck down the center, but no other identifying features.

    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked, looking back up at Sophia.

    Sophia sighed and sat down in her chair. ¡°As you know, we get a healthy mix of both human and

    werewolf children,¡± she said, leaning back and sping her hands together across her stomach. ¡°But

    what we don¡¯t often disclose is that werewolf parents will abandon werewolf children who were born

    without their wolves.¡±

    My eyes widened, and my fingers involuntarily closed around the tooth. ¡°Why?¡± I asked, feeling the

    resentment toward werewolves bubble up inside of me. ¡°Why abandon your child?¡±

    ¡°Often, it¡¯s because they¡¯re ashamed of producing wolfless children,¡± Sophia replied with a sad

    expression on her face. ¡°But not always. You see, children without wolves would also often be subject

    to an entire host of discrimination for their entire lives. Some parents believe that it¡¯s better for them to

    grow up as humans, oblivious to their heritage.¡±

    Sophia¡¯s words didn¡¯t make me feel any less resentful. If anything, they made it worse.

    ¡°So¡­ My parents left me because I was born without a wolf?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but that is my best guess.¡± Sophia said. There was a long pause as I processed

    everything.

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean, necessarily, that they didn¡¯t love you,¡± she said. ¡°The way that they left you,

    bundled up tightly with this tooth proving your heritage in your possession, has always made me think

    that they did it thinking that it was for your own good. Perhaps they had no choice, even.¡± Sophia

    paused to take a breath, her lips spreading into a gentle smile as she began to reminisce. ¡°I can still

    picture your chubby little fingers wrapped around that tooth. You wouldn¡¯t let go of it, you know. We had

    to take it while you slept.¡±

    I opened my hand and looked down at the tooth again; I had been gripping it so hard that it left an

    imprint in my palm.

    ¡°Do you think they left me with this tooth so I could find them?¡± I asked, my voice barely above a

    whisper.

    Sophia was quiet for a few moments before she reached across the table and took my hand, squeezing

    it gently. ¡°That¡¯s up to you to decide,¡± she said softly.

    As I walked back down the stairs, I felt Mina¡¯s presence again and asked her in my mind, ¡°Why didn¡¯t

    you ever show yourself before?¡±

    Mina didn¡¯t answer, but I knew that she was just as confused by herte appearance as I was.

    I passed the recreation room once more on my way out and decided to stop by to say goodbye, and to

    thank Ethan for his invitation. As I poked my head into the recreation room and saw Ethan sitting on the

    floor and helping the children with their papier mache, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. Even though what I had

    learned from Sophia made my resentment toward werewolves rise up inside of me, seeing an Alpha

    werewolf being so kind as to teach orphan children restored my faith once more. Maybe werewolves

    really weren¡¯t all so bad ¡ª and maybe I wasn¡¯t quite as ashamed to be one, myself.

    Ethan saw me looking and shot me a bright smile before jumping up and jogging over to me.

    ¡°I meant what I said about the exhibition, by the way,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯d love to see your work. The children

    talk so fondly of you.¡±

    I smiled down at the floor as I felt my face go a bit red at the Alpha¡¯s kind words. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said,

    then bit my lip for a moment before speaking again. ¡°Can I ask you something?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Ethan replied, sticking his hands into the pocket of his apron and c*****g his head as he leaned

    against the doorframe.

    ¡°Have you ever heard of werewolf parents abandoning wolfless children? And if so, have you ever

    heard of those children finding their parents again?¡±

    Ethan was silent for a moment, then nodded with a pained look on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of that,¡± he

    replied in a hushed tone so that the children couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°But I¡¯ve never heard of the children trying to

    find their parents. I don¡¯t think most of them would even want to find them once they find out, and

    besides¡­ Most werewolf parents would im that the child died.¡±

    I felt my heart sink.

    Had my parents imed that I died? Would they even want me if I tried to find them again?

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said, turning to leave. ¡°Well, I was just wondering. Hope to see you again.¡±

    I walked out of the orphanage and gged down a taxi. As I settled into the back seat and watched the

    orphanage get smaller in the rear view mirror, I felt a pr*ck in my palm and looked down to see that I

    was still tightly clutching the tooth in my hand.

    I was clutching it so tightly that it broke my skin, and I watched numbly as a thin stream of blood trickled

    down my palm.

    ¡­

    When I returned to the training facility to pick up E, our driver was already waiting for us. I waved at

    him as I jogged up to the door to pick up E, but as I entered, I didn¡¯t see her amongst the other

    children who were still waiting to be picked up.

    ¡°Can I help you?¡± the attendant, a middle aged man, asked when he noticed the confusion on my face.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said, walking over to him. ¡°I¡¯m here to pick up E Morgan.¡±

    The attendant scrunched his eyebrows together and looked down at his clipboard, shaking his head.

    ¡°She already left quite a while ago.¡±Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 12: Missing

    Moana

    I felt my heart sink into the pit of my stomach at the attendant¡¯s words.

    ¡°She left quite a while ago. Did you not pick her up?¡±

    ¡°Hold on,¡± I replied, walking away briskly and trying to stay calm as I dialed the penthouse phone

    number into my cell phone and asked the concierge to direct me to Edrick¡¯s suite. This had to be some

    misunderstanding. Surely E was safely home. Maybe Amy or Lily got confused with the schedule and

    picked her up without letting me know.

    ¡°Hello?¡± Selina¡¯s voice said on the other line after a few rings.

    ¡°Selina,¡± I said, trying to sound as calm and collected as possible, ¡°did Amy or Lily pick up E from her

    training?¡±

    Selina was silent for a few moments before responding. ¡°No. That¡¯s your job.¡± Her voice sounded stern

    and cold, but I could sense a hint of fear behind it as she seemed to put two and two together. I knew

    that Selina cared for E just as much as I did, and thest thing she would ever want would be for

    something bad to happen to E.

    ¡°f**k,¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Selina growled, irritated by my choice ofnguage.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I responded. ¡°I got stuck in traffic when I wasing back to pick E up, and¡­ She¡¯s

    gone.¡±

    I could hear Selina gasp audibly on the other end of the line. ¡°You weren¡¯t there for her when she was

    finished with her training?¡±

    I felt a knot form in my stomach. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just thought¨C¡±

    ¡°No excuses,¡± Selina said, her voice quivering with anger. ¡°Find her.¡±

    Before I could say anything else, Selina abruptly hung up the phone. The room spun around me as I

    stared down at my phone screen, but I knew I had to act quickly for E¡¯s sake. Collecting myself as

    best I could, I ran out of the training facility and sprinted up to the car where the driver was waiting,

    climbing into the passenger seat.

    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Took you long eno¨C Are you alright? Where¡¯s E?¡± he asked, looking at me confusedly.

    ¡°She took off while I was gone,¡± I said hastily as tears streamed down my cheeks, trying to rack my

    brain as to where E might have run off to. Before I had left, I had mentioned to her that I was going to

    be at the orphanage¡­

    ¡°Take me to the orphanage in the Waterside District,¡± I said to the driver. ¡°I have a feeling she went

    there to look for me.

    Nodding solemnly, and with an angry look on his face, the driver stepped on the gas and peeled away

    from the curb. I quickly buckled my seatbelt and held onto the door handle for dear life as he sped

    down the road, passing other vehicles at dangerous speeds. As we flew down the city streets, all I

    could think of was E. Would I get to her in time?

    All of a sudden as we were speeding through the city streets, I saw a familiar little head of blonde hair

    walking at an intersection a little ways away, all by herself¡­ And at the same time, I saw a ck sports

    car with tinted windows barreling down the road at breakneck speeds, swerving this way and that as a

    drunk girl stood through the sunroof, hooting and hollering like a maniac.

    ¡°E!¡± I screamed, pointing. The driver mmed on the brakes and came to a screeching halt. Without

    thinking, I leaped out of the car and started running toward E.

    Everything moved in slow motion. I found myself running faster than I ever had before. I lunged into the

    street, my arms outstretched for E as she stood frozen in the middle of the crosswalk just as the

    sports car was headed directly for her¡­

    I felt an impact. I shut my eyes as my body mmed into E¡¯s, and together we tumbled to the other

    side of the street.

    I opened my eyes, panting, and looked down at E in my arms.

    We were safe. Somehow, I had managed to get both of us out of the way of the speeding sports car,

    which continued to careen down the city street as though they hadn¡¯t just been about to hit a little girl.

    ¡°Mina, was it YOU?¡±

    ¡°Yea¡­.I tried¡­¡± It took Mina a while to answer, and she seemed to be so exhausted.

    ¡°That was¡­ incredible.¡±

    Our driver came running as passersby stood murmuring to each other on the sidewalk, pulling out their

    phones to snap pictures.

    ¡°Are you two alright?¡± the driver asked, helping me stand as I held the crying E in my arms. Without a

    word as I was too stunned and relieved to speak, I nodded and followed him back to the car.

    ¡­

    Edrick was furious when we got back to the penthouse. He came running into the lobby as we arrived

    and ripped E out of my arms, who only cried harder.

    ¡°You should¡¯ve stayed there for the duration of her training!¡± he shouted in front of the lobby staff. ¡°I

    should fire you on the spot!¡±

    E¡¯s wails grew in volume as tears streamed down my own cheeks. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Edrick,¡± I sobbed. ¡°I

    didn¡¯t know¨C¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t be mad at Moana!¡± E cried, wrapping her small arms around her father¡¯s neck and

    tugging on him. ¡°It wasn¡¯t her fault! I didn¡¯t listen and I left! I got lost, but then Moana came and saved

    me like a superhero!¡±

    Edrick¡¯s icy stare softened at his daughter¡¯s words, but I could tell that he was still furious, as he had

    every right to be after his daughter almost got kidnapped.

    Once we were back upstairs in the penthouse and E was passed out asleep in bed after the ordeal, I

    hesitantly walked over to Edrick¡¯s study as I feared the worst. If he was going to yell at me again like he

    did in the lobby, I considered quitting. It was an honest mistake, and I thought that I at least deserved to

    be treated with some basic decency since the situation had turned out alright in the long run.

    ¡°Where did you go?¡± he snarled through his teeth when I entered the study. ¡°Why weren¡¯t you there

    when she was finished with training?¡±

    ¡°I went to the orphanage,¡± I admitted quietly, omitting theplete reason why I was there. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I

    just wanted to visit, and I thought E would be safe.¡±

    Edrick raised an eyebrow. ¡°The orphanage?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I grew up there,¡± I responded. ¡°I like to visit the children sometimes.¡±

    Edrick was silent for a few moments before responding. ¡°Don¡¯t let it happen again.¡± His voice was cold,

    but at least he wasn¡¯t yelling at me any longer.

    ¡°If you are going to the orphanage again, make sure E has someone with her.¡±

    I nodded, a little surprised by how Edrick became forgiving. ¡°I will. I¡¯m so sorry, Edrick.¡±

    Edrick said nothing else. I watched as he silently turned his back to me, and took that as my cue to

    leave. As I left the study, I felt hot tears pr*ck at the backs of my eyes ¡ª but at the same time, I was

    just relieved to have found E in time, and that I still had my job.

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 13: Birthday Outing

    Moana

    Despite everything that happened that day, Edrick still requested that I spend the night with him. I made

    sure to put more distance between us this time, hoping that we wouldn¡¯t wake up in each other¡¯s arms

    again in the morning.

    When I woke up, my cardigan was still on and Edrick¡¯s side of the bed was empty. I heard the shower

    running in the bathroom, so I let out a sigh of relief and took it as my chance to get up and leave the

    room before I would have to talk to him. Not only was it still awkward to look him in the eye with our

    new arrangement, but I was admittedly still a little upset with him for yelling at me publicly the day

    before.

    I quickly got up and made the bed, opening the curtains out of habit to let some sunlight into the room

    before I put my slippers on and headed out.

    ¡°Moana?¡± E¡¯s little voice said, the second I walked out of the room. It made me jump a bit. I wasn¡¯t

    expecting her to be standing right outside the door.

    ¡°Good morning, Miss E,¡± I said, managing a smile. ¡°Are you feeling better today?¡±

    E nodded, but her eyebrows were scrunched together and her eyes were narrowed suspiciously.

    ¡°What were you doing in my daddy¡¯s room again?¡±

    ¡°I, um¡­¡± I stammered, realizing that I couldn¡¯t use the crepes for breakfast excuse two days in a row.

    ¡°Good morning, Princess!¡± Edrick said from behind me, brushing past me to scoop E up off the floor.

    Her look of concern and confusion quickly turned into a wide grin.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± E eximed, giggling as Edrick blew a raspberry on her cheek. ¡°Where are you taking me

    for my birthday?¡±

    I let out a sigh of relief to know that E seemed to havepletely forgotten about seeing meing

    out of her father¡¯s room; I had also forgotten that today was her birthday. It had been mentioned in the

    packet of instructions given to me on my first day, but I had admittedly been too busy to look at it too

    closely since then.

    ¡°Well, Princess,¡± Edrick said, carrying E toward the dining room for breakfast, his muscles bulging

    through his white button-down shirt and his hair still a bit damp at the ends from his shower, ¡°Daddy

    has to work today.¡±

    E¡¯s smile faded and she began to pout. ¡°On my birthday?¡±

    ¡°I know, sweetheart,¡± Edrick replied. ¡°But Moana will do something fun with you today. And I¡¯ll be home

    later to have dinner and give you your presents.¡±

    ¡°And cake?¡± E asked.

    ¡°And cake,¡± Edrick replied.

    ¡­

    Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.

    After Edrick left that morning, E was ¡ª unsurprisingly ¡ª quite sad that her father couldn¡¯t spend her

    birthday with her, so I tried toe up with something fun to do that would lift her spirits.

    ¡°How about we y a game?¡± I asked, to which the little girl shook her head and folded her arm across

    her chest, sticking her lower lip out in a pout.

    I sighed, trying to think of something else, but every option I offered her was met with indignant refusal.

    I knew she just wanted to spend the day with Edrick, and nothing would really make up for that.

    Finally, I resorted to looking at some local attractions on my phone; although Selina and the maids

    were nervous about what happened before, they did finally concede to E¡¯s begging and told me that I

    could take her out so long as I stayed with her the entire time and didn¡¯t let go of her hand for one

    second, which was understandable. I knew that Selina still didn¡¯t trust me, but when I suggested going

    to a theme park for her birthday, E was too excited for even Selina to say no to the outing.

    ¡°The driver will take you there,¡± Selina said to me as I put E¡¯s sun hat on to protect her face. ¡°And the

    bodyguard will be watching at all times. Don¡¯t lose her again.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t nning on it,¡± I replied with a sigh, feeling a little annoyed at the housekeeper¡¯s tant

    mistrust of me. I knew I messed up royally by leaving E¡¯s training to visit the orphanage when I

    should¡¯ve been keeping an eye on her, but I wanted to prove to everyone ¡ª and myself ¡ª that I

    wouldn¡¯t make the same mistake twice.

    Selina shot me a worried look as I got on the elevator with E, and I was relieved to see her face

    disappear as the metal doors closed. Now, I could just focus on giving E a nice birthday.

    ¡°Have you ever been to the theme park?¡± I asked E as we watched the floors on the elevator slowly

    tick down.

    E shook her head, which made the big blue bow on the back of her sun hat wiggle adorably. ¡°Nope,¡±

    she replied, sticking her foot out to admire her brand new matching blue sandals ¡ª she clearly liked

    the color blue, as I was quickly learning. ¡°I don¡¯t really get to go anywhere except for special asions

    and to my training.¡±

    I frowned, imagining what it would be like to be a little girl who wasn¡¯t allowed to go anywhere. Even

    growing up in the orphanage, Sophia took us on the asional field trip or ice cream outing. We even

    went to the local swimming pool twice a month in the summer.

    ¡°Howe?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Daddy says it¡¯s too risky,¡± she replied, practically dragging me across the lobby as soon as the

    elevator doors opened. ¡°He says that too many people will know who he is, so he has to stay hidden.

    Because of the¡­ pa¡­ pa-pa¨C¡±

    ¡°Papa ra zzi?¡± I asked, stifling augh at E¡¯s childishnguage.

    E nodded her head affirmatively, appearing very serious. ¡°Yes, that,¡± she said. We left the building

    and climbed into the back of the town car where our driver waited for us, and the bodyguard shut the

    door behind us before getting into the passenger seat.

    The driver took us to the theme park and bought our tickets, and soon E was bursting with

    excitement as we looked around.

    Getting off from the roller coaster the second time, I started to feel sick. And it was broiling hot outside

    in the summer sun, so hot that I had resorted to fanning myself with a pamphlet I picked up at the

    information booth. But E hardly seemed to notice the heat and my sickness as she was too excited

    about all of the rides.

    ¡°Hey,¡± I said finally, spotting an ice cream stand. ¡°How about some ice cream first?¡±

    E stopped in her tracks suddenly and squealed excitedly before running off toward the ice cream

    stand, pulling me along behind her with surprising strength for a little girl. We stopped at the ice cream

    stand and the man in a striped red and white uniform and a straw boater hat smiled down at her.

    ¡°What would you like, little girl?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Vani, please!¡± E said. The man looked at me next.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have the same,¡± I replied.

    E waited patiently while the man got her ice cream, sticking her grabby little hands out greedily as he

    handed it to her and immediately starting to lick it as it was already beginning to melt.

    ¡°That¡¯ll be five dors,¡± he said, looking at me expectantly.

    I smiled and patted my pocket, my eyes widening as I realized that I hadpletely forgotten to bring

    any money with me. In fact, it had been so long since I had needed any money of my own that I didn¡¯t

    even have any, and would have to ask the driver to spare me some cash until I got my first paycheck

    and could pay him back.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± I murmured, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡­ I left my wallet in the car. I¡¯ll be right back ¡ª is that okay?¡±

    The man narrowed his eyes and gave me an icy stare. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that trick a thousand times,dy,¡± he

    growled, his sunny demeanor quickly turning sour.

    I stammered as I tried to exin that I really did have money, I just had to get my wallet, but was

    quickly interrupted by a familiar voiceing from behind me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll pay,¡± the voice said.

    E and I both turned around to see Edrick standing behind us with his face covered by sunsses

    and a surgical mask, holding out his credit card.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 14: Family Event

    Moana

    ¡°I¡¯ll pay.¡±

    E and I were both shocked when we turned around to see Edrick standing there, credit card in hand,

    his face covered by sunsses and a surgical mask.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± E eximed.

    Edrick handed the ice cream salesman his credit card and ruffled E¡¯s hair. ¡°Eat your ice cream before

    it melts,¡± he said, guiding us away from the stand and the people behind us who were getting quickly

    annoyed at us for holding up the line to get ice cream.

    ¡°I thought you had to work,¡± E said.

    ¡°I decided toe home early so I could spend your birthday with you after all,¡± Edrick replied. ¡°But

    you weren¡¯t home. Selina told me that you went on an outing¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t see his eyes through his

    sunsses, but the way his head slowly turned toward me told me everything I needed to know.

    I felt my shoulders droop and looked embarrassingly down at my rapidly-melting ice cream. We

    approached a bench and Edrick instructed E to sit while she finished her ice cream, then he stood

    next to me and lowered his voice while she happily swung her legs and got ice cream all over her face.

    ¡°Why did you take her out if you had no money?¡± he asked, his voice sounding cold and annoyed.

    ¡°It was an honest mistake,¡± I replied. ¡°I haven¡¯t had to take out money in a while. And besides, the

    driver is close; it would¡¯ve only taken a minute for him to pass me the money.¡±

    Edrick shook his head and said nothing else. E, who had been listening the entire time, suddenly

    jumped up from her bench. ¡°This is the best birthday ever!¡± she said very quickly. ¡°Please, I want to

    stay.¡±

    It seemed that E was afraid that her father would make her go home, and Edrick¡¯s next words made

    my heart sink.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, sweetheart,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s really not safe for us to be out in public.¡±

    E stuck her lower lip out in a pout. ¡°But it¡¯s my birthday,¡± she whined. ¡°You never want to go

    anywhere, and I¡¯m having fun here with Moana!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a little girl, Edrick,¡± I said quietly. ¡°Let her enjoy her birthday. And please¡­ Join us.¡±

    Edrick was silent for a few moments before letting out a deep sigh and crouching to wipe the ice cream

    off of E¡¯s face with a napkin. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ll stay.¡±

    E squealed in delight and, taking both of our hands, began to drag us around the theme park with

    just as much ¡ª if not more ¡ª fervor as she had when it was just the two of us. As we spent the

    afternoon walking around the theme park, I couldn¡¯t help but take out my phone to secretly snap some

    sweet pictures of E and Edrick together. It was so sweet watching them y games together, and

    seeing E sitting on Edrick¡¯s shoulders while we walked that I couldn¡¯t help myself. Edrick didn¡¯t seem

    to mind the photos, either, although I wondered why he was so adamant on keeping his mask on;

    would he really want to look back at photos with his daughter and see that his face was covered for all

    of them?

    As the sun started to get down, Edrick and I began to feel tired. E, however, still had just as much

    energy, and insisted on one more ride before we went home. I suggested the ferris wheel because it

    was slow and rxing, and both of them agreed.

    We climbed into the basket on the ferris wheel. Edrick sat across from me with E on hisp. As we

    started to go up, now that we were safe from prying eyes, Edrick took off his sunsses to reveal

    steely gray eyes that appeared surprisingly happy for the first time since I had met him.

    Maybe the Alpha billionaire needed a fun outing just as much as his daughter did.

    As we rose up above the theme park under the setting sun, an involuntary gasp came out of my mouth.

    The way that thest rays of sunlight refracted across the treetops as they swayed in the hot summer

    breeze, and the way that the string lights lit up the park below us, made the city feel even more

    dazzling than before. Not only that, but the breeze ruffled through my hair and cooled the sweat on my

    hot skin.

    I looked across from me to see E giggling and peering out over the crowd. And behind her, her father

    wasn¡¯t looking at the crowd¡­

    He was looking at me.

    His eyes darted away quickly, as though he had only nced at me on ident. Soon, the ferris wheel

    began to roll us back downward, lowering us back into the crowd.

    The ferris wheel went around a few times more. When it finally came to a stop at the bottom, the

    attendant let us out. Edrick put his mask back on then got out with E in one of his arms. Then, he

    turned around and held out his other hand for me to help me out. My blush deepened as I felt his cool

    palm, but we both quickly pulled away when E looked at us.

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    ¡°Alright, Princess,¡± Edrick said as we walked away from the ferris wheel. He set her down and

    crouched down to her level. ¡°I think we¡¯ve had enough fun for one day. Are you ready to go home?¡±

    E nodded, although she looked a little disappointed. I remembered being that age still; I would¡¯ve

    wanted to spend my entire life running around theme parks when I was a little girl.

    We started to head back to where the driver was waiting.

    As we did, one of the theme park staff ¡ª a teenage girl wearing a screen printed t-shirt that had the

    theme park logo on it, khaki shorts, and a long brown ponytail ¡ª came up to us with a smile and a flyer

    in her hands.

    ¡°Hi folks,¡± she said, holding the flyer out. ¡°We¡¯re hosting a special family event tonight with prizes.

    Would you like to participate?¡±

    E quickly sna tched the flyer away, her face lighting up at the concept of prizes. Edrick and I,

    shooting each other a tired nce, leaned down to look at the flyer over E¡¯s shoulder. The prizes

    were limited-edition dolls ¡ª I remembered seeing a collection of some of those very same dolls in

    E¡¯s room at the penthouse ¡ª but the catch was that two parents had to participate in the event,

    which meant that we were technically not supposed to y.

    Edrick, seemingly noticing the same detail I did, stood and looked at the girl. ¡°Is there any way to just

    purchase one of the dolls?¡± he asked.

    The teenage girl shook her head, making her ponytail swing back and forth. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said.

    ¡°We¡¯re not allowed to sell any prizes. If you want one of the dolls, you have to participate with two

    parents.¡±

    E turned around and pouted, tugging on both of our heartstrings as she looked back and forth

    between the two of us. Edrick opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, a mischievous

    look came over the little girl¡¯s face. She whipped back around to face the staff member and took both of

    our hands again, holding them up triumphantly.

    ¡°My parents and I will y!¡±

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 15: The Game

    Edrick

    Moana and I both shot each other a somewhat annoyed nce as E decided, against our wills, to

    volunteer us to participate in the game as her parents. I didn¡¯t know how to exin to the staff member

    standing in front of us that Moana was just E¡¯s au pair, not her mother ¡ª and we were certainly not

    married, nor would we ever be.

    The teenage staff member looked back and forth between Moana and I with a somewhat disbelieving

    expression on her face. I knew she could tell that Moana was human and I was a werewolf, but

    thankfully she didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Right this way,¡± the girl said, stepping out of the way and gesturing toward the center of the park where

    a group of parents and children had gathered in front of a gazebo with a small stage.

    Moana and I followed reluctantly, E tugging on our hands with even more excitement than she had all

    day, if that was even possible. As we approached the crowd, we started to get some strange looks from

    other parents.

    I was still wearing my mask, so my identity as one of the world¡¯s most famous Alpha CEOs was still

    hidden, but I knew that people could tell there was something off about our pairing. I was still wearing

    my work clothes ¡ª a sleek white button-up shirt with the cor partially undone and the sleeves rolled

    up from the summer heat, a pair of tan trousers that had been freshly pressed, and my hair was well-

    groomed ¡ª but Moana appeared rather in next to me. She was a pretty woman, but wore a in

    linen dress and sandals. I hadn¡¯t quite gotten around to taking her shopping yet for some new clothes

    that would be more appropriate for an au pair of a wealthy family, although if I was being honest I

    wasn¡¯t quite sure if she would¡¯ve epted my generosity anyway.Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    What was even more jarring for the other parents, aside from our differences in appearance, was that

    Moana was human and I was a werewolf. It was extremely rare for a married couple to have such

    differences, and it was often frowned upon. I was just d that my identity was hidden, because as

    attractive as I found Moana, I didn¡¯t want people thinking that I, Edrick Morgan, was married to¡­ a

    human.

    Regardless of the difort, we made our way to the waiting area and stood along with all of the other

    families. While most people gave us snide looks and pulled their children away, there were ¡ª

    surprisingly ¡ª a couple of women who approached Moana with warm smiles.

    ¡°My, what a lovely couple!¡± one woman eximed, making Moana¡¯s face turn red. ¡°And what a cute

    little girl¡­¡± she stooped down to E¡¯s height and pinched her cheek, which made E giggle.

    The woman stood, then, and eyed me up and down before turning back to Moana and whispering

    something to her that made Moana¡¯s face turn even more red than it was before. Moana nced over

    her shoulder at me with a sheepish look in her eyes for a split second before turning back to the

    woman, muttering a word of thanks, and staring embarrassingly at the ground with wide eyes as the

    woman walked back to join her family.

    ¡°What did she say to you?¡± I asked quietly, leaning a bit closer to Moana.

    She cleared her throat, obviously seeming embarrassed by the entire interaction.

    ¡°She¡­ congratted me on having such a handsome husband and a cute daughter,¡± she said.

    Below us, E, looked up with a mischievous look in her eyes and put her hand over her mouth, stifling

    laughter. At some point I would have to give my daughter a talking to about how rude it was to put

    Moana and I in a situation like this, but I simply couldn¡¯t bring myself to disappoint her on her birthday,

    so I would y along with it for now. E was right about her birthdays; I hadn¡¯t exactly been the best

    father because I was so afraid of our identities being discovered by the papa ra zzi in public, but it

    wasn¡¯t fair for me to make my daughter miss out on her birthday just because of my own nerves.

    The game announcer stepped up on stage then and cleared his throat into the microphone, quieting

    the small crowd and breaking me out of my deep thought.

    ¡°Good evening,dies and gents,¡± he said with a stic smile as he addressed the crowd. ¡°Thank you

    all for participating in our family event tonight. I hope you all have fun as youpete to win prizes!¡±

    The children in the crowd began to stir excitedly as one of the staff members pulled a sheet off of a

    table with a flourish. E gasped as the grand prize was revealed to be an extremely rare doll that she

    didn¡¯t yet have in her collection. There were other prizes as well, but I could tell already that she was

    going to be hell-bent on winning that grand prize.

    ¡°For tonight¡¯s game, you will all be trying to find your way through a maze,¡± the announcer said. ¡°But ¡ª

    not just any maze! One parent from each couple will volunteer to stand at various pre-assigned points

    throughout the maze, while the other parent will be tasked with finding them¡­¡±

    This sounds easy enough, I thought to myself.

    ¡°But there¡¯s a catch,¡± the announcer continued, holding up a small ck blindfold. ¡°Both parents will be

    blindfolded. It will be the child¡¯s job to use their Mindlink to guide their searching parent to the waiting

    parent, as well as the searching parent¡¯s job to use their child¡¯s advice and their own sense of smell to

    find their partner!¡±

    ¡°Ooh, how fun!¡± the woman from before said, sping her hands together. I looked over at her to see

    her casting an almost condescending nce at Moana ¡ª she certainly knew that Moana was a

    human. This game was clearly geared solely toward werewolves, which put us at a major

    disadvantage. I let out a small sigh as I looked down at my excited daughter. If we didn¡¯t win, I would

    definitely have to figure out a way to buy her that doll or she would never forgive me.

    Staff members came around and handed out blindfolds next while other staff members guided the

    children toward a tall tform that allowed them to look down into the hedge maze.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll be the one to hide,¡± Moana said, looking a little embarrassed. I nodded and watched her

    follow the attendant that was leading the waiting parents to their hiding spots, then watched as she

    disappeared in the maze.

    ¡°Now,¡± the attendant said after a couple of minutes, once all of the parents were hidden. ¡°If all of the

    seekers could line up, we will begin. And please, put on your blindfolds.¡±

    I got into ce and nced up at E onest time, who shot me a grin and a thumbs up, before I put

    my blindfold on.

    ¡°On your marks¡­ Get set¡­ Go!¡±

    ¡°Go forward,¡± E said immediately using our Mindlink. ¡°Now left¡­ Now right¡­¡±

    Unsurprisingly, E seemed to have already studied the maze thoroughly before we even started, and I

    realized that it was thanks to her amazing intelligence that I was actually getting a lead on the rest of

    the parents. She guided me through the maze with ease, as though she had done this a million times

    before.

    ¡°You¡¯re almost there¡­ Just one more turn to the right¡­¡±

    I turned right, keeping one hand on the hedge to guide myself.

    ¡°She¡¯s there, daddy! Just go forward!¡±

    As I groped my way forward, I felt a strange scent fill my senses¡­ It was faint, but it was there, right in

    front of me. A sweet, pleasant smell that made my wolf perk up suddenly. This couldn¡¯t be Moana ¡ª

    she had no scent as a human!

    But as we lifted our blindfolds¡­

    It was, indeed, Moana.

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 16: A Sweet Scent

    Edrick

    I lifted my blindfold, as did she. The sweet scent that I smelled was definitely Moana¡­

    Or so I thought. It faded so quickly that I was no longer sure if it was her who I smelled, or someone

    else. It couldn¡¯t be her, anyway; she was a human. She had no scent.

    ¡°It looks like we have our first winners!¡± the announcer called over the microphone.

    As E squealed with delight on the tform above, I realized that I was holding Moana¡¯s hand. I saw

    her blushing and I quickly dropped her hand. When we re-emerged from the maze, E was standing

    at the entrance with one of the staff members ¡ª the same girl from before.

    The staff member gave Moana and I a strange look, but still said nothing and instead handed E the

    grand prize; the rare doll that E had so desperately wanted.

    As we walked back to the car, E couldn¡¯t stop chattering about how much she loved her doll, how

    amazing it was that she was able to make me find Moana so quickly, and how this was the best

    birthday she had ever had in her entire life.

    The driver was waiting for us by the theme park entrance and looked a little relieved to finally be able to

    go home after waiting all day. Once we were in the car, I finally took my mask off, breathing deeply and

    rubbing the backs of my sore ears from wearing it all day. The driver pulled away from the curb and

    started taking us in the direction of the penthouse, where, unbeknownst to both E and Moana, I had

    arranged for Selina and the maids to prepare a beautiful dinner with a special cake for E¡¯s birthday.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.

    For the entire duration of the ride home, E sat next to Moana with her new doll clutched tightly to her

    chest, humming and wiggling happily in her seat. I couldn¡¯t help myself from sneaking a nce at

    Moana every so often, who didn¡¯t seem to notice me looking at her as she focused solely on E.

    ¡°You did just a good job, Miss Smartypants,¡± Moana said, wrapping her arm around E¡¯s small

    shoulders. ¡°What are you going to name your doll?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± E thought to herself with furrowed brows for a few moments, tapping her chin with her

    index finger. ¡°I think I¡¯ll name her¡­ Momo! It¡¯s almost like Moana!¡±

    I stifled a chuckle as Moana¡¯s face turned red, but as I watched them, my mind wandered back to the

    strange scent I had picked up in the maze. I decided to ask my wolf if he had any sort of exnation.

    ¡°Were you able to recognize where that scent came from?¡± I asked my wolf.

    ¡°No,¡± he replied. ¡°It was too quick and faint. Although, I think it might have been a potential mate¡­¡±

    I furrowed my brow as I looked away from Moana and E and looked out the window instead at the

    city sights as they passed by. Was my mate at the theme park, and I somehow missed them?

    ¡­

    After dinner, Moana put E to bed. Moana came to my room a little whileter due to our agreement

    ¡ª still bundled up in extrayers, of course, as if I would touch her against her will ¡ª and shot me a

    wary look as she shut the door behind herself.

    I was sitting on the bed, reading, when she entered.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I can wait a while¨C¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯m ready to sleep.¡±

    Even though we had only been sleeping together as part of our arrangement for a few days now, I was

    already feeling immensely better. I thought to myself that the insomnia was just caused by being lonely

    in bed, but then I would think about other one night stands I had before Moana came into the picture

    and would remember that, even then, I would never sleep without pills or alcohol.

    What was it about Moana that helped me sleep? There wasn¡¯t anything particrly out of the ordinary

    with her, and her demeanor was often cordial with me ¡ª she was even a little cold with me sometimes,

    whereas I had had previous one night stands with women who were head over heels for me. Maybe

    there was just somethingforting about Moana. She was exceptionally good with children, after all,

    as I discovered from watching how naturally she handled E. She seemed like the nurturing sort;

    maybe nurturing was what I needed to fall asleep.

    Moana slowly came around to the opposite side of the bed, pausing to nce at the window.

    ¡°Do you want the curtains closed?¡± she asked, pointing.

    ¡°Hm?¡± I said, looking at where she was pointing. ¡°Oh. No, it¡¯s fine.¡± I hadpletely forgotten about

    how she had opened the curtains after our second night of sleeping together. Normally I liked to keep

    the room as dark as possible to try and help me sleep, but it didn¡¯t seem to be bothering me now.

    Besides, the fresh airing through the window felt nice on the hot summer night.

    Moana took out her earrings and ced them on the side table, then pulled the nkets back and

    climbed into bed next to me. She performed her usual ritual of stuffing a pillow between us and

    scooching all the way over to the edge of the king-sized mattress, leaving a space between us that was

    practically the size of the Antic Ocean, then promptly turned away and put her head on the pillow.

    Sighing, I shut off themp andid down myself. My eyes stayed open, however, slowly adjusting to

    the moonlit room, as I continued to wonder about the scent I had picked up earlier as well as Moana¡¯s

    strange ability to induce sleep for me.

    I remembered then that Moana had gone to the orphanage the day before when E was nearly lost¡­

    Had she truly gone just to visit? When I had asked before, she seemed a bit pensive about it, like she

    wasn¡¯t telling me everything.

    ¡°You went to the orphanage yesterday, right?¡± I asked suddenly as I stared at the ceiling, unable to

    contain my curiosity.

    Moana paused for a moment before replying with a simple ¡°Mhm.¡±

    ¡°Do you mind if I ask why?¡±

    ¡°I already told you,¡± she answered. ¡°I like to visit the children there sometimes.¡±

    My werewolf sixth sense told me that she was still not telling the whole truth, but I didn¡¯t pry anymore.

    Besides, Moana must have fallen asleep already, because I suddenly found myself slipping into sleep

    as well.

    As sleep slowly pulled me into its clutches, I began to dream of mazes and a sweet, faint smell.

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 17: The Guests

    Moana

    When I woke up the morning after E¡¯s birthday, I was shocked to discover that it was already eleven

    o¡¯clock; three hours past my usual time to wake up in the morning. If it hadn¡¯t been for my phone

    buzzing on the bedside table, I likely would have slept in for even longer.

    As I awoke, squinting against the bright sunlighting in through therge window, I also discovered

    something else: Edrick and I were cuddling again.

    Feeling my face flush hot, I quickly climbed out of bed, taking care not to wake Edrick, and picked up

    my phone to see Selina¡¯s name on my screen.

    ¡°Selina?¡± I said quietly, walking away from the bed so as not to wake the still-sleeping Edrick.

    ¡°Where on earth are you?¡± she asked angrily, her voice quivering with rage. ¡°You should¡¯ve been up

    hours ago, and you haven¡¯t answered even though I¡¯ve been knocking on your door all morning.¡±

    I gulped, feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over me. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± I stammered, trying toe

    up with an excuse as the housekeeper was still oblivious to my new sleeping arrangement with Edrick,

    and she certainly wouldn¡¯t understand it if I tried to exin it to her myself. ¡°I-I was taking a shower just

    now. I¡¯ll be out soon.¡±

    Selina grumbled on the other end of the phone. ¡°Well, hurry up. We have guests who are expecting

    you, E, and Mr. Morgan downstairs in the lobby as soon as possible.¡±

    Before I could answer, Selina abruptly hung up the phone. It was at this point as well that Edrick sat up

    in bed, wide awake. Had I been talking so loudly that I woke him up? It always seemed that he fell

    asleep as soon as I did, and woke up as soon as I woke up, which was strange, but I didn¡¯t have time

    to think about it.

    ¡°Did I hear something about guests?¡± Edrick said confusedly as I slid my feet into my slippers and

    shuffled off toward the door.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied, quickly opening the door and poking my head out to make sure no one was around.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure who, though.¡±

    Seeing that no one was around, I quickly ran out of Edrick¡¯s bedroom and scurried off to my room,

    somehow managing to slip inside without being seen. I washed myself up, still groggy and sore from

    spending my entire day yesterday at the theme park ¡ª with a sunburn across my nose to prove it ¡ª

    and then got dressed in clean clothes. I pulled my hair back into a low bun and, once I was satisfied

    with my appearance, I opened the door to my bedroom and quickly got E ready for our visitors.

    By the time I was finished getting E ready, Edrick was already waiting for us in the foyer. We took the

    elevator down to the lobby to greet these mystery guests. I hid my bashfulness around Edrick in the

    silent elevator as best I could and avoided eye contact at all costs, as it seemed that we would wake up

    cuddling every morning despite our agreement to not get romantically involved, and I didn¡¯t want him to

    think that I was trying to break the uses in my contract; nor did I want to alert E, Selina, or the

    maids to our arrangement.

    The elevator slowly ticked down the floors of the high rise building, finally opening with a ding at the

    ground floor.

    ¡°Grandma!¡± E called when we saw our guests standing in the lobby. I was taken by surprise as E

    ran away excitedly to greet them.

    As we approached, the two guests came into focus. One was an older woman with silver hair wearing

    an expensive-looking dress and arge sun hat, while the other was much younger with an equally

    expensive-looking satin dress and perfectly curled blonde hair that fell down her back, her eyes

    covered byrge sunsses.

    ¡°Oh, hello, darling,¡± the older woman said, bending down to kiss E on both cheeks. ¡°Happy bted

    birthday! Grandma has lots of presents for you.¡±

    E squealed delightedly. Both women looked up as Edrick and I approached, eyeing me up and down

    suspiciously.

    ¡°Say hello to Kelly, E,¡± Edrick said.

    E reluctantly turned toward the younger woman, who pushed her sunsses up onto her forehead to

    reveal dark brown eyes that stared at me icily for a split second before looking down at E. ¡°Hello,

    Kelly,¡± E said, sounding much less enthusiastic than she did when she greeted her grandmother.

    Kelly bent down and kissed E on both cheeks, who stiffened at the young woman¡¯s touch and

    stepped back toward me once Kelly stood again.

    The two women continued to eye me, so I decided to end the awkward silence and introduce myself.

    ¡°I¡¯m Moana,¡± I said with a slight, polite bow of my head. ¡°I¡¯m E¡¯s nanny.¡±

    ¡°Ah, the au pair,¡± Verona said coldly. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a human, so I was unsure.¡±

    ¡°Mother,¡± Edrick said, stepping forward to kiss her on both cheeks. He then turned toward Kelly, who

    beamed widely at him, but she red at me coldly over his shoulder as they kissed each other on the

    cheek.

    Edrick took the two women¡¯s bags and carried them to the elevator. We all stood quietly in the elevator

    as it slowly carried us up to the penthouse. Suddenly, Kelly turned toward me, looking down her nose

    at me.

    ¡°So¡­ Do you have the right qualifications to be E¡¯s au pair?¡±

    ¡°Pardon me?¡± I asked, feeling as though Kelly was being rude.

    ¡°I only ask because I care deeply about E,¡± she said with a stiff smile. ¡°Sometimes I feel as though

    E is my own daughter.¡±

    ¡°E is the best nanny ever,¡± E chimed in. When I looked down at her, she was frowning up at Kelly

    with an angry glint in her eyes. Kelly merely nodded, not saying anything else; thankfully, the doors

    opened and the two women became too distracted by the penthouse and ordering the serv ants around

    to disturb me any longer, which was a relief.

    Edrick led Verona and Kelly to the dining room, with E trailing behind miserably. Selina beckoned for

    me to help her in the kitchen. Just before I lost sight of the group, I noticed Kelly attempting to talk to

    E, who was acting aloof and disinterested.

    ¡°Is Kelly Edrick¡¯s sister?¡± I asked Amy quietly as we worked side-by-side to prepare lunch.

    Amy shook her head. ¡°No,¡± she replied. I saw movement from the corner of my eye and looked over my

    shoulder to see Edrick passing by the doorway with Kelly on his heels. She appeared to be following

    him, chattering away about something. They looked to be headed in the direction of Edrick¡¯s bedroom.

    ¡°A friend, then?¡± I asked.

    Amy smirked. ¡°I think if E wasn¡¯t around, Kelly would already be Edrick¡¯s wife by now.¡±

    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    Selina shot Amy a disapproving look, abruptly ending the conversation.

    Even though I knew that I wasn¡¯t supposed to have any sort of feelings toward Edrick, there was no

    denying the pit in my stomach as Amy told me this. Was Kelly Edrick¡¯s girlfriend or fiancee?

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 18: The Case of the Mystery Earrings

    Moana

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    I finished preparing lunch with the maids and helped them to set the meal out on the dining room table.

    Although I had already eaten a quick meal in the kitchen earlier as we prepared the food, it was still my

    duty as E¡¯s nanny to stay with her and help her if she needed anything. Besides, the grumpy look on

    E¡¯s face whenever Kelly was around only softened when I was near her, which made me want to be

    near her even more as support.

    I sat beside E for the duration of the lunch, helping her to cut her food, keep her clothes clean, and

    get her whatever she needed. Edrick, Verona, and Kelly spoke with each other about trivial things as

    though I wasn¡¯t even there, which was fine with me. If they had tried to involve me in their conversation,

    I likely wouldn¡¯t have known the right things to say. I¡¯d never dealt with such wealthy people in my life,

    let alone tried to have meaningful conversation with them.

    Not being personally involved in the conversation also allowed me to be more observant ¡ª and one

    thing that I observed was that Kelly was being much more quiet and reserved now than she had been

    before. She absentmindedly picked at her sd with her fork, hardly eating anything at all.

    ¡°Pour me some more tea, would you?¡± Kelly said suddenly, shooting me a look out of the corner of her

    eyes.

    ¡°Right away,¡± I said, standing and walking around the table to pick up the teapot. I noticed that Kelly

    kept her eyes intensely focused on me the entire time as I walked back to pour her tea, but I pretended

    that I didn¡¯t see it.

    Kelly was silent for a moment as I poured her tea. I felt her gaze focused on the side of my head,

    burning furiously.

    When I sat down, Kelly took a sip of her tea before speaking again, this time looking at Edrick.

    ¡°Whose extra daily necessities were in your room earlier, Edrick?¡± she asked, setting down her teacup

    with a tter.

    Edrick raised an eyebrow. ¡°Pardon?¡±

    ¡°I saw earrings on your side table,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m assuming they weren¡¯t yours.¡±

    Verona let out a small gasp and instinctively looked at me.

    I felt my heart jump up into my throat, resisting the urge to feel my ears to see if I had put my earrings

    in that morning. As a knot formed in my stomach, I nced down at my own tea to see in my reflection

    that I had not, in fact, put my earrings back in.

    ¡°Earrings?¡± Edrick replied after an ufortable pause, sounding so nonchnt it made my stomach

    sick. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Sometimes E likes to y in there.¡±

    E slowly turned her head to look up at me, but said nothing.

    There was another long silence. I started to wonder if they all knew, and that Kelly would call Edrick out

    on his bluff and expose our unexinable sleeping arrangement. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t say anything

    else about it. Surprisingly, Kelly seemed somewhat pleased by Edrick¡¯s words and didn¡¯t ask again.

    ¡°Edrick,¡± Kelly said after a few more moments of silence, turning toward him in her seat. ¡°Do you

    remember when we were kids, and we used to drive our training coaches insane? We used to run off

    into the woods as wolves together and y instead of attending our training.¡±

    ¡°I do remember,¡± Edrick replied, almost absentmindedly, as he cut his food with his fork and knife.

    Kelly turned back to face me and E. ¡°I¡¯m sure you misbehave all of the time for your trainers, don¡¯t

    you?¡± she said, reaching out to pinch E¡¯s cheek.

    E frowned and pulled away. ¡°Actually, I always do my training,¡± she said, her little voice t and cold.

    With a slight hmph, Kelly returned to picking at her sd.

    As the luncheon continued, I couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty for my arrangement with Edrick after hearing

    about how he and his childhood sweetheart used to act together. It felt wrong of me to be participating

    in this agreement if he had love for Kelly¡­

    And for some reason, hearing about Edrick¡¯s escapades with his childhood lover made me admittedly

    feel incredibly unhappy.

    ¡­

    After lunch, Verona and Kelly stayed for a while. E seemed to get sleepy ¡ª although I suspected that

    she just wanted an excuse to be alone ¡ª so I took her to her room. When I finished tucking her in for

    her nap, I returned to the foyer to see Verona and Kelly preparing to leave. Verona and Edrick were

    talking quietly about something that seemed important, so I turned away to go to the kitchen and give

    them space.

    ¡°Ah! There she is,¡± Verona said when she saw me, waving me over before I could walk away. I still felt

    Kelly¡¯s cold gaze on me as I tentatively walked up to Edrick¡¯s mother. Verona, much unlike Kelly, was

    smiling a bit and seemed a little more open to my presence than the young woman.

    ¡°It was a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Morgan,¡± I said politely as I approached. ¡°And you as well, Kelly.¡±

    Kelly seemed to open her mouth to say something, but Verona spoke before she could.

    ¡°I was just reminding my son about our uing annual family dinner,¡± Verona said. ¡°It seems he¡¯s

    forgotten¡­ Or, he just thought he could get out of going this year.¡± Her eyes slid over to Edrick for a

    moment, who didn¡¯t seem to react at all.

    ¡°Anyway,¡± Verona continued, looking at me again, ¡°Of course, little Miss E¡¯s presence is always

    appreciated at these dinners. So, I thought it would only be appropriate to invite you as well; the

    dinners are usually reserved for werewolves, but seeing as you¡¯re E¡¯s au pair, it simply wouldn¡¯t feel

    right to exclude you. Miss E seems quite attached to you already, and she¡¯ll need you there to help

    her if she should need it.¡±

    I was a bit taken aback by Edrick¡¯s mother¡¯s generosity and respect.

    ¡°I¡­ Thank you, Mrs. Morgan,¡± I said with a polite smile. ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡±

    Verona smiled stiffly, but cordially, and turned back toward Edrick. She reached out and squeezed his

    forearm, pulling him aside to speak to him privately. While they were absorbed in whatever

    conversation they were having, Kelly quietly sauntered up to me and stood beside me.

    ¡°Give me your hand,¡± she said coldly. Swallowing, I did as I was told.

    I felt my heart drop as she held out her hand and dropped my earrings that she had found on Edrick¡¯s

    nightstand into my palm, then leaned toward me and whispered into my ear.

    ¡°Know your ce.¡±

    Edrick and Verona finished their conversation and returned just as I closed my hand around the

    earrings, my eyes wide.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon, darling,¡± Verona said to Edrick as the elevator doors slid open.

    I felt so shocked by Kelly¡¯s words that I continued to stand there, motionless, as the two women got

    onto the elevator. Thest thing I saw before the elevator doors closed was Kelly¡¯s icy stare, fixed on

    me.

    As I discreetly slipped my earrings into my pocket, I knew that I couldn¡¯t continue my sleeping

    arrangement with Edrick¡­ Not when he had a girlfriend.

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 19: The Alpha¡¯s Mistress

    Moana

    I decided not to go to Edrick¡¯s room that night. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to do it in good conscience after

    discovering that he had a girlfriend, and I wasn¡¯t about to be his mistress on top of being his daughter¡¯s

    nanny!

    At the usual time that I normally would¡¯ve been sneaking over to Edrick¡¯s room, I instead crawled into

    my own bed with my sketchbook for the first time in days. It felt a bit strange already to be sleeping

    alone, but it was also a relief from all of the stress of our strange agreement, and it was nice to have

    thete night to myself to have some time to draw.

    Like clockwork, however, my phone started to ring just five minutes after I picked up my pencil. I lifted

    my eyes from my sketchbook, letting out a deep sigh when I was Edrick¡¯s name on my screen.

    ¡°Yes?¡± I said after picking up the phone.

    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Where are you?¡± Edrick said. His voice sounded agitated.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided to unterally end our sleeping arrangement,¡± I replied. ¡°You can reduce my sry back

    to the original amount. I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m no longerfortable sleeping together.¡±

    Edrick was silent. I could hear him take in a sharp breath on the other side of the phone before he

    abruptly hung up. Rolling my eyes, I shut my phone off and tossed it down on my bed, returning to my

    drawing.

    A few minutester, there was a knock on my door; no doubt it was Edrick. I decided not to answer and

    to just pretend that I was asleep, which seemed to work as he didn¡¯t knock again¡­

    Or so I thought.

    He knocked again, this time louder. I set my sketchbook aside and pondered whether I should let him in

    or not, but finally jumped up out of bed and scurried over to the door when he knocked for a third time,

    even louder and more aggressively that time.

    ¡°Can you not try to wake everyone up?¡± I asked in a hushed tone of voice as I opened the door.

    Without a response, Edrick brushed past me with an angry look on his face. Sighing, I quietly shut the

    door behind him and turned to face him with my arms folded across my chest.

    It was then that I realized I was only wearing my nightgown, thanks to Edrick¡¯s nce down at my bare

    legs. I quickly grabbed my robe off of the back of my chair and put it on, pulling it tightly around myself.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Edrick asked, quickly looking away from my body. ¡°You seemed fine with our

    arrangement. What changed so quickly? Don¡¯t tell me you suddenly found your dignity again.¡±

    I sighed and looked down at the floor, not entirely sure how to best phrase it. Finally, I looked back up

    to face Edrick, who was staring at me again with an agitated expression.

    ¡°I did find my dignity again,¡± I said, ¡°and I never should have made this agreement with you in the first

    ce. I¡¯m your daughter¡¯s nanny, not your sleeping buddy. Besides, if you have a girlfriend, you should

    be sleeping with her and not me. I didn¡¯te here to be your mistress.¡±

    Edrick furrowed his brow and shot me a puzzled look.

    ¡°What?¡± he said, running a hand through his dark hair. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Kelly found the earrings I left on your bedside table,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m afraid she misunderstood our

    rtionship.¡±

    Edrick was silent for several moments before shaking his head. ¡°You think Kelly is my girlfriend?¡±

    I c****d my head, suddenly feeling confused. ¡°Surely you two would¡¯ve been married already, if not for

    E¨C¡±

    ¡°You must¡¯ve listened to the maids,¡± Edrick said, rolling his eyes and walking over to the balcony,

    staring out at the city below with his back turned to me for a few moments before turning back to face

    me. ¡°Kelly is my childhood friend. She¡¯s like a little sister to me. I¡¯ve never thought about her in that sort

    of way. Our families are close, and we had the chance to be each other¡¯s chosen mates, but I decided

    against it. Yes, E also doesn¡¯t like her, but I chose myself not to be romantically involved with Kelly.¡±

    I froze, unsure of what to say.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said finally. ¡°The way she spoke to you, I thought¨C¡±

    ¡°Well, you thought wrong,¡± Edrick interrupted with a frown. ¡°Maybe you should talk to me next time

    before you go and gossip with the maids about my personal affairs.¡±

    There was another long silence between us as I processed everything Edrick had told me. My mind still

    raced as I thought about our arrangement.

    I guess I overreacted, but what if Edrick really got a girlfriend in the future?

    ¡°Fine,¡± I said, walking over to the edge of my bed and sitting down. ¡°If you want to continue the

    arrangement, we can. But under two conditions.¡±

    ¡°Go on,¡± Edrick said reluctantly, folding his arms across his chest with narrowed eyes.

    ¡°For starters, I want to sleep in my own bed sometimes,¡± I said. ¡°You can join me or you can not join

    me, but I should be entitled to sleeping in my own bedroom a couple of nights a week, and the

    responsibility of hiding our arrangement shouldn¡¯t be entirely mine. I also want one night a week by

    myself.¡±

    Edrick paused for a few moments. I wondered if he would refuse, but finally he nodded. ¡°That¡¯s

    reasonable,¡± he said, which gave me an immense amount of relief. ¡°What¡¯s the second condition? Or

    was sleeping alone the second condition?¡±

    I shook my head and stared at the floor for the next few seconds as I tried to formte my thoughts.

    Finally, I looked back up and bravely met the Alpha billionaire¡¯s icy gray stare. ¡°If you start seeing a

    woman and she bes your girlfriend, I want our arrangement to end immediately,¡± I said.

    ¡°Especially if you n on getting married. I won¡¯t have anyone questioning my rtionship with you.¡±

    Edrick suddenly looked somewhat amused for a split second before answering with a surprisingly light

    and nonchnt tone of voice. ¡°That won¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    I narrowed my eyes. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I won¡¯t ever get married,¡± Edrick replied.

    I frowned, confused by this statement. What could possibly be stopping a wealthy, handsome Alpha

    CEO from getting married? Before I had the chance to say anything else, however, Edrick circled

    around to the other side of my bed.

    ¡°We¡¯ll sleep in here tonight,¡± he said matter-of-factly, grabbing the nkets and pulling them down. He

    must not have seen my sketchbookying there, because it toppled to the floor as he pulled the

    nkets down.

    He paused for a moment, then picked up my sketchbook. I suddenly felt my face flush hot as he looked

    at my drawings, and I went to sn*tch it out of his hand ¡ª but he quickly pulled away, shooting me

    another amused nce, as he looked at the drawing I had been working on before he rudely barged in.

    ¡°Is this¡­ E and me? On the ferris wheel?¡± he asked, his smirk fading as he looked up at me.

    I grabbed the sketchbook out of his hands, then stuffed it in my bedside table drawer.

    Edrick said nothing. Without a word, he climbed into bed and turned onto his side, and went to sleep.

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 20: The Banquet

    Moana

    The day of the Morgan family dinner banquet finally came. Selina informed me that anyone attending

    these banquets was expected to dress formally, so I found a nice, dark blue dress with bows in E¡¯s

    closet and dressed her up with cute socks and shoes, then curled her hair and put a big bow in it. She

    seemed to havepletely forgotten Kelly¡¯s rudements at the luncheon the week before, and if

    she didn¡¯t forget, she at least didn¡¯t seem to let it bother her.

    ¡°Wow! My hair¡¯s so curly!¡± E said, bobbing her head to make her curls bounce. ¡°Thank you, Moana!¡±

    I smiled at the little girl in the mirror and squeezed her shoulders. All of a sudden, her gaze slipped over

    to my outfit, and her smile faded.

    ¡°Are you going to dress up?¡± she asked.

    I looked down at my own outfit with a slight frown. I had chosen the nicest clothes I owned that were

    also appropriate for a nanny at a family gathering: a simple dress, low heeled shoes, and no jewelry so

    as not to stand out too much. I thought I looked perfectly fine for my status, but now that E pointed it

    out, I felt incredibly in.

    ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m just wearing this,¡± I said with a shrug.

    ¡°Nonsense.¡±

    I looked up to see Selina standing in the doorway. Her lips were pressed into a thin line as she looked

    at me, shaking her head with her arms folded across her chest.

    ¡°Is this inappropriate?¡± I asked Selina, stepping away from E to show my full outfit.

    Selina sighed. ¡°It¡¯s fine, but you can wear something a little nicer. You¡¯re a pretty girl, but it makes you

    look homely.¡±

    I blushed at the housekeeper¡¯s sudden kind words. She had never mentioned my appearance before,

    save for the night of the interview. She seemed a bit shocked, herself, when she finished speaking, and

    both of our faces turned a slight tinge of red.

    ¡°Come,¡± she said, quickly turning on her heel. ¡°We¡¯ll take care of this. Hurry up! You haven¡¯t got all

    day.¡±

    With that, Selina disappeared down the hall. I jogged after her, ignoring E¡¯s giggles.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    I looked around confusedly, not knowing where Selina went although I could hear her muttering to

    herself and the sounds of her digging through something. ¡°Hmm¡­ Too big¡­ Too showy¡­ Aha!¡±

    Selina suddenly emerged from arge closet in the hallway holding a long dress. It was a dark emerald

    green color and had short flutter sleeves.

    ¡°Here,¡± she said, holding it out to me. ¡°The green willplement yourplexion and your hair.¡±

    I took the dress. It felt like a light cotton material, perfect for the summer heat, but appeared luxurious.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, holding the dress up to myself and turning to look in the hallway mirror. ¡°Does this

    belong to one of the maids?¡±

    ¡°It was mine when I was your age, actually,¡± Selina said, taking me by surprise. When I looked at her, I

    noticed that her aging cheeks were a bit red and she quickly averted her gaze. ¡°I haven¡¯t worn it in

    years. You can keep it.¡±

    Once again, I was taken aback by the grumpy old housekeeper¡¯s kindness. For a moment, I imagined

    her as a young woman wearing this dress, and pictured her as being a beautiful young girl.

    I put on the dress in my room. It fit like a glove, and Selina was right ¡ª it suited my coloring perfectly,

    and brought out the green in my eyes. Although it was a dress that was appropriate for a nanny, it was

    still a bit s*xy and showed off my curves, and I was surprised that Selina would pick it for me.

    Next, Amy and Lily came into my room. They curled my hair and then pulled it back into a half-bun

    before giving me minimal makeup, with dark red lipstick that made me feel attractive. Once they were

    finished, I felt like an entirely new person.

    Edrick was waiting in the lobby downstairs, so E and I quickly took the elevator down once I was

    ready. As the elevator doors opened and I emerged with E¡¯s hand in mine, Edrick¡¯s eyes became

    transfixed on me for a fleeting moment. I felt my heart pulse suddenly as he looked at me, and for a

    brief moment, I felt Mina¡¯s presence inside of me, as though the way he looked at me made my wolf

    stir. Just as quickly as it began, however, it was over. Edrick looked away, returning to his usual aloof

    self, and got into the car.

    Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.

    The house where the party was held was a pce. It had hundreds of rooms, countless staff, and

    dozens of garden courtyards with fountains and marble sculptures. As we entered the foyer, I couldn¡¯t

    help but feel out of ce in such an expensive mansion, and wondered to myself how huge the Morgan

    family must have been for them to need such a massive home.

    Indeed, the Morgan family was enormous. E was immediately osted by older aunts and uncles

    and cousins who all doted on her, and who also barely paid me any attention ¡ª not that I minded ¡ª

    before we were even able to take our seats at the banquet table.

    ¡°Come here, E.¡±

    A male voice boomed above the rest. I looked up to see an older man standing beside Verona; judging

    from the steely gray eyes and his tall, thin build, he was Edrick¡¯s father. E, somewhat nervously,

    walked up to the old man.

    ¡°Hello, Grandpa.¡±

    On Verona¡¯s other side, just as I had worried, stood Kelly ¡ª and the way that her eyes widened when

    she saw me told me all that I needed to know.

    The banquet soon began, and I found myself seated between E and Kelly. Across from me sat Edrick

    and Verona, with Edrick¡¯s father ¡ª I discovered his name was Michael ¡ª sitting at the closest end of

    the long banquet table. The luxurious meal was served, consisting of roast duck and countless other

    dishes.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like duck,¡± E whispered into my ear, making a face at her te.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I responded with a gentle smile. ¡°You can eat something else.¡±

    ¡°So, tell me,¡± Kelly suddenly chimed in, grabbing my attention as she swirled her wine around in her

    ss, ¡°is such a dress suitable for a nanny?¡±

    I was taken aback by the curt question and didn¡¯t know how to respond; Verona, however, heard Kelly¡¯s

    comment.

    ¡°You look beautiful, darling,¡± Verona said with a wink. ¡°I¡¯m so d you were able toe. Aren¡¯t you,

    dear?¡± she said, turning to her husband.

    Michael slowly chewed his duck, eyeing me up and down for several painfully long moments before

    swallowing. ¡°Hmph,¡± he said, before promptly turning toward Edrick. ¡°Edrick, have you found a mate

    yet?¡±

    Edrick stared down at his te. ¡°No, father.¡±

    ¡°Well, the clock is ticking,¡± the old man said, stabbing another piece of duck with his fork and waving it

    around a bit as he spoke. ¡°It¡¯ll only be so long before the public finds out about your illegitimate child.

    People will ask questions, and it won¡¯t look good for the WereCorp image.¡±

    Michael¡¯s backhandedment caused the table to fall into silence. Beside me, E abruptly stood

    and pushed her chair back. I looked down at her to see tears rolling down her little cheeks, and before I

    could stop her, she stormed out.

    I tentatively slid my chair out; Verona, from across the table, cast me a subtle but approving nod, and I

    took that as my green light to follow E.

    As I searched for E, it urred to me that Edrick¡¯s cold and aloof demeanor must havee from

    his father. It was strange to me that Verona, who was such a sweet and warm woman, would have

    been married to such a brute for so many years.

    I eventually found E in the garden. She was sitting on a stone bench, swinging her legs with her

    hands folded in herp as she looked down at the ground.

    ¡°Can I sit with you?¡± I asked, to which she nodded.

    I sat and put my arm around E¡¯s shoulders.

    ¡°Grownups are mean,¡± she said finally after a few minutes.

    ¡°They sure can be,¡± I replied gently. ¡°But when you grow up, you¡¯ll be nicer than they are, and that¡¯s all

    that matters.¡±

    ¡°Ahem. Moana?¡± a familiar voice said suddenly.

    E and I looked up.

    ¡°Uncle Ethan!¡± E said, jumping up and running to the man standing in front of us.

    Ethan Bradley, the famous artist and the kind man who I met at the orphanage¡­ was secretly a part of

    the Morgan family?

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 21: The Secret Brother

    oana

    ¡°Uncle Ethan!¡±

    E jumped up and ran over to Ethan. Smiling, he picked her up and twirled her around in a circle. The

    quiet air of the garden became briefly filled with the sweet sound of the little girl¡¯s giggles before he sat

    her back down and patted her on the head.

    ¡°I think your grandma is looking for you,¡± he said, to which E immediately perked up and took off to

    find Verona.

    I was still sitting on the bench, utterly shocked by Ethan¡¯s presence.

    ¡°Fancy seeing you here,¡± he said, walking up to me and standing in front of me so that his tall body

    blocked the light.

    ¡°Fancy seeing you here, too,¡± I said, standing. ¡°I had no idea you were rted to the Morgan family.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± he said, running a hand through his hair. Even now, dressed in his formal attire, I could see

    a small smudge of paint on the artist¡¯s left pinky. ¡°The whole ¡®Bradley¡¯st name is just a pseudonym.

    Well, sort of; it was my mother¡¯s maiden name. I use it now to protect my true identity.¡±

    I nodded, not sure of what to say. Ethan turned and walked over to the fountain, gesturing for me to

    follow, which I did.

    ¡°So¡­ You¡¯re E¡¯s au pair, right?¡± Ethan asked as we slowly walked together around the garden. The

    summer air was still and humid, but the feeling of the cool spraying off of the fountain was

    refreshing.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied, ncing over in the direction where E had just gone. ¡°I have been for a few weeks

    now.¡±

    We passed by a small grove of orange trees, their branches heavy andden with ripe fruit. From

    where we stood, I could smell the citrus in the air. As we passed underneath the trees, Ethan casually

    reached up and plucked one. I watched as he expertly peeled the orange while keeping the peel in one

    long strip, then tossed the peel into a nearby shrub and handed me a slice. It was warm and sweet

    from being in the sun all day, and the juices that burst into my mouth made me smile.

    ¡°Well,¡± Ethan said, his mouth full of orange, ¡°I can¡¯t think of anyone better to be E¡¯s nanny. I know

    how much the kids at the orphanage love you. E certainly seems to feel the same.¡±

    My smile widened. ¡°Thank you,¡± I replied. ¡°I love E. She¡¯s a good girl.¡±

    We walked a bit more around the garden, then passed through one side of therge colonnade, where

    the feeling of the cold marble permeated through my sandals and cooled my feet. The arched ceilings

    made the sound of the crickets chirping even more prominent.

    ¡°You grew up here?¡± I asked, leaning on the railing of one side of the colonnade that looked out over

    even more gardens below.

    ¡°I did,¡± Ethan replied, sounding almost a little embarrassed by it. ¡°I still live here now, part of the time,

    whenever I need to have some peace and quiet.¡±

    I turned around, leaning backwards on the railing now, and looked up at the pce behind us. The

    party sounded as though it had gotten more lively inside; I could hear music now, and the sound of

    laughter. Through one of therge draped windows that led to the banquet hall, I could see the

    silhouettes of people ballroom dancing. I was a bit d that I was outside just now, as I hadn¡¯t the first

    clue how to ballroom dance.

    Ethan quietly hummed along to the music, bobbing his head a bit for a few moments before turning

    toward me and holding his hand out.

    ¡°Care for a dance?¡±

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    I felt my face get hot.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how,¡± I admitted, staring down at my feet.

    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Ethan said, taking my hand and pulling me away from the railing. ¡°It¡¯s easy. Besides, no

    one is here to see if you mess up.¡±

    My blush deepened as Ethan took my other hand and ced it on his shoulder, then ced his other

    hand on my waist. I felt him firmly pull me in a bit closer so that our waists were nearly touching.

    ¡°It¡¯s like this¡­¡±

    He waited a moment for a beat in the music, then stepped to the left, then the right, and backwards and

    forwards. Surprisingly, with him leading me, it was easy to move along with him. Soon enough, we

    were spinning around the colonnade to the faint music and the sound of the crickets,ughing along

    with each other.

    The music came to an end, and with a final spin, Ethan dipped me. He hesitated at the bottom of the

    dip, our breathless faces hovering close enough to one another that I could smell the citrus on his

    breath. I felt my heart rate quicken and my face flush red again as his eyes flickered down to my lips.

    Then, just as quickly as it happened, Ethan ced me back on my feet and stepped away with a bow

    and a flourish.

    ¡°You¡¯re a good dancer,¡± he said. ¡°Some might even call you a natural.¡±

    I smirked and curtsied, feeling utterly ridiculous and enamored at the same time. My heart still pounded

    from our near-kiss, but I knew that it would never happen; not only was I just a human, but it would also

    be wildly inappropriate for me to get romantically involved with the brother of my one night stand and

    employer.

    ¡°Can I show you my studio?¡± Ethan asked suddenly, breaking my train of thought.

    I nodded and followed him as he led me through the dimly-lit colonnade and through arge set of

    double wooden doors, then up a narrow winding staircase that led out onto a dark corridor on the

    second story, lit only by the moonlight shining through massive, arched windows. At the end of this

    corridor was another set ofrge double wooden doors. He opened the doors and reached around, his

    hand feeling along the wall for a moment before he flicked on the lights and gestured for me to enter.

    The studio was just as I expected for a wealthy, famous artist: massive, with high ceilings, natural light,

    and concrete floors. The walls were lined with paintings, some finished and some in progress. There

    were severalrge, paint-sttered easels covered in canvases and supplies, and there was a huge

    wooden workbench in the middle of the room that was littered with half-empty tubes of oil paints and

    brushes soaking in jars of paint thinner.

    ¡°Wow,¡± I said, walking around in awe and looking at the paintings. ¡°This is amazing.¡±

    ¡°You should see it during the daytime, when the sun ising in,¡± Ethan said. He walked over to one

    of therge t files that lined the wall and crouched to pull out the bottom drawer, rifling through it for a

    moment before producing a ck portfolio.

    ¡°Come look at this,¡± he said, walking over to the workbench and cing the portfolio down. ¡°You said

    you like art and child psychology, so I thought you might be interested in seeing some of my childhood

    drawings.¡±

    Immediately intrigued, I walked over and gently opened the portfolio to reveal pages upon pages of

    charcoal drawings.

    ¡°May I?¡± I asked, to which Ethan nodded. I pulled out a few of the drawings and held them up to the

    light, furrowing my brow as I observed that each drawing had a simrly dark theme. Each piece

    depicted various scenes of a child, alone, in a dark room.

    ¡°Your childhood,¡± I said quietly, setting down the drawings, ¡°what was it like, if you don¡¯t mind me

    asking?¡±

    Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but before anything came out, a familiar male voice came from the

    doorway.

    ¡°Ahem.¡±

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 22: Family Ties

    Moana

    ¡°Ahem.¡±

    Ethan and I jerked our heads up from the portfolio of his childhood drawings, our train of conversation

    now broken, to see none other than Edrick standing in the doorway ¡ª and he didn¡¯t look happy.

    ¡°Oh, hello,¡± I said, feeling a bit nervous under the billionaire¡¯s strangely disapproving stare. ¡°Ethan was

    just showing me some of his work.¡±

    Without a word, Edrick slowly walked into the studio. His shoes clicked loudly on the concrete floor,

    echoing through the room¡¯s tall ceilings. For several long moments, the Alpha billionaire slowly circled

    the studio and looked at all of the art with his hands in his pants pockets. I noticed that he wasn¡¯t

    looking around with wonder, like I had when Ethan first turned on the light, but rather with an almost

    disgusted look on his face. He almost seemed repulsed by the art, which was surprising considering

    the fact that he had plenty of expensive artwork hanging in both his mansion in the mountains and his

    city penthouse.

    Finally, Edrick turned to face me and slowly walked up to where Ethan and I stood, stopping in front of

    me. He hardly paid any mind to Ethan, as though his brother wasn¡¯t even there.

    ¡°E is looking for you,¡± he said to me in a deep, irritated voice. ¡°You should be with her.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I replied, feeling even more nervous as the Alpha billionaire towered over me, looking down

    at me with an aggravated look on his handsome face. ¡°I thought she was with her grandmother.¡±

    ¡°She is,¡± Edrick said. His gaze finally slid over to Ethan. There was something dark about the way he

    looked at his own brother, as if he didn¡¯t trust him. Meanwhile, Ethan only looked back at Edrick with an

    almost amused sparkle in his eyes, as if he had been experiencing this behavior from his brother for a

    long time already.

    ¡°Hello to you too, big brother,¡± Ethan said.

    There was a long silence. I sensed a palpable air of difort, and it involuntarily made me take a

    step backwards. ¡°I¡¯ll go back to E, now,¡± I said, heading nervously for the door. ¡°Thank you for

    showing me your studio, Ethan.¡±

    ¡°It was a pleasure,¡± Ethan replied. Our eyes lingered on each other for a moment before I nced over

    at Edrick, who seemed to look at me with a hint of fiery jealousy in his eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯lle with you,¡± Edrick suddenly said.

    ¡°Come back any time,¡± Ethan called after us as we walked out of Ethan¡¯s studio. Edrick closed the door

    behind us, and thest thing I saw before the door closed was Ethan¡¯s face. He was smiling, almost

    knowingly, as if he could tell that there was something more between Edrick and I than meets the eye.

    As soon as the door shut, Edrick angrily took my arm and pulled me down the hallway. He was being a

    bit rough with me and his hard grip burned my bare arm, so I yanked my arm away and stopped in my

    tracks in the dark corridor.

    ¡°What¡¯s your problem?¡± I asked, feeling my hands curl into fists at my sides. ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate you

    touching me like that.¡±

    Edrick red down at the floor for a few moments, then back up at me. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be so trusting of

    him. He¡¯s not who he seems.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s your brother¨C¡±

    ¡°Ethan is not my brother.¡±

    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    I was taken aback by Edrick¡¯s stern tone, and the way his face shed with anger as he said those

    words. We stood there silently in the dark corridor for a few moments. The ceiling, I was now realizing,

    was made of patterned ss, which allowed the moonlight to shine down onto the marble tiles and cast

    designs on our faces. It made Edrick look both incredibly handsome and incredibly frightening at the

    same time as he red at me.

    Before either of us said anything else, he turned on his heel and headed toward the stairs.

    ¡°Come on. I don¡¯t want you to leave my side for the rest of the night.¡±

    Sighing, I took onest nce over my shoulder at Ethan¡¯s studio before jogging to catch up with

    Edrick. We briskly descended the stairs back to the main floor, then passed through the garden to

    make our way back to the banquet hall.

    As we returned to the banquet hall, I felt everyone¡¯s eyes on me. The music hade to a bit of a lull

    by the time we entered, while the guests milled about and sipped their drinks. I felt my face flush hot as

    I crossed the room right next to Edrick, wondering if he noticed that his family friends and cousins were

    staring at us together. If he did notice, he didn¡¯t say anything about it.

    ¡°There you are, darling,¡± Verona said, holding her hand out for Edrick. Her smiling eyes flickered over

    to me, as well as E¡¯s, who was sitting in her grandmother¡¯sp.

    Edrick¡¯s father, Michael, merely shot me an indifferent stare before pushing himself up out of his chair

    and beckoning for Edrick to follow.

    ¡°Moana, look!¡± E eximed, holding out her hand as Michael and Edrick walked over to the bar.

    ¡°Grandma gave me a present.¡± On E¡¯s wrist was a delicate silver bracelet with a small charm that

    had the letter ¡°E¡± on it. Smiling, I took the little girl¡¯s hand and inspected the bracelet.

    ¡°It¡¯s very pretty,¡± I said.

    ¡°It¡¯s a charm bracelet,¡± Verona chimed in. ¡°As E gets older, she can add more charms to it.¡±

    Before I could answer, Kelly ambled over to us from where she stood at a table nearby, champagne

    ss in hand. ¡°Verona loves to spoil E,¡± she said. Her face was the perfect picture of sweetness, but

    I could sense a hint of what almost sounded like jealousy behind it.

    ¡°E is my only granddaughter, after all,¡± Verona replied, squeezing E¡¯s shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s my job to

    spoil her.¡±

    Kelly opened her mouth to speak, but Edrick suddenly returned. He had a sour look on his face as he

    stood behind his mother.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Eddy?¡± Kelly asked, c*****g her head and twirling a bit of hair around her finger.

    Edrick didn¡¯t answer, partially because it seemed he didn¡¯t want to answer, but also partially because

    the orchestra began to y again. I immediately recognized the song as one of my favorite ssical

    pieces: Vivaldi¡¯s Winter. Verona, seeing the smile on my face, suddenly spoke up.

    ¡°Edrick, Moana has never had the pleasure of attending one of our banquets,¡± she said, looking over

    her shoulder at him from her seat. ¡°I¡¯ll watch E. Why don¡¯t you two go and dance?¡±

    I felt my face get hot. Kelly seemed to tense beside me, but said nothing. Edrick, letting out a small

    sigh, held his arm out for me. As he led me toward the dance floor, I could feel even more eyes on me

    this time, so many that I almost considered refusing the dance and returning to sit with E and Verona.

    But it was toote; before I had the chance to refuse, Edrick firmly took one of my hands, wrapping his

    other around my waist, and pulled me so close to him that our waists were pressed soundly together.

    ¡°Have you danced before?¡± Edrick asked as we moved around the dance floor.

    I paused, wondering whether I should admit that his own brother gave me a crash course not long ago

    in the garden, but decided against it and shook my head as I felt my heart quicken its pace. ¡°Not like

    this,¡± I said. I felt how fluidly Edrick guided me around the dance floor, as though our bodies had melted

    into one ¡ª but I also felt the disapproving res of Kelly and Michael, as well as those of the other

    guests.

    ¡°Hm,¡± Edrick muttered. He held up our intertwined hands, allowing me to spin once before he pulled me

    back in. ¡°You seem like you¡¯ve danced before.¡±

    A lump started to rise in my throat. I opened my mouth to finally admit that Ethan had taught me some

    moves earlier, but before I could, the song ended. That is when I realized that our bodies were pressed

    so close together that I could feel his steady heartbeat and his breath on my face ¡ª instead of citrus, it

    smelled like a dizzyingbination of whiskey and cigars, and reminded me of our one night stand. I

    felt my heart flutter before Edrick stepped away from me, bowing.

    ¡°I-I need to use thedies¡¯ room,¡± I said suddenly, wanting to take a breather. Edrick nodded, pointing

    over to the door before wordlessly walking back to his mother and daughter. Without hesitation, I

    smoothed down the front of my dress and scurried over to the door, ignoring the feeling of dozens of

    eyes on me, and let out a deep sigh once I was in the dark corridor.

    Halfway down the corridor, I found the door that led to the bathroom.

    The bathroom was enormous, and had a long row of marble sinks and several stalls, as though this

    bathroom was often used forrge quantities of people; no doubt that the Morgan family often had all

    sorts of banquets and gs where they would find it necessary to have such arge bathroom.

    I walked up to the sink and ran my hands under the faucet, letting the cold water calm my nerves.

    As I was drying my hands on the plush hand towel, I suddenly felt someone tap my shoulder. I jumped,

    not realizing that there was someone else in here, and half expected Edrick to be impatiently standing

    behind me.

    When I turned around, however, it wasn¡¯t Edrick.

    It was Kelly.

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 23: The Alpha Pups

    Moana

    As I was drying off my hands on the plush hand towel, I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder.

    It was Kelly.

    ¡°Oh¡­ You scared me,¡± I said, taking a step backwards. ¡°Do you need something?¡±

    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you been doing your job?¡± she asked abruptly, her voice somewhat shrill. She seemed

    incredibly irritated, and her face was a bit red from alcohol.

    ¡°Um¡­ Excuse me?¡± I asked.

    Kellyughed and rolled her eyes abrasively, folding her thin arms across her small chest. I was never

    much of the type to judge other women negatively for their bodies, but it was apparent that she was

    wearing a pushup bra through her almost-sheer dress, and it wasn¡¯t working. In fact, now that I thought

    of it, I had hardly seen her eat anything at the luncheon the other day or at the banquet just now. It

    made me wonder if it was a regr thing for her to refuse food, which made me sorry for her.

    N?velDrama.Org holds this content.

    ¡°You¡¯re the nanny,¡± she said, stepping toward me and poking her index finger into the center of my

    sternum. ¡°You¡¯re basically just a glorified maid whose only duty is to y with children all day. So, pray

    tell, why are you spending the evening running around with Edrick and Ethan instead of doing your

    job?¡±

    I blinked, taken aback by Kelly¡¯s rude behavior.

    ¡°Don¡¯t just stare at me,¡± she snarled. ¡°When someone asks you a question, you answer.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m entitled to spend a few minutes socializing when E is with her grandmother.¡± I attempted to step

    around Kelly, but she moved with me and stood in my way. She had her hands on her hips now.

    ¡°E is still with Verona,¡± she said. ¡°She doesn¡¯t need you, but I know someone else who does.¡±

    I watched, confused by what Kelly seemed to be getting at, as she held up her hand in front of her face

    and inspected her nails. ¡°There are children here who need watching, nanny,¡± she said, ncing up at

    me over her nails with an almost evil look on her face. ¡°Do you want me to take you to them?¡±

    I nced over at the door. ¡°Well, I promised Edrick I¡¯d stay with him and E for the remainder of the

    night,¡± I said.

    Kelly shrugged. ¡°I spoke to Edrick. He said that he doesn¡¯t care, so long as you¡¯re preupied and not

    trying to f**k his brother.¡±

    ¡°He¡­ said that?¡± I asked, my voice quivering slightly as I felt my face flush hot with embarrassment. ¡°I

    wasn¡¯t trying to¨C¡±

    ¡°Come with me,¡± Kelly interrupted, turning on her heel and heading for the door. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to where

    the children are.¡±

    I still felt embarrassed at the thought of Edrick speaking about me like that to Kelly, but decided to

    follow her; I couldn¡¯t hide in the bathroom for the remainder of the night, but I also didn¡¯t want to see

    Edrick at the moment if that was what he was saying about me, so I figured that it would be easiest to

    just ¡°do my job¡±, as Kelly liked to put it.

    I followed Kelly through the winding pce hallways. She always stayed a few steps ahead of me,

    taking sudden corners and mming doors in my face, essentially making me jog to keep up with her

    so that I didn¡¯t get lost in this maze of a mansion. If I was being honest, I wasn¡¯t sure how I would find

    my way back to the party on my own if Kelly left me wherever she was taking me.

    ¡°Almost there,¡± Kelly called over her shoulder as she rounded a corner in a sh of long blonde hair.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t mind the trek, though. You could use the cardio, right?¡±

    I wanted to shout back at Kelly that no, I didn¡¯t need the cardio and that I was actually quite fit, but I

    decided to keep my mouth shut and just follow her for the sake of keeping my job. If Edrick really

    thought that I was trying to sleep with his own brother after sleeping with him and bing his

    employee, then it would also be a risk to talk back to his childhood best friend. Regardless of how

    much Kelly aggravated me, one wrong word from her could potentiallynd me in the unemployment

    office¡­ And I didn¡¯t want to have to go there again if I could help it.

    Finally, we rounded onest corner and pushed open a set of heavy double wooden doors,ing out

    into another courtyard garden. This one wasrger than the other with a massive oak tree in the center,

    but it was much further from the banquet hall. In fact, it was so dark outside now that we were away

    from the glow of the party that I could hardly see, nor could I hear any sounds of music or people

    talking anymore.

    ¡°And here we are,¡± Kelly said, gesturing with a condescending flourish toward the two children who

    were standing in the middle of the courtyard. ¡°Good luck, nanny.¡±

    I went to ask Kelly why she was wishing me ¡°good luck¡± in such a sinister tone of voice, but when I

    turned around and opened my mouth to speak, she was already gone.

    ¡°Um¡­ Hello,¡± I said, approaching the two young boys that stood in the middle of the courtyard. ¡°I¡¯m

    Moana. What are your names?¡±

    The boys didn¡¯t reply. They appeared to be too busy ring at each other, their little fangs bared and

    their pointy wolf ears pri cked backwards. It was reminiscent of the way that E had looked the night

    that I had my interview, except these boys were a bit older and bigger, and were more frightening than

    E had been.

    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± I asked.

    Still no answer.

    I started to get concerned and looked over my shoulder, hoping to see Kelly standing nearby, or

    anyone passing by who might be able to help; but there was no one. I was too far from the party to call

    for help, nor would I be able to find my way back to the banquet hall by myself. I couldn¡¯t just leave

    these boys alone, either, since they appeared as though they were about to fight. Who knew what

    trouble two werewolf boys could cause on their own!

    The boys started snarling more loudly and began to approach each other, crouched down. My first

    instinct was to put myself between them in the hopes that they would stop, or that they would even sc

    atter, but I was met with a menacing growl as I made my first move toward them. I stopped in my

    tracks, my heart racing as I tried to think of some other way to stop this before anyone got hurt, but

    there was nothing I could do.

    I watched in horror as the boys shifted into their wolf forms. They wererger than I expected for such

    young boys, indicating that they were both going to grow up to be Alphas ¡ª which would also indicate

    that they could kill me in a matter of seconds if they tried.

    Gulping, I took a few steps back as the little Alphas began to circle one another.

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 24: Pup Scuffle

    Edrick

    I returned to the party with Moana, trying to quell my anger over seeing Moana and Ethan together. I

    wasn¡¯t quite so much mad at her, although she should¡¯ve been more professional, as I was mad at him.

    I knew that he was up to something¡­ Always.

    ¡°There you are, darling,¡± my mother said, reaching out and squeezing my hand as Moana and I

    approached.

    ¡°Edrick,¡± my father suddenly said, pushing himself up from his chair. He didn¡¯t like to admit it, but he

    was getting older and was starting to have some difficulty with sitting and standing. ¡°Come with me. I¡¯d

    like to talk to you.¡±

    I knew where this was going, but I also knew that I didn¡¯t have a say with it as I watched my father walk

    away. My mother, who also knew what he was about to say, gave my hand another squeeze before I

    followed him.

    We walked over to the bar, where he ordered us each a ss of whiskey.

    ¡°Here,¡± he said, shoving the ss of whiskey in my hand.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I replied, swirling the brown liquid around a bit in my ss before taking a sip, steeling

    myself for what was about toe.

    ¡°Now¡­ I¡¯m sure you know why I wanted to speak with you,¡± my father said, fixing his icy gray eyes on

    me.

    I nodded. ¡°I know, father. It¡¯s time to find a mate. You¡¯ve been saying this for years.¡±

    ¡°I only say it because I worry about you,¡± he said, stroking his white beard with his hand. ¡°You¡¯ve

    already had one illegitimate child. It¡¯s only so long before you have another, given your track record.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried,¡± I replied tersely. ¡°Besides, marriage is a distraction.¡±

    My father scoffed. ¡°So is dealing with illegitimate children.¡±

    I watched as he slowly turned his head to look at E and Moana. I had tried my best for thest eight

    years to keep E a secret from the public, and it had worked so far; but my father wasn¡¯t entirely

    wrong. Not only was it taxing on such a little girl to be kept cooped up and hidden away, but it also

    became me ntally taxing to work so hard to hide her. Many journalists and papa raz zos had been paid

    off with hefty sums of money, not to mention her mother, who asionally showed up demanding

    more. But despite all of that, E was mine, through and through. I didn¡¯t consider her to be any less

    worthy than if I had a legitimate child with a future wife.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t want to end up like me,¡± my father said then, gesturing with his ss as he referred to

    Ethan. ¡°It¡¯s too much of a bother, and it¡¯s bad for thepany¡¯s image. Do something about your love

    life, and then you can im that E is your wife¡¯s child. Why not Kelly, after all? You know she¡¯d keep

    your secret.¡±

    I felt the anger start to bubble up inside of me, and I tried to quell it with another hefty swig of my

    whiskey.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been over this,¡± I said, setting my ss down on the bar. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in Kelly like that.

    And the more you entertain that idea, the more you¡¯ll stoke the fires of that fantasy in her head.¡±

    ¡°And?¡± my father said. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you think you¡¯d have a better chance with a human girl?¡± He

    nodded his head toward Moana, who was crouching in front of E and brushing a bit of hair out of her

    face.

    I shook my head. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that. She¡¯s a human, and she¡¯s just a nanny.¡±

    Without another word, I stormed away from my father. E looked up as I approached, softening my

    demeanor, although I still felt the fires of rage inside of me from my conversation with my father.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Eddy?¡± Kelly asked.

    I didn¡¯t answer ¡ª and thankfully, I didn¡¯t need to, because the orchestra suddenly began to y

    Vivaldi¡¯s Winter. I nced up to see a dreamy smile beginning to spread across Moana¡¯s face; she

    appeared to know the song.

    ¡°Edrick, Moana has never had the pleasure of attending one of our banquets,¡± my mother suddenly

    said, looking over her shoulder at me from her seat. ¡°I¡¯ll watch E. Why don¡¯t you two go and dance?¡±

    ¡­

    I was surprised to find that Moana seemed to have some experience with dancing. As our dance came

    to an end, however, I felt Kelly¡¯s and my father¡¯s eyes on me, and stepped away from Moana with a

    bow. She said she had to use the restroom, so I pointed her in the right direction and returned to my

    mother and E.

    ¡°Eddy,¡± Kelly suddenly said, staggering up to me. She appeared a bit too drunk, and her face was red

    from the alcohol. ¡°Let¡¯s dance. I haven¡¯t danced with anyone all night.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m a little tired. Why don¡¯t you ask one of my cousins? I heard that Karl

    has a bit of a crush on you.¡±

    Kelly nced over my shoulder at the gaggle of my young male cousins, who had alle tonight

    without dates, then shook her head and abruptly turned on her heel. ¡°Nevermind,¡± she said brusquely.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to use thedies¡¯ room.¡± I watched as she stumbled off and disappeared through the door,

    before I let out a sigh of relief and sat down next to my mother.

    ¡°Moana is such a sweet girl, you know,¡± my mother said, watching with amusement as E wriggled off

    of herp to run off and join the other children. ¡°She¡¯s a lovely dancer, too.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°She¡¯s a good nanny. E likes her.¡±

    ¡°But, do you like her?¡± she asked.

    I stared down at the floor, unsure of how to respond. Of course I liked Moana, to a certain extent. She

    was a good nanny and helped out around the penthouse, and her presence helped me sleep, but she

    was also a bit of a thorn in my side.

    Before I could answer, I was alerted by the sound of worried voices approaching me.

    ¡°Have you seen Lucas and Adam?¡± my older cousin, Maria, asked, stopping in front of me. She was

    referring to her two sons, who were often known for causing a bit of trouble. Her husband, Maurice,

    stood next to her looking equally as worried.

    I shook my head. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen them. Why?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve been fighting a lottely,¡± Maurice said. ¡°We¡¯re worried that they¡¯re off somewhere, probably in

    their wolf forms.¡±

    I realized now that Moana still hadn¡¯t returned from the bathroom.

    Suddenly, I heard the sound of heels clicking on the marble, and looked up to see Kelly running toward

    us.

    ¡°It¡¯s Moana!¡± she said, pointing. ¡°I tried to stop her, but she insisted on wandering, and now she¡¯s in the

    middle of a pup scuffle.¡±

    Maria gasped. ¡°Oh, no!¡± she cried. ¡°We have to stop them before someone gets hurt!¡±

    Of course. I should¡¯ve known that Moana wouldn¡¯t listen to my requests. It was foolish of me to assume

    that a human wouldn¡¯t be so awestruck by my family¡¯s home that she would insist on wandering.

    N?velDrama.Org holds this content.

    ¡°Where is she?¡± I asked, letting out a heavy sigh and passing my hand over my face.

    Kelly took my hand and began to pull me toward the corridor. ¡°She¡¯s this way,¡± she said, intertwining

    her slender fingers with mine. ¡°I¡¯ll show you.¡±

    The worried parents and I followed Kelly through the corridors and out into one of the further gardens,

    where, just as she had described, Moana was standing behind the big oak tree while the two pups

    stalked around the garden, looking for her. She looked up when she saw me, and then, with a smile,

    raised her finger to her lips¡­ And jumped out, spooking the pups.

    Kelly, the pups¡¯ parents, and I all watched in awe as Moana yed with the pups, rubbing their

    tummies and letting them chase her around the garden.

    ¡°I thought you said they were fighting,¡± I said, turning to Kelly.

    Her eyes were wide and fixed on Moana. ¡°They were.¡±

    When the pups saw their parents, they both immediately shifted back into their human forms with

    sheepish looks on their faces. Maria rushed forward, inspecting each child for injuries before turning to

    Moana.

    ¡°My, you certainly have a knack with children, don¡¯t you?¡± Maria said, making Moana blush. ¡°What was

    your name again?¡±

    ¡°Moana.¡±

    ¡°Well, Moana,¡± Maria continued, ¡°I¡¯d love to have your contact information, should you ever be

    interested in working as a nanny for my boys.¡±

    There was a bit of a silence. I felt somewhat appalled by Maria¡¯s attempt to steal my employee away

    from me and opened my mouth to protest, but before I could, E¡¯s tiny voice shouted from behind me.

    It seemed that she had followed us here.

    ¡°No way!¡± E shouted, running up to Moana and throwing her arms around Moana¡¯s legs territorially.

    ¡°Moana is my nanny.¡±

    E¡¯s sudden burst of defensiveness made Moana and I both look at each other with shocked

    expressions.

    ¡°Sorry Madam, I am her nanny.¡±

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 25: Stayover

    Moana

    The night was finally over. By the time we all returned to the banquet hall, many of the guests had left.

    E, following her territorial outburst in the garden, seemed to havepletely exhausted herself and

    now slept soundly on my shoulder as I carried her.

    ¡°Oh, tired little thing,¡± Verona said in a hushed tone as she came up to us.

    ¡°We should get going.¡± Edrick¡¯s voice was cold and stern; I could tell that he wasn¡¯t particrly happy

    with me, although I wasn¡¯t sure if it was because I was spending time with Ethan earlier that night or

    because I got involved with the two wolf pups. I wasn¡¯t particrly happy with him, either ¡ª not after

    what he supposedly said to Kelly about me.

    Verona frowned. ¡°Stay the night,¡± she said. ¡°There¡¯s no need to drag a tired little girl home when we

    have plenty of space here. You can leave tomorrow, after breakfast.¡±

    Edrick nced over at E, then back to his mother and nodded reluctantly.

    Verona showed us to our rooms. E¡¯s was situated next to mine in a lower level of the house, while

    Edrick¡¯s room was directly upstairs. After I put E to bed, I returned to my room and wondered if

    Edrick still expected me to fulfill our sleeping arrangement even though we were in his parents¡¯ home.

    As I was wondering this, as if on cue, I received a text message from Edrick asking when I would be

    coming upstairs.

    I let out a deep sigh, wishing that it wouldn¡¯t have to be my responsibility for us not to get caught,

    before changing into the silk pajama set and slippers that Verona hadid out for me, which wasN?velDrama.Org holds this content.

    incredibly kind of her. As I felt the cold, smooth silk on my skin, I wished that I could keep the pajama

    set.

    Cracking open my door, I poked my head out of my room to make sure that the coast was clear before

    sneaking out. I took extra care to walk quietly as I made my way toward the stairs.

    ¡°Looking for something?¡± a familiar voice said from behind me.

    I spun around to see none other than Ethan standing in the hallway. He had a thick book tucked under

    his arm and was in his own pajamas.

    ¡°Um¨C I was just going to check on E,¡± I lied.

    Ethan slowly nodded. I felt as though he could tell that I wasn¡¯t being truthful, but he didn¡¯t say anything

    about it. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°Well, goodnight.¡±

    ¡°Goodnight.¡±

    Without another word, Ethan walked past me with his book. I slipped into E¡¯s room for a few

    moments in case he was still watching, and once I counted ten of her deep breaths as she slept, I

    snuck back out and bolted up the stairs to Edrick¡¯s room.

    He was sitting on the edge of the bed when I arrived. His shoes were ced neatly on the floor and he

    was working to loosen his tie.

    ¡°Took you long enough,¡± he said.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit more difficult to not be seen when there are so many other people in the house,¡± I replied as I

    walked over to the bed. I pulled the nkets back to get in, but just then, there was a knock on the

    door. My eyes widened; Edrick silently pointed toward the closet, indicating for me to hide. I quickly ran

    over to the closet and quietly closed the door, staying in the shadows while I peered through the tted

    door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± Edrick called out.

    The bedroom door opened, and in came Verona. She was carrying a tray in her hand, and on it was a

    ss of milk and an orange bottle of pills.

    ¡°I thought I heard you talking to someone,¡± she said as she walked over to the bedside table to set the

    tray down.

    Edrick shook his head. ¡°Nope. Just me.¡±

    Verona sighed and reached out to help Edrick take off his tie. ¡°Well, darling, these pills should help you

    sleep. Has your insomnia improved at all?¡±

    There was a long pause before Edrick nodded. ¡°Yes, actually. I hardly need the pills anymore at all.¡±

    Verona let out a small gasp. ¡°Really?¡± she said. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s wonderful! What changed?¡±

    I half expected Edrick to reveal our sleeping arrangement to his mother. The thought of it made my

    heart race, but thankfully, he didn¡¯t. ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± he replied. ¡°Less stressed, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Well, perhaps you have that au pair to thank,¡± Verona said. I watched, stunned, as the old woman¡¯s

    gaze flickered over to where the nkets were pulled down on my side of the bed. Did she know I was

    here? I pictured her walking over to the closet and yanking the doors open, revealing my secret with

    Edrick.

    Finally, she turned back toward the door and started to leave before that happened.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure having someone to look after E is a relief for you, and that¡¯s why you¡¯re sleeping better,¡±

    she called over her shoulder. Her hand lingered on the doorknob for a moment; I swore that her eyes

    met mine through the ts of the closet door as she nced over, making me p my hand over my

    mouth and step further back into the shadows.

    ¡°Goodnight, mom,¡± Edrick said, breaking his mother¡¯s gaze away from the closet door.

    ¡°Goodnight, darling,¡± Verona replied before leaving the bedroom.

    A few moments passed before I came out, once I was certain that she wouldn¡¯t poke her head back in.

    As the adrenaline left my body, Edrick calmly stood and moved the tray of milk and pills over to the

    dresser, then began to unbutton his shirt in front of the full-length mirror.

    ¡°How did you get those pups to stop fighting?¡± he asked suddenly, taking me by surprise. ¡°Those two

    boys are known for being a couple of little devils.¡±

    I shrugged, walking over to the bed and taking my slippers off. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just had a sincere talk

    with them. I think they just need someone to y with them more to release their pent up frustration.¡±

    ¡°Hm.¡±

    Edrick continued to unbutton his shirt. I watched as he hung it carefully over the back of a chair, but I

    quickly looked away when our eyes met in the mirror. Thinking about the pups reminded me of what

    Kelly told me earlier¡­ About what Edrick had supposedly said while I was in the bathroom. It hurt to

    know that he would say such awful things about me in front of others.

    Edrick must have seen me picking my bottom lip thoughtfully. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked suddenly, breaking

    my train of thought. I jumped, looking up from the spot on the nket I had been staring at to see that

    Edrick was already dressed in his own pajamas; I must have been lost in thought for at least a few

    minutes without realizing it.

    ¡°You know, I¡¯m not trying anything funny with Ethan,¡± I blurted out, feeling my face instantly get hot in

    response to Edrick¡¯s cold gaze settling on me.

    ¡°Okay,¡± he replied slowly.

    I watched as he got into bed, but still, I wasn¡¯t satisfied. Ethan had been nothing but sweet and lovely

    since I met him; why was Edrick so cold toward him earlier?

    ¡°You know,¡± I said as I slid down into the nkets, ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re so harsh with hi¨C¡±

    Edrick abruptly shut off the light, casting the room in darkness. ¡°Enough, Moana.¡± His voice was cold

    and just as dark as the room. ¡°It¡¯s not your job to question my rtionship with that man. I told you that

    he¡¯s not who he seems, so just listen to me and stop being nosey.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s words stung, and it was then that I realized that I had forgotten to put a pillow between us.

    With a huff, I grabbed one of the throw pillows from beneath my head and shoved it into the space

    between our bodies before turning over and going to sleep.

    ¡­

    I awoke early the next morning to find that Edrick was still sleeping soundly behind me. So, taking this

    as an opportunity to quickly get out of bed and return to my room without any conflict, I threw my robe

    and my slippers back on before quietly slipping out of the room.

    If only I had checked to make sure the coast was clear before I walked out!

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

 Chapter 26

    Chapter 26

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 26: Confessions of a Nanny

    Moana

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    I jumped, sping my hand over my heart and taking in a sharp breath as I slipped out of Edrick¡¯s

    room, only to be immediately met with a familiar voice.

    Ethan¡¯s smiling face stared back at me. From one look at him, I knew that he knew that something was

    going on.

    ¡°Uh¨C I-It¡¯s not how it looks like,¡± I stammered, looking around frantically with my back against the

    bedroom door in the hopes that no one else was watching.

    Ethan merely chuckled. ¡°Are you really an au pair?¡± he asked. I could sense a hint of humor behind his

    voice and it helped me rx just a tiny bit, but I still feared that I had ruined Ethan¡¯s impression of me. I

    liked him as a person and desperately did not want him to think that I was just after his brother for

    money or s*x.

    ¡°I am, I swear,¡± I replied, grabbing Ethan¡¯s arm without thinking and pulling him away from the door in

    case Edrick was awake and listening. ¡°I¡¯m not a mistress, or anything like that.¡±

    ¡°Well, not that it¡¯s any of my business, but it does sort of appear as though you might be,¡± he replied.

    I shook my head vehemently. ¡°No, really,¡± I said, lowering my voice so that no one else could hear.

    ¡°Edrick and I have a sleeping arrangement.¡±

    Ethan chuckled again. ¡°A sleeping arrangement?¡±

    ¡°Not like that,¡± I insisted. ¡°An actual sleeping arrangement. For some reason, my presence helps him

    sleep better than the pills and the alcohol, so he asked me to sign a contract to sleep with him until his

    insomnia improves.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Ethan asked, sounding a bit surprised. ¡°Edrick has had sleeping problems since before E

    was born.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but for some reason, it just works. He usually falls asleep as soon as I

    do and wakes up as soon as I do.¡±

    Ethan furrowed his brow. ¡°How did you bothe to realize this?¡±

    I felt my heart sk*p; I couldn¡¯t possibly admit to Ethan that I had already had a one night stand with his

    brother, so I merely shrugged. ¡°We both nodded off in the living room one night,¡± I lied. Ethan still

    seemed a bit suspicious, but didn¡¯t say anything more.

    ¡°Come on,¡± he said, changing the subject and turning to walk down the stairs. ¡°Breakfast is ready.¡±

    I stayed firmly nted in my spot as he walked away, my eyes still wide. Ethan, noticing my absence

    by his side as he took the first step down, turned back to face me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said with a smile.

    ¡°We¡¯re friends. Your secret¡¯s safe with me.¡±

    Ethan¡¯s kind words helped to ay my fears for the moment, although the lingering possibility of

    Edrick¡¯s and my secret being discovered still loomed heavily above my head. What made it even worse

    was knowing that, should we be caught, it would ultimately somehow wind up being entirely my fault. I

    couldn¡¯t be entirely sure that anyone, including Ethan or E, wouldn¡¯t still take the Alpha CEO¡¯s side of

    the story over the poor human nanny¡¯s side of the story, and I especially couldn¡¯t be entirely sure that

    Edrick wouldn¡¯t throw me under the bus if our arrangement came to light.

    Still, I decided that I needed to continue with my duties and go downstairs to wake E up and give her

    breakfast. When I arrived downstairs, however, she wasn¡¯t in her room. I heard the sound of voices and

    silverware ttering, so I went to look for her there.

    When I entered the dining room, E, Ethan, and Verona were already seated at the table. This dining

    room was much smaller and more intimate than the massive banquet hall that we dined in the night

    before, with a quaint and round family-sized table in the center that was covered by ace tablecloth

    andden with a beautiful array of breakfast foods. E, who was sitting next to her grandmother,

    jumped up when she saw me and skittered across the room to throw her arms around me excitedly.

    She was still in her pajamas and had a bit of whipped cream on the side of her mouth, and obviously

    appeared to be currently experiencing a sugar high.

    ¡°Good morning, Moana!¡± E eximed as she clung to my legs. ¡°Breakfast today is Bell-jam waffles

    and¡­ om¨C¡± She paused, chewing on the sybles on her tongue, before giving up and turning to look

    at her grandmother for help.

    ¡°Omelette du fromage,¡± Verona said with a chuckle. ¡°And it¡¯s Belgian waffles. Not bell-jam.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± E said, turning back to face me. ¡°Will you eat with us?¡±

    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    I nced up at Verona, who cast me a warmly approving look, then looked back down at E. She still

    had whipped cream on the side of her mouth, so I wiped it away with my thumb before it got smeared

    all over my silk pajamas and nodded. ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll eat with you.¡±

    Once E was back in her seat and happily shoving even more copious amounts of waffle and syrup

    into her mouth, I pulled out the chair beside her. I went to lift the silver dome that was covering my

    te, but before I could, a servant scurried over and did it for me, revealing a steaming hot waffle with

    fruit on top and an equally steaming omelet on the side.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. ¡°This looks delicious.¡±

    ¡°Our chef is simply the best,¡± Verona said before popping a strawberry into her mouth, letting it sit on

    the inside of her cheek as she stirred cream and sugar into her coffee. I took a sip of my own coffee,

    feeling my worries slip away as the warm, sweet liquid filled my mouth. Even the coffee tasted as

    though it was made from the most expensive beans.

    ¡°Do you cook, Moana?¡± Ethan asked, cutting his omelet with a fork and a knife.

    ¡°Oh, I mean¡­ I help the ser vants at the penthouse,¡± I replied. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say I do so much cooking as

    I do peeling potatoes.¡±

    ¡°Moana makes me sandwiches for lunch sometimes,¡± E chimed in, sitting up on her knees to reach

    across the table for more syrup. Verona gently pped the back of the little girl¡¯s hand, growling at her

    under her breath to sit back down on her butt and not her knees, and poured the syrup for her. ¡°Her

    sandwiches are the best.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Ethan asked, raising his eyebrows. ¡°I¡¯m a bit of a sandwich connoisseur myself. I¡¯ll have to try

    one of these sandwiches sometime.¡±

    I felt my cheeks blush a bit, but it quickly turned toughter as E practically shouted with her mouth

    full, spitting waffle everywhere: ¡°What¡¯seheresir mean?¡±

    While we wereughing, Verona nced up, wiping the tears from her eyes with her napkin. ¡°Good

    morning, darling,¡± she said. Ethan and I both looked up as well to see Edrick standing in the doorway;

    he was fully dressed, not in his pajamas like the rest of us, and had a sour look on his face.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to go home. The car is waiting out front.¡±

    Verona was taken aback by Edrick¡¯s overreaction, but I instantly felt a pit in my stomach as I saw

    Edrick¡¯s eyes flicker between Ethan and I for a brief moment.

    If Edrick wasn¡¯t going to answer my questions about his poor rtionship with his brother, then I was

    determined to find out in other ways. As soon as I had a chance, I would have to ask Ethan.

 Chapter 27

    Chapter 27

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 27: The Invitation

    Moana

    The following morning, I woke up early to get E ready for training. She was tired after the party, but

    was cooperative, and her sweet disposition distracted me from the strange experiences I had at the

    Morgan residence.

    While E ate breakfast, I sought Edrick out and found him in his study. Taking a deep breath, I quietly

    knocked on the door. He nced up and gestured for me toe in before promptly looking back

    down at his work again.

    ¡°Did you need something?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied, still feeling somewhat ufortable around the Alpha billionaire¡¯s cold demeanor even

    though I thought I should be used to it by now.

    ¡°Well, spit it out.¡±

    I swallowed. Thest time I had done anything like I was about to ask permission for, it had ended

    horribly andpletely stunted both Edrick¡¯s and the servants¡¯ confidence in me.

    ¡°I would like to take some time today to visit the orphanage while E is at her training session,¡± I said.

    Edrick paused and slowly set his pen down, then looked up at me and leaned back in his chair. He

    folded his arms across his chest and looked down his nose at me, narrowing his eyes. I prepared

    myself for the inevitable.

    ¡°Are you nning on losing my daughter again?¡±

    ¡°Not at all,¡± I replied. ¡°I was thinking, since the orphanage isn¡¯t too far from there, I could get there and

    back before E even finishes her training. That¡¯s how it would¡¯ve workedst time, too, had I not

    gotten stuck in traffic.¡±

    Edrick was silent again for a few agonizing moments. ¡°Well¡­ You can¡¯t predict traffic in the city,¡± he

    said. ¡°It could happen again.¡±

    ¡°So I¡¯ll make sure the attendant knows that I¡¯ll be leaving,¡± I replied, the words flying out of my mouth

    quickly this time as I became more desperate. ¡°I promise, it won¡¯t happen again. Really.¡±

    After I spoke, I could see something sh through the Alpha CEO¡¯s cold eyes. It looked like worry.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said finally, picking up his pen again. ¡°Don¡¯t let anything happen to E again.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± I replied softly, backing out of his office. I often forgot that Edrick had feelings for anyone, but

    seeing such a strong emotion for his daughter sh across his face like that immediately reminded me

    that he wasn¡¯t entirely cold to his core. Seeing the way that he interacted with his own father the night

    before also reminded me how sour behaviors like the one that Edrick often exhibited were frequently a

    product of nurture, not nature¡­ And I knew that E would grow up to be a sweet young woman,

    because deep down, I think that Edrick knew that he had to break the cycle with her.

    ¡­

    ¡°Okay, E. Here¡¯s your backpack. I¡¯m just going to the orphanage to do some volunteer work, alright?¡±

    I said, crouching to E¡¯s level as we stood outside the training facility. She nodded vehemently, and I

    ruffled her hair. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll be here when you¡¯re done. If I¡¯m not, it¡¯s just because of traffic, and I want

    you to go back inside and wait with the attendant until I do get here.¡±

    E nodded vehemently again, her little face hriously serious as though I had just given her marching

    orders to take to her grave.

    I stood, watching as E ran to meet up with her werewolf friends. Once she was inside, I gged down

    a taxi and headed to the orphanage.

    I spent the next hour and a half ying with the children on the yground. While I always enjoyed

    every activity with the children, ying outside was one of my favorites; I always loved helping the kids

    cross the monkey bars, ying hide and seek with them, and participating in their games of kickball. By

    the time it was over, I was a bit sweaty from the summer heat, but it felt good to get some exercise.

    I was just getting ready to g down another taxi to get back to the training facility when an unfamiliar

    ck car pulled up to me.

    ¡°Get in,¡± a familiar, friendly face said as he rolled down the window. It was Ethan. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a lift.¡±

    I smiled and climbed into the passenger seat, buckling my seatbelt as Ethan pulled away from the curb.

    ¡°I¡¯m headed to pick up E from the training facility,¡± I said. ¡°You really didn¡¯t have to do this. I

    appreciate it.¡±

    ¡°No worries,¡± Ethan said with a smile. ¡°I heard about what happenedst time, and I¡¯m sure Edrick is all

    over you like a cheap suit because of it.¡±

    ¡°That would be putting it lightly,¡± I replied, looking out the window. ¡°He¡¯s like one big ball of stress.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the truth,¡± Ethan replied. ¡°You got a good dose of thatst night. I¡¯m sorry about that, by the

    way. I should¡¯ve warned you that my rtionship with my brother is¡­ strained, to say the least.¡±

    I was silent for a moment as I looked out the window at the city passing by around us.

    ¡°Do you mind if I ask why you don¡¯t get along?¡± I asked finally.Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    Ethan shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m his half brother. I think he sees me as this great big symbol of a wrench being

    thrown into a so-called ¡®perfect¡¯ family dynamic, when really, it¡¯s not like the Morgan family has ever

    been even close to perfect to begin with. But, I think that the way I came into his life destroyed his

    hopes that his family might actually be okay.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really wanna get too into it,¡± Ethan replied as he drove around a corner. ¡°I¡¯ll just say that¡­ I

    came after Verona and Michael were married and had Edrick. And you already know that Verona is not

    my biological mother.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said, looking down at myp. ¡°I see.¡±

    There was another long silence as I processed what Ethan said, finally understanding why Edrick felt

    so bitter about him, before I spoke again.

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, you know,¡± I said.

    Ethan smiled. ¡°It¡¯s neither my fault nor Edrick¡¯s fault,¡± he said. ¡°One day, I think he¡¯ll see that. I¡¯m willing

    to wait.¡±

    Ethan¡¯s response made me smile. He seemed gentle and sweet, not at all like the way that Edrick

    painted him to be. Maybe I could help Edrick see that, but at the same time, I supposed that it was

    better if I stayed out of it for the sake of my job.

    Just then, my phone rang: it was the driver who was supposed to take E and I home. He informed

    me that he got stuck in traffic and would bete. I cursed under my breath as I hung up the phone.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ethan asked.

    ¡°The driver got stuck in traffic,¡± I replied. ¡°Edrick¡¯s probably going to make it my fault if E gets home

    late.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll drive you,¡± Ethan replied, holding his hand up as I tried to resist. ¡°Don¡¯t say anything. I¡¯m driving you

    home.¡±

    When we arrived back at the penthouse, I helped E get out before stooping down to look at Ethan

    through the window.

    ¡°Thank you for the ride,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you around sometime.¡±

    ¡°Actually, we will see each other again soon,¡± Ethan replied, leaning to meet my gaze through the car

    window. ¡°My exhibition is in a few days.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right,¡± I replied with a grin, remembering now that Ethan had invited me to his art exhibit the first

    time we met. ¡°I¡¯ll be there.¡±

    As I stood and turned back toward the penthouse, however, I saw that Edrick was standing in the

    doorway¡­ And he looked furious.

 Chapter 28

    Chapter 28

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 28: Rival Brothers

    Moana

    Ethan dropped E and I off at the penthouse. As I stood on the sidewalk, I had just promised Ethan

    that I would go to his art exhibit¡­ But now, as I looked over my shoulder to see Edrick standing in the

    doorway, I wished that I hadn¡¯t.

    Edrick stormed toward us and took E by the hand, shooting me an angry look before stooping down

    to re at Ethan through the car window.

    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you to stoping to my home?¡± Edrick growled. Before Ethan

    could respond, Edrick turned on his heel and stormed inside with E jogging behind him to keep up on

    her tiny legs.

    ¡°Edrick, what¡¯s the matter?¡± I called, running after him. ¡°The usual driver got stuck in traffic. You can¡¯t

    seriously be that angry¨C¡±

    The elevator doors open. Edrick stepped in with E, and I followed. I could feel him avoiding my gaze

    as he pushed the button that would take us back up to the penthouse.

    ¡°What were you doing with him to begin with?¡± Edrick snarled, quietly so as not to frighten E.

    ¡°I saw him at the orphanage. He volunteers there sometimes.¡±

    ¡°So you intentionally lied to me in order to go see him?¡±

    I took a step back, shaking my head. ¡°No. It was just a coincidence.¡±

    All of a sudden, just as Edrick was opening his mouth to say something else, E chimed in. ¡°Please

    don¡¯t be mad, daddy,¡± she pleaded, tugging on Edrick¡¯s pant leg. He took a deep breath, shutting his

    eyes for a moment, before stooping down and scooping her up into his arms. As he did, I could see the

    tension in his shoulders start to slip away.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Princess,¡± he said, although there was still a hint of icy sharpness in his voice and in his

    gaze as his eyes flickered up to me.

    The elevator doors slid open again into the penthouse with a ding. I lingered for a few moments, my

    heart pulsating as I watched Edrick carry E into the living room. He set her down and whispered

    something to her, to which she nodded and walked off to her room, before he turned back to face me.

    ¡°My office. Now.¡±

    Reluctantly, I followed Edrick to his office. I could feel the prying eyes of the maids and Selina on my

    back as I walked behind him, but I tried my best to ignore them. Once the door was shut behind us, I

    watched as Edrick stormed over to the window; his shoulders were tense once more as he red out

    at the view of the city below.

    ¡°All I ask is for you to listen to me,¡± Edrick said, his voice low and controlled. ¡°I¡¯ve done everything I can

    to make youfortable in this ce. I even allowed you to attend a personal family gathering, and for

    some reason, youtch onto Ethan like your life depends on it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re overthinking things,¡± I replied. I took a few steps toward Edrick, but stopped in the middle of the

    room as he turned around to face me with fury in his eyes. ¡°I never intended on seeing Ethan today. It

    really was a coincidence; you can ask Sophia, the director there, if you really don¡¯t believe me. I spent

    an hour with the children today before Ethan ever showed up.¡±

    Edrick scoffed. ¡°You im that seeing him today was only a coincidence, but then you pull up to my

    home with him in the driver¡¯s seat. Why couldn¡¯t you have just waited for the driver toe to you?¡±

    ¡°Because I was afraid that you would lose trust in me again if I showed upte with E after what

    happenedst time,¡± I replied.

    ¡°And what sort of trust do you think you would gain by going directly against my wishes and spending

    private time with Ethan?¡±

    I was silent for a moment as I chose my words carefully, feeling Edrick¡¯s cold gaze boring a hole

    through my head. Finally, I spoke. ¡°Ethan is a kind andpassionate man who goes out of his way on

    a regr basis to donate his time to disadvantaged people. Anyone would apud their brother for

    being so generous and down to earth, but not you. Are you jealous that people like him or something?

    Is that what it is?¡±

    Now, it was Edrick who fell silent. He turned back to face the window again as an attempt to hide his

    anger, but I could see his shoulders trembling with rage as he stood in front of me.

    ¡°Maybe you should consider beingpassionate for once, and then people will like you,¡± I said,

    lowering my voice as I tried to quell my anger.

    Edrick scoffed again. ¡°Compassion for disadvantaged people is a waste of time, and you¡¯re a prime

    example of that.¡±

    I took a step back, feeling tears well up in my eyes. ¡°Once again,¡± I said, taking another step back

    toward the door, ¡°you feel the need to reduce me to a charity case. Don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re seemingly

    incapable of even sleeping without me ¡ª which, after the way you¡¯ve spoken to me today, is not

    happening tonight.¡±

    I turned around, swinging the study door open.

    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    My body froze as I heard the next string of words that came out of Edrick¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°You don¡¯t get to decide that.¡±

    ¡­

    It seemed that I did, indeed, have no choice but to sleep with Edrick that night. I made sure to stuff two

    pillows between us, and the following morning, I got up quickly to start my day without so much as

    looking in Edrick¡¯s direction. I was relieved a little whileter when he left for work without a word.

    ¡°Is daddy still mad about Uncle Ethan?¡± E asked, looking up from her breakfast of toast and sunny

    side up eggs to stare wistfully at the door.

    ¡°No,¡± I lied. ¡°He¡¯s just tired.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    I watched as E poked at her eggs with her fork for a bit before pushing the te away and hopping

    off of her chair.

    ¡°E,¡± I said, peering over the table at her te, ¡°you hardly ate your breakfast.¡±

    E shrugged. Instead of answering, she merely said, ¡°Can I watch some TV?¡±

    I sighed, standing, and reluctantly nodded. E skipped off toward the living room; as I cleaned up her

    half-eaten meal, I heard the TV click on. It sounded like the news¡­ And there was a familiar voice

    coming from the television.

    ¡°I really cannot stress how much Mr. Morgan¡¯s kind donation will mean to these children,¡± Sophia¡¯s

    voice said. ¡°This generosity will help see that the children are fed throughout the winter.¡±

    I paused as I scraped the half-eaten eggs off of the te, as did Amy, Lily, and Selina.

    ¡°Are they talking about our Mr. Morgan?¡± Lily asked.

    Selina said something in response, but her voice faded away as I found myself walking toward the

    living room as if in a trance. Indeed, Sophia, the director of the orphanage, was standing on screen

    being interviewed by a man in a suit. At the bottom of the screen was text that read, ¡°WERECORP

    CEO DONATES HEFTY SUM TO LOCAL ORPHANAGE¡±.

    My eyes widened as Edrick¡¯s picture appeared on the screen.

 Chapter 29

    Moana

    My trance with the TV was broken by the sound of Selina¡¯s voiceing from beside me.

    "Interesting," she said, wiping her hands on her apron. "That''s more than I expected."

    I turned to face her, still surprised by Edrick¡¯s sudden act of generosity. "He doesn''t do things like this often, does he?" I asked.

    Selina shrugged. "Every so often. It''s usually once a year or so these past few years, but it''s never made public, and it''s rarely this much. I wonder what changed to make him donate such arge amount and for him to allow it to be televised."

    "And to an orphanage, no less," Lily chimed in from behind me.

    Shrugging again, Selina turned around and started to head back to the kitchen. I followed her, still curious about the situation. "You said it''s been happening just for the past few years?" I asked.

    "Listen, I don''t know all of the specifics," Selina replied curtly. She had her back turned to me as she scrubbed so hard at the stovetop with a damp sponge that it was making the metal racks on the inside of the oven rattle. "If you''re really all that interested, you can look online. I''m sure there are some websites that will tell you everything."

    Maybe Selina was right. I was still intrigued, so I turned on my heel and picked up my phone off of the coffee table. The interview with Sophia ended on the TV while I was in the kitchen, so now E was flipping absentmindedly through the channels as she searched for cartoons. I searched WereCorp''s most recent public rtions campaigns, and lo and behold: there was a list of articles with vague information on Edrick''s donations over the past few years. It seemed, starting just four years prior, that WereCorp was trying to improve their public image.

    "See? My daddy is so nice," E said suddenly from behind me. I hadn''t realized it, but she must have grown bored of flipping through the television channels and was now hanging over the back of the couch, watching as I scrolled through my phone.

    "Hey!" I yelled yfully, tossing down my phone and grabbing her, pulling her onto myp and beginning to tickle her. "It''s not very nice to look over people''s shoulders!"

    The room became filled with the sweet sounds of the little girl''s giggles, but I couldn''t quite shake the feeling in my mind that Edrick''s newfound passion" was all just an act.

    ...

    Edrick didn¡¯t return home until muchter that night. I wasying in my own bed; I wondered if he wasing back to the penthouse at all, and if he did, I wondered if he wouldn¡¯t want to sleep together after our argument. Eventually, however, I heard the sound of footsteps outside my door, followed by a series of quiet knocks.

    I didn¡¯t answer before he opened the door and came in. He was already in his pajamas, and stormed over to the other side of the bed without a word. I could tell that he was still mad at me.

    "I saw an interesting interview on the television today," I said, ncing up from my sketchbook to look at Edrick as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Something about a billionaire CEO donating a hefty sum of money to a local orphanage."

    "What about it?" Edrick asked. His tone of voice was cold and indifferent.

    I shrugged. "Nothing, really. I just think it¡¯s interesting that just yesterday you thought thatpassion was pointless, and now..."

    "Compassion and phnthropy are two different things," Edrick interrupted. "I have to do certain things sometimes to uphold the image of mypany."

    Edrick¡¯s words made me curious. "Why is that?" I asked as I looked back down at my sketchbook and continued working on my most recent drawing: a picture of the city at night, using the view from my balcony as reference. "Is something threatening the image of yourpany?"

    The Alpha billionaire was silent for several minutes - so long, in fact, that I wondered if he was even going to answer at all. Heid down on the other side of the bed on his side, with his back turned to me. The only sounds in the room were the sounds of the city below, which was nothing but white noise to me after growing up in the city. Aside from the sounds of the city, there was the sound of my pencil scratching on the paper as I shaded in some of the buildings in my drawing.

    All of a sudden, he spoke.

    "It seems that some... human... workers in the factories think that they''re not treated as equally as their werewolf counterparts," he said. "It''s absurd, really. I''ve always tried my best to be fair to everyone in mypany. And now the media is trying to contact my PR department in order to weasel payroll reports from us."

    I paused, looking up from my sketchbook to look over at Edrick. "Why do they say that they''re being treated unfairly?"

    Edrick shrugged. "It''s the pay."

    I frowned. "So... You don''t pay the humans the same as the werewolves, even for equal work?"

    Edrick was silent for some time before finally admitting to it... in his own way, which I had already be all too familiar with over the past few weeks since I had been working for him.

    "I do the best I can, given the circumstances," he said, still facing away from me. "I can''t risk being looked down upon by my colleagues for being too fair. It would make me look... weak."

    My frown deepened. I snapped my sketchbook shut and set it down on my bedside table, folding my arms across my chest.

    "So... You think that money will cover up the fact that you don''t treat people fairly and with equity," I responded. "You think that donating money to a single orphanage will make up for that?"

    Edrick sighed and sat up, but still didn''t look at me. In the dim light of my bedroom, I could see that his sharp jaw was clenching and unclenching, as it always did when he was trying to find the right words.

    "Money fixes everything," he said finally after thinking for a few moments. "It''s practical, and it''s better than spending an hour a week teaching kids how to finger paint."

    I scoffed incredulously. "So, once again, this is really about Ethan," I said. "As soon as you found out that he volunteers at the orphanage, you have to go and donate a huge sum of money. You''re trying to outshine him."

    Edrick shook his head, finally turning to re at me with his steely gray eyes - when he was angry like this, they were so much like his father''s that it was almost frightening. "How dare you," he growled. "This has nothing to do with Ethan. You should apologize."

    Between Edrick''s hard re and the fact that I didn''t want to lose my job, I decided to shut my mouth. "Sorry," I muttered,ying down and turning my back to him.

    I wasn''t sorry in the slightest, though. In fact, as I fell asleep that night, all I could think about was how disappointed I was that even a donation was just a way to cover up his own selfishness and to upstage his brother.N?velDrama.Org holds this content.

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 30: PR Problems

    Moana

    When I woke up the following morning to the sun streaming in through my window, Edrick was already

    gone. Yawning, I sat up and threw the covers off of myself before swinging my legs over the edge of

    the bed and standing.

    E was already wide awake when I left my room. In fact it seemed that the other ser vants were also

    wide awake, and all of them were standing in the living room with their wide eyes glued to the

    television. I furrowed my brow as I approached, finding this behavior strange ¡ª especially for Selina,

    who was nervously clutching her apron.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked as I joined the group. Amy merely raised her finger to her lips, then pointed

    at the television screen. I followed her finger, my own eyes widening as I saw what was being

    broadcasted.

    On the screen was a reporter standing in front of a crowd. Behind her, the crowd was marching back

    and forth with picket signs that depicted anti-werewolf sentiments, as well as images of both

    WereCorp¡¯s logo and Edrick¡¯s face with big, red X¡¯s painted over them.

    ¡°As of right now, WereCorp¡¯s youngest CEO, Edrick Morgan, has not made an official statement about

    the unequal pay between human and werewolf employees,¡± the reporter said, holding her finger to her

    ear and shouting over the din of the protesters behind her as they chanted ¡°Equal pay for equal work!¡±

    The reporter continued: ¡°ording to recent spection, there are reports that werewolves are being

    paid ten percent more than their human counterparts, in both the offices and the factories, for the same

    work. Some even believed that the Alpha CEO deliberately made arge donation to a local orphanage

    just yesterday in an attempt to assuage these ims and create a positive image for thepany, but

    the footage from earlier this morning haspletely turned that attempt on its head.¡±

    Just then, a video clip popped up on the screen. It showed Sophia and the children from the orphanage

    standing outside the WereCorp headquarters; Edrick walked past with his briefcase,pletely

    ignoring them. One of the children tried to reach out and give him a handmade thank-you card, but he

    deliberately moved out of the way, as though the child¡¯s disy of appreciation disgusted him, then

    pulled a w*d of cash out of his wallet and tossed it at the child¡¯s feet. The footage cut out just as a

    security guard stormed out the door and began to usher the children away from the door, with the video

    pausing for several moments on one of the children¡¯s scared, crying faces.

    Suddenly, the TV screen went dark. I looked up to see Selina holding the remote, her lips pressed into

    a thin, hard line.

    ¡°Get back to work, you two,¡± she said, addressing Amy and Lily. ¡°No more of this nonsense. It¡¯s not

    even nine o¡¯clock in the morning.¡±

    Selina was right; E didn¡¯t need to be seeing this sort of thing at her age, and especially not first thing

    in the morning.

    ¡°Come on, E,¡± I said, reaching out to take the little girl¡¯s hand and leading her to her room. ¡°Let¡¯s get

    you a bath. If you¡¯re good, we can have crepes for breakfast.¡±

    I led her to her room, where I closed the door tightly behind us and walked over to the adjoined

    bathroom to start running the bath. While the tub began to fill with steaming hot water, I returned to her

    room to open the curtains and the windows and to let some fresh air in.

    ¡°Is my daddy gonna be okay?¡± E asked. Her voice sounded even tinier than usual; I could tell already

    that what she had seen on the television scared her.

    ¡°Yes, sweetheart,¡± I replied, walking over to her and crouching to her level to take her into my arms.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s just business; the news always makes everything look worse than it really is.¡±

    E sniffled on my shoulder, and when I pulled away, I saw that she was crying. Her sweet little cherub-

    like face was twisted into a grimace, and her cheeks were red as apples. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what,¡± I said,

    brushing a bit of hair out of her face, ¡°after your bath, we¡¯ll call your daddy if you¡¯d like. I¡¯m sure hearing

    your voice would make him feel better, too.¡±

    ¡­

    I kept my promise; after E¡¯s bath, she called Edrick, who reassured her that everything would be fine.

    I even kept my promise to take her downstairs to the bakery for crepes, which seemed to lighten her

    mood, but as the hours ticked on and Edrick didn¡¯te home at his usual time, we all started to grow

    worried. After I put E to bed with a ss of warm milk and a luby to soothe her nerves, even Selina

    shot me a concerned nce before disappearing into her bedroom for the night.

    For some reason, I couldn¡¯t sleep. After tossing and turning for almost an hour in my bed, I finally gave

    up and decided to head to the kitchen for my own ss of warm milk. I crawled out of bed and slid my

    feet into my slippers before quietly retrieving my milk and settling into the big armchair in the living

    room with a book.

    Just then, the elevator doors slid open and out stepped Edrick. His face appeared almost gaunt, and

    his eyes looked hollow; he was so tired, in fact, that he didn¡¯t even see me as he came in. I watched

    silently for a moment as he tossed his briefcase down on the floor and shuffled over to the bar to pour

    himself a drink before I jumped up and grabbed the whiskey bottle out of his hands, causing him to

    jump with surprise.

    ¡°Drinking will not help you right now,¡± I said, keeping my voice low so as not to wake E and holding

    the bottle out of the way as he tried to take it back from me. ¡°Your daughter was worried sick all day. So

    were the rest of us.¡±

    ¡°I told her I was fine, didn¡¯t I?¡± Edrick asked, giving up on the whiskey bottle and reaching for a vodka

    bottle instead.

    I frowned. ¡°What would you do if she woke up and came out here to see her father stumbling around

    the apartment, drunk, after telling her that he was ¡®fine¡¯?¡±

    Edrick shrugged. I could tell that he was struggling toe up with an answer, but his brain was too

    tired from stress to spit out the right words; in fact, as I watched him pour vodka into his ss and walk

    over to the couch before slumping down into the c**hions, I actually started to feel a small amount of

    pity toward him. I sighed, setting the bottle of whiskey down, and grabbed my ss of warm milk before

    walking over to him.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he asked as I took the vodka out of his hand and reced it with the warm milk.

    I got down on my knees in front of him then, not answering, and slipped off his shoes.

    ¡°You know,¡± I said as I began to rub his feet, ¡°if you¡¯re trying to create a good image for yourpany,

    scaring little children who are trying to show their gratitude won¡¯t help any,¡± I said.

    Edrick was silent for a few moments. I didn¡¯t look up, but I could feel the tension releasing in his feet as

    I rubbed them, followed by the sound of him swallowing a mouthful of warm milk.

    ¡°I know,¡± he replied. His voice was low and gravelly from exhaustion. ¡°I should¡¯ve just taken the d*mn

    card.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Yes, you should¡¯ve; but you didn¡¯t. So, what are you going to do to make up for it?¡±

    Edrick simply shrugged.

    Sighing, I set his foot back down on the floor and looked up at him. I was surprised to see that he was

    looking at me, and his gaze didn¡¯t have its usual bitterness behind it.

    ¡°Here¡¯s what you¡¯re going to do,¡± I said, standing. ¡°You¡¯re going to go to the orphanage tomorrow ¡ª in

    person ¡ª and you¡¯re going to publicly apologize to those children. Then, you¡¯re going to take some

    nice photos to show that you might actually have the tiniest drop ofpassion in your body.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s gaze widened for a moment, but then surprisingly, he nodded. ¡°Alright,¡± he said, then paused

    for a moment before speaking again. ¡°You know the director, right?¡±

    I nodded in response.

    Edrick took another sip of his warm milk. ¡°Then you have toe with me.¡±Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

 Chapter 31

    Chapter 31

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 31: Photo Op

    Moana

    The very next morning, I called Sophia as soon as I awoke.

    ¡°Sophia, it¡¯s Moana,¡± I said into the phone. ¡°Do you have a minute to talk?¡±

    Sophia was quiet for a moment. I could tell that she was hesitant; I had just informed her only a couple

    of weeks prior that I was working for the very man who frightened the orphans, and she no doubt had a

    suspicion that I was going to ask for something after how he acted.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she finally replied. ¡°It¡¯s good to hear your voice.¡±

    I smiled, relieved that she was at least willing to talk to me. ¡°You, too,¡± I said. ¡°I know this might seem a

    bit contrived, but I wanted to ask if Mr. Morgan and I coulde to the orphanage today. He wants to

    speak to you and the children after what happened yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Sophia responded, sounding a little surprised. ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem like the type to talk much.¡±

    ¡°Really. He wants to apologize.¡± Sophia was silent again. I grew desperate. ¡°Please,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d really

    appreciate it if you gave him another chance.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Sophia finally agreed. ¡°When will you being?¡±

    I nced at the clock. ¡°We¡¯ll be there by noon.¡±

    ¡­

    At noon, almost on the dot, Edrick and I pulled up to the orphanage. He was wearing a gray suit and tie

    that was almost as stiff as his demeanor, which was a sharp contrast from my light blue sundress. It

    was a scorching hot day; I was surprised that he was even breathing dressed like that.

    The driver pulled up to the curb and let Edrick and I out. I nced over at the Alpha billionaire over the

    top of the car, noticing how his image seemed to wiggle a bit behind the heat hazeing off of the

    ck car. He took a deep breath and straightened his tie before brusquely turning on his heel and

    storming up to the entrance of the orphanage as if he was on a mission, where Sophia stood with the

    children as they waited for him. The children had made a banner that they were all holding, which read:

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Morgan!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I saw all of the little handprints on the long strip of

    paper that they held between them.

    Sophia, smiling, came down the steps as Edrick approached.

    ¡°Wee,¡± she said, her eyes squinting in the sunlight. ¡°We¡¯re happy to have you.¡±

    Edrick merely nodded and replied in a curt tone of voice, ¡°Thank you. Where is the photographer?¡±

    Sophia squinted even harder. ¡°Photographer?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m here for a photo op,¡± Edrick said, looking around. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hire a photographer?¡±

    I stepped in, cing my hand on Edrick¡¯s arm before he could say anything else that was offensive. ¡°I

    have my cell phone.¡±

    Edrick scoffed. ¡°You can¡¯t possibly expect cell phone pictures to make it on the front cover of any

    magazines.¡±

    Sophia frowned, ncing over at me with a disappointed look on her face before looking back up at

    Edrick. ¡°Perhaps you¡¯re not here for the right reasons, Mr. Morgan,¡± she said. ¡°While we appreciate

    your donation, all of the funds have been allocated toward taking care of the children. We don¡¯t have

    the money to be hiring photographers.¡±

    Now, it was Edrick who looked over at me with a disappointed look on his face. He stepped away,

    waving me over to him, and I threw an apologetic nce at Sophia before following.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t hire a photographer?¡± he snarled.

    I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s not about the quality of the photos,¡± I responded, keeping my voice low. ¡°It¡¯s

    about the message behind them. And I didn¡¯t want to make the children ufortable by having

    another stranger here to take their pictures.¡±

    Edrick nced over at the children, who looked like they were broiling in the summer heat. One little

    girl¡¯s bangs were glued to her forehead with sweat. ¡°Fine,¡± he said, his tone of voice cold as he

    straightened his tie again. ¡°Let¡¯s just get this over with.¡±

    Before I could stop him, he walked back over to Sophia. He said something to her that I couldn¡¯t make

    out from where I stood. She nodded and they walked over to the stairs; Edrick waved for me to follow

    again, and I did, this time jogging to catch up.

    ¡°Alright, children,¡± Sophia said, walking up the stairs to stand behind them while Edrick stood off to the

    side. ¡°Mr. Morgan is going to take a picture with us now.¡±

    ¡°Hi, Mr. Morgan,¡± the little girl with the sweat-soaked bangs said.

    ¡°Hello.¡± Edrick didn¡¯t even look at her; he only stood off to the side with his arms folded, impatiently

    waiting for the picture to be taken.

    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s Miss Moana doing here?¡± another little girl said, looking around confused.

    ¡°I¡¯m thirsty,¡± one little boy said, his face red from the heat.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have lemonade when we¡¯re finished,¡± Sophia replied. She shot me a pleading look, practically

    begging me to just get the photo over with so she could bring the children back inside before they all

    had heat stroke.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said with a smile, holding up my phone to take the picture. ¡°On the count of three, say cheese!

    One, two, three!¡±

    Maybe half of the children smiled at the very most. The other half of the children were either

    unprepared, too hot and miserable to smile, and the ones that were closest to Edrick appeared as if

    they were leaning away from him out of fear.

    As soon as I snapped the picture, Sophia ushered the children inside. Edrick, without a word, stormed

    back off in the direction of the car. I mouthed an apology to Sophia, who red at me angrily from the

    doorway, before I ran after Edrick and grabbed him by the arm as he put one foot in the car.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he asked.

    I shoved my phone in his face to show him the picture. ¡°The children look miserable,¡± I replied. ¡°You

    have to try again.¡±

    ¡°If they don¡¯t like me, then they don¡¯t like me,¡± Edrickined. ¡°I did what I came here to do. Come

    on. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s indifference made me furious.

    ¡°Edrick Morgan, you get out of that car right now and go spend time with those children!¡± I shouted,

    curling my hands up into fists and stamping my foot.

    Edrick¡¯s eyes went wide. So did the driver¡¯s, Sophia¡¯s, and even my own. It seemed that all of us were

    equally surprised by my outburst ¡ª but it worked. Edrick somehow got out of the car, mmed the

    door, and got back up to the orphanage.

    Sophia silently let him in. Her gaze followed me as I jogged after him, but she said nothing; once we

    were inside, Edrick stood in the foyer, looking around with distaste as the children stood off to the side.

    They, too, looked surprised at his return.

    ¡°Um¡­ How about a tour?¡± Sophia asked.

    ¡­

    ¡°¡­And this here is the ssroom. We haven¡¯t quite got enough desks, but we make do. The children

    all get along and take turns so they can all have a chance to use the desks. It does get awfully cold in

    here in the winter, so we often have to move the ss to another room to do their lessons ¡ª but,

    thanks to your generous donation, we will be able to heat the entire orphanage evenly this winter, and

    we can even afford more desks.¡±

    Edrick stood in the middle of the ssroom, turning slowly as he took in the room. The orphanage was

    clean and well kept, just as it had been even when I lived here as a child, but its age was beginning to

    show. The walls all needed a good paint job, half of the doors didn¡¯t stay closed anymore, and the sinks

    all became clogged on a regr basis.

    He was silent for some time.

    ¡°He seems moved,¡± Mina¡¯s voice suddenly echoed in my head, almost making me jump. I was starting

    to get used to her asional presence, but it still took me by surprise every time.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied. ¡°It seems like maybe the Alpha billionaire has a bit of a heart after all.¡±

    Suddenly, one of the children spoke up ¡ª they had all been following us curiously, intrigued by Edrick¡¯s

    presence. ¡°Um, Miss Moana,¡± the little girl named ra said, tugging on my dress and making me,

    Sophia, and even Edrick look at her. She was about E¡¯s age.

    ¡°Yes, ra?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Can you make us some of your chocte chip cookies before you go?¡±

    Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.

    I paused, ncing up at the clock behind Edrick to see that we had already been here for over an hour.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, ra, but we¡¯ve probably got to head ho¨C¡±

    Before I could finish, Edrick suddenly stepped in and surprised us all.

    ¡°We¡¯ll stay a little while longer,¡± he said.

 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 32: Sweet as Sugar

    Moana

    The children all began to cheer once Edrick agreed to stay longer so that we could make cookies. I

    lifted my gaze from ra to see the Alpha billionaire standing in front of me, but he wasn¡¯t looking at

    me; he was looking at the children.

    We all made our way down to the kitchen. I lingered at the back of the group, still in utter shock as I

    tried to wrap my head around Edrick¡¯s sudden change in demeanor. Had the tour of the orphanage and

    seeing how disadvantaged children lived given him a bit ofpassion?

    Once we were in the kitchen, I put on an apron and started to get out the ingredients to make the

    cookies while the children watched hungrily, licking their lips in anticipation for the sweet taste of sugar

    in their mouths.

    ¡°Do you like to bake, Mr. Morgan?¡± ra asked, standing on her tiptoes as she gripped the edge of the

    counter to see.

    ¡°No,¡± Edrick replied, avoiding eye contact with the little girl. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Not even cookies?¡±

    ¡°No, not even cookies,¡± Edrick said. Then, in a slightly lower voice: ¡°I¡¯ve never baked anything.¡±

    The children erupted into gasps, causing me to stifle augh. ¡°Here,¡± I said, grabbing an extra apron

    and tossing it to Edrick. ¡°I¡¯ll teach you.¡± Edrick caught the apron and gave me a puzzled look while the

    children exploded with a chorus of giggles.

    ¡°I think I¡¯d just mess it up,¡± he replied. ¡°You can do it.¡±

    I folded my arms across my chest. ¡°There will be no cookies if Mr. Morgan doesn¡¯t help,¡± I said, to

    which all of the children began to protest loudly, some even going so far as to push Edrick toward me

    with their tiny hands, begging him to bake.

    ¡°Alright, alright!¡± he said; it almost seemed as though he was holding back a smile. He shrugged off his

    suit jacket and put the apron on,ing over to me. Without thinking, I reached out and rolled his

    sleeves up for him. Our eyes caught for a second and lingered on each other.

    ¡°Ew!¡± one of the older kids shouted. ¡°They¡¯re gonna kiss!¡± Now, the group¡¯s cries of protest became

    even louder as some of the boys even went so far as to gag theatrically.

    I stepped away from Edrick, shaking my head as I felt my face get hot. Next, I showed Edrick which

    ingredients to pour into the bowl, and how much of each.

    ¡°Put two cups of flour into this bowl,¡± I said, ¡°and the baking soda¡­¡±

    Soon enough, we had enough cookie dough for an entire army. Sophia took half of the children as a

    group, helping them to roll the dough into little balls and ce them on the trays, while Edrick and I

    helped the other half.

    ¡°Mr. Morgan?¡± ra said ¡ª she seemed to have taken a liking to him, which reminded me of E.

    ¡°Yes?¡± Edrick asked as he rolled a ball of dough between his palms.

    ¡°Do you have a mom?¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± Edrick replied.

    ra was silent for a moment, sticking her tongue out to the side a bit as she focused on rolling a wa d

    of cookie dough into a misshapen ball between her tiny hands, then pped it down on the tray with an

    unprecedented amount of force for such a small girl. Then, she turned toward Edrick and looked up at

    him inquisitively. ¡°Howe you never bake with your mom? If I had a mom, I¡¯d probably bake with her

    all the time.¡±

    Edrick opened his mouth to speak, but the words didn¡¯t seem toe.

    ¡°ra,¡± Sophia interjected from across the room, ¡°That¡¯s an awfully personal question.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Sorry, Mr. Morgan.¡± ra drooped her shoulders and dug into the bowl of cookie dough to grab

    another handful.

    ¡°No,¡± Edrick said, taking me by surprise once more, ¡°it¡¯s alright.¡± He bent down to ra¡¯s level and

    looked at her with unexpected honesty in his eyes. ¡°My dad doesn¡¯t always think that boys should do

    the same things that girls do,¡± he said. ¡°So, I grew up thinking that if I tried to ask to do things like bake

    with my mom, I would get scolded.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s words sent a pang through my heart. Growing up in the orphanage, Sophia had always

    allowed the boys and the girls to y however they wanted and to try new things. I grew up not only

    baking and doing traditionally feminine things, but I also had all of the opportunities in the world to try

    traditionally masculine hobbies. I couldn¡¯t imagine not being allowed to try those things just because of

    my gender, but it exined so much about Edrick¡¯s personality¡­ And it made me dislike his father a

    little more.

    One of the little boys, who was sneakily stuffing raw cookie dough in his mouth, suddenly spoke up.

    ¡°That¡¯s dumb,¡± he said, his voice garbled through the cookie dough. ¡°Baking is fun.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Elliot!¡± I shouted, running after the little boy. ¡°Don¡¯t eat raw cookie dough!¡±

    Elliot ran around the kitchen, evading me, and the children erupted intoughter again. When I looked

    up, I saw that Edrick wasughing, too.

    ¡­

    Soon enough, the cookies were out of the oven and the children were happily stuffing their chocte-

    covered faces. Sophia led Edrick and I to the door; we hadn¡¯t realized it, but we had been there so long

    that the sun was already beginning to set.

    ¡°I really can¡¯t thank you enough, Mr. Morgan,¡± Sophia said as we stood in the doorway. ¡°Your donation

    means the world to us. We¡¯ve really been strugglingtely ¡ª the government isn¡¯t so generous with

    their money when ites to human orphanages like this one. I really thought¨C¡± I watched as Sophia

    blinked back a few tears. ¡°¨CI thought that we would have to shut down soon.¡±

    I reached out and squeezed Sophia¡¯s arm. Edrick fell silent and appeared to be thinking, his brow

    furrowed almost angrily.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do in the future,¡± he said suddenly. ¡°I could set up a foundation.¡±

    Sophia¡¯s and my eyes both widened in shock. ¡°You¡¯re joking,¡± she said.

    Edrick shook his head. ¡°Children deserve to be taken care of,¡± he said. ¡°These kids are lucky to have

    someone like you. I¡¯ll do what I can to help keep this ce afloat.¡±

    A s*b suddenly escaped Sophia¡¯s throat, and she threw her arms around Edrick in a tight hug. I

    watched, suppressing a smile, as he stood there stiffly with his arms at his sides as though he didn¡¯t

    know what to do. Finally, Sophia pulled away and wiped a tear away from her eye with her finger. ¡°I¡¯m

    sorry,¡± she said. ¡°That was inappropriate.¡±

    Edrick said nothing, but walked out the door with a nod. I said my goodbyes to Sophia and the children

    before following him. The air was much cooler now, and there was a breezeing off of the nearby

    ocean. As we walked to the car, I watched Edrick walking ahead of me. He still had his sleeves rolled

    up and carried his suit jacket over his arm. The breeze ruffled his dark hair, which had beenbed

    back neatly when we first arrived and was now loose and free, which made him look all the more

    handsome. I could feel Mina¡¯s presence inside of me as I looked at him.

    ¡°Wait! Mr. Morgan!¡± a tiny voice suddenly shouted from behind. Edrick and I turned around to see ra

    running toward us with wild abandon as she swung a small paper bag in her hands. Sophia was

    standing in the doorway, watching.

    ra stopped in front of us, panting from her mad dash, and her little face turned bright red as she

    forcefully held the paper bag out to Edrick. He looked down at her for a moment, puzzled, before

    tentatively taking the bag.

    ¡°It¡¯s two cookies,¡± she said between breaths. ¡°One for you and one for Miss Moana.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s very sweet, ra,¡± I said with a smile, watching as Edrick seemed to be suppressing a smile

    himself.

    ra, satisfied with her gift, turned on her heel and began to march back toward the orphanage with

    confidence. She stopped halfway, however, and turned around to say one more thing.

    ¡°When are you gonnae back to bake some more, Mr. Morgan?¡± she asked.

    Edrick was silent for a moment. His jaw clenched and unclenched.

    And then, he said: ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 33: Inside the Heart of a CEO

    Moana

    A few more days went by, and I had juste inside from a midday walk with E and was taking her

    sun hat off in the foyer when I suddenly felt a newspaper being shoved into my hand. I nced up to

    see Amy standing above me with a surprised look on her face, and I took the paper from her to see that

    the front page had a picture of Edrick crouching in front of ra from the day we went to the

    orphanage, when he crouched to exin the situation with his father to her. Selina must have snuck a

    picture while they were talking.

    The headline of the article read ¡°CEO OF WERECORP VISITS ORPHANAGE, SPENDS

    HEARTWARMING AFTERNOON WITH CHILDREN¡±.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± E asked, leaning over to look at the paper. She gasped then and ripped the paper out

    of my hands. ¡°It¡¯s daddy! And look, Moana!¡± she eximed, pointing to the background. ¡°There you

    are!¡±

    In the background of the picture, I could be seen standing and looking down at Edrick and ra. I felt

    my face get hot; I was never one for any sort of public attention, not that anyone would necessarily be

    looking at me.

    E handed the paper back. ¡°Will you read it to me?¡± she said.

    I nodded and led her over to the big armchair in the living room, where she crawled up onto myp and

    traced the words on the page with her small finger while I read.

    ¡°¡®Mr. Morgan is a kind and lovely soul, beneath his hard exterior,¡¯ Sophia Brown, the director of the

    orphanage, stated during her interview,¡± I read. ¡°¡®What was meant to be a brief meeting turned into an

    entire afternoon of fun with the children, who all can¡¯t stop talking about their new favorite visitor. I

    sincerely hope that Mr. Morgan wille back often.¡¯¡±

    The article went on to talk about Edrick¡¯s donation, as well as hismitment to change. However, the

    reporter also went on to mention their suspicions that the visit to the orphanage was all just a publicity

    stunt to cover up his unfair treatment of human WereCorp employees and his cold attitude toward the

    children that tried to give him their thank-you cards outside the WereCorp headquarters. I stopped

    reading before I got to that point, not wanting E to hear those things being said about her father.

    ¡°Will you bring me next time?¡± E asked. ¡°I want to see the orphanage.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°If your daddy says it¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll take you sometime,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m sure the other children would

    love to make friends with you.¡±

    Satisfied with that response, E jumped off myp and ran off to y. As I stood and began to tidy up,

    however, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about the article; the reporter was right about the fact that the visit to

    the orphanage was originally meant to be a publicity stunt, and although it ultimately turned out to be

    far more than that, it still made me feel a bit guilty for suggesting it to begin with. In a way, I felt as

    though I had helped Edrick take advantage of Sophia and the children by getting those nice pictures.

    He hadn¡¯t mentioned the trip at all for the past few days, which made me wonder if it truly made him

    morepassionate or if it was all just an act to get some positive press. Was he even still nning on

    starting a foundation for human orphanages?

    Suddenly, I heard the elevator ding and looked up to see the doors slide open, revealing Edrick; he had

    come home much earlier than expected.

    ¡°What are you doing here so early?¡± I asked, looking up at the clock to see that it was only a little past

    one o¡¯clock.

    Edrick shrugged and tossed his briefcase down by the coat rack in the foyer. ¡°No reason,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Just taking an extra hour for lunch to get some work done here.¡±

    He started to walk toward his study, but I called after him.

    ¡°Edrick,¡± I said, watching him stop in his tracks and look over his shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s an article about you

    in the paper.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± he said, turning around now fully as I scooped the paper up and handed it to him. I watched his

    steely gray eyes scan the article, and then with a hmph, he tossed it back down on the coffee table.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked. ¡°Sophia said some really nice things about you.¡±

    He shrugged. ¡°I was just hoping they would have reported on the pay raises by now,¡± he said.

    ¡°The pay raises?¡± I c****d my head, intrigued.

    ¡°Yes. I gave the human workers the pay raises they wanted. A certain percentage, anyway.¡±

    I was taken aback by Edrick¡¯s sudden choice to do the right thing. Maybe the visit to the orphanage

    really did change a small part of the Alpha¡¯s heart, after all.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ great,¡± I said, feeling a smile spread across my face. ¡°I¡¯m happy that you did that.¡±

    Now, it was Edrick who appeared a bit taken aback. He almost appeared as though he didn¡¯t know how

    to respond to someone being happy for his decisions.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s all for the productivity of my factories,¡± he said, his face returning to its usual cold and stony

    appearance. ¡°And besides, I wouldn¡¯t have made this decision if it wasn¡¯t part of a negotiation to get my

    employees back to work.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s lying¡­¡± Mina suddenly said. ¡°I think¡­ he wanted to do the right thing.¡±

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    I watched as Edrick turned to go back to his study. Before he disappeared inside, I called after him one

    last time: ¡°Still. Thank you for doing the right thing.¡±

    Edrick paused, his hand on the doorknob. Then, without a word, he closed the study door behind him

    and left me alone.

    Just then, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, breaking me from my trance over Edrick¡¯s sudden

    change of heart. I pulled it out and felt my heart skip as I saw Ethan¡¯s name on the screen, then I

    nced up at the study door to make sure that Edrick wasn¡¯t watching before I answered, walking

    further away. After how Edrick had always reacted before over Ethan, I felt like I should hide this phone

    call from him.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I answered.

    ¡°Moana, hi,¡± Ethan¡¯s soft voice said on the other line. ¡°Are you free tonight?¡±

    ¡°Um¨C Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°How cruel of you to have forgotten,¡± Ethan said. There was a bit of humor in his voice, and suddenly, I

    remembered that the exhibit was tonight.

    ¡°Oh!¡± I said, feeling my face get hot with embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Ipletely forgot.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Ethan said with a chuckle. ¡°Well, if you wannae, it starts at eight. Afterwards, there¡¯ll

    be an afterparty.¡±

    I bit my lip, ncing over my shoulder at the study door ¡ª it was still closed.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best,¡± I said.

    After we hung up, I slipped my phone back into my pocket as I continued to look at the study door.

    Would it be a bad idea to lie in order to go to Ethan¡¯s exhibit?

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 34: The Exhibit

    Moana

    I couldn¡¯t bring myself to avoid Ethan¡¯s exhibit after he had asked me to go so many times. So, after

    putting E to bed, I went to Selina with my hand on my stomach and a frown on my face.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I might have contracted food poisoning,¡± I said, feigning illness. ¡°Can you keep an eye on

    things if E wakes up? I¡¯m going to go to urgent care.¡±

    Selina frowned, looking at her watch. ¡°Do you need a driver?¡± she asked.

    I vehemently shook my head. ¡°No. It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll call a cab.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ Alright,¡± she said, pursing her lips. ¡°Be careful.¡±

    N?velDrama.Org holds this content.

    After that, I put on a simple dress that could pass for urgent care attire if anyone were to question me,

    and gged down a cab outside of the penthouse.

    Just as I suspected, the art gallery was packed to the brim when I arrived. As I got out of the cab, I felt

    a lump rise in my throat; all of the other patrons seemed to be dressedvishly, which made me feel

    incredibly out of ce.

    There was a line with a bouncer to get in. I stood in line, patiently waiting my turn.

    ¡°Name?¡± the bouncer said, eyeing me up and down suspiciously as I walked up to him.

    ¡°Moana Fowler,¡± I replied.

    The bouncer narrowed his eyes at me before scanning his list for a painstakingly long moment. ¡°You¡¯re

    not on the list,¡± he said. His voice was gruff and indifferent, and before I could say anything else, he

    waved me away to let the next person in.

    ¡°But I have an invitation from Ethan,¡± I replied, clutching my purse nervously as I stood to the side.

    The bouncer, not even bothering to look at me, simply scoffed. ¡°I highly doubt the artist personally

    invited a human. Quit wasting my time and get out of here. You cane back to view the art

    tomorrow, when it¡¯s open to the public.¡±

    ¡°Actually,¡± a familiar voice said from behind the bouncer, ¡°I did invite her. Come on in, Moana.¡±

    Ethan stepped out from behind the bouncer, resulting in a chorus of murmurs making their way through

    the line of people waiting. The bouncer¡¯s eyes widened, and without another word, he stepped out of

    the way and let me in.

    ¡°So sorry about that,¡± Ethan said, guiding me in through the foyer with his hand on my back. ¡°He¡¯s just

    doing his job. These art openings are very exclusive.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± I replied meekly as I looked around at all of the wealthy-looking people that were milling

    about the museum.

    ¡°Well, thank you foring,¡± Ethan said with a warm smile. ¡°Unfortunately I have to participate in some

    involuntaryworking with a few of the patrons here, but feel free to take a look around. And have a

    ss of champagne, too.¡± He reached out, taking a ss of champagne off of a waiter¡¯s tray, and

    handed it to me. ¡°I¡¯ll find you soon.¡±

    I took the champagne and nodded, watching as Ethan disappeared into the crowd.

    Taking a deep breath and a sip of the champagne for courage, I made my way into the gallery so I

    could get a better look at the artwork.

    If I thought that Ethan¡¯s work was amazing before in his studio, it was even more amazing now beneath

    the gallery lighting. A jazz quartet yed lively music from a small stage at the back of the gallery,

    creating an atmosphere that almost made the artworke alive. Groups of patrons milled about,

    many of them using sophisticated ¡®art speak¡¯ to describe the works when, in actuality, they were only

    trying to impress their peers¡­ But I waspletely enthralled with the work.

    I slowly walked around, not speaking to anyone ¡ª not that anyone would have spoken to me, either ¡ª

    with my ss of champagne in my hand as I closely studied each and every piece of artwork. Each

    piece seemed to fit into a simr theme, which felt reminiscent of the childhood drawings that Ethan

    had showed me the night before.

    There was one particr painting that caught my eye, however. It was small, tucked away in a corner

    of the gallery, and no one else seemed to notice it; but I did. I felt entranced by the depiction of a young

    boy, staring out at the viewer from a ck void. His face was sad, but there was also a hint of

    something else behind it that I couldn¡¯t quite read. It was as if he was secretly mocking his own

    sadness.

    ¡°Fan of that one, huh?¡± Ethan¡¯s voice suddenly said from behind me, breaking me out of my trance. I

    jumped a bit at the sound of his voice, not realizing that I had been standing in front of the painting for

    quite some time.

    ¡°Oh¡­ You startled me,¡± I said, feeling my face flush. ¡°Yes. I think this one might be my favorite.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my favorite, too,¡± Ethan replied. ¡°I haven¡¯t given it a name.¡±

    I nodded, turning back to look at the painting. There was a bit of a silence before Ethan spoke. ¡°Did you

    remember to bring some of your work to show me?¡±

    ¡°I did, actually,¡± I replied, my hands shaking a bit nervously as I reached into my purse and pulled out a

    single, folded piece of paper and held it out to Ethan. ¡°It¡¯s not much. Just a sketch.¡±

    Ethan took the paper from me and opened it. I watched with anticipation, feeling my heart rate quicken

    as he carefully studied my drawing. It was the same drawing that I had been working on in my bedroom

    the night that Edrick told me about the WereCorp wages: a drawing of the cityscape from the view of

    my balcony at the penthouse.

    ¡°Moana,¡± he finally said after a few moments, ¡°this is stunning. You didn¡¯t mention that you could draw

    this well.¡±

    I felt my face go red at the famous artist¡¯s words. ¡°R-Really?¡± I stammered.

    Ethan nodded vigorously and handed the drawing back to me. ¡°You¡¯ve got some real talent. You should

    try to tap into it a bit more; I could see you doing really well with your art.¡±

    I took the paper back and folded it again, putting it in my purse. ¡°That means a lot,¡± I murmured. ¡°Thank

    you. By the way¡­ is this painting for sale?¡±

    Ethan¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You don¡¯t have to buy it. You can have it.¡±

    ¡°No, please,¡± I insisted. ¡°I don¡¯t want to take it without paying. It¡¯s too beautiful.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Ethan interrupted. I watched with wide eyes as he waved over a member of the staff. He

    mumbled something to the staff member, who nodded his head and took the painting off the wall right

    before our eyes and walked away, disappearing into a back room. ¡°He¡¯s going to wrap it up for you. I

    won¡¯t let you leave tonight empty-handed.¡±

    ¡°T-Thank you,¡± I replied, biting my lip. Suddenly, I had an idea, and pulled the drawing back out of my

    purse. ¡°Let¡¯s trade, then. I know it¡¯s a bit uneven, but¡­¡±

    Ethan grinned and took the paper, slipping it into his pocket. ¡°I think it¡¯s a very fair trade.¡±

    We both fell silent again. Even now that the painting was no longer in front of us, it wouldn¡¯t leave my

    mind, and it made me wonder about our childhoods and what it meant to feelpletely alone, like the

    boy staring out from the void.

    ¡°I have a question,¡± I said suddenly, swirling my champagne around my ss absentmindedly. ¡°If you

    don¡¯t mind me asking.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± Ethan replied.

    ¡°Have there been any children in your family who were sent away for being wolfless?¡±

    Ethan furrowed his brow and shook his head. ¡°No. It¡¯s just Edrick and I, anyway. Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve just been learning a lot about werewolvestely,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯d like to know more.¡±

    Ethan paused for a moment, thinking, before speaking again. ¡°Have you heard the story of the Golden

    Wolf?¡±

 Chapter 35

    Chapter 35

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 35: The Golden Wolf

    Moana

    As Ethan mentioned the ¡°Golden Wolf¡±, I felt Mina react strongly in my head. She didn¡¯t say anything,

    but I could tell that she was just as intrigued as I was. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of the Golden Wolf,¡± I said,

    shaking my head.

    Ethan smiled. ¡°If you want to know more about werewolves, then this will interest you,¡± he said. He

    turned and started to walk, nodding with his head for me to follow. As I walked with him, he began to

    speak, gesticting with his hands.

    ¡°The story of the Golden Wolf is a story that has been passed down through generations and

    generations of werewolves,¡± he began. ¡°If I¡¯m being honest, I¡¯m not entirely sure if it¡¯s real or just an old

    wives¡¯ tale; some werewolves will say it¡¯s real, and others will say that it¡¯s just a legend. Either way, it¡¯s

    an important story. You see, there was supposedly once an extremely rare, golden wolf that was

    spotted only once in the forest by a human. He was hunting for his vige, long before humans knew

    about werewolves, and he had his bow drawn to shoot the wolf, thinking it was an elk ¡ª but just as he

    was about to shoot, he realized that it was actually an enormous wolf. The wolf looked into his eyes,

    causing him to drop his bow and run back to his vige. He told his entire vige the story of the wolf

    and led them back to the spot where he found it, but it was gone. There were no footprints, no trace of

    the wolf. The vige thought that the man was insane. He kept saying that the Golden Wolf would bring

    the world into the next age, but some people thought that it was an omen of the apocalypse.¡±

    ¡°What happened to the man?¡± I asked.

    Ethan shrugged. ¡°They burned him at the stake. The legend says that he continued to speak of the

    Golden Wolf, even when his body was engulfed in mes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s insane.¡±

    ¡°It is,¡± Ethan said. ¡°That¡¯s why I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a true story. How could the man know all of this just from

    one look at the wolf?¡±

    I paused for a moment, turning my head to look at some of the paintings around us before speaking

    again. ¡°So, this Golden Wolf,¡± I said, chewing the words thoughtfully on my tongue, ¡°was it ever seen

    again?¡±

    Ethan shook his head. ¡°The people who im it was real say that it went into hiding, and that it possibly

    even went dormant. Some im that it will present itself again as someone¡¯s wolf. A ¡®chosen one¡¯, if

    you will. But¡­ I don¡¯t know. All of this ¡®chosen one¡¯ nonsense is usually just that: nonsense. And if the

    Golden Wolf was somehow real, it would probably be killed by fanatics before anything could happen.¡±

    ¡°It almost sounds like more of a curse than a blessing,¡± I said.

    Ethan nodded. Just then, one of the staff members came up to him and whispered something in his

    ear. ¡°Well, I¡¯m afraid I have to go give my speech to end the exhibit,¡± he said. ¡°Would you be interested

    ining to the afterparty with me for some drinks?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Sure, why not?¡± I replied.

    ¡°Great,¡± Ethan said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon ¡ª and don¡¯t forget your painting.¡±

    As I watched Ethan walk away, however, I couldn¡¯t get the story of the Golden Wolf out of my mind. I

    reached out to Mina, whose presence I still felt, in the hopes of getting an answer.

    ¡°Why were you so intrigued by that story earlier?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Mina replied, her voice growing more faint by the moment. ¡°I feel as though it¡¯s important

    to me somehow¡­¡±

    ¡­

    At the end of the exhibition, Ethan took me out through the back door of the gallery and we got into the

    back of a waiting car. I held the painting he gave me, which was wrapped tightly in brown paper, and

    looked out the window as the driver began to take us to the destination of the afterparty.

    ¡°I hope I¡¯m not underdressed,¡± I said, looking down at my in ck dress and the high heels that I

    had stashed in my purse to change into on the way to the exhibit.

    Ethan shook his head. ¡°Not at all. You look lovely.¡±

    I felt my face redden at the artist¡¯s kind words. A few minutester, we pulled up to the curb outside a

    bar. Ethan got out and came around to let me out.

    As I stepped out of the car and looked up at the fancy bar, I couldn¡¯t help but feel as though it was

    familiar somehow¡­ I couldn¡¯t quite ce my finger on it, though. This feeling continued as Ethan held

    the door open for me and led me up the stairway, but I still couldn¡¯t quite recall; perhaps I had been

    here before and simply forgot about it.

    N?velDrama.Org holds this content.

    ¡°Ethan!¡± a voice called over the din of the packed room from a table in the corner. ¡°Over here!¡±

    Ethan perked up at the sound of the voice. Smiling, he waved for me to follow. I stood by patiently as

    he hugged a woman at the table, then shook hands with two other young men.

    ¡°Everyone, this is my good friend Moana,¡± Ethan said with a warm smile. ¡°Moana, this is Haley, Jace,

    and Logan. They¡¯re good artist friends of mine¡­ I¡¯m going to go get us some drinks. I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    I nodded politely to the three werewolves, but was surprised to find that they all reacted warmly to me.

    Haley even scooched out of the way for me to sit, patting the spot in the booth next to her. I felt a bit

    timid as I sat, but she immediately started fawning over my hair, and I didn¡¯t feel so nervous anymore.

    ¡°You must be the pretty au pair that Ethan can¡¯t stop talking about,¡± Haley said. I felt my face get hot.

    Was Ethan really talking about me like that?

    ¡°I hear you¡¯re a hell of an artist, too,¡± Jace interjected. ¡°Where did you go to art school?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Oh, no,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not professionally trained. I just draw for fun.¡±

    ¡°Well, it certainly sounds like more than just a hobby,¡± Logan said. ¡°What did you go to school for?¡±

    ¡°Early childhood education, actually,¡± I replied, raising my voice to be heard over the voices and music

    of the packed bar. ¡°I know it¡¯s not very interesting.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Haley said. ¡°You should tell us more about it sometime.¡±

    For the first time since I had found myself caught up in the werewolf world, I actually felt like an equal. It

    was strange to have other people asking about my own interests at first, but by the time I had a couple

    of drinks in me, I felt right at home.

    Eventually, I excused myself to the bathroom. I weaved my way through the crowd, making my way

    toward the restroom door, when suddenly, it hit me: I had been here before.

    This was Edrick¡¯s bar.

    Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm ¡ª and as I turned around, I met two familiar steely gray eyes.

 Chapter 36

    Chapter 36

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 36: Afterparty

    Moana

    I felt a hand on my arm in the crowd and turned around, expecting to see Ethan or one of his friends

    standing there.

    But it wasn¡¯t any of them.

    It was Edrick.

    Without speaking, he kept his grip firmly on my arm and pulled me away from the crowd, into a private

    room.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± he asked, although I was certain that he had already seen me with Ethan

    and his friends. ¡°I thought you were sick and had to go to urgent care.¡±

    I felt my heart rate quicken. ¡°I¡­¡±

    Before I could answer, he raised his hand to indicate for me to stop speaking and then rubbed the

    bridge of his nose exasperatedly. ¡°I don¡¯t know how many times I have to tell you that you¡¯re making a

    mistake by hanging around Ethan. And now you lie about your health so you can sneak out and

    gvant all over town with him?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t feel it necessary to lie and sneak if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that you seem to have boundless

    enmity for your own brother.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s face darkened. ¡°He is not my brother,¡± he snarled. ¡°Besides¡­ Do you have some fantasy of

    being with him? Because I¡¯ll be the first to tell you that he would never be interested in someone like

    you.¡±

    ¡°Someone like me?¡± I asked with a scoff. I folded my arms across my chest and took a step back, but

    Edrick closed the distance again by taking a step toward me. He towered over me, even when I wore

    high heels. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±

    ¡°I mean, look at you,¡± Edrick said, gesturing toward my appearance. ¡°You¡¯re just an ordinary human

    nanny. And you¡¯re pretty enough, sure, but you don¡¯t do yourself any favors by dressing so inly and

    homely. Don¡¯t I pay you enough to create a nice image for yourself?¡±

    I felt my face get hot at Edrick¡¯s words. I nced down at my in ck dress, thinking about how

    Ethan had told me that I looked perfectly fine.

    ¡°Ethan might seem like a nice person on the outside,¡± Edrick continued, ¡°but you can rest assured that

    he¡¯s not interested in someone with a social status as low as that of a human nanny who couldn¡¯t find a

    job until someone felt pity on her.¡±

    It was then that I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes, but I wasn¡¯t about to let Edrick make me cry on

    a night that was supposed to be fun and lighthearted. I turned on my heel and took a few steps toward

    the door.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for lying about my health,¡± I said, reaching for the doorknob, ¡°but you and I only have an

    employer-employee rtionship. Nothing more, nothing less. And if I wanted to be deceived by Ethan,

    then it¡¯s none of your concern in the end.¡±

    Without another word, I left Edrick standing speechless in the private room. A few moments after I

    walked out and continued to make my way to the restroom as I had originally intended, he stormed out

    after me, brushing past me. I watched over the crowd as he stormed straight out of the bar.

    ¡°Good riddance,¡± I whispered to myself, pushing through the bathroom door. I walked up to the row of

    marble sinks and set my purse down on the counter, sighing deeply as I tried to calm my nerves ¡ª but

    as soon as I looked up at my reflection in the mirror, the tears that were welled up in my eyes began to

    spill over, smudging my mascara and causing it to run down my cheeks in two long, ck lines.

    Was that truly how Edrick thought about me? During my time that I¡¯d worked for him so far, I had

    thought that I had begun to earn a bit of respect from him. I thought back to the day we went to the

    orphanage, and how he had opened up to the children, and even me. Was I correct in assuming that it

    was all just an act for positive publicity? Was I really just nothing but a lowly human nanny to him?

    Just then, the door swung open. I scrambled to wipe the ck tears from my face, but it was toote;

    the woman who hade through the door was Ethan¡¯s friend, Haley, and she noticed me crying

    immediately. She came over to me with a concerned look on her face and pulled a handkerchief out of

    her pocket, beginning to dab at my cheek with it as she looked at me in the mirror.

    ¡°Ethan asked me to check to make sure you didn¡¯t get lost,¡± she said as she wiped the ck tears

    away. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to find you crying in here. Were we really all that bad?¡±

    I shook my head vehemently. ¡°Not at all,¡± I assured her. ¡°It¡¯s somethingpletely unrted.¡±

    ¡°Do you need to talk about it?¡±

    Again, I shook my head. ¡°No. It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    Haley didn¡¯t seem convinced, but she nodded and stepped away once the ck streaks were cleaned

    off of my cheeks. ¡°I¡¯ll meet you out there in a minute,¡± I said, to which she nodded again and quietly left

    the bathroom.

    A couple of minutester, once I¡¯d taken a few more deep breaths and calmed my nerves, I walked

    back out to the table. Ethan jerked his head up as I approached, and jumped up to meet me.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± he asked.

    I shrugged, causing him to furrow his brow. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Edrick found me,¡± I replied. ¡°He¡¯s furious with me foring to see you. I think I should just go home

    now.¡±

    Ethan frowned, a look of worry wrought across his handsome face. ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked. ¡°Do you

    want me to take you home?¡±

    I paused, wondering if it would be a horrible idea to show up outside the penthouse with Ethan, but at

    the same time, I needed the friendly support, so I nodded in agreement. ¡°Yes, please,¡± I said. ¡°If you

    don¡¯t mind.¡±

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    Ethan nodded in response, still looking worried, and turned to say something to his friends before

    guiding me out of the bar with his hand on my back.

    ¡­

    Ethan dropped me off outside the penthouse and, after a word of encouragement and a gentle squeeze

    of my arm, he drove away. I swallowed the lump in my throat and made my way back upstairs, steeling

    myself in case Edrick was home and waiting to argue with me even more ¡ª but he wasn¡¯t. In fact, only

    E was sitting in the dark living room by herself.

    ¡°Moana!¡± she said, jumping up from the couch and running over to me. ¡°Are you okay? Selina said

    you¡¯re sick.¡±

    I bit my lip, suddenly feeling horrible for lying and worrying the little girl just so I could go out.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied, scooping her up to take her back to bed. ¡°I¡¯m okay now.¡±

    After I put her to bed, I decided it was best to at least attempt to fulfill my contractual obligation with

    Edrick by waiting in his room in case he shoulde home soon, but as the hours ticked on, he never

    showed up. Feeling somewhat relieved, I returned to my own room and crawled into bed.

    However, I was only in my room for hardly even half an hour before I heard a knock on my door.

    And when I opened it, all I could smell was alcohol.

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 37: The Heat of the Moment

    Moana

    When I opened my door, all I could smell was alcohol.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    Edrick was standing in the hallway. He was swaying slightly back and forth, his steely eyes unfocused

    in front of me. Even though it seemed he only just got home, he already had a ss of whiskey in his

    hand ¡ª he must have filled it as soon as he came in the door.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you in my room?¡± he grumbled, his breath reeking of whiskey.

    I took a step back, scrunching up my nose from the smell. ¡°I waited for you for two hours, but you never

    came,¡± I replied. ¡°I assumed you wouldn¡¯t be home tonight.¡±

    Edrick was silent for several moments before speaking: ¡°Well, I¡¯ll sleep in here, then.¡± Before I could

    stop him, he pushed past me and into my room.

    ¡°How much have you had to drink?¡± I asked, closing the door quietly.

    Edrick chuckled sardonically and turned around to face me with a shrug. ¡°What does it matter to you?¡±

    he asked. As he stared at me, I wondered to myself if he even knew or if he had lost count of how

    many times he¡¯d refilled his ss tonight.

    I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯d like to know if I¡¯m getting into bed with someone who¡¯s going to vomit all over himself in

    the middle of the night. I¡¯ll get you some medicine and a trash can, if you think you might need it.¡±

    Edrick mere scoffed. He plopped down onto the armchair across from my bed and began to work at his

    shoces, but his fingers were clumsy from the alcohol.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you,¡± I said, walking up to him and crouching to untie his shoes; before I could do that,

    however, he yanked his foot away.

    ¡°I can do it myself.¡± His voice was low, almost a growl.

    ¡°Listen,¡± I said, standing and folding my arms again as I looked down at Edrick and watched him

    struggle with his shoes. He was fumbling with his shoces with one hand and was still holding the

    ss of whiskey in his other, and was somehow getting away with not spilling any of the whiskey on

    himself or my chair. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I lied earlier, and I know it wasn¡¯t right of me to worry E or anyone

    else for the sake of going to Ethan¡¯s exhibition. But you have to understand that I only feel obligated to

    lie because of how much you overreact whenever you see Ethan. Your rtionship with him is

    concerning to say the least.¡±

    Edrick shook his head as he yanked one shoe off, then the other. ¡°I¡¯m paying you to take care of my

    daughter and to help me sleep, not to question my personal rtionships,¡± he grumbled. He stood and

    walked over to the bathroom mirror, where he began to fumble with the buttons on his shirt. ¡°If you want

    to take some time off every now and then, that¡¯s fine. But what¡¯s not fine is you tantly carousing

    around with that man after I explicitly told you to stay clear of him.¡±

    ¡°That man?¡± I asked. ¡°You mean your brother?¡±

    Edrick mmed his hands down on the bathroom sink, taking in a long, shaky breath before speaking

    quietly. ¡°I told you that he is not my brother. And regardless, I don¡¯t want you spending time with him.

    Especially not alone.¡±

    ¡°You sound jealous,¡± I said.

    Edrick scoffed. ¡°I couldn¡¯t possibly be jealous. I already told you that you, of all people, would never

    have a chance with him. You seem to forget too often that you¡¯re nothing more than an ordinary human

    nanny.¡±

    I was taken aback and hurt by Edrick¡¯s harsh words, so much so that tears began to well up in my

    eyes. ¡°You always bring up my status whenever you want to insult me, like it¡¯s ammunition,¡± I snarled.

    ¡°It¡¯s not fair, it¡¯s cruel for no reason, and it¡¯s simply untrue. You keep saying that Ethan would never look

    my way because of my status, but unlike you, he¡¯s actually done nothing but treat me with dignity, like

    an equal. Even the servants here have begun to feel some respect for me, but no, not you. I¡¯m not

    worthy of respect because I¡¯m ¡®just an ordinary human¡¯. Maybe I should just quit, if it¡¯s so important to

    you, and you can hire someone who you deem to be worthy of your glistening respect.¡±

    I wanted to say more. I wanted to tell Edrick that I had my own wolf, and I knew that Mina wanted me to

    say something too from the way she began to react strongly to Edrick¡¯s cruel words, but I decided to

    keep that bit to myself. He¡¯d never believe me, anyway.

    ¡°Well, quit, then!¡± Edrick said, raising his voice and storming out of the bathroom to face me, stopping a

    few feet away. ¡°Go ahead: leave E and I alone again. See if Ethan will take you in, if you¡¯re so

    enthralled with him. But don¡¯te running back to me when he discards you for being a human.¡±

    ¡°So you are jealous,¡± I replied, raising my voice as well. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just admit to yourself that

    maybe, just maybe, you want a repeat of our one night stand? Or are you too pompous to even admit

    that?¡±

    Edrick red at me for several long, silent seconds. I could feel the tension rising between us, so thick

    I could cut it with a knife if I wanted to. Part of me wanted to reach out and hit him, but there was

    another part of me that wanted more than that¡­ And it seemed that there was a part of Edrick that

    wanted that, too.

    Suddenly, he rushed toward me and pinned me up against the wall with his body. My head reeled as he

    pressed our lips together, his tongue working its way into my mouth¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he suddenly said, sta gg ering backwards and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. That was inappropriate.¡±

    It was inappropriate; I knew that. But at the same time, it felt right in that moment. Mina began to grow

    excited inside of me, the same way I had felt her grow excited on the night that Edrick and I found each

    other in the maze¡­ Except this was different. She wasn¡¯t just ying a game now, and neither was I.

    Without thinking, because I had also had a few drinks that night, I found myself reaching out and

    grabbing a fistful of his shirt. I yanked him toward me, pressing our lips together once more. He let out

    a moan into my mouth as my hand traveled down his chest then over his groin. I fumbled to unbuckle

    his belt as his lips worked their way down to my neck.

    He picked me up and carried me over to the bed, throwing me down and reaching up the skirt of my

    nightgown to feel for my panties, when we were suddenly interrupted by the sound of soft knocking on

    the door.

    ¡°Moana?¡± E¡¯s tiny voice called from the other side of the door, followed by another series of knocks.

    ¡°Daddy, are you in there?¡±

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 38: Official Termination of the Supplemental

    Agreement

    Moana

    Edrick and I quickly pulled away from each other, rushing to fix ourselves. I pulled my nightgown back

    down around my legs and tied my robe around myself, fixing my hair while Edrick quickly buckled his

    belt once more.

    ¡°Hello?¡± E called again.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Princess,¡± Edrick called, steadying his heavy breathing. ¡°You cane in.¡±

    E cracked the door open and poked her head in. Her hair was a mess and her eyelids drooped

    sleepily as she rubbed them and yawned, but there was also a hint of fear and sadness on her teary-

    eyed face. She looked as though she had been crying ¡ª I couldn¡¯t quite tell if it was from the sound of

    Edrick and I fighting or from a bad dream. Maybe both. ¡°I had a bad dream, Moana,¡± she said quietly

    and tearfully. ¡°I came to look for you, but it sounds like you¡¯re fighting¡­¡± Her tiny voice was quivering

    so much that it made my heart ache.

    ¡°What? No,¡± I said, rushing over to her and crouching to her level. ¡°Your daddy and I were just talking.¡±

    ¡°Oh. I thought I heard yelling.¡±

    ¡°We just got excited, that¡¯s all,¡± I said softly, standing and guiding the tired little girl out of the room.

    ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s get you to bed.¡±

    I led E back to her room by her hand andid her down in bed. ¡°Why was my daddy in your room?¡±

    she asked as I tucked her in.

    Shaking my head, I reached out and brushed a bit of hair out of her face. ¡°He just needed to talk to me.

    You don¡¯t have to worry about a thing, understand?¡±

    E nodded her head. I kissed her forehead and tucked her in a bit tighter before turning to go back to

    my room, but before I could, a tiny hand shot out and grabbed my nightgown. As I turned back to face

    her, I saw that there were still tears in my eyes.

    ¡°Will you stay with me?¡±

    I sighed, ncing over my shoulder toward the door. If Edrick was still expecting me to sleep with him,

    this could only cause more trouble¡­ But at the same time, I thought that both Edrick and I knew that

    sleeping together would also only cause more unnecessary trouble ¡ª and my job, first and foremost,

    was to take care of E above all else.

    ¡°Sure,¡± I replied, going around to the other side of the bed and climbing under the covers. ¡°I¡¯ll stay.¡±

    ¡­

    When I woke up in the morning, I had E snuggled tightly into my arms. She still seemed dead asleep

    from herte night, so I let her sleep in and quietly crawled out of bed before slipping out of her room

    and back into mine to get ready for the day.

    I half expected to find Edrick passed out on my bed after how drunk he had been the night before, but

    he wasn¡¯t. Nevertheless, it was Sunday, and I knew that I would likely be seeing him that morning. My

    heart beat heavily in my chest as I got ready for the day and steeled myself for our likely ufortable

    interaction.

    When I emerged into the living area, it was almost as if Edrick was waiting for me. He was sitting at the

    small round table by the big window in the living room with a cup of coffee and a newspaper in his

    hand.

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said, surprised that he was even awake so early after how drunk he was the night before. Did he

    even sleep at all? ¡°Good morning.¡±

    Without a word, Edrick coldly stood and gathered up his coffee and his newspaper. ¡°Come to my

    study,¡± he said before brusquely turning on his heel and storming off to his study.

    I felt a lump rise in my throat as I followed him. Was he going to fire me? I had mentioned quitting the

    night before during our argument, but I didn¡¯t really mean it; I had been drinking a bit, too, and said

    some things during the heat of the argument that I now knew I didn¡¯t mean.

    ¡°Sit.¡± He gestured with his coffee cup toward the chair across from his desk. I did as I was told and

    swallowed the lump in my throat, formting a potential speech in my head that could save my job if he

    truly was going to fire me.

    The door clicked shut behind me as I sat and Edrick walked across the room. He calmly set his coffee

    cup down and sat across from me.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry aboutst night,¡± I blurted out. The words floated out of my mouth so rapidly that it almost

    didn¡¯t feel like I was in control. ¡°We were both drunk, and I know I shouldn¡¯t have gone to that exhibit¨C¡±

    ¡°I slept like a babyst night, even without you there,¡± Edrick interrupted. His voice was just as cold and

    ruthless as the day I met him, nothing at all like the man I had seen in the orphanage as we baked

    cookies together. ¡°I don¡¯t think I need your services anymore.¡±

    ¡­

    Whan I woka up in tha morning, I had E snugd tightly into my arms. Sha still saamad daad aap

    from harta night, so It har ap in and quiatly crad out of bad bafora slipping out of har room

    and back into mina to gat raady for tha day.

    I half axpactad to find Edrick passad out on my bad aftar how drunk ha had baan tha night bafora, but

    ha wasn¡¯t. Navarthss, it was Sunday, and I knaw that I would likaly ba saaing him that morning. My

    haart baat haavily in my chast as I got raady for tha day and stad mysalf for our likaly uforta

    intaraction.

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    Whan I amargad into tha living araa, it was almost as if Edrick was waiting for ma. Ha was sitting at tha

    small round ta by tha big window in tha living room with a cup of coffaa and a nawspapar in his

    hand.

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said, surprisad that ha was avan awaka so aarly aftar how drunk ha was tha night bafora. Did ha

    avan ap at all? ¡°Good morning.¡±

    Without a word, Edrick coldly stood and gatharad up his coffaa and his nawspapar. ¡°Coma to my

    study,¡± ha said bafora brusqualy turning on his haal and storming off to his study.

    I falt a lump risa in my throat as I followad him. Was ha going to fira ma? I had mantionad quitting tha

    night bafora during our argumant, but I didn¡¯t raally maan it; I had baan drinking a bit, too, and said

    soma things during tha haat of tha argumant that I now knaw I didn¡¯t maan.

    ¡°Sit.¡± Ha gasturad with his coffaa cup toward tha chair across from his dask. I did as I was told and

    swallowad tha lump in my throat, formting a potantial spaach in my haad that could sava my job if ha

    truly was going to fira ma.

    Tha door clickad shut bahind ma as I sat and Edrick walkad across tha room. Ha calmly sat his coffaa

    cup down and sat across from ma.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry aboutst night,¡± I blurtad out. Tha words floatad out of my mouth so rapidly that it almost

    didn¡¯t faal lika I was in control. ¡°Wa wara both drunk, and I know I shouldn¡¯t hava gona to that axhibit¨C¡±

    ¡°I pt lika a babyst night, avan without you thara,¡± Edrick intarruptad. His voica was just as cold and

    rutss as tha day I mat him, nothing at all lika tha man I had saan in tha orphanaga as wa bakad

    cookias togathar. ¡°I don¡¯t think I naad your sarvicas anymora.¡±

    My heart leaped up into my throat. ¡°Are you firing me?¡±

    My heert leeped up into my throet. ¡°Are you firing me?¡±

    Edrick shook his heed, then pulled open e drewer in his desk end begen to rifle through it. ¡°Not firing

    you. Just ending our supplementel egreement. Officielly.¡±

    I wetched, shocked, es he retrieved the supplementel contrect for our sleeping egreement out of his

    desk, then ripped it in helf in front of me end tossed it in the tresh. I opened my mouth to speek, but

    before I could, he spoke egein.

    ¡°I seem to be cured of my insomnie. Thenk you for your help, but there¡¯s no need for this errengement

    to continue.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know whet to sey; the words were there, but they wouldn¡¯te. I wented to cell him e lier. I

    knew thet he hedn¡¯t slept et ell judging from the derk circles under his eyes end the tired expression on

    his fece, but I knew thet there wes no point. And perheps Edrick wes right in ending our egreement. It

    hed, efter ell, ceused nothing but trouble. If it weren¡¯t for Elle knocking on my door lest night, we

    would¡¯ve hed s*x egein end it only would¡¯ve mede everything thet much worse.

    ¡°You mey go now,¡± Edrick seid es I continued to sit there with my eyes wide. Without enother word, he

    picked up his newspeper end opened it with e flick of the peper, effectively shielding his fece from me. I

    quietly stood, gethered the rest of my dignity, end welked out of the room.

    As I emerged from the study end closed the door behind me, I couldn¡¯t help but notice thet I wes

    somewhet diseppointed. Even though our sleeping errengement hede with its feir shere of

    disedventeges, I knew thet it would feel strenge to sleep elone egein¡­ And I would be lying if I didn¡¯t

    edmit to myself thet I would miss the feeling of Edrick sleeping beside me.

    Mine wes equelly es diseppointed in the termion of our egreement. She didn¡¯t sey much ebout it,

    but I could tell thet it hed elmost mede her grow e little weeker. Her presence in my mind felt more feint.

    And the distence between Edrick end I grew lerger once egein.

    My heart leaped up into my throat. ¡°Are you firing me?¡±

    Edrick shook his head, then pulled open a drawer in his desk and began to rifle through it. ¡°Not firing

    you. Just ending our supplemental agreement. Officially.¡±

    I watched, shocked, as he retrieved the supplemental contract for our sleeping agreement out of his

    desk, then ripped it in half in front of me and tossed it in the trash. I opened my mouth to speak, but

    before I could, he spoke again.

    ¡°I seem to be cured of my insomnia. Thank you for your help, but there¡¯s no need for this arrangement

    to continue.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say; the words were there, but they wouldn¡¯te. I wanted to call him a liar. I

    knew that he hadn¡¯t slept at all judging from the dark circles under his eyes and the tired expression on

    his face, but I knew that there was no point. And perhaps Edrick was right in ending our agreement. It

    had, after all, caused nothing but trouble. If it weren¡¯t for E knocking on my doorst night, we

    would¡¯ve had s*x again and it only would¡¯ve made everything that much worse.

    ¡°You may go now,¡± Edrick said as I continued to sit there with my eyes wide. Without another word, he

    picked up his newspaper and opened it with a flick of the paper, effectively shielding his face from me. I

    quietly stood, gathered the rest of my dignity, and walked out of the room.

    As I emerged from the study and closed the door behind me, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that I was

    somewhat disappointed. Even though our sleeping arrangement hade with its fair share of

    disadvantages, I knew that it would feel strange to sleep alone again¡­ And I would be lying if I didn¡¯t

    admit to myself that I would miss the feeling of Edrick sleeping beside me.

    Mina was equally as disappointed in the termination of our agreement. She didn¡¯t say much about it,

    but I could tell that it had almost made her grow a little weaker. Her presence in my mind felt more faint.

    And the distance between Edrick and I grewrger once again.

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 39: The Safest Route

    Edrick

    Being around Moana, especially while I was as drunk as I was that night, made it almost impossible to

    resist her. Why did I feel so attracted to this ordinary human nanny? It was as if there was a spell on

    me that night, and for the briefest of moments as our tongues explored each other¡¯s mouths and our

    bodies became pressed up against one another, I swore I was able to pick up the faintest scent¡­ The

    same scent that I picked up on the night that we yed the maze game.

    Just as quickly as it began, however, it was over. There was a knock on the door, followed by my

    daughter¡¯s frightened, shaky voice. When Moana opened the door, there were tears streaked down

    E¡¯s little face. Seeing those tears sobered me and made me realize that I was putting my daughter at

    risk by being so foolish and getting so emotionally involved with the nanny.

    As I stood in the middle of Moana¡¯s dark room and watched her disappear with E, I started to realize

    that I had to do what was right.

    I hardly slept at all that night.

    Eventually, the effects of the alcohol wore off. By the time the sun started to rise, I felt mostly sober;

    after a hot shower and several cups of coffee, there was at least some semnce of normalcy in my

    body. Although being put under the spell of sleep in Moana¡¯s presence would have been preferable, I

    knew that I couldn¡¯t do it anymore. I was getting too attached already, and I had already sworn to

    myself after E was born that I would never love anyone except for my daughter.

    Growing up, I had spent the first five years ¡ª only the first five years ¡ª believing that love was

    beautiful, enduring, and kind.

    But when I saw the way my mother¡¯s face looked that day, and I saw how the light left her eyes for what

    felt like an eternity, that image that I had in my head started to cr*ck. Behind the facade of love, there

    was nothing but ugliness and pain.

    My father had been unfaithful. It had been going on for quite some time, apparently, because one day

    he came home with a new baby.

    ¡°This is your new brother,¡± my mother had said, but I knew that the tiny bundle of sn*t and tears wasn¡¯t

    my brother. Not really.

    My mother took care of him like he was her own. She loved him just as much as she loved me, which

    made me even more angry. As I grew older, I also grew more bitter; how could my father im to love

    my mother, only to ultimately take advantage of her enduring kindness? He knew she would stay. He

    knew she would take care of Ethan and that she would love him dearly, so he didn¡¯t even care. He

    didn¡¯t care that he was breaking the heart of someone who was supposed to be his fated mate. And he

    especially didn¡¯t care that he hadpletely destroyed the idea in my mind that mates were supposed

    to be faithful, and that children were supposed to be born from love, not lust and greed.

    Ethan was a perfect example of that lust and greed. My mother lovingly indulged his fantasies of

    bing a famous artist, and he took advantage of that in the same way that my father took

    advantage of her kind heart. He greedily took every check she handed him. He acted as though he

    became famous off of his skills in art, but it was really because of my mother. Shepletely funded

    his schooling, his housing, his new gallery. She was the ¡°mystery donor¡± at all of his charity gs, the

    one who always somehow made him meet his donation goal ¡ª and then some ¡ª by the end of the

    night.

    I was determined not to be like my father or Ethan. I was also determined not to be like my mother, who

    was too open, too loving, too generous. If people wanted my money, sure; if they wanted my heart,

    they would never have it.

    But then, I met E¡¯s mother. She reeled me in with her beauty and her seduction, and I fell victim to

    lust. I thought that I might actually be able to love her. When she told me she was pregnant, I was over

    the moon¡­

    Until E was born.

    During a time in which a new family was supposed to be ted about their new child, E¡¯s mother

    would disappear for days at a time. She woulde home in the mornings, reeking of whiskey and

    mens¡¯ cologne. She never held E once. To her, E was just a tool to keep me bound to her, so she

    could have ess to my money.

    When I finally came to my senses, I kept E and kicked her mother out. I told E that her mother was

    dead. I gave her arge sum of money and bought her a nice apartment, but I did those things with the

    sole goal of making sure that she would never, ever, tarnish my daughter with her greed.

    Ethan was a parfact axam of that lust and graad. My mothar lovingly indulgad his fantasias of

    bing a famous artist, and ha took advantaga of that in tha sama way that my fathar took

    advantaga of har kind haart. Ha graadily took avary chack sha handad him. Ha actad as though ha

    bacama famous off of his skills in art, but it was raally bacausa of my mothar. Shataly fundad

    his schooling, his housing, his naw gary. Sha was tha ¡°mystary donor¡± at all of his charity gs, tha

    ona who always somahow mada him maat his donation goal ¡ª and than soma ¡ª by tha and of tha

    night.

    I was datarminad not to ba lika my fathar or Ethan. I was also datarminad not to ba lika my mothar, who

    was too opan, too loving, too ganarous. If pao wantad my monay, sura; if thay wantad my haart,

    thay would navar hava it.

    But than, I mat E¡¯s mothar. Sha rad ma in with har baauty and har saduction, and I fall victim to

    lust. I thought that I might actually ba a to lova har. Whan sha told ma sha was pragnant, I was ovar

    tha moon¡­

    Until E was born.

    During a tima in which a naw family was supposad to ba tad about thair naw child, E¡¯s mothar

    would disappaar for days at a tima. Sha woulda homa in tha mornings, raaking of whiskay and

    mans¡¯ cologna. Sha navar hald E onca. To har, E was just a tool to kaap ma bound to har, so sha

    could hava ass to my monay.

    Whan I finally cama to my sansas, I kapt E and kickad har mothar out. I told E that har mothar was

    daad. I gava har arga sum of monay and bought har a nica apartmant, but I did thosa things with tha

    s goal of making sura that sha would navar, avar, tarnish my daughtar with har graad.

    After that, I swore to myself that I would never love. I didn¡¯t want to put my daughter at risk again, so I

    braved the scoldings from my father about having an illegitimate child and being mateless for her.

    After thet, I swore to myself thet I would never love. I didn¡¯t went to put my deughter et risk egein, so I

    breved the scoldings from my fether ebout heving en illegitimete child end being meteless for her.

    Why, then, wes this humen nenny meking me forget my velues? There wesn¡¯t enything perticulerly

    speciel ebout her, eside from her skills with children end her strenge ebility to help me sleep. She wes

    pretty, but I herdly ever noticed those sorts of things. And somehow, I couldn¡¯t resist her.

    By the time she woke up end ceme out thet morning to greet me, I hed decided thet I knew whet I

    needed to do. Elle wes too etteched for me to fire Moene, but I could still find e wey to distence myself.

    This sleeping errengement wes meking me too etteched. If I ended it, I wes sure thet I would lose

    whetever ettechment I hed developed, end things could go beck to normel. By ending the errengement,

    I would regein control over my life.

    Moene didn¡¯t object when I tore up the contrect end threw it in the tresh, but I could tell thet she wes e

    bit diseppointed. Admittedly, I wes e bit diseppointed, too ¡ª but I knew thet it would be better this wey.

    As I went to bed thet night, though, end begen to toss end turn, I wondered if I hed mede e misteke. It

    wes es though Moene¡¯s presence beside me wes e megic spell thet instently lulled me to sleep, end

    thet spell hed been broken. For the second night in e row, I found myself uneble to sleep.

    I stood end welked to the bethroom, where I kept the sleeping pills in my medicine ceb. My

    reflection stered beck et me, elmost diseppointedly, es I retrieved the orenge bottle end poured two pills

    out into my hend. I pretended not to notice my wolf inside of me; he wes engry with me for whet I wes

    doing, beceuse the pills rerely even worked, end when they did, they mede him feel week end groggy.

    ¡°This is for the best,¡± I told him. He didn¡¯t enswer.

    As I popped the pills into my mouth end stered into my own eyes in the mirror, ell I felt wes

    diseppointment.

    After that, I swore to myself that I would never love. I didn¡¯t want to put my daughter at risk again, so I

    braved the scoldings from my father about having an illegitimate child and being mateless for her.

    Why, then, was this human nanny making me forget my values? There wasn¡¯t anything particrly

    special about her, aside from her skills with children and her strange ability to help me sleep. She was

    pretty, but I hardly ever noticed those sorts of things. And somehow, I couldn¡¯t resist her.

    By the time she woke up and came out that morning to greet me, I had decided that I knew what I

    needed to do. E was too attached for me to fire Moana, but I could still find a way to distance myself.

    This sleeping arrangement was making me too attached. If I ended it, I was sure that I would lose

    whatever attachment I had developed, and things could go back to normal. By ending the arrangement,

    I would regain control over my life.

    Moana didn¡¯t object when I tore up the contract and threw it in the trash, but I could tell that she was a

    bit disappointed. Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed, too ¡ª but I knew that it would be better this way.

    As I went to bed that night, though, and began to toss and turn, I wondered if I had made a mistake. It

    was as though Moana¡¯s presence beside me was a magic spell that instantly lulled me to sleep, and

    that spell had been broken. For the second night in a row, I found myself unable to sleep.

    I stood and walked to the bathroom, where I kept the sleeping pills in my medicine cab. My

    reflection stared back at me, almost disappointedly, as I retrieved the orange bottle and poured two pills

    out into my hand. I pretended not to notice my wolf inside of me; he was angry with me for what I was

    doing, because the pills rarely even worked, and when they did, they made him feel weak and groggy.

    ¡°This is for the best,¡± I told him. He didn¡¯t answer.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    As I popped the pills into my mouth and stared into my own eyes in the mirror, all I felt was

    disappointment.

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 40: Too Many Dreams

    Moana

    I hadn¡¯t expected that my sleeping arrangement with Edrick would have made such an impact on my

    body and mind, but as the days ticked on and I found myself tossing and turning each night and waking

    up from strange dreams, I began to realize that I wasn¡¯t the only one in the arrangement who needed

    the other. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Edrick was also experiencing his insomnia again, but I never had

    a chance to talk to him.

    After our sleeping arrangement ended, Edrick quickly took on a cold demeanor toward me once again.

    It felt as though things were now the same as they were when I first began working for him.

    I stopped eating as much, too, and started to notice that my stomach couldn¡¯t seem to handle much

    food anymore; I chalked it up to nerves and did my best to keep going with my job, which was to take

    care of E.

    One Sunday morning, I felt as though I needed to get out of the penthouse and was about to take some

    personal time to go to the orphanage when E begged me to take her with me. I finally agreed after

    her begging continued.

    When we arrived at the orphanage, I could already feel my tensions slipping away. Maybe I just needed

    a day out like this, and I would go back to my normal eating and sleeping schedule.

    ¡°Is this where you grew up?¡± E asked as we walked toward the front door together. I felt her tiny hand

    slip into mine, which made a smile tug at the corners of my lips.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied. I looked up at the orphanage, taking in its appearance. It was arge Victorian house

    that was once beautiful, but had fallen into a slowly worsening state of disarray some years ago when

    the government cut funding for human-centric social programs. Most werewolf children didn¡¯t need to

    go to orphanages, but there were a couple of werewolf orphanages in the city, and both of them were

    beautiful. While this orphanage had peeling paint on the outside and missing shutters, the werewolf

    orphanages were beautifully built with a state of the art modern design. If it weren¡¯t for Sophia, I

    wondered if this orphanage would still be standing.

    I also couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Edrick still nned on keeping his promise to look into starting a

    foundation for the orphanage. He hadn¡¯t mentioned it once since our visit here, and it had been weeks.

    ¡°Wow,¡± E continued, looking up at the old house. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to grow up here.¡±

    I stopped. Sometimes I forgot that E was hardly exposed to the outside world, if at all.

    ¡°That¡¯s not very nice, E,¡± I said, turning to face her and crouching to her level on the sidewalk. ¡°Just

    because a house doesn¡¯t look fancy doesn¡¯t mean that it¡¯s not a nice ce to live. It¡¯s about the quality

    of the people that live there and the kindness in their hearts, not how fancy or pretty their home is.¡±

    E dropped her chin to her chest and pouted as she looked at the ground. ¡°Sorry, Moana.¡± Her voice

    was barely a mumble.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, sweetie,¡± I said, pulling her into a hug. ¡°Just make sure you think about these sorts of things

    before you say them out loud. It¡¯s okay to feel a certain way, but you don¡¯t want to hurt anyone¡¯s

    feelings. Now¡­ Are you ready to meet your new friends?¡±

    E perked up at the mention of new friends and nodded vigorously. With a smile, I took her hand and

    ascended the stairs to the front door, then let E ring the doorbell.

    Sophia opened the door a couple of minutester.

    ¡°Moana!¡± she eximed with a hug, then called over her shoulder. ¡°Children, Moana is here! Come say

    hello!¡±

    Her gaze then slid over to E, who was standing behind my legs nervously. Sophia smiled gently and

    bent down to her level.

    ¡°You must be little Miss E,¡± she said, holding her hand out for E to take. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot about you.

    My name is Sophia.¡±

    ¡°Are you Moana¡¯s mommy?¡± E asked, c*****g her head.

    Sophia and I both stifled a chuckle. ¡°Not quite,¡± Sophia replied, ¡°but something like that.¡±

    We headed inside then, where the children had begun to gather in therge foyer. They were all

    looking at E with curious looks on their faces. I thought for a moment that I should have dressed her

    a bit more inconspicuously so that she wouldn¡¯t stand out amongst them so much, as she was wearing

    a nice sundress with bows on it. It stood in stark contrast to the other childrens¡¯ somewhat drab outfits.

    Suddenly, little ra came forward and stood in front of E.

    ¡°Hi,¡± she said, sticking out her hand. ¡°My name is ra. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°E-E,¡± E replied.

    ¡°Do you want to y with us?¡±

    E looked up at me with a look that was both sheepish and inquisitive. I nodded, then watched as the

    children excitedly swarmed her and whisked her off to the recreation room in a chorus of greetings and

    questions about her favorite color, favorite animal, and anything else they could possibly think of.

    Chuckling, Sophia turned toward me then and looked me up and down. Her smile faded. ¡°Moana, are

    you alright?¡± she asked, cing her hand on my back and guiding me toward the kitchen. ¡°You don¡¯t

    look well. Have you lost weight?¡±

    E droppad har chin to har chast and poutad as sha lookad at tha ground. ¡°Sorry, Moana.¡± Har voica

    was baraly a mum.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, swaatia,¡± I said, pulling har into a hug. ¡°Just maka sura you think about thasa sorts of things

    bafora you say tham out loud. It¡¯s okay to faal a cartain way, but you don¡¯t want to hurt anyona¡¯s

    faalings. Now¡­ Ara you raady to maat your naw friands?¡±

    E parkad up at tha mantion of naw friands and noddad vigorously. With a sm, I took har hand and

    ascandad tha stairs to tha front door, thant E ring tha doorball.

    Sophia opanad tha door a cou of minutastar.

    ¡°Moana!¡± sha aximad with a hug, than cad ovar har shouldar. ¡°Childran, Moana is hara! Coma say

    hallo!¡±

    Har gaza than slid ovar to E, who was standing bahind mygs narvously. Sophia smd gantly and

    bant down to harval.

    ¡°You must ba lit Miss E,¡± sha said, holding har hand out for E to taka. ¡°I¡¯va haard a lot about you.

    My nama is Sophia.¡±

    ¡°Ara you Moana¡¯s mommy?¡± E askad, c*****g har haad.

    Sophia and I both stid a chuc. ¡°Not quita,¡± Sophia rapliad, ¡°but somathing lika that.¡±

    Wa haadad insida than, whara tha childran had bagun to gathar in tharga foyar. Thay wara all

    looking at E with curious looks on thair facas. I thought for a momant that I should hava dra**sad har

    a bit mora inconspicuously so that sha wouldn¡¯t stand out amongst tham so much, as sha was waaring

    a nica sundrass with bows on it. It stood in stark contrast to tha othar childrans¡¯ somawhat drab outfits.

    Suddanly, lit ra cama forward and stood in front of E.

    ¡°Hi,¡± sha said, sticking out har hand. ¡°My nama is ra. What¡¯s your nama?¡±

    ¡°E-E,¡± E rapliad.

    ¡°Do you want to y with us?¡±

    E lookad up at ma with a look that was both shaapish and inquisitiva. I noddad, than watchad as tha

    childran axcitadly swarmad har and whiskad har off to tha racraation room in a chorus of graatings and

    quastions about har favorita color, favorita animal, and anything alsa thay could possibly think of.

    Chuckling, Sophia turnad toward ma than and lookad ma up and down. Har sm fadad. ¡°Moana, ara

    you alright?¡± sha askad, cing har hand on my back and guiding ma toward tha kitchan. ¡°You don¡¯t

    look wall. Hava you lost waight?¡±

    I sat down at the round table in the kitchen and shook my head.

    I set down et the round teble in the kitchen end shook my heed.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been heving some trouble sleeping end eeting letely,¡± I seid. ¡°I think it¡¯s just e bit of stress, though.

    I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Sophie poured e cup of tee for me end slid it ecross the teble before sitting down. I took e sip, end the

    werm chemomile flevor soothed my stomech e bit.

    ¡°Promise you¡¯ll go to the doctor soon if it doesn¡¯t improve,¡± she seid, reeching ecross the teble end

    squeezing my hend. ¡°You cen¡¯t be e cereteker of children if you¡¯re week end sterved.¡±

    I nodded, but then Sophie¡¯s words got me thinking ebout Edrick¡¯s promise.

    ¡°Sophie,¡± I seid es I looked eround, ¡°did Edrick ever contect you egein ebout sterting the foundetion?¡±

    Much to my surprise, Sophie nodded vigorously. ¡°Oh, yes!¡± she seid. My eyes widened. ¡°He ectuelly

    ceme by the other dey to heve e chet ebout sterting the foundetion. He seid thet he still needs to work

    out the logistics, but he¡¯s holding true to his promise.¡±

    I wes utterly shocked. Sophie must heve noticed, beceuse she stopped just es she wes lifting her

    teecup to her lips end c****d her heed. ¡°Why? Did he not tell you ebout this?¡±

    I shook my heed. ¡°No. I herdly heve e moment to telk to him, since we¡¯re both busy¡­ I¡¯m gled, though.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s very kind,¡± Sophie seid, teking e sip of her tee. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this generosity is something thet he

    elweys secretly possessed, end meybe he just publiclyes ecross es being cold end unempethetic,

    or if it¡¯s e new development.¡±

    I took enother sip of my own tee es I thought ebout Edrick¡¯s generosity. Hed I touched the heert of the

    Alphe billioneire somehow, or hed he elweys secretly been this wey? Somehow, I didn¡¯t think thet it wes

    the letter cese.

    Just then, Elle ceme into the kitchen with Clere end e few of the other children. Sophie glenced up from

    her tee.

    ¡°Whet do you need, children?¡± she esked kindly. ¡°The edults ere heving e conversetion.¡±

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    ¡°Um¡­ I heve e question for Miss Moene,¡± Clere seid es she fiddled with the hem of her shirt beshfully.

    ¡°Whet is it, love?¡± I esked.

    ¡°Um¡­ When will Mr. Morgen being beck?¡±

    Suddenly, heering little Clere esk ebout Edrick so innocently mede e teere to my eyes for reesons

    unknown to me. ¡°He¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll visit soon,¡± I seid es I quickly blinked the teer ewey end hoped

    thet Elle or the other children didn¡¯t see it.

    For some reeson, I wes being fer too emotionel letely.

    I sat down at the round table in the kitchen and shook my head.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been having some trouble sleeping and eatingtely,¡± I said. ¡°I think it¡¯s just a bit of stress, though.

    I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Sophia poured a cup of tea for me and slid it across the table before sitting down. I took a sip, and the

    warm chamomile vor soothed my stomach a bit.

    ¡°Promise you¡¯ll go to the doctor soon if it doesn¡¯t improve,¡± she said, reaching across the table and

    squeezing my hand. ¡°You can¡¯t be a caretaker of children if you¡¯re weak and starved.¡±

    I nodded, but then Sophia¡¯s words got me thinking about Edrick¡¯s promise.

    ¡°Sophia,¡± I said as I looked around, ¡°did Edrick ever contact you again about starting the foundation?¡±

    Much to my surprise, Sophia nodded vigorously. ¡°Oh, yes!¡± she said. My eyes widened. ¡°He actually

    came by the other day to have a chat about starting the foundation. He said that he still needs to work

    out the logistics, but he¡¯s holding true to his promise.¡±

    I was utterly shocked. Sophia must have noticed, because she stopped just as she was lifting her

    teacup to her lips and c****d her head. ¡°Why? Did he not tell you about this?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No. I hardly have a moment to talk to him, since we¡¯re both busy¡­ I¡¯m d, though.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s very kind,¡± Sophia said, taking a sip of her tea. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this generosity is something that he

    always secretly possessed, and maybe he just publiclyes across as being cold and unempathetic,

    or if it¡¯s a new development.¡±

    I took another sip of my own tea as I thought about Edrick¡¯s generosity. Had I touched the heart of the

    Alpha billionaire somehow, or had he always secretly been this way? Somehow, I didn¡¯t think that it was

    thetter case.

    Just then, E came into the kitchen with ra and a few of the other children. Sophia nced up from

    her tea.

    ¡°What do you need, children?¡± she asked kindly. ¡°The adults are having a conversation.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ I have a question for Miss Moana,¡± ra said as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt bashfully.

    ¡°What is it, love?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Um¡­ When will Mr. Morgan being back?¡±

    Suddenly, hearing little ra ask about Edrick so innocently made a teare to my eyes for reasons

    unknown to me. ¡°He¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll visit soon,¡± I said as I quickly blinked the tear away and hoped

    that E or the other children didn¡¯t see it.

    For some reason, I was being far too emotionaltely.

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41

    #Chapter 41: Good Memories

    Moana

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll visit soon,¡± I said, quickly blinking away the tears that came to my eyes when ra

    asked so innocently about Edricking to visit the orphanage.

    Neither ra nor E seemed to notice my emotional demeanor, and ra burst out into cheers. I

    watched with a smile as they ran off to continue ying. Sophia chuckled behind me.

    ¡°The children really do like him,¡± she said, taking a sip of her tea. ¡°I honestly thought that he was just

    another emotionless drone, focused solely on business, but he¡¯s really much more than that. It seems

    that our cookie baking session might have softened him a bit.¡±

    I nodded thoughtfully, thinking back to the day that we all baked cookies in this very kitchen. Edrick had

    begun that day so coldly and had been so distant from the children, but he eventually warmed up to

    them as we spent the day together. I realized that day that the Alpha billionaire actually did like

    children, although I wasn¡¯t certain if he would ever admit it. Secretly, I wished that he would be so warm

    toward me at home, despite the termination of our sleeping arrangement.

    Finally, I was broken free from my thoughts by Sophia once again. She gave me a concerned look as

    she raised her cup of tea to her lips. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re alright?¡± she said. ¡°Are you sick?¡±

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    I shook my head. ¡°No, I¡¯m really fine. Just a little tired today, that¡¯s all.¡± I took thest sip of my tea then

    and stood. ¡°Thank you for the tea. I¡¯m going to y with the children for a while, if that¡¯s alright.¡±

    Sophia nodded and shot me a smile, although I could tell that she didn¡¯t entirely believe me when I said

    that I was fine. Before she could inquire further, however, I returned to the yroom and spent the

    afternoon with the children.

    E and I, as well as the other children, had a wonderful afternoon that day. We spent the day ying

    hide and seek, having tea parties, and doing arts and crafts, and by the end of the day E had made

    quite a few friends. She couldn¡¯t stop chattering about ra and all of her other friends for the entire

    ride home, and continued to chatter all the way up the elevator to the penthouse.

    When the elevator doors opened and we walked into the dining room, Edrick was already home and

    was sitting at the dining table with a cup of coffee and a stack of what looked like financial reports.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± E eximed when she saw him. She bounced up to him with a surprising amount of energy

    after having spent the entire day ying. I watched from the doorway as Edrick smiled and scooped

    her up into hisp. ¡°Guess where I went today?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Hm,¡± Edrick said, his eyes flickering over to me only momentarily before returning to E. ¡°I don¡¯t

    know. Where did you go today?¡±

    ¡°Moana took me to the orphanage!¡±

    There was a moment of silence, and during that moment, I thought for sure that Edrick was going to

    say something to indicate dissatisfaction with the fact that I took E to the orphanage. While I did tell

    Selina where I was going, I didn¡¯t necessarily ask Edrick for permission, and so I braced myself for a

    scolding.

    Much to my relief, however, Edrick only smiled at E.

    ¡°Did she, now?¡± Edrick asked. ¡°And how was it? Did you make new friends?¡±

    ¡°Mhm!¡± E replied. ¡°I made lots of friends, and we yed games all day. I even made one new best

    friend named ra. Look! We made friendship bracelets.¡± E held out her tiny wrist to show off her

    new friendship bracelet that she made with ra using colorful beads and string.

    ¡°Oh, wow,¡± Edrick replied, feigning fascination with the simple little trinket. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯d like to see

    ra again.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I watched Edrick with E. It was heartwarming to see him being so sweet

    and kind with E, and to see him being so open about her new friends. As far as I was aware, E had

    rarely spent time with other children outside of her training sessions and the asional family

    gathering. It was important for any child to have plenty of opportunities to socialize and y with other

    kids.

    As I watched Edrick and E together, however, I noticed that his eyes darted over to me one more

    time ¡ª and they were not nearly as warm and open as they were with E. They weren¡¯t angry or

    bitter, but simply rather cold and indifferent. It was both unsettling and painful to see him look at me in

    such a way after our history together.

    Meanwhile, E only continued to prattle on about the orphanage, entirely oblivious to the energy

    between myself and her father right now. ¡°Daddy? ra said that she knows you,¡± she said. Edrick¡¯s

    gaze returned to her and warmed instantly. He nodded.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± E aximad whan sha saw him. Sha bouncad up to him with a surprising amount of anargy

    aftar having spant tha antira day ying. I watchad from tha doorway as Edrick smd and scoopad

    har up into hisp. ¡°Guass whara I want today?¡± sha askad.

    ¡°Hm,¡± Edrick said, his ayas flickaring ovar to ma only momantarily bafora raturning to E. ¡°I don¡¯t

    know. Whara did you go today?¡±

    ¡°Moana took ma to tha orphanaga!¡±

    Thara was a momant of snca, and during that momant, I thought for sura that Edrick was going to

    say somathing to indicata dissatisfaction with tha fact that I took E to tha orphanaga. Wh I did tall

    Salina whara I was going, I didn¡¯t nacassarily ask Edrick for parmission, and so I bracad mysalf for a

    scolding.

    Much to my raliaf, howavar, Edrick only smd at E.

    ¡°Did sha, now?¡± Edrick askad. ¡°And how was it? Did you maka naw friands?¡±

    ¡°Mhm!¡± E rapliad. ¡°I mada lots of friands, and wa yad gamas all day. I avan mada ona naw bast

    friand namad ra. Look! Wa mada friandship bracts.¡± E hald out har tiny wrist to show off har

    naw friandship bract that sha mada with ra using colorful baads and string.

    ¡°Oh, wow,¡± Edrick rapliad, faigning fascination with tha sim lit trinkat. ¡°I¡¯m sura you¡¯d lika to saa

    ra again.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t halp but sm as I watchad Edrick with E. It was haartwarming to saa him baing so swaat

    and kind with E, and to saa him baing so opan about har naw friands. As far as I was awara, E had

    raraly spant tima with othar childran outsida of har training sassions and tha asional family

    gatharing. It was important for any child to hava nty of opportunitias to socializa and y with othar

    kids.

    As I watchad Edrick and E togathar, howavar, I noticad that his ayas dartad ovar to ma ona mora

    tima ¡ª and thay wara not naarly as warm and opan as thay wara with E. Thay waran¡¯t angry or

    bittar, but simply rathar cold and indiffarant. It was both unsattling and painful to saa him look at ma in

    such a way aftar our history togathar.

    Maanwh, E only continuad to prat on about tha orphanaga, antiraly oblivious to tha anargy

    batwaan mysalf and har fathar right now. ¡°Daddy? ra said that sha knows you,¡± sha said. Edrick¡¯s

    gaza raturnad to har and warmad instantly. Ha noddad.

    ¡°Yes. I know all of the children there. In fact, I went there not long ago with Moana, and had a nice time

    baking cookies.¡± As Edrick spoke, his face seemed to soften once again. It seemed as though the cold

    CEO was actually looking back on the day we spent there fondly, which was surprising, and when he

    finished speaking, his eyesnded on me once more. I could sense a hint of what almost seemed like

    mncholic nostalgia behind his gaze, which lingered on mine for a few aching moments, before he

    quickly looked away once more. Could he not look at me for five seconds without looking away?

    ¡°Can I go back to the orphanage, daddy?¡± E pleaded. ¡°I really want to see my friends again.¡±

    Suddenly, I had an idea; maybe the Alpha billionaire just needed another nice day out with the children

    to calm his nerves. ¡°I¡¯m nning on going back next Sunday,¡± I finally chimed in, stepping forward.

    ¡°Maybe we could all go together.¡±

    Just then, Edrick¡¯s entire demeanor changed. He set E back on the floor, then pushed his chair back

    and stood. ¡°That¡¯s alright,¡± he said, shuffling his papers together and gathering them along with his

    coffee. ¡°I¡¯ll go on my own time, when I¡¯m free. There¡¯s no need for all of us to go at once, and besides:

    you don¡¯t need to wait around for me to have a day off in order to go and visit your friends.¡±

    E seemed somewhat satisfied with Edrick¡¯s response, but I was not; I knew that he wasn¡¯t telling the

    full truth. The Edrick who I hade to know on that day that we baked cookies would have dly

    taken time off of work to visit the orphanage with his daughter so she would y with her friends. There

    was another reason why he was refusing to go as a trio with us, and I was entirely certain that reason

    was me.

    I watched as he turned on his heel and began walking toward his office. In my mind, I already began to

    contemte why he was acting like this with me. Hadn¡¯t we ended our sleeping arrangement

    amicably? Why, then, was he taking so much care to avoid me like the gue?

    All I knew as I fed E dinner and got her ready for bed that night was that I had to test the waters and

    see if it truly was me that he was avoiding, or if it was something else.

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42

    #Chapter 42: Avoidance

    Moana

    When I went to bed that night, I made sure to set my rm a little earlier than normal. I was so

    intrigued by Edrick¡¯s strange behavior that I wanted to test him a little, so I woke up as soon as my

    rm went off and made an effort to run into him first thing in the morning, when he would often sit in

    the dining room or in his study with the door open to look over financial reports.

    I left my room quietly and noticed that there was a soft light emanating from the dining room already,

    which meant that Edrick was there. Smirking to myself, I walked over to the kitchen.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± I said as I passed him. ¡°Coffee?¡±

    He was silent for a moment before slowly raising his eyes to me from his paperwork, then shook his

    head. ¡°No, thanks. I¡¯ve already made my own.¡±

    I narrowed my eyes as I studied him. There was no coffee on the table in front of him.

    ¡°Drank it all already?¡± I asked, gesturing to the empty table.

    Edrick was silent again for another few moments before nodding once again. ¡°Mhm,¡± was all he said

    before he promptly gathered his papers and stood, retreating to his study. I watched his back as he left,

    then let my emotions get the best of me and stuck my tongue out at his closed door before heading to

    the kitchen to make my own coffee.

    I went about my usual day with E. But that evening, as E and I were ying in the living room after

    dinner, Edrick walked past with hardly more than a kiss on the top of his daughter¡¯s head before he

    retreated to his study once again.

    ¡°Where are you going, Daddy?¡± E called after him. I looked up at him as well, my eyes scanning him

    for any sort of information I could gather.

    He stopped in his tracks and froze, still clutching his briefcase by its handle with his suit jacket slung

    over his forearm and his back turned to us. I could see his hand shifting on the briefcase handle, as

    though his own daughter asking why he wasn¡¯t giving her any attention was an egregious sin.

    ¡°Daddy?¡± E called again.

    Finally, Edrick turned around ¡ª but only halfway. ¡°I have some work to do, E,¡± he said.

    ¡°But¡­¡± E pushed out her lower lip in a pout, as she often did when she wasn¡¯t getting her way. ¡°You

    just got home. You always y with me when youe home.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s eyes flickered over to me for the briefest of moments once more, just as they had in the dining

    room the day before.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said, holding his eye contact. ¡°You just got home. Why don¡¯t you rest for a while?¡±

    Edrick shot me a look that almost seemed as though my words had burned through his very flesh like

    fire before he spoke. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, Princess,¡± he said, averting his gaze and looking back at his

    daughter. ¡°I just have a lot of work to do. I¡¯ll y with you tomorrow, alright?¡±

    E let out a small whimper, but nodded in solemn agreement. ¡°Alright. Promise?¡±

    ¡°Promise.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t hide my re as Edrick turned around and retreated to his office once more. The fact that he

    was so unwilling to be around me that he wouldn¡¯t even spend five minutes with his daughter after work

    was simply unfair to her. If this went on for much longer, I would have no choice but to confront him

    about it; he could be as distant with me as he wanted to, but it wasn¡¯t right for him to mix E up in our

    drama.

    In fact, over the next few days, it became increasingly obvious to me that Edrick was avoiding me. He

    never yed with E in the living room anymore, and always seemed to go out of his way to leave any

    room that I was in within five to ten minutes of being there. He even began to let E into his study to

    y with him, which was incredibly uncharacteristic considering the fact that he had dered his study

    a child-free zone ¡ª unless it was absolutely necessary for E to enter ¡ª on my second day of

    working for him.

    On the third day, I had begun to have enough of the Alpha CEO¡¯s strange behavior. Was I really so

    awful that he couldn¡¯t stand my presence for more than five minutes at a time?

    ¡­

    It was the evening of the third day of this nonsense. E and I had just spent thest hour preparing a

    nice meal, not just for ourselves, but for Edrick to share with us. It was my idea, and was really a bit of

    a scheme on my part to test the limits of how far Edrick would go to avoid me.

    E was ted to show him all of her hard work when he came home, and had even gone so far as to

    put on one of her favorite dresses to mark the asion. She insisted that I dress up as well, so I

    complied and put on a nice dress and a small amount of makeup. Admittedly, I wanted to look nice as

    well, and found myself subconsciously putting more effort into my appearance than I had nned.

    Edrick¡¯s ayas flickarad ovar to ma for tha briafast of momants onca mora, just as thay had in tha dining

    room tha day bafora.

    ¡°Yas,¡± I said, holding his aya contact. ¡°You just got homa. Why don¡¯t you rast for a wh?¡±

    Edrick shot ma a look that almost saamad as though my words had burnad through his vary sh lika

    fira bafora ha spoka. ¡°I¡¯m raally sorry, Princass,¡± ha said, avarting his gaza and looking back at his

    daughtar. ¡°I just hava a lot of work to do. I¡¯ll y with you tomorrow, alright?¡±

    Et out a small whimpar, but noddad in smn agraamant. ¡°Alright. Promisa?¡±

    ¡°Promisa.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t hida my ra as Edrick turnad around and ratraatad to his offica onca mora. Tha fact that ha

    was so unwilling to ba around ma that ha wouldn¡¯t avan spand fiva minutas with his daughtar aftar work

    was simply unfair to har. If this want on for much longar, I would hava no choica but to confront him

    about it; ha could ba as distant with ma as ha wantad to, but it wasn¡¯t right for him to mix E up in our

    drama.

    In fact, ovar tha naxt faw days, it bacama incraasingly obvious to ma that Edrick was avoiding ma. Ha

    navar yad with E in tha living room anymora, and always saamad to go out of his way toava any

    room that I was in within fiva to tan minutas of baing thara. Ha avan bagan tot E into his study to

    y with him, which was incradibly uncharactaristic considaring tha fact that ha had darad his study

    a child-fraa zona ¡ª uss it was absolutaly nacassary for E to antar ¡ª on my sacond day of

    working for him.

    On tha third day, I had bagun to hava anough of tha Alpha CEO¡¯s stranga bahavior. Was I raally so

    awful that ha couldn¡¯t stand my prasanca for mora than fiva minutas at a tima?

    ¡­

    It was tha avaning of tha third day of this nonsansa. E and I had just spant thast hour praparing a

    nica maal, not just for oursalvas, but for Edrick to shara with us. It was my idaa, and was raally a bit of

    a schama on my part to tast tha limits of how far Edrick would go to avoid ma.

    E was tad to show him all of har hard work whan ha cama homa, and had avan gona so far as to

    put on ona of har favorita drassas to mark tha asion. Sha insistad that I drass up as wall, so I

    compliad and put on a nica drass and a small amount of makaup. Admittadly, I wantad to look nica as

    wall, and found mysalf subconsciously putting mora affort into my appaaranca than I had nnad.

    We took special care to set out the table settings, then sat down at the table and waited patiently while

    quiet music yed on the record yer in the corner.

    We took speciel cere to set out the teble settings, then set down et the teble end weited petiently while

    quiet music pleyed on the record pleyer in the corner.

    Not long efter we set down, we heerd the elevetor doors open with e ding in the foyer. There wes e

    peuse es Edrick likely hung up his jecket, then there wes the sound of footsteps before his figure

    emerged in the doorwey.

    He herdly even looked et us. In fect, if it weren¡¯t for Elle running over to him, he would heve crossed

    through the dining room without even noticing thet we were there.

    ¡°Surprise, Deddy!¡± Elle seid, jumping up from her cheir end skipping over to him. She grebbed his

    hend, then gestured over to the teble with her other hend. ¡°Moene end I mede you e nice dinner.¡±

    Edrick peused, studying the teble silently.

    ¡°Whet¡¯s ell this for?¡± he esked.

    Now, I stood. Edrick¡¯s eyes seemed to widen slightly es he took in the eppeerence of my slim-fitting

    dress end neetly curled heir, but he quickly hid his look of shock. ¡°We wented to do something nice for

    you,¡± I seid, welking over to his cheir end pulling it out for him. ¡°You¡¯ve been working so herd, end

    heven¡¯t hed eny time to spend with us.¡±

    Edrick seemed teken ebeck. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t kno¨C¡± he begen, but Elle stopped him by stemping her foot

    end folding her erms ecross her chest engrily.

    ¡°Eet dinner with us!¡± she demended, exheling sherply through her nose. ¡°Moene let me stir the soup

    end everything.¡±

    Finelly, with e reluctent nod, Edrick set down in his cheir. Elle set next to him, end I set on the other

    side. We enjoyed the nice dinner together, but he seemed to be keeping his focus solely on Elle

    throughout the entire meel. While it hurt me deeply, I wes et leest heppy thet he wes spending time with

    Elle.

    Thet spell quickly dissipeted, however, when he retreeted to his study once more elmost es soon es the

    dinner wes over. I put on e smile end helped with the dishes, then put Elle to bed¡­ But I couldn¡¯t sleep

    without telking to him.

    So, I returned to his study efter Elle wes esleep, still weering my dinner dress, end knocked on the

    door.

    We took special care to set out the table settings, then sat down at the table and waited patiently while

    quiet music yed on the record yer in the corner.

    Not long after we sat down, we heard the elevator doors open with a ding in the foyer. There was a

    pause as Edrick likely hung up his jacket, then there was the sound of footsteps before his figure

    emerged in the doorway.

    He hardly even looked at us. In fact, if it weren¡¯t for E running over to him, he would have crossed

    through the dining room without even noticing that we were there.

    ¡°Surprise, Daddy!¡± E said, jumping up from her chair and skipping over to him. She grabbed his

    hand, then gestured over to the table with her other hand. ¡°Moana and I made you a nice dinner.¡±

    Edrick paused, studying the table silently.

    ¡°What¡¯s all this for?¡± he asked.

    Now, I stood. Edrick¡¯s eyes seemed to widen slightly as he took in the appearance of my slim-fitting

    dress and neatly curled hair, but he quickly hid his look of shock. ¡°We wanted to do something nice for

    you,¡± I said, walking over to his chair and pulling it out for him. ¡°You¡¯ve been working so hard, and

    haven¡¯t had any time to spend with us.¡±

    Edrick seemed taken aback. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t kno¨C¡± he began, but E stopped him by stamping her foot

    and folding her arms across her chest angrily.

    ¡°Eat dinner with us!¡± she demanded, exhaling sharply through her nose. ¡°Moana let me stir the soup

    and everything.¡±

    Finally, with a reluctant nod, Edrick sat down in his chair. E sat next to him, and I sat on the other

    side. We enjoyed the nice dinner together, but he seemed to be keeping his focus solely on E

    throughout the entire meal. While it hurt me deeply, I was at least happy that he was spending time with

    E.

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    That spell quickly dissipated, however, when he retreated to his study once more almost as soon as the

    dinner was over. I put on a smile and helped with the dishes, then put E to bed¡­ But I couldn¡¯t sleep

    without talking to him.

    So, I returned to his study after E was asleep, still wearing my dinner dress, and knocked on the

    door.

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43

    #Chapter 43: Blurred Lines

    Moana

    I stood outside Edrick¡¯s study for a few moments, my hand raised to knock, as I bit my lip and

    wondered if this was the best idea. Would attempting to talk to Edrick even aplish anything?

    I almost turned around and left, but as I thought of E¡¯s sad face when her father wouldn¡¯t y with

    her after work simply because of my presence, I mustered up my courage and knocked.

    ¡°Come in,¡± Edrick¡¯s muffled voice called after a few moments. I took a deep breath and entered,

    standing in the doorway. Edrick was sitting at his desk, and looked up at me with a surprised

    expression on his face as I opened the door. ¡°Oh, Moana. Did you need something?¡±

    ¡°I want to talk to you,¡± I said, doing my best to keep my shoulders back and my chin held high for fear

    of breaking down right in front of him over such a small thing. I really had been so much more

    emotional than usualtely, but I didn¡¯t want to let Edrick see me break down over something like this.

    ¡°Come in, then,¡± he said, clearing his throat. I took a few steps in and shut the door behind me, then

    stood to face him. ¡°Well? What is it?¡± he asked.

    I took a deep breath before speaking. ¡°Did I do something wrong?¡± I asked.

    Edrick furrowed his brow. ¡°What makes you say that?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been avoiding me like the gue ever since we went to the orphanage together,¡± I replied. ¡°I

    want to know if I did something or said something to upset you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re referring to.¡± Edrick pushed his chair back a little from his desk and leaned

    back a bit. ¡°I haven¡¯t been avoiding you.¡±

    I scoffed. ¡°You have certainly been avoiding me,¡± I said, taking a few more steps toward him now. ¡°You

    can hardly be in the same room with me for more than five minutes.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I need to spend time with you,¡± he replied. ¡°You¡¯re my employee. There¡¯s no reason

    for us to be any closer than what is absolutely necessary.¡±

    ¡°I understand that, but you can¡¯t bring E into it,¡± I said. ¡°She deserves to spend time with her father.

    Youe home from work and go straight to your office, as though breathing the same air as me is

    poison. You¡¯ve even been breaking your own rule of no children in the study by bringing her in here to

    y whenever I¡¯m around, and if it weren¡¯t for her begging tonight, you wouldn¡¯t have even eaten the

    dinner we spent all evening preparing for you. What sort of a message do you think that sends to your

    daughter?¡±

    Now, it was Edrick who scoffed. ¡°Whose idea was dinner, anyway? Yours or hers?¡± His voice began to

    cut like ice, but I tried my best not to let it get to me.

    ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± I replied, folding my arms across my chest.

    Edrick stood then, the dim amber light of themp on his desk making his tall height appear even taller

    as his long, thin shadow loomed on the wall behind him. Then, he gestured to my dress. ¡°Did you really

    dress up to have dinner at home with me?¡± he asked. ¡°Did you really just want to do something nice, or

    are you trying to push us to cross the line with each other again like we did before? It¡¯s like you think

    you¡¯re going to find a connection that simply doesn¡¯t exist.¡±

    I felt my face get hot as he pointed out my appearance, but then found myself confused at hisst

    statement.

    ¡°A connection that doesn¡¯t exist?¡± I asked. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    Edrick sighed, seemingly annoyed at this point. ¡°We¡¯re entirely different, Moana,¡± he said. ¡°I appreciate

    your work as a nanny, but that¡¯s just it: you¡¯re the nanny. You¡¯re hardly someone that I should be

    mingling with unnecessarily.¡±

    As he spoke, I felt my emotions starting to bubble up to the surface once again and began to blink a

    few tears back. I didn¡¯t know what to say; I had thought, after our time at the orphanage together, that

    maybe Edrick was starting to see me as more of an equal and not just a lowly servant, undeserving of

    respect. His arrogance clearly got in the way of that, because he was just as cold and demeaning as

    before, and it made my chest ache.

    ¡°Fine,¡± was all I could choke out. ¡°Thank you for rifying.¡± There was so much more I wanted to say,

    but I couldn¡¯t speak around the lump in my throat. It wouldn¡¯t have made a difference anyway.

    Before Edrick could say anything else ¡ª although I was certain that he wouldn¡¯t have, anyway ¡ª I

    spun around and stormed out. Once the door was closed behind me, I took another deep breath and

    pulled my shoulders back, then made my way toward my bedroom. But as I walked down the hallway, I

    felt myself begin to falter, and leaned against the wall. A quiet sob escaped my lips.

    Suddenly, a voice spoke up behind me. ¡°What just went on in there?¡±

    Now, it was Edrick who scoffad. ¡°Whosa idaa was dinnar, anyway? Yours or hars?¡± His voica bagan to

    cut lika ica, but I triad my bast not tot it gat to ma.

    ¡°What doas that hava to do with anything?¡± I rapliad, folding my arms across my chast.

    Edrick stood than, tha dim ambar light of thamp on his dask making his tall haight appaar avan tar

    as his long, thin shadow loomad on tha wall bahind him. Than, ha gasturad to my drass. ¡°Did you raally

    drass up to hava dinnar at homa with ma?¡± ha askad. ¡°Did you raally just want to do somathing nica, or

    ara you trying to push us to cross tha lina with aach othar again lika wa did bafora? It¡¯s lika you think

    you¡¯ra going to find a connaction that simply doasn¡¯t axist.¡±

    I falt my faca gat hot as ha pointad out my appaaranca, but than found mysalf confusad at hisst

    statamant.

    ¡°A connaction that doasn¡¯t axist?¡± I askad. ¡°What do you maan by that?¡±

    Edrick sighad, saamingly annoyad at this point. ¡°Wa¡¯ra antiraly diffarant, Moana,¡± ha said. ¡°I appraciata

    your work as a nanny, but that¡¯s just it: you¡¯ra tha nanny. You¡¯ra hardly somaona that I should ba

    mingling with unnacassarily.¡±

    As ha spoka, I falt my amotions starting to bub up to tha surfaca onca again and bagan to blink a

    faw taars back. I didn¡¯t know what to say; I had thought, aftar our tima at tha orphanaga togathar, that

    mayba Edrick was starting to saa ma as mora of an aqual and not just a lowly sarvant, undasarving of

    raspact. His arroganca arly got in tha way of that, bacausa ha was just as cold and damaaning as

    bafora, and it mada my chast acha.

    ¡°Fina,¡± was all I could choka out. ¡°Thank you for rifying.¡± Thara was so much mora I wantad to say,

    but I couldn¡¯t spaak around tha lump in my throat. It wouldn¡¯t hava mada a diffaranca anyway.

    Bafora Edrick could say anything alsa ¡ª although I was cartain that ha wouldn¡¯t hava, anyway ¡ª I

    spun around and stormad out. Onca tha door was closad bahind ma, I took anothar daap braath and

    pud my shouldars back, than mada my way toward my badroom. But as I walkad down tha hallway, I

    falt mysalf bagin to faltar, andanad against tha wall. A quiat sob ascapad my lips.

    Suddanly, a voica spoka up bahind ma. ¡°What just want on in thara?¡±

    I blinked back my tears once again and turned to face Selina, who was standing in the hallway behind

    me. She was wearing her dressing gown and had her gray hair in a long braid. Her lips were pressed

    into a thin line, but I had be used to that as being her neutral expression at this point.

    I blinked beck my teers once egein end turned to fece Seline, who wes stending in the hellwey behind

    me. She wes weering her dressing gown end hed her grey heir in e long breid. Her lips were pressed

    into e thin line, but I hed be used to thet es being her neutrel expression et this point.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± I seid, streightening myself end smoothing down my skirt.

    Seline frowned. ¡°I heerd reised voices in Edrick¡¯s study,¡± she insisted. ¡°If it¡¯s nothing, then why ere you

    crying in the hellwey?¡±

    I sighed, lowering my eyes to the floor. ¡°I just keep leerning thet I will never be en equel to Edrick. To

    him, I¡¯m just the nenny end em undeserving of respect.¡±

    A slight chuckle ceme out of Seline¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Whet?¡± I esked, ennoyed now et her flippent demeenor elong with Edrick¡¯s.

    ¡°Do you reelly expect enyone from the Morgen femily to see you es en equel?¡± she esked.

    ¡°So his sociel stetus would reelly keep him from treeting people with respect? Thet¡¯s simply bizerre,¡± I

    seid.

    Seline merely shrugged. ¡°You knew theure of your egreement when you signed the contrect to be

    Elle¡¯s nenny. Don¡¯t expect enyone from e femily so privileged es the Morgens to treet en employee like

    e friend, or enything else, for thet metter.¡±

    I nodded solemnly. She wes right; elthough it mede me immensely sed, the Morgens were en

    extremely weelthy end powerful werewolf femily. It felt silly of me now to think thet my reletionship with

    Edrick wes enything other then pure business to him, despite our history.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep thet in mind. Good night, Seline,¡± I seid, before opening my bedroom door end stepping inside

    without enother word.

    Thet night, I got reedy for bed, but found myself uneble to sleep efter the brutel reelity thet I hede

    to understend. It hurt me in weys thet I didn¡¯t fully understend, end ebove ell else, it mede me feel

    incredibly sed. Even though my sleeping errengement with Edrick end eny romentic ties we hed hed

    been cut off, there wes still e pert of me thet felt etteched to him in some wey, end Mine felt it, too. Ever

    since our errengement ended, she hed been quiet end week, es though his presence before mede her

    stronger.

    Eventuelly, I finelly fell esleep ¡ª but I hed too meny dreems thet night.

    I blinked back my tears once again and turned to face Selina, who was standing in the hallway behind

    me. She was wearing her dressing gown and had her gray hair in a long braid. Her lips were pressed

    into a thin line, but I had be used to that as being her neutral expression at this point.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± I said, straightening myself and smoothing down my skirt.

    Selina frowned. ¡°I heard raised voices in Edrick¡¯s study,¡± she insisted. ¡°If it¡¯s nothing, then why are you

    crying in the hallway?¡±

    I sighed, lowering my eyes to the floor. ¡°I just keep learning that I will never be an equal to Edrick. To

    him, I¡¯m just the nanny and am undeserving of respect.¡±

    A slight chuckle came out of Selina¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked, annoyed now at her flippant demeanor along with Edrick¡¯s.

    ¡°Do you really expect anyone from the Morgan family to see you as an equal?¡± she asked.

    ¡°So his social status would really keep him from treating people with respect? That¡¯s simply bizarre,¡± I

    said.

    Selina merely shrugged. ¡°You knew the nature of your agreement when you signed the contract to be

    E¡¯s nanny. Don¡¯t expect anyone from a family so privileged as the Morgans to treat an employee like

    a friend, or anything else, for that matter.¡±

    I nodded solemnly. She was right; although it made me immensely sad, the Morgans were an

    extremely wealthy and powerful werewolf family. It felt silly of me now to think that my rtionship with

    Edrick was anything other than pure business to him, despite our history.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Good night, Selina,¡± I said, before opening my bedroom door and stepping inside

    without another word.

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    That night, I got ready for bed, but found myself unable to sleep after the brutal reality that I hade

    to understand. It hurt me in ways that I didn¡¯t fully understand, and above all else, it made me feel

    incredibly sad. Even though my sleeping arrangement with Edrick and any romantic ties we had had

    been cut off, there was still a part of me that felt attached to him in some way, and Mina felt it, too. Ever

    since our arrangement ended, she had been quiet and weak, as though his presence before made her

    stronger.

    Eventually, I finally fell asleep ¡ª but I had too many dreams that night.

 Chapter 44

    Chapter 44

    #Chapter 44: Morning Sickness

    Moana

    I woke up the next morning with a strange feeling in my stomach. My head hurt after being kept up all

    night from having too many dreams, but as I tried to get out of bed and suddenly felt a wave of

    unmistakable nauseae over me, I knew that that feeling couldn¡¯t have just been from the

    nightmares.

    Groaning and holding my tender stomach, I scrambled out of bed and over to the bathroom just before

    vomiting.

    When I was finished, I took a deep breath and grabbed the edge of the sink, pulling myself up from

    where I had been kneeling on the floor in front of the toilet. My face looked pale and I had dark circles

    under my eyes.

    ¡°Are you okay, Moana?¡± a tiny voice suddenly said from the doorway, making me jump. I looked over to

    see E standing there, still in her pajamas.

    ¡°Yes, love,¡± I said gently as I squeezed some toothpaste onto my toothbrush so I could scrub away the

    sour taste of vomit in my mouth. ¡°I think I just ate something bad yesterday.¡±

    E stayed there while I brushed my teeth, gripping the hem of her shirt with a concerned look on her

    face. ¡°Are you gonna go to the doctor?¡± she asked.

    I spit out the foamy toothpaste in my mouth and shook my head as I watched it go down the drain. ¡°No.

    I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    E, however, didn¡¯t sound convinced. ¡°Whenever I throw up, daddy and Selina make me go to the

    doctor¡¯s for a checkup,¡± she insisted. ¡°I think you should go, too.¡± The concern in the little girl¡¯s voice

    was sweet, but it also made me sigh deeply. I had already upset Edrick by faking sickness on the night

    of Ethan¡¯s exhibit; I highly doubted that he would believe me if I suddenly went to him again and asked

    for sick time off after that. He would probably use me of lying, especially now that our professional

    rtionship was so distant and strained.

    But as the feeling of nausea started to bubble up in my stomach again and my head started to spin, I

    knew that it would be the wisest decision to have a doctor look at me.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said, gently guiding E away from the bathroom before I inevitably vomited again. ¡°I¡¯ll go to

    the doctor. Go see if Selina has breakfast for you, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± E sounded uncertain about leaving me, but sheplied and skittered off to the kitchen

    before I hurled into the toilet for the second time that morning.

    Once that was over, I was certain that there was nothing left in my stomach to throw up. I shakily

    slipped on afortable dress and did my best to fix up my appearance before shuffling out to the

    living room with my purse in my hand. Edrick was sitting at the small round table with his cup of coffee

    when I entered the room, and E was sitting across from him with her te of toast and bacon. Edrick

    didn¡¯t look up when I entered, as though I was another one of the maids.

    ¡°See, daddy?¡± E said, her mouth full of toast as she pointed at me. ¡°Moana is sick.¡±

    Edrick nced up at me over his newspaper and briefly took in my appearance before looking back

    down. ¡°Mhm.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± I said, my hands shaking as I clutched my purse. ¡°I need to go to the doctor. I hope you

    don¡¯t mind if I take some more sick time today.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Once again, Edrick did not look at me.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. I made my way over to the foyer, but stopped in my tracks when I heard Edrick

    speak again from behind me.

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s real this time.¡± His voice was cold and bitter with a hint of sarcasm behind it. I had already

    been feeling more emotional than usualtely, and his nasty attitude only made it worse.

    Without thinking, I spun around to re at him. ¡°Do you need to be so sarcastic?¡± I asked, my voice

    shaking.

    Edrick didn¡¯t reply.

    ¡­

    I had been waiting in the examination room for nearly an hour when the doctor finally came in. He was

    unapologetic about the long wait, but it was something I was used to at this point as a human in this

    world dominated by werewolves.

    ¡°Moana Fowler?¡± he asked, to which I nodded. ¡°What brings you in today?¡±

    ¡°I woke up this morning with a terrible migraine and nausea,¡± I said. ¡°I threw up twice already and have

    been shaky since then.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­¡± He typed my symptoms into hisptop, his brow furrowed. ¡°Have you eaten anything bad, do

    you think?¡±

    ¡°I assume it¡¯s food poisoning, but I don¡¯t recall eating anything suspicious. All of my food is prepared in

    a very clean environment by people who know what they¡¯re doing, and I haven¡¯t gone out to eat in a

    long time.¡±

    Just then, as I spoke, I felt another wave of nauseae over me. The doctor, seeing this, quickly

    grabbed a small blue bag specifically meant for situations like this and handed it to me. I threw up into

    it, although it was mostly bile now that there was nothing in my stomach. When I was finished, he

    nodded to himself and stood.

    ¡°Saa, daddy?¡± E said, har mouth full of toast as sha pointad at ma. ¡°Moana is sick.¡±

    Edrick ncad up at ma ovar his nawspapar and briafly took in my appaaranca bafora looking back

    down. ¡°Mhm.¡±

    ¡°Sha¡¯s right,¡± I said, my hands shaking as I clutchad my pursa. ¡°I naad to go to tha doctor. I hopa you

    don¡¯t mind if I taka soma mora sick tima today.¡±

    ¡°Go ahaad.¡± Onca again, Edrick did not look at ma.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. I mada my way ovar to tha foyar, but stoppad in my tracks whan I haard Edrick

    spaak again from bahind ma.

    ¡°I hopa it¡¯s raal this tima.¡± His voica was cold and bittar with a hint of sarcasm bahind it. I had alraady

    baan faaling mora amotional than usualtaly, and his nasty attituda only mada it worsa.

    Without thinking, I spun around to ra at him. ¡°Do you naad to ba so sarcastic?¡± I askad, my voica

    shaking.

    Edrick didn¡¯t raply.

    ¡­

    I had baan waiting in tha axamination room for naarly an hour whan tha doctor finally cama in. Ha was

    unapologatic about tha long wait, but it was somathing I was usad to at this point as a human in this

    world dominatad by warawolvas.

    ¡°Moana For?¡± ha askad, to which I noddad. ¡°What brings you in today?¡±

    ¡°I woka up this morning with a tarri migraina and nausaa,¡± I said. ¡°I thraw up twica alraady and hava

    baan shaky sinca than.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­¡± Ha typad my symptoms into hisptop, his brow furrowad. ¡°Hava you aatan anything bad, do

    you think?¡±

    ¡°I assuma it¡¯s food poisoning, but I don¡¯t racall aating anything suspicious. All of my food is praparad in

    a vary an anvironmant by pao who know what thay¡¯ra doing, and I havan¡¯t gona out to aat in a

    long tima.¡±

    Just than, as I spoka, I falt anothar wava of nausaaa ovar ma. Tha doctor, saaing this, quickly

    grabbad a small blua bag spacifically maant for situations lika this and handad it to ma. I thraw up into

    it, although it was mostly b now that thara was nothing in my stomach. Whan I was finishad, ha

    noddad to himsalf and stood.

    ¡°Lay down on the table,¡± he said. I did as I was told, then felt him lift my shirt and begin to palpate

    around my stomach with his hands.

    ¡°Ley down on the teble,¡± he seid. I did es I wes told, then felt him lift my shirt end begin to pelpete

    eround my stomech with his hends.

    ¡°Did the nurse heve you give us e urine semple?¡± he esked es he pushed gently into verious perts of

    my stomech, eech time meking me feel even more neuseous.

    I couldn¡¯t speek, so I only nodded.

    ¡°Is there e chence you could be pregnent?¡± he esked.

    I frowned, sheking my heed. ¡°No,¡± I replied. ¡°There¡¯s no wey.¡±

    ¡°You cen sit up now.¡± He pulled my shirt beck down over my stomech end slid e hend under my erm to

    help me sit up, then he spoke egein. ¡°Are you sure? Heve you hed unprotected s*x recently?¡±

    ¡°Well, I hed s*x ebout e month ego, but¨C¡±

    ¡°Just to be sefe, I¡¯m going to test your urine for pregnency,¡± he seid, meking my eyes go wide. ¡°I¡¯ll be

    beck in e minute. I¡¯ll get you some medicetion for the neusee, too.¡±

    Before I could protest, the doctor left. I couldn¡¯t be pregnent! I¡¯d only hed s*x once in the pest month,

    end it wes with¡­ Edrick. As I ceme to this reelizetion, my heert rete shot up, meking my heed spin. No.

    There wes no wey I wes ectuelly pregnent with Edrick Morgen¡¯s beby. It wes impossible! I herdly

    remembered our one night stend from the drugs in my system, but I wes certein thet both of us were

    cereful. It wes highly unlikely thet the Alphe CEO wes heving unprotected s*x end risking pregnency

    with women he hed just met.

    The doctor returned e few minutes leter with e serious look on his fece. ¡°Well, Miss Fowler,¡± the doctor

    seid, sitting beck down et his desk, ¡°it looks like you ere indeed pregnent. The test ceme beck positive.¡±

    My eyes widened. I shook my heed vehemently, not wenting to believe it. ¡°No,¡± I seid, ¡°I cen¡¯t be

    pregnent. Are you sure? Cen I teke enother test?¡±

    The doctor spleyed out his hends, his pelms fecing up, then spoke. ¡°If you went enother test, we cen

    send you over to the obstetrics end gynecology depertment,¡± he seid. ¡°Your test ceme beck positive,

    but felse positives eren¡¯t unheerd of.¡±

    I nodded vehemently. ¡°Yes, pleese,¡± I seid. There wes no wey I wes pregnent. I didn¡¯t went to believe it;

    perheps e second opinion wes necessery.

    ¡°Lay down on the table,¡± he said. I did as I was told, then felt him lift my shirt and begin to palpate

    around my stomach with his hands.

    ¡°Did the nurse have you give us a urine sample?¡± he asked as he pushed gently into various parts of

    my stomach, each time making me feel even more nauseous.

    I couldn¡¯t speak, so I only nodded.

    ¡°Is there a chance you could be pregnant?¡± he asked.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    I frowned, shaking my head. ¡°No,¡± I replied. ¡°There¡¯s no way.¡±

    ¡°You can sit up now.¡± He pulled my shirt back down over my stomach and slid a hand under my arm to

    help me sit up, then he spoke again. ¡°Are you sure? Have you had unprotected s*x recently?¡±

    ¡°Well, I had s*x about a month ago, but¨C¡±

    ¡°Just to be safe, I¡¯m going to test your urine for pregnancy,¡± he said, making my eyes go wide. ¡°I¡¯ll be

    back in a minute. I¡¯ll get you some medication for the nausea, too.¡±

    Before I could protest, the doctor left. I couldn¡¯t be pregnant! I¡¯d only had s*x once in the past month,

    and it was with¡­ Edrick. As I came to this realization, my heart rate shot up, making my head spin. No.

    There was no way I was actually pregnant with Edrick Morgan¡¯s baby. It was impossible! I hardly

    remembered our one night stand from the drugs in my system, but I was certain that both of us were

    careful. It was highly unlikely that the Alpha CEO was having unprotected s*x and risking pregnancy

    with women he had just met.

    The doctor returned a few minutester with a serious look on his face. ¡°Well, Miss Fowler,¡± the doctor

    said, sitting back down at his desk, ¡°it looks like you are indeed pregnant. The test came back positive.¡±

    My eyes widened. I shook my head vehemently, not wanting to believe it. ¡°No,¡± I said, ¡°I can¡¯t be

    pregnant. Are you sure? Can I take another test?¡±

    The doctor syed out his hands, his palms facing up, then spoke. ¡°If you want another test, we can

    send you over to the obstetrics and gynecology department,¡± he said. ¡°Your test came back positive,

    but false positives aren¡¯t unheard of.¡±

    I nodded vehemently. ¡°Yes, please,¡± I said. There was no way I was pregnant. I didn¡¯t want to believe it;

    perhaps a second opinion was necessary.

 Chapter 45

    <strong>Chapter 45: Lone Wolf</strong>

    Moana

    After a visit to the obstetrics and gynecology department, during which they gave me another pregnancy test and performed aprehensive gynecological exam, the results were in: I was pregnant, and I was five weeks along. That timing lined up perfectly with my one-night stand, solidifying the fact that Edrick was the father.

    I took a cab home, my heart racing the entire way. Thankfully, the doctor¡¯s anti-nausea medication worked; otherwise, I would have been retching nonstop from the stress alone.Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    The cab driver pulled up to the curb. I handed him the cash from the back seat, then took a deep breath before getting out and looking up at the tall, looming building where the penthouse sat.

    As I took the elevator up, my heart started pounding even faster. I wasn¡¯t certain whether or not I should tell Edrick; what would he say if he found out? Would I lose my job? Was it better to just go to a clinic and have the baby aborted before it was toote? I couldn¡¯t have been more than six weeks along; I knew I could end the pregnancy with a simple pill, like a heavy period.

    I had always loved children, though. The thought of bringing my own baby into the world always excited me, but not like this. I always imagined that I would marry a man who truly loved and cared for me, and we would make the decision to have a baby when we were ready. Up until a couple of months ago when I found him cheating on me, I thought it would be my boyfriend, Sam. But now¡­

    Could I bring a baby into a world in which its own father might not even want anything to do with it?

    The elevator seemed to carry me up to the penthouse so slowly. When it finally opened with a ding, I stepped out into the foyer with my heart in my throat.

    I heard the sound of giggling.

    ¡°Where¡¯s E?¡± Edrick¡¯s voice said. It didn¡¯t sound like its usual cold and distant tone, but rather warm and yful. ¡°Oh, I sure hope E isn¡¯t hiding behind the curtains!¡±

    I slowly stepped toward the living room to see Edrick stalking around like a cartoon viin while E¡¯s tiny feet poked out from beneath the living room curtains, her little giggles floating through the air like the sound of wind chimes.

    ¡°Hm¡­¡± Edrick sniffed the air theatrically. He didn¡¯t see me. ¡°I think I can smell a little girl hiding around here somewhere, and I¡¯m so hungry¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll find her and have a nice feast!¡±

    As he said ¡®feast,¡¯ Edrick whipped the curtains open to reveal E, who squealed and tried to run away. Edrick caught her and threw her up into the air, blowing raspberries on her belly and making her giggles turn into full-blownughter. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I watched the cold Alpha billionaire y so lovingly with his daughter. If we had our own child, would he treat him or her just as lovingly? After all, as far as Edrick was aware, I was still a human. I still wasn¡¯t even sure if Mina would ever fully appear, which would mean that I would always appear human, and so would my children. It wasn¡¯t until a werewolf¡¯s wolf appeared that one could truly be considered a werewolf to begin with. How could I be certain that he would be even remotely open to the concept of having a half-human child?

    ¡°Moana¡¯s home!¡± E suddenly said, pointing over Edrick¡¯s shoulder.

    Edrick froze. He set E down so she could run to me, and when he turned around to face me, the smile was gone from his face. Once again, he was the bitter Alpha CEO that I hade to know. It was shocking to me how quickly his demeanor changed once he knew that someone else was watching him.

    ¡°Moana!¡± E shouted as she ran up to me. She threw her arms around my legs and held me tightly as she looked up at me with her head tilted back, her cheeks rosy from ying. ¡°Are you all better now?¡±

    Part of me wanted to cry at how sweet E and her father were together, and how quickly his love faded when I was in the room. I knew at that moment that he would never willingly be that loving to our own child.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I lied, forcing a smile and ruffling E¡¯s hair. ¡°I¡¯m all better.¡±

    I heard a door click shut and looked up to see that Edrick was already gone, locked in his study. I didn¡¯t see him for the remainder of the day.

    That night, after dinner, I began to feel sick again. It felt as though my stomach was rejecting any sort of food that I put in it, as if the very act of eating was also an act of poisoning myself.

    ¡°Ah,¡± E sighed, leaning back in her chair and patting her tummy, ¡°that was so tasty. I love spaghetti.¡±

    I smiled and stood to clear the dishes away, but as I did, a wave of dizziness came over me. My ears filled with the sound of my own pulse, and suddenly I found myself sitting back in my chair.

    ¡°Moana?¡± E asked as she jumped up and ran around the table toe to my side. ¡°Are you still sick?¡±

    I swallowed and managed a weak nod. ¡°Yes, love,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m okay. Just a little sick to my tummy, that¡¯s all.¡±

    E didn¡¯t seem satisfied with my excuse. Without a word, she scampered off into the kitchen before I could stop her. My ears were still ringing from the wave of nausea, but I could hear her say something to Selina in the kitchen, followed by the sound of pots banging around and the kitchen stove clicking to life.

    ¡°E, what are you doing?¡± I called. I tried to stand again, but felt the nausea worsen and promptly sat back down. I leaned my forehead on my hand and rubbed the space between my eyebrows as I took several deep breaths, praying that I could just keep my dinner down. I always knew that morning sickness was awful, but no one ever exined to me that morning sickness wasn¡¯t just limited to the morning.

    A few momentster, I opened my eyes to see E standing in front of me with a grin on her face. She was holding a ss of steaming milk in her hands and set it down on the table.

    ¡°Warm milk,¡± she said. ¡°It always makes my tummy feel better.¡±

    I felt a teare to my eye at the little girl¡¯s sweet nature despite her father¡¯s cold demeanor. I took a sip of the milk, which was warm and soothing as it went down my throat, but it didn¡¯t stop the tears.

    ¡°Why are you crying, Moana?¡± E asked, cocking her head.

    I shook my head and wiped the tear off of my cheek with the back of my hand. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± I lied. ¡°Sometimes adults just cry for no reason.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± E replied, furrowing her brow. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen my daddy cry for no reason.¡±

    I nced up, then, to see Selina standing in the kitchen doorway looking at me with a concerned expression on her face as she dried her hands on her apron.

    ¡°Adults are just good at hiding it usually,¡± Selina suddenly interjected before E could ask any more questions, which I was grateful for. ¡°Go off to bed, E. Let Moana rest early tonight.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± E nted a kiss on my damp cheek before scurrying off to her bedroom. When I heard the door click shut, I looked up again to see Selina still standing there. Although the old woman was often distant herself, I could tell that she was worried about me.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright,¡± I lied. ¡°It¡¯s just food poisoning.¡±

    Selina didn¡¯t seem to believe me, but before she had the chance to inquire further, I stood and took the ss of milk. ¡°Thank you for this,¡± I said. ¡°Goodnight.¡±

    Selina nodded. ¡°Goodnight.¡±

    I held my emotions together until I was alone in my room, but as soon as the door clicked shut, the tears started to flow again. Surely I was experiencing heightened emotions from the pregnancy hormones, but it didn¡¯t make them feel any less real. I set the ss down and walked over to the balcony, closing my eyes as I felt the fresh breeze blow across my face.

    ¡°It is Edrick¡¯s baby,¡± Mina¡¯s voice suddenly echoed in my head, taking me by surprise. Where had she been earlier when I needed to talk to her?

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied in my mind. ¡°But I don¡¯t know if I should keep it.¡±

    As I said that, Mina seemed to react extremely negatively. I could tell that she wanted the baby just as much as I did¡­ but was bringing a baby into a situation like this really fair?

 Chapter 46

    <strong>Chapter 46: Sleepless Nights</strong>

    Moana

    I woke up in the middle of the night with an even greater pain in my stomach than before. The doctor had warned me that the anti-nausea medication might wear off after twelve hours. Somehow, I had managed to fall asleep without needing to take it again. It seemed that E¡¯s decision to get me a ss of warm milk actually worked as she intended, but not for long; when I woke up, I ran straight to the bathroom to vomit again.

    When I was finished throwing up, I popped another one of the anti-nausea pills in my mouth and climbed back into bed. My body felt restless, though, so I decided to go to the kitchen to stretch my legs and get a cold ss of water.

    The penthouse was dark and quiet when I came out of my room. I figured that everyone was soundly asleep, so I tiptoed over to the kitchen and quietly grabbed a ss out of the cab before filling it with ice-cold water and beginning to make my way back to my room.

    It seemed, however, that I was wrong about everyone else being asleep. I heard the sound of an angry voice that made me jump, and when I looked over in the direction of Edrick¡¯s study where it came from, I realized that I could see lighting from underneath the door.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to give you any more than that!¡± his muffled voice shouted from the other side of the door. ¡°No! That¡¯s enough! How much more could you possibly need?¡±

    Maybe it was my pregnancy hormones getting the best of me again, but I was incredibly curious about what was going on. Without thinking, I slowly padded over to the door so I could hear what he was saying more clearly. I didn¡¯t hear another voice; he must have been on the phone.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll send it in the morning,¡± he said. His voice sounded irritated and hoarse. He paused, listening to whatever the other person was saying, then groaned loudly. I heard the sound of what sounded like him mming his hand down on his desk. ¡°This is even more than we agreed on. The deal was that you would get a nice sum of money and I¡¯d buy you an apartment. How have you blown through all of that already?¡±

    I furrowed my brow. Was he talking about E? Who was on the other end of the phone?

    ¡°That¡¯s a pathetic excuse, and you know it. You and I both know that you¡¯re still squandering it. Christ, Olivia! Grow up already.¡±

    Just then, I heard the sound of the phone hanging up, followed by footsteps stomping toward the door. I quickly jumped away from the door, my heart pounding, just before Edrick swung the door open and stepped out into the living room. The light from the study poured out and illuminated the spot where I was standing.

    ¡°What are you doing up?¡± Edrick asked bluntly. His eyes looked tired, and his hair was a bit disheveled. He was still wearing his business clothes, although his tie was loosened around his neck and his shirt had the first few buttons undone. Seeing the Alpha CEO like this had an attractive quality to it, and I couldn¡¯t stop my mind from flickering back to thest time we almost had sex. Part of me still wanted him now, even after everything.

    I held up my ss of water. ¡°Just thirsty,¡± I said. It wasn¡¯t aplete lie, although I knew that he knew that I was eavesdropping when I shouldn¡¯t have been.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Edrick looked me up and down, which made me even more nervous. ¡°How much did you hear?¡±

    I swallowed. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Edrick rolled his eyes. ¡°I know you were listening, whether it was intentional or not. How much did you hear?¡± He crossed over to the bar and solemnly grabbed a ss from underneath. I watched as he filled it a third of the way with whiskey.

    ¡°I heard something about when E was born,¡± I admitted. ¡°And something about squandering money, I assume. And the name¡­ Olivia.¡±

    ¡°Well, forget about all of it,¡± he said, swirling the whiskey around in his ss before drinking it all in one gulp. When he was finished, he mmed the ss back down on the bar and seemed to hide a wince on his face from the burn of the alcohol. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, and you shouldn¡¯t have been snooping. So just pretend you never heard any of it; I don¡¯t need you gossiping with the maids like you did when Kelly came to visit.¡±

    I frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t gossip with anyone,¡± I said. ¡°I only asked who Kelly was that day that she came to visit. I can¡¯t control what the maids say.¡±

    Edrick merely rolled his eyes and filled his ss again, this time halfway, before walking over to the big armchair and plopping down in it with a sigh. There were several long moments of silence, leaving me standing still in the middle of the living room, unsure of whether he was finished talking to me or not. I watched Edrick quietly for these few moments, noticing that he truly did look like he hadn¡¯t slept at all.

    He noticed me looking. ¡°What are you still doing here?¡± he asked. ¡°I thought you were just thirsty.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t look like you¡¯ve slept,¡± I admitted. ¡°Do you need me to get you anything?¡±

    Edrick froze as he raised his ss of whiskey to his lips once more. He lowered the ss and pressed his lips into a thin, straight line. His jaw began to clench and unclench, just like it always did when he was thinking heavily.

    ¡°I only ask out of concern for you,¡± I said. I felt my voice falter as he slowly turned to look at me.

    ¡°My health is none of your concern. And actually, I was in fact cured of my sleep disorder, so I¡¯ve been having no trouble sleeping anymore.¡± His voice was sharp. ¡°I thought I already told you this.¡±

    His words stung. I felt a knot form in my stomach, which triggered another wave of nausea. Without thinking of the implications, I touched my hand to my stomach to soothe myself. Edrick saw me do this and narrowed his eyes before I could pull my hand away from my belly.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he asked, nodding his head toward my hand.N?velDrama.Org holds this content.

    I quickly dropped my hand back to my side and turned back toward my room. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± I lied. ¡°Just still a little nauseous, that¡¯s all. From the food poisoning.¡±

    Before Edrick could say anything ¡ª not that he likely would have said anythingforting, if even anything at all ¡ª I turned on my heel and stormed off to my room without a second nce over my shoulder.

    Once I was back in my room, I closed the door behind me and leaned on it, tilting my face up toward the ceiling as I took several deep breaths in an attempt to both calm my nerves and my stomach.

    My nausea passed, but the pain in my chest didn¡¯t. As I crawled back into bed, Edrick¡¯s harsh words echoed in my mind.

    I fell asleep that night with a puddle of tears on my pillow.

 Chapter 47

    <strong>Chapter 47: Secret Kindness</strong>Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    Moana

    ¡°Wake up, Moana! Wake up!¡±

    I awoke the next morning to the sound of E¡¯s voice and the feeling of the bed shaking beneath me. The sun was shining blindingly bright through the window, and outside, I could hear the sound of the city bustling below. I could hear the sound of distant music; I hadpletely forgotten, but there was supposed to be an event in the park across the street today, and E was excited to go.

    ¡°Come on!¡± E eximed as she jumped up and down excitedly on my bed. ¡°Wake up! Let¡¯s go outside!¡±

    I groaned, feeling my stomach turn from the bed moving beneath me. If E continued her jumping, she would make me throw up.

    ¡°Give me a minute, E,¡± I said, but she wasn¡¯t listening. She was too busy jumping and giggling and chattering about getting ice cream at the park.

    I didn¡¯t think before I spoke next, and as soon as I did, I realized how my voice sounded. I felt so nauseous from being jostled around that I didn¡¯t consider how I might havee across as being mean. ¡°E,¡± I said firmly, ¡°stop jumping on the bed. Right now.¡±

    E suddenly fell silent. Almost as soon as the words escaped my mouth, I knew that I had made a mistake. Without another word, E sniffled and quickly jumped off the bed, running from the room before I could stop her.

    ¡°E, honey, I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said, forgetting my nausea as I quickly climbed out of bed and went after her. I walked next door to her room, but when I tried to turn the doorknob, I realized that she had locked herself in.

    I sighed and knocked on the door. ¡°E?¡± I called. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry for snapping at you. Pleasee out.¡±

    Through the door, I heard a sniffle, followed by a muffled ¡°Go away!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Selina¡¯s voice suddenly said from behind me.

    I sighed and turned to face the housekeeper. ¡°I wasn¡¯t feeling well and I snapped at E for jumping on my bed,¡± I admitted. ¡°She locked herself in and won¡¯t talk to me now.¡±

    Selina let out a sigh herself. ¡°Children can be so fickle sometimes,¡± she replied. ¡°She¡¯ll get over it.¡±

    I nodded and went to return to my room to get dressed for the day, but Selina stopped me. ¡°Something is going on with you,¡± she said, lowering her voice. ¡°I can tell.¡±

    I frowned and shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m just sick with food poisoning,¡± I lied. ¡°E jumping on the bed made me nauseous¨C¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve only eaten the food I¡¯ve prepared, and I never prepare spoiled food.¡± Selina¡¯s voice was stern, but not entirely cold. I didn¡¯t know what to say; she was right about the food, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to admit my pregnancy just yet. If I was being honest, I still wasn¡¯t certain if I would tell anyone, as the possibility of aborting the pregnancy was still on the table.

    ¡°I¡­ I had a snack from a food truck the other day,¡± I lied again. ¡°It probably came from there.¡±

    Selina didn¡¯t seem to believe me. She narrowed her eyes and stared at me for a moment but didn¡¯t say anything else. With a nod, she turned on her heel and returned to her work. I let out a sigh of relief before returning to my room to shower and get ready for the day¡­ and to take another anti-nausea pill.

    ¡­

    E wound uping out of her room not long after I was finished getting ready. I apologized for yelling at her and she apologized for disturbing my sleep so unceremoniously, and we went on with our day. I even kept my promise of taking her to the park for ice cream; the fresh air actually helped with my nausea, and we spent the entire day outside without realizing it. By the time we came back, it was already dinnertime, and after we ate I sat with E on the floor next to the coffee table and helped her with her coloring.

    At some point, however, I must have fallen asleep without realizing it.

    I woke up an unknown amount of timeter to the feeling of someone watching me. As I cracked my eyes open, I realized that I wasying on the floor. Edrick was standing over me with his arms folded across his chest.

    ¡°Wake up,¡± he said, his voice sounding annoyed. ¡°Why did you fall asleep on the floor? It¡¯s hardly appropriate.¡±

    I groggily pushed myself up onto my palms and started to stand. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± I said. ¡°Where is E?¡±

    ¡°I already put her to bed.¡± Edrick sounded even more annoyed now and began to walk away before I could apologize again. Suddenly, as I started to stand, I felt another bout of sicknesse over me; this time, it presented itself not only in the form of nausea, but in the form of a pounding headache. I felt myself stumble as I tried to get to my feet.

    I started to fall, but Edrick quickly realized what was happening and leaped forward, catching me in his strong arms. I lingered there for a moment, half because I was unable to right myself due to how fast my head was spinning and half because the warmth of his embrace was tooforting for me to want to tear myself away.

    My face went red. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± I stammered, attempting to stand again as Edrick silently stared down at me with his steely gray eyes. His look of annoyance had changed to one of concern, although I could tell that he was trying to hide it. ¡°I just got a little dizzy¡­¡±

    As I tried to stand again, however, the dizziness only returned. I felt myself fall into Edrick¡¯s arms again, and then I suddenly felt him lift me up as though I weighed nothing.

    ¡°Here,¡± he said, walking over to the couch andying me down. I felt my body rx into the plush pillows, but at the same time, I already missed the feeling of his arms around me.

    I started to speak and tried to push myself up to a sitting position, but he shushed me and gently pushed me back down. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Just sleep here.¡±

    ¡­

    I wasn¡¯t sure exactly how long I was asleep. All I knew was that, almost as soon as Edrickid me down on the sofa, I found myself slipping into sleep without fuss for the first time in days. The pregnancy must have been exhausting me more than I expected it to.

    When I woke up, the living room was dark, illuminated only by the soft glow of the city lightsing in through the window. As I blinked the fogginess out of my eyes, I came to realize that I was lying beneath a warm nket with a soft pillow under my head. Had Selina or one of the maidse and tucked me in?

    I slowly sat up and looked around, realizing very quickly that it wasn¡¯t Selina or either of the maids that had taken such care to make mefortable¡­

    Because as I looked over at therge armchair across from me, I saw Edrick sleeping soundly.

 Chapter 48

    Chapter 48

    #Chapter 48: Dinner Invitation

    Moana

    Edrick looked so peaceful as he slept in the armchair. His dark hair was illuminated by the soft glow of

    the city lightsing in through the window, and even from where I wasying on the couch I could

    see his chest gently rising and falling.

    But almost as soon as I woke up, he woke up, too.

    He awoke with a start, his icy gray eyes opening immediately as though he had never been sleeping to

    begin with. It really felt as though the only thing keeping him asleep was the fact that I was asleep; as

    soon as I awoke, it was as if a spell was broken for him and he was wide awake once more.

    Our eyes locked for a long moment as he came to his senses.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I whispered. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to wake you.¡±

    Edrick abruptly stood. ¡°Since you seem well enough now, you should go sleep in your own bed. It¡¯s

    hardly appropriate for you to sleep on the couch.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t hide my frown as I sat up and pushed the nket off of myself ¡ª the nket that Edrick had

    apparently so lovingly tucked me into while I slept. I watched as he turned on his heel and headed

    toward his own bedroom, but his sudden harsh words had hurt me too much to let him go, and they

    hurt me even more now that I knew I was carrying his baby.

    ¡°Why do you have to be so cruel?¡± I asked, standing.

    He stopped in his tracks, his back tense as he faced away from me.

    I continued. ¡°I know that we terminated our agreement, but I don¡¯t see why we can¡¯t be friendly with

    each other.¡±

    Edrick was silent for several moments. Finally, he turned to face me. His eyes were narrowed and his

    jaw was clenched hard. ¡°Friendly?¡± he said, his voice so low it was almost a growl. ¡°What makes you

    think that we need to be friendly with each other? Have we not been over this enough times? I don¡¯t

    need to be friendly with my employees; I just need to pay them.¡±

    I blinked away the tears that began to form in my eyes before Edrick saw them. ¡°I think it¡¯s reasonable

    not to be too involved in each other¡¯s personal business, but what¡¯s not reasonable is for you to treat

    me like I¡¯m worthless every time you¡¯re around me. I¡¯d still like to be friends, you know.¡±

    Suddenly, Edrick spoke in a harsh, quick tone. ¡°If I didn¡¯t treat you like that, then I wouldn¡¯t be able to

    control myself around you.¡±

    I was taken aback by Edrick¡¯s sudden choice of words. It seemed that he was, too, judging from the

    way his eyes widened momentarily after he said them. I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but

    before I could, he abruptly turned on his heel and disappeared into his bedroom.

    After he left, I stood motionless in the middle of the living room as I stared at his bedroom door. I

    wanted to know what he meant, but it was no use now. Finally, I returned to my room that night and fell

    asleep not with a pain in my stomach, but rather a pain in my heart.

    ¡­

    The next morning, I awoke slightlyter than usual after such a tumultuous night, but it was still early. I

    slowly sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes, listening to the sound of a summer rain shower pattering

    against my window, before the blinking notification light on my phone caught my attention.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    I had a missed call from Ethan. He had left a voicemail.

    Furrowing my brow, I picked up my phone and opened the voicemail.

    ¡°Hey Moana,¡± he said, his sweet and warm voice such a stark contrast from Edrick¡¯s cold and distant

    demeanor. ¡°You can say no if you don¡¯t want to or if you think that you-know-who might get too upset,

    but I¡¯m going to be free this weekend and was wondering if you¡¯d like to go out for dinner with me. I

    know a ce that would be nice and private, so you wouldn¡¯t have to worry about anything. Let me

    know what you think.¡±

    The voicemail ended. I felt my face get hot and my heart start to race as I hung up my phone. I hadn¡¯t

    seen Ethan since the night of his exhibit, when Edrick and I kissed and nearly slept together in the heat

    of an argument¡­ And now, I was pregnant with Edrick¡¯s baby; it surely wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for me

    to go out for dinner with Ethan if I ever nned on keeping the baby.

    At the same time, however, I was incredibly lonely. Terminating my sleeping arrangement with Edrick

    had admittedly left me feeling isted, and this pregnancy ¡ª and the fact that I couldn¡¯t confide in

    anyone about it ¡ª only added to that feeling. Right now, more than anything, I felt as though I needed

    the support of a good friend.

    As I held my phone in my hand, wondering if I should call Ethan back, there was a sudden knock on

    the door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± I called.

    The door cracked open and a small, blonde head of hair poked through to look at me. E¡¯s hair was

    still messy from sleep, but her eyes were bright and full of excitement.

    ¡°Are you feeling better today, Moana?¡± E asked.

    I smiled and nodded, knowing fully well what she was getting at. The event in the park was still going

    on today, and I had promised her the day before that we would go back for the farmers¡¯ market.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied, although my stomach was actually still a little woozy from the morning sickness. ¡°Give

    me a little bit, and we can go to the farmers¡¯ market.¡±

    ¡°Yay!¡± E eximed. I watched, stifling augh, as she spun around and sped off toward her room.

    Once I was alone again, I crawled out of bed and headed to the bathroom, where I turned on the

    shower. The hot water washed away all of the negative feelings from the night before, but even as I got

    dressed, and even as the rain stopped and the sun came out, I couldn¡¯t shake Ethan¡¯s invitation out of

    my mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready!¡± E said,ing out of her room and doing a twirl. She was wearing an adorable blue and

    white checkered sundress and sandals, and I couldn¡¯t hide my smile.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be ready in a minute,¡± I said. ¡°Go wait by the door. And get your sun hat.¡±

    I watched as E skipped off ¡ª then, once she was gone, I gave in to temptation and pulled out my

    phone. I dialed Ethan, biting my lip as the phone rang.

    He picked up on the third ring.

    ¡°I take it you got my voicemail?¡± he said.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied, ncing over my shoulder as I stood in the middle of my bedroom. Even though I knew

    Edrick would be at work already, I admittedly felt a bit paranoid. I knew that speaking to Ethan was

    taboo.

    ¡°Well?¡± he asked. ¡°What do you say? You and me, fancy dinner?¡±

    At this point, I couldn¡¯t help but smile again as Ethan¡¯s kind and warm voice washed away all of my

    worries. ¡°Yeah,¡± I replied. ¡°I think I¡¯d like that.¡±

 Chapter 49

    Chapter 49

    #Chapter 49: Call the Midwife

    Moana

    After I hung up with Ethan, I felt a bit lighter with the prospect of enjoying dinner with a friend. I met E

    out in the foyer after that, and we went over to the farmers¡¯ market.

    ¡°Come on, Moana!¡± E yelled excitedly, pulling on my hand as we crossed the street to the park that

    was bustling with people.

    She looked absolutely adorable in her little blue and white checkered sundress and her big, floppy sun

    hat with the blue ribbon that wiggled when she moved her head.

    The stone pathway around the park was lined with various vendor stalls as we entered. Much of it was

    produce and canned goods, but there were also stalls with soft pretzels, face painting for children,

    handmade toys and clothing, and more. I had just deposited my first paycheck from Edrick, and had

    some money put aside after paying off arge chunk of my student loans. I double checked before we

    left the penthouse this time to make sure that I had my wallet, in order to avoid a repeat of the theme

    park.

    As the morning marched on, E and I slowly made our way around to all of the stalls. I bought us both

    soft pretzels to eat on a bench together, smiling as I watched E happily swinging her legs next to me,

    then took her to get her face painted. After that, we stopped at the stalls with the handmade toys and

    clothing, where I bought E a little handmade stuffed duck. At this stall, there was a rack of womens¡¯

    dresses for sale.

    E reached out her little hands and tugged on one of the dresses. It was a long, flowy dress in a sky

    blue color.

    ¡°Moana, this is so pretty!¡± she said, pointing. ¡°You could match me!¡±

    ¡°I take it that blue is someone¡¯s favorite color?¡± the attendant asked, looking at E with a big smile.

    E nodded matter-of-factly. ¡°Mhm. I love blue.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what,¡± the attendant said, standing anding over to check the price on the tag before

    looking at me. ¡°If you want to try it on, I¡¯ll give you a twenty-five percent discount. I think this color

    would be lovely on you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know,¡± I replied, feeling my face get red. ¡°I don¡¯t really have anywhere to wear something

    like that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a cotton dress,¡± the attendant chimed in with a wink. ¡°Besides, a pretty girl like you probably

    goes on plenty of dates with your husband.¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel like correcting the attendant, and between her affectatious smile and E¡¯s pleading look, I

    finally agreed. ¡°Okay,¡± I said, to which E squealed excitedly. ¡°I¡¯ll try it on.¡±

    The attendant grinned and took the dress off of the rack, then led me over to the back of the tent,

    where there was a curtain in the corner. She pulled the curtain aside to reveal a tiny makeshift dressing

    room with a standing mirror.

    ¡°Wait here, E,¡± I said, stepping inside and closing the curtain. I sighed once I was inside and held the

    dress up to myself; it was a pretty color, and the shape was nice. Maybe I could dress it down a bit to

    wear as an everyday dress, or to go out for lunch on my little crepe dates with E¡­ Or, perhaps, I

    could wear it to my date with Ethan.

    I quickly slipped off my own in dress and slipped on the blue one. My eyes widened as I looked at

    myself in the mirror; it really was beautiful on me. It reached down to my ankles and the skirt flowed

    when I moved, but the waist fit snugly to show off my curves. It had two thin straps that tied on my

    shoulders with soft, silky ribbons.

    I stepped out of the dressing room and twirled.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Oh, it looks lovely on you!¡± the attendant said as she sped her hands together. Meanwhile, E

    squealed again in delight.

    ¡°Will you wear it today?¡± E asked, jumping up and down. ¡°Please? I want to match!¡±

    I looked down at myself, wondering if I looked out of ce with nothing else on but my tote bag, my

    sandals, and my sun hat, but decided that it was worth it to make E happy.

    ¡­

    When we arrived back at the penthouse, I began to feel ill on the elevator. I hardly made it to the

    bathroom before I began to retch. When I was finished, I stood and leaned over the sink, taking deep

    breaths to soothe my nerves as the feeling of nausea lingered and the pounding in my head intensified.

    Suddenly, I heard someone clear their throat. I jumped and whirled around on my feet to see Selina

    standing in the doorway.

    ¡°Oh, g-good morning, Selina,¡± I said, my voice shaking slightly from the recent vomiting spell in

    combination with the shock of seeing her standing there.

    Without speaking, she suddenly walked toward me and brusquely cupped my breast in her hand with

    her brow furrowed.Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    ¡°Hey!¡± I shouted, jumping back and smacking her hand away as my face went bright red. ¡°What are you

    doing?¡±

    Selina frowned. ¡°Your breasts are heavy. Are you sure you¡¯re not pregnant?¡±

    My heart raced. I shook my head vigorously. ¡°I already told you I have food poisoning. Why do you

    keep fixating on it?¡±

    Selina¡¯s frown deepened even more and she narrowed her eyes. ¡°I was a midwife for many years, you

    know,¡± she said. ¡°I know a pregnant woman when I see one. But if you want to continue to lie to

    everyone, that¡¯s your choice.¡±

    Without another word, Selina turned on her heel and left my room.

    I scoffed incredulously at the old woman¡¯s forthright attitude. Of course she was correct, but I couldn¡¯t

    bring myself to admit the truth¡­ Especially not now that Edrick had been so tantly cruel to me over

    the past several days. I still wasn¡¯t sure whether I wanted to bring a child into a situation like that,

    where it would no doubt be treated just as cruelly by its own father, and I didn¡¯t want to tell anyone

    about the pregnancy if I was just going to have an abortion.

    After rinsing out my mouth with mouthwash, I walked back out to my bedroom and paused in front of

    the mirror. The blue dress really was beautiful. I turned this way and that in the mirror, admiring how the

    bodice fit so perfectly and how the skirt twirled when I moved ¡ª and then, without thinking, I turned to

    the side to look at my belly, and I imagined how it would look and feel eight months from now.

    I ran my hands over my belly and closed my eyes, imagining the feeling of the little one inside of me. I

    wondered if it would be a little girl like E, or a little boy. I wondered if the child would have red hair like

    me.

    I had always wanted children. Just¡­ not like this.

    But I didn¡¯t know if I could bring myself to end the pregnancy.

    ¡­

    Later that night, after dinner, I put E to bed and returned to my room. I took off my dress and hung it

    in the closet, then walked over to the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed.

    As I passed the bathroom sink, however, I did a double take and furrowed my brow.

    Someone ¡ª likely Selina ¡ª had ced a box of pregnancy tests on the sink.

    Part of me was somewhat annoyed at the housekeeper¡¯s blunt way of doing things, but I couldn¡¯t deny

    the fact that there was another,rger, part of me that was moved by her caring nature.

    Just then, for the first time in days, I felt Mina¡¯s presenceing out much more strongly. While I had

    felt her here and there over the past few days, she had onlye and gone briefly with few words, if

    any. Now, she seemed stronger and more able to talk.

    ¡°It¡¯s his baby,¡± she said, matter-of-factly.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied out loud, keeping my voice low. ¡°It¡¯s definitely his.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to keep it?¡± Mina asked.

    I paused for a moment, biting my lip thoughtfully before finally answering. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know, honestly,¡± I

    replied. ¡°I want to. I¡¯ve always wanted a little one of my own, but it¡¯s just¡­ It¡¯s not the best situation to

    bring a child into.¡±

    Now, Mina was silent for a moment. I could feel an ache in my chest, and I couldn¡¯t tell if it was more

    my pain or hers. Maybe both.

    ¡°I¡¯d like you to keep it,¡± she said. ¡°But I understand that he might not ept the baby, or treat it well.

    Ultimately, it¡¯s your decision, I suppose.¡±

    That, however, was precisely the problem. It was my decision, and the truth was that I didn¡¯t know

    which decision to make. I knew that I couldn¡¯t go on hiding this pregnancy forever. Selina already

    figured it out, and others would soon start to notice my belly growing.

    ¡°Will you be mad at me if I decide not to keep it?¡± I asked Mina. She didn¡¯t answer. In fact, while I was

    thinking to myself, I hadn¡¯t realized that her presence had faded away at all.

    I realized one thing, though: I would have to make a decision as soon as possible.

 Chapter 50

    Chapter 50

    #Chapter 50: Little Wolf

    Moana

    I woke up the next morning, after having stashed the box of unused pregnancy tests in my medicine

    cab, and felt even more sick than the day before. I was sure, as I achingly dragged myself out of

    bed and turned on the shower, that I would have to either end the pregnancy soon or tell someone

    about it; I couldn¡¯t go on feeling like this every day without some sort of support, and it was only going

    to get worse over time.

    The hot shower helped a bit with the nausea, and once I was dressed and took the medicine that the

    doctor gave me, I walked next door to wake E up.

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    ¡°Rise and shine,¡± I said, opening the curtains to let the sunlight in.

    E yawned and stretched, her small hands curled into fists. ¡°I¡¯m still tired¡­¡±

    ¡°I know, love, but you have training today,¡± I said. I walked over to the bed and pulled the covers down,

    causing E to shiver and grumble before she finally got up. Soon enough, I had her dressed for

    training.

    As we ate breakfast, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that Selina¡¯s eyes seemed to be fixed on me. I knew that

    she was expecting some sort of answer regarding the pregnancy tests, but I never took one.

    I took E to training that morning without fuss, where I decided to wait and read a book instead of my

    usual routine of going to the orphanage due to my upset stomach and lightheadedness. When E was

    finished with her training, I was just relieved to be going home where I could rest for a little bit.

    When we arrived back at the penthouse, E ran off to practice on the piano while I sunk down into the

    big armchair in the living room with a sigh. My feet felt sore and my head pounded, and it was still only

    midday.

    Without realizing it, my eyes eventually closed as I sat in the sun and I began to nod off.

    I was awoken at some point, however, by the feeling of someone shaking my shoulder. I groaned

    quietly as I cracked my eyes open. Selina was standing over me with a concerned look on her face.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said, stifling a yawn as I sat up. ¡°I must¡¯ve nodded off there for a little bit. Where¡¯s E?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s ying in her room,¡± Selina said. Then, she lowered her voice so only the two of us could hear.

    ¡°Did you take a pregnancy test?¡±

    I froze for a moment, recalling how I had shoved the box of tests out of sight the night before without

    taking one ¡ª because I already knew that I was pregnant. Even though I was moved by Selina¡¯s

    concern, however, I wasn¡¯t ready to disclose that just yet.

    ¡°Um, yes,¡± I lied, nodding. ¡°I took one. It was negative.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Selina narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. She clearly didn¡¯t believe me, and before I

    could borate on my lie to make it more believable, she pulled the unopened box of pregnancy tests

    out of her apron pocket and waved it in front of my face. ¡°You didn¡¯t take a test.¡±

    I gulped, snatching the box from her hand, and stood. ¡°You went into my room again? And, you went

    through my cupboards this time, no less?¡± Beyond the issue of the pregnancy, this felt like a privacy

    vition, and it made me more than a bit ufortable.

    Selina, however, was unfazed. She folded her thin arms across her chest and frowned at me. ¡°Why did

    you lie to me?¡± she asked. Her voice was cold and annoyed. ¡°What purpose would you have to avoid

    simply taking the test, just to be safe?¡±

    A knot started to form in my stomach as Selina spoke. I realized then that I couldn¡¯t get away with not

    telling her anymore; if I didn¡¯t tell her now, she would certainly figure it out eventually, assuming she

    already hadn¡¯t figured it out.

    ¡°Fine,¡± I said, throwing my hands up in defeat and lowering my voice. ¡°I already know I¡¯m pregnant.¡±

    Selina¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Do you know who the father is?¡± she asked.

    I paused, wondering if I should reveal that the father was Edrick. But even though Selina had given me

    several reasons over my time working here to trust her, I still couldn¡¯t be sure that she wouldn¡¯t tell

    Edrick that I was pregnant with his child immediately, so I chose to lie¡­ Or, at least, withhold some of

    the truth.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied, then, thinking for a moment, said: ¡°The baby is a werewolf. That¡¯s all I¡¯ll say.¡±

    Selina paused, then nodded. I could tell just from looking at the expression on her face that she had an

    idea as to who the father was, but she seemed to decide not to pry any further. I appreciated that. ¡°Well

    then,¡± she said with a sigh. ¡°What are you going to do about it?¡±

    As I shook my head and thought of the decision I had to make, I suddenly felt tearse to my eyes. ¡°I

    don¡¯t know,¡± I replied tearfully, sinking back down defeatedly into the big, plush armchair. ¡°I don¡¯t know

    whether I should keep it or not. I¡¯m afraid¡­ I¡¯m afraid that the father won¡¯t ept the child as his own.¡±

    Selina was silent for several moments. She stood as still as a statue, but then, much to my surprise,

    she reached down and hesitantly pulled me toward her. My eyes widened as she did this, but then I felt

    myself rx, leaning my forehead against her apron as the tears continued to flow. I felt her hand

    strokingfortingly over my hair, which was a stark change from the usual curt nature of the older

    woman.

    But then, just as quickly as it began, she stopped and pulled away.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you hide it for now. But only until next week. Do you understand?¡±

    I looked up at Selina, my brow furrowed. She was staring down at me; her expression had shifted from

    comforting to serious. I nodded. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll make a decision by then,¡± I responded.

    Selina nodded. She was silent again for a moment, then opened her mouth to speak, but closed it

    again and turned on her heel. Without another word, she scurried off.

    That evening, I began to notice subtle shifts in the housekeeper¡¯s actions and demeanor. She stopped

    what she was doing toe in and help me get E ready for dinner, then stayed with us while we ate,

    her eyes searching my face for any signs of nausea over the smell of the food. The food she prepared

    was hearty and gave me some strength for the first time since my dinner with Ethan, which was a

    weefort and something that I was incredibly grateful for.

    After dinner, Selina even helped me with getting E ready for bed. I thanked her profusely before

    retiring to my room, but not long after, I heard a soft knock on the door. I opened it to find no one there,

    but when I looked down, there was a tray of warm milk and a few small biscuits on the floor.

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile to myself at the housekeeper¡¯s sudden acts of kindness. It felt nice, after

    having been hiding the pregnancy, to have someone who was on my side and who could help me. It

    was something that I would always be grateful for, even if I decided not to go through with the

    pregnancy.

 Chapter 51

    Chapter 51

    #Chapter 51: The Dinner

    Moana

    Friday evening came much more quickly than I expected. I was nervous for my dinner with Ethan, more

    so because of the constant looming threat of Edrick finding out and getting upset than anything.

    I found Selina in the kitchen that morning and decided to tell her about my ns, since we had an

    understanding between us now and I knew I could trust her.

    ¡°Selina,¡± I said, walking up to her. ¡°I hope it¡¯s alright if I go out for dinner tonight. Will you be able to

    check on E while I¡¯m gone?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Selina said, not prying about who I would be dining with. She had been much more open

    toward me since she had learned about the pregnancy, and it was afort. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure E gets to

    bed, but just be back by ten o¡¯clock. Don¡¯t forget that E has training in the morning.¡±

    I nodded, just relieved to have an uing dinner that could possibly take my mind off of the baby for

    a little while and help me rx. The support of a good friend was all I really needed ¡ª I was sure of it.

    As I emerged from my room wearing my new blue dress with my hair curled and styled and a bit of

    minimal makeup on, however, I could tell from the wide eyed look on Edrick¡¯s face that he was a bit

    shocked by my appearance. He was still holding his briefcase with his suit jacket slung over his

    forearm, having juste home from work.

    For a moment, I stared at him with wide eyes, too. His tie was loosened, and the first few buttons of his

    shirt were undone. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing his veiny forearms, and his

    hair was a bit tousled. He must have taken a pit stop at his bar beforeing home. Admittedly, seeing

    him like this made me feel aroused, although I couldn¡¯t be sure if it was because of the pregnancy

    hormones or not.

    ¡°You look¡­¡± His voice faltered, and he quickly looked away. I knew that he wanted to say more, but he

    decided not to. ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    I felt my face get a little red and my heart skipped a beat. I had been hoping to leave without seeing

    him, but I couldn¡¯t not tell him anything, and I certainly couldn¡¯t tell him that I was having dinner with his

    brother.

    ¡°I¡¯m having dinner with a friend,¡± I said.

    The look on Edrick¡¯s face seemed to imply that he thought I was going on a date, not just dinner with a

    friend ¡ª but I was just having dinner with a friend. I had decided weeks ago that being anything more

    than friends with Ethan was not the best idea.

    ¡°Oh,¡± he said, clearing his throat and brushing past me, returning to his cold and indifferent demeanor

    once more. ¡°Well¡­ Try not to be back toote. Don¡¯t forget that E has training in the morning.¡±

    I nodded, averting my gaze, and gathered my purse before taking a deep breath and stepping onto the

    elevator.

    Even though Ethan offered to pick me up in front of the penthouse, I decided that it wasn¡¯t the best idea

    for Edrick to know who exactly I was going out with, so I walked a few blocks away toward the nearest

    subway station where Ethan was pulled over, waiting for me.

    A wide grin spread across Ethan¡¯s face as he got out of the car and came around to open my door for

    me. ¡°You look stunning,¡± he said. ¡°That dress¡­¡±

    ¡°E actually picked it out,¡± I said with a chuckle as I climbed into the car. His smile widening, Ethan

    closed the door and climbed back into the driver¡¯s seat.

    The next thing I knew, we were pulling up to a fancy restaurant down by the waterfront. Ethan held his

    arm out for me to take as we entered. I felt my face get hot and red as I hooked my arm with his, but

    that shyness turned to astonishment when I saw how beautiful the inside of the restaurant was. And it

    was empty, too.

    ¡°Did you¡­¡± I began, looking around at the empty restaurant with its high ceilings andrge windows

    overlooking the ocean below.

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    Ethan nodded. ¡°I rented the whole ce out. For privacy, of course.¡±

    A waiter came up to us then and showed us to a table. It was located not inside the restaurant, but

    rather on an intimate, covered balcony on the second floor.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have a bottle of wine to start,¡± Ethan said to the waiter, who nodded and scurried away before I

    had a chance to protest. How was I supposed to exin to Ethan that I couldn¡¯t drink alcohol because I

    was pregnant with his brother¡¯s baby?

    ¡°So¡­¡± Ethan said, leaning on the railing of the balcony and looking out over the ocean. ¡°How is

    everything going? With¡­ you-know-who. If you don¡¯t mind me asking, of course.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Edrick is Edrick,¡± I replied, not wanting to get into too much detail. ¡°I can¡¯t tell sometimes if

    he hates me or not.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s always been like that.¡± Ethan lifted his gaze from the ocean to look at me. ¡°Don¡¯t let it get to you,

    though. You¡¯re lovely. Whatever issues he has are issues with himself, not you.¡±

    His kind words made me smile a bit, but also made me feel a bit curious. Ethan and Edrick had grown

    up together, after all. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking,¡± I said, ¡°what was it like growing up in the Morgan

    household?¡±

    Ethan chuckled. ¡°Not as painless as one would expect, despite all of the luxuries provided for me,¡± he

    replied. ¡°You¡¯re aware that my mother isn¡¯t Verona, correct? Edrick is my half brother.¡±

    I nodded, averting my gaze. ¡°I¡¯ve gathered that.¡±

    Ethan shrugged nonchntly. ¡°Yeah. I know it seems a bit inappropriate for the offspring of a mistress

    to be raised in the home, but Verona was a good mother and treated me like her own. She always

    made sure to tell me that it wasn¡¯t my fault that her husband was unfaithful. Edrick, on the other

    hand¡­¡±

    ¡°He never epted it, did he?¡± I asked.

    Ethan shook his head.

    There was a moment of silence, followed by the waiter returning with a bottle of wine and two sses.

    Ethan gestured for me to sit as the waiter poured our wine and prattled off his spiel about where the

    wine was from, how long it had been aged, and the vor notes. When he was finished, he left us alone

    once more.

    I was about to mention that I would only be having water to drink when Ethan picked up his ss and

    raised it for a toast. ¡°A toast to the lovely Moana,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m d to have met you. Here¡¯s to not

    getting scolded by Edrick.¡±

    I chuckled nervously, trying my best to hide the fact that my heart quickened its pace and my nerves

    raised as I picked up my own ss of water instead, raising that for a toast.

    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind if I don¡¯t drink tonight, actually,¡± I said.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Ethan c****d his head. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± Then, jokingly: ¡°You¡¯re not pregnant, are you?¡±

 Chapter 52

    Chapter 52

    #Chapter 52: The Alpha¡¯s Gaze

    Moana

    ¡°You¡¯re not pregnant, are you?¡±

    I froze at Ethan¡¯s words, my eyes wide as I stuttered toe up with a response. ¡°I¨C I¡¯m not¨C¡±

    Ethan, seeing my ufortable struggle, lowered his ss and quickly shook his head to dispel the

    seriousness of the suggestion he had just made.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I was only joking. Maybe that wasn¡¯t a very appropriate thing to joke about. It¡¯s fine

    if you don¡¯t want to drink alcohol tonight.¡±

    I tried tough off Ethan¡¯s joke, but it was almost embarrassing how astute that joke actually was ¡ª if

    only he actually knew. Then, quickly, I fumbled in my mind to find the right excuse so as not to raise

    any more red gs about the reality of the situation. ¡°I just¡­ I need to be up early tomorrow, to take

    E to her training.¡±

    Ethan nodded understandingly, but oddly looked a little disappointed at the same time. I watched as he

    silently took a sip of his wine, then set the ss down.

    ¡°I hope that¡¯s okay,¡± I blurted out. ¡°I suppose I should¡¯ve said something before you spent the money on

    a bottle of wine.¡±

    ¡°No, no,¡± Ethan assured me. ¡°It¡¯s perfectly fine. Although, I must admit, I was secretly hoping for

    something.¡±

    I raised my eyebrows. ¡°Hoping for what?¡± Nothing could have prepared me for what Ethan said next.

    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m staying at my penthouse downtown for the weekend,¡± he said. ¡°Admittedly, I was hoping to

    bring you there tonight, but I suppose you can¡¯te since you¡¯ve got to be up early for E tomorrow.¡±

    I felt a bit taken aback by Ethan¡¯s admission, and a little ufortable. I had thought that we were just

    two friends going out for dinner; I never thought for even a moment that he brought me here tonight

    with the intention of taking me home to his penthouse for the night. I supposed, then, that it was silly of

    me to ever assume something like that, and it reminded me of how naive I had been on the night of my

    one night stand with Edrick, when I stupidly took a drink from a strange man.

    ¡°Ethan,¡± I said, frowning a little, ¡°I thought we were just going out for dinner¨C¡±

    Ethan¡¯s face went a little red, and he nodded. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m sorry. I just¡­ I guess I was hoping to have a

    little time to get to know you, without Edrick looming over us.¡±

    There were several long moments of palpable silence that hung so thickly in the air that I felt I could cut

    them with a knife. Just as it was bing unbearable, the waiter finally returned with two tes of

    food.

    ¡°Filet mignon for the gentleman,¡± the waiter said, abruptly ending the awkward silence, ¡°and penne a

    vodka for thedy.¡±

    The food smelled delightful, making us both momentarily forget our ufortable tension. For the first

    time in days, I actually wanted to eat. In fact, the food was so tantalizing, that as soon as I took the first

    bite, I knew that this very dish could perhaps be my first pregnancy food obsession.

    ¡°This is delicious,¡± I said, setting down my fork so as not to eat too fast, and savored the vor in my

    mouth.

    Ethan smiled and took a bite of his steak. For the remainder of the night, we didn¡¯t bring up the

    awkwardness surrounding Ethan¡¯s penthouse, and actually had a lovely time and many deep chats that

    made me temporarily forget about the looming issue at hand of the pregnancy.

    ¡­

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    Later that night, after enjoying a lovely dinner together, Ethan took me back to the spot where we

    initially met just outside the subway station.

    ¡°I really had a wonderful night,¡± I said. ¡°Thank you for everything.¡±

    Ethan smiled. ¡°I¡¯m d. And¡­ I really am sorry about that misunderstanding earlier. I know that it was

    inappropriate of me to assume that you would want to spend the night with me on our first real date.

    Can I be honest with you?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°I think I¡¯m a little jealous that you sleep with Edrick every night,¡± he said. ¡°I know it¡¯s just to help him

    sleep, and he¡¯s paying you for it, but¨C¡±

    ¡°We actually terminated our agreement,¡± I interrupted. ¡°On the night of the exhibition.¡±

    Ethan appeared to be taken aback. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I hope that I didn¡¯t somehow cause that.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No. It¡¯s alright ¡ª it was a weird arrangement anyway, so I¡¯m d that it¡¯s over.¡± I

    realized, as I finished talking, that my hand was on my belly. I quickly pulled it away and got out of the

    car as I pushed the memories of that night after the exhibition out of my head.

    ¡°Oh,¡± he said, looking a little relieved.

    I bit my lip, thinking for a moment, before speaking again. ¡°Ethan,¡± I said, taking a deep breath, ¡°I really

    value your friendship. I¡¯d like us to just stay friends, if that¡¯s alright.¡±

    Ethan stared down at hisp for a moment. He looked sad, but finally nodded understandingly after a

    few moments and shot me a soft smile. ¡°That¡¯s alright with me,¡± he said.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, feeling a little relieved that he wasn¡¯t too upset by it as men often could be when a

    woman told them that she just wanted to be friends. ¡°I would love to spend more time together, though.¡±

    Ethan nodded. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll see you soon, okay?¡±

    After that, he kissed my hand and I began my walk home.

    The streets were quiet, filled only by the sound of my heels clicking on the pavement. My belly felt full

    and satisfied after the wonderful meal, and I felt rxed after chatting with a good friend, despite the

    temporary difort of Ethan¡¯s proposition to return to his penthouse together.

    As I entered through the lobby of the apartment building and took the elevator up, however, I began to

    feel mounting anxiety as I wondered if Edrick would be awake. I hoped that he wouldn¡¯t question me

    any further about my dinner. If he found out that I secretly went out to dinner with his brother, who he

    insisted that I stay away from for whatever reason, it would only end in an argument.

    When I arrived back at the penthouse, everything was dark ¡ª except for a singlemp in the living

    room. I stepped into the room and crossed over to themp to shut it off, not realizing that Edrick was

    sitting in therge armchair by the couch until I passed by him.

    I stopped in my tracks, my heart racing already as I locked eyes with the Alpha billionaire. There was a

    whiskey ss in his hand and a hint of sadness behind his steely gray eyes as his gaze slid over my

    hair, my face, and eventually down to my new blue dress. His face contained a mixture of pain and

    attraction; the alcohol made him disy his emotions inly, as opposed to how closed off he had

    been earlier.

    ¡°Hello,¡± I said, clearing my throat to break the awkward silence. ¡°You¡¯re upte.¡±

    He didn¡¯t answer. With ast look at my dress, he turned on his heel and retreated to his room.

 Chapter 53

    Chapter 53

    #Chapter 53: Charity G

    Moana

    I didn¡¯t see Edrick the next day, or the day after that, for that matter. When he was not at work, he

    mostly stayed in his bedroom or in his study, and only spoke in brief words to me in passing. I couldn¡¯t

    help but wonder if he had some idea that I went out with his brother for dinner, although admittedly, I

    also didn¡¯t hear from Ethan at all either.

    As the days ticked on and Selina¡¯s deadline came closer, I still hadn¡¯t made a decision over whether to

    keep the baby or not. I appreciated the housekeeper¡¯s kind generosity, but I could tell that her patience

    was starting to wear thin. If I didn¡¯t make a decision soon, I was almost certain that she would say

    something to Edrick; the housekeeper no doubt realized immediately from my insinuations that the

    baby belonged to Edrick, and she was too loyal to the Morgan family not to say anything to him about

    it.

    I couldn¡¯t help but wonder about something else, too: if I decided to keep the baby, would it also be a

    good idea to finally tell Edrick that I had started showing signs of having my own wolf? Would he be

    more likely to ept the baby as his own if he knew that it wasn¡¯t actually a hybrid? But then again,

    would that also cause more disappointment for him down the line if the child wound up being wolfless?

    Mina still hadn¡¯t shown any signs of fully emerging any time soon, so there was no telling as to whether

    I was always going to be considered a human in everyone¡¯s eyes.

    Despite all of these questions floating around in my head, however, I still had a job to do. I spent the

    next few days tending to E as much as I could, and continued to take the nausea pills that the doctor

    prescribed me so that I could perform my job duties. If I did decide to keep this baby, I would have to

    know for certain that I would have enough job stability to at least be able to save up a bit of money in

    case Edrick decided to fire me if he found out. I couldn¡¯t be going around taking any more personal

    time off, upsetting Edrick, or shirking my job responsibilities due to nausea.

    One day, it was particrly rainy outside. I was sitting on the living room floor with E and putting

    together a puzzle with her when I suddenly heard the elevator doors open, and looked over my

    shoulder to see Edrick hanging his raincoat and umbre on the hook by the door.

    He saw me looking and frowned briefly, his eyes darting away as though he didn¡¯t even want to look at

    me, before he came to stand in front of E and myself.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he asked, his question directed at E instead of me, which I was getting used

    to at this point.

    ¡°A puzzle,¡± E replied thoughtfully as she dug through the pile of pieces to find the next piece of the

    giraffe that we were working on. ¡°It¡¯s an¡­ African¡­ Saforee.¡±

    ¡°African Safari,¡± I corrected her.

    ¡°Looks interesting,¡± Edrick said. It was strange of him to be socializing with both of us together

    considering how aloof he had beentely, but I figured that he was ramping up to something ¡ª and I

    realized that my assumptions were correct only a few momentster.

    ¡°Moana, I¡¯d like to talk to you,¡± he said, turning toward his study. I nodded and climbed to my feet,

    watching as he stormed off without another word. At that moment, I was certain that I was going to be

    scolded for something, and I could feel my heart quicken its pace. Had Selina mentioned the

    pregnancy to him after all?

    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back,¡± I said to the thoroughly distracted E, ruffling her hair before following Edrick and

    closing the study door behind me.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m holding a charity g tomorrow night,¡± Edrick replied. ¡°I expect you to be there.¡±

    I furrowed my brow, taken aback by the Alpha billionaire¡¯s sudden mention of charity. ¡°A charity g?¡± I

    asked. ¡°What for?¡±

    ¡°Contrary to popr belief, I do keep my promises,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s for the orphanage.¡±

    Now, I was even more taken aback. I thought back to myst conversation with Sophia, who told me

    that Edrick had been updating her on the process, but I never thought that he would go so far as to

    host a charity g for the orphanage¡¯s sake.

    Once my shock had faded enough for me to speak, I finally said, ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s really nice of you.

    Thank you.¡±

    Edrick shrugged. ¡°It looks good for thepany.¡±

    I didn¡¯t believe him. I knew that there was a tiny bit of the Alpha CEO deep down that secretly wanted

    to help people, but I didn¡¯t say that.

    ¡°Anyway,¡± he continued, ¡°be ready by six o¡¯clock.¡±

    I nodded and excused myself before turning to the door to leave, but just as I ced my hand on the

    doorknob, Edrick called after me onest time.

    ¡°Oh, and by the way,¡± he said, ¡°my brother won¡¯t be there. So there¡¯s no need for you to show off.¡±

    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

    I froze, my grip tightening on the doorknob. Had Edrick realized that I went on a date with Ethan after

    all?

    ¡°Show off?¡± I said, turning around to face him and feeling my hand curl up into a fist at my side. ¡°What¡¯s

    that supposed to mean?¡±

    Edrick scoffed. ¡°I saw how you were dressed the other night. You looked far too beautiful that night for

    someone who was just going out for a simple dinner with a friend.¡±

    I felt my face get red as Edrick called me beautiful, and judging from the surprised look that shed

    across his visage, I could tell that even he was a bit surprised by his own choice of words. ¡°Anyway,¡± he

    continued, turning around to face the window as well as to likely hide his own embarrassment, ¡°dress

    well tonight, of course, but don¡¯t dress too well. And remember: many of the people in attendance are

    going to be wealthy werewolf socialites, so I expect you to behave ordingly.¡±

    ¡°And¡­ As for E?¡± I asked, choosing to ignore the fact that he had essentially just told me that I

    couldn¡¯t be trusted to act appropriately in front of wealthy werewolves.

    Edrick turned around to face me once more. ¡°She¡¯ll being, too,¡± he said.

    I c****d my head. ¡°I thought you have to keep her from the public eye¨C¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Edrick said, waving me away with his hand, ¡°but the g will only have trusted friends and family

    in attendance, as well as only a few trusted reporters. I¡¯m not worried, so long as you keep her

    upied.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Is that all?¡±

    Edrick nodded as well. ¡°Yes. You can go now.¡±

    Without another word, I turned and left the room. I still felt strange around Edrick after ourst

    interaction, when he essentially told me that my social ss was too lowly for him to treat me with

    respect ¡ª but, at the very least, he hadn¡¯t mentioned the pregnancy. I was relieved to know that Selina

    had indeed kept her promise to keep my secret, although I wasn¡¯t sure for how much longer.

 Chapter 54

    Chapter 54

    #Chapter 54: G Day

    Moana

    On the morning of the g, I woke up early with E to get ready for the day. She had an appointment

    with a stylist and hairdresser before the g. Selina exined to me, after I questioned the reasoning

    behind this for such a little girl, that it wasmonce for these sorts of events. Even though E

    was not publicly known as Edrick¡¯s daughter, everyone in attendance at the g was aware of it, and it

    was important for public rtions for Edrick¡¯s daughter to look her best ¡ª even though she was only

    eight years old. It felt a little ridiculous to me for such a young girl to be subjected to hours of having her

    hair done and being fitted for a perfect dress, but I didn¡¯tin.

    Once E was bathed, we walked out to the dining room for breakfast. Much to my surprise, Edrick was

    sitting there with his te of food, a coffee, and a newspaper.

    ¡°Good morning, Daddy,¡± E said, walking up to him and nting a kiss on his cheek.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Good morning, Princess,¡± he replied, not so much as looking in my general direction. ¡°Are you excited

    to get your hair done?¡±

    E sighed and sat down at the table. ¡°No,¡± she grumbled as she began to pick at her eggs and

    sausage with her fork. ¡°I hate getting my hair done.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be alright, E,¡± I chimed in as I sat down next to her and tucked a napkin into the front of her shirt

    to keep her from getting scrambled eggs on her clothes. ¡°It¡¯s no different from now you y with your

    dolls and do their hair.¡±

    ¡°Except I¡¯m not a doll,¡± E said. ¡°I¡¯m a real girl.¡±

    I smiled and, wanting to cheer her up, gently tickled her waist and made her giggle. ¡°Well, you look like

    a doll!¡± I eximed. The air became filled with the sweet sound of the little girl¡¯sughter. I nced up

    momentarily to see Edrick¡¯s eyes gazing at me over his newspaper, but he quickly hid his face again.

    Just then, I turned around to start eating¡­ but that was when the smell of the eggs and sausage hit

    me. I felt as though I was about to retch. I couldn¡¯t keep a gag froming, which E unfortunately

    saw before I covered my mouth.

    ¡°Are you okay, Moana?¡± she asked. ¡°Are you gonna puke?¡±

    I shook my head, my eyes watering. I was still holding my hand over my mouth to steady myself as I

    breathed deeply through my nose ¡ª but as I did, the smell only worsened, and I gagged again.

    Selina, who had poked her head out of the kitchen at E¡¯s mention of vomit, suddenly saw what was

    happening and rushed over. She took my te away. I heard some banging around in the kitchen for a

    few minutes before she reemerged with a ck coffee and in toast.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I whispered.

    Selina only nodded. I took a sip of my coffee, feeling relieved, but that feeling of tension only returned

    as I looked up again to see that Edrick was now staring daggers at me over his newspaper. Surely he

    noticed that something was awry, but before I could say anything, he finished his meal and quickly

    stood. I watched as he nted a kiss on the top of E¡¯s head, then disappeared without a word.

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay, Moana?¡± E asked, c*****g her little head to the side with a concerned

    expression on her face. She spoke with her mouth full, giving her the appearance of a funny little

    chipmunk with her chubby cheeks.

    I nodded, taking my napkin to wipe a bit of sausage grease off of her lips, then pulled her te closer

    to her and tapped the edge of it with my finger. ¡°Eat your breakfast. The stylist will be here soon. Don¡¯t

    you want to go on our walk before she gets here?¡±

    E, satisfied with my response and excited now over the prospect of our morning walk, wolfed down

    the rest of her breakfast. I soon felt the positive effects of the ck coffee and in toast on my

    stomach, and felt well enough to go on our walk.

    When we returned from our walk, the stylist arrived soon afterwards. Once E was busy with the

    stylist, I headed to my room to get some rest before the g. Not long after Iid down, however, I was

    startled by a knock on the door. Before I could even answer, the door cracked open and Selina stepped

    in.

    I sat up, puzzled as she walked over to me with something in one hand and a ss of water in the

    other.

    ¡°Here,¡± she said, handing me the ss of water and opening her other hand to reveal tworge pills.

    ¡°They¡¯re vitamins for expecting mothers of werewolves. It should help with the nausea so you don¡¯t

    have any idents tonight.¡±

    I hesitantly took the pills, but I trusted Selina, so I popped them in my mouth and swallowed them.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. ¡°And thank you for what you did at breakfast this morning, too.¡±

    Selina didn¡¯t answer. I watched as she walked over to the door, but just before she left, she hesitated

    and looked over her shoulder.

    ¡°I hope you make your decision soon,¡± she said. ¡°Please try not to put it off for too much longer.¡±

    I bit my lip, then opened my mouth to speak, but she was already gone. I sighed,ying back down on

    my bed. Instead of resting, I spent the entire afternoon puzzling over what I should do about this baby.

    ¡­

    That night, I put on a simple, but elegant, ck dress with low heels, and a simple silver ne. I

    pulled my hair back into a half bun and put on some subtle makeup before walking out of my room.

    E was dressed in an adorable little emerald green dress with matching Mary Jane shoes and a pearl

    ne. The stylist had done an excellent job, even going so far as to weave tiny little pearls into

    E¡¯s hair.

    ¡°Moana, you¡¯re so pretty!¡± she said, running over to me with a grin on her face when I emerged from

    my room. ¡°You¡¯re like a princess.¡±

    I smiled and crouched down to her level, pinching her cheek with one hand. ¡°I think you¡¯re the only

    princess here,¡± I said, which made her cheeks turn rosy.

    Standing, I then took her small hand in mine before we stepped onto the elevator. Edrick was already

    waiting in the car, and as we made our way across the lobby, then stepped out into the warm summer

    air, I felt almost as if E and I were mother and daughter ourselves and began to feel a little emotional

    over it. I quickly pushed the thought out of my mind and chalked it up to the pregnancy hormones. The

    driver gave me a polite nod and opened the back door for us.

    We climbed in, and I noticed that Edrick was sitting in the back seat along with us. His cold gray eyes

    landed briefly on my stomach as we began to drive away, leaving a nervous lump in my throat.

 Chapter 55

    Chapter 55

    #Chapter 55: Out of ce

    Moana

    The drive to the g was quiet. E was too busy fiddling with the beads on her dress to talk much,

    and Edrick made no attempts at holding a conversation with me. I felt self conscious after the way he

    looked at my belly when I got in the car ¡ª was I already beginning to show signs of being pregnant, or

    was it only a coincidence?

    Eventually, the driver pulled up to the curb outside arge stone building with huge marble columns on

    the front. Edrick told us to wait until the driver came and opened the door, then E and I got out first.

    She held firmly onto my hand as we approached the building, clearly just as nervous as I was. Her

    nerves only seemed to heighten when we stepped inside and she realized that there were no other

    children around.

    ¡°Moana?¡± E whispered, tugging at my dress while giving me big doe eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t like it here.¡±

    ¡°I know, love,¡± I said, pulling her closer. ¡°It¡¯s okay, though. We¡¯ll stick together all night.¡±

    E nodded. Edrick was already being osted by wealthy werewolf socialites and fellow CEOs, so

    E and I quietly slipped away.

    We weaved our way through the small crowd. The g appeared to be fairly private, with only a few

    journalists milling about and taking photos of people. It was lovely, but I felt out of ce as a human.

    The inside of the building was old and well-kept, with tall ceilings, marble floors, and enormous marble

    columns throughout. The sound of the orchestra ying music echoed through the air along with the

    sounds of people¡¯s voices. There were rows of tables covered in beautiful meals and hors d¡¯oeuvres,

    although I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if I could even eat any of it without getting sick. Selina had given

    me that medicine earlier and it made me feel much better, but I was still traumatized from all of my

    vomiting spells over the past couple of weeks.

    Just then, as E and I were looking for a quiet ce to sit, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned

    around to see Sophia standing behind me with a huge smile stretched across her aging face.

    ¡°Look, E!¡± I said, tugging on E¡¯s hand and breaking her from her trance as she stared at a te of

    desserts. ¡°It¡¯s Sophia.¡± E immediately whipped around, her face lighting up as she saw Sophia. I

    watched as they hugged, then felt a smile spread across my face as Sophia straightened back up to

    hug me next. She appeared more vibrant and happy than I¡¯d ever seen her; there was no doubt in my

    mind that Edrick¡¯s donations were making her life and the children¡¯s lives so much better. Even if he

    was only doing this to make himself look good in the public eye, I was at least happy to know that she

    and the children were benefiting from it.

    ¡°It¡¯s lovely to see you,¡± I said, giving Sophia a tight hug.

    When we pulled away, she was still smiling, but her smile faded as she looked at me. ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    she said, still holding me by both arms. ¡°You look a little peaked.¡±

    I nodded, scrambling toe up with an excuse; I knew that I looked a little haggard from all of my

    morning sickness.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I had a bout of food poisoning not long ago.¡±

    Sophia seemed satisfied with this response. She then opened her mouth to say something else, but as

    she did, I noticed that she looked at my belly in the same way that Edrick had in the car. It was

    impossible for me to be showing already, wasn¡¯t it? But then again, I knew next to nothing about

    werewolf pregnancies. Maybe they showed sooner. After Sophia looked at me like that, I made sure to

    hold my purse in front of my belly.

    ¡°It¡¯s a lovely g, isn¡¯t it?¡± I said nervously, just wanting to redirect the center of attention away from

    myself.

    ¡°It is,¡± she said, tearing her eyes away from my belly and looking out over the crowd. ¡°Edrick really

    outdid himself.¡±

    I felt a little bit relieved. ¡°You know, I really am so grateful for all of this,¡± she said to me. If I looked

    closely enough, I could see what looked like tears beginning to well up in her eyes. ¡°With the official

    start of the foundation, so many children¡¯s lives are going to be changed for the better.¡±

    Sophia¡¯s words made me smile. ¡°Is that why you chose this career?¡± I asked, realizing now that I had

    never had the chance to talk deeply with Sophia about her goals and passions in life.

    She nodded vehemently. ¡°Of course. You know, children don¡¯t choose to be born. They have no control

    over their heritage, and often they¡¯re at the mercy of their caregivers to see to it that they¡¯re taken care

    of. Not all children have the golden opportunity to grow up in a loving home where they can be well fed

    and have a promising future, and it¡¯s often even harder for human children to find that.¡± She paused,

    dabbing at her eye with a handkerchief. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I just get a little emotional. It breaks my

    heart to think about how this society can harm helpless children in so many ways. And people just

    allow it.¡±

    I reached out, squeezing Sophia¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Sophia,¡± I said. ¡°Your emotions are what will

    change the lives of so many children. We need more people like you.¡±

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    Sophia smiled tearfully.

    Just then, the speeches began. Edrick stood up on the stage first behind the podium, and for the first

    time, I had the chance to see his diplomacy in person.

    ¡°Thank you all foring tonight,¡± he said, leaning into the microphone a bit. ¡°This past month, I have

    had the pleasure of getting to know the director of the Oceanside Orphanage¡­¡±

    Edrick¡¯s speech went on for several minutes. I felt almost enthralled by his eloquence as he spoke, and

    was even moved by some of the kind things that he said about the orphanage. I knew that a lot of it

    was only fabricated to make his image as a CEO look better, but it still made me wonder if there was

    indeed a tiny shred of light inside his dark and cold soul.

    After Edrick¡¯s speech, Kelly also gave a speech. I was surprised to see her speaking at the g, and

    even more surprised when Sophia leaned over and whispered in my ear that Kelly was one of the

    biggest donors to the foundation so far. Was Kelly secretly a much kinder person than I previously

    thought, or did she have some sort of ulterior motive?

    The speeches ended, followed by a champagne toast. I felt a bit ufortable, trying to hide the fact

    that I wasn¡¯t drinking. Thankfully, Sophia didn¡¯t seem to notice. The orchestra began to y music and

    people began to flock to the dance floor in groups of two.

    Sophia turned toward me with a smile on her face. ¡°Are you going to da¨C¡± she began, but stopped as

    her eyes caught something behind me, and her smile widened.

    ¡°Kelly!¡± she eximed. ¡°How nice to see you!¡±

 Chapter 56

    Chapter 56

    #Chapter 56: A Good Match

    Moana

    Just as Sophia was going to ask if I was going to dance, her eyes caught something behind me and her

    face lit up. ¡°Kelly!¡± she eximed, waving over my shoulder. ¡°How nice to see you!¡±

    I felt myself tense, as did E, who was still holding my hand. I turned around slowly to see Kelly

    approaching. I hadn¡¯t noticed before from where I stood and because she was standing behind the

    podium, but her dress was inappropriately tight and low cut for a charity g, and she appeared to

    already be tipsy as she walked up to us. She brushed right past me, as if I wasn¡¯t even there, and

    walked straight up to Sophia.

    ¡°Thank you so much for your donation,¡± Sophia said, smiling widely and holding her hand out for Kelly

    to shake.

    Kelly gave Sophia¡¯s hand a half-hearted ¡ª and almost disgusted ¡ª squeeze and swirled the bubbly

    champagne around in her ss. ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure,¡± she said.

    I was still surprised that Kelly, of all people, would donate any money at all to a foundation for human

    orphanages, but perhaps she really wasn¡¯t as bad as I had originally thought. ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you,¡±

    I said.

    Kelly looked over at me as though I hadn¡¯t been standing there at all, and as though she only noticed

    me when I finally spoke. ¡°Oh, Moana,¡± she said, flicking a strand of blonde hair over her thin shoulder.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were here¡­ You know Sophia?¡±

    I nodded, but before I could say anything, E suddenly spoke up. ¡°Moana grew up at the orphanage!¡±

    she eximed excitedly, unaware of the implications of revealing something like that. Kelly¡¯s eyes

    immediately narrowed, and as she looked at me, her gaze felt as sharp as a dagger.

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Kelly asked. As she looked at me, I sensed a hint of mocking humor behind her icy eyes.

    ¡°It is,¡± I said, choosing to not let her nasty demeanor take hold of me as I pushed my shoulders back

    proudly. ¡°Sophia was, and still is, an angel for caring for children as much as she does.¡±

    Kelly paused for a long, ufortable moment. ¡°It¡¯s funny,¡± she said, licking her lips and taking a sip of

    her champagne, her eyes still fixed on me over the top of the ss, ¡°I actually didn¡¯t know that at all

    when I originally donated to my close friend¡¯s foundation.¡±

    I supposed that was why she donated so much; if she had known that Oceanside Orphanage was the

    orphanage that I grew up in, I was certain that she wouldn¡¯t have donated anything at all.

    Then, as though a switch had been flipped, she perked up when she saw Edrick walk across the dance

    floor ahead of us. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to dance,¡± she said, her voice breathy. ¡°It was a pleasure seeing you

    both.¡± I watched, unconvinced by her titudes, as she sauntered over to Edrick.

    They spoke for a minute, then walked over to the dance floor and pressed their bodies together closely.

    Knowing now that I was carrying Edrick¡¯s child in my belly, I felt even more jealous than I had on the

    day that I first met Kelly ¡ª but I had to push those feelings down, because as both Edrick and Selina

    said, I was just the nanny. I wasn¡¯t a romantic option for him, and I likely never would be.

    Sophia, however, seemed to have a different opinion of Kelly ¡ª one that was likely blinded by herrge

    donation.

    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

    ¡°Hm,¡± she said, watching them dance. ¡°They seem to be a good match, don¡¯t they?¡±

    I felt an ache in my chest at Sophia¡¯s words. Suddenly, as though she shared my mind, E spoke up

    again. ¡°No way!¡± she said, folding her arms. ¡°They are not a good match!¡±

    Even though I agreed with E, Sophia and I couldn¡¯t help butugh a bit at the little girl¡¯s brutal

    honesty.

    ¡­

    Sophia and I eventually parted ways, as E continuously insisted on tugging me closer and closer to

    the dessert table. With a promise to say goodbye before we left, I finally relented and let E pick

    something out to eat ¡ª and I couldn¡¯t resist getting something for myself, too.

    As we were looking for a ce to sit, we heard a familiar voice calling E¡¯s name and looked up to see

    Verona sitting at a table nearby, beckoning for E. E squealed excitedly and ran over to her

    grandmother, leaving me trailing behind with our tes of food.

    ¡°Hello, darling,¡± Verona said, kissing E on both cheeks as I approached. ¡°My, look at your little green

    dress. You¡¯re as cute as a button.¡± She looked up at me then, and cast me a warm smile. ¡°Enjoying the

    g, Moana?¡±

    I nodded, setting E¡¯s te down in front of her. Verona gestured for me to take the open chair on the

    other side of E, which I did, and tucked a napkin into the front of E¡¯s dress to keep her from getting

    cake icing all over herself.

    ¡°I would dance,¡± Verona said, ¡°but it seems that my husband is nowhere to be found. And my son

    already has a dance partner.¡±

    I nced over at the dance floor to see Edrick and Kelly dancing closely to the rhythm of the music. He

    had told me before that she was just a friend, but that was always the mostmon excuse in these

    sorts of situations with men and women, so I couldn¡¯t be fully sure. The way that he gazed down at her

    gave me a slight pang in my chest, but I ignored it and smiled back at Verona.

    ¡°Still,¡± she continued, breaking my train of thought, ¡°I like yourpany. And yours, too, little Miss E.¡±

    With a smile, she reached out and pinched E¡¯s cheek, which was full of cake. I was certain that I

    would be dealing with a sugar high from the little girlter.

    The older woman¡¯s kind words were a wee change from her son¡¯s coldness at home, but I couldn¡¯t

    stop thinking about what she had just said. It brought me back to the night that heid me down on the

    couch, and how he fell asleep in the armchair next to me. After that, he had said that he couldn¡¯t control

    himself around me¡­ I still hadn¡¯t gotten an exnation as to what that meant exactly, although I was

    fairly sure that it was in reference to our lustful history together.

    I spent the next few minutes sitting with Verona and chatting while E enjoyed her cake. It was a

    wee distraction from the difort of being the only human at the party.

    My nerves returned, however, when Edrick suddenly appeared beside the table. When I looked up, he

    was staring down at me with those icy gray eyes I had be so familiar with.

    ¡°Moana,¡± he said, gesturing toward the bar, ¡°should I get you a drink?¡±

    I froze. I felt my face get hot as my eyes flickered down to my ss of water. ¡°No thank you,¡± I replied,

    hoping that I didn¡¯t sound suspicious. ¡°I¡¯m not drinking tonight.¡±

 Chapter 57

    Chapter 57

    #Chapter 57: Social Climber

    Edrick

    Throughout the g, I tried not to look too long at the way Moana¡¯s body looked in her dress ¡ª but

    there was also something else that caught my eye and held my attention, even while I was busy

    schmoozing with other wealthy socialites to get donations for the foundation.

    Her belly, which was always slim with nice curves at the waist, was a little bit rounder.

    I quickly looked away as her eyes met mine, chalking it up in my head to the simple monthly

    fluctuations in a woman¡¯s body; besides, if she gained a little weight, maybe it was good for her. As far

    as I was aware, she had next to no money before she began working for me, so maybe she didn¡¯t get

    enough to eat and now her body was settling into a healthier weight.

    Soon, however, I had to push aside these thoughts as it was time to give my speech. Kelly, who made

    a generouslyrge donation prior to the g, made a speech as well, followed by Sophia, who said a

    few words of gratitude. When the speeches were finished, there was a champagne toast followed by a

    dance portion of the event.

    I stood off to the side, watching as the couples that hade together ¡ª many of them married ¡ª

    headed toward the dance floor. I wasn¡¯t nning on dancing, but when Kelly scurried up to me with a

    particr look on her pointed face, I knew what wasing.

    ¡°I think you owe me a dance after what happened at that family banquet,¡± she said, shooting me a

    sultry look as she sauntered up to me. ¡°What do you say?¡±

    ¡°Ah, no,¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°I really should be mingling.¡±

    ¡°Do you think that you¡¯ll get any extra donations if you clearly refuse a dance from ady?¡± she asked,

    cing her hands on her hips. I noticed that she was wearing an almost inappropriately tight and low-

    cut dress, and seemed to be wearing a brand new diamond ne. Kelly had always been the type

    to obsess over fashion, but as we grew up together, it became more and more obvious to me at events

    such as these that she was dressing particrly slutty, forck of a better word, to try and get my

    attention ¡ª even though I told her repeatedly that we could only ever be friends.

    I sighed, shutting my eyes for a moment, before finally relenting and holding out my arm for her to take.

    Kelly grinned as we made our way to the dance floor, then pressed her body ufortably close to

    mine when we began to dance.

    ¡°So,¡± Kelly said, flicking her hair over her shoulder, ¡°you didn¡¯t tell me that this orphanage was the same

    one that your nanny grew up in.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Is there a problem with that?¡±

    Kelly scoffed. ¡°No, not at all,¡± she said, her voice sounding overtly mncholy. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡±

    ¡°She knows the director of the orphanage,¡± I interjected. ¡°It¡¯s just business. It¡¯s better for PR.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Kelly nced over her shoulder at Moana, who was speaking with Sophia. She had a ss of

    water in her hand, rather than champagne, which I found a bit odd, and also seemed to be doing that

    thing that she had been doing quite frequentlytely¡­

    Holding her stomach.

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    Kelly, noticing this, looked at me with a sly smirk. ¡°She¡¯s gained a little weight, no?¡± she asked. ¡°What

    are you feeding her?¡±

    Seeing Moana drinking water and holding her belly like that, and thinking about her sudden bouts of

    nauseately, made me wonder already. Meanwhile, Kelly¡¯sment only added to my suspicions.

    Was Moana pregnant?

    It couldn¡¯t possibly be mine. I was always careful, and we had had our one night stand over a month

    ago. Surely, it was someone else¡¯s.

    I thought, then, back to Moana¡¯s secret fling with none other than my own brother. They had been

    running around together at the night of the family banquet, and possibly even before that since they

    apparently knew each other through their volunteer work at the orphanage. Was it his?

    The dance came to an end, and I couldn¡¯t contain my curiosity any further. Kelly made her way across

    the dance floor to carouse with one of her friends, but I stood there for several moments, still as a

    statue, as I watched Moana. She was now sitting with my mother. Finally, Moana¡¯s eyes met mine, and

    I straightened my tie before walking over to her.

    ¡°Ah, there you are,¡± my mother said, reaching out to squeeze my hand as I approached. ¡°I just heard

    that Sophia, the director from the orphanage, was looking for you.¡± I nced over the crowd, breaking

    my gaze from Moana temporarily, to see Sophia lock eyes with me and wave for me toe over.

    Sighing, I straightened my tie again to go and talk to her. My investigation of Moana¡¯s strange behavior

    would have to be put on hold. I made my way over to Sophia, who beamed at me brightly.

    ¡°Edrick, I really can¡¯t thank you enough for what you¡¯re doing for the orphanage,¡± she said. ¡°Really. The

    children are so excited, and they wanted to give you this.¡± She pulled a small envelope out of her purse

    and handed it to me.

    Furrowing my brow, I opened the envelope and pulled out a small, handmade card. It was only a single

    piece of paper folded over with crayon stick figures drawn on it, and on the outside, it read ¡°Thank You,

    Mr. Morgan!¡± while inside was a series of children¡¯s names, all also written in crayon ¡ª some of the

    letters were backwards, and the warm thank-yous were often misspelled.

    For a moment, I forgot all about my strife with Moana as I looked down at the card and imagined each

    of the children taking extreme care to write their names and their little messages, and although I would

    never admit it to anyone, I was touched.

    I nced up at Sophia then, who was still beaming at me, but something else caught my eye over her

    shoulder as I noticed Moana. Her red hair cascaded down her back, and the ck dress she wore

    hugs her curves, although not nearly as perfectly as the sky blue dress she wore the other day at the

    farmers¡¯ market¡­

    I blinked, refocusing my eyes on Sophia as I pushed Moana¡¯s appearance out of my mind. I couldn¡¯t be

    looking at her like this. It wasn¡¯t healthy or professional.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said to Sophia, tucking the card into the inner pocket of my suit jacket. ¡°Enjoy the g.¡±

    Finally, after being stopped by a few other potential donors, I made my way back to where my mother

    sat with Moana.

    ¡°Can I get either of you a drink?¡± I asked.

    My mother shook her head. Moana froze for a moment, her freckled cheeks turning a slight tinge of red

    before she shook her head and averted her eyes. ¡°No thank you,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not drinking tonight.¡±

    I frowned. There was one thing that is almost certain: Moana was pregnant, and it was likely my

    brother¡¯s baby.

    Did she really think she can hide that from me?

 Chapter 58

    Chapter 58

    #Chapter 58: Keeping Secrets

    Moana

    Edrick¡¯s eyes shed with recognition as I refused a drink. I knew, then, that he was onto me. Edrick

    quickly disappeared into the crowd again, leaving me alone with Verona once more, but that interaction

    alone was enough to cause me such stress that I suddenly felt as though I was going to throw up.

    ¡°Excuse me,¡± I said, pushing my chair back and standing. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a moment.¡±

    Before Verona had the chance to respond, I quickly turned on my heel and beelined for the bathroom,

    holding my hand over my mouth to keep myself from vomiting. Thankfully, the bathroom was empty

    when I entered, and I barely made it to the toilet before the contents of my stomach poured out.

    When I was finished throwing up, I flushed the toilet and stood shakily, leaning on the side of the

    bathroom stall for a moment to steady myself before walking over to the sink. I took a few deep breaths

    and calmed my nerves before digging into my purse for a mint, then left to get myself some ginger ale

    to calm my stomach.

    As I made my way to the bar, I felt weak and shaky, but not entirely from the nausea. Not only did I feel

    completely out of ce at this party as the only human, but I also felt that Edrick would potentially

    discover my pregnancy tonight¡­ And I wasn¡¯t ready.

    I leaned on the bar and asked the bartender for a ginger ale, trying my best to steady my nerves. Just

    then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see Kelly standing beside me. She looked drunk, but

    also contemptuously devious.

    ¡°Just a ginger ale?¡± she asked.

    I nodded.

    A smirk spread across her face. She nced over her shoulder toward where Edrick was standing,

    then back at me, and looked me up and down.

    ¡°You know,¡± she said, leaning closer to me, ¡°from girl to girl¡­ That dress isn¡¯t fooling anybody.¡±

    I frowned, taking a step back, and looked down at myself. I thought I looked perfectly fine. ¡°What are

    you talking about?¡± I asked.

    Kelly scoffed. ¡°Let me be blunt. I know you probably grew up being half starved, so maybe you have

    some issues when ites to controlling your appetite, but maybey off the fancy foods for a bit. Your

    belly is looking a little¡­¡± She stopped, then, and gestured with her hand around her stomach in an

    arching motion to indicate a round belly.

    My jaw dropped at Kelly¡¯s rude words. ¡°That¡¯s a nasty thing to say,¡± I replied, narrowing my eyes.

    Kelly simply shrugged and picked up her fresh drink off of the bar. ¡°I¡¯m just telling the truth,¡± she said,

    before turning on her heel and sauntering off into the crowd.

    I felt tearsing to my eyes, but I blinked them away. Once I had my ginger ale in my hand, I

    returned to E, who gave me a worried look as I sat down. So did Verona.

    ¡°Are you alright, dear?¡± Verona asked, eyeing my ginger ale.

    I nodded. ¡°Yes. Just a little too much sugar in that cake for my stomach to handle right now,¡± I lied. ¡°I¡¯m

    okay, though.¡±

    E leaned over to me, cupping her hands over her mouth. ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll eat your cake instead,¡± she

    whispered.

    Verona, overhearing this, threw her head back andughed loudly. I couldn¡¯t help butugh, either.

    ¡­

    Soon enough, the g ended and it was time to go home. I said my goodbyes to Verona and Sophia,

    ignoring the cold look from Kelly as I got into the car, and watched as the building faded away in the

    distance.

    I looked over at Edrick, who was sitting across from me. He was staring out the window.

    ¡°That was a nice g,¡± I said, wanting to ease some of the tension. We hadn¡¯t said more than two

    words to each other since he asked if I would drink alcohol.

    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

    ¡°Mhm,¡± was all he said.

    ¡°Your speech was lovely as well,¡± I continued. ¡°You spoke very eloquently. It was nice to hear you

    speak so affectionately about the orphanage.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s eyes flickered over to me, and they were cold and bitter. He began to clench and unclench his

    jaw repeatedly, as he often did when he was angry. It made my heart race.

    There was a long, ufortable silence. E seemed to notice this, and apparently decided to take it

    upon herself to lighten the mood.

    ¡°Daddy,¡± she said, swinging her legs from her car seat, ¡°Grandma taught me a new joke tonight. Can I

    tell you?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Knock knock!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    ¡°Orange!¡±

    ¡°Orange who?¡±

    ¡°Orange you d to see me?¡±

    I chuckled at E¡¯s pun, but Edrick only exhaled sharply through his nose and returned to staring

    silently out the window. E looked over at me with a puzzled expression on her face. I reached out

    and squeezed her hand.

    ¡°I liked your joke,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re very funny.¡±

    By the time we arrived back at the penthouse, despite E¡¯s sugar consumption, she was already fast

    asleep. Edrick carried her onto the elevator, and when the doors slid open at the top, Selina was

    waiting for us in the foyer.

    ¡°How was the g?¡± she asked quietly as she took Edrick¡¯s suit jacket.

    ¡°It was lovely,¡± I began¡­

    But I was quickly interrupted by Edrick suddenly spinning around to face me. ¡°Did you have something

    important to tell me tonight?¡± he asked, rather brusquely.

    I felt my heart leap into my throat. E still slept on his shoulder, which normally would have been a

    wee relief, but now I wished she was awake more than ever ¡ª because if she was awake,

    perhaps Edrick wouldn¡¯t have asked a question like that so suddenly and openly.

    I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing woulde out. From behind him, Selina stared at me with

    wide eyes, slowly shaking her head.

    ¡°Uh¨C No,¡± I replied, swallowing the lump in my throat. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Hmph,¡± Edrick muttered. Before anyone could say anything else, he turned around and marched off to

    E¡¯s room. Once he was gone, I felt my body rx almost entirely, and now I felt even more

    exhausted than before.

    ¡°Go on,¡± Selina said, noticing my exhaustion. ¡°I¡¯ll bring you some more medicine in a little bit.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I whispered, then scurried off to my room.

    Once I was alone again, I drew in a shaky breath. Surely Edrick knew about the pregnancy; even Kelly

    had mentioned that my belly looked bigger, and I was certain that Edrick had noticed all of the other

    signs. Would I be without a job tomorrow?

    There was no use in puzzling over these issues, because what was done was done. I tried my best to

    push the anxiety away as I changed out of my dress and into my pajamas. I washed my face with cold

    water in the bathroom sink and brushed my teeth, wishing that things could just be different.

    Not long after I climbed into bed, I heard a soft knock on the door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± I called.

    Selina shuffled in. She had an entire bottle of pills in her hand this time, and poured two out into her

    hand as she approached. I noticed that the bottle had a logo of a wolf¡¯s head on it and it seemed to be

    a multivitamin specifically for pregnant women.

    ¡°Here,¡± she said. ¡°These should help with your symptoms. They¡¯re stronger than the others I gave you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I replied. I popped the pills into my mouth and washed them down with a gulp of water

    while Selina watched.

    ¡°I think you need to make a decision by tomorrow,¡± she said, shooting me a knowing look before turning

    and making her way back toward the door, the bottle of pills still in her hand. ¡°If you¡¯re going to keep it,

    you need to start making doctor¡¯s visits. The pregnancy will be very hard on you as a human carrying a

    little werewolf.¡±

    I nodded somberly, then watched as Selina quietly slipped out of my room. As Iid back on the bed, I

    felt more tearse to my eyes before I began to drift off to sleep.

    I hadn¡¯t been asleep for long, however, when I was suddenly alerted by the sound of my door opening

    abruptly.

 Chapter 59

    Chapter 59

    #Chapter 59: The Truth Comes Out

    Edrick

    I put E to bed myself that night. It was calming to see how peacefully she slept; if only I could have

    slept like that. As I returned to my room, still fuming over whether Moana was lying to me or not, I felt

    as though my daughter¡¯s nanny was being suspicious.

    I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that Moana was pregnant with my brother¡¯s baby. I knew that she went out

    for dinner with him the other night, and had seen him multiple times before that. For all I knew, she only

    ever epted the job with me to try to climb the social sses, and now she had gotten herself

    knocked up by my brother. I wanted to believe that I was wrong, that she really was just sick and

    gaining a little weight, but I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something more was going on behind the

    scenes.

    For quite a while, I tossed and turned in bed. Finally, I gave up on sleep altogether and decided to get

    myself a drink from the minibar. I grumbled to myself, feeling rather a lot like a grumpy old man with

    insomnia, as I climbed out of bed and headed out of my room.

    The living room was peaceful and quiet when I walked in. Surely everyone else was already asleep.

    The only sounds I could hear were the sounds of the city outside, and the only light that illuminated the

    room was the soft glow of the city lightsing in through the big open window. I sighed as I poured

    myself a ss of whiskey, then walked over to the double doors leading out onto the balcony and

    swung them open. I stood out there for a few minutes, drinking my whiskey as I leaned on the railing

    and looked down at the city below.

    As I stood on the balcony and looked down at the city, all I could think about was how suspicious

    Moana¡¯s behavior had been recently.

    She¡¯d been sick with ¡°food poisoning¡± now for far longer than the three to five days that food poisoning

    would typicallyst. The smell of eggs and sausage made her gag, she was constantly touching her

    stomach, and I couldn¡¯t forget that night that she fell asleep on the living room floor. I would never admit

    it, but that night was the first night since we terminated our sleeping agreement that I actually got a little

    sleep without having to take sleeping pills or drink too much alcohol.

    Speaking of alcohol: my ss of whiskey was already empty.

    I sighed and turned around to go and pour myself another ss.

    But just as I did, I caught a glimpse of Selina sneaking out of Moana¡¯s room ¡ª and she was holding

    something in her hand.

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    ¡°Selina?¡± I called from where I stood in the balcony doorway. She froze. I could see her slip whatever

    she was holding into her apron pocket, and I frowned. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I was just checking on Moana,¡± Selina said. ¡°She¡¯s been sick.¡±

    My frown deepened. I approached Selina, and as I did, I could tell that she was hiding something from

    me. Were my own loyal servants, who had worked for me for years, hiding something so important

    from me?

    ¡°Did you give her medicine?¡± I asked.

    Selina nodded. She still had her hand in her apron pocket, as though that would stop me from noticing,

    but she saw me looking and took her hand out.

    ¡°Show me what you gave her, please,¡± I said quietly.

    Selina hesitated for a moment. I had never seen the housekeeper so nervous before. Normally, she

    was as cool as a cucumber. ¡°Selina,¡± I insisted, e on.¡±

    Finally, she let out a deep sigh and pulled the object out of her pocket: it was a bottle of pills. I took the

    pills from her hand and turned it over in my palm, taking in a sharp breath when I read thebel. They

    were pregnancy vitamins.

    ¡°I knew it,¡± I said, holding the bottle up. ¡°Why does it seem that everyone in my house wants to keep

    things from me?¡±

    Seeing the bottle made me begin to fume even more than I already was. I had asked Moana if she had

    anything important to tell me, and she had said that there was nothing. I wanted to trust her ¡ª I really

    did. I was going to give her the benefit of the doubt, and I was even going to offer to pay for a doctor¡¯s

    visit in the morning to sort out what was happening with her stomach, since she¡¯d seemed so haggard

    lately. And yet, all along, both my nanny and my loyal housekeeper had been keeping something much

    more important from me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be mad at her,¡± Selina said, reaching out and touching the arm that was holding the bottle of

    pills. I didn¡¯t realize it at the time, but I had already be so angry that my hand was shaking. ¡°She¡¯s

    going through a lot right now. Give her time.¡±

    ¡°This is important, Selina,¡± I said, speaking through my teeth. ¡°How long have you known?¡±

    Selina shook her head. Her hand was still gripping my arm. ¡°Only less than a week,¡± she said. ¡°She just

    found out, herself. She told me she was going to make a decision about what to do by the end of this

    week.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯ve known for several days now and you couldn¡¯t be bothered to mention it to me?¡± I snarled.

    ¡°I¡¯m her employer. Her performance with my daughter has been slipping and I think that I deserved to

    know why earlier.¡±

    Selina sighed, shutting her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and looked at me with a

    serious expression on her face. ¡°I promised I wouldn¡¯t say anything until the end of the week,¡± she said,

    her voice low. ¡°Telling on her would have only caused more upset for her¨C¡±

    ¡°Do either of you know who the father is?¡± I asked. My mind went back once again to all of the times

    that Moana spent private time with Ethan. How was I to know that, on the night of the family banquet,

    they might have had s*x when no one else was around? Is it some sort of n of hers to ensure her

    future in the Morgan family? Is she really was just like E¡¯s mother: a scheming woman with no regard

    for anyone except herself? By doing this, she was hurting my daughter.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said. ¡°She didn¡¯t say. She only mentioned that the baby will be a werewolf.¡±

    I froze. So, my suspicions were solidified; Moana had, most definitely, intentionally gotten herself

    knocked up by my brother so she could use the baby to enjoy the finer things in life for herself. That

    must have been why she secretly went out for dinner with him the other night. Did he really think that

    he could rent out an entire restaurant for his date with my daughter¡¯s nanny and I wouldn¡¯t notice? Did

    he even know about the pregnancy yet?

    I had to confront her right now. I brushed past Selina and began to storm toward Moana¡¯s door.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Selina called, running after me. ¡°She¡¯s sleeping now. It can wait until morning.¡±

    Selina grabbed my arm again, but I tore away from her and closed the distance between myself and

    Moana¡¯s room. The bottle of pills was still in my hand as I grabbed the doorknob and flung the door

    open.

 Chapter 60

    Chapter 60

    #Chapter 60: The Billionaire¡¯s Baby

    Moana

    I had just begun to drift off to sleep. Somehow, I had made it through the g, and Edrick hadn¡¯t pried

    about the pregnancy. Maybe he didn¡¯t actually realize it after all; maybe it was just my nerves getting to

    me, and the Edrick I saw that night was only him being his usual abrasive and cold self.

    As I began to fade off into sleep, the tears on my cheek drying, I felt much more at peace. I would still

    have to make a decision soon, but at least I could do it in my own time.

    Oh, how wrong I was!

    I must not have been asleep for more than ten minutes at the most when I was suddenly startled

    awake by the sound of my door flinging open. I gasped and sat up in bed, my eyes wide and still full of

    tears from before and my heart racing as my fight or flight response kicked in, to see Edrick standing in

    my doorway.

    ¡°Edrick¡­?¡± I said, clutching my chest with my hand as my heart pounded. ¡°What are you doing in my

    room like this?¡±

    He stormed toward my bed. Selina came rushing in after him, but it was toote; he was already

    holding the bottle of pregnancy vitamins in front of my face.

    ¡°If you have something to tell me, now is the time to do it,¡± he growled.

    I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The lump in my throat was toorge, and I felt

    cornered and helpless. When I looked up at Edrick, his eyes were glowing slightly. He was breathing

    heavily through his nose while his free hand was ced firmly on his hip. The hand that was holding

    the bottle of pills was trembling slightly, creating a soft rattling sound from the pills moving inside.

    ¡°I¨C I don¡¯t¨C¡±

    ¡°Go on,¡± Edrick snarled, shaking the bottle again. His eyes burned with fury as he stared intently at me,

    as though doing so would make me feel even remotelyfortable enough to tell him the truth about

    the pregnancy. Now, more than ever, I just wanted to abort the pregnancy and be done with it ¡ª how

    could I bring a child into a world where his or her own father treated me like this? He was being erratic

    and frightening, barging into my room like this in the middle of the night.

    He smelled like whiskey, too.

    ¡°Have you been drinking again?¡± I asked, scooting away from him on the bed.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t try to twist it around on me,¡± he replied. ¡°Just tell me what it is you¡¯ve been hiding. I think I

    have the right to know as your employer, especially when it affects your ability to do your goddamn

    job!¡±

    ¡°Edrick, leave her alone,¡± Selina insisted. She came over to him and tried to take the bottle of pills from

    him, but he wrenched his arm away and only fumed even harder.

    ¡°I¡¯m giving you a chance here, Moana,¡± he said through his teeth. As he spoke, I could see that his

    fangs were showing slightly from his anger, and it made my heart race faster than I ever thought it

    could. I felt like a frightened rabbit in front of the big, bad wolf. Where was Mina when I needed her?

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    I still couldn¡¯t answer.

    Finally, Edrick seemed to be too impatient to wait for my response, because he threw the bottle of

    pills down on my bed and red at me with an intensity that I had never seen before.

    ¡°Fine then,¡± he snarled, curling up his fists into balls. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to tell me the truth, and you

    want to sit here and lie to me after I¡¯ve given you a home and a decent sry, then you can leave. I

    want you gone within the month.¡±

    My eyes widened. I felt a pang in my stomach, and it made me want to vomit. I was pregnant with his

    baby, and yet here he was, osting me in the middle of the night and telling me to get out. He was

    sending me back to the streets, where I would certainly be homeless, and would potentially even

    lose the baby.

    ¡°W-Why?¡± I asked, crawling out from underneath my nkets and standing too quickly. As I stood, I

    suddenly felt lightheaded. Selina, seeing this, rushed over to me and held my arm to steady me. I sunk

    back down to sit on the edge of the bed, and when my eyes refocused, I looked up to see Edrick still

    standing there with fury written across his face. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± I asked again. My voice was

    soft and meek, and quivered slightly from the tears that threatened toe out.

    Edrick sneered. ¡°I know you¡¯ve been hiding a pregnancy,¡± he said. ¡°A little werewolf, hm? Tell me, was

    this your scheme all along? A way to get money or climb the social ranks? A way to go from a lowly

    human orphan who can¡¯t even get a job to a woman of high standing with a werewolf child?¡±

    I wanted to tell him that I wasn¡¯t even a human, that I had already shown signs of my own wolf

    emerging, but I didn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t. Before I could say anything, he continued.

    ¡°See if the father will ept the baby,¡± he said, his voice low and sinister. ¡°You might think he¡¯s

    someone who would, but I can guarantee he won¡¯t. I told you that he¡¯s not who you think he is, but you

    didn¡¯t listen. No, you went and got yourself knocked up with his child, and he¡¯s going tough you back

    out into the streets when you try to go to him and ask for a ce to stay.¡±

    I frowned then. Who was he referring to? Was it Ethan?

    ¡°Edrick,¡± I said, ¡°who do you think the father is?¡±

    Edrick let out a short, sharp breath that sounded like augh. ¡°Who else would it be if not Ethan?¡± he

    snarled.

    I went silent for a moment, puzzling over how he hade to that conclusion. Ethan and I were just

    friends ¡ª hadn¡¯t I made that clear to him? Aside from the brief moment at the family banquet that there

    was a bit of chemistry between us, I had never once thought about going so far as to sleep with

    Edrick¡¯s own brother. I wasn¡¯t a cheap w***e who would do something like that!

    I opened my mouth to tell Edrick that I had never slept with his brother, but before it coulde out, he

    continued.

    ¡°Now,¡± he said, ¡°like I told you, you have until the end of the month to get your things and get out. I

    don¡¯t want to see you anymore, hear from you anymore, and I especially don¡¯t want you hanging

    around my dau¨C¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s your baby!¡± I finally blurted out, surprising even myself from my sudden outburst. My eyes widened

    as I looked back at Edrick, who took a staggering step backwards. Beside me, Selina whispered

    something to herself and took a deep breath, clutching the bedpost at the foot of my bed.

    The room, which had just been full of anger, was now filled with nothing but shocked, disbelieving

    silence from Selina, Edrick, and even myself.

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61

    #Chapter 61: The Love of a Child

    Moana

    ¡°It¡¯s your baby!¡± I blurted out.

    Edrick fell silent, his eyes wide with disbelief. Beside me, Selina gasped and pped a hand over her

    mouth. Even I was shocked by my own candidness.

    ¡°I¨C I¡¯ll leave you two alone,¡± Selina muttered. I didn¡¯t break my gaze from Edrick, but I heard the sound

    of her feet scurrying toward the door followed by the sound of the door closing.

    Edrick was silent for the longest time before he finally spoke. ¡°Is this true?¡± His voice was so low it was

    almost a whisper, a stark contrast from how angrily he was speaking to me before.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied, nodding solemnly. ¡°It¡¯s yours. Five weeks along ¡ª six, now, actually.¡±

    Edrick went silent again. He seemed to be calcting. I just hoped that he trusted me enough to

    believe me. Finally, he nodded and I felt my heart rate go back down in relief. I watched as he sat down

    on the armchair across from my bed and sank down into it, holding his hand on his forehead as he

    stared at the floor.

    Finally, he said something. ¡°Are you going to keep it?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I replied. ¡°I guess I want to, but I think that you should have a say in it, too.¡±

    He nodded, then finally removed his hand from in front of his face and leaned forward with his elbows

    on his knees, looking at me with a somber expression. ¡°It¡¯s your choice,¡± he said. ¡°If you want to keep

    it, then it¡¯s up to you.¡±

    I wanted to be relieved, but there was still the looming question of whether or not the baby would have

    a father in its life, as well as whether I would keep my job.

    ¡°Do you still want me out within the month?¡± I asked, my voice quivering slightly as I tried to calm my

    anxiety.

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Edrick said, much to my surprise. ¡°E is too attached to you for me to send you away,

    and above all else, I want what¡¯s best for her.¡±

    I let out a small sigh of relief. ¡°So you ept the baby as your own, then?¡±

    Once again, Edrick was silent. The longer he didn¡¯t speak, the more I felt as though my heart was

    going to pound out of my chest. My anxieties only increased when his face, which had softened

    temporarily when I told him about my pregnancy, suddenly hardened again. He stood and crossed over

    to the window, looking out over the city below.

    ¡°I ept the baby as my own,¡± he said finally. I let out another sigh of relief, but he wasn¡¯t finished. ¡°But

    not publicly. And I hope you understand that I will never marry you, so if all of this was some sort of

    twisted scheme to marry a rich man, then maybe you should abort the pregnancy after all and save the

    child the same heartache that¨C¡±

    He stopped suddenly in the middle of his sentence. I furrowed my brow and c****d my head for a

    moment, wondering what he was going to say, but I was more concerned by how he mentioned that he

    would never marry me. Not only that, but he also seriously thought that I woulde up with a twisted

    n like that.

    ¡°I would never use a child for some sort of sick ulterior motive.¡± I said.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    He turned around, his expression cold and emotionless, and started to head toward the door before

    pausing and turning back to face me with that steely gray gaze I had be so familiar with.

    ¡°Like I said, the choice is yours. If you want to keep the baby, I¡¯ll provide the necessary financial

    support to ensure that the child leads a good life, just like E. But keep in mind as you make your

    decision that you will never get a marriage out of this. We will be co-parents and nothing more.¡±

    His voice was steady and matter-of-fact, as though he were simply giving a financial report to his

    business colleagues and not speaking to the mother of his second child.

    I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes at the Alpha billionaire¡¯s cold demeanor. To him, it seemed that

    discovering that he was potentially going to have another child was just another business transaction.

    Regardless, I swallowed my emotions and nodded, averting my gaze to the floor.

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± I said.

    Edrick nodded as well. Then, without another word, he left the room.

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    Almost as soon as I was alone once more, the tears began to flow. Because of my low social status as

    a human nanny, not only was I undeserving of respect, but my child was also undeserving of parents

    that were in amitted, loving marriage. It sickened me to my core, and as I began to sob, I couldn¡¯t

    stop myself from thinking that this really would not be a healthy situation to bring a child into. Any child

    deserved to be epted and loved unconditionally by both parents.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do, Mina,¡± I said out loud, not thinking what the implications could be if someone

    overheard me. I just needed guidance and support.

    She didn¡¯t respond. In fact, I hardly felt her presence at all. Even though her presence had always been

    sporadic since the first dream I had about her, I could tell that this pregnancy and the heartache

    surrounding it was weakening her. If I went through with the pregnancy before she emerged, would she

    ever be able to emerge at all?

    As I realized that even my own wolf wasn¡¯t there tofort me, a choked sob escaped my throat. I

    curled up on my bed in the fetal position and cried uncontrobly into my pillow, clutching at the sheets

    like the earth would simply tip over and I would fall into a void. I was crying so intensely, in fact, that I

    never noticed the sound of my door opening and never heard the sound of small, bare feet padding up

    to the side of my bed.

    My crying only ceased when I felt a tiny hand stroking my hair. I suddenly halted my sobs and opened

    my eyes to see E standing beside my bed with a worried expression on her sleepy face.

    ¡°Are you okay, Moana?¡± she asked.

    I stifled another sob and managed a smile as I wiped the tears away from my hot face with my hand.

    ¡°I¡¯m okay now,¡± I said, reaching out and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. ¡°Thank you for

    checking on me.¡±

    ¡°I heard you crying from my room. Did you have a bad dream?¡±

    I nodded, relieved that she only thought I had a bad dream instead of hearing the conversation

    between her father and I.

    E paused, then yawned. ¡°I can sleep with you if you¡¯re scared,¡± she said.

    My heart skipped a beat. Even when the world felt cruel and cold, the warmth and generosity of small

    children was always afort. I smiled, ignoring the feeling of more tears streaming down my cheeks,

    and held the nket up for her to climb in. When she did, I wrapped my arms around her and felt her

    nuzzle down into my chest like a small kitten. I kissed the top of her head, and she was asleep within

    minutes.

    That night, I slept peacefully for the first time in weeks.

 Chapter 62

    Chapter 62

    #Chapter 62: Like Mother and Daughter

    Edrick

    I couldn¡¯t believe my ears.

    Moana was pregnant, just as I had suspected¡­ but she was pregnant with my child.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    At first, I didn¡¯t want to believe her, but the pleading look on her face told me all I needed to know. I

    could tell that she was being truthful ¡ª there was no doubt about it. But at the same time, I couldn¡¯t

    quite tell if she was being truthful about her original intentions. Was this really just an ident, or did

    she intend on getting pregnant with my child from the beginning?

    I thought back to the night that we had our one night stand as I walked back to my room. I was drunk

    that night, so the memory was hazy, but I remembered how she seemed to be unable to resist me in

    the back of the car. When I took her up to the hotel room I¡¯d booked for her, she had practically leaped

    on me and began kissing me all over.

    Don¡¯t get me wrong: I couldn¡¯t resist her either, for some strange reason. I normally had very few issues

    when it came to women, especially human women. But that night, I remembered wanting her just as

    much as she wanted me. Still, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if she knew exactly what she was doing that

    night, and I wondered if her intentions were impure.

    After she told me that she was pregnant, I knew that I couldn¡¯t live with myself if I sent her away or

    disowned both her and the child. Beyond the fact that I was too responsible to be an absent father,

    regardless of how I felt about the mother, I also knew how much E loved Moana. E had forced

    every Nanny we tried to hire out of our lives, but she had a special connection with Moana that I didn¡¯t

    have the heart to break. E was the light of my life, and I couldn¡¯t bear to send Moana away if it meant

    seeing E sad.

    I did, however, tell Moana that I couldn¡¯t marry her. Not only was she a human of low social standing

    and it would never go over well with my family, especially my father, but I also simply didn¡¯t believe in

    marriage. After what happened with my mother and father, and then what happened with E¡¯s mother,

    I felt that marriage was just a way to open myself up to unnecessary pain. I would provide for Moana

    and our child, but I would never get romantically involved, and I would certainly never make her my

    wife.

    In a way that I wasn¡¯t going to admit as well, I was excited about the prospect of having a little one.

    As Iid in bed that night, I thought back to how it felt to hold E for the first time. She came out of her

    mother too early, and she was so incredibly tiny ¡ª but her personality was big. Right from the start, she

    was a fiery little ball of energy. I remembered, when I first held her, how she scrunched up her tiny nose

    and let out an ear-piercing wail, but then wrapped her tiny little hand around my forefinger and held it

    so tightly I thought she¡¯d break it off.

    Even though I could never see myself admitting it, I was over the moon to experience that feeling

    again, regardless of whether the baby was a werewolf or not.

    I just hoped that my own family wouldn¡¯t treat the child poorly. I knew my mother would treat the child

    just the same as she treated E, but my father was a different story. Even with E, he was cold and

    indifferent because she was illegitimate. For the new baby to be illegitimate and half human?

    There was no telling how he would act.

    ¡­

    The next morning, after a fitful night of sleep, I woke up with the urge to spend some time with my

    daughter. As I emerged into the living room, I was surprised to discover that neither E nor Moana

    were awake yet, so I went to E¡¯s room to wake her up.

    I knocked softly on the door, then cracked it open, expecting to see her still fast asleep or even ying

    quietly with her stuffed animals ¡ª but as I stepped into her room and approached the pile of nkets

    on her bed, I quickly realized that she wasn¡¯t there.

    Strange¡­ I decided that she might have been with Moana, so I walked next door to the other room.

    The door was already cracked open when I approached. Figuring that they were already awake, I

    opened it further.

    I felt a pang in my chest as I looked over to see Moana still asleep, and beside her, wrapped tightly in

    her arms, E was fast asleep as well.

    For a long few moments, I stood in the doorway and looked upon the scene in front of me. Sunlight was

    streaming in through the open window, casting a warm amber glow on Moana and my daughter. They

    slept so peacefully in each other¡¯s arms that it was almost as though E was her own daughter, too,

    and that she wasn¡¯t just the nanny.

    The way the sunlight hit Moana¡¯s hair made it look even more red and fiery, and it illuminated the

    freckles that were dotted across her nose. The nket was pulled down a bit, exposing her bare

    shoulders and shapely breasts in her nightgown. Her chest moved up and down gently, and in that

    moment, she was¡­ beautiful.

    But then, her eyelids moved, and she cracked her eyes open. I took in a sharp breath and stepped

    away before she saw me.

    As I walked down the hall to go to my study, I shook my head to dispel the inappropriate thoughts that

    had umted there as I watched them sleep. Moana wasn¡¯t, and would never be, a romantic

    partner. What had urred between us was brief and lustful, and although a baby woulde out of

    what happened, I couldn¡¯t go back to it.

    I was a wealthy Alpha CEO from the extremely well-known and powerful Morgan family. Getting

    involved with a lowly human servant would be a detriment to my image, to mypany; it was already

    difficult enough to hide E¡¯s existence from the public eye. Thousands upon thousands of dors had

    been spent paying off journalists and paparazzi. I even went so far as to purchase the mountain estate

    so that I could send E away from the city whenever there was any sort of spection going on.

    Adding a half-human child as well as a rtionship with a human employee would be ten times worse.

    I briskly walked to my study and shut the door, letting out a deep sigh once I was inside.

    If Moana wanted to keep the baby, then I would do the right thing and take care of it. I would ensure

    that the child would have the best life possible, just like E. But, also just like E, the child would

    never publicly be revealed ¡ª not as my own, at least.

    In my mind, I even wondered if I should reveal the baby to my family, or if I should produce a lie that the

    baby belonged to another man. My father was already furious enough about E.

    He would only be even more furious about a baby with the human au pair.

 Chapter 63

    Chapter 63

    #Chapter 63: The Decision

    Moana

    A few more days passed after I told Edrick about the pregnancy. Not much about our rtionship

    changed, aside from an increase in the amount of side nces he would give me throughout the day.

    I kept puzzling over what he had said the night I told him.

    He had told me, in and simply, that he would ensure that the child had a good life here and that I

    could stay since E was already attached to me ¡ª but he would never publicly ept the child as his

    own, and he would certainly never marry me.

    I knew from the beginning that these two things would be true, but when he said it out loud, it felt so

    much worse. All I wanted for this baby was for him or her to experience growing up in a loving home

    with two parents who also loved each other. Yes, the child would have a wealthy father who would

    provide everything, but money could never rece thisck of love between Edrick and I. Furthermore,

    I knew that this child would never truly be epted by the Morgan family. E was one hundred

    percent werewolf, but even Edrick¡¯s father didn¡¯t treat her the same because she was born before

    Edrick and E¡¯s mother got married. As the days ticked on, all I could think about was how much

    worse Edrick¡¯s father would treat my child. I was nothing but a human servant in his eyes. For all

    intents and purposes, there was a good chance that Mina would never emerge and I would always

    technically be a human.

    Finally, after four days of this passed, I knew what I had to do.

    I simply couldn¡¯t go through with this pregnancy. If I was ever going to have a child of my own, it would

    be a product of love ¡ª not the product of a one night stand with a cold Alpha billionaire who would

    never see the mother of his child as a true equal.

    So, on the fourth day, I told Edrick my decision.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided what I¡¯m going to do,¡± I said as I stood in the middle of his study.

    He looked up at me from his desk. His face was mostly indifferent, but I could sense a bit of worry

    behind his gray eyes that it seemed as though he was trying to hide.

    ¡°And that decision is¡­?¡± he asked, leaning forward on his elbows.

    I took a deep breath, then swallowed the lump in my throat. ¡°I¡¯m going to abort the baby.¡±

    Edrick was silent. Whenever Mina was awake in the past few days, she begged inside of me to not go

    through with the abortion, but I kept ignoring her. She didn¡¯t understand the full weight of the situation,

    whereas I did.

    ¡°Are you sure about this? You know you still have time to make your decision,¡± Edrick finally said.

    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. I¡¯d prefer it if you took your time to really think about making such a momentous

    decision.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t believe my ears. Was Edrick actually concerned about the baby?

    But even then, I couldn¡¯t listen to him. I had spent the past four days spending every waking moment

    thinking about this. For the past four days, even my dreams had been filled with it, and I knew what I

    needed to do. I had to go with my head, not my heart; while my heart wanted to keep the baby, my

    head was telling me that going through with the pregnancy wouldn¡¯t be the right thing to do for the

    baby, myself, E, and even Edrick.

    ¡°I know,¡± I replied, averting my gaze to the floor to hide the tears that began to well up in my eyes. ¡°But

    I¡¯ve made up my mind already. The sooner it¡¯s over with, the better.¡±

    Edrick nodded despite the grim look on his face. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. His voice was low and sounded a

    little strained, but he agreed nheless. ¡°It¡¯s your decision. I¡¯ll be supportive of it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    There was another silence. I didn¡¯t know if I should leave or stay, until Edrick finally spoke again. ¡°I¡¯ll

    take you to the hospital tomorrow,¡± he said.

    The tears in my eyes welled up to the point where he was just an indiscriminate blob in front of me, but

    I blinked them away and choked out the only response I could muster.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡­

    I woke up early the next morning. Selina promised to care for E for the day, and would tell her that I

    was out visiting a friend so as not to raise any suspicions. I slowly dressed myself, feeling as though I

    was moving through a thick sludge as I went through the motions. I brushed my teeth, washed my face,

    and pulled my hair back. I could feel the suffocating summer heating in through the open window

    of my bedroom ¡ª or maybe I was just feeling hot and suffocated anyway.

    When I emerged into the foyer, Edrick was waiting for me. He avoided my eyes and didn¡¯t speak as we

    took the elevator downstairs. The driver brought the car around, but Edrick dismissed him and drove

    me himself so as not to expose my secret. Even throughout the whole car ride to the hospital, we

    stayed silent. I tried not to look at him as I sat in the passenger seat, but at one point I couldn¡¯t resist.

    When I looked over at him, I saw that his knuckles were white on the steering wheel, and he was

    clenching and unclenching his jaw.

    The full reality of the situation didn¡¯t hit me until I saw the hospitale into view. Suddenly, as we

    pulled into the parking lot, I felt my chest get tight and I lost my breath

    ¡°Please don¡¯t do this,¡± Mina begged. ¡°Please don¡¯t. I want to keep the baby.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± I replied internally. ¡°But the decision has been made. I have to do what¡¯s best.¡±

    ¡°How is this what¡¯s best? You know you want the child. Edrick wants the child, too. You don¡¯t have to do

    this.¡±

    After that, I didn¡¯t respond.

    Edrick pulled up to the front doors and finally turned to look at me for the first time that morning. When I

    looked at him, I could see a secret pain hiding behind his gray eyes, but he didn¡¯t show it fully.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware that you¡¯re still eligible for the pill abortion and could do it at home,¡± he said, ¡°but I¡¯ve

    arranged for you to have a private room until the process is over. I¡¯ll be back to pick you up tomorrow.¡±

    My eyes widened. I knew that he was just trying to protect E from finding out about what was going

    on and that he was trying to ensure myfort since there would be a lot of heavy bleeding, but he

    hadn¡¯t mentioned this earlier, and I had been expecting to at least go through with the process in the

    comfort of my own home.

    Part of me wanted to scream at him for being so concerned about his public image that he couldn¡¯t

    even considering in with me for the procedure, but I controlled myself and quietly opened the car

    door.

    ¡°Good luck,¡± was all he said.

    I didn¡¯t respond. Instead, I simply got out of the car and closed the door behind me with a pain in my

    heart.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

 Chapter 64

    Chapter 64

    #Chapter 64: Embryo

    Moana

    Swallowing my anger over Edrick¡¯s sudden choice to leave me at the hospital overnight and chalking it

    up to him simply wanting to protect his daughter, I took a deep breath and opened the car door before

    stepping out.

    I walked into the spacious lobby, where a secretary was sitting at a small desk. She shot me a

    confused look as I entered.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am, this is a werewolf hospital,¡± she said, her tone of voice sounding t and annoyed.

    This angered me even more than what Edrick had said in the car.

    ¡°I know,¡± I replied, walking up to her desk. ¡°I have an appointment.¡±

    The secretary stared at me for a moment, looking me up and down briefly, before she returned to

    slowly chewing her gum and clicking around on herputer. ¡°Name?¡±

    ¡°Moana Fowler,¡± I replied.

    She clicked around some more, muttering under her breath, before she seemed to find my

    appointment. She then wrote my name down on a name tag sticker and handed it to me. ¡°You¡¯re on the

    second floor. The elevator is over there.¡± She pointed behind herself without even turning, then

    promptly returned to clicking at herputer. I swallowed as I walked past her and pressed the button

    on the elevator.

    The elevator doors slid open. I stepped on, then pressed the button for the second floor. As I waited for

    the doors to open again at my destination, I realized that I was touching my stomach nervously, and

    quickly pulled my hand away as a tear came to my eye.

    ¡°You can still turn around,¡± Mina said. ¡°You can go home. There¡¯s no need to go through with this.¡±

    I ignored her.

    The elevator doors slid open on the second floor. I stepped out and followed the signs down the hall to

    the gynecology department, then walked through a set ofrge ss double doors. The inside of the

    gynecology department, to no surprise, was extremely nice withrge windows that looked out over a

    courtyard below and rows of plush chairs in the waiting area. Soft ssical music yed. Scattered

    around the room were various other patients waiting for their appointments; there were a few couples

    and some single women. All of them, of course, looked up at me when I entered, immediately noticing

    from myck of a scent that I was a human. One of the women turned and whispered something to her

    husband as I passed. I overheard her say something about how I didn¡¯t belong here, but I chose to

    ignore her and instead calmly walked up to the reception desk.

    ¡°Hello,¡± I said to the young nurse working at the desk, who thankfully smiled warmly at me. ¡°I have an

    appointment. Last name is Fowler.¡±

    The nurse nodded and looked at herputer, then looked back up at me and smiled again. ¡°You¡¯re all

    set, Miss Fowler. You can take a seat and the nurse will be right out.¡±

    I nodded and walked past the gossipy couple again before I found a seat by the window.

    As I sat, I only began to grow more and more nervous. Each time the nurse came out, I would feel my

    heart leap, only for it to rx again as she would call another patient¡¯s name.

    Eventually, however, it was my turn.

    The nurse led me to my private room. There was afortable bed and a couch inside with a nice, big

    window and even a small kitchte. The medical equipment, however, ruined the otherwise pleasant

    atmosphere.

    ¡°The doctor will be right in,¡± the nurse said, giving me a hospital gown before leaving me again.

    Once I was alone, I put on the hospital gown. It made me feel even more exposed and I couldn¡¯t bear

    my racing heart anymore. I wished, even though we weren¡¯t romantically involved, that Edrick had

    come here with me. It was terrifying to be doing this alone.

    Soon enough, the doctor came in with a soft knock on the door. He was a short older man with a bit of

    a hunch in his back as he walked, but his eyes were bright and youthful.

    ¡°Hello, Miss Fowler,¡± he said with a warm smile that helped me rx. ¡°I hear you¡¯reing in for an

    abortion.¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°We will have to perform an ultrasound to check to see exactly how far along the pregnancy is,¡± he said

    then. ¡°Go ahead andy back.¡±

    N?velDrama.Org holds this content.

    I nodded again. Lately, it felt as though nodding was the only thing I could do, as words didn¡¯t seem to

    be capable ofing out of my mouth because of the enormous lump in my throat. Iid back and put

    my feet up in the stirrups as the doctor asked. My heart raced as he began the internal ultrasound, and

    I closed my eyes against the feeling of the probe moving around inside of me.

    Thankfully, the ultrasound was over quickly; I had always hated those internal ultrasounds. The doctor

    helped me sit up again, then reached out and patted my handsfortingly as they sat clenched

    together in myp.

    ¡°There,¡± he said. ¡°Now that that¡¯s done, it is protocol for me to ask¡­ Would you like to see the

    ultrasound before you make your final decision?¡±

    I gulped, freezing for a moment. Of course I wanted to see the ultrasound, but I also worried that

    seeing the embryo would change my mind. I didn¡¯t know what to do, but finally, my curiosity got the

    best of me. ¡°I¡¯d like to see it,¡± I said.

    The doctor nodded. He grabbed the side of the ultrasound monitor and turned it so I could see. My

    heart practically jumped out of my chest as he pointed at the small embryo that had begun to form

    inside of me.

    ¡°There it is,¡± he said. ¡°Just seven weeks along. If you decide to go through with it, you¡¯ll be eligible for

    the pill abortion ¡ª and, as I understand it, you¡¯ll be spending the night here, so we can make sure

    you¡¯refortable. It¡¯ll be just like a heavy period, with some cramping.¡±

    I wanted to respond, but it felt as though my tongue had been cut out. I couldn¡¯t tear my eyes away

    from the screen. The thought of removing this little life from my body swirled around in my head¡­ I had

    no qualms with abortion, and always supported women who wanted to go through with it, but now I

    didn¡¯t know if it was something that I could personally go through with.

    Needless to say, I was stuck between a rock and a hard ce.

    The doctor must have noticed this, because he smiled again. ¡°Seeing the ultrasound can bring up a lot

    of confusing feelings,¡± he said. ¡°You can take a few minutes to decide, if you¡¯d like. I can step out.¡±

    ¡°I-I think I¡¯d like to take a few minutes, thank you,¡± I said, nodding vigorously.

    ¡°Of course.¡± The doctor patted my hand again and gave it a small squeeze. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in five minutes

    to check on you.¡±

    I watched as he walked out of the room, biting my lip the entire time. Once he was gone, I slowly turned

    back to look at the screen, and without thinking, I reached out to touch the spot on the image where the

    little embryo was. It hardly had a shape yet, but already I was beginning to imagine whether it would be

    a boy or a girl, whether the child would have my eyes or Edrick¡¯s eyes, whether it would have red

    hair¡­

    I couldn¡¯t help but cry at that point.

    It felt as if no time passed at all before the doctor came back. I hardly had any time to stop my crying,

    and he saw my red and puffy face as soon as he came in. A look of concern spread across his face

    and he hobbled over to me, reaching out and squeezing my shoulder.

    ¡°Did you decide?¡± he asked.

    His question only made me cry even harder. I felt utterly helpless.

 Chapter 65

    Chapter 65

    #Chapter 65: A Change of Heart

    Edrick

    As I watched Moana walk into the hospital, I already had my doubts. I was already uneasy enough as

    we pulled up to the front doors, but seeing her walk away only solidified that feeling.

    My wolf was just as distraught.

    ¡°You¡¯re really gonna let her do this?¡± he asked with a growl. ¡°It¡¯s your baby, too. Think about what it was

    like when you held E for the first time, and then imagine how it would feel with this new baby. You¡¯ve

    always secretly wanted to experience that feeling again, and now you¡¯re letting this opportunity get

    away from you.¡±

    I shook my head as I watched the doors close behind Moana, then put the car in drive and pulled out of

    the hospital parking lot.

    ¡°I know you don¡¯t want this to happen,¡± I said to my wolf out loud now that we were alone, ¡°and I know

    that you were excited before. But it¡¯s her body, and her decision.¡±

    My wolf didn¡¯t respond after that. He was hurt and angry, rightfully so, but maybe Moana was right

    about this being the best decision. It was already difficult enough to have one illegitimate child, let

    alone a second one that also happened to be half human ¡ª and, even worse than that, the mother was

    from an incredibly low social status, and she was my daughter¡¯s nanny. I didn¡¯t even want to imagine

    how my family would react to this sort of news.

    I felt horrible for leaving Moana there overnight, but it really was best for her to stay out of the

    penthouse during the process. If she bled through her clothes, or if E saw the pills or the bloody

    menstrual products, E would certainly ask questions that would be difficult to answer. Furthermore,

    after doing some of my own research, I discovered that women could often have painful cramps,

    nausea, lightheadedness, and weakness during this process. I figured it would be best if Moana had

    some peaceful time away from E and the maids and for her to be under close medical supervision.

    As I drove to work, however, I couldn¡¯t get the image of her sleeping with E on the morning after I

    learned about the pregnancy out of my mind. They had looked so peaceful together, truly like mother

    and daughter¡­

    The thought of having another child for her to cherish in that same way, a sibling for E to love and to

    y with, made my heart ache. But it was toote; as I pulled up to the office building, I was certain

    that Moana was well along in the process by now. Besides, she had made her decision, and it would be

    right of me to try to change her mind.

    I sighed, parking the car in therge parking garage, then took the elevator up to the top floor where my

    office was located. A few floors up, a couple of other employees got on the elevator. I nodded politely

    as they stepped on.

    ¡°Did I tell you what Tyler did for mest night?¡± one employee, a woman, said to the other.

    ¡°No,¡± the other employee said, smiling. ¡°What did he do?¡±

    The first employee grinned widely. ¡°Look at this.¡± She took out her phone, then opened a picture on her

    camera roll. I tried not to look too closely, but I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of a little

    boy holding a big handmade drawing with a purple handprint on it.

    ¡°Aww!¡± the second employee said. ¡°He¡¯s such a cutie. I miss when mine were that age. Before you

    know it, they stop wanting to do nice things with their mother. It¡¯s like they don¡¯t know that I carried

    them for nine months, changed their diapers, held their tiny little hands¡­¡±

    I felt another ache in my chest. The elevator doors slid open, and although this wasn¡¯t my floor, I felt

    stifled. I had to get out. ¡°Excuse me,¡± I said, brushing past the twodies and out into the random office

    floor that the elevator just stopped at. I took a deep breath and straightened my tie, pushing the image

    of the new baby one day making cute little drawings for Moana out of my mind, and made my way

    through the maze of cubicles.

    As I passed, various employees stopped what they were doing and greeted me with abination of

    the utmost respect and a bit of confusion, seeing as how I¡¯d nevere to this floor before. I forced a

    half-smile, just wanting to get through to the stairwell so I could get to my office without any further

    fuss. If I could just get to work, then I wouldn¡¯t think about the baby or Moana.

    But, as I walked past the cubicles, I couldn¡¯t help noticing the pictures of people¡¯s children on their

    desks. I frowned, trying not to look, but one picture in particr caught my eye: it was a photograph of

    a little girl sitting on a pic nket. She was hardly older than a toddler, wearing a striped green

    dress. There wasn¡¯t anything particrly notable about the photo, aside from the fact that her face and

    hands were covered in chocte cake, and she wasughing with her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She

    reminded me so much of E on her third birthday.

    I didn¡¯t realize it, but I had stopped and was staring at the photo intensely. The young woman who was

    sitting at the desk looked up at me with wide eyes.

    ¡°G-Good morning, Mr. Morgan,¡± she said, standing and bowing slightly. ¡°What brings you here today?¡±

    I shook my attention away from the photo and forced another half-smile.

    ¡°Just passing through,¡± I said. I began to walk again, but it felt as though there was something stopping

    me.

    I turned on my heel and walked back to the woman¡¯s desk.

    ¡°Is that your daughter?¡± I asked, pointing at the photo.

    She hesitated, then nodded. ¡°Yes. Her name is Lucy.¡±

    ¡°How old is she?¡± I asked.

    The woman¡¯s face suddenly came across with a look of pain and sadness that I hadn¡¯t been expecting.

    ¡°She was three.¡±

    ¡°Three?¡±

    The woman nodded again, then looked down at the floor. She seemed to be blinking rapidly, as though

    she was blinking back years. ¡°Yes. She was killed in a drunk driving ident¨C The driver hit her side of

    the car at an intersection.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ¡ª I¡¯m so sorry,¡± I stuttered, taking a step back at this unexpected information. I imagined what I

    would have done if anything would ever happen to E, and it made the pit in my stomach grow

    deeper.

    ¡°It was a long time ago,¡± she said, finally looking back up at me and forcing a small smile. ¡°Do you have

    children, Mr. Morgan?¡±

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    I almost said yes, but quickly remembered my vow to keep E a secret, and quickly shook my head.

    ¡°Oh,¡± the woman said. ¡°Well, if you do ever have children¡­ Cherish them.¡±

    The woman¡¯s words hit me like a ton of bricks. Suddenly, I knew exactly what I had to do.

    ¡°I will,¡± I said.

    Without another word, I suddenly turned and rushed over to the stairwell. I flung the door open and

    began to race down the flights of stairs toward the parking garage instead of up toward my office. As I

    ran, all I could think about was that I had to get back to Moana in time and stop her before she aborted

    the baby.

    I must have broken at least three or even four trafficws on my way back to the hospital, but I didn¡¯t

    care. I whipped into the parking lot and came to a screeching halt outside, barely giving myself enough

    time to put on a surgical mask to hide my identity before I jumped out of the car and ran inside.

    ¡°Name?¡± the secretary said, chewing her gum in a bored fashion.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the OBGYN department?¡± I asked hurriedly. ¡°I don¡¯t have time.¡±

    The secretary frowned, but pointed to a set of elevators on the far wall. ¡°Second floor.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I muttered as I sprinted to the elevators. I pressed the button over and over again, willing

    the elevator toe faster, but it was no use. I cursed to myself as I watched the number above the

    elevator slowly tick down.

    Finally, the doors slid open¡­ And out stepped Moana.

    She looked incredibly pale.

 Chapter 66

    Chapter 66

    #Chapter 66: Sweet Relief

    Moana

    ¡°Did you decide?¡± the doctor asked.

    I feltpletely helpless, and began to cry harder. The doctor was silent and let me cry, and when I

    was finally able to speak around my sobs, I looked up at him and shook my head.

    ¡°I can¡¯t do it,¡± I said, my chest heaving with each word as my lungs felt like they would explode. ¡°I don¡¯t

    want to go through with the abortion.¡±

    The doctor nodded. ¡°Okay then,¡± he said with a warm smile. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do it.¡±

    He left to let me get dressed again. As I did, I felt Mina practically leaping with joy inside of me, and I

    couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit. I finished dressing, then headed back out to the elevator with the intention

    of calling a cab home since Edrick thought that I would be spending the night here.

    When the elevator doors slid open, however, I was utterly shocked to see Edrick standing there with a

    blue surgical mask on to hide his identity. He had a panicked look in his eyes, We stared at each other

    for a long few moments before he finally spoke.

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Well?¡± he asked. ¡°Did you do it?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I couldn¡¯t. I decided that I want to keep it.¡±

    He seemed relieved and let out a deep sigh. ¡°Come on. I¡¯ll drive you home,¡± was all he said, but I could

    tell just from his bodynguage that he was happy with the decision.

    Without another word, he turned around and walked back to the door. I couldn¡¯t help but notice the rude

    secretary¡¯s eyes on me as I walked past with Edrick ¡ª no doubt she was shocked to see a human

    walking out with a werewolf.

    Edrick held the door open for me, and once I was inside, he came around to the driver¡¯s side and

    pulled away from the curb. I began to feel suddenly light and free, and was certain that I¡¯d made the

    right decision. Whatever obstacles we faced, I was sure that we¡¯d take them all in stride. In a way, we

    were going to be a team now, and that was afort.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to tell Selina and the maids,¡± I said as we drove.

    Edrick nodded, but didn¡¯t say anything else out loud. I wondered what was going through his head, but

    decided not to pry.

    The drive home was mostly quiet, aside from that brief agreement to tell Selina and the maids about

    the decision when we got home. Finally, I couldn¡¯t contain my curiosity any further, and I broke that

    silence.

    ¡°What made youe back?¡± I asked. ¡°I thought that you were going to pick me up tomorrow.¡±

    Edrick paused for a moment, then shrugged nonchntly. ¡°My morning meeting got canceled, so I

    decided toe and check to see how everything went.¡±

    I didn¡¯t ask any other questions, but I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that he came back for a different

    reason.

    ¡­

    When we arrived back at the penthouse, E was ying in the living room with Selina. E was

    surprised to see me there; meanwhile, Selina looked rapidly between Edrick and I with a worried

    expression on her face.

    ¡°Moana!¡± E shouted, jumping up and running over to me. ¡°I thought you were gonna be gone all day.¡±

    I smiled, then shook my head and crouched down to her level to pinch her cheeks. ¡°I decided I missed

    you too much,¡± I said, blinking away the tears that threatened to form in my eyes.¡±

    ¡°E, why don¡¯t you go and y in your room for a little bit?¡± Edrick asked then. ¡°Moana cane and

    y with you soon.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± E eximed as she scurried off. Once she was gone, Selina stood. I noticed that she was

    wringing her hands nervously.

    ¡°Well?¡± she asked.

    Edrick didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he gestured for both Selina and I to follow him to the study, and called for

    Amy and Lily toe as well, who were standing in the kitchen doorway looking concerned.

    Once the door was closed, Edrick sighed. He opened his mouth to speak, then promptly closed it again

    and cleared his throat; I could tell that he was struggling to find the right words, so I decided to take it

    upon myself to reveal the news.

    ¡°I decided to keep it.¡±

    Selina let out a sigh of relief. Amy and Lily sighed too, and in that moment I realized that they certainly

    already knew about the pregnancy, despite Selina having promised not to tell anyone. Still, I couldn¡¯t be

    mad at her for secretly telling them.

    ¡°Oh, this is wonderful,¡± Selina said. Much to my surprise, the housekeeper walked briskly over to me

    and wrapped me in her arms. Once again, I was taken aback by her sudden disy of affection, but it

    was over more quickly than it began. She stepped back, then looked between Edrick and I once again.

    ¡°Are you going to tell E?¡± she asked.

    I looked up at Edrick; we hadn¡¯t talked about it even once, and I was still unsure as to whether he

    would even tell her that the baby was her sibling, or if we would hold up a facade that the baby had a

    different father.

    For the second time in those few moments, I was shocked again.

    ¡°Of course,¡± he said without hesitation, nodding. ¡°We¡¯ll tell her.¡±

    ¡°And what will you say, exactly?¡± Selina pried. ¡°Do you have a n?¡±

    Now, Edrick finally hesitated. He nced over at me, looking surprisingly unsure of himself. ¡°I¡­ I

    admittedly haven¡¯t thought that far ahead,¡± he said quietly. ¡°I must confess that this is not a situation I

    thought I would ever see myself in.¡±

    Selina frowned, folding her arms across her chest.

    ¡°What about you?¡± she asked, looking at me. ¡°Surely you¡¯ve thought about it.¡±

    I bit my lip. Much like Edrick, I also hadn¡¯t thought that far ahead. Less than an hour ago, I had been

    fully nning on aborting the child. Before that, I was too preupied with what decision would be best

    to make to even think about the impact it would have on E. I was a bit embarrassed that how she

    might react didn¡¯t even cross my mind once.

    Selina, seeing my hesitation, sighed deeply and even groaned a little with exasperation. ¡°I suppose you

    have time,¡± she said, ncing down at my stomach. ¡°But if you wait too long, you¡¯ll start to show, and it

    will only hurt her even worse if she feels like you¡¯ve been keeping a secret from her.¡±

    ¡°I just worry about her reaction,¡± Edrick chimed in, surprising me again with his own candidness. ¡°You

    know how she¡¯s been in the past with nannies¡­ She might think poorly of Moana after this.¡±

    I looked up at Edrick, taken aback that he had actually taken time to consider how E¡¯s knowledge of

    the pregnancy might affect her rtionship with me. All this time, I thought that he was too self-

    absorbed and superior to think such things, but now I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if something had

    changed when he discovered my pregnancy.

    ¡°You have to make sure you handle it well,¡± Selina replied. ¡°It¡¯s important to be mindful of your child¡¯s

    emotions when you introduce the prospect of a new sibling. And it¡¯s equally important to work hard to

    ensure that she doesn¡¯t think she¡¯ll get reced.¡±

    Once again, Edrick and I looked at each other. At that moment, I felt myself soften as I looked up at his

    face; he had a worried expression on, but at the same time, he seemed excited and not so hard and

    cold as he usually was.

    Now, we had to face our second obstacle as expecting parents ¡ª but at least we would be doing it

    together, as a team.

 Chapter 67

    Chapter 67: A Good Sister

    <strong>Moana</strong>

    Edrick and I agreed with Selina that E had to be carefully introduced to the topic of having a new sibling. Not only could it be harmful to her self-esteem to think that she might be ¡®reced¡¯ or get less attention, but it could also be harmful to both her rtionship with her father and her rtionship with me. Considering the fact that we both decided that it would be best for me to continue to live with them as we raised the new child, it was important for us all to get along.

    We didn¡¯t say anything for a few days, as we both wanted to give ourselves time toe up with a strategy before we told E. But, as Selina warned, I would begin to show soon. Since the baby was a little werewolf and not a human, the pregnancy would be a bit different, and I would show sooner. My belly was already starting to look a little more bloated than usual, as I had learned at the charity g.

    During these days, Edrick and I met up each evening after E was asleep to watch videos on broaching subjects like this with children, and we even began topile a small list of videos aimed toward children for E to watch when she was ready. Severalte nights were spent like this, and it was a relief to feel as though Edrick was softening about spending time with me. Even though we never talked about anything other than the baby, it still felt nice to be near him and to not be treated like a total stranger. Still, it was a little demoralizing to know that the only reason why he was treating me differently was because of the baby.

    Finally, once we were ready, we decided that it was time to tell E.

    It was a Sunday morning, and we''d just had a breakfast of waffles and bacon that Selina prepared for us. Once we were finished, Edrick leaned forward with his elbows on the table. He shot me a nce, and I gave him a subtle nod of approval, before he spoke.

    ¡°E, Moana and I have something we need to talk to you about,¡± Edrick said.

    E¡¯s eyes widened, and she suddenly spoke very quickly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I cut my doll¡¯s hair¡ª¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh at this sudden admission of new information, and neither could Edrick.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, Princess,¡± Edrick said, reaching out and taking her tiny hand. ¡°You¡¯re not in trouble. Although, you shouldn¡¯t cut your dolls¡¯ hair; it doesn¡¯t grow back like yours does.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± E said pensively, swinging her legs on the chair. ¡°What is it, then?¡±

    Edrick looked at me again. We had decided that it was best for him to tell her since he was her father, but I could tell that he was having trouble. I pressed my lips together and smiled slightly, urging him to continue.

    ¡°Moana is going to have a baby,¡± he finally said quietly. ¡°A little sibling for you.¡±

    E¡¯s eyes widened again. ¡°A¡­ sibling?¡± she asked. She looked back and forth between Edrick and I, processing this new information. I bit my lip and felt my heart begin to race as I started to worry that she was going to throw a tantrum. We¡¯d made sure to prepare for that sort of scenario, but that didn¡¯t mean that I was looking forward to it.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I chimed in. ¡°You¡¯re going to have a little brother or sister. How does that make you feel?¡±

    E was silent for several more seconds. I felt a lump rise in my throat, and nced over to see that Edrick was staring intently at his daughter with a look of worry on his own face.

    But then, much to our surprise, she suddenly jumped up on her chair and threw her arms up in the air. ¡°Yippee!¡± she eximed. She then jumped down and began to skip around the room and chatter excitedly. ¡°I¡¯m gonna have a little sibling! I hope it¡¯s a girl. I want a sister so I can braid her hair and do her makeup!¡± She stopped then, tapping her chin with her index finger. ¡°Although, I guess a brother would also be okay. Then we can y tag and I don¡¯t have to feel bad if he falls down because he¡¯s a boy.¡±

    Suddenly, Edrick threw his head back andughed, fully and deeply, for the first time since I¡¯d met him. ¡°E, you should still worry if your little brother falls down and gets hurt,¡± he managed through theughter. His eyes were squeezed shut as he continued tough, and when they finally opened, there was a sparkle in them that I¡¯d never seen before. Seeing him like this made me smile.

    Finally, E walked back over to her seat and sat down.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re happy?¡± I asked, squeezing her little hand.

    ¡°Mhm.¡± She nodded. ¡°I¡¯m very happy.¡±

    I let out another sigh of relief¡ªbut that feeling quickly returned when she asked her next question.

    ¡°Are you two gonna get married?¡± she asked.

    Edrick and I both fell silent. I heard him clear his throat, but I quickly averted my gaze, as did he. We had both known that she would probably ask this question, but we never could have actually prepared ourselves for it.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Edrick began, clearing his throat again.

    I looked up, feeling my heart skip as I saw that his gray eyes were looking at me once more. The sparkle in them had faded, as though he flipped a switch. They weren¡¯t cruel, but they weren¡¯t warm, either.

    ¡°Your daddy and I decided to just be friends,¡± I said suddenly, turning my entire body in my chair to face E.

    E frowned. ¡°But mommies and daddies always get married, don¡¯t they?¡± she asked, turning her head to look at Edrick.

    ¡°Not always, Princess,¡± Edrick said in a low, serious voice. ¡°Sometimes they don¡¯t. But that¡¯s okay. The baby will still be your little sibling.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± E said. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Even though it hurt to admit that we would never be a true married couple and would only ever be co-parents living under the same roof, I was at least relieved to know that Edrick was able to handle that question so well. It made me wonder, though: would the new child be so epting of it? Certainly he or she would eventually ask that question and be confused about our strange dynamic, and it would be a lot different. I wasn¡¯t E¡¯s mother, but this new child would be mine and Edrick¡¯s offspring. It would, without a doubt, affect the child in many different ways.Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Well then,¡± Edrick said, standing now as though the mention of a marriage with me was enough to turn him back into his usual CEO self, ¡°Moana and I have some videos that we''d like to show you so you can learn more about what it will be like to have a new baby in the house.¡±

    E nodded matter-of-factly. What she said next warmed my heart and made me temporarily forget about the pain of my rtionship with Edrick.

    ¡°I promise I¡¯ll try my hardest to be the best big sister I can.¡± ??

 Chapter 68

    <span style="font-size:24px"><strong>Chapter 68: A New Page</strong>

    Edrick

    Now that the issue of Moana¡¯s pregnancy was settled, in our household at least, I felt much more at peace than before. E seemed to get happier by the day, and would chatter away about her future sibling almost every night at dinner. The issue of figuring out how to best bring it up to my parents was still something I would have to deal with, but at least I had a little time; it¡¯ wasn¡¯t as though my father was walking around my penthouse and would see Moana¡¯s growing belly, unlike E, who would¡¯ve seen it happening before her very eyes. Part of me wanted to keep up the lie and tell my parents that I wasn¡¯t the father, but I knew that it would be useless with E running around. Eight year olds don¡¯t exactly make the best keepers of secrets.

    Things seemed to settle down into a new normal over the next several days. The servants were kind to Moana and helped her whenever she needed it, but she was still mostly independent with her work. However, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if she would really still be considered a ¡®nanny¡¯ once she got further on in the pregnancy, and especially once she had the baby. I had the money to continue paying her for caring for E, of course, but I did wonder asionally if it would be appropriate ¡ª especially once my family found out.

    I just kept telling myself that we could cross that bridge when we came to it, though, and that bridge was still quite a ways away. I could take some time to think about the best n of action as to how to address it when that time came.

    I noticed that Moana seemed to be spending more time doodling in her sketchbook ¡ª well, not really doodling, as she was admittedly far better than that. Whenever she had some time to herself while E yed or was busy with her violin and piano lessons, I would catch her sitting in some sunny corner with her sketchbook in herp.

    If I was being honest, it made me a bit curious. She seemed so focused on her drawings; what, exactly, was she drawing?

    She caught me looking a few times, too. But I wasn¡¯t only looking at her sketchbook.

    When I would see her in the sunlight, her hair would turn an even more fiery shade of red. And, as the pregnancy progressed, she seemed to have a maternal glow about her that made her even more beautiful. I caught her sometimes looking at me, too, and we¡¯d both quickly look away at the same time with an unspoken rule between us to not say anything about it.

    But, when I couldn¡¯t sleep at night, I kept those images of her in my mind; particrly the one image that was still burned into my memories of the morning that I found her sleeping with E. Sometimes, just thinking about it made me fall asleep, but most nights it kept me awake more than anything.

    I tried not to think about her. It wasn¡¯t the right thing for me to think about her. Even though she was carrying my child, she was still the same as before: my very human nanny. I couldn¡¯t have any sort of romantic rtionship with her, and that was final. Even the thought of it had to be cast out of my mind before things went too far.

    That was why, one night, I decided to climb out of bed and get myself a drink; maybe the alcohol would make the picture of her in the sunlight leave my mind.

    I quietly walked to the living room, barefoot in nothing but my pajama pants, and poured myself a ss of wine at the minibar. I sunk down into therge, plush armchair with a sigh, and swirled the red liquid around in my ss before taking a sip.

    ¡°Bleh.¡± I made a face to myself as I realized that the wine had gotten too warm and now tasted foul. I got up and grabbed the bottle, shuffling over to the kitchen to dump it out into the sink. When I was finished, I walked back to the minibar and decided to go for the old tried and true: whiskey.

    As I was pouring the whiskey, however, I noticed something: Moana¡¯s bedroom door, which I could see from where I stood, was cracked open. The light was on. Something in me wanted to check to see why she was up thiste and if she was okay, so I quietly walked over and knocked softly.

    There was no answer. Maybe she fell asleep while reading?

    I slowly cracked the door open a little more and poked my head in, but she wasn¡¯t in her bed.This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Moana?¡± I quietly called out, stepping into her room. Her bathroom door was open, and she wasn¡¯t in there. I decided that she must have fallen asleep in E¡¯s room, so I walked over to the bedside table to shut off themp with a sigh.

    That was when I saw her sketchbook lying on the bed.

    My curiosity got the best of me. I couldn¡¯t help myself; I set my ss of whiskey down on the side table and picked up the sketchbook, opening it. As I flipped through, I saw countless drawings of the city view from her balcony, each one getting better than thest, as though she was practicing.

    Then, I came across the sketch I¡¯d found her working on during one of the nights we slept together. I sank down onto the edge of the bed as I looked at it, taking in how beautifully she¡¯d finished it. It was the finished drawing of E and I on the ferris wheel. E was sitting on myp, pointing with her finger out over the crowd with a smile on her face. Moana had stylized it, of course, and had removed my surgical mask and sunsses. My eyes looked so lifelike as they followed E¡¯s finger.

    I turned the page then, and suddenly felt a skip in my chest as I saw what she¡¯d drawn next.

    That must have been what she¡¯d been working on so muchtely: little doodles of baby shoes, baby clothes, and, when I turned the page¡­

    A list of names.

    Adam. Genevieve. Liam. Celeste. Noah¡­ She hadn¡¯t only been drawing these past several days, but she¡¯d also been thinking of names. Something about it warmed my heart, to think that she was sitting in those patches of sunlight thinking about our baby¡¯s name.

    Suddenly, I heard the floorboards creak next door in E¡¯s room. I cursed under my breath and quickly threw the sketchbook down on the bed, tiptoeing out and just managing to get out to the living room before I saw Moana sleepilye out of E¡¯s room, then shuffle over to her room and shut the door behind her.

    I breathed out a sigh of relief. How could I exin that I was in her room, snooping through her sketchbook at night?

    But then again, as I walked back to my room, I realized that I¡¯d have to exin it anyway ¡ª because I¡¯d identally left my ss of whiskey on her bedside table.

 Chapter 69

    Chapter 69

    #Chapter 69: Shopping for Baby

    Moana

    One night, I was reading a bedtime story to E when I found myself nodding off in the chair by her

    bed. I didn¡¯t wake up until a couple of hourster. She was fast asleep and I didn¡¯t want to wake her, so

    I quietly got up and slipped back into my room to go back to sleep.

    When I walked back into my room, I didn¡¯t notice anything out of the ordinary, seeing as how tired I

    was. I moved my sketchbook aside and climbed into the covers, and quickly fell asleep.

    The next morning, I woke up with a headache. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my eyes, and as I did so I

    noticed something sitting on my bedside table that I hadn¡¯t noticed the night before: a ss of brown

    liquid.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    Furrowing my brow, I picked up the ss and inspected it. It was certainly one of Edrick¡¯s whiskey

    sses from his minibar, and when I sniffed its contents, I quickly realized that it was, in fact, whiskey.

    I frowned. Why was there a ss of whiskey on my bedside table? I hadn¡¯t noticed anything out of the

    ordinary the night before; had Edricke into my room looking for me?

    I decided that I would ask him about itter, and got up to start getting ready for the day.

    ¡­

    When I came out of my room and walked over to the dining room, Edrick was already awake and was

    sitting at the dining room table with a te of toast, a coffee, and a stack of financial reports in front of

    him. He looked up when I entered, and immediately I could tell that he was guilty when his eyes

    flickered to the now-empty whiskey ss that I¡¯d dumped out into my bathroom sink.

    ¡°Were you in my roomst night?¡± I asked, setting the ss down on the table in front of him.

    He paused, then finally nodded his head. ¡°Yes. I saw that your light was on, so I went to shut it off. I

    guess I set my drink down.¡±

    I frowned and opened my mouth to tell him that he shouldn¡¯t have been drinking so much in the middle

    of the night that he would forget a whiskey ss on my bedside table, but before I could, he suddenly

    spoke.

    ¡°Get dressed,¡± he said, taking a nonchnt sip of his coffee. ¡°I¡¯m going to the baby supply store while

    E is in training. You shoulde with me. Afterwards, we¡¯ll pick E up and I¡¯ll take you both out for

    dinner.¡±

    I felt a little surprised by this sudden proposal. Already he was looking into buying baby supplies? And,

    even more surprising than that, he was going out in public with me and was even nning on taking

    me for dinner? I didn¡¯t protest, however, and simply turned around to go back to my room and put on a

    nicer outfit. I opted for the same blue dress I bought at the farmers¡¯ market. As I put it on, I looked in

    the mirror and noticed that it seemed to hug my slightly growing belly well, and I even found myself

    running my hands along my belly with a smile on my face as I looked in the mirror. I couldn¡¯t wait to

    watch my belly grow over theing months.

    Once I was dressed, Edrick and I took E to training and dropped her off. Then, he drove just the two

    of us to a local strip of expensive outlet stores. As we pulled into the parking lot, I was a bit taken aback

    by all of the luxury sports cars that were parked outside. Happy families dressed in designer clothes

    roamed around outside as they walked from store to store, and there was arge marble fountain with

    a statue in the center surrounded by a small park with benches. I¡¯d never been to outlet stores that

    were this nice, and even though I felt good in my dress, I still felt a little out of ce.

    Before we got out of the car, Edrick put on his face mask again to hide his identity.

    ¡°Wait,¡± he said sternly before I opened my car door. I watched as he climbed out and then jogged

    around to my side of the car. He opened the car door for me and even held out his hand to help me out.

    As I felt my hand in hisrge palm, my heart started to pound and I felt my face getting hot.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I murmured, staring at the ground. There was a moment of silence, during which time I felt

    his eyes wander down to my dress, then linger on my belly.

    But, just as quickly as it came, his gentlemanly nature faded. ¡°Come on,¡± he said, turning on his heel

    and starting to walk toward the stores, ¡°we¡¯ve got a lot to do before E gets out of training.¡±

    I followed as he walked briskly toward the baby supply store, and by the time we arrived, I was already

    a little out of breath from trying to keep up with his long strides.

    The store was full of other expecting parents, as well as parents with infants and toddlers. We began to

    walk around the store and look at all of the supplies, but as we did, I also looked around a bit at the

    other customers. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that many of the parents with young children also seemed to

    have human nannies with them that were doing all of the work to take care of the children. Admittedly, it

    bothered me a little bit that some couples were ignoring their children while their nannies did all of the

    work. I was a bit grateful that Edrick never acted like that, despite his cold and indifferent demeanor.

    Not long after we began shopping, an attendant came to us with a smile on her face.

    ¡°Looking for newborn supplies?¡± she asked, nodding her head toward my belly. I hadn¡¯t realized it, but I

    was rubbing my belly as I walked around. I almost went to take my hand away, but then I remembered

    that I could be open with my pregnancy now, which filled me with an immense amount of joy.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Edrick replied with a nod.

    The attendant¡¯s smile widened. She then pulled out a handheld scanner and handed it to me. ¡°If you¡¯d

    like, you can walk around the store and use this to scan anything you want. Then, once you pay at the

    register, one of our employees will gather everything and we can either have it delivered to your home

    or help you bring it out to your car.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I replied. Edrick and I walked away and continued to look. My jaw dropped when I spotted

    a lovely disy with a cream-colored wicker bass. As I walked up to it and ran my hand along the

    fabric that was lined on the inside, it felt softer than anything I¡¯d ever touched¡­

    But it cost almost a thousand dors.

    ¡°Do you want that?¡± Edrick asked, walking up to me.

    I hesitated, biting my lip, before shaking my head. ¡°No. It¡¯s too expensive.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Edrick said. He grabbed the scanner out of my hand and immediately scanned the

    barcode on the bass before I could stop him.

    ¡°Edrick!¡± I said, grabbing the scanner back. ¡°That bass is almost a thousand dors! It¡¯s too

    expensive for something that will only be used for the first few months of the baby¡¯s life.¡±

    Edrick merely shrugged in response. ¡°So?¡± he asked, folding his arms across his chest. ¡°I have the

    money. I want this baby to have the best of everything.¡±

    ¡°Even so,¡± I replied, ¡°it¡¯s wasteful to spend so much. It¡¯s pretty, sure, but there¡¯s no real need for such

    an expensive bass.¡±

    Just then, another couple passed as we argued over the bass. The wife chuckled, and the husband

    leaned over toward Edrick with a yful smirk on his face. ¡°The first rule of being an expecting father is

    to never argue with the baby¡¯s mother,¡± the husband said with a wink before walking away.

    Edrick, who had his mouth open already to speak, suddenly shut it.

    I couldn¡¯t help it; the fact that the other man¡¯s words somehow managed to shut up the Alpha CEO

    made meugh.

 Chapter 70

    Chapter 70

    #Chapter 70: An Unbridgeable Gap

    Moana

    By the time E¡¯s training was about to end, Edrick and I had purchased a whole host of baby supplies.

    He insisted on buying the bass anyway, as well as anything else the baby might need. Although I

    thought it was a bit irresponsible for him to spend so much on certain items, I figured that he knew what

    he was doing, and I didn¡¯t argue any further. Besides: I couldn¡¯t help but feel happy to spoil our future

    child as well.

    We picked E up at training, then Edrick pulled out of the parking lot and began driving in the opposite

    direction of the penthouse.

    ¡°Um, daddy?¡± E called from the back seat, twisting in her car seat to look intensely out the window. ¡°I

    think you¡¯re going the wrong way.¡±

    Edrick smirked, then shook his head. ¡°No, Princess. We¡¯re going out for dinner.¡±

    E gasped and squealed excitedly. ¡°Really?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Really.¡±

    ¡°Really really?¡±

    ¡°Really really.¡±

    E squealed excitedly again, which made both Edrick and I smile. I was sitting in the back with her to

    keep herpany, and at one point I looked up to see Edrick¡¯s gray eyes on me in the rear view mirror.

    I blushed and quickly looked away. When I nced back up, he was looking at the road again.

    ¡°What did you learn at training today?¡± I asked E as Edrick drove.

    ¡°Oh, lots of things,¡± she said. ¡°We did an obstacle course.¡±

    ¡°An obstacle course?¡± Edrick asked as he guided the car around a corner. ¡°How did you do?¡±

    ¡°The teacher said I was the best in the ss,¡± she boasted, cing her hands on her hips with a

    gloating smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t miss any of the jumps, and I kept my bnce the whole way on the beam. Oh,

    and then after that, we practiced shifting¡­¡±

    As E continued to prattle on about her exciting day of training, I felt a teare to my eye. That day,

    I really felt like we were a little family; we were a strange little family, but we were a family nheless.

    I quickly looked out the window before either of them could see my tear, but I couldn¡¯t contain my smile.

    When we arrived at the restaurant, I was amazed by how beautiful it was.

    ¡°Right this way,¡± the host said as we entered the restaurant. I walked behind the host and Edrick, who

    was wearing his mask, and looked around as I held E¡¯s hand. The restaurant was located at the top

    of a tall building, and we had to take an elevator to get up to it. It was spacious and peaceful at the top,

    with little trickling fountains and a greenhouse feel to it. There was a big ss ceiling with an

    observation deck for people to walk around and look at the city view. Meanwhile, green nts hung

    down from the ceiling, lined the walls in pots, and little gardens were dotted around the restaurant.

    The host led us to a small, private room with one wall that was entirely ss so we could see out over

    the cityscape. He left us with the menus, and when he did, Edrick finally took off his mask. Much to my

    pleasure, the Alpha billionaire was smiling. He pulled E¡¯s chair out, then mine, which made me blush.

    ¡°Get anything you want,¡± he said, flipping through the menu. ¡°Both of you.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­¡± E tapped her chin thoughtfully, then leaned over from where she was sitting next to me and

    pushed the menu toward me. ¡°Do they have chicken tenders?¡±

    Iughed. ¡°Chicken tenders?!¡± I asked in a yful tone of voice. ¡°Don¡¯t you want something fancy?¡±

    ¡°Chicken tenders are fancy,¡± E insisted, folding her arms across her chest.

    I heard Edrick chortle across from me. ¡°You¡¯re right, Princess,¡± he said. ¡°Chicken tenders are indeed

    the fanciest of all dinners.¡± He didn¡¯t look up from his menu as he spoke, aside from a quick nce up

    ¡ª and as he did, I caught his eyes sliding over my dress, my belly, then up to my hair and eventually

    they met my own eyes. Once he noticed that I was looking, he quickly looked away again.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°What about you, Moana?¡± he asked. ¡°What are you having?¡±

    I swallowed, taken aback that he cared to know what I was going to order. Lately, I¡¯d been craving a lot

    of meat; no doubt it was due to the pregnancy. I was carrying a little werewolf, after all.

    ¡°Um¡­ Steak sounds good,¡± I said.

    Edrick furrowed his brow. ¡°Are you sure that it¡¯s safe for a pregnant woman to eat something like that?¡±

    he asked. ¡°I just don¡¯t want you to feel sickter.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s okay,¡± I said, feeling my face blush from the Alpha¡¯s concern for my health and the baby¡¯s

    health. ¡°But I can get something else, if you¡¯re that worried. I¡¯ve just had a craving for red meattely.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Let¡¯s see,¡± Edrick said, pulling out his phone. He quickly typed something, then was silent for

    a moment and nodded his head. ¡°It says that protein is actually rmended, as well as the vitamins

    in red meat. You should eat it if you want it. Maybe a craving like that is a good thing.¡±

    Under any other circumstances, I would have been a bit discouraged by a man questioning my choice

    of food like that, but this was different; I began to feel as though I really did make the right choice.

    Edrick clearly cared about me and the baby, and it warmed my heart.

    ¡­

    After dinner, and even a little dessert, Edrick paid the bill and we left. I felt indescribably happy after

    such a lovely day.

    Edrick also must have had a wonderful day, because on the way back down in the elevator, he

    instinctively ced his hand on my lower back as we stood next to each other. I felt my heart skip and

    chanced to look up at him to see that he seemed to be doing it naturally, and he didn¡¯t even seem to

    realize it himself. I blushed, looking back down at my feet, and rubbed my hand over my belly.

    Somehow, this all felt so natural.

    The elevator doors opened at the bottom and we stepped out, only to be surprised by a bright camera

    sh in front of us.

    My eyes widened. I nced up at Edrick to see that he had forgotten to wear his mask down to the

    lobby, and he was frowning deeply ¡ª such a stark contrast from the smiling man who I just had dinner

    with. He quickly dropped his hand from my back and stormed out of the elevator, putting on his mask

    as he did so to avoid more photos, and then pulled out his wallet as he walked up to the photographer.

    ¡°How much?¡± he snarled, digging into his wallet. ¡°Let me buy that picture. I can guarantee I¡¯ll pay more

    than any tabloid you could possibly sell it to.¡±

    ¡°Erhm¡­ How much you got there?¡± the photographer asked, peering into Edrick¡¯s wallet.

    My heart sank. ¡°Come on, love,¡± I whispered to E as Edrick continued to barter with the

    photographer. I didn¡¯t want her to see what was happening and get a bad impression, so I took her

    hand and ushered her over to the car, where I busied myself with putting her in the car seat and getting

    her situated for the ride home in order to keep myself from crying.

    For some reason that day, I¡¯d forgotten that Edrick wanted to hide me, his daughter, and his future

    baby. Things had felt so natural for a short while that we almost felt like an ordinary little family.

    That picture that Edrick was paying the photographer so handsomely for was immediately a cold

    reminder of the gap between us that could never be bridged, no matter the circumstances.

 Chapter 71

    Chapter 71

    #Chapter 71: End of the Line

    Moana

    The gap that existed between Edrick and I could never be bridged; I knew that now.

    Our ride home was silent. The steak that I could still taste on my tongue now tasted foul. To think that I

    had spent the entire day feeling as though we could have some semnce of normalcy; even if we

    never became romantically involved, why couldn¡¯t we still be proud of what we had created between

    us? Why did he always have to hide me and E? Would the new baby also face the same struggle of

    having a father who didn¡¯t want anyone to know about his or her existence?

    We went home that night, still without a word spoken between us. I took E to bed with only a brief

    word of thanks for everything he did that day, but after that, I didn¡¯t look at him again.

    ¡­

    On Monday morning, I awoke to the sound of someone knocking on my door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± I called, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. The door cracked open and Selina poked her head

    in.

    Your first appointment is in a couple of hours,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve already made breakfast for you. Come

    and eat before you get dressed.¡±

    I sighed, havingpletely forgotten about my appointment that day, and climbed out of bed. As I

    followed Selina to the dining room in my robe, I noticed that Edrick was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°Is Edricking to the appointment?¡± I asked as I sat down at the table and began to spread butter on

    my toast.

    Selina shook her head while she poured some hot coffee into my cup. ¡°He has something to deal with

    at work, but he mayeter.¡±

    I frowned, feeling my shoulders droop a little. It was my first prenatal appointment; I was hoping Edrick

    would be there to see the first ultrasound, seeing as how he was the father, after all.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go alone, then,¡± I said, taking a bite of toast.

    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Selina said. ¡°I¡¯ll be going with you.¡±

    At the very least, hearing that Selina would be there with me was a bit of afort. ¡°Thank you,¡± I

    replied with a smile. ¡°That would be nice.¡±

    After I ate, I hurried back to my room to shower and get ready for the day. I brushed my teeth and

    combed my hair, put on a loose-fitting dress andfortable shoes, then met Selina out in the foyer.

    As we took the elevator down, I realized that this was only the second time that I¡¯d ever seen her going

    out into public, with the first time being my first day of employment. She had changed out of her

    housekeeper uniform and was wearing a crisp linen dress and held her purse stiffly in front of her.

    ¡°Do you ever go out?¡± I asked as we walked across the lobby.

    ¡°Rarely,¡± she said. ¡°Only if I have to.¡±

    ¡°You never want to go out with friends for a meal or anything like that?¡±

    Selina simply shrugged. ¡°No one ever invites me.¡±

    As she said that, I felt my heart ache a little for her. I decided, then and there, that I would start inviting

    Selina out more ¡ª even if just on my morning walks with E.

    We got into the car and drove away. On the way to the hospital, Selina exined that the hospital we

    would be going to was a special werewolf hospital that was actually owned by the Morgan family, so I

    would get the best treatment; not that I couldn¡¯t have gathered that myself, just from the enormous

    modern building with the Morgan family logo on the sign. When we walked into the hospital, I was even

    more taken aback by how sleek and clean the hospital was. The hospital I went to for the abortion was

    nice, but this one was even better ¡ª and when we took the elevator up to the obstetrics and

    gynecology department, I was floored.

    Not only was the department spacious, clean, and modern, but there were also several other well-to-do

    werewolf couples in the waiting room. I even recognized a few of them as well-known celebrities. Of

    course, they all looked up at Selina and I when we entered and gave me a dirty look.

    ¡°Don¡¯t stare,¡± Selina whispered to me as we approached the counter. I quickly averted my gaze, feeling

    embarrassed as I realized that I probably looked like a deer in headlights.

    ¡°Hello, the receptionist said. ¡°Name?¡±

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Moana Fowler,¡± I replied.

    The receptionist looked me up and down for a moment before clicking around on herputer. Just

    then, another couple came in behind us. I nced over my shoulder to see that they were also a well-

    known werewolf couple that I¡¯d seen in various television shows. I felt my face go red as they looked at

    me, and I quickly looked back at the receptionist.

    ¡°Miss, I¡¯m going to have to ask you to step out of the way so I can assist our werewolf clients first,¡± the

    receptionist suddenly said, shooting me a dirty re.

    My jaw dropped. ¡°I was here first,¡± I said. ¡°And I have an appointment¨C¡±

    ¡°Yes, but this is a werewolf hospital, and our policy is to always serve werewolves first.¡±

    Suddenly, Selina stepped in. ¡°I¡¯m a werewolf,¡± she said proudly. ¡°A gamma. And I¡¯m escorting this

    young woman.¡±

    The receptionist only stared nkly at Selina for a moment before rolling her eyes and waving the

    other couple forward. Selina grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the side, fuming. ¡°If only they

    knew¡­¡± she growled under her breath, shooting the receptionist an angry look. ¡°The father of your

    baby pays her sry!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I said. I¡¯d been dealing with treatment like this as a human for my entire life; it was nothing

    new to me.

    ¡°It is not alright,¡± Selina said. Just then, she stormed back over to the desk and mmed her hands on

    the counter. ¡°I¡¯m demanding that you treat this youngdy with respect!¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re being terribly

    rude.¡±

    The receptionist narrowed her eyes. I tried to step in to calm Selina down, but it was no use. The

    receptionist then picked up her phone and dialed a number.

    ¡°Hi¨C Yes¨C We have a human here who wants to be seen. Mhm. Yes, she has a werewolf escort, but

    they¡¯re being incredibly disruptive to the other patients. Okay. Thank you.¡± The receptionist hung up.

    ¡°I¡¯ve just called security,¡± she said to Selina. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to be escorted out, then I suggest you

    leave.¡±

    Selina¡¯s frown deepened. Meanwhile, the werewolf couple at the desk, as well as all of the others in the

    waiting room, were staring at us with abination of incredulity and mockingness on their faces.

    ¡°You can¡¯t seriously tell me that you¡¯re turning away an expecting mother,¡± she said. ¡°This is ludicrous!¡±

    The receptionist shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t make the rules. If you had just let me serve the polite werewolf

    customers ahead of you, then you could be checked in by now. But you¡¯re just causing a scene.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really okay, Selina,¡± I said, touching her arm. ¡°I can find another doctor.¡±

    Just then, the doors swung open. In walked a man in a ck suit and tie, who had the look of the

    hospital director.

    And beside him, in walked Edrick.

 Chapter 72

    Chapter 72

    #Chapter 72: Love at First Sight

    Moana

    My eyes widened when I saw Edrick, but at the same time, my body rxed knowing that he was here

    to ¡ª hopefully ¡ª help us. He nced over at me, but clearly didn¡¯t want anyone to know we were

    together, and walked up to the desk.

    ¡°Is there a problem here?¡± he asked the receptionist.

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Morgan,¡± she said, gesturing to me, ¡°this woman is a human and she¡¯s trying to be served

    before werewolves. It¡¯s our policy to serve werewolves first.¡± Her eyes were wide as she spoke, and

    her voice shook a bit. I could tell that she knew that she would be in deep trouble if Edrick Morgan

    himself was here.

    ¡°Well, break policy just this once,¡± he said. He turned to the werewolf couple next, who still stood

    nearby looking utterly confused. ¡°So sorry about that,¡± he said, then turned to Selina and me and

    addressed us. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the VIP room.¡±

    With that, he turned on his heel and began to walk toward the examination rooms. Meanwhile, the

    director dealt with the receptionist and the werewolf couple. I couldn¡¯t make out exactly what was being

    said to the receptionist, but she seemed as though she was being reprimanded ¡ª and rightfully so, in

    my opinion. Just because it was policy to serve humans after werewolves didn¡¯t mean that it was

    morally right to treat humans like inferiors.

    Still, I followed Edrick, keeping my head down to avoid the strange looks from other patients with Selina

    trailing behind me. Once we were out of the waiting room, I let out a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Selina said, scurrying along to keep up with Edrick. ¡°That receptionist¨C¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Edrick said calmly. ¡°She was only doing what she thought was right¡­ It is policy to serve

    werewolves first.¡±

    Selina frowned, but said nothing. Edrick led us to a spacious private room. Selina went to sit on a chair

    in the hallway to give us some privacy, but Edrick stopped her and gestured for him toe in with us.

    ¡°You deserve to see the baby, too, don¡¯t you think?¡± he asked.

    The housekeeper¡¯s eyes widened. She looked back and forth between Edrick¡¯s face and mine, finally

    landing on mine. I nodded approvingly with a smile. ¡°I¡¯d like you to see it.¡±

    Her face went red, but she followed us in, where the doctor was waiting.

    The doctor, a middle-aged woman with mousy brown hair, weed us with a smile.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± the doctor said, holding out her hand for me to shake. ¡°I¡¯m Doctor Melrose. I¡¯ll have

    the pleasure of being your doctor for the duration of this pregnancy; if you ever need anything, you can

    always call me, no matter the time of day or night. Here¡¯s my card.¡± She pulled a business card out of

    her pocket, which I took gratefully. Seeing as how nervous I was bing over the effects of a

    werewolf pregnancy on my body, I already had a whole host of questions to ask the doctor.

    Next, the doctor helped me up on the bed. She asked if it was okay to lift up my dress for the

    examination around Edrick and Selina, to which I nodded ¡ª and she covered my lower half with a

    sheet, which wasn¡¯t entirely necessary, but I supposed it would make things a little less awkward

    around Edrick in particr.

    ¡°This is going to be a little cold,¡± she said as she picked up a tube of ultrasound gel. She squeezed a

    generous amount on my belly, which I dly epted over the internal ultrasound that I had when I

    went for the abortion. ¡°Just a little pressure now¡­¡±

    The room fell silent as the doctor moved the probe around on my belly. The only sound that filled the

    room was the soft sound of my own pulse echoing from inside my body on the ultrasound machine.

    ¡°And¡­ There¡¯s your little one!¡± Doctor Melrose eximed.

    I gasped. On the screen, for the first time, we saw the little fetus inside of me. It was tiny, not even the

    size of an avocado, but it was there and it was alive. Seeing it for the first time filled me with such a

    strong and vast array of emotions that I didn¡¯t even know what to do with myself.

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s going to be a healthy little one,¡± Doctor Melrose said with a smile. ¡°Give it a few more

    months, and we¡¯ll be able to tell the s*x. What are you hoping for?¡±

    I blushed, dabbing at the tears of joy in my eyes with a handkerchief. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I don¡¯t think I

    would have a preference. What about you, Edrick?¡±

    I looked up at him, and just then, I realized I was holding his hands tightly without even knowing it. I

    suddenly felt a little inappropriate and quickly released them, but he didn¡¯t even seem to notice as he

    was staring intently at the screen with a childlike wonder on his face that I¡¯d never seen him disy

    before.

    ¡°Edrick?¡± Selina asked.

    N?velDrama.Org holds this content.

    He shook his head and blinked rapidly as he was broken from his trance. ¡°Sorry¡­ Uh, I wouldn¡¯t mind

    if it was a boy or a girl, honestly.¡±

    Doctor Melrose smiled. ¡°It¡¯s funny,¡± she said, ¡°in my years of working as an obstetrician, I often hear

    that same thing. I think that most people have a preference until they see the fetus for the first time,

    and then they suddenly don¡¯t care about the s*x so long as it¡¯s healthy.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Selina chimed in. ¡°I was a midwife for many years¡­ I saw some of the most stony-faced

    fathers who only ever wished for a boy ultimately melt into puddles of pure love when they held their

    baby girls for the first time.¡±

    As Selina spoke, I nced up at Edrick again and imagined how his face would look when he held our

    baby for the first time.

    ¡­

    After my appointment, Edrick led us out of the hospital through a private entrance and drove us home.

    He didn¡¯t say much during the car ride, but I could see a slight sparkle in his eyes that had yet to go

    away even when we pulled up to the penthouse.

    Selina, who also had a new spring in her step after the ultrasound, helped me get out of the car. She

    chatted about heating up some soup that she¡¯d prepared in advance for me since the ultrasound took

    some strength out of me as we took the elevator ¡ª meanwhile, Edrick continued to stare off dreamily

    into space as though he was somewhere else entirely. Watching him made me feel overwhelmed with

    emotion; despite all of our troubles, I was d to know that he would at least love our baby.

    However, that dreamy expression changed when the elevator doors opened to reveal the sound of

    Verona¡¯s voiceing from the living room.

    ¡°Mom?¡± Edrick called, furrowing his brow as he followed the sound of her voice. I followed behind him,

    grateful then that I was wearing a loose-fitting dress to hide my belly.

    ¡°Hello, darling,¡± she said, getting up from where she was sitting on the couch with E. ¡°I hope you

    don¡¯t mind a surprise visit.¡± She kissed him on the cheek, then came over and kissed me on the cheek

    as well.

    ¡°Not at all,¡± Edrick said as he began to guide his mother back over to the living room. ¡°It¡¯s just a little

    unexpected.¡±

    ¡°Well, that is the whole point of a surprise,¡± she chortled.

    Suddenly, I started to feel a little lightheaded from the events of the morning. Selina, seeing this, took

    my arm and led me to the kitchen. ¡°Come, I¡¯ll make you that soup,¡± she said quietly, and together we

    left Edrick and his mother to continue their conversation privately in the living room.

    I let out a sigh of relief as I sat down on the stool by the kitchen counter and watched Selina pull a bowl

    out of the cupboard. She clicked on the stove, then pulled a pot out of the fridge and set it down on the

    burner.

    Behind me, however, I heard Verona¡¯s voice drop low. It sounded as though she didn¡¯t want anyone

    else to hear¡­ Which meant that I couldn¡¯t help myself from pricking my ears to listen.

    ¡°Edrick¡­ Is she pregnant?¡±

 Chapter 73

    Chapter 73

    #Chapter 73: Keeping Secrets

    Edrick

    ¡°Edrick¡­¡± My mother dropped her tone of voice and leaned closer to me. She took my hand in hers

    and gave me a serious, knowing look that only a mother could have. ¡°Is she pregnant?¡±

    I frowned, hiding the fact that my heart had just started beating rapidly. ¡°What?¡± I said, shaking my

    head. ¡°What makes you think that?¡±

    My mother folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. ¡°Edrick, I¡¯m your mother. You

    can¡¯t lie to me.¡± There was a long silence after she spoke, but her eyes never wavered from mine. Even

    in her old age, she was still just as astute and level-headed as ever. I had never been able to lie to my

    mother, and she knew that. Finally, I caved.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied quietly. ¡°She is pregnant.¡±

    ¡°I knew it,¡± my mother said. I could tell that she was hiding a bit of a smirk at her miniature victory, but

    at the same time, she was dead serious. ¡°Is it yours?¡±

    I didn¡¯t answer right away. I felt a lump rise in my throat after being put on the spot. Sure, I was

    nning on telling my mother eventually, but now? Like this? It felt so out of the blue, and I had no time

    at all to prepare an exnation.

    ¡°It¡¯s not¡ª¡±

    ¡°You know, the way you act around E,¡± my mother interrupted, lowering her voice even more, ¡°if you

    had another illegitimate child¡­ It would only cause more problems for you, for the daughter you

    already have, and the baby. Not to mention the emotional toll it would take on that poor girl to feel like

    she birthed a baby that could never be truly loved by its father.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s not mine, mom,¡± I lied, this time taking care to hide my lie even though it pained

    me to hide something like this from my mother. ¡°It¡¯s someone else¡¯s.¡±

    My mother went silent for a moment. I could practically see the gears turning in her head; I knew that

    she didn¡¯t believe me. ¡°Darling, I already heard all about your visit to the hospital this morning,¡± she

    admitted. ¡°You know, the couples that you let her ahead of are well known, after all, and they were very

    put out by the entire thing. But I digress, and it was well within your rights to do such a thing if you felt it

    necessary. If it wasn¡¯t yours, though, why would you bother going to the doctor¡¯s appointments with

    her? And why would you care so much as to go against our hospital¡¯s policy like that?¡±

    I started to panic again. ¡°I only wanted to help her,¡± I lied once more. ¡°She doesn¡¯t have anyone else,

    and those human doctors¡­¡± What was I supposed to say? That I cared about my daughter¡¯s nanny out

    of the kindness of my heart and didn¡¯t want her visiting some shoddy doctor who wouldn¡¯t give her and

    the baby in her belly the best care possible? My mother would never believe it; she had always been

    an intuitive woman, and even now, I knew that she didn¡¯t believe me one bit.

    But, much to my surprise, she didn¡¯t question further. ¡°Well then,¡± she said with a slight sigh, leaning

    back in her chair. ¡°That¡¯s very nice of you. I wish her all the best in her pregnancy.¡±

    Just then, Selina emerged from the kitchen with tea. She set the tray down, then began to pour a cup

    for my mother.

    ¡°Oh, thank you, but that won¡¯t be necessary,¡± my mother said, standing. ¡°I only wanted to pop in for a

    few minutes. I should be going now.¡±

    Selina seemed a bit surprised, as was I ¡ª but I obliged, honestly relieved to know that such a difficult

    conversation was over for now. At the same time, however, I couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty for lying to my

    mother¡­ And I couldn¡¯t help but feel even more guilty when I saw Moana standing in the kitchen,

    watching me.

    ¡­

    After my mother left, I retreated to my office for the remainder of the day. I spent the majority of my time

    there pacing back and forth in my study, wondering what to do. I would have to address this soon;

    eventually, my family would find out. I couldn¡¯t hide it forever, and already I was on thin ice for tantly

    lying to my mother¡¯s face like that in a way that no son ever should. But what was I supposed to do? I

    was put on the spot, and I hadn¡¯t prepared yet. While my mother was a perfectly reasonable and kind

    woman, I simply wasn¡¯t ready for the consequences yet, and what if she told my father?

    Unless she told my father already¡­ But no, I told myself; if he knew, he would have certainly been here

    by now, berating me for hours. That was what he had done with E, and she was a purebred

    werewolf. I could only imagine his reaction when he found out that I was not only getting ready to bring

    another illegitimate child into the family, but a half-human one at that.

    Finally, dinner time came and I decided to emerge from my office to join E and Moana. They were

    already sitting at the table when I arrived. Moana was tucking a napkin into the front of E¡¯s shirt while

    E stared hungrily at the te of steak and potatoes in front of her.

    ¡°Sorry I¡¯m a littlete,¡± I said, sitting down in my chair. ¡°Work got ahead of me this afternoon.¡± Of

    course, I wasn¡¯t going to divulge to Moana that I¡¯d actually spent the afternoon doing nothing but

    pondering how to tell my mother about the baby, and I especially wasn¡¯t going to tell her that in front of

    E.

    Moana didn¡¯t answer. I didn¡¯t think much of it at first and began to cut my steak, but when the table

    remained silent whereas Moana would have normally begun to ask E questions about her day by

    now, I began to get suspicious. When I nced up from my steak, I saw her ring at me. She quickly

    looked away and popped a bite of glistening steak into her mouth, chewing slowly, but I saw the look

    she gave me. It was akin to the look she gave me in the kitchen when my mother left earlier that day.

    I cleared my throat and took a sip of my wine.

    ¡°Delicious steak,¡± I said, just wanting to fill the awkward silence. ¡°Another craving?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Moana¡¯s voice was sharp and quick, like a jab with a knife. ¡°It¡¯s just what Selina happened to

    prepare tonight.¡±

    I swallowed, unable to ignore the fresh tone in Moana¡¯s voice, but I figured that it was just the

    pregnancy hormones, or maybe she was tired. Regardless, I wouldn¡¯t argue. After all, as the man in the

    baby supply store said, I shouldn¡¯t argue with the mother of my child.

    ¡°Well,¡± I said, cutting another piece of meat, ¡°I¡¯m sure Selina knows what you like, and what¡¯s good for

    the baby as well. I¡¯m happy to see you eating such hearty meals.¡±

    Suddenly, Moana dropped her fork and her knife on her te with a ng and abruptly pushed her

    chair back. She tossed her balled-up napkin down on the table with a frown, causing even E to look

    up from her meal and give her a confused look.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°I¡¯m actually not feeling well,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m going to lie down. E,e get me when you¡¯re finished,

    alright?¡±

    E nodded slowly. Moana cast me onest dirty nce before turning on her heel and walking briskly

    out of the room.

 Chapter 74

    Chapter 74

    #Chapter 74: Just Another Mood

    Moana

    Hearing how Edrick refused to admit that the baby was his to his own mother hurt me deeply. I found

    myself hardly able to speak or eat all day after overhearing him, and although I wanted to tell myself

    that he was only put on the spot when Verona asked about the pregnancy, I knew deep down that it

    was really because he was embarrassed to have a baby with someone from a lower social status. If he

    had simply denied my pregnancy, it would have been one thing, but to im it was another man¡¯s baby

    altogether hurt me to my core.

    After Verona left, I found that tears wereing to my eyes. I decided to leave my soup unfinished and

    ran off to my room to cry without anyone seeing me.

    Once I was inside my room, I felt my emotions take over. I took a deep breath, steadying myself, and

    walked over to my mirror to will myself not to cry. As I looked at myself, however, and took in the

    appearance of my growing belly and my red eyes, I couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore. A few tears began to

    roll down my cheeks.

    I took in a deep, shaky breath and dug my fingers into the wood of my dresser.

    Just then, there was a soft knock on the door. Before I could even gather myself enough to answer, the

    door cracked open. It was Selina.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t finish your soup,¡± she said, eyeing me as I quickly wiped the tears from my cheeks with the

    back of my hand.

    I shook my head. ¡°I just lost my appetite. I¡¯m sorry. It really was good soup, anyway.¡±

    Selina stared at me for a moment, then, without permission, opened my door and stepped in. I caught a

    glimpse of the other maids behind her, who both quickly gasped and darted out of sight when they

    realized I saw them. I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. ¡°You might as well alle in, since you¡¯re

    eavesdropping,¡± I said.

    After a moment, Lily and Amy entered, too. Amy closed the door behind them and shot me a

    concerned look as I walked over to my armchair and sat down.

    ¡°Go on,¡± I said, feeling a little irritated. ¡°Tell me how I¡¯m being overly emotional.¡±

    There was a bit of a silence. Selina cleared her throat and opened her mouth to say something, but

    before she could, Amy spoke instead. ¡°He¡¯lle around, Moana,¡± she said gently. She came over to

    me and sat down on the ottoman next to my chair, then reached out and patted my hand. ¡°I think he

    just needs a little time, that¡¯s all.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but think that I¡¯d already given Edrick plenty of time, but the maid¡¯s kind words still lifted

    my spirits a little.

    ¡°Right, Selina?¡± Amy said, turning to face the older housekeeper. ¡°Mr. Morgan is just slow to open up

    sometimes, but he¡¯s not all bad.¡±

    Selina cleared her throat once again. She seemed ufortable, and patted her apron

    absentmindedly as her eyes darted back and forth as though she was searching for the right words.

    ¡°Edrick really isn¡¯t all bad,¡± she finally said. ¡°Deep down, he¡¯s a good man who means well. But, Moana

    ¡ª¡± She paused, pursing her lips. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that he¡¯s a wealthy CEO from the esteemed Morgan

    family. Expecting him to be forting with his feelings about someone from a lower ss is like

    asking a fish to climb a tree.¡±

    The older housekeeper¡¯s words made my heart sink, but I supposed that she was right. I stared down

    at the floor for several moments as I absentmindedly rested my hand on my belly. What sort of a future

    was I setting my baby up for? If Edrick couldn¡¯t even admit to his own mother that he was the father of

    my baby, and if he was willing to make me look bad by implying that I was impregnated by a stranger or

    someone unworthy of being in the baby¡¯s life, then was that fair to the baby? It almost made me

    wonder if the baby would be better off not knowing his or her father at all.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Moana,¡± Selina said finally. I could tell that she didn¡¯t mean to hurt me.

    I looked up at her and managed a weak smile, then stood. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Thank you for being honest.¡±

    ¡­

    For the remainder of that day, Edrick stayed in his study. He only finally emerged for dinner, and by that

    point I was still fuming over his words from earlier that day. When he tried to talk to me at the dinner

    table and showed concern for my health, I finally couldn¡¯t handle it and abruptly stood up.

    ¡°I¡¯m actually not feeling well,¡± I said brusquely, pushing my chair back. ¡°I¡¯m going to lie down. E,

    come get me when you¡¯re finished, alright?¡±

    As I walked away, I threw onest angry nce at Edrick.

    I knew I¡¯d been too harsh and sarcastic just then ¡ª but at the moment, I just wanted to get away and

    be alone. Thankfully, Edrick didn¡¯t follow me, and I was able to put E to bed that night without further

    incident.

    I was walking back to my room, however, when I ran into Edrick. He seemed to be specifically looking

    for me and I felt a lump rise in my throat.

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Can you just talk to me?¡± He said, folding his arms.

    ¡°What¡¯s to talk about?¡± I asked. Then, sidestepping around him: ¡°I¡¯m just going to bed. Goodnight.¡±

    But it seemed that Edrick wasn¡¯t satisfied. He followed me into my room, then closed the door behind

    himself and gave me an annoyed look. ¡°I¡¯m running out of patience with your sarcastic attitude,¡± he said

    coldly before I had a chance to kick him out of my room. ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate you acting that way in front

    of E like you did at dinner.¡±

    I raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said, ¡°but¡ª¡±

    ¡°I think you should take a day off,¡± he said. As he spoke, his demeanor softened a little and his arms

    fell back to his sides. ¡°I know you¡¯re having pregnancy mood swings, so we don¡¯t need to dwell on it.

    Just take the day tomorrow to rest and rx.¡±

    I felt my mouth hanging open at his words. Before I could tell him that he was wrong and that my mood

    today had nothing at all to do with my pregnancy hormones, he suddenly turned on his heel and

    opened the door again.

    ¡°Goodnight,¡± he said. Then, without another word, he walked out and shut the door behind him.

    Once I was alone, I scowled and curled my hands up into fists. Did he really not realize the real reason

    behind my mood, or was he simply choosing to disregard it? Here, I was, thinking that Edrick was

    changing and starting to see me as an equal, and yet ¡ª in the same day, he not only refused to tell his

    own mother that the little werewolf in my belly was his baby, but he alsopletely belittled my true

    emotions and simplified them down to nothing but a ¡°mood¡±.

 Chapter 75

    Chapter 75

    #Chapter 75: Loveless Family

    Moana

    The next morning, I decided to take Edrick¡¯s offer for a day off and went to the orphanage to get out of

    the penthouse for a while. I was still incredibly hurt and angry by Edrick¡¯s refusal to admit that the baby

    was his to his own mother, but at the very least, I knew that a day out might lift my spirits just a little.

    As I arrived at the orphanage, I already began to feel just a little bit better.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I called as I walked in. I didn¡¯t get a response, but I heard the children¡¯s voicesing from

    the recreation room as theyughed and yed, and it made me smile a bit. I walked over to the

    recreation room and stopped in my tracks when I saw Ethan ying with the children.

    N?velDrama.Org holds this content.

    They didn¡¯t see me at first. Ethan was giving them an art lesson and was walking around the room,

    looking at all of the children¡¯s artwork and giving thempliments. Seeing how sweet he was being

    with the children made me smile, but at the same time, it made me feel sad knowing that his brother

    was seemingly incapable of having such truly genuine kindness and love for anything except his

    pristine image.

    Suddenly, as I stood in the doorway, one of the children jerked her head up from her intense scribbling

    and gasped, pointing at me with her chubby little finger. ¡°Moana¡¯s here!¡± she shouted.

    All at once, the children erupted into cheers and swarmed me like little bumble bees. I couldn¡¯t help but

    laugh as they bombarded me, and I caught Ethan¡¯s eye from behind. He was smiling at me, but as his

    eyes traveled down to my belly and his smile faded, I knew that my dress didn¡¯t hide my pregnancy well

    enough today.

    Regardless, Ethan seemed to keep his thoughts to himself, which was a wee relief. I spent the

    afternoon helping him with the children, and we all had a wonderful time making artwork and ying

    with y. When it was finally over, Sophia thanked us and whisked the children away for dinner, leaving

    us alone for the first time that day.

    ¡°Long time no see,¡± Ethan said as we cleaned up the mess left behind in the recreation room.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, clearing my throat nervously. Thest time we saw each other was at our dinner date. At

    the time, he had asked if I was pregnant jokingly. Now, I was clearly pregnant. ¡°I know what you¡¯re

    gonna ask,¡± I said, turning to face him with confidence. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Ask.¡±

    Ethan¡¯s face went red. He nced briefly at the floor, then ran a hand through his hair. ¡°Uh¡­ Are

    you¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied.

    ¡°So does that mean that¡­ When we went out¡­¡±

    I nodded. ¡°You were right that night. I just wasn¡¯t ready to admit it. I¡¯m sorry for lying to you.¡±

    Ethan shook his head vehemently. ¡°No, it¡¯s perfectly fine,¡± he said gently. ¡°It¡¯s your right to choose who

    to tell and when to tell them. But if you don¡¯t mind me asking¡­ Is it Edrick¡¯s?¡±

    I felt my heart leap into my throat as I wondered if it would be appropriate to tell Ethan. If Edrick wasn¡¯t

    even willing to tell his own mother that he was the father of my baby, then was it really my ce to tell

    his brother?

    Finally, I decided against it, and I shook my head.

    ¡°No. It¡¯s my ex-boyfriend¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Ethan looked a little disbelieving, but he didn¡¯t say anything else about it. But suddenly, at the

    mention of Edrick and the thought of how he couldn¡¯t tell his mother about our baby, I felt a teare

    to my eye. I quickly wiped it away and sniffled, turning away, but Ethan saw it already and rushed over

    to me.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if my questions bothered you. I didn¡¯t mean to¡ª¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, not at all,¡± I replied. ¡°It¡¯s nothing like that. I don¡¯t mind the questions. It¡¯s just¡­¡±

    Ethan c****d his head and touched my shoulder. ¡°What is it?¡± he said quietly. ¡°You know you can talk to

    me. We¡¯re friends.¡±

    I smiled a bit at his kind words. It was afort to have a good friend to talk to, although I wished I

    could only bepletely honest with him. Still, I needed someone to vent to who wasn¡¯t Selina or the

    maids, and it was hard to resist Ethan¡¯s kind and sweet face.

    ¡°I just worry that I¡¯m bringing this baby into a bad situation,¡± I admitted, taking care not to share too

    much and spill the big secret. ¡°I might need to raise this baby without other family members, and I don¡¯t

    know if I can do that while still giving him or her a safe and happy life.¡±

    Ethan was silent for a moment. He sucked on his lower lip and nodded slowly as he digested my

    words, then finally spoke. ¡°I know I don¡¯t have much experience of the outside world since I grew up in

    thep of luxury with the Morgan family,¡± he said quietly, ¡°so maybe I shouldn¡¯t say this, but¡­ I think

    my life would have been better if I was just raised by my mom. Even if it was just the two of us, and

    even if we didn¡¯t have a lot of money. I don¡¯t think I would¡¯ve needed anyone else, really. So¡­ I think if

    you wanted to raise the baby by yourself, it would be okay with your love.¡±

    Ethan¡¯s kind words brought another tear to my eye. For the first time in a while, I feltforted. Maybe

    I could do this on my own if I needed to.

    ¡°Of course¡­¡± he continued, breaking my train of thought, ¡°you know I would always love to help you

    support this child if you ever needed it.¡± His voice was soft and sweet, and when he finished speaking,

    he looked down at the floor. I was so moved by his kindness that, without thinking or even hesitating, I

    pulled him into a tight hug. He stiffened for a moment out of surprise, but then wrapped his arms

    around me and held me tightly.

    When we pulled away, I felt as though a massive weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

    ¡°Thank you, Ethan,¡± I said gently. ¡°You¡¯re a really good friend.¡±

    Ethan smiled and squeezed my shoulder. ¡°Of course,¡± he replied. ¡°It¡¯s what friends are for.¡±

    We fell silent for a moment. Just then, however, I nced up at the clock and realized that it was

    alreadyte. I quickly got my things together; Ethan offered me another ride home, but Edrick had

    insisted that I bring the driver with me, so it wasn¡¯t necessary ¡ª not to mention the fact that it wouldn¡¯t

    bode well if I pulled up to the penthouse with Ethan again after another argument with Edrick. So, I

    hugged my friend goodbye and climbed into the back of the waiting car.

    As I was driven home, I looked out the window at the city lights. They were so colorful at night, and

    after the entire day, I felt immensely better. A slight smile twitched at the corners of my lips as I looked

    at them. Maybe, if I had to, I really could take care of this baby on my own.

    As the city lights passed by, I had another thought: I thought to myself that I should start saving more

    money so I could take my baby away from this loveless family.

 Chapter 76

    Chapter 76

    #Chapter 76: Temper

    Edrick

    The next day after our minor argument, I was happy to see that Moana took me up on my offer and

    decided to take the day off. I insisted that she let the driver take her wherever she wanted to go. She

    left in a bit of a huff, holding her belly through her summer dress in the elevator, but as the door closed,

    I knew that she woulde home feeling much betterter. In the future, I told myself that I would

    make sure she had more time off; this much stress was only bad for the baby, so if she needed any

    time to rest and rx, then I would allow it.

    However, Moana wasteing home that night. I began to get a little worried when she wasn¡¯t even

    home in time for dinner, and found myself involuntarily looking out the window every five minutes to see

    if she wasing.

    Finally, just as I was about to call her, I saw the car pull up out front and let out a sigh of relief. I

    watched as she walked into the building, then waited for her to take the elevator up. When the doors

    finally slid open and she walked into the foyer, she immediately met my gaze.

    ¡°You were outte,¡± I said. ¡°I was about to call you.¡±

    She shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s my day off. I¡¯m an adult, so you don¡¯t need to worry about me.¡±

    For the second day in a row, Moana was being sarcastic and cold toward me. What did I do to piss her

    off so much like this? Frowning, I folded my arms across my chest. ¡°I¡¯m allowed to wonder where the

    mother of my baby is past dark in this big city,¡± I said.

    Moana merely scoffed. ¡°I was only at the orphanage,¡± she replied. ¡°Besides, why do you care? It¡¯s not

    your baby, right? Just some other man¡¯s mistake?¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what this is about?¡± I asked, sying my hands out with my palms up, feeling incredulous.

    ¡°You eavesdropped on my conversation with my mother?¡±

    Moana rolled her eyes and began to storm off toward her room, but I wasn¡¯t having it. After all of the

    waiting and worrying about her all night, I had finally had enough. I had been so understanding, and

    even gave her an extra day off! Before she could storm away, I quickly ran up to her and put myself

    between her and the doorway.

    ¡°Don¡¯t just run away,¡± I insisted. ¡°Have a real conversation with me.¡±

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    She waved her hand dismissively. I noticed that she didn¡¯t seem to even want to look at me, and now

    she turned around to storm off in the other direction, toward the kitchen. ¡°It¡¯spletely unimportant,¡±

    she said. I followed her and watched as she walked to the fridge, opened it, then took out a pitcher of

    iced tea and poured herself a ss. Her hands seemed to be shaking.

    ¡°Did you eat dinner?¡± I asked.

    Moana scoffed again. ¡°Why do you care?¡±

    ¡°Because,¡± I reiterated, ¡°you are carrying my child in your belly. You¡¯ve hardly eaten for the past two

    days. Thest thing you, I, the baby, or anyone else needs is for you to copse and wind up in the

    hospital. I mean¡­¡± I let out a wry, disbelieving chuckle. ¡°What has gotten into you?¡±

    ¡°What has gotten into me?¡± Moana asked through gritted teeth. She mmed the pitcher back down in

    the fridge, then turned toward me and pressed her palms firmly into the countertop. ¡°First,¡± she said,

    counting on her fingers now, ¡°you scrambled to pay off that photographer on the night we went out for

    dinner. Then, you can¡¯t even be bothered to refer to me in any sort of personal way at the hospital until

    we were behind closed doors, because it might tarnish your pristine reputation to be in association with

    a lowly human¡­¡±

    ¡°Moana, that¡¯s not¡ª¡± I began, but she cut me off.

    ¡°That¡¯s not even all of it!¡± she snarled. ¡°You¡¯ve done nothing but treat me with a hot and cold attitude

    since you met me. One day, you¡¯re sweet and kind and caring. Then, the next day, you¡¯re distant and

    can¡¯t even look me in the eye. The only reason why you evene close to treating me like an equal is

    because of this baby, and I was willing to ept that! But then you can¡¯t even admit to your own

    mother that the baby is yours? You have to make me out to be impregnated by another mystery man?

    Don¡¯t you realize how that sounds?¡±

    As she spoke, Moana absentmindedly stormed out of the kitchen and back into the living room. I

    followed, partially listening to what she was saying, but also partially because I was worried she might

    do something rash in her current angry state.

    ¡°You know,¡± she said, her voice still raised, ¡°I thought that you were really starting to see me as an

    equal. I thought that our rtionship was unconventional, but that it would be okay because you would

    love our child, and that was all that mattered. But now, I think that our baby will only grow up feeling

    even more alone than I do in this household. No other family members, no friends, having to constantly

    fear cameras, and not even being epted by his or her own father. Just money. Money can¡¯t fill the

    void that parental love is supposed to fill!¡±

    Suddenly, she picked up a pillow off of the couch in her fit of anger and chucked it as hard as she could

    ¡ª not at me, but at the floor with a surprising amount of force for such a petite pregnant woman.

    When she was finished, the room fell silent, filled only by the sounds of her breathing harshly through

    her nostrils. We both stared incredulously at the discarded pillow; I had to stifle a bit of a smirk at the

    ridiculousness of the situation and theical choice of throwing a pillow on the floor. Even in a state

    of fury, Moana was still level-headed enough to only throw something soft, rather than choosing

    something heavy or breakable like so many angry people might choose.

    When I lifted my gaze from the pillow, I looked into her eyes, only to see that they were filled with more

    than just annoyance and anger¡­ but rather a deep-seated pain and bitterness. I felt both cornered and

    guilty; how could I exin to her that I was just put on the spot by my mother, and that I was nning

    on announcing the baby to her in due time? She wouldn¡¯t even believe me anyway, and the longer I

    thought about it, the more I realized that it was a weak excuse anyway. Maybe I was just being cruel by

    iming that the baby in Moana¡¯s belly belonged to a mystery man. Maybe I should have been a man

    and admitted that the baby was mine.

    At that moment, I knew I was wrong. And for some reason, I wanted to hold her. Without a word, I

    walked past the discarded pillow and pulled her tightly into my arms.

 Chapter 77

    Chapter 77

    #Chapter 77: A Compromise

    Edrick

    In her fit of anger, Moana threw a pillow, of all things, on the floor. She stood there silently after she did

    it, breathing heavily through ring nostrils with her fists clenched at her sides. At that moment, she

    looked adorably small and helpless, like an angry child. But she wasn¡¯t a child; she was a woman, and

    my actions had upset her.

    For some reason, seeing Moana act so passionately made me want to hold her. Without a word, I

    walked past the discarded pillow and pulled her tightly into my arms.

    She stiffened at first, shocked by my sudden disy of affection, before she finally rxed into me. Her

    petite body pressing against me made me feel warm all over, and for a long time, I just held her there in

    the middle of the living room. I didn¡¯t want to get too close, but I couldn¡¯t deny the feeling of her slightly

    protruding belly against mebined with her fluttering heartbeat. For a brief moment, I thought about

    our fated one night stand that resulted in her unexpected pregnancy. It started to make me a little

    aroused, admittedly, but I quickly pushed those thoughts back down and just focused instead of making

    the mother of my baby rx.

    As I hugged her, however, I was suddenly alerted to an oddly familiar smell. I couldn¡¯t quite ce my

    finger on it at first, but it grew just a little stronger, and I suddenly came to the realization that it was the

    same scent that I picked up at the maze all of those weeks ago. Just as quickly as it came, however, it

    suddenly faded.

    I stopped hugging her and pulled away, looking down at her with narrow eyes. That scent was so

    distinct, and it was sweet. That day at the maze, I thought that it might have even been my mate¡¯s

    scent, but that was impossible; Moana was a human. Was she hiding something from me?

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Moana asked, looking up at me with innocent confusion written across her face.

    She looked genuine. I didn¡¯t think that she had anything to hide; maybe it was just some perfume that

    she used on asion and it was nothing more than that.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I said, shaking my head and taking a step back.

    Neither of us spoke for a few moments until Moana finally said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I got so worked up.¡± She

    solemnly walked over to the pillow that she had thrown on the floor and picked it up, setting it back

    down in its rightful ce on the couch with a sheepish expression on her face.

    N?velDrama.Org holds this content.

    I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡±

    Moana stared at the floor for a little bit. My own mind felt as though it was whirling around with a million

    different thoughts. I knew that I was being a jerk for not telling my mother about the baby, and for

    making Moana feel so badly. But at the same time, I was a werewolf from a highly esteemed family.

    Even though I did like Moana and enjoyed herpany, I could never be so forting publicly with a

    human nanny.

    ¡°Well¡­ Goodnight,¡± Moana said quietly before turning and walking toward her bedroom.

    I stared after her for a moment, biting my lip as I watched her go.

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    She froze when I called out to her, then slowly turned to face me.

    ¡°You know I¡¯ll love our baby just as much as I love E,¡± I said, swallowing my pride. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I

    made you think that I wouldn¡¯t. My mother only put me on the spot yesterday, but¡­ I know I should

    have just told her. If it¡¯s important to you, we can tell her together tomorrow. But we can¡¯t tell my father

    yet.¡±

    Moana¡¯s demeanor seemed to soften a bit at my words. She nodded slightly to herself, staring at the

    floor, before lifting her gaze to meet mine. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡±

    I managed a weak smile. Moana smiled a little in response, but quickly turned on her heel and

    retreated to her bedroom just as something indiscernible began to show in her eyes. I sighed as I heard

    her bedroom door click shut before I finally decided to try to get some sleep myself.

    Sleep didn¡¯te easily, however. Even with my sleeping pills, Iid awake that night thinking about

    what I would say to my mother, and how she would react ¡ª especially when I would tell her not to say

    a word to my father. My mother was a kind andpassionate woman, but she also had her limits as a

    wealthy werewolf, and I wasn¡¯t entirely certain that she would be particrly thrilled by the news. At the

    very least, there was somefort in knowing that she would still support my decision. Not only that,

    but it was afort to know that it would make Moana happy. I didn¡¯t want to cause her too much

    stress for the baby¡¯s sake.

    That night, as Iid awake, there was one other thing that kept floating through my mind.

    What was that scent, and why was it so sweet to me?

    ¡­

    The following afternoon, I kept through with my promise about telling my mother about the baby. We

    invited my mother out for lunch to tell her the news at a nearby restaurant, but told her specifically to

    come alone. I knew that she already had an idea about what we were going to tell her, but if she did,

    she didn¡¯t say anything about it. I always appreciated that about my mother.

    When we arrived, my mother was already sitting at a table outside. It was a well-to-do establishment

    that was heavily frequented by other celebrities, so I feltfortable taking my mask off when Moana

    and I sat down.

    ¡°Hello, dear,¡± my mother said to Moana, squeezing her hand. Her eyes momentarily flickered down to

    Moana¡¯s belly, but she quickly looked away and smiled. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I already ordered

    tea.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Verona,¡± Moana replied with a somewhat stiff smile. I could tell that she felt a bit

    ufortable in a wealthy establishment like this, but I¡¯d made sure to have her get dressed

    appropriately, so she didn¡¯t look terribly out of ce. Of course, there were a few strange looks as it

    was rare for a human to dine here, but no one was going to make a fuss about it with my mother and I

    here.

    The waiter quickly returned with our tea, then took our lunch orders. We made small talk while we

    waited for our food and ate pleasantly when our food came, but I could feel that the tension in the air

    was thick. The tension was only growing thicker by the minute as my mother no doubt began toe

    to her own conclusions in her head about why we were here, and Moana seemed to be getting

    impatient beside me, so I decided that it was time to get it over with.

    ¡°Mom, Moana and I have something to tell you,¡± I said, staring down at my te as my heart quickened

    a bit. My mother raised an eyebrow when I looked up at her.

    ¡°You were right the other day. Moana is pregnant with my child.¡±

 Chapter 78

    Chapter 78

    #Chapter 78: Mystery Woman

    Moana

    When Edrick finally told his mother at lunch that I was pregnant with his baby and not some other

    man¡¯s baby, there was a long silence. I felt my heart jump into my throat as my hands shook nervously

    underneath the table. What was his mother going to say? Was she going to use me of trying to lock

    down her son with a baby in order to gain money or social status? Was she going to tell me to leave

    and stay away from the Morgan family before I sullied their reputation with my status as a human

    nanny?

    All of these things swirled around in my mind for those long few moments when no one spoke, causing

    a slight wave of nausea to wash over me. Suddenly, I lost what little appetite I had for my lunch,

    although I was already so nervous before that I couldn¡¯t bring myself to eat much anyway.

    Finally, and much to my pleasure and surprise, a broad smile spread across Verona¡¯s aging face.

    ¡°Oh, how wonderful!¡± she said, sping her hands together happily. ¡°I¡¯m so happy!¡±

    Beside me, Edrick¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Really?¡± he said, sounding just as incredulous as I felt.

    ¡°Of course!¡± Verona eximed. ¡°Another grandchild!¡± She quickly lowered her voice then, realizing that

    someone might overhear if she got too excited about it. ¡°I must admit that I am a little worried, though,¡±

    she said, her smile fading somewhat.

    ¡°Worried about what, exactly?¡± Edrick replied.

    Verona sighed and looked down at her te. ¡°Well, you¡¯re not married yet,¡± she said. ¡°What¡¯s your n

    for raising the baby?¡±

    Finally, I took an opportunity to chime in and said proudly, ¡°We¡¯ve decided to co-parent.¡±

    Verona raised an eyebrow and looked back and forth between Edrick and I for a moment. She looked a

    little confused, and I felt a bit embarrassed then as I realized that a wealthy woman from an older

    generation might not be so understanding of an arrangement like ours.

    ¡°Moana will continue living with E and I at the penthouse,¡± Edrick borated. ¡°We¡¯ll raise the baby

    together so he or she can experience having both parents in the same household¡­ Plus, E loves

    Moana as her nanny, so it wouldn¡¯t be fair otherwise.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s mother was silent for a few moments, seemingly processing this new information. I felt my own

    anxieties growing as I wondered what she would think of our unconventional arrangement.

    ¡°You know, this could be harder than you think it will be,¡± Verona said finally. ¡°Think about how it could

    confuse the child. Are you sure you wouldn¡¯t consider just getting married? Besides, with your father¡ª¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t get married,¡± Edrick suddenly said, somewhat abrasively at that. Verona seemed a bit taken

    aback. Although I was used to this sort of behavior from the Alpha billionaire by now, I was a little hurt

    by his abrupt statement of intent, too.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Verona sighed and picked up her tea, taking a long sip. She set the cup back down in the

    causer with a slight ng, seemingly a little annoyed; I couldn¡¯t tell if that was because of her son¡¯s

    refusal to get married or if it was because he identally impregnated a human nanny. ¡°Just don¡¯t

    make any arbitrary decisions,¡± she said, looking sternly at Edrick. ¡°Make sure you really consider all of

    the factors involved before you make such broad, sweeping choices.¡±

    Edrick didn¡¯t answer Verona¡¯sment. Admittedly, although I felt a little awkward, it was also nice to

    know that maybe the Alpha billionaire¡¯s mother was at least a little bit on my side. While I hade to

    terms with our co-parenting arrangement, I also wondered what sort of emotional impact it would have

    on our child.

    Finally, Edrick spoke again. ¡°There¡¯s one more thing, mom,¡± he said, adjusting in his chair

    ufortably. ¡°It¡¯s about dad.¡±

    Verona frowned. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like it if you wouldn¡¯t tell him until we have absolutely no choice,¡± he said quietly. He paused and

    sucked on his lower lip for a minute, thinking. ¡°Moana has only been pregnant for a short while. I¡¯m¡­

    Afraid that he might do something to the baby if he found out now.¡±

    Both mine and Verona¡¯s eyes widened. Edrick hadn¡¯t mentioned this concern, and suddenly I felt

    incredibly anxious and put my hand over my stomach protectively out of instinct. Was my baby in

    danger?

    ¡°Edrick,¡± Verona said, shaking her head disappointedly, ¡°your father isn¡¯t that bad. But¡­ If it really

    means so much to you, then I won¡¯t say a word. Your secret is safe with me.¡±

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡­

    After lunch, we hugged and kissed Verona goodbye before heading back to the penthouse. I felt a bit of

    a relief now that Edrick¡¯s mother knew about the pregnancy, but Edrick¡¯s mention of his father

    potentially doing something to the baby made me suddenly feel even more anxious than before. I finally

    began to understand why Edrick might not have wanted to say anything just yet¡­ He was trying to

    protect our baby. But was his father really all that bad?

    When we arrived back at the penthouse, however, my anxieties raised even further. We hardly even

    had time to get out of the elevator before Selina came scurrying over to us with her phone in her hand.

    ¡°You two will want to see this,¡± she said quickly, shoving the phone in our faces. Edrick frowned and

    took the phone, and I leaned over to look at the screen.

    On the screen, there was an image from an inte tabloid.

    It was a picture of Edrick, Verona and I at the restaurant that day. My eyes widened as I saw that there

    was a big, red circle around my belly, which was protruding a bit in my dress. I had my hand on my

    belly in the picture, emphasizing it even more. Meanwhile, mine, Edrick¡¯s and Verona¡¯s faces all

    appeared grim, and Verona¡¯s mouth was open. It was clear that we were having a very important

    discussion.

    Below the image was big, bold text that read:

    ¡°MYSTERY WOMAN WITH WERECORP CEO! NEW ADDITION TO THE MORGAN FAMILY ON THE

    WAY?¡±

    I felt my heart sink as I saw all of this. I nced up at Edrick, whose face went white as a sheet.

    Without another word, he quickly took out his phone and walked away, leaving Selina and I standing

    speechless in the foyer.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I heard him say as he went into his office. ¡°Yes. This is Edrick Morgan. I¡¯d like to pay you to

    take down that article¡­¡±

    With that, the door shut and I couldn¡¯t hear what he said afterwards. I swallowed the knot in my throat

    as I looked at Selina, whose face seemed both concerned and apologetic.

    Without another word, I held my head high and returned to my bedroom to rest. As Iid down atop my

    quilt and stared at the ceiling, however, I couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for what happened. It was all my

    fault for that image being published; if I hadn¡¯t demanded that we speak to Verona again, that picture

    never would have been taken. And now, Edrick had to clean up the mess I made before his father

    found out.

 Chapter 79

    Chapter 79

    #Chapter 79: The Anonymous Donor

    Edrick

    As soon as I saw the picture on the tabloid, I knew that I had to have it taken down as soon as

    possible. I immediately felt my heart sink and, without another word to Selina or Moana, I called the

    tabloid straight away. This specific tabloid had been known to cause trouble in the past, so it was

    needless to say that I already knew the CEO somewhat well.

    When I called his office, however, he didn¡¯t sound too keen on selling me the image.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± he said into the phone. ¡°Tell you what; let¡¯s talk about this in person, and maybe we

    can make a deal.¡±

    I frowned. Why couldn¡¯t he just speak over the phone, just like he always did? Either way, I had to get

    that image taken down; if my father saw that picture, and it was very possible that he already did, it

    would cause an uproar. So, I did what the CEO asked and immediately drove over to his office.

    When I arrived, he was waiting for me in his dinky little corner office. It was honestlyughable to me

    that I had to meet a weasel like this in person.

    ¡°You can take your mask off,¡± he said, leaning back in his chair as I entered his office. I closed the door

    behind me and warily slid my mask down once I was certain that I wouldn¡¯t be seen.

    ¡°So¡­ You wanna pay me off, huh?¡± he said with a condescending chuckle. ¡°You know, that¡¯s a very

    valuable image I¡¯ve got. You¡¯re gonna have to offer more than the first person did.¡±

    I felt my eyes widened. ¡°Someone else paid for it already? Who?¡±

    He shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s confidential, unfortunately,¡± he said. ¡°They paid me a pretty penny to keep it on

    the website, if you¡¯d believe that. How much are you willing to pay me to take it down?¡±

    I was bbergasted by this situation. Who would seriously pay this tabloid to keep that photograph

    public? I couldn¡¯t imagine anyone who would be willing to pay so much money for something like that.

    ¡°Fine,¡± I said with an exasperated sigh. ¡°How much did they pay you?¡±

    The CEO grinned. ¡°A hundred thousand.¡±

    My jaw practically hit the floor. I stood, shaking my head and folded my arms. ¡°You¡¯re bluffing,¡± I said

    angrily. ¡°No one would pay a hundred thousand to keep that photo up.¡±

    However, the CEO merely shrugged. He then pointed to a check that was sitting on his desk; when I

    leaned over to look at it, I saw that it was made out to the amount of one hundred thousand dors.

    The beneficiary seemed to use only their initials: K.M.

    I frowned, holding the check up to the light. It looked legitimate.

    ¡°Time is ticking,¡± the CEO said as he tapped his wristwatch. ¡°Do you want the picture to stay up or

    not?¡±

    A deep, agitated groan escaped my throat, but nheless, I pulled out my checkbook and began to

    scribble furiously. When I was finished, I tore it out and mmed it down on the CEO¡¯s desk.

    ¡°Here. And I don¡¯t want you publishing photos of me or anyone else in my personal life on your shady

    little tabloid again,¡± I snarled. ¡°Got it?¡±

    The CEO picked up the check, his eyes widening as he saw the amount. ¡°A¡­ Million?¡± he croaked.

    I nodded as I tucked my checkbook back into my suit jacket pocket. ¡°Consider it a gift, and keep it off

    the books,¡± I said. ¡°Do anything like this again, and I¡¯ll sue you.¡± I pressed my fingers into his desk then

    and leaned forward,ing face to face with him. This close, he was fairly greasy-looking, and one

    eye was lower than the other. ¡°Mywyers are a whole hell of a lot better than yours,¡± I growled. ¡°I¡¯ll get

    not only that money back, but I¡¯ll take everything from you if you cross me again.¡±

    The CEO gulped, nodding vehemently. I watched with disdain as he slowly took the check off of his

    desk with a shaking hand and folded it, slipping it into his pocket. ¡°Right away, Mr. Morgan,¡± he said

    quietly. ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem anymore. I-I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Satisfied, I stood and put my mask back on, straightened my jacket, and stormed out.

    ¡­

    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

    After visiting the CEO, I sorely needed to rx. I had the driver take me to the Morgan-owned bar,

    where I had a few drinks and sat by myself for a while. As I drank, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about the

    mystery donor who tried to pay the CEO into keeping the image up. K.M¡­. Who could that be? I didn¡¯t

    know anyone with those initials.

    A few drinkster, however, and I was finally feeling a little more rxed now that the business was

    over. It was gettingte, so I decided to return home.

    When I arrived back at the penthouse, everything was dark except for a singlemp in the living room. I

    sighed, loosening my tie as I walked over to shut it off, but stopped when I saw the reason behind why

    themp was left on.

    Moana had fallen asleep in the armchair. There was a book sitting on herp; she must have fallen

    asleep while reading.

    I went to shake her shoulder and wake her up, but then paused. She looked so peaceful. Her chest

    was rising and falling gently with her head leaning to one side on the back of the chair, causing a loose

    curl from her hair to fall into her eyes.

    For several moments, I just stood there, admiring her. Maybe it was the alcohol¡­ But I thought that she

    was beautiful. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to wake her up when she was sleeping so soundly, especially

    after all the stress she¡¯d been undertely ¡ª so, slowly and quietly, I gently took the book out of her

    hand, then slid my arms underneath her and picked her up.

    Surprisingly, she didn¡¯t even stir when I lifted her up. She let out a small, content sound that made a

    slight smile twitch at the corners of my lips, then nuzzled her head against my chest.

    I gently carried her to her room, where Iid her down on her bed and pulled her quilt up to her waist.

    In the moonlight, she looked even more beautiful. She was like a sleeping angel, and all I could think

    about was the baby inside her belly. For the longest time, as I watched her sleeping, I didn¡¯t think about

    the tabloid or the mystery donor. I didn¡¯t think about my father or the differences between her status

    and mine. I only thought of how lovely and peaceful she looked, and for a brief second, I couldn¡¯t help

    but hope that our baby had her curly red hair.

    As I watched her sleep, something strange happened. Maybe it was the alcohol after all ¡ª but, without

    thinking, as though I was in a trance, I slowly walked around to the other side of the bed andid down.

    And within just a few moments, I was fast asleep beside Moana.

 Chapter 80

    Chapter 80

    #Chapter 80: A Little Kindness

    Moana

    After I put E to bed, I decided to read in the living room for a little while to rx. The summer evening

    air was pleasant, but it was also warm, which made me sleepy. Before I knew it, I had dozed off

    entirely.

    However, I woke up the next morning in my bed instead of in the chair.

    That was strange¡­ I didn¡¯t remember getting up and going to bed, but I supposed that it wasn¡¯t entirely

    unheard of. I yawned and rolled over onto my back, feeling the morning sun stream in through my

    window and hit my cheek¡­

    But then, I saw something next to me: a person.

    I immediately yelped and jumped out of bed instinctually. I rxed a little when I saw that it was Edrick

    and not some stranger, but what was he doing in my bed? He was still wearing his clothes and even

    had his shoes on.

    As I stood there, my brow furrowed, Edrick¡¯s eyes suddenly snapped open and shocked me even

    further.

    He looked around confusedly for a few moments, just as I had, before he came to the same realization

    that I did and abruptly jumped out of my bed. For several long, ufortable moments, we just stared

    at each other in disbelief from the opposite sides of my bed.

    ¡°Erm¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said finally, running a hand through his hair with an embarrassed expression on

    his face. ¡°I saw you were sleeping on the armchairst night when I got home, and I didn¡¯t want toContent from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    wake you, so I carried you to bed. I¡­ I guess I was so exhausted I fell asleep without even realizing it. I

    had a bit to drinkst night.¡±

    Well, I supposed that that exined it. While it was strange, hearing that he cared enough to carry me

    to bed without waking me made my heart flutter a little. It was sweet, knowing that he would do

    something like that for me.

    ¡°T-Thanks,¡± I stammered in response, feeling my face get hot.

    Edrick only nodded, then abruptly turned on his heel and briskly walked out of the room.

    I watched after him for a moment, watching as the door clicked shut behind him. Did the cold Alpha

    CEO really go out of his way to carry me to bedst night? The thought of it admittedly made my heart

    flutter, although the fact that he fell asleep in my bed was a little odd. Still, I figured that he really was

    just exhausted after running around all day, so I decided not to let it bother me and instead got ready

    for the day.

    After showering and putting on my clothes, I woke E up and got her ready. Unfortunately, we couldn¡¯t

    go for our morning walk just in case we drew too much attention due to the tabloid, but E didn¡¯t seem

    to mind as we spent the afternoon ying inside and doing arts and crafts instead. By mid-afternoon,

    however, she hadpletely tired herself out and was starting to get cranky, so I took it as an

    opportunity to give her a nap and take some time to rest for myself as well.

    Once she was fast asleep for her nap, I made my way over to the kitchen to make myself something to

    eat.

    Much to my surprise, Edrick was standing in the kitchen when I arrived.

    ¡°I thought you were at work,¡± I said, ncing at my watch.

    Edrick, who was sitting at the kitchen counter with a sandwich on a te and a newspaper in front of

    him, merely shrugged. ¡°Meetings were short today,¡± he said. I nodded, feeling my face get red as I

    remembered waking up next to him, and quickly turned my back to hide my face as I made my own

    sandwich.

    Neither of us said anything. I methodically spread some peanut butter and jam on two slices of bread,

    then cut the sandwich diagonally and poured myself a ss of milk. When I turned back around, I felt

    my face go red again when I saw that Edrick was looking right at me over the top of his newspaper.

    When he saw that I noticed him, he quickly hid his face behind his newspaper again and cleared his

    throat.

    ¡°My family throws an end of summer banquet every year,¡± he said, somewhat abruptly. ¡°It¡¯s not for a

    few weeks, but E will of course be expected to be there, and by extension, so will you.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Um¡­¡± I nced down at my growing belly as I held my te in one hand and my ss of milk in

    the other. Many of my dresses were getting to the point where my belly showed, aside from the couple

    of loose dresses that I had, but neither of those were anything but strictly casual.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Edrick said. ¡°Do you not want to go or something?¡±

    I looked up to see that he had set his newspaper down and was now looking at me intently. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s

    not that,¡± I reassured him, setting my lunch down on the counter. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ Well¡­¡± I then gestured to

    my belly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything loose to wear?¡± he asked. ¡°It¡¯s only a few weeks from now. You probably

    won¡¯t be much bigger by then.¡±

    I started to get worried that I wasing across as being ungrateful or too nervous, but I really didn¡¯t

    have anything appropriate for a Morgan family banquet. Even at thest party, when I wore Selina¡¯s

    nice dress, I still felt underdressedpared to the other wealthy partygoers.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure I can find something,¡± I said. ¡°I just don¡¯t think any of my loose dresses would be appropriate.¡±

    Edrick frowned slightly and c****d his head. Then, he abruptly stood. ¡°Can you show me?¡± he asked.

    Once again, my face got hot. By now, I was probably beet red.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to try them on,¡± he said. ¡°Just show me.¡±

    I was a bit confused as to why the Alpha CEO was suddenly so interested in my clothes, but I nodded

    and gestured for him to follow as I made my way over to my room. I opened my closet, which was

    already fairly sparse as I hadn¡¯t gone shopping for quite some time, and pulled out the two hangers that

    held my only loose dresses. One was just a in linen dress for the summer heat, and the other would

    be too warm.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Edrick scratched his chin, thinking deeply. ¡°You¡¯re right. Neither of those will do. You might

    need to do some shopping; not just for the party, but in general. You¡¯re going to need maternity clothes

    soon.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯ll ask Selina to go with me someday, then,¡± I said, turning and hanging the dresses back up. ¡°If

    you don¡¯t mind me taking an afternoon off.¡±

    Edrick waved his hand dismissively and turned on his heel, heading for my door. ¡°I¡¯ll take you

    tomorrow. You can get some high quality maternity clothes, as well as a nice dress for the banquet. It¡¯s

    important to have some nice clothes if you¡¯re going to be around the Morgan family from now on.¡±

    My eyes widened. Before I could answer, Edrick abruptly left after that. I stood still in the middle of my

    room,pletely astonished that the cold Alpha billionaire just offered to take me shopping on a whim

    right after our rtionship was nearly exposed thanks to the tabloid. Was he not afraid that we would

    be seen?

    In fact, these past couple of days, he had been so kind to me despite everything and was even

    intending on going out into public with me despite the tabloid scare. Was he only trying to make up for

    the argument we had?

 Chapter 81

    Chapter 81

    #Chapter 81: Glowing

    Moana

    I was still utterly shocked that Edrick wanted to take me out shopping so soon after the tabloid incident,

    but the next morning, he was waiting for me in the living room when I came out of my room. He was

    dressed well, although much more casually than normal in a white Polo shirt and trousers. He had a

    mask and a pair of sunsses in his hand, and I realized that he would be mostly unrecognizable

    dressed like this in public with his face covered.

    As I walked up to him, however, I noticed that he had a second mask in his hand. He held it out to me.

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to wear this,¡± he said. ¡°Now that people have seen your face, you¡¯ll have to be more

    cautious in public.¡±

    Admittedly, I felt a little bit hurt that we still had to be so secretive, but I finally understood where he was

    coming from and took the mask without fuss. As we walked over to the foyer, I also made sure to grab

    my sunhat along with my purse; the hat would cover my easily recognizable hair, at least a little bit.

    Edrick seemed pleased with this decision, and we put our disguises on before we even stepped out of

    the elevator in the lobby. With his mask and sunsses on and dressed so casually, he really did look

    like apletely different person.

    Edrick drove us to a shopping mall that I had never been to ¡ª a different one from before. This one

    wasn¡¯t an outdoors strip mall like the one that he took me to for baby supplies, but was rather arge

    indoor mall. As we stepped through the big ss doors, I felt awed by the massive fountains, lush

    greenery, and big ss ceilings. All of the other people walking around seemed to be wealthy; even the

    groups of teenagers strutting around were dressed impably well in designer clothing, and I felt

    rather out of ce in my simple dress and sandals.

    Edrick and I walked around for a bit before stopping at a children¡¯s clothing store first. The prices were

    expensive, so I only picked out a few things: a simple cotton dress, a light sweater since summer would

    being to an end soon, and a few little onesies for the baby. Edrick was mostly quiet the entire time,

    asionally wandering off to look at some things on his own before returning to me. When I was

    finished, I approached the counter and dug into my purse for my wallet.

    ¡°I¡¯ll pay,¡± Edrick said, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and extracting his ck credit card from one of

    the slots.

    I shook my head vehemently and put my hand up to stop him, ignoring the cashier¡¯s confused nces

    as she rang up my things and folded them neatly.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I insisted. ¡°I want to pay myself.¡±

    Edrick frowned, but didn¡¯t say anything else until we walked out of the store.

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you let me pay?¡± he asked.

    I shrugged. ¡°I want to purchase some things for our baby as well,¡± I replied. ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel right letting

    you pay for everything.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all the same, isn¡¯t it?¡± he asked. ¡°I do pay your sry, after all.¡±

    At Edrick¡¯s words, I felt my face get a little hot. Every so often, I was reminded that he did indeed pay

    my sry. It was a little embarrassing, being paid by the father of my child, but I didn¡¯t say anything.

    Edrick didn¡¯t bring it up again, either.

    Next, we went into a high-end women¡¯s clothing store. The prices here were even more exorbitant than

    the first store, and as I looked at the price tags, I immediately felt out of ce. Even the sales

    associates gave me some odd looks; I didn¡¯t even want to touch the clothes for fear of getting them

    dirty or damaging them and having to pay for them.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Good afternoon,¡± one of the sales associates said with a warm smile. ¡°Can I help you find anything

    today?¡±

    I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, Edrick chimed in. ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°She needs a nice

    dress for an event. Something a bit loose and fit for a pregnant woman, but nice nheless.¡±

    The saleswoman¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Oh, congrattions!¡± she said, ncing at my belly. ¡°I think I know

    of a few styles that will look lovely on you. If you¡¯d like to go and wait by the fitting rooms and take a

    seat, I¡¯ll bring them to you. Let me just take some measurements first¡­¡± She grabbed the measuring

    tape from around her neck and took measurements around my bust, my belly, and the length from my

    shoulder to my ankles before directing us over to the fitting rooms. I felt even more out of ce now; I

    had never been to any store that took measurements for clothes.

    Edrick and I waited quietly by the fitting rooms while the saleswoman ran around and gathered several

    dresses. As she approached, I could already tell that they were all of the highest quality, and I knew I

    wouldn¡¯t be able to afford any of them.

    Before I could protest, however, the saleswoman showed me to a fitting room.

    ¡°Let me know if you need any assistance,¡± she said with a smile.

    I nodded, then nced over at Edrick, who was standing nearby with his arms folded across his chest.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to see them all as you try them on,¡± he said, momentarily moving to run a hand through his hair.

    Even through his mask, he seemed a little ufortable at the prospect of watching me try on clothes,

    but I agreed to his request nheless.

    The first dress I tried on was already beautiful. I stepped out of the fitting room to show Edrick, who

    silently nodded and asked me to show him the next one. This went on for awhile as I continued to try

    the increasingly luxurious ¡ª and expensive ¡ª dresses on, until I eventually came to thest dress.

    It was simr to the simple ck dress I wore at the bar on the night we met. The material was a high

    quality silk, smooth and heavy, and cool to the touch. It hugged my curves in all of the right ces, but

    the silhouette was just right around my waist so it didn¡¯t emphasize my pregnant belly too much. I felt a

    gasp catch in my throat as I looked in the mirror and noticed how the skirt flowed when I moved and

    how the sage green color of the dress enhanced the glow of my pregnancy, but then I saw the price tag

    and felt my stomach drop. It was over one thousand dors!

    ¡°Everything alright in there?¡± Edrick called through the door.

    ¡°Um¡­ Yeah,¡± I said, clearing my throat. I sheepishly opened the door and stepped out.

    I couldn¡¯t see Edrick¡¯s facial expression beneath his mask, but I swore that his eyes widened for a split

    second when he saw me. Without a word, he raised his finger and gestured with it in a circle to indicate

    for me to spin. As I did, I felt my face getting hot and was d that I had a mask on to hide it.

    When I was finished, he nodded quietly.

    ¡°You like that one?¡± he asked.

    I nodded, but knew I couldn¡¯t afford it. ¡°Yes, but¡­ It¡¯s very expensive,¡± I muttered. ¡°I can¡¯t afford it. I

    think we should try another store.¡±

    Edrick shook his head suddenly. ¡°Absolutely not. Consider these dresses as workwear provided by

    your employer.¡±

    My eyes widened. ¡°No,¡± I insisted, ¡°you don¡¯t have to do that. Really.¡±

    The Alpha billionaire merely shrugged. ¡°Nonsense.¡± Before I could protest, he waved the saleswoman

    over, who scurried over with an even wider smile on her face. ¡°We¡¯ll take all of the dresses she just

    tried on,¡± Edrick said nonchntly.

    My face went pale with shock. He was going to buy me not just this dress, but all of them?

 Chapter 82

    Chapter 82

    #Chapter 82: Protective Alpha

    Moana

    ¡°We¡¯ll take all of the dresses that she just tried on.¡±

    My eyes went wide and my face went pale. I knew that Edrick would insist on purchasing something for

    me today, but¡­ Everything? I tried to protest, but he wouldn¡¯t hear it. As I sheepishly walked back into

    the fitting room and took the expensive dress off, my heart was pounding.

    Once I was dressed again, I came out and handed the dresses to the grinning saleswoman, who was

    likely more excited to get argemission for this purchase than anything else. I still felt utterly

    shocked as we made our way over to the counter and Edrick paid without batting an eye. I didn¡¯t know

    how I would make this up to him, but I knew that I would have to figure something out.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to thank you,¡± I said quietly as we walked out of the store. ¡°How can I make it up to

    you?¡±

    Edrick stopped and turned to face me. Even through his mask, I could tell that he was frowning.

    ¡°You¡¯re carrying my baby,¡± he replied matter-of-factly. ¡°I¡¯m the one who¡¯s making it up to you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. Edrick¡¯s sudden, kind words sent a shock through my body. What happened

    to the cold, unfeeling Alpha CEO I had met just a couple of months ago? Suddenly, however, Edrick¡¯s

    eyes narrowed a bit as he studied my face intently.

    ¡°You look a little pale,¡± he said. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    I hadn¡¯t realized it before, but trying on so many dresses took a lot of energy out of me, and I hadn¡¯t

    eaten in a while. ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯m a bit hungry,¡± I admitted, realizing now just how faint I felt.

    Without a word, Edrick nodded and hooked his arm through mine ¡ª another unexpected disy of

    affection that I wasn¡¯t prepared for, but before I could think about it too much, he began to guide me

    toward the food court. ¡°There¡¯s a ce here with excellent sandwiches,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ll get something

    to eat there.¡±

    ¡°Th-Thanks,¡± I stuttered as I followed him. Time and time again today, I was shocked by Edrick¡¯s kind

    and generous attitude so soon after the tabloid incident that was, in my eyes, entirely my fault. Even as

    we walked, I could feel some other shoppers¡¯ eyes on us as they noticed the werewolf-human couple

    with masks on walking around, but it didn¡¯t seem to faze Edrick in the slightest. He seemed so

    nonchnt that I was frankly confused as to why he didn¡¯t appear to be very worried about someone

    looking too closely and recognizing us. Had he made some sort of deal with the tabloid CEO to not post

    photos of us anymore? It was a possibility, but there were other tabloids that could easily post our

    pictures, and I was shocked that he didn¡¯t seem to care. It was almost as though the entire experience

    changed something in him.

    When we arrived at the food court, there were a plethora of restaurants to choose from. Edrick gave

    me a chance to take a look at the other food being offered, but I began to feel a little sick from the

    smell, so he guided me over to a bench a little ways away.

    ¡°You can wait here,¡± he said, setting our shopping bags down beside me as I sat. ¡°I¡¯ll get us some

    sandwiches. I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    I nodded, and before I could say anything else, he quickly jogged off to the food court. I nced over

    my shoulder to watch him as he went; in his white polo shirt, I could see his bicep muscles straining

    against the short sleeves. I also couldn¡¯t help but notice some other young women ogling him, and I

    quickly looked away before I let myself get too jealous.

    As I waited, I took that time to close my eyes and take some deep breaths. Not even a few minutes

    passed, however, before I felt someone sit down next to me. I opened my eyes, expecting to see

    Edrick, but felt a knot form in my stomach as I saw that it was a different man.

    He smelled like alcohol, and he was staring right at me.

    I leaned away, forcing a weak smile behind my mask.

    ¡°Um¡­ H-Hello,¡± I said, scooting a little further away on the bench.

    The man only grinned and scooted closer to me. ¡°What¡¯s a pretty thing like you doing hiding your

    face?¡± he asked. As he spoke, the smell of alcohol only became stronger as his breath wafted over to

    me. It almost made me gag. Before I could even answer, he spoke again. ¡°Take your mask off. I wanna

    see how you look.¡±

    ¡°N-No thank you,¡± I said. I stood then and grabbed my shopping bags. ¡°Have a nice day.¡±

    The man¡¯s face darkened. I turned to walk over to the food court, but I suddenly felt his hand grip my

    wrist so tightly it burned, and it wouldn¡¯t loosen even as I tried to wrench my arm away.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so coy,¡± he said with a sinister smirk as his eyes traveled down my body. ¡°I don¡¯t normally go

    for humans, but you¡¯re too beautiful.¡±

    ¡°Th-Thank you, but I¡¯m not interested,¡± I said. I tried again to wrench my arm away, but his grip only

    tightened. By now, I began to panic and let out a small cry of pain. I nced over at the food court, but I

    could only see a sliver of Edrick¡¯s form as he spoke to the food vendor. My heart raced; I needed him to

    come back faster, but I couldn¡¯t call his name for fear of our identities being revealed.

    ¡°You know,¡± the man said, pulling me so hard I fell back down to a seated position on the bench and

    causing tears to well up in my eyes, ¡°a lowly human such as yourself should be grateful that a wealthy

    werewolf like me is even remotely interested in you. Come on, sweetheart¡­ Spend the night with me

    and I¡¯ll buy you anything you want.¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t want to spend the night with you,¡± I insisted, my voice shaking as tears began to stream down

    my cheeks and soak my mask.

    The man only grinned even wider. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you¡¯re hiding behind that mask, anyway¡­¡± He

    reached out then with his free hand to pull my mask down, still gripping my wrist tightly.

    Before he could, however, Edrick¡¯s voice boomed from beside me.

    ¡°What are you doing to her?¡± Edrick snarled, storming up to the man. Instantly, I felt my fear turn into

    relief. As I looked up at Edrick, I saw that his icy gray eyes were now glowing a silvery color, which I

    had never seen them do before.

    The man chuckled. ¡°Leave us alone,¡± he said, waving his hand at Edrick dismissively. ¡°She¡¯s already

    been spoken for.¡±

    Suddenly, Edrick¡¯s hand shot out. He grabbed a fistful of the man¡¯s shirt and lifted him off the bench,

    causing the man to release his grip on my wrist as he scrambled nervously. Edrick¡¯s eyes narrowed as

    he brought his face just inches away from the man¡¯s face.

    ¡°Get the hell out of here before I call the cops,¡± Edrick growled. He released the man¡¯s shirt, and the

    man quickly scurried away without another word. Edrick watched after him for several moments before

    sitting down beside me and grabbing my wrist.

    ¡°Did he hurt you?¡± he asked, inspecting my reddened wrist.

    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright,¡± I said quietly, wiping my tears away with my free hand. Edrick sighed; he turned toward

    me, almost as though he was about to hug me as his gray eyes softened. But then, he only looked

    away quickly and handed me my sandwich. Without another word, he turned forward and draped his

    arm across my shoulders protectively as he nced in the direction that the creepy man took off to. I

    felt my body rx beneath his touch, but my heart continued to race as I felt him rubbing my upper arm

    comfortingly.

    ¡°Go ahead and eat,¡± he said gently. ¡°Everything is okay now.¡±

 Chapter 83

    Chapter 83

    #Chapter 83: Forgotten

    Moana

    We returned to the penthouse after the incident with the creepy man, which unfortunately put a bit of a

    damper on the trip. However, I tried not to let the man get to me, and was instead grateful for Edrick¡¯s

    quick thinking and protective demeanor. The entire ride home, I kept ncing at him by ident. I

    wasn¡¯t sure if he noticed, but if he did, he didn¡¯t say anything about it.

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    After parking the car, we took the elevator up to the penthouse and finally took our masks off once we

    were on the elevator. I was relieved to finally take the mask off after wearing it all day and let out a

    deep sigh as we set down our things.

    Unfortunately, it seemed that our relief was short-lived. Selena quickly came into the foyer not long

    after we arrived with an expression on her face that was abination of both concern and mild

    frustration.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked before she even said anything. Already, just from the look on her face, I could

    tell that something happened.

    She sighed. ¡°It¡¯s E,¡± she said. ¡°She¡¯s been moping in her room all day. I tried going in, but she even

    barricaded the door with toys. I¡¯m not sure what to do.¡±

    Edrick and I exchanged quick nces. We both seemed to be thinking the same thing. ¡°We¡¯ll check on

    her,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°Go and take the rest of the night to yourself, Selena. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re

    exhausted.¡±

    Selena managed a weak, but surprised, smile. Without another word, Edrick walked off in the direction

    of E¡¯s room. Selena shot me a brief nce that conveyed her shock at the Alpha billionaire¡¯s

    suddenly generous demeanor, to which I merely shrugged, before I followed him to E¡¯s bedroom

    door.

    Edrick knocked gently on the door. ¡°Princess?¡± he called out. ¡°It¡¯s daddy. Can you let me in, please?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± a tiny voice yelled from the other side of the door. ¡°Go away! No monsters are allowed in my

    kingdom!¡±

    Edrick turned to look at me with a confused expression on his face. I contained a smirk and brushed

    past him.

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± I called out, ying into her game, ¡°please let us in. We¡¯ve been sent from another

    kingdom to make peace.¡±

    There was a silence, followed by the sound of bare feet pping on the floor. The door then cracked

    open, and one of E¡¯s eyes peered out. She looked both of us up and down before opening the door a

    little more and stepping out of the way, revealing that her room was aplete mess. She was wearing

    a princess costume and a tiara from her costume chest, and had arranged all of her pillows and sheets

    into a makeshift castle on her bed. All of her toys were scattered around the room arranged in various

    scenes ¡ª a battlefield, a tea party, and a throne room ¡ª and her clothes had all been ripped out of her

    closet and were tossed carelessly on every surface.

    ¡°E,¡± Edrick said, sounding disappointed, ¡°why did you do this?¡±

    A small growl escaped E¡¯s lips. I looked down to see her ring at her father through her eyebrows.

    Her pointed wolf ears were showing and her tiny fangs were protruding slightly. Her ws were

    extended as well, and I sighed, knowing that Edrick¡¯s usatory demeanor was aggravating her

    further.

    ¡°What King Edrick meant to say was that he only wants to know what happened here in your kingdom,¡±

    I said gently, crouching to the little girl¡¯s level. As I did, her face softened slightly, but she still looked

    rather angry.

    ¡°I have decided to move my kingdom elsewhere,¡± E said. She pointed over to her closet, where a

    suitcaseid open on the floor. It was full of toys and other costumes. ¡°Thisnd is no longer fit for the

    Princess.¡±

    I looked up at Edrick then, who had a deep frown on his face. He seemed to be at a loss for words, and

    opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. When he looked at me, I could see a sense of

    pleading behind his eyes. ¡°Maybe the King and the Princess should have a royal meeting,¡± I suggested,

    urging him to y along with E; I knew from years of experience with children that ying along was

    sometimes the best way to handle a situation like this.

    Edrick sighed, then cleared his throat nervously.

    ¡°Um¡­ Ahem¡­ El¡ª I mean, Princess E,¡± he said, dropping to one knee and bowing, ¡°would you¡­

    um¡­ be so kind as to exin why you¡¯d like to leave thisnd?¡±

    E was silent for a moment. She tilted her chin up and stared angrily down her nose at Edrick, causing

    her tiara to flop backwards a bit on her head. I gently reached out and straightened it for her.

    ¡°I¡¯m the only Princess in thend,¡± she said finally. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be reced.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s head snapped up. He looked at me with wide eyes and opened his mouth to say something,

    but I merely shook my head and nodded my head toward her, indicating for him to address his

    daughter, and not me. He slowly looked back at E and cleared his throat again.

    ¡°Why do you think that you¡¯ll be reced, Princess?¡± he asked.

    E shrugged. ¡°You guys went out all day without me and had lots of fun. If you¡¯re already forgetting

    about me now, you¡¯re just gonna rece me with the new baby.¡±

    Now, I felt my own eyes widen. Edrick¡¯s face softened and he sat down on the floor, crossing his legs.

    ¡°Sweetheart, no one¡¯s gonna rece you,¡± he said gently. It was endearing to see him look at his

    daughter with such a genuine, pained expression. He slowly opened his arms, and after a moment of

    hesitation, E walked over to him and plopped down in hisp, burying her face in her chest. As she

    did, her tiara fell off of her head and ttered to the floor. ¡°You¡¯re always gonna be my first baby,¡±

    Edrick said softly. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry.¡±

    They held each other like that for a few minutes. Edrick rocked E back and forth while she sniffled,

    and for that time, I almost felt as though I wasn¡¯t even there; I was just an observer watching a sweet

    moment between a father and a daughter, and I stood, deciding to give them some space. As I walked

    quietly over to the door, I heard Edrick speak again.

    ¡°How can I make it up to you, Princess?¡± Edrick asked gently.

    ¡°I miss my friends at the orphanage,¡± E replied with a sniff, her voice muffled by his chest. ¡°Can we

    go as a family?¡± she nced up then to look at me and I froze, taken aback by her use of the word

    ¡®family¡¯. Edrick looked up as well, and I could tell that he was just as taken aback as I was. He stared at

    me for several long moments, both of us frozen. His steely gray eyes were softer than usual, and in

    that moment, I felt Mina rousing inside of me.

    Finally, he licked his lips and spoke, never releasing his gaze from mine.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said quietly. ¡°We can all go tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 84

    Chapter 84

    #Chapter 84: Someone From the Past

    Moana

    That night, after E calmed down enough and agreed to clean up her room with our help, Iid in bed

    and found myself unable to sleep following the events of the day. Every time I closed my eyes, I

    pictured the creepy man from the mall; even more than that, however, I pictured Edrick¡¯s soft eyes

    staring up at me as he held E on the floor and I felt his protective arm around my shoulders. I

    decided eventually that I couldn¡¯t sleep for a while, so I decided to get my sketchbook out and draw.

    Although I had been working on another sketch for the past couple of days, I decided to turn to a fresh

    page that night and draw a scene that I couldn¡¯t get out of my head: the image of Edrick holding E in

    her princess costume.

    As I drew, starting with the rough forms of Edrick and E, a soft smile inadvertently began to spread

    across my lips. That smile spread as I began to feel Mina¡¯s presence. It had been a few days since I

    really felt her presence, but I could tell that the events of the day made here out more. I was

    grateful; Mina had be a friend to me, in a strange way.

    ¡°I have a confession,¡± she said finally after hanging around in my mind in silence for several minutes.

    ¡°Hm?¡± I said out loud. I still wasn¡¯t entirely used to the whole concept of conversing with her in my

    head, and as I was distracted from my drawing, I didn¡¯t think much of it now.

    ¡°Last night¡­ I released a little more of my scent when he hugged you.¡±

    I looked up from my sketchbook and frowned, setting my pencil down. ¡°I thought we agreed on you not

    doing that without my permission,¡± I said quietly.

    Mina was quiet for a few moments before answering. When she did finally answer, she sounded a little

    embarrassed. ¡°I really didn¡¯t mean to. It was an ident.¡±

    ¡°Well, what happened then?¡± I asked.

    ¡°When he hugged you¡­ I just couldn¡¯t control myself. It¡¯s getting harder to control it.¡±

    I furrowed my brow. Could that mean¡­ No. Edrick wasn¡¯t my mate. If he was, we would have noticed a

    lot sooner. Right? I went to search for Mina¡¯s presence again to ask her, but when I did, she was gone

    again. Sighing, I knew I especially wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep now, so I decided to get up and head to the

    kitchen to make myself some tea. It was hot, so I stayed only in my nightgown.

    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

    The apartment was quiet when I slipped out of my room. As I made my way over to the kitchen, I

    figured that everyone else was already fast asleep ¡ª but I realized that I was wrong when I suddenly

    heard the sound of Edrick¡¯s aggravated voiceing from his office. Unable to contain my curiosity, I

    meandered a little closer to the closed door and listened.

    ¡°What makes you think you have the right to care about my personal affairs?¡± he said, his voice muffled

    through the door. ¡°You threw away that right when you decided to screw me over all those years ago.¡±

    He paused, listening to whoever was on the other end of the phone. I furrowed my brow, but kept

    listening.

    ¡°No¡ª Olivia¡ª¡±

    The name Olivia sounded familiar. I blinked as I tried to recall where I had heard that name before, but

    it finally hit me; I had heard him use that name once before in a situation very simr to this. I had

    overheard him talking about money and using that name veryte one night. Who was this ¡®Olivia¡¯

    person? Was she a friend? A family member? Edrick certainly didn¡¯t sound terribly fond of her, though,

    and it almost seemed as though they had some sort of disdain for each other, although the reason

    behind that was a mystery to me.

    Unfortunately, as I continued to stand there and puzzle over whoever this ¡®Olivia¡¯ woman was, I was too

    deeply lost in thought to notice that Edrick hung up the phone and walked over to the door. In fact, I

    waspletely taken by surprise when he suddenly flung the door open. I jumped back in surprise, my

    eyes wide, while Edrick just stood in the doorway and stared at me.

    ¡°What are you doing up?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I¡­ Um¡­ I couldn¡¯t sleep,¡± I said, my heart racing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to intrude.¡±

    Edrick stared at me for several more long, silent moments. The air in the room was thick and hot, and I

    half expected him to snap at me for eavesdropping¡­ But he didn¡¯t. Instead, he merely shrugged and

    shuffled over to the bar in the living room and muttered something incoherent to himself as he

    rummaged around in the dim light for a drink. I watched him for a moment, taking in his slightly haggard

    appearance, but felt the overwhelming urge to stop him as he pulled out a whiskey bottle and

    unscrewed the cap.

    ¡°I was just about to make tea,¡± I interrupted, causing him to pause just before he began to pour the

    whiskey into a ss. ¡°Let me make you a cup instead of alcohol.¡±

    Edrick paused, his hand still poised with the bottle to pour. But, after a few moments of somber

    contemtion, he surprisingly lowered the bottle and nodded as he screwed the cap back on. ¡°Alright,¡±

    he said. ¡°I¡¯ll take some tea.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile. I¡¯d noticed that Edrick seemed to be drinking a little less recently, or at the

    very least, he seemed more receptive to other options. If I hadn¡¯t stopped him tonight, I wondered to

    myself if he would have gotten too drunk; his argument with this mysterious ¡®Olivia¡¯ seemed to have

    taken a lot out of him.

    ¡°Come on,¡± I said, gesturing to the kitchen. Edrick silently followed me to the kitchen, then sat on a

    stool at the kitchen ind while I filled up the kettle with water and put it on the stove. It was dark, and

    neither of us bothered to turn the overhead lights on, but I had be so used to theyout of the

    kitchen already that I knew where everything was. The city lights illuminated the room just enough

    through the window for me to be able to make out Edrick¡¯s somber, brooding expression as he stared

    down at his hands on the counter.

    ¡°I know you heard me,¡± he finally said after some time. ¡°Just like before.¡±

    I cleared my throat as I looked at him, still unable to hide my curiosity. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking¡­

    Was it the same person as before, too?¡± After I spoke, I felt a knot form in my throat, and I hoped that I

    didn¡¯t agitate Edrick any further.

    Much to my surprise, he nodded. ¡°Yes,¡± he admitted. ¡°Someone from my past. They¡¯ve been bothering

    me; they usually start up again around this time every year, because¡­¡±

    He stopped then, seemingly not wanting to say anymore. As I looked at him, I could tell just from the

    look in his eyes that he already felt as though he said too much.

 Chapter 85

    Chapter 85

    #Chapter 85: Moonlit Mncholy

    Moana

    Much to my surprise, the aloof Alpha billionaire almost began to open up for a brief moment¡­ Almost.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he admitted when I asked if the person he was arguing with tonight was the same person who I

    overheard him arguing with before all those weeks ago. His voice was low and strained, like there

    wasn¡¯t enough room in his throat to get everything out in one breath. ¡°Someone from my past. They¡¯ve

    been bothering me; they usually start up again around this time every year, because¡­¡±

    The dark kitchen fell quiet after Edrick suddenly stopped himself from saying more. He kept his eyes

    fixed on his hands as they sat sped together on the kitchen counter, but I could tell just from the look

    on his face and the way his body suddenly tensed that he already felt as though he said too much.

    I didn¡¯t know who this mysterious ¡®Olivia¡¯ woman was or why she apparently popped back into Edrick¡¯s

    life to supposedly harass him around this time every year, but I decided not to pry any further. Clearly,

    whoever she was was a sore subject for the Alpha billionaire ¡ª and if I learned one thing about him

    over the past few months since I¡¯d met him, it was that it was just better most of the time to let him

    decide to open up to me in his own time. Prying wouldn¡¯t get me anywhere, and it would likely only

    make him distance himself further from me.

    After a few minutes of ufortable silence as the water slowly came to a boil in the kettle behind me,

    I finally spoke.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me any details if you don¡¯t want to,¡± I said quietly. ¡°But just know that I¡¯m always

    here to listen if you need advice or even if you just need to vent.¡±

    Slowly, Edrick raised his eyes to meet mine. His face had softened, and there was a sense of

    mncholy behind his gaze that I couldn¡¯t quite understand. He simply nodded in response, then

    quickly looked away.

    The tea began to boil, causing the kettle to start whistling behind me. I took it as my opportunity to look

    away and maybe change the subject, so I quickly turned around, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach,

    and turned the burner off. I then filled the tea infuser with two scoops of chamomile tea leaves, then set

    it in the teapot and slowly poured the hot water over it. As I did, I felt the aromatic steam rise up and

    dampen my face¡­ But I also felt something else.

    Warm, soft hands around my waist.

    I suddenly stopped pouring the tea, feeling Edrick¡¯s hands slowly slide around my waist. He pressed

    his body up behind me, his hands resting on my belly, feeling how it was beginning to protrude slightly.

    At first, I thought that he was just feeling emotional about the baby and wanted to touch my belly, but as

    his body pressed more firmly into me and I felt his breathing deepen and thicken, I knew that it was

    something else.

    I set the kettle down on the counter, then slowly turned my head to look up at him. When I did, I saw

    that he was gazing down at me. His eyes were no longer gray, but were glowing silver again, just as

    they did in the mall ¡ª only this time they weren¡¯t glowing from anger, but rather from arousal. They

    flickered down to my mouth then, and I saw him lick his lips.

    ¡°Edrick¡ª¡± my voice was low and thick. I felt the butterflies in my stomach travel down further, into my

    groin, as his hands gently tugged my hips closer to him.

    Without a word, Edrick slowly bent down and pressed his lips against mine. His lips were warm and

    soft, and as he kissed me deeply and his tongue began to work its way into my mouth, his right hand

    slid up my belly, over my breasts and up to my neck while his left hand lingered over my stomach. At

    that moment, I swore I heard a low, aching moan rumble in his throat, as though something stirred

    inside of him to take our kiss further. I wanted to take it further, too, and I could feel Mina¡¯s presence

    strengthening for the third time that day.

    But then, just as suddenly as it happened, Edrick suddenly pulled away. He almost stumbled

    backwards, taking me by surprise, and passed a hand over his face as he shook his head vigorously.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Sorry,¡± he muttered, backing up against the kitchen ind behind him and then sidestepping to

    get around it, all while keeping his gaze averted to the floor. I kept my back turned, staring down at the

    half-filled teapot in front of me as I felt my heart palpitate and my face get hot and red. I opened my

    mouth to say something, anything, but nothing woulde out ¡ª and by that point, he was already by

    the door.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired,¡± he said, his voice ragged. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I wasn¡¯t thinking.¡±

    I spun around then to face him and went to say something as Mina pleaded inside of me to make him

    stay, but I knew that whatever I said would fall on deaf ears. Edrick seemed to have made up his mind,

    and besides; I knew that he would never make the mistake of sleeping with me again. I was, after all,

    still the nanny.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to bed. I don¡¯t want tea anymore, but thank you for the offer.¡±

    Without another word, Edrick abruptly turned on his heel and stormed off, leaving me alone in the dark

    kitchen. I listened to the fading sound of his footsteps, followed by the sound of his bedroom door

    clicking shut. Finally, I let out a ragged breath and blinked rapidly to diffuse the tears that had already

    welled up in my eyes.

    Deep down, I knew that he could never really be with me because of the vast differences in our social

    sses. I knew that. But it didn¡¯t mean that it hurt any less when we so clearly wanted each other, and

    our social sses were keeping us from even being intimate in private. I wanted so badly to storm overContent is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    to his door and burst into his bedroom, demanding that he make love to me tonight, but I knew that it

    would get us nowhere.

    As I stood there, frozen in the dark kitchen, the only movement I could feel was the pained fluttering in

    my heart. Mina¡¯s strength quickly faded as she came to the realization that I wouldn¡¯t be intimate with

    Edrick tonight.

    Finally, I felt as though my own energy had been sapped. When Edrick walked away, it felt as though

    the rug had been pulled out from underneath me, and I was now teetering in my spot. I didn¡¯t even

    want tea anymore; I only wanted to crawl into my bed and cry myself to sleep.

    And so, I left the half-filled pot of tea on the counter and returned to my bedroom. That night, I curled

    up beneath my nket, feeling oddly cold for such a hot night.

 Chapter 86

    Chapter 86

    #Chapter 86: Midnight Mistakes

    Edrick

    I made a mistake that night kissing Moana. As I rushed back to my room and shut the door behind

    myself, I leaned my head back against the door and cursed at myself under my breath.

    How could I be so stupid? I was a fool for not controlling myself around her, and now things were going

    to be even more confusing between us. Her curves beneath her thin nightgown were too tempting and I

    couldn¡¯t control the urge to touch her. Even now, I could still feel her belly beneath my hands and the

    taste of her lips on my tongue. I shook my head to dispel the thoughts, telling myself over and over

    again that I got too close.

    As I got ready for bed andid down, I kept having to erase the inappropriate thoughts from my mind,

    but I couldn¡¯t. Would I have to buy Moana a penthouse and keep a distance from her, just like I did with

    E¡¯s mother, Olivia? At the same time, however, it pained my soul to even imagine doing something

    like that; over the course of just a couple of short months, I already couldn¡¯t imagine a life without

    Moana here, and I knew it would only scar E emotionally after she became so attached to Moana.

    Not only that, but it would hurt E to see her new sibling be sent away like that.

    No¡­ I couldn¡¯t send Moana away. I was just tired, and my tiredness caused me to make a mistake. If I

    could just sleep, it would all be better in the morning and I could deal with it then.

    But I couldn¡¯t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I kept picturing how beautiful Moana¡¯s body looked

    on the night of our one night stand, and how sensual she had been. Admittedly, it even made me too

    aroused to sleep, and eventually I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. I couldn¡¯t go to her room, but I also couldn¡¯t

    be in this house ¡ª so I decided to get dressed again and go out to the bar for a drink. I quickly texted

    my nighttime driver, who was on call for nights like this, and told him that I would be down shortly.

    Within half an hour, I was at my bar ¡ª the same bar that I took Moana to on the night we met. As I

    made my way inside the quiet bar, I shoved the images of how she¡¯d looked that night out of my mind

    and headed up the stairs.

    There were only a few people in the bar. Some businessmen who were regr patrons, as well as a

    few others. I kept my head down and sat at the bar.

    ¡°Good evening, Mr. Morgan,¡± the bartender said, sounding a bit surprised. ¡°What can I get for you?¡±

    ¡°The usual,¡± I said gruffly. ¡°Whiskey. Neat.¡±

    The bartender nodded and poured my whiskey, then set it down in front of me and walked away to give

    me some space.

    As I drank, I stared down at the wood of the bar and cursed myself inwardly for being such a fool

    tonight. I should have told Moana that I was going to bed to begin with; I never should have agreed to

    have tea with her. I¡¯d gotten toofortable after our day at the mall, and her beauty in that final dress

    she tried on blinded my senses. Not only that, but the incident with the creep who was trying to hit on

    her made me feel too protective and filled me with a sense of deep emotion for the human nanny.

    Maybe it was just because it had been so long since I had been intimate with anyone else, I thought to

    myself. Moana was the first after a long dry spell, and I hadn¡¯t even looked in another woman¡¯s

    direction since then. Maybe, if I distracted myself, I wouldn¡¯t think so much about her anymore¡­

    And it seemed that the universe sent me that perfect opportunity, because as I sat there stewing in my

    own juices, I heard the unmistakable sound of high heels clicking toward me. I looked up to see a

    gorgeous, sultry woman with dark eyes and dark hair approaching me. She was wearing a slinky ck

    dress and incredibly high heels, and her breasts bounced lightly beneath her dress. I could see her

    n*****s through the thin fabric of her dress, and it instantly made me hard.

    She shot me a sultry smile as she sauntered up to me, then leaned on the bar next to me with her back

    arched and waved the bartender over.

    ¡°Gin and tonic, please, bartender,¡± she said, her voice low and thick; she sounded as though she¡¯d

    already had a few drinks.

    ¡°Put it on my tab,¡± I said to the bartender over my shoulder as I looked her up and down.

    The woman turned to face me and shot me another smile. ¡°So forward,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s almost like you

    want something from me.¡±

    I shrugged and finished off the rest of the whiskey in my ss, tapping the ss twice on the bar for a

    refill. ¡°Maybe I do,¡± I said, ¡°if you¡¯re willing.¡±

    The woman¡¯s smile stretched further across her thin face. She batted her eyshes and gestured to

    the bathrooms with a simple nod of her head.

    Within a couple of minutes, before she even had her drink, we were in the bathroom together with her

    sitting on the sinks as I bit into her neck and ran my hands up her thighs. Her skin was smooth and

    soft, and when I ran my hand up her skirt, I could feel that she already wasn¡¯t wearing panties. This

    realization only made me more aroused, and I didn¡¯t stop her when she reached down to fumble with

    my belt. A sly smile stretched across her face as she reached down my pants and felt my erection,

    eliciting a soft moan from my lips.

    I closed my eyes, tilting my head back¡­

    And Moana¡¯s soft face shed through my mind, from the night we slept together. The way her full lips

    were parted, her back arched beneath me. She was beautiful, more beautiful that this strange woman

    from the bar.

    I suddenly opened my eyes again and stumbled backwards, shaking my head.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± the woman said, c*****g her head and pouting. I only kept shaking my head and

    dug into my wallet, pulling out a wad of cash and tossing it in herp. The woman rolled her eyes, but

    took the cash and shoved it into her cleavage before hopping down off of the sinks and strutting off

    without a word.

    I stood there, panting for a moment, as I buckled my belt again and cursed under my breath.

    That human nanny would get the best of me, somehow. Why couldn¡¯t I stop thinking about her for just

    one night?

    I returned to my driver without having my second drink and ordered him to take me home. As we

    passed by the city lights, I could only think about how everything that happened tonight was nothing but

    a huge mistake.This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

 Chapter 87

    Chapter 87

    #Chapter 87: Another Woman

    Moana

    Somehow, I managed to fall asleep that night. In the morning, I woke up with a headache after the night

    spent in emotional distress.

    Edrick and I had kissedst night in the darkness of the kitchen. Even now, I could still feel his hands

    on my waist and could feel his body pressed up against mine. Even now, I could still taste his lips and

    his tongue, and I had spent the night dreaming about him. The sun was shining through my bedroom

    window, but I just wanted to go back to the darkness of the night before and be with Edrick; I hadn¡¯t

    realized it before, but I was admittedly lonely, and his touch was wee. I hadn¡¯t been with anyone

    since our one night stand and didn¡¯t realize how starved I was for intimacy with another adult.

    To add insult to injury, I felt like an i***t for thinking for even one moment that Edrick was beginning to

    fall for me. The way he doted on me while we went shopping together despite the tabloid incident¡­

    The way that he scared away the creepy man at the mall and put his arm around me protectively,

    genuinely worried for my health and safety¡­ The way that he kissed me so gently in the kitchen. Was

    any of that even real, or was it just a moment of weakness on his part? Was he lonely, too, and just

    looking for intimacy?

    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

    As Iid there, I remembered that Edrick and I promised to take E to the orphanage today so she

    could y with her friends. Even though I didn¡¯t particrly want to see Edrick after our kiss in the

    kitchen the night before, I knew that I would have to see him eventually, so I groaned and got up and

    headed to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and ease my headache.

    When I walked through the living room, however, the soft sound of snoring caught my attention. I

    furrowed my brow and peered over the couch to see Edrick sprawled out; he was dressed up with his

    shoes on as though he¡¯d gone out, and there was an empty bottle of whiskey sitting on the floor next to

    him.

    I was astonished. E couldn¡¯t see him like this; it would confuse her too much to see her father passed

    out drunk on the couch, so without taking a second thought, I snatched the empty alcohol bottle up off

    of the floor and abruptly shook Edrick¡¯s shoulder.

    Edrick¡¯s eyes snapped open and he groaned as he came to his senses. Before he even had a chance

    to say anything, I shoved the bottle in his face and frowned deeply.

    ¡°I know that you got upsetst night, but this is uneptable,¡± I said, gesturing to his appearance.

    ¡°Your daughter will be awake soon. It¡¯s a good thing I found you before she came out here.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s eyes widened momentarily as he looked at the bottle. He slowly sat up and swung his legs

    over the side of the couch, then stood after pausing for a moment. He didn¡¯t seem to want to look at

    me.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, taking the bottle out of my hands. ¡°It¡¯s really not as bad as it looks; the bottle was

    almost empty, and I just got too tired. I wasn¡¯t drunk.¡±

    As he reached for the bottle and leaned closer to me, however, I suddenly got a whiff of something

    other than alcohol: something sickly sweet and flowery. Perfume. Women¡¯s perfume, to be exact.

    Did Edrick have a one night standst night, right after our kiss in the kitchen?

    The smell of the cheap perfume made my head reel, and I instantly became nauseous. I quickly

    covered my nose and mouth with my hand and stumbled backwards, shaking my head vigorously as

    tears welled up in my eyes.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Edrick asked, taking a step toward me. As he did, the smell of the perfume hit my

    nose again, and I covered up a gag with my hand. The smell was too strong, and I could only imagine

    the father of my baby sleeping with a strange woman at the bar, or even a prostitute. I couldn¡¯t tell what

    made me more sick: the smell or the thought of him being with someone else.

    To think that Edrick not only went out drinking right after our kiss in the kitchen, but also had a one night

    stand on top of it¡­ It made my heart hurt. Inside of me, Mina became stronger, but not out of love this

    time; rather, she became stronger with rage, like a lion pacing in its cage at the zoo. I could tell that she

    felt just as betrayed as I did right now.

    But I had to hold my head high for E, and despite Edrick¡¯s confused look as I stepped away from him,

    I lowered my hand and tilted my chin up confidently.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget that we promised E we¡¯d take her to the orphanage today,¡± I said. My voice shook a little

    as I spoke, but I tried to hide it. After everything, I couldn¡¯t let Edrick see me get emotional over his one

    night stand with another woman, even though Mina was reacting strongly to the cheap scent as well.

    Edrick only sighed and walked over to the kitchen, where he tossed the empty bottle in the trash. I

    followed him, waiting to see what he would say about his promise to poor little E.

    And, to no surprise, he said exactly what I expected.

    ¡°Maybe we should go another day,¡± he said quietly, running a hand through his hair and straightening

    his shirt.

    My jaw dropped. For E¡¯s sake, even more than my own, I was furious. How could he really be so

    willing to drop his ns with his daughter because he irresponsibly went out, had a one night stand,

    and got too drunk to even make it to his bedroom?

    By this point, I forgot all about how this supposed one night stand even made me feel, and I felt the

    need to argue for E¡¯s sake. She needed to spend time with her father; clearly she was beginning to

    feel abandoned.

    ¡°Just because you got too drunkst night doesn¡¯t mean that you get to just disappoint your daughter

    like that,¡± I said. Without thinking and without caring about the smell that made me sick, I stormed up to

    him and grabbed his tie, taking him by surprise. ¡°You should be ashamed of yourself. What will E

    think?¡±

    Edrick stared down at me with shock written inly across his face. ¡°I told you I wasn¡¯t drunk,¡± he said.

    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you?¡±

    I realized what I was doing and quickly released my grip on his tie, then turned on my heel and walked

    a few paces away. I paused then, clenching and unclenching my fists as I blinked away the tears in my

    eyes.

    Finally, I turned back to face him.

    ¡°I really can¡¯t believe you,¡± I whispered. ¡°To have a one night stand like that, not only right after you

    came onto me, but also on the night before you¡¯re supposed to have a wholesome day with your

    daughter¡­ It makes me sick.¡±

 Chapter 88

    Chapter 88

    #Chapter 88: Broken Promises

    Moana

    ¡°To have a one night stand like that, not only right after you came onto me, but also on the night before

    you¡¯re supposed to have a wholesome day with your daughter¡­ It makes me sick.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s eyes widened at my words.

    ¡°Moana, I think you¡¯ve got the wrong idea,¡± he said abruptly, taking a few steps toward me and folding

    his arms across his chest with a huff. ¡°I didn¡¯t sleep with anyonest night.¡±

    I scoffed and shook my head. ¡°I can smell the cheap perfume all over you,¡± I replied. ¡°It stinks.¡±

    Now, it was Edrick who scoffed. ¡°It¡¯s not like that¡­ But honestly, Moana, you and I are not together. It¡¯s

    not really up to you who I see in my free time.¡±

    As Edrick spoke, I felt my eyes begin to well up with tears ¡ª but I had to stay strong for E, just like I

    told myself earlier. I couldn¡¯t let Edrick or E see me cry today. Blinking rapidly to dispel the tears, I

    quickly turned on my heel and headed for the door. ¡°Well, I¡¯m taking E to the orphanage just like I

    promised,¡± I said coldly. ¡°Whether or not you want to go is up to you, but we¡¯ll go without you if we have

    to.¡±

    Edrick let out a sound that came across as disbelieving as I walked away from him. ¡°I won¡¯t be going,

    then,¡± Edrick called after me, running over to the kitchen doorway, as I stormed off. ¡°Really, Moana, I¡¯m

    tired of your insolence.¡±

    I didn¡¯t answer. Blinking back more tears, I retreated to my room.

    ¡­N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

    Later, just as I promised, I took E to the orphanage. We got dressed and headed down to the lobby;

    Edrick was nowhere to be found, just as I expected. As I put E into her car seat, she swung her legs

    and looked at me with a confused expression on her little face.

    ¡°Moana, where¡¯s daddy?¡± she asked.

    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ Busy,¡± I lied as I imagined him sulking in his study more than anything. I secretly hoped that he

    felt badly for what he did, but I also was beginning to doubt that the Alpha billionaire felt much of

    anything at this point.

    ¡°But¡­¡± E pushed out her lower lip in a pout. ¡°He promised we would go together. As a family.¡±

    ¡°I know, sweetheart,¡± I said softly as I got into the car with her. ¡°We¡¯ll go as a family another time. You

    like just going with me, right?¡±

    E paused, sniffling as tears began to well up in her eyes, but she nodded nheless and held my

    hand for the entire car ride.

    Thankfully, by the time we arrived at the orphanage, E was too excited about seeing her friends to

    pout anymore about her father¡¯s broken promise. Almost as soon as we stepped through the front

    doors, she ran off to y with her friends. I grinned as I heard a chorus of other children yelling E¡¯s

    name excitedly as she disappeared into the recreation room, and made my way over to the kitchen to

    find Sophia.

    Sophia wasn¡¯t in the kitchen, so I made my way upstairs to her office and found her rifling through her

    filing cabs and muttering to herself. I quietly knocked on the door as I entered.

    ¡°Hm¡­ Just a moment,¡± she said absentmindedly. Her back was turned to me, so I figured that she

    thought I was one of the children.

    ¡°Busy?¡± I asked.

    Sophia immediately perked up and spun around to face me. A smile spread across her tired face and

    she scurried over to me, pulling me into a tight hug. ¡°Moana!¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m so d to see you.¡±

    Thankfully, I was wearing a loose outfit, so she didn¡¯t notice my slightly protruding belly as she hugged

    me; I was relieved because I didn¡¯t feel like addressing it today. Not after what happened with Edrick.

    Once again, I wondered to myself if I should save my money and try to start a new life with my baby at

    the first opportunity¡­ But E was quickly bing like a daughter to me, and I wasn¡¯t sure if I could

    leave her behind.

    ¡°I¡¯m d to see you as well,¡± I said, managing a smile. ¡°What are you doing? You seem busy.¡±

    Sophia turned back to look at her filing cabs and let out a deep sigh. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m stretched a little

    thin right now,¡± she said. ¡°I really need a secretary, but it¡¯s just so darn expensive these days and I want

    to make sure that I can pay someone well for the job¡­ I couldn¡¯t live with myself if I didn¡¯t give

    someone the pay they deserve.¡±

    I nodded, smiling at the older woman¡¯s kindhearted nature. Although the foundation for the orphanage

    seemed to be doing well at the g, I was certain that a lot of the money went toward repairing the

    orphanage, purchasing supplies and clothing for the children, and putting money away in savings for

    the children when they grew up, so it made sense that Sophia wouldn¡¯t have the extra cash to pay a

    receptionist. Now, more than ever, she was probably neck deep in paperwork because of the

    foundation.

    ¡°You know, I can always help you on my days off,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll volunteer. Want me to help you today?¡±

    Sophia¡¯s shoulders drooped a little and she shook her head. ¡°No, I couldn¡¯t possibly let you do

    paperwork on your day off,¡± she said. ¡°But maybe¡­ Would you mind watching the children for a little

    while?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll give them an art lesson.¡±

    With a smile, Sophia hugged me again. ¡°Thank you so much,¡± she said warmly. ¡°You have no idea how

    much that helps.¡±

    If I was being honest, I was really only d to just have a good distraction for the day. I let Sophia

    return to her paperwork and headed back downstairs, where I found the kids still ying in the

    recreation room. At the mention of an art lesson, they all jumped up from their game excitedly.

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile at the children, and as I put on mine and the children¡¯s smocks and prepared

    the painting supplies, I was already feeling better. Maybe this was exactly what I needed ¡ª and maybe

    volunteering regrly on my days off would be helpful with everything going on at home.

    ¡°Okay, everyone,¡± I said, pping my hands to get the excited children¡¯s attention. ¡°We¡¯re going to paint

    flowers today.¡±

    I started the lesson by painting a simple demonstration for the kids, then walked around the room and

    guided them as they sloppily painted their flowers. Eventually, the lesson devolved into finger painting

    and making a mess and the children seemed to be intent on painting anything but flowers, from

    pictures of dogs to stick figures, but I didn¡¯t mind; the children¡¯s happiness was all I needed to feel

    better and forget about Edrick.

    However, halfway through the lesson, I heard the floorboard creak from the doorway. Thinking it was

    Sophia, I looked up with a smile ¡ª but that smile faded as I saw that Edrick was standing there.

 Chapter 89

    Chapter 89

    #Chapter 89: Art Lessons

    Moana

    As I walked around the room and helped the children with their art, I suddenly heard the sound of the

    floorboards creaking in the doorway. Thinking that it was Sophiaing to check on how everything

    was going, I looked up with a smile.

    That smile quickly faded, however, when I realized it wasn¡¯t Sophia, but was in fact Edrick who was

    standing there. He had an indiscernible expression on his face and stood as still as a statue in the

    doorway with his hands in his pockets, his eyes locked on mine for several long, palpable moments.

    Was I seeing things, or had the cold Alpha billionaire finally realized the fault in breaking his promise to

    his daughter?

    But before I could even process the fact that he apparently seemed to have changed his mind for

    whatever reason, E snapped her head up and gasped loudly.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± she eximed, jumping up out of her chair and running up to him. ¡°You came!¡±

    Edrick put on a smile and scooped E up, hugging her tightly and nting a kiss on her cheek while

    the other children also threw down their paint brushes and ran up to him. ¡°Mr. Morgan!¡± they shouted

    excitedly, jumping up and down on their toes as they swarmed around him. Much to my surprise, Edrick

    set E down and then proceeded to greet each and every child¡­ By name, no less.

    ¡°Hello, ra,¡± he said, pinching the little girl¡¯s cheek. ¡°Hello, Matthew. Nice shirt you¡¯ve got on today.

    Joshua¡­¡±

    While all of this went on, I just stood there in a state of abject shock with wide eyes and an open mouth.

    It seemed that the Alpha billionaire changed his mind after all and wound up keeping his promise to his

    daughter; that didn¡¯t mean that I wasn¡¯t still furious with him, not only for initially breaking his promise

    but also for reeking of women¡¯s perfume and being passed out drunkenly on the couch, but my attitude

    softened toward him a little bit as I watched him being so kind with the children.

    Finally, Edrick stood and looked straight at me. ¡°Am I interrupting an art lesson?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Um¡­ Well¡ª¡± I stuttered, still taken off guard.

    Before I could get my words out, thankfully E stepped in. ¡°We¡¯re painting flowers, daddy,¡± she said,

    grabbing his hand and leading him over to her work station while the other children returned to their

    paintings.

    ¡°Oooh.¡± Edrick stuck his hands in his pockets as he peered down at his daughter¡¯s canvas, which

    contained anything but a flower at this point. ¡°That¡¯s very good, E,¡± he said.

    E grinned. ¡°Are you gonna paint with us?¡±

    ¡°Oh, honey, I don¡¯t know¡­¡±

    ¡°Pleeease?¡± E begged, sping her hands together.

    Edrick finally shrugged and nodded, letting out a sigh. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll paint with you.¡±

    Even though I was supposed to be mad at Edrick right now, the fact that he agreed to join the lesson

    made my attitude toward him soften even more. Without a word, I walked over to the supply cab

    and grabbed a spare apron for him to wear, then handed it to him along with a small canvas and a

    paintbrush. ¡°There are paints on the tables,¡± I said, gesturing around.

    Edrick silently took the apron and hesitantly put it on, then made his way over to one of the tables and

    sat down. He lookedicallyrge in the chair that was meant for a child, causing the other children

    to giggle and point. But, much to my surprise, he only smiled and began to spread paint on his canvas.

    Soon, we had all returned to our lesson. The children seemed to be having even more fun now with the

    Alpha billionaire, who painted rather sloppily and wound up sttering quite a bit of paint on his

    sleeves. The children pointed and poked fun at him, but he didn¡¯t seem to mind the paint getting on his

    nice white shirt and onlyughed along with them, poking fun at himself as well.

    The lesson went on for much longer than expected because of this, but I didn¡¯t mind. Soon, I¡¯d almost

    entirely forgotten about the perfume and our subsequent argument and only found myself smiling and

    laughing along with Edrick and the children. The Alpha billionaire was a surprisingly bad artist, and

    almost seemed as though he¡¯d never even picked up a paintbrush before in his entire life. Watching

    him struggle was endearing, and at one point I watched with a tear in my eye as one of the children

    walked up to him and put her little hand around his while he painted, guiding his hand along the

    canvas.

    Finally, however, the lesson had toe to an end. I pped my hands to get the children¡¯s ¡ª and

    Edrick¡¯s ¡ª attention, then instructed them to get up and walk around to look at everyone else¡¯s artwork.

    ¡°Remember, no touching,¡± I said, watching as the children milled around and looked at their peers¡¯

    artwork. Edrick stood as well and joined them; he almost looked like a big kid on his own, wandering

    around with his hands sped behind his back. It admittedly made me smile a bit, and I didn¡¯t even

    mind that he seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me.

    Finally, the group stopped at Edrick¡¯s stationst. There was a long silence as the children stared down

    at his artwork, which was a sloppy mess that didn¡¯t even remotely resemble a flower.

    Just then, ra pointed her stubby little finger and giggled. ¡°Mr. Morgan,¡± she said, ¡°don¡¯t you know

    what a flower looks like?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Joshua added, ¡°that looks like a¡­ hm¡­¡±

    ¡°It looks like a hot dog! With hair!¡± E yelled, causing the children to erupt in a chorus of giggles. I

    finally walked over and looked down at the painting; it did, in fact, look like a hot dog with hair. The

    ¡®stem¡¯ of the flower was thick and red, and the ¡®petals¡¯ were just big brown swirls that resembled a mop

    of curly hair. If he¡¯d added a bun and a smiley face, and maybe some arms and legs, it easily could

    have been a children¡¯s cartoon character.

    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

    Stifling augh, I opened my mouth to tell the children to be nice¡­ But before I could, the Alpha

    billionaire threw his head back andughed loudly, pping his paint-covered hand on his apron. His

    laughter caused the children tough even more, and even brought a smile to my face; I wasn¡¯t sure if I

    was smiling more because it was funny, however, or if I was smiling because it made me happy to see

    the cold werewolf CEO so full of joy.

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right, now that I look at it,¡± he said finally, wiping away the tears that formed in his eyes

    fromughing so hard. ¡°I guess I¡¯m not an artist, am I?¡±

    Edrick then turned to look at me. His steely gray eyes, which had just been full of mirth, softened as we

    looked at each other. I could sense an apologetic air about his expression, and it made my heart flutter

    a bit.

    ¡°Well,¡± I said finally, clearing my throat, ¡°everyone can be an artist with plenty of practice.¡±

    Edrick nodded. ¡°Maybe my skills will get better with more of your lessons, Miss Moana,¡± he said.

 Chapter 90

    Chapter 90

    #Chapter 90: Field Trip

    Moana

    My head was still reeling from Edrick¡¯s sudden change of heart and change of attitude when one of the

    children, ra, suddenly spoke up.

    ¡°Moana¡­¡± she whined, ¡°can we have ice cream? Pleeease? It¡¯s so hot out!¡±

    The little girl¡¯s request tore me away from my thoughts, and I nodded in agreement as all of the other

    children began to join in and beg for a frozen treat. It was hot out today, and the mention of something

    cold and refreshing to eat got me a little excited as well. ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s have some ice cream.¡±

    The children cheered excitedly as they followed me to the kitchen. Edrick followed at the back of the

    group, but only because E grabbed his hand and yanked him along unceremoniously. When I got to

    the kitchen and opened the freezer, however, I was disappointed to see that there was no ice cream or

    any sort of frozen treat.

    ¡°Sorry, guys,¡± I said with a sigh, turning to face the disappointed children. ¡°Looks like there isn¡¯t any.¡±

    The children all began to pout dramatically; I was just about to send them off to y and get their

    minds off of the subject when Sophia suddenly appeared in the doorway, looking confused.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked, breaking the silence as she looked around at all of the sad little faces.

    ¡°There¡¯s no ice cream,¡± ra said. The little girl had her lower lip pushed out into a distinct pout and

    even somehow managed to muster up a few tears in her big blue eyes. ¡°It¡¯s so hot out¡­¡±

    Sophia sighed. ¡°Yes. Sorry, I need to do some shopping. I¡¯ve been so busy¡ª¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take everyone out for ice cream.¡±

    Everyone turned to face Edrick, shocked by the Alpha billionaire¡¯s sudden, and generous, offer.

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to¡ª¡± Sophia began, but Edrick stopped her.

    ¡°Really. It¡¯ll be fun. It¡¯s on me.¡±

    My eyes were wide as I looked back and forth between Edrick and the equally shocked Sophia. Before

    either of us could say anything, however, the children suddenly erupted into a grating chorus of excited

    shrieks and cheers, making my ears ring. I couldn¡¯t help but smile, though, and neither could Sophia.

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± she said as ra and a couple of the other children began pleading and tugging on

    her skirt frantically. ¡°Everyone, go to the closet and get your shoes and your sun hats. Hurry up!¡±

    With one final cheer, the children all took off in one big stampede to get ready for the walk, leaving only

    Edrick, Sophia and I standing alone in the kitchen.

    ¡°This is very kind of you, Edrick,¡± Sophia said with a tired smile. ¡°I¡¯ll pay you back as soon as I can¡ª¡±

    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Edrick interrupted. ¡°It will be a cold day in hell when I ask you to repay me for ice cream.¡±

    Sophia¡¯s face went a little red. ¡°Well¡­ Thank you. I¡¯ll go and get the children ready.¡± With that, she

    scurried off. I swore I could see a bit of a tear in her eye just before she left, but I couldn¡¯t be entirely

    sure.

    Now, Edrick and I were alone. I didn¡¯t know what to say; I was speechless. His attitude that morning

    had been so indifferent and cold, and now here he was, joining us for art lessons,ughing and joking

    with the children, and taking everyone out for ice cream. If I wasn¡¯t still so hurt by his apparent one

    night stand with a mystery woman, I would have been softened by his kind behavior¡­ but admittedly, I

    was still having a difficult time getting over that.

    Suddenly, Edrick turned to look at me. He opened his mouth to speak, and for a fleeting moment I

    thought that maybe he would apologize for his behavior that morning¡­ But he didn¡¯t. Instead, he

    reached into his pocket and retrieved two blue surgical masks. He quickly walked up to me and handed

    it to me with a somber look on his face.

    ¡°Make sure you wear this,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s still risky.¡±

    I was dumbfounded by his request. I took the mask, but felt taken aback that that was really all he had

    to say to me; no apology? Nothing?

    It didn¡¯t matter, anyhow; with nothing but one more single, lingering look at me, Edrick suddenly turned

    on his heel and walked out to meet Sophia and the children in the foyer. I stared after him for a few

    moments, still in a state of disbelief, before letting out a deep sigh and following him.

    When I walked out into the foyer, the ce was filled with the chaos of a dozen excited little children

    getting ready to go get ice cream. Seeing the children so excited temporarily made me forget about my

    annoyance with Edrick, so I helped Sophia get the children ready. Finally, after everyone was ready

    and I had my own mask on, we filed out of the orphanage and began the walk to a nearby ice cream

    parlor. Edrick walked at the front while Sophia and I walked at the back, instructing the children to hold

    hands and stay in a single-file line as we walked.

    We walked through a little park on the way. The shade from the trees and the cool spray of water

    coming off of the fountains was a wee relief from the dry heat of the afternoon, and the sound of

    the birds singing and the children chattering happily made a smilee to my face beneath my mask.

    Meanwhile, Edrick walked in solitude at the front of the group. Sophia hung back with me and we talked

    as we watched the Alpha billionaire walk ahead of us.

    ¡°What¡¯s up with the mask, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± Sophia asked quietly. ¡°I mean, I understand

    why he¡¯s wearing one, but you¡­¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Tabloids are just starting to get the wrong idea,¡± I said, still not mentioning the

    pregnancy to her. ¡°That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Sophia nodded, mulling over my words for a few minutes before speaking again. ¡°You know, he

    really seems so much different now. It¡¯s like he¡¯s not even the same WereCorp CEO that I met that first

    day at the orphanage¡­ He¡¯s really changed for the better, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    I stared ahead at Edrick¡¯s back as he walked. He was holding E¡¯s hand, who was holding the child¡¯s

    hand behind her, and so on. E chattered happily about ice cream vors, and although I couldn¡¯t see

    Edrick¡¯s face, I knew that he was probably happy to be out on a nice day with his daughter¡­ But at the

    same time, I just couldn¡¯t get over the smell of perfume on his clothes from that morning. At that point, I

    was more bothered by that than the fact that he drunkenly fell asleep on the couch, fully clothed with an

    empty whiskey bottle. If he wanted to go out for a bit, then that was up to him ¡ª but to go out with

    another woman and use it as an excuse to disappoint his daughter earlier? Even if he did have a

    change of heart and wound up making up for it, I still found it to be deplorable.

    ¡°Honestly,¡± Sophia continued, breaking me out of my train of thought, ¡°I think that you¡¯ve had a positive

    impact on him.¡±

    It was then that I shook my head, my eyes still fixed on the Alpha billionaire¡¯s back.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much he¡¯s changed,¡± I said quietly.

 Chapter 91

    Chapter 91

    #Chapter 91: Sweet Affection

    Moana

    Sophia didn¡¯t ask about Edrick again after that. I knew that she could tell that something more was

    going on than I was leading her to believe, but she didn¡¯t pry any further and just enjoyed the remainder

    of the walk with me. We talked a bit about her ns with the foundation a bit as well as her need for a

    secretary to help her out; up ahead, as we talked about the secretary, I swore I could see Edrick

    ncing over his shoulder at us as though he was listening intently.

    Finally, we made it to the ice cream parlor. It was a cute little mom and pop shop on a small strip of

    quaint little stores, and when we went inside it was like stepping back in time. There was a long counter

    with stools to sit at and there was a nice older man working behind the counter wearing a red and white

    striped uniform.

    ¡°Well, hello there!¡± the old man said cheerfully as we entered. ¡°So many little ones!¡±

    Sophia and I smiled and helped the children sit at the counter. Once they were all seated, we stood

    with Edrick as there were no chairs left.

    ¡°What can I get for everyone?¡± the old man asked, leaning on the counter and beaming at the children,

    who all looked over at Sophia expectantly.

    ¡°Go ahead and tell the nice man which vor you would like,¡± Sophia said in an encouraging tone.

    Almost all at once, the children started bombarding the old man with the vors of their choice, but he

    somehow managed to get all of their orders just right. Sophia also ordered a bowl of chocte ice

    cream, and I ordered French vani. The old man handed us our ice cream and Sophia thanked both

    him and Edrick profusely while Edrick paid.

    The ice cream was refreshing after being outside on such a hot day. French vani was always a

    favorite vor of mine, and I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit as I tasted the sweet coolness of it on my

    tongue.

    I noticed, however, that Edrick didn¡¯t seem to get himself any ice cream.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to have any?¡± I asked, furrowing my brow. It felt a bit odd having him pay for all of us

    but not get anything for himself.

    Edrick shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t really eat ice cream, so I¡¯m not sure what I would have,¡± he admitted.

    The children¡¯s mouths dropped almost in unison. ¡°You don¡¯t eat ice cream?¡± ra insisted. ¡°That¡¯s

    crazy talk!¡±

    ¡°ra, be nice,¡± Sophia chimed in, stifling augh. I could tell that Edrick didn¡¯t quite know how to

    react, so without thinking, I scooped up a bit of ice cream on my spoon and held it out for him.

    ¡°Here,¡± I said. ¡°Try mine. It¡¯s not too sweet.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s eyes widened for a moment. He seemed to be struggling over whether he should move his

    mask down to taste the ice cream, but I had beenfortable since the moment we came in here as

    the nice old man was the only other person here and seemed to be the type to be entirely indifferent to

    celebrities. Edrick, seeminglying to the same conclusion, finally tugged his mask down a little and

    ate the ice cream right off the spoon without even taking it out of my hand like I had expected. I noticed

    that his cheeks turned a little red as he tasted the ice cream on his tongue, but he quickly nodded and

    turned away before I had a chance to tease him about it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take whichever vor she had,¡± he said.

    ¡°French vani it is,¡± the old man replied with a smile. Edrick watched intently, almost in a childlike way,

    as the old man plopped two scoops of ice cream into the bowl, drizzled a little caramel on top, and

    handed it to Edrick.

    As we ate, listening to the children as they prattled on to each other about this or that, I couldn¡¯t stop

    thinking about how good Edrick¡¯s attitude was nowpared to this morning. Even though I was still a

    bit hurt after everything, it was nice to see him acting so friendly and open with Sophia and the children,

    and his offer to take everyone out for ice cream was still a shock. Not only that, but the fact that he ate

    the ice cream right off of my spoon with very little hesitation and seemed to like it enough to order some

    for himself was blowing my mind.

    But, then again, I knew that there was a good chance that he was only acting so sweet to make his

    daughter happy; not that that was necessarily a bad thing, and it was all I really wanted from him to

    begin with, but I supposed that there was still a part of me that secretly wished that the Alpha billionaire

    would be kind like this out of his own heart and not for any particr reason. Still, I knew that beggars

    couldn¡¯t be choosers, so I decided to take it for what it was and just be happy that he even showed up

    to begin with.

    At one point, Sophia turned toward me and stifled a chuckle. ¡°You have ice cream on your cheek,¡± she

    said, gesturing to her left cheek.

    I felt my face go red and grabbed a napkin to wipe it off, but missed.

    ¡°Nope,¡± Sophia said, stifling anotherugh. ¡°A little to the left.¡±

    Once again, I missed and felt my face go even more red.

    Beside me, Edrick stopped eating his ice cream and peered over to see what was happening. He

    caught my eye for a moment, but his gaze quickly shifted over to my cheek and he shook his head.

    ¡°Here,¡± he said, holding his cup of ice cream in one hand and walking up to me. Without hesitation, he

    took mepletely by surprise and reached out. ¡°I¡¯ll get it.¡±

    He rubbed his thumb along my cheek before I could evenprehend what was happening. As if my

    face wasn¡¯t red enough as it was, I was certain now that I was the exact shade of a fire engine and felt

    my heart leap in my chest. His hand lingered on my cheek for a moment as he wiped the ice cream

    away, and at that moment, I forgot where we were entirely as we looked into each other¡¯s eyes.

    But then, suddenly, our brief trance was broken.

    ¡°Eww!¡± one of the children, Joshua, eximed as he pointed his stubby little finger at us. ¡°They¡¯re

    gonna kiss!¡±

    The rest of the children erupted into a chorus of ¡°eww¡¯s¡± and gagging noises. Edrick suddenly pulled

    his hand away and stared at his thumb for a moment before wiping it on his napkin. Now, his face was

    just as red as mine.

    ¡°There,¡± he said, stepping away. ¡°Got it.¡±

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Sophia said with augh, calming the children. ¡°Be nice. Come on, everyone. Let¡¯s

    finish up so we can go home.¡±

    The children quickly returned to their ice cream, but my heart was racing too fast now to finish mine.

    And when I nced back up at Edrick, I swore I caught him ncing at me out of the corner of his

    eyes.

 Chapter 92

    Chapter 92

    #Chapter 92: Love and Marriage

    Moana

    The children quickly forgot about the emotional moment between Edrick and I by the time they finished

    their ice cream, and we left the ice cream parlor to make our way back to the orphanage.

    By the time we made it back to the orphanage, the sun was already beginning to set. E would have

    her werewolf training in the morning, so we needed to get home in time for dinner and bedtime. As E

    said her goodbyes to her friends in the foyer, Edrick and I stood patiently by the door.

    Finally, when E had hugged all of her new friends as though she would never see them again, I gave

    Sophia myst goodbye and we began to head out.

    ¡°Wait! Moana! Mr. Morgan!¡± ra¡¯s little voice called out, causing us to stop in our tracks. ¡°I have a

    question!¡±

    ¡°What is it, ra?¡± I asked, feeling a smirk spread across my face at the little girl¡¯s urgent demeanor.

    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    ¡°Um¡­ Well, actually¡­¡± She turned to face her friends. They all whispered for a moment before Joshua

    reached out and spun ra back around to face us. Her face was red from embarrassment. ¡°We want

    to know¡­ When are you and Mr. Morgan getting married?¡±

    I froze, as did Edrick beside me.

    ¡°ra, let¡¯s not ask such personal questions,¡± Sophia said, shooting me an apologetic nce as she

    walked up to ra.

    ¡°Oh¡­ Sorry, Moana and Mr. Morgan,¡± ra said.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I replied, crouching down and nting a kiss on the little girl¡¯s cheek. I felt bad for not being

    able to exin anything more, but it wasn¡¯t entirely my call. Edrick¡¯s silence told me that he wasn¡¯t

    ready to talk to outsiders about our situation just yet, and I wanted to respect that. ¡°I¡¯ll see you guys

    later, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    With that, Edrick, E and I returned to the car where the driver was waiting. Edrick opened the door for

    E and myself, and while I buckled E into her car seat, Edrick got in on the other side.

    The ride home was quiet. E seemed too sleepy from her exciting day to say much, and instead

    swung her legs happily in her seat as she yed with the wooden puzzle that I kept in my purse to

    keep her busy during car rides. Meanwhile, Edrick stared quietly out the window without so much as

    turning even once to look back at me. I could tell that ra¡¯s question took him just as off guard as it

    did to me, and I knew that it made us equally ufortable. It was a confusing and awkward subject to

    broach, and what made it even worse was that the children at the orphanage ¡ª and Sophia ¡ª didn¡¯t

    even know about the pregnancy yet. How would we be able to exin something like that when my

    belly eventually grew to the point where there was no hiding it?

    When we got back to the penthouse, Edrick retreated to his study and shut the door. I sighed as I heard

    the door click shut, but kept my chin up for E and helped Selina and the maids prepare dinner. E

    was thankfully just too preupied with her exciting day to notice her father¡¯s sullenness after the

    question that ra asked, but I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about it as we ate dinner and I gave E her

    bath.

    Would I even want to marry a man who was sleeping with other women during my pregnancy? I felt

    almost betrayed; even though we weren¡¯t technically together, I felt as though I was doing my due

    diligence and being faithful for both E¡¯s and the baby¡¯s sake despite the fact that I was just as lonely

    as Edrick was. Meanwhile, he was having one night stands with other women. Just because I caught

    him this time, too, didn¡¯t necessarily mean that there hadn¡¯t been other times. Even just thinking about

    it made my blood boil, however, so I tried not to let it get to me as I got E ready for bed.

    Finally, I finished E¡¯s bath and dried her off, then got her into her pajamas andbed out her long

    hair. It had be a bit of a ritual at this point for us to sit in front of her mirror at night while I brushed

    her hair one hundred times and braided it, and just like any other night, we did just that.

    I expected E to chatter on about her exciting day, but she didn¡¯t. Much to my surprise, she was

    mostly quiet while I brushed and braided her hair. I figured that she was just tired, but it wasn¡¯t until I

    tucked her into bed for the night that she finally spoke.

    ¡°Um¡­ Moana?¡± she said, just as I was about to shut off the light.

    I stopped, turning to look at her. She was tucked into her nket up to her chin, with her favorite stuffed

    animal ¡ª the little handmade stuffed duck that I¡¯d purchased for her at the farmers¡¯ market all those

    weeks ago ¡ª nestled into the crook of her neck. ¡°Yes, love?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Um¡­ Do you think that you and my daddy really will get married one day?¡± she asked.

    I was taken aback by her question, but I supposed that I knew it woulde out eventually. Between

    mine and Edrick¡¯s shocked silence in response to ra¡¯s question earlier and the way that Sophia

    pulled her away, it was bound to have struck E. Not only that, but the way that her father went silent

    and disappeared into his study for the remainder of the night was also bound to make her

    ufortable. It was only now that I realized that she was probably mulling over the subject as well,

    and that was why she was so quiet all evening.

    E kept looking up at me curiously with her big doe eyes, and I finally let out a sigh and sat down on

    the edge of her bed. I reached out and brushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes before I spoke.

    ¡°Sometimes things just don¡¯t work out that way,¡± I said gently.

    ¡°Well¡­ Why not?¡± she asked. ¡°In all of my fairytales and princess movies, the boy and the girl always

    fall in love and get married and live happily ever after.¡±

    I paused, biting my lip. ¡°Real life just isn¡¯t always like your fairytales or princess movies,¡± I finally said

    after some contemtion. ¡°But that¡¯s okay. I promise that we¡¯ll all still have our happily ever after¡­ It¡¯ll

    just be a little bit different.¡±

    E didn¡¯t answer for a minute. I watched as she scrunched up her nose, chewing and digesting what I

    had just told her. Of course it broke my heart a little bit to have to tell a little girl that happily ever after

    wasn¡¯t always like fairytales or princess movies; sometimes, instead of a prince, the boy was a cold

    CEO who couldn¡¯tmit because of social status. And sometimes, instead of a princess, the girl was

    a human nanny who got herself into a rather sticky situation.

    But that didn¡¯t mean that we couldn¡¯t have our own happy ending in one way or another.

 Chapter 93

    Chapter 93

    #Chapter 93: Regrets

    Edrick

    I was passing by E¡¯s room when I overheard Moana and E talking, and my heart sank a little when

    I heard E¡¯s question.

    ¡°Um¡­ Do you think that you and my daddy really will get married one day?¡± she asked, no doubt

    because of the children at the orphanage thinking that Moana and I were engaged.

    There was a long pause; I almost considered going in there and talking to E myself as I wasn¡¯t quite

    sure how well Moana would handle it, especially after how upset she¡¯d been that morning, but it turned

    out that I didn¡¯t need to.

    ¡°Sometimes things just don¡¯t work out that way,¡± Moana finally replied. Her voice was soft and gentle.

    ¡°Well¡­ Why not?¡± E asked. ¡°In all of my fairytales and princess movies, the boy and the girl always

    fall in love and get married and live happily ever after.¡±

    Another pause.

    ¡°Real life just isn¡¯t always like your fairytales or princess movies,¡± Moana said after several long

    moments. ¡°But that¡¯s okay. I promise that we¡¯ll all still have our happily ever after¡­ It¡¯ll just be a little bit

    different.¡±

    I was a bit taken aback by how well Moana handled the situation. It warmed my heart, honestly, to hear

    how sweetly she spoke to E. She could have easily said something sarcastic or backhanded

    because of how angry she was with me for what happened that morning, but she didn¡¯t tarnish my

    daughter¡¯s perception of me. Honestly, did I even deserve that? Sometimes I wondered if E should

    know that her father was¡­ Not the man she thought I was. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder, either, if E

    would always feel a little bitter about my rtionship with Moana; especially if she ever found out that

    her mother wasn¡¯t actually dead.

    E seemed satisfied by this response, and as I stood there, I saw the light flick off in the room followed

    by the sound of Moana¡¯s footsteps approaching. I didn¡¯t have time to move out of the way before she

    opened the door and saw me standing there.

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, her face grim and cold, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were here.¡±

    ¡°I was justing to say goodnight,¡± I replied.

    Moana nodded. ¡°Well, she¡¯s still awake, so now¡¯s your chance.¡± She then stepped out of my way,

    avoiding my gaze, and headed toward her room ¡ª but I couldn¡¯t contain my frustration any longer, and

    I followed her.

    ¡°Actually,¡± I said, standing behind her as she opened her bedroom door, ¡°I¡¯d like to talk to you.¡±

    Moana froze, her hand still on the doorknob. She seemed to be unsure as to whether she wanted to

    speak to me or not, and I understood that, but at the same time I felt as though I had a right to exin

    myself. She got some seriously wrong ideas about me that morning that I needed to set straight, and

    she hadn¡¯t given me a chance all day to exin anything. Even though I tried to make it up to both her

    and E today, she still didn¡¯t seem satisfied.

    ¡°Fine,¡± she finally said, her voice low. She opened her door and stepped in. I followed and closed the

    door behind us. ¡°What is it?¡± she asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

    I frowned, a bit annoyed still by her harsh attitude, but I decided to push my own angry thoughts down

    to at least try to have a civil conversation.

    ¡°You got some seriously wrong ideas about me this morning that I need to set straight,¡± I said.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Moana asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Was that your perfume, then? Or am I not allowed to ask or

    care, even though I¡¯m carrying your baby in my belly?¡±

    I paused, gritting my teeth. There were a few choice words that I wanted to say in response to that, but

    I chose to take the high road instead and took a deep breath before responding. ¡°First of all, I¡¯m sorry

    that I fell asleep like that on the couch,¡± I said. ¡°I had a drink at the bar, and then I finished off that

    whiskey bottle when I got home, but I was only exhausted¡­ Not drunk.¡± I really wasn¡¯t drunk that night;

    Moana didn¡¯t seem to believe me, but I kept going anyway. ¡°Furthermore, I didn¡¯t sleep with anyone,¡± I

    said.

    ¡°Why did you reek of women¡¯s perfume, then?¡± she interrupted, her frown deepening. I watched her for

    a moment as she red up at me. As I stood in front of her, even from a bit of a distance, I realized

    how small she was despite the air of indignant confidence she was trying to put across. She almost

    seemed to be unintentionally making herself smaller with her stance and her posture, as though she

    was recoiling into herself.

    I shook my head, then sighed and stared down at the floor. Admittedly, I didn¡¯t want the truth toe

    out now¡­ But it had to.

    ¡°I almost did sleep with someone,¡± I admitted. ¡°At the bar. I came close, but¡­ I couldn¡¯t do it. I decided

    against it.¡±

    When I looked back up, Moana¡¯s eyes were wide. She no longer had her arms folded across her chest

    and now had them hung at her sides, where she was clenching and unclenching her fists. Whether it

    was out of anger, frustration, hurt, or all three, I couldn¡¯t quite tell.

    ¡°Well¡­ Why did you decide against it?¡± she asked. Her voice, which had been solid and even-toned

    before, now sounded small and almost childlike. Even in the dim light of her room, I could see that

    tears were beginning to form in her round, green eyes.

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. Of course I only did it to get my mind off of her, to try to distract myself and

    hopefully get over whatever strange fascination I had with her, but when I opened my mouth to say

    that, nothing woulde out.

    Moana, noticing this, took in a sharp breath and narrowed her eyes.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t have anything else to say, then you can leave my room now,¡± she said, pointing to the door

    behind me with a shaking hand.

    I nodded and turned back to the door. But when I put my hand on the doorknob, I couldn¡¯t bring myself

    to open it. It was now that the words finally came out. Maybe turning away from her, not looking her in

    the eye, gave me the strength to do that.

    ¡°I decided against it because I can¡¯t stop thinking about you,¡± I said.

    Moana was silent. I still couldn¡¯t bring myself to turn around and face her, because if I did, I knew that I

    wouldn¡¯t be able to control myself again. Just likest night, I knew I would kiss her if I looked at her,

    and would probably take things even further than that just like I secretly wanted to.

    I had to leave before that could happen. It would only be bad for both of us, as well as E and the

    baby, if I let it happen.

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    Without another word, I swung the door open and walked out, hearing it shut behind me.

    As I stood there in the hallway, all I could think about was what I was going to do if I could no longer

    control myself around this strangely captivating human nanny.

 Chapter 94

    Chapter 94

    #Chapter 94: Favorite Girls

    Moana

    A few days passed after that. I had a hard time getting over what Edrick said to me in my room that

    night: that he couldn¡¯t stop thinking about me. Was that true? Why, then, did he try to sleep with

    another woman? If he really couldn¡¯t stop thinking about me in the same way that I couldn¡¯t stop

    thinking about him, why couldn¡¯t we just admit our feelings to one another and be done with it? Even if

    we couldn¡¯t be public with our rtionship, part of me still wanted to see if we could make it work in a

    private setting.

    Eventually, the day of the banquet came. While there was still arge part of me that just wanted to

    make an excuse to not go and hide in the penthouse instead, I knew that I had to be there for E.

    On the morning of the banquet, I came out of my room to find that Selina had already prepared arge

    breakfast for E and me. E was already sitting at the table, happily shoveling pancakes into her

    mouth, while Selina poured my coffee for me.

    ¡°Wow,¡± I said as I approached, temporarily forgetting my anxiety about the banquet. ¡°This is nice,

    Selina. Thank you.¡±

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    Selina nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve both got a long day ahead of you, so I wanted to make sure you have a good

    breakfast. Take a seat.¡±

    I smiled and sat across from E. A te of pancakes, bacon, and fresh fruit sat in front of me. Selina

    finished pouring my coffee, which I sipped gratefully before starting to dig into my breakfast.

    ¡°Now,¡± Selina said, wiping her hands on her apron and then retrieving her small datebook from her

    apron pocket, ¡°let¡¯s see¡­¡± She opened the datebook, slipping her sses onto her nose and reading

    for a moment. ¡°E, you¡¯ll be getting your hair done at eleven¡­ And Moana, you¡¯ll have your own hair

    and makeup stylisting at noon.¡±

    My eyes widened just as I was about to take a bite of my pancake. I lowered the fork, furrowing my

    brow. ¡°That must be a mistake,¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°I don¡¯t have a stylist for these sorts of things.¡±

    Selina only shrugged and stuffed her datebook back in her pocket. ¡°Mr. Morgan booked one for you,¡±

    she said.

    I was astonished. Edrick really booked a hair and makeup stylist for me? He¡¯d never done that before

    for either of the events we went to, and never even mentioned it. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he was

    just trying to butter me up by doing this, but I had to admit that there was a little part of me that secretly

    hoped that he was trying to doll me up because he was going to announce my pregnancy to his family

    at the banquet.

    But, no. That would be ridiculous; I knew that he wouldn¡¯t be telling the rest of his family for quite a

    while. After all, ording to him, his father could potentially do something to the baby this early on in

    the pregnancy. Even just the thought of it made me hold my belly protectively.

    Either way, I didn¡¯t put up a fuss. I finished eating, then gave E her bath and got her ready for her

    appointment, which she wasn¡¯t particrly excited for. E, however, was a good girl as always and

    didn¡¯t put up a fuss either, and was as polite as can be to the stylist when she finally arrived.

    Not long after they began to do her hair for the banquet, my own stylist arrived: an older, well-dressed

    man by the name of Tyrus. As he stepped out of the elevator, I was shocked by his impable style

    and perfect hair. He even wore a bit of gold eyeshadow that made his brown eyes pop out.

    ¡°You must be Moana,¡± he said, walking up to me with a smile and holding out his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Tyrus.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Can I offer you some tea, Tyrus?¡± Selina asked, seemingly already familiar with the man. Tyrus shook

    his head.

    ¡°No, thank you, Selina,¡± he said with a smile, then looked back at me. ¡°We¡¯ve got quite the afternoon

    ahead of us.¡±

    I was still taken aback as Tyrus led me to my room, where he sat me down in front of my vanity andid

    out his hair and makeup supplies. For the next three hours ¡ª yes, three ¡ª Tyrus and I chatted while

    he trimmed and styled my hair and did my makeup. It was fascinating watching how expertly he curled

    and styled my hair, and how perfectly he did my makeup to give me a natural look while still having a

    bit of sophistication. He gave me a simr glittery gold eyeshadow to his own, which brought out the

    green in my eyes and the red in my hair in a way that I¡¯d never seen before. When he was finished, I

    was shocked by my own reflection.

    ¡°Well?¡± he asked, holding a mirror up so I could see the back of my hair. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    I shook my head in disbelief as I ran my hands over my incredibly soft hair and leaned forward in my

    seat to look at the impable makeup he did. ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful!¡± a tiny voice suddenly called from the doorway. Tyrus and I both looked up to see E

    standing there with her hair done as well and a big grin on her face. She ran up to me and bounced up

    and down excitedly on her toes. ¡°You look so pretty, Moana!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but blush at E¡¯s reaction, and Tyrus chuckled as he packed up his supplies.

    ¡°Really,¡± I said as I walked him back to the elevator a few minutester, ¡°you did a great job. Thank you

    so much.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing,¡± Tyrus replied with a warm smile. ¡°A friend of Edrick¡¯s is a friend of mine.¡±

    ¡°You know Edrick well?¡± I asked.

    Tyrus shrugged. ¡°We knew each other in college,¡± he said, ¡°before I came out to my parents and

    decided to run off and enroll in cosmetology school. If you can believe it, I was a business major back

    then. Yuck.¡±

    Iughed as I pictured a younger Tyrus and a younger Edrick being acquaintances in college. In fact,

    as I said goodbye to Tyrus and watched the elevator doors close, I couldn¡¯t stop imagining what Edrick

    was like in college; to think of him as a bright-eyed young man with big dreams for the future made me

    smile. But at the same time, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if going to school to be the next WereCorp

    CEO was his own dream, or if it was his father¡¯s dream.

    ¡­

    That evening, Selina helped E get ready for the banquet while Amy and Lily helped me. I wore the

    silk dress that Edrick picked out for me at the mall, and although it felt a little dirty now knowing that he

    almost slept with another woman on the same day that he bought it for me, I couldn¡¯t help but feel

    beautiful as I looked in the mirror. Even Amy and Lily couldn¡¯t stop fawning over the quality of the

    dress, and kept feeling the fabric between their fingers. I promised that they could try the new dresses

    on in my room sometime, just for fun, and they seemed excited by that idea.

    When I was finished, I finally stepped out of my room and into the living room, where Edrick was

    waiting. I felt almost like thedy of the house, and when Edrick¡¯s eyes slid over me and his face

    almost went a little pale, I temporarily forgot that I really was just the nanny.

    E came out along with me and took my hand, grinning up at me.

    ¡°Well, daddy?¡± she asked, twirling around to show off her skirt. ¡°How do we look?¡±

    The Alpha billionaire smiled a warm, sweet smile.

    ¡°There¡¯s my favorite girls,¡± he said.

 Chapter 95

    Chapter 95

    #Chapter 95: The Banquet

    Edrick

    ¡°There¡¯s my favorite girls,¡± I said with a smile.

    I didn¡¯t even think about it before I said it, but I knew as soon as it came out of my mouth that I¡¯d made

    a mistake. E didn¡¯t seem to notice, but Moana sure did. Her green eyes, which looked even more

    beautiful with the small amount of gold eyeshadow around them, widened.

    ¡°Ha,¡± I said, feigning surprise at myself in the feeble hope that I could get away without Moana dwelling

    on this too much, ¡°slip of the tongue. Are you two ready?¡±

    ¡­

    When we arrived at the banquet, the party had already begun. The end of summer banquet was a long-

    standing Morgan family tradition. The banquet that I had taken Moana and E to earlier that summer

    was solely for more immediate family and close friends, but this banquet was different. Each summer,

    practically every single member of the entire Morgan n, from immediate family to cousins several

    times removed and all of their own friends and extended families through marriage woulde from all

    over the globe to visit my parents¡¯ mansion. Needless to say, these parties were huge, and often went

    on for two or three days. That was why I paid my old friend Tyrus toe and do Moana¡¯s hair and

    makeup; sure, it was necessary for the nanny, but I wanted to make a good impression. Besides, I had

    to admit that I wanted to do a little something nice for Moana to make her feel better, although I would

    never tell her that.

    The driver pulled up to the front driveway and we got out. Moana held E¡¯s hand as we walked up the

    wide stone pathway, lined with fountains and sculptures, but as soon as E saw her other little cousins

    she instantly took off running.

    ¡°Oh¡ª E!¡± Moana called, taken by surprise by E¡¯s sudden mad dash.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°She only gets to see these kids once a year. She¡¯ll be fine ¡ª

    although that dress will probably wind up in the trash by the time she¡¯s done rolling around with them

    like an animal.¡±

    Moana managed a wryugh and followed me up the steps to the front door, where servants were

    waiting to take our jackets. sses of champagne were handed to us almost as soon as we walked

    into therge banquet hall, but Moana refused.

    ¡°Darling!¡± my mother¡¯s familiar voice called as I entered. She waved at us from across the crowd, and

    Moana and I made our way over to her. Of course, with so many people here, she only extended

    Moana the basic pleasantries, although I knew that my mother secretly wanted to dote on the mother of

    my second child all night. When I was with Olivia, it was the same thing. I didn¡¯t have to hide my

    rtionship with Olivia quite as much as with Moana, so my mother would spend hours at these events

    gushing over her despite my father¡¯s sullenness that I wasn¡¯t married to her. Although, Olivia quickly

    stopped evening to the events as soon as she got pregnant; I didn¡¯t realize it at the time, thinking

    that she was just dealing with morning sickness throughout the pregnancy, but she was really sneaking

    around with other men and only used the pregnancy to keep me faithful.

    ¡°How are you, mom?¡± I asked, nting a kiss on her cheek while Moana stood nearby, looking a little

    out of ce despite her luxurious outfit.

    ¡°I¡¯m splendid,¡± my mother said, then turned to Moana. ¡°And you look absolutely stunning, dear. You¡¯re

    glowing.¡±

    Moana blushed. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Then, my mother turned back to face me and lowered her voice. ¡°I¡¯d advise steering clear of your

    father, at least until he¡¯s had a couple of drinks in him,¡± she said, patting my hand. ¡°He¡¯s not happyContent is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    about the tabloid.¡±

    My eyes widened; so my father did see the tabloid after all. When he didn¡¯t call to scold me about it, I

    thought that he never saw it.

    ¡°Does he know¡­?¡± I asked, indicating Moana¡¯s pregnancy.

    ¡°I think he might have an idea,¡± my mother replied. ¡°But I told him that we were just having a nice lunch,

    and that you never mentioned anything about a pregnancy. That might have ayed his suspicions for

    the time being.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± I felt a lump rise in my throat as I scanned the crowd for my father, but when I finally spotted

    him, he was far on the other side of the banquet hall and appeared to be deep in conversation with one

    of my uncles.

    Suddenly, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around to see none other than Kelly grinning up at

    me. She really seemed to go all out for this banquet with her hair and makeup, but what most struck

    me was that she was wearing an eerily simr dress to the one that Moana was wearing. In fact, the

    longer I looked at it, the more I realized that it was in fact the exact same dress; just tighter, as though

    she had it altered to sit snugly around her waist and show off her t stomach. I couldn¡¯t help but

    wonder if it was intentional, as if she was trying to one-up Moana, who had to hide her belly somewhat.

    I personally found Kelly to pale inparison to how beautiful Moana looked.

    ¡°Hello, dear Edrick,¡± Kelly said, nting a wet kiss on my cheek. ¡°It¡¯s been a little while, hasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Since the g, yes,¡± I said. ¡°Thank you again for that generous donation.¡±

    ¡°Hm.¡± Kelly pursed her lips and nced over at Moana, who had still hardly said a word this entire time.

    Kelly¡¯s eyes slid up and down Moana judgingly beforeing back to me. ¡°Well, it was the least I could

    do to help you get a head start,¡± Kelly finally said. ¡°Of course, if it were a werewolf orphanage, I could

    have donated more¡­ But, you know, I didn¡¯t want to be making too much of a political statement.¡±

    I stifled a scoff. Of course Kelly would say that; she had always been anti-humans, at least since we

    were teenagers. I always found it funny because of the fact that we often yed with the human

    servant children when we were little, and she didn¡¯t seem to have a problem then. But, then again, I

    supposed that it was bound to happen eventually being raised by a wealthy werewolf family. Even I still

    had my hang ups about humans, although I had to admit that Moana was slowly breaking those walls

    down.

    ¡°Anyway,¡± Kelly said, ¡°I¡¯m d I found you. Can we talk? I only need a minute of your time.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± I replied, only to be polite. I followed Kelly across the banquet hall, taking onest nce over

    my shoulder at Moana. She stared after us with abination of abandonment and jealousy on her

    face, and it admittedly made me feel a little bad.

    Kelly eventually pushed through one of the doors that led to a small garden outside. Once we were

    outside and alone, she stopped on the steps and turned to face me.

    ¡°I have a proposition,¡± she said, a coy smile spreading across her face.

    I frowned. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ Everyone saw that tabloid, you know. Now, I¡¯m not saying that what was on the cover of that

    tabloid is necessarily true ¡ª although I think the nanny¡¯s added weight says it all anyway ¡ª but you

    know that people are bound to start asking questions. And, well, say that the tabloid was right, and you

    did have something to hide¡­ I could help you hide it.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, raising an eyebrow as I folded my arms across my chest.

    Kelly grinned. ¡°Yes. I think you need a public ¡®wife¡¯, so to speak. Preferably an Alpha from a good

    family.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but roll my eyes. ¡°And I suppose you expect that to be you,¡± I replied. Kelly didn¡¯t seem

    fazed.

    ¡°I mean, it could be anyone,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s not like it would be real. Only real to the public. This ¡®wife¡¯

    could also im E as her daughter, so not only could you be free of spection, but you also

    wouldn¡¯t have to hide E as much anymore. I think it¡¯s a win for everybody.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. I waspletely taken aback by this preposterous idea of Kelly¡¯s, and it

    made me wonder deep down if she somehow orchestrated this; she was so infatuated with me that I

    wouldn¡¯t put it past her to be the anonymous donor who tried to pay the tabloid to keep the picture up,

    just to cause an uproar and give me no choice but to go through with this ¡®fake¡¯ rtionship.

    Before I could say anything, however, Kelly spoke again. She moved closer to me as she did, and her

    eyes narrowed seductively.

    ¡°Think of it this way,¡± she said. ¡°If I came out as your Alpha wife and E¡¯s Alpha mother, then no one

    would bother you about the nanny anymore; because no one would ever use the CEO of WereCorp

    of being unfaithful to his wife with a lowly human servant¡­ Right?¡±

 Chapter 96

    Chapter 96

    #Chapter 96: A Proposition

    Moana

    As I watched Edrick and Kelly walk away together, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a little jealous. Not only that,

    but she was wearing the exact same dress as I was! Even Verona did a double take when she saw

    Kelly walk up to us.

    When they were gone, Verona quickly came over to me and took my hand.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, dear,¡± she said gently, giving my hand a squeeze. ¡°Kelly¡­ Well, she¡¯s not a bad

    girl, really, but she¡¯s always had a bit of an infatuation with Edrick. She¡¯ll get bored eventually and stop

    pestering you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I replied with a smile, even though I couldn¡¯t help but feel bad. ¡°It¡¯s just a dress.¡±

    Verona gave me a sad look. I felt as though I would cry and ruin my makeup if I kept standing here, so I

    quickly excused myself under the guise of performing my job duties as a nanny and went to look for

    E. After several minutes of walking around and weaving my way through the growing crowd, I finally

    spotted E over by the snack bar with her friends. As children often do, they were stuffing their cheeks

    with sweets.

    ¡°Ahem.¡± I cleared my throat as I came up to E, folding my arms across my chest and looking down at

    her. The other kids saw me and quickly ran away, but she slowly turned to face me and gave me a

    sheepish smile, her cheeks round with cream puff pastries. ¡°You¡¯ll spoil your appetite, youngdy,¡± I

    said, stifling augh at the little girl¡¯s chipmunk-like appearance.

    She chewed for a minute, then finally swallowed with a big gulp. ¡°Sorry,¡± she muttered, staring down at

    the floor. ¡°I was hungry.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least get a te and sit down when you eat,¡± I said gently, taking her hand as I began to lead

    her away from the snacks. ¡°It¡¯s not very polite to eat like that.¡±

    I led E back to Verona, who was still waiting by her table as she talked to a servant, seemingly giving

    orders judging from the way that she pointed and gestured at various tables. The servant nodded

    understandingly before scurrying off. Verona let out a sigh, then finally noticed Eing and a wide

    smile spread across her face. E ran up to her, grinning from ear to ear as her grandmother showered

    her with kisses.

    I hadn¡¯t even fully caught up yet when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. At first, I thought it was

    Edrick needing something from me ¡ª but when I turned around, I felt myself go pale as a sheet when I

    saw that it wasn¡¯t in fact Edrick, but was instead his father, Michael. He was staring down at me with a

    terse smile spread across his face, but his eyes were cold and stern.

    ¡°Care for a dance?¡± he said, holding out his hand.

    ¡°I¡ª Um¡ª¡± I stuttered, my heart practically pounding out of my chest as a million thoughts raced

    through my mind. Why was Michael Morgan asking me to dance if not to confront me about the

    pregnancy? Even if it wasn¡¯t about the pregnancy, it certainly had something to do with my rtionship

    with his son. I was sure of it.

    ¡°Well, is that a yes or a no?¡± he asked. ¡°Come along. I like this song. I¡¯d like to dance before it ends.¡±

    Before I could resist, Michael¡¯s hand dug into my shoulder and he guided me somewhat roughly over to

    the dance floor. He then turned to face me and took one of my hands in his, then put his other hand on

    my waist. I could feel my own hands trembling as I ced my free hand on his shoulder.

    ¡°U-Um, thank you,¡± I managed to squeak out, forcing a tense smile as we began to dance to the music.

    Michael was a stern leader, and I almost felt as though I was being thrown around a bit as we danced.

    ¡°This is a lovely song.¡±

    ¡°Mhm.¡±

    For a few moments, we danced in silence. He smelled like an almost sicklybination of whiskey,

    cigar smoke, and cologne. It made me want to gag, and started to trigger my morning sickness, but I

    somehow managed to keep my cool in front of him.

    ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll cut right to the chase,¡± he finally said after a couple of minutes, a tense smile still spread

    across his face while his eyes scanned the crowd around us, doing anything but looking at me. ¡°How

    much will it cost to make you go away?¡±

    I stopped in my tracks, but Michael hardly seemed to notice and kept pulling me along as we danced,

    nearly causing me to stumble. I didn¡¯t know what to say; what did he mean? Why was he doing this?

    Why now, especially, right in the middle of a huge party?

    ¡°Uh¡­ Pardon me?¡± I asked, swallowing the lump in my throat.

    Michael scoffed. ¡°I know you¡¯re pregnant with my son¡¯s child,¡± he said, lowering his voice. The way that

    the smile stayed stered on his face, as though we were just having a casual conversation, made me

    sick. If I reacted, not only would it make a scene in front of so many people ¡ª many of whom were

    looking at us, wondering why Michael Morgan was dancing with a human ¡ª but it would also appear

    as though I was acting erratically if he appeared so calm and cordial. No one could see the way that his

    fingers dug into my skin.

    It was now, for the first time in the past couple of days, that Mina suddenly began to appear. I quickly

    pushed her down, knowing that she would try to encourage me to do something rash, and I was afraid

    that Michael would do something to my baby.

    ¡°I¡ª I¡¯m not looking for money,¡± I said, my voice shaking. ¡°I don¡¯t want anything.¡±

    Michael let out a wry chuckle. He dipped me with a bit of force, then pulled me back up, making my

    head spin. To everyone else, it just looked like an borate dance, but to me it was a deliberate act of

    violence. ¡°I won¡¯t have my family name sullied by yet another illegitimate child,¡± he said. ¡°E is bad

    enough as it is; to add not only another child, but a human child at that¡­¡± He tsked. ¡°I won¡¯t have it.

    Name your price, and leave my family alone.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to sully your family¡¯s name,¡± I replied. Mina wouldn¡¯t be quelled, and I felt her anger

    bubbling up inside of me.

    ¡°Tell him,¡± she growled. ¡°Tell him you¡¯re a werewolf. That¡¯ll shut him up.¡±

    I shook my head slightly, ignoring her. ¡°I only met your son because he offered me a job.¡± That was a

    lie, to an extent, but I didn¡¯t care; I would say anything to get away from Michael now before he hurt my

    baby.

    ¡°A job?¡± heughed. ¡°What about the expensive clothes, hm? The penthouse? The fancy dinners and

    professional stylists? Were those part of the job description?¡±

    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    The lump in my throat grew bigger. I didn¡¯t have an answer for that; of course those things weren¡¯t part

    of the job description, but I also insisted every step of the way that Edrick didn¡¯t need to spoil me like

    that. It was his decision to do those things, not mine. I only got pregnant by ident.

    Before I could answer, however, the song finally came to an end. Much to my surprise, Michael stepped

    back and bowed.

    ¡°Curtsy,¡± he snarled.

    My eyes widened. ¡°What?¡±

    Michael nced up, ring at me. ¡°Curtsy, you whore.¡±

    I wanted to scream, but I did as he said and curtsied to end our dance. The people around us, entirely

    oblivious to the situation, pped enthusiastically.

    Michael stood, straightening his jacket. As the crowd filled in once more, the smile on his face faded

    and was reced with a distinct look of disgust.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you until the end of the night to decide,¡± he said. ¡°Take the money, or don¡¯t. Either way¡­ I

    won¡¯t allow you to continue seeing my son.¡±

 Chapter 97

    Chapter 97

    #Chapter 97: Treat You Better

    Moana

    I was so utterly, unbelievably stunned by Michael¡¯s cruel ¡®proposition¡¯ and his rough mannerisms during

    our dance that I was frozen to my spot. Even as he walked away and disappeared into the crowd, I still

    felt as though my heart would beat straight out of my chest. I could already feel the vomit bubbling up in

    my throat from the fear, which was the only thing that got me moving.

    I quickly ran to the bathroom, which was thankfully empty. Tears welled up in my eyes as I burst into

    one of the stalls and doubled over.

    Nothing came up, thankfully. I gagged a bit, but that was it, so I took a deep breath and walked over to

    the sink to ssh some cold water on my neck and try to calm down.

    Surely, Michael¡¯s threat meant nothing. Edrick would certainly handle this; I didn¡¯t need to worry. I

    would tell him after the banquet so as not to ruin his fun, and for now I would just try to have some fun

    of my own and not think about what Michael said. I just needed some fresh air, and then everything

    would be better.

    Taking another deep breath, I stepped out of the bathroom and followed the hallway until I came to a

    door that led out to the courtyard; the same one that I had danced in with Ethan at the first banquet.

    The air was hot, but there was a bit of a breeze. I made my way over to the fountain and sat down,

    letting the cool spray hit my back as I sat and tried not to cry.

    ¡°Everything okay?¡± a familiar voice said.

    I lifted my head to see Ethan standing in front of me. He had his hands in his pockets and was looking

    down at me with a concerned look on his face.

    ¡°Everything¡¯s fine,¡± I said, managing a weak smile ¡ª but as soon as I met Ethan¡¯s soft gaze, I couldn¡¯t

    hide it. My eyes started to fill with tears, and my face twisted into a grimace. I covered my face with my

    hands, not wanting to let Ethan see me cry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I muttered into my hands. ¡°It¡¯s really nothing.¡±

    This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    Just then, I felt a pair of warm arms slide around me. I slowly looked up to see Ethan gazing at me with

    worry drawn across his face. ¡°You can tell me,¡± he said gently, reaching up to tuck a strand of loose hair

    behind my ear. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡±

    I sighed, staring down at myp and shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ Michael,¡± I whispered, biting my lip for

    a moment. ¡°He¡ª He tried to give me money to make me ¡®go away¡¯. And he called me a whore.¡±

    Ethan¡¯s face twisted into a scowl. I could feel his arms tense around me.

    ¡°That bastard,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°Do you need me to talk to him?¡±

    I shook my head vehemently. Thest thing I wanted was for Ethan to confront Michael; it would only

    make things worse. Even Edrick would be upset that I confided something like this in Ethan. Edrick

    didn¡¯t even know that I told Ethan about the pregnancy.

    There was a long silence. My chest quaked a bit with stifled sobs, but Ethan held me firmly and rubbed

    my back. It wasforting to have a friend here at a time like this; if I told Edrick now, I knew that he

    would instantly go to his father and cause a scene, but I just needed somefort and someone to

    confide in. I was d to have Ethan as a friend.

    ¡°Moana¡­¡± Ethan¡¯s voice was soft. I looked up to see him gazing at me in a way that reminded me of

    the night that we danced out here, when we almost kissed.

    Except this time he did kiss me.

    He kissed me gently on the lips. His lips were warm and soft, but¡­ I didn¡¯t have an interest in him like

    that. I thought that we had an understanding about that when he first mentioned his feelings for me

    when we went out for dinner. I froze for a moment, shocked and confused, before pulling away with

    wide eyes.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked, recoiling and wriggling free of his embrace. I stood, smoothing down my

    dress. ¡°You know that¡¯s not what I want.¡±

    Ethan frowned and stood, taking my hands in his as his eyes searched my face earnestly. ¡°Moana, I

    can¡¯t deny how I feel about you,¡± he said. ¡°And I think there¡¯s a part of you that feels the same way. I

    can sense it. You know I can treat you and the baby so much better than Edrick does. If we were

    together, there would be no question about it; I would proudly take you as my wife. I would never hide

    you from the public¡ª¡±

    I quickly pulled my hands away and shook my head. ¡°No, Ethan,¡± I said, taking a step back. ¡°I don¡¯t

    want that. You know I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Moana¡­ Please. I care about you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. All I could do was stare back at Ethan and blink incredulously, my eyes wide.

    I thought that we agreed that we would just be friends, but¡­ Clearly he didn¡¯t seem to think that I was

    serious when I told him the first time.

    Ethan stared at me for a few moments before suddenly turning and walking away without so much as a

    goodbye. I watched after him, watching as he disappeared in the direction of his studio.

    I was alone again. More tears came, and I sat back down on the edge of the fountain. Now, more than

    ever, I felt alone in the world because I didn¡¯t even have a friend I could trust. It seemed that men only

    ever wanted to use me, throughout my entire life. First, my boyfriend Sam only used me for emotional

    support before leaving me for a model and a fancy job at WereCorp; then, Edrick only had a one night

    stand with me and only saw me as the lowly human nanny, no matter how hard I tried; and now this¡­

    Not to mention Michael, trying to throw money at me to make me disappear. Was I really not worth

    anyone¡¯s true love and affection?

    I sat there for a while, not wanting to go back inside as I dabbed at my tears with a handkerchief. Part

    of me really began to wonder if I should have just taken Michael¡¯s money and left; at least then, I could

    be free of all of this extra pain. With that money, maybe I could just raise my baby in peace. I could

    even start over fresh, in a new city, if I really wanted to.

    But at the same time, I didn¡¯t want to leave. I didn¡¯t want to leave E behind, and I couldn¡¯t deny the

    fact that I didn¡¯t want to leave Edrick behind, either.

    Suddenly, as I sat there staring into the fountain in deep contemtion, I heard the sound of heels

    approaching on stone. I looked up and my heart dropped.

    Kelly was headed my way.

 Chapter 98

    Chapter 98

    #Chapter 98: What¡¯s Best

    Edrick

    I was too taken aback by Kelly¡¯s proposition to even speak. Was she the one who paid off the tabloid to

    keep the photo up, just so she could manipte me into having a fake rtionship with her? Or did

    someone else put her up to it¡­ Like my father?

    ¡°Well?¡± she said, batting her eyshes in front of me. ¡°What do you say?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± I paused, blinking incredulously as my head reeled. ¡°I need a drink.¡± Without another word, I

    turned on my heel and headed back toward the door to the banquet hall.

    ¡°At least think about it!¡± Kelly called after me in a sing-song tone of voice. ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting to hear your

    decision!¡±

    I sighed as I stepped back into the banquet hall, letting the music and the noise of the guests wash

    over me. Why couldn¡¯t I just enjoy the banquet? Why did it seem as though these sorts of things always

    had some sort of political connotations behind them?

    As I headed over to the bar, I tried to push my conversation with Kelly into the back of my mind. She

    was already a little drunk, and was clearly just being vindictive because she still couldn¡¯t seem to get

    over the fact that I was never going to be interested in her romantically.

    ¡°Gin and tonic, please,¡± I told the bartender. I turned around and looked across the room at the party

    guests as I waited for my drink, and as I did, I saw a familiar head making its way toward me through

    the crowd.

    My father. Great.

    ¡°Hello, dad,¡± I said as he approached. I stuck my hand out, but he didn¡¯t shake it and instead brushed

    past me to order his drink. So it was going to be one of those nights; my mother really wasn¡¯t lying

    when she said he was in a mood. With a stifled sigh, I turned back around and took my drink from the

    bartender. I was sipping it and minding my own business when my father suddenly pped a folded

    piece of paper down in front of me.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked, furrowing my brow as I picked it up and opened it. My eyes widened as I saw

    that it was a chart depicting our stock prices. They seemed to have gone down a little over the past

    week; it was corrted perfectly with the day that the tabloid incident urred.

    ¡°Your little mistake is already taking an effect on our business,¡± my father said. He tilted his head back

    and drank his small ss of whiskey in one go, then mmed the cup back down on the bar with an

    amount of force that even made the poor bartender jump. ¡°You need to do what¡¯s best for ourpany.

    This has gone on for long enough.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s best?¡± I asked, folding the paper back up and sliding it over to him. ¡°What are you talking

    about? What has gone on for long enough?¡±

    My father let out an exasperated sound that was mere centimeters away from a growl. The bartender

    refilled his ss, and he snatched it away and drank that in one go as well. ¡°I may be old, but I¡¯m not a

    fool, boy,¡± my father said. ¡°I was patient enough with your first child. She may be illegitimate, but at

    least she¡¯s a purebred werewolf. But this¡­¡± He turned, gesturing toward Moana as she walked across

    the ballroom holding E¡¯s hand. I watched as E excitedly took off toward my mother, who was

    grinning from ear to ear and showering her with kisses. My father never even once smiled at E. My

    eyes wandered over to Moana then, who looked absolutely stunning in her dress; far better than Kelly

    looked, and Moana hardly even had to try to look that beautiful. She was a natural beauty, whereas

    Kelly was too thin and the effects of too much alcohol, too many cigarettes, and not eating enough

    were already starting to show on her face. I always suspected that she dabbled in other drugs, too, but

    I could never be sure.

    ¡°Dad, do we need to have this conversation right now?¡± I asked, taking my ss and taking a step

    away from the bar. ¡°It¡¯s the family banquet. Why can¡¯t you just have a nice time?¡±

    My father scoffed. ¡°How can I seriously have a nice time when you¡¯re running around impregnating

    human nannies?¡±

    A lump rose in my throat at my father¡¯s words. For the second time that night, I was reminded that

    Moana was just that: a human nanny. A servant from a lower ss. I often forgot that she wasn¡¯t a

    werewolf socialite because of her beauty and her grace, which made it hurt even more when I was

    reminded of her true social standing. Of course I couldn¡¯t admit it to anyone, and not even really to

    myself, but I secretly wished that she was a werewolf socialite. If she was, I might have reconsidered

    our rtionship by now if it weren¡¯t for my overwhelming disdain for love and marriage.

    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. My father turned then to gesture toward Kelly, who had just walked in through

    the side door and was now sauntering across the banquet hall. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just marry Kelly

    already?¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s a werewolf from a well-to-do family, and she¡¯s an Alpha. You could say that

    E is the daughter that you had with her and no one will bat an eye.¡±

    I could think of one person who would certainly bat an eye, though: E¡¯s mother, Olivia. It was already

    difficult enough as it was to keep E in the dark on the true nature of her mother and to keep her

    believing that her mother was dead. If I told the public that E was Kelly¡¯s daughter, Olivia would find

    out and would do everything in her power to meddle in one way or another. Not only that, but E

    would resent me forever if she found out. I had always nned on maybe speaking to E about it one

    day when she was grown up and could emotionally understand my reasons behind doing it, but if she

    found out now at such a young age, I wasn¡¯t sure if she would ever get over it.

    Suddenly, I came to the realization that my father must have been the one to put Kelly up to talking to

    me. They were certainly in cahoots together, and it made my blood boil.

    ¡°You put her up to it, didn¡¯t you?¡± I asked, spinning around to face him as I gripped my ss with so

    much force that I was certain it would break. ¡°You told Kelly to try to convince me to have a fake

    rtionship with her.¡±

    My father only shrugged and took his third drink off of the bar, this time holding it nonchntly as he

    began to make his way toward the dance floor.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to grow up, Edrick,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s time to do what¡¯s best for thepany.¡±

    I stared after him as he disappeared into the crowd without another word. I still hadn¡¯t even finished my

    drink, and by now I didn¡¯t even want it; I just needed to get out and get some fresh air. Leaving my drink

    on the bar, I turned and stormed off toward the garden.

    I needed to take a walk and get away from all of this.

 Chapter 99

    Chapter 99

    #Chapter 99: For Good

    Moana

    I was still staring into the fountain, utterly taken aback by Ethan¡¯s sudden decision to kiss me when I

    just needed a friend to confide in, when I suddenly heard the sound of heels clicking across stone.

    My heart dropped when I looked up and saw who was headed straight for me: Kelly.

    She had a devious smirk on her face that told me everything I needed to know. She was up to

    something. I would have tried to get up and walk away, but she clearly saw me already and it was too

    late.

    ¡°Hey, Kelly,¡± I said, forcing a faint smile. ¡°How are you?¡± I tried to be polite and ignore the fact that she

    was clearly wearing the exact same dress as I was, even though it made me ufortable to see her

    like that. I kept telling myself that maybe it was just a coincidence, as the store that Edrick took me to

    did seem expensive and popr, but I knew Kelly just enough to sense that it waspletely

    intentional on her part. She clearly even had the dress altered to sit more tightly on her abdomen, as

    though she was trying to unt the fact that her belly was t and slim while mine was growing.

    Kelly stopped in front of me with that same smirk on her face. She had her phone in her hand and was

    gripping it so tightly that her knuckles were right. Now that she was up close, I could tell that there was

    something else behind her smirk: pure evil and hatred. Her eyes were cold and calcting.

    ¡°You know,¡± she said, putting her hands on her hips, ¡°I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. I mean,

    it¡¯s obvious that you¡¯re only trying to scam poor Edrick into giving you money and social status, and

    he¡¯s falling for it for some stupid reason, but I thought ¡®Hey¡­ Maybe she is just a nanny looking for

    work¡¯. Turns out I was wrong, and everyone can see it. Edrick will see it, too, after tonight.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ What?¡± I asked, blinking incredulously. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    Kelly scoffed. She still stood in front of me, effectively blocking anyone from seeing me. I couldn¡¯t help

    but wonder if it was intentional, as though she didn¡¯t want anyone to see what she was about to do to

    me. ¡°You¡¯re such a slut, seducing two brothers like that in one night.¡±

    My eyes widened. Did she see my kiss with Ethan? Anyone on the outside could have been able to tell

    that that kiss was spontaneous and not consensual. ¡°Kelly, that¡¯s not what¡ª¡±

    ¡°Oh, save your excuses,¡± she said, tapping on her phone now to unlock it. ¡°I saw you. And I have

    proof.¡±

    ¡°Proof?¡±

    ¡°Here.¡± She tapped some more on her screen and then turned it around so I could see. My eyes

    widened as she did; on the screen, there was a clear picture of Ethan kissing me on the fountain. It was

    right before I came to my senses and pushed him away, which made it appear as though I liked it. As

    though I wanted him to kiss me, even though I didn¡¯t really want him to at all.

    ¡°Ethan kissed me without my permission, and I rejected him,¡± I snarled, standing. ¡°You¡¯re twisting the

    narrative.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m twisting the narrative?¡± Kelly responded with a wry chuckle. ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s been waltzing

    around with Edrick, weaseling your way into his life and his family¡¯s life. Everyone knows what you¡¯ve

    been up to and it¡¯s pathetic. Why can¡¯t you just take Michael¡¯s money and leave all of us alone?¡±

    A pit formed in my stomach. Kelly knew about Michael¡¯s ultimatum? Were they in on it together, or

    something? All along, Kelly had been following Edrick around like a lost puppy, and his father had

    apparently been pushing it for years. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they nned on working together

    tonight to push Edrick and I apart and make me go away. Was that why Kelly wanted to speak to Edrick

    privately at the beginning of the banquet?

    ¡°I think you¡¯re just jealous,¡± I blurted out.

    Kelly¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Jealous?¡± she asked,ughing abrasively. ¡°Me? Jealous of you? That¡¯s

    ridiculous! I would never be jealous of a worthless human nanny who had to go and get herself

    knocked up by a wealthy werewolf CEO in a pathetic attempt to climb the social ranks.¡±

    Now, I was the one whoughed. I felt Mina bubbling up again inside of me, urging me to stand up for

    myself, and I did just that. Mina¡¯s presence instilled me with newfound confidence, and suddenly I didn¡¯t

    care what anyone would think if they overheard me. To me, Kelly was nothing but a sullen teenager.

    ¡°You are jealous,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re jealous that Edrick will never want you. You think that he¡¯ll choose a

    human nanny over you, and you can¡¯t stand that. You¡¯re like a child.¡±

    Kelly¡¯s eyes widened so far that I could see the whites all around her pupils. Her face went beet red,

    and even the veins on her neck began to pop out.

    ¡°You little b***h,¡± she snarled. Then, in one swift movement, she raised her hand, pulled it back, and

    pped me across the face as hard as she could. There was a sh of light just from the force of being

    struck by a werewolf; it made my head reel, and I fell back onto the edge of the fountain, clutching my

    face.

    ¡°I¡¯m showing Edrick this photo tonight,¡± Kelly said nonchntly as she stuck her phone back in her

    purse while I was still sitting on the edge of the fountain and clutching my face, staring dazedly down at

    the ground. ¡°Either take Michael¡¯s money and leave us all alone once and for all, or I¡¯ll make sure

    Edrick kicks you out himself.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t speak. The pain from the p was still throbbing through my face and my head, making my

    ears ring so much that I could hardly even hear Kelly¡¯s voice. Finally, seemingly satisfied with her

    destruction, she flicked her long, blonde hair over her shoulder with a hmph and stormed off. Thest

    thing I heard after the fading sound of her heels clicking away on the cobblestone ground was the

    sound of the door opening and closing, temporarily letting the music and voices carry across the small

    garden air before disappearing again.

    Once I was alone, a sob escaped my throat. I lowered my shaking hand from my stinging face, my

    entire body shaking with pain and rage. No matter whether I took Michael¡¯s bribe and left or didn¡¯t take

    it, I was still stuck between a rock and a hard ce. Would Edrick really kick me out over a kiss that I

    didn¡¯t even want? Would my child always wonder why his or her father didn¡¯t want to be in our lives?

    Would E always wonder why I left her?

    Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    The tears started to flow now, and I knew that I would be seen easily here and people would begin to

    start asking questions. So, gathering what little dignity I had left, I stood and began to make my way

    further away from the banquet hall where I could be truly alone with my pain.

 Chapter 100

    Chapter 100

    #Chapter 100: Two¡¯s Company

    Moana

    With my face still burning from Kelly¡¯s p, I needed to get away from the banquet before anyone saw

    me and started gossiping even more. If anyone saw me crying, I knew that Kelly would be satisfied as

    well, and I didn¡¯t want that.

    As I gathered what little dignity I had left and started making my way through the gardens, the sound of

    the music and the partygoers talking andughing slowly began to fade, reced by the sound of the

    crickets chirping and the sound of the fountains. I eventually found a quiet garden not too far away with

    a fountain in the center and rows of peach trees circling the perimeter, their sweet fragrance filling the

    air.

    I leaned against one of these trees and bowed my head, finally letting the tears flow now that I knew I

    waspletely alone.

    All my life, I only ever wanted to create a beautiful family of my own. After spending my childhood in an

    orphanage, I always wanted to bring a child into the world with two loving parents who would never

    leave. The thought of having a big, happy family always made me smile, but now it only made me cry

    more as I realized that even my own child might never have that now.

    Even if Edrick did ept this child, he would never ept me and his family would never ept either

    of us. How could I bring a child into a mess like this? How could I bring a child into a world in which his

    or her own grandfather hated them with a burning passion?

    As I thought about the possibility of packing up and leaving, even with Michael¡¯s money, it made me

    sob even more. It wasn¡¯t even just about Edrick or the baby, either; E had be almost like my

    own child in my eyes, and I couldn¡¯t bear the thought of her confused, sad little face wondering why I

    was leaving. But no matter what, one way or another, someone would sow the seeds of hatred in her

    mind at some point. Whether it was disdain for the new baby, thinking that it would rece her, or

    whether it was disdain for me and ruining her family structure, I couldn¡¯t imagine a scenario in which

    someone wouldn¡¯t eventually give her the wrong ideas and create bitterness in her heart.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    I didn¡¯t hear himing as I cried. I jerked my head up and whirled around to see Edrick standing

    behind me with his hands in his pockets and a concerned look spread across his face.

    ¡°Um¡­ Yes,¡± I said, straightening myself and wiping the tears from my eyes with my handkerchief. ¡°Just

    hormones. I got a little overwhelmed with all of the noise and the people.¡±

    Edrick didn¡¯t seem to believe me, but he didn¡¯t pry. Neither of us spoke for a few moments; as he

    nced over his shoulder at the mansion, the sounds of the party carrying over to us across the

    summer breeze, a small sigh escaped his lips. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if something had happened to

    him, too. Maybe Kelly and his father pestered him in a simr way.

    ¡°It¡¯s a nice party,¡± I said, just wanting to change the subject.

    Edrick shrugged. ¡°Normally, yes. This year¡­¡± His voice faltered, and he swallowed hard. ¡°Want to

    walk?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Yes. Walking would be nice.¡±

    We started to walk together, neither of us speaking. I held my purse in my hands while Edrick kept his

    own hands in his pockets, but there was no denying the closeness behind us as we walked. Neither of

    us spoke, but I enjoyed the silence. It was nice, after my interactions with both Ethan and Kelly, to just

    walk quietly with someone who seemed to have a simr understanding of what I was going through.Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    I forgot sometimes that this pregnancy was affecting Edrick in a simr way. Sometimes, I supposed

    that I got so caught up in my own feelings about it that I forgot what it meant for him ¡ª to have a child

    with a woman he only just met, and to have feelings for that woman when it was socially uneptable

    for him to act on them. It must have taken a great toll on him.

    We passed through a stone colonnade that led to another, bigger garden. Up ahead, there was arge

    fountain surrounded by white stone and red rose bushes. There was a small, ornate stone bench at the

    front of the fountain, and it called to me; after everything that happened, especially with the heat of the

    summer evening, my feet were beginning to ache and swell in my heels. I tried to pick shoes with low

    heels, but the pregnancy was making even those feel ufortable.

    ¡°Is it okay if we sit?¡± I asked, gesturing to the bench and looking over at Edrick. My face quickly went

    red as I did, seeing how handsome he looked in the dim light with the breeze ruffling his hair. I quickly

    looked away, swallowing. ¡°My feet hurt a bit.¡±

    Edrick nodded. We approached the bench and he gestured for me to sit, but he continued to stand,

    thoughtfully inspecting the roses on one of the bushes. I watched in silence as he touched the petals

    with his fingers, as though he was counting each one.

    ¡°It must have been nice, growing up here with all of these gardens,¡± I said, looking around. ¡°It¡¯s so

    lush.¡±

    ¡°It was one of the better parts of living here,¡± he said quietly. ¡°Plenty of ces to escape to when my

    father was in a mood. He rarely bothereding out this far, so sometimes when his moods were

    especially sour, I would even sleep out here under the stars.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but feel bad, imagining little Edrick sleeping outside when his father was being cruel or

    moody. But when I looked up at him, I saw that there was a bit of a smile twitching at the corners of his

    lips. He didn¡¯t seem too upset by it; if anything, he seemed to be remembering those days fondly. I

    realized now that maybe those days were preferable to these ones, before he grew up and became a

    CEO.

    It also reminded me of what Tyrus had told me earlier that day, and I couldn¡¯t contain my curiosity.

    ¡°Tyrus told me that you went to college together,¡± I said.

    ¡°Mhm.¡±

    ¡°What was college like for you? What did you go for?¡±

    Edrick shrugged, walking now over to the next rose bush. ¡°Business. Nothing exciting.¡±

    I paused, biting my lip. College was supposed to be an exciting time ¡ª a time for exploring the things

    that make you happy and choosing a career path that brings you joy. Edrick, however, didn¡¯t seem too

    fond of that time at all. ¡°What else would you have studied?¡± I asked. ¡°When you were little, I¡¯m sure

    you didn¡¯t say you wanted to grow up to be a businessman.¡±

    The Alpha billionaire, much to my surprise, let out a chuckle. ¡°No, I suppose not,¡± he said, his eyes

    lifting finally from the roses to look up at the moon. ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing, though.¡±

    ¡°Everyone has embarrassing dreams when they¡¯re kids,¡± I insisted. ¡°You can tell me.¡±

    Edrick was silent for a few moments. Then, with a sigh, he finally answered. His voice sounded almost

    choked. ¡°I wanted to be a teacher,¡± he finally admitted. ¡°A¡­ music teacher.¡±

    My heart skipped at this thought, but at the same time, I felt confused; I had never seen Edrick y any

    sort of instrument or even mention an interest in music.

    ¡°Do you y any instruments?¡± I asked.

    He nodded. ¡°Piano, mostly.¡±

    That was strange; there was a piano in the penthouse, which E only used for her lessons. Other than

    E, I may have heard Amy or Lily plunk on it once in a while, but Edrick never even looked at it. I

    opened my mouth to ask why, but suddenly, before I could say anything, the Alpha billionaire did

    something even more unexpected.

    He kicked off his shoes, peeled off his socks, and rolled up his pants.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked, stifling a chuckle as he climbed up on the bench.

    ¡°You said your feet hurt,¡± he said, stepping over the back of the bench and straight into the fountain.

    ¡°Come on.¡±

    I stood, shooting Edrick a confused look. He seemed entirely sober; I hadn¡¯t seen a drink in his hand all

    night. And yet, here he was, standing barefoot in the fountain out behind his parents¡¯ mansion. And he

    was holding his hand out for me with an earnest look on his face.

    ¡°The water feels nice,¡± he said. ¡°I promise.¡±

 Chapter 101

    Chapter 101

    #Chapter 101: Fountain of Love

    Moana

    ¡°The water feels nice,¡± Edrick said as he stood barefoot in the fountain in front of me. ¡°I promise.¡±

    My eyes were wide with disbelief. What had changed in the Alpha billionaire¡¯s demeanor that night? He

    was suddenly acting more yful than I had ever expected, and the way he held his hand out for me

    with an almost childlike expression on his face made me smile.

    I hesitated, but he only kept holding his hand out. Finally, I kicked my shoes off with a sigh and lifted my

    skirt. I took his hand and climbed up onto the bench, then stepped into the fountain with him. He was

    right; the water was nice and cool, and it felt soothing on my hot, swollen feet. Standing there, I couldn¡¯t

    help but let out another sigh of relief and shut my eyes for a moment, tilting my head back toward the

    sky as I felt all of my frustrations wash away with the water.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice, isn¡¯t it?¡± Edrick asked.

    I opened my eyes and met his gaze. His gray eyes were soft and gentle ¡ª something that I sorely

    needed after everything that had already happened that night. It was hardly even an hour into the

    banquet and I had already been osted by Edrick¡¯s cruel father, who told me that I needed to take his

    money and my baby and leave his family alone, and then I was equally assaulted by Kelly, who went so

    far as to even hit me because she was so jealous over my dynamic with Edrick. Needless to say, it was

    an incredibly stressful evening¡­ But the way that Edrick was looking at me now made all of that feel so

    insignificant.

    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± I replied, feeling my face go a bit red as I looked up at Edrick.

    We stood there like that in silence for a while, just looking at each other. He seemed to be studying my

    face, as though he was searching for something; although what exactly he was searching for was a

    mystery to me.

    I didn¡¯t realize it at first, but we were still holding hands. My heart began to race as I came to this

    realization, and I quickly pulled away, distracting myself by holding my skirt up with both hands and

    wading around in the cool water. I heard Edrick clear his throat behind me, and I nced up to see that

    he, too, seemed to be trying to distract himself.

    While Edrick was looking away, I took that moment to study him now, just as he had studied me. His

    sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and the first couple of buttons were undone around his cor,

    giving him a casual look. The way that his soft white shirt billowed in the hot summer breeze along with

    the way that his dark hair became ruffled made him appear effortless and rxed, much unlike the

    stark Alpha CEO I hade to know over the past few months. There was no denying that he looked

    incredibly handsome like this, with his sharp jawline and sinewy, muscr arms. I had never seen him

    work out, but he must have done it quite a lot, because his biceps strained against his shirt when he

    moved.

    Beyond that, however, his eyes contained something new and gentle that I hadn¡¯t seen before. He

    seemed to be lost in thought; his brow was somewhat furrowed, but not in an angry or brooding way,

    and at one point he gently bit his lower lip, causing my heart to flutter for the briefest of moments. As I

    watched him, I suddenly felt Mina begin to react strongly to his handsome appearance inside of me,

    begging me to do something. She wanted him, and had been wanting him more than evertely, for

    reasons unbeknownst to me. Maybe it was the baby making her want to find a mate. But I knew that

    Edrick could never be my mate; not with the stark differences in our social status. To him, I was still just

    a human. Even if he did find out that I wasn¡¯t human, it wouldn¡¯t change the fact that I was from an

    incredibly low social ss, and he was from the highest social ss possible. If he was going to be with

    anyone, perhaps it should be Kelly; she was, after all, a wealthy socialite. I was an orphan who was

    nearly homeless before Edrick hired me.

    I must have been staring at Edrick for too long, and he noticed, because he suddenly looked up and

    met my gaze again. My face went even redder, but I couldn¡¯t tear my eyes away.

    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    I especially couldn¡¯t tear my eyes away when I suddenly saw a mischievous smirk spread across the

    billionaire¡¯s face.

    Suddenly, without a word, he reached down into the water and he¡­

    Sshed me.

    I felt my jaw drop. ¡°Edrick!¡± I eximed,ughing. ¡°You got me all wet!¡± Without thinking, I reached

    down and scooped my hand into the water, sshing him back with even more vigor in retaliation for

    what he just did to me.

    Much to my neverending surprise, Edrick only sshed me again, this time harder.

    We kept going back and forth like this, ourughter growing and floating through the air as we sshed

    each other more and more. During those moments, I saw Edrick smile ¡ª truly smile. There was a

    youthful look to him, as though he was no longer the stressed Alpha CEO I hade to know, but was

    rather the same young boy who slept out here in this very garden when he was a child. And, during

    those moments, I felt an overwhelming sense of emotion wash over me. An emotion that I couldn¡¯t

    quite ce my finger on just yet.

    By this point, we were almost entirely soaked and both of us were too caught up in the fun of the

    moment to care. I reached down to ssh him again, but then I suddenly felt my foot slip.

    In an instant, I was falling forward, unable to catch stable footing in the slippery fountain. All of my mirth

    suddenly melted away, reced by fear of harming my baby, and my eyes widened as I fell forward.

    But a pair of strong arms caught me, wrapping around me.

    He slipped, too, and together we went tumbling down into the shallow water.

    The air was quiet now, reced by the shocked silence of our mutual fall and the soft sounds of our

    heavy breathing. I pushed myself up, realizing now that I had fallen on top of Edrick ¡ª but his hands

    were still on my waist, holding me, keeping me from pulling away.

    Something came over me then. I felt Mina begging me to get closer to him, so I did.

    I kissed him.

    For an eternal few moments, weid together in the shallow fountain, our wet lips pressed together with

    a strange sense of gentle urgency. His lips were soft and tasted like heaven, and I felt his hands slide

    up along my waist, over my arms and up to my face, cupping my cheeks in his palms. During those

    moments, I was certain that I could stay like this forever.

    But I couldn¡¯t.

    When we pulled away, both of our faces were beet red. Within a split second, I could see the regret

    filling Edrick¡¯s eyes; I felt a sense of regret, too, for what I had done. Not only had I ruined my dress,

    but I had also made the mistake of kissing a man whose rtionship with me was nothing but a ticking

    time bomb.

    ¡°S-Sorry,¡± I said, pushing myself away from him and onto my knees.

    Edrick only nodded and stood. Without a word, he held his hand out for me and helped me stand.

    Neither of us spoke as we stepped out of the fountain, but as it turned out, we didn¡¯t need to.

    Because Verona was standing in the archway, watching us with an open mouth and wide eyes.

 Chapter 102

    Chapter 102: Something Borrowed

    Moana

    As soon as Edrick and I stepped out of the fountain with our clothes dripping wet, we came face-to-face with Verona. Her eyes were wide open and her mouth hung agape, making me wonder just how much she saw of that entire interaction. She hadn¡¯t been there the whole time, had she? Even just thinking about her seeing our kiss made my heart race.

    All at once, Edrick and I both began to stutter out an exnation for ourselves ¡ª but Verona only held up her hand and shook her head.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need any exnations,¡± she said with a slight chuckle. ¡°Come with me. Let¡¯s get you both some dry clothes.¡±

    Edrick and I shot each other a nce before following Verona, who almost seemed to be hiding a bit of a smirk as she led us across the garden and into a colonnade. We entered the mansion through a wooden door on the side of the colonnade and came out into a dimly lit, empty hallway.

    As we followed Verona through the hallways, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about my kiss with Edrick. It was a mistake, and I wasn¡¯t denying that... but it was a sweet mistake that lingered on my lips. I could still taste the softness of Edrick¡¯s lips. I could still feel his hands sliding up my waist anding up to cup my cheeks. Meanwhile, inside of me, Mina became suddenly depressed and all but went to sleep as she came to the realization that I wasn¡¯t going to let things get any further tonight... or ever, probably. I couldn¡¯t help but think to myself if I should just take Michael¡¯s money and leave, for everyone¡¯s sake. It would only cause me more heartbreak to keep having encounters like this with Edrick, only for them to go nowhere, and it would hurt the baby to have such a strange dynamic between its parents. Not only that, but Edrick was probably already receiving a lot of heat from his father over our rtionship.

    Finally, Verona led us up a small stairway meant for servants and out into the hallway where our bedrooms had been thest time we were here. Edrick silently slipped into his room to change, but Verona stayed with me and led me into the guest room.

    ¡°Take that wet dress off,¡± she said, pointing to the bathroom once the door clicked shut behind us. I headed over to the bathroom with my proverbial tail tucked between my legs and did as she requested, peeling the damp fabric off of my skin, and dried myself with a towel. There was a hair dryer on the sink, so I quickly dried off my damp hair. Thankfully, my makeup was still perfectly intact despite my crying and the fountain ident that night, thanks to Tyrus¡¯ expert application. At least one thing had turned out well that night.

    When I managed to fix my hair and finally re-emerged from the bathroom, Verona was rifling through the wardrobe.

    ¡°It really was an ident,¡± I said, watching in my towel as she looked for something for me to wear. ¡°I wanted to cool my feet off, but I slipped in the fountain.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for any excuses, dear,¡± Verona said. She withdrew a long, ck dress from the wardrobe and held it up to inspect it. ¡°Hmm... This should work. It¡¯s not too tight, so it won¡¯t reveal your belly.¡±

    Not that it¡¯s necessary at this point, I thought to myself. Everyone already knows anyway, apparently.

    Instead of saying that, however, I simply smiled and took the dress. I slipped it on over my head and Verona helped me get it adjusted; it actually fit quite well, and wasfortable.

    ¡°This was one of my dresses when I was about your age,¡± Verona said as she zipped the back up. ¡°If you like it, you can keep it. I never wear it anymore.¡±

    It really was a pretty dress. It had a vintage feel to it, with a faintly embossed floral design on the fabric and a fitted bodice. ¡°T-Thank you,¡± I replied, watching in the mirror as Verona worked. ¡°That¡¯s very generous of you.¡±

    Verona finished zipping up the dress and smiled, looking at me in the mirror. She held my arms and gave them a light squeeze.

    ¡°You know,¡± she said, ¡°you¡¯re such a beautiful girl. I can see why my son cares about you so much.¡±

    My face went red. I didn¡¯t know what to say, and even if I did have an idea, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to get it out. To think that even Edrick¡¯s mother had the impression that Edrick cared for me was both endearing and heart-wrenching, because on one hand I craved his affection and would never forget about that kiss in the fountain, but on the other hand I knew we could never be together. I could only smile weakly back at Verona in the mirror.

    ¡°Well then,¡± she said, patting my arms and stepping away. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the party.¡±Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.

    I nodded, although I was certain that people would stare at my change of clothes and would start to gossip, and I would have much rather hidden in this very room because of that. However, I knew that E was probably wondering where I was; I was here for her, after all.

    When Verona and I emerged from the guest room, Edrick was already waiting for us in the hallway. He was wearing almost the exact same clothes, which made me think that no one would even notice that he had changed.

    And, as all three of us returned to the banquet hall, it seemed that I was right. No one looked at Edrick, but a few people were already beginning to stare at me as I walked back to the table with Verona. I could practically hear their whispers in my head as I began to imagine the things that they were saying about me or the words that they were calling me. It made me feel almost sick, and I almost touched my belly out of anxiety, but I caught myself and managed not to draw even more attention.

    ¡°Moana! Grandma!¡± E said a bit too loudly for my liking as we approached the table. ¡°Where did you go? And, Moana... What happened to your dress?¡±

    I tried my best to smile nonchntly as I sat down next to E, thoroughly exhausted already from the events of the evening. ¡°I just had a wardrobe malfunction,¡± I said, taking a napkin and wiping a bit of whipped cream off of the little girl¡¯s cheek and choosing to ignore the fact that she was eating yet another dessert. ¡°That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± E seemed a bit confused, but didn¡¯t ask any more questions and returned to eating her dessert. Meanwhile, Edrick was already over at the bar.

    When I looked up, I saw that he wasn¡¯t alone, either. Kelly was with him.

    And she was staring right at me with an angry scowl on her face. But that wasn¡¯t what scared me the most...

    What scared me even more was that she was handing her phone to Edrick, and his eyes went wide as he looked at the screen.

 Chapter 103

    Chapter 103: Pure Intentions

    Edrick

    I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that Moana¡¯s kiss was exactly what I wanted in that moment. The feeling of her waist beneath my hands, her soft lips on mine, her body pressed up against me... It all sent a shiver down my spine and left me craving more.

    But it was a mistake.

    As I got changed into dry, clean clothes and dried my wet hair, I knew I would have to push that memory of the kiss out of my mind. I simply couldn¡¯t be with Moana, and it seemed that our undeniable attraction to each other was only making that even more difficult.

    I didn¡¯t want to have to send her away, but I was beginning to wonder if I even had a choice. Between my father and Kelly, along with this, I was feeling as though I was stuck between a rock and a hard ce. I couldn¡¯t be with Moana because of our ring differences, but at the same time, I couldn¡¯t have her around because of our lust for each other. Maybe it really was time for me to start considering the possibility that I would have to buy her a penthouse and keep a distance between us. Maybe I wouldn¡¯t have to be as distant as I was with E¡¯s mother, because I knew that Moana had a good heart and never meant any ill will, but I couldn¡¯t have her living under the same roof as me and going to family functions together. It was too close.

    But for right now, I just needed a drink.

    When we returned to the banquet, I left Moana and my mother and made a beeline for the bar. I knew that people were staring at Moana¡¯s change of clothes, but it could be easily brushed off as a simple wardrobe malfunction. Thankfully, my clothes looked more or less the same, so no one seemed to notice.

    As I stood at the bar, still pushing the thought of our kiss as far out of my mind as I could while I swirled my drink around in its ss, I suddenly felt someone tap my shoulder. When I looked over, Kelly was leaning on the bar next to me, leaning back with her elbows on the bar and looking out at the party. I felt a pit grow in my stomach. Couldn¡¯t anyone just leave me alone?

    Kelly nodded her head toward Moana, who was sitting at a table with E.

    ¡°She changed her dress?¡± she asked. ¡°Was it too tight or something? It seemed like she was a little too big for it.¡±

    ¡°What do you want, Kelly?¡± I snapped, gritting my teeth. Did she have to be so condescending toward Moana¡¯s body? I easily could have pointed out her own ws, but I chose not to.

    Kelly turned and gave me an astonished look. ¡°That¡¯s not a very nice way to talk to your friend,¡± she replied, pushing her lower lip out into a pout like a child. She then dug into her purse and retrieved her phone. ¡°Besides... I have something to show you.¡±

    Before I could respond, Kelly tapped furiously on her phone screen and then turned it so I could see.

    My eyes widened as I saw what was on the screen. It was a picture of Moana and Ethan. They were kissing.

    ¡°When did you take this?¡± I asked, pointing at the photo with one hand while my other hand gripped my ss so hard my knuckles turned white.

    Kelly shrugged and slipped her phone back into her purse. ¡°I don¡¯t know... Thirty minutes ago, maybe? It wasn¡¯t long ago.¡±

    I felt an undeniable feeling of fury beginning to bubble up inside of me. Had Moana really kissed both Ethan and me in one night, hardly even half an hour apart? To think that I trusted that her intentions were pure, that our kiss meant something and that she wasn¡¯t just trying to weasel her way into a family of higher social status... I gripped my ss even harder and swallowed the lump in my throat, turning to look over at Moana.

    She was looking directly at me with wide eyes. She knew, somehow, that I knew about her kiss with my illegitimate half brother.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s safe to say that the nanny is only here for one thing,¡± Kelly said, inspecting her nails as she spoke. ¡°It¡¯s a shame. I know you liked her.¡± She stopped then and turned to face me, batting her eyshes. She then reached out to squeeze my armfortingly ¡ª but I brushed her off, my eyes still locked on Moana, and walked away from the bar.

    Moana¡¯s eyes widened even more as she saw me approaching and she stood from her chair before I even said a word, which only solidified my suspicions that she knew what I had just seen.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.

    ¡°Moana,¡± I said as pleasantly as I could so as not to frighten E, ¡°I¡¯d like to speak with you in private. Now.¡±

    She didn¡¯t answer; only nodded and followed me. I stormed over to the side door that led to one of the private corridors with Moana on my heels, and once we were alone, I spun around to face her in the dim light.

    ¡°Did you kiss him tonight?¡± I asked. My hand was shaking as I held my ss still.

    ¡°Edrick, I¡ª¡±

    ¡°I only need a yes or a no,¡± I interrupted, gritting my teeth. ¡°Did you or did you not kiss my fucking brother tonight?¡±

    Moana was silent. Even in the dim light, I could see her eyes begin to well up with tears and she stared down at the floor. That was all the confirmation I needed. As I came to the realization that I did in fact see what I thought I saw in that picture, a feeling of dread came over me. Somehow, even though our kiss was a mistake, I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that I was hurt by her actions.

    ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± I growled. ¡°I want you gone by¡ª¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t consensual,¡± she said suddenly, lifting her gaze to meet mine. Her eyes were red with tears and her lower lip quivered. ¡°I was sad, and I thought he wasforting me as a friend, but... He kissed me. I didn¡¯t want it. I swear.¡±

    I froze. Part of me didn¡¯t want to believe her, but an even bigger part of me knew that she was telling the truth. The tears in her eyes were too genuine, too full of pain. My own wolf even sensed, somehow, that Moana wasn¡¯t lying.

    But then, my pain became overtaken with rage. I knew that Ethan was never up to any good, and once again he had swindled someone into believing his lies. Now, he had hurt someone that I... cared about.

    And I wouldn¡¯t let him get away with it.

    Without thinking, the ss slipped out of my hand and shattered on the floor, causing Moana to gasp in surprise. But I didn¡¯t care; without another word, I turned on my heel and stormed off in the direction of the one ce that I knew that little rat would be: his studio.

    ¡°Edrick!¡± Moana called, chasing after me. ¡°Where are you going?!¡±

 Chapter 104

    Chapter 104: Intervention

    Moana

    Edrick took me utterly by surprise as he suddenly dropped the ss containing his drink, letting it shatter all over the floor, and took off in the direction of Ethan¡¯s studio. I knew now that Kelly had indeed shown him the picture of Ethan and me kissing, but I didn¡¯t expect him to react like this. He believed me so willingly when I admitted that Ethan kissed me without my consent, which was not something that I ever would have expected from the Alpha billionaire. Now, he was storming off... And I didn¡¯t know what he was going to do to his brother when he saw him.

    ¡°Edrick!¡± I called, lifting my skirt and running after him down the dark hallway. ¡°Where are you going?!¡±

    Edrick didn¡¯t answer. He only kept storming away, his fists clenched at his sides as the clicking of his shoes echoed loudly on the marble floors. He didn¡¯t stop me from following him, though, and I was determined to make sure he didn¡¯t do anything rash.

    ¡°Edrick, it was only a misunderstanding with Ethan,¡± I insisted, grabbing his sleeve. ¡°Please don¡¯t do anything without thinking about it first.¡±

    The Alpha billionaire suddenly stopped and whirled around to face me. His gray eyes were glowing silver then, but the anger wasn¡¯t directed at me; I knew that much now. For some reason, the Alpha billionaire was jealous.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think you can get in the way of this,¡± he said, his voice so low it was almost a growl. ¡°I told you that he¡¯s not to be trusted. I won¡¯t let him get away with touching a woman without her permission... Especially not you.¡±Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    My eyes widened. I opened my mouth to speak, but before anything coulde out, Edrick took off again and left me standing in the middle of the hallway.

    Meanwhile, inside of me, Mina began to get excited at the prospect of two men fighting over me.

    ¡°Follow him,¡± she insisted happily, as though she wanted to see what woulde of this. ¡°I want to see him protect you.¡±

    I was a bit confused by my wolf¡¯s sudden and intense interest in the situation. When I first started feeling her presence, I thought that she was a voice of reason, but over time I slowly began to realize that she represented all of the primal urges that I had been pushing down my entire life... And shockingly, I was just as intrigued as she was.

    ¡°I should stay out of it,¡± I replied, staring down the hallway at Edrick. ¡°This is between two brothers.¡±

    But Mina wouldn¡¯t hear it. ¡°It¡¯s not just between them,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s about you. Edrick is doing this because he cares about you.¡±

    Maybe Mina was right. I bit my lip as I watched after Edrick for a moment, watching his back as he stormed off down the hallway and disappeared around a corner, before I cursed under my breath and ran after him once more.

    Eventually, I caught up to him just as he was climbing the stairs to Edrick¡¯s studio. He didn¡¯t stop or look back at me, clearly focused entirely on confronting his brother. Admittedly, something about his jealousy turned me on in a strange, primal way. I almost felt a little guilty for feeling that way, and tried my best to push that feeling down ¡ª but there was no denying it. It didn¡¯t mean that I wanted Ethan to be hurt, though. Ethan was still someone who I considered to be a friend, and I wanted to be there to make sure that nothing got out of hand.

    The door to Ethan¡¯s study was open. I saw Edrick disappear inside as I made it to the top of the stairs.

    There were some muffled voices. I quickened my pace, ignoring the pain in my feet from my shoes, and ran up to the door just as the voices began to rise.

    My eyes widened as I saw that Edrick had Ethan pinned up to the wall with a fistful of Ethan¡¯s shirt in his hand.

    Ethan¡¯s face was full of shock, but there was something else there. It was faint... But it almost appeared as though he was inwardly mocking Edrick, like this was all a joke to him. Or, it was almost as though he wanted Edrick toe after him like this, but I couldn¡¯t be entirely sure ¡ª and as soon as Ethan saw me, that look faded and returned to pure shock and difort.

    ¡°Moana, please exin to him¡ª¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare talk to her,¡± Edrick snarled, pushing Ethan harder up against the wall. ¡°Answer my question. What¡¯s your motive behind trying to seduce her, hm? What are you trying to get out of her?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to get anything out of anyone.¡± Ethan swallowed, then looked at me almost pleadingly... But I still couldn¡¯t get that strange look he had earlier out of my mind, and something told me that I didn¡¯t need to protect him in any way. Maybe I was just too shocked, or maybe it was just an urge to stay out of it to protect my baby. I couldn¡¯t be sure.

    ¡°That¡¯s a lie, and you know it,¡± Edrick replied. His eyes were glowing brilliant silver by now, and he was gritting his teeth. ¡°I know you¡¯re up to something. You¡¯re always up to something, you little weasel. How dare you force yourself on the mother of my child like that.¡±

    My eyes widened. Edrick didn¡¯t seem to react to what he just admitted right away; he was too lost in the moment to notice what he had said.

    But before Ethan or I could react, there was suddenly a booming, deep voice bellowing from behind me.

    ¡°The truth is out, isn¡¯t it?¡± Michael¡¯s voice said, echoing in therge room. I felt my heart drop and I spun around to face him, but he wasn¡¯t looking at me. He was only looking at Edrick, as though Ethan or I weren¡¯t even there.

    Just then, the sound of heels clicking on marble approached. A few momentster, Verona and Kelly appeared in the doorway. Kelly remained behind Michael while Verona came scurrying in, her face instantly turning red as she saw the scene in front of her with Ethan still pinned to the wall by Edrick.

    ¡°Boys!¡± she shouted, running over to them. ¡°Stop fighting! Now!!¡±

    Instantly, Edrick released Ethan¡¯s shirt. He kept his eyes fixed on Michael, but my eyes were now on Kelly, who only smirked at me from behind Michael¡¯s shoulder.

    Those two were working together... I was sure of that now. But was Ethan working with them, too, somehow? I didn¡¯t want to believe it, but I couldn¡¯t be certain anymore about this family. It felt as though Edrick and Verona were the only two I could vaguely trust at this point.

    ¡°Well then,¡± Michael said, striding into the room with confidence, ¡°perhaps it¡¯s time you think about what I said earlier.¡± He didn¡¯t borate, but I could imagine that whatever he said to Edrick was very simr to what he said to me.

    Michael wanted me gone. And it seemed, especially now that the truth was out, that he was nning on getting his way.

 Chapter 105

    Chapter 105: Truth is Out

    <h4></h4>

    Moana

    ¡°Well then,¡± Michael said, striding into the room with confidence and brushing past me as though I wasn¡¯t even there, ¡°perhaps it¡¯s time you think about what I said earlier.¡±

    The room fell silent. Verona held her ground between Ethan and Edrick, but it was clear that Edrick¡¯s fury was no longer directed toward his brother.

    As I stood there, looking at all of them and feeling Kelly¡¯s vindictive re boring into the side of my head, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Ethan, Kelly, and Michael were all working together somehow. Kelly and Michael I could see working together... But Ethan? He had done nothing thus far since I¡¯d met him to make me think that he was anything but a good friend, aside from his more recent attempts to be more than that. But was that alone really enough reason to think that he was in cahoots with Kelly and Michael to get me away from Edrick? I didn¡¯t want to believe it, but thinking about the way he looked before he saw me, the dark smirk on his face and the cunning look behind his eyes, made me wonder if I should have listened to Edrick all along when he said that his brother was up to no good.

    More importantly, however, Michael wanted me gone ¡ª and I was certain that he would get his way tonight.

    At least, I thought I was certain, but that certainty melted away when Edrick suddenly turned on his heel and strode over to me.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said, taking me by the arm and shooting onest angry re between Kelly, Ethan, and Michael. ¡°We¡¯re leaving.¡±

    ¡°Darling¡ª¡± Verona called out, but it was toote. Edrick was already whisking me away, and I went willingly. Hot tears were beginning to prick at the backs of my eyes, and as he ushered me down the hallway and back down the stairs that led to the banquet hall, I was grateful for his strength to walk away from his father. I couldn¡¯t let any of them see my tears; especially not Kelly and Michael.

    ¡°What did he say to you?¡± I asked once we were out of earshot. ¡°Earlier, he asked me to dance and he told me that¡ª¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll discuss it another time,¡± Edrick said. His voice was cold and low, much different from the way he spoke to me in the garden earlier. ¡°I just want to get my daughter home.¡±

    I decided not to pry any further. When we reached the banquet hall, Edrick located E and scooped her up right out of her seat without a word.

    ¡°We¡¯re leaving, Princess,¡± he said.

    E furrowed her brow as Edrick carried her away and gave me a confused look over his shoulder. ¡°But why, daddy?¡± she asked. ¡°I was having fun.¡±

    Edrick didn¡¯t answer. He seemed to be unable toe up with a response, so I stepped in.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, love, but I¡¯m not feeling well,¡± I lied. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not too upset with me.¡±

    Thankfully, the expression on the little girl¡¯s face shifted from confusion to concern. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s okay, then.¡± Part of me thought that she didn¡¯t entirely believe me, and I was almost certain that Edrick¡¯s unceremonious exit was frightening her a bit, but she didn¡¯t cause a fuss. When we reached the car, Edrick put E in her car seat, and within a few moments the driver was peeling away from the driveway.

    No one spoke the entire way home. Edrick stared sullenly out the window, his jaw set hard and his eyes fixed on the sky. I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about what Michael and Kelly must have said to him in private earlier that night; surely it was within the same vein of what they said to me.

    Would this be the end of my living situation with Edrick? Would I be tucked away neatly into my own, separate home to stay away from the Morgan family?

    After everything that had happened, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if maybe that would be for the best. Maybe this whole dynamic was really unhealthy; even if I did reveal that I was a werewolf, it didn¡¯t change the fact that I was from a much lower social ss than Edrick. I wasn¡¯t sure if that gap could ever be bridged, and even though it broke my heart to think about leaving Edrick and E behind, the logical part of me knew that it might be better for everyone if I just stayed away. Maybe Edrick could still be in the baby¡¯s life somehow, but we couldn¡¯t live together anymore.

    By the time we arrived back at the penthouse, Edrick sullenly stormed off to his room without a word. I jumped slightly as I heard the door m, but put on a brave face for E and took her to bed.

    ¡°Moana?¡± she asked as I helped her out of her party dress and into her pajamas.

    ¡°Yes, love?¡± I replied. My voice was shaking a bit still from the whole ordeal, but I tried to hide it for E¡¯s sake.

    E turned toward me then, and there were tears in her eyes. ¡°C-Can I sleep with you tonight? I¡¯m scared.¡±

    ¡°Oh, sweetheart...¡± I tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and sighed, pulling her into a hug. Admittedly, the thought of having E in my arms that night was a bit of afort. Maybe it was something that we both needed after what happened. ¡°You don¡¯t have anything to be afraid of. But... Yes, you can sleep with me tonight.¡±

    E sniffled and managed a weak smile when we pulled away. I took her hand and led her to my room, where I finished brushing out her hair and getting her ready for bed. Then, while sheid in bed with her stuffed duck, she watched as I brushed out my own hair, took off my makeup, and changed out of my dress. When I was finished, I climbed into bed with her and held her while I read her a bedtime story.

    Thankfully, she fell asleep before the story was even over. I couldn¡¯t help but smile down at her as I shut off the light andid down myself, but even then, I couldn¡¯t sleep.

    There was too much whirling around inside my head. I thought back to the tooth that Sophia gave me ¡ª the one tangible link to my werewolf lineage. I knew that Mina desperately wanted me to tell Edrick, but I didn¡¯t think that I was ready yet. Would it be wise after tonight to finally tell him and see his reaction? I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it would solve some of our problems, but it still wouldn¡¯t solve the ring issue of the gap in our social statuses. Michael and Kelly clearly hated me, and Ethan was possibly working with them as well; if they hated me that much, then my status as a werewolf wouldn¡¯t change their opinions of me. To them, I would still be nothing but a lowly servant. Not only that, but I would be a freak of nature for my wolf not emerging until my twenties. Because of this, Mina could possibly never emerge fully, and I would still always present as a human.

    But, even then, maybe it really was time to show Edrick the truth. Maybe it would make things easier on all of us for the full truth toe out.Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

 Chapter 106

    Chapter 106: A Genuine Apology

    <h4>Edrick</h4>

    I couldn¡¯t sleep at all that night after everything that happened. What was supposed to be a typical family banquet, an opportunity for us all to rx and enjoy a party, wound up turning into a night of hell.

    But at the same time, the taste of Moana¡¯s lips on mine stood out above everything else. If I did what my father wanted me to do and sent Moana away, I would never be able to taste those lips again... But no. I couldn¡¯t taste her lips again, anyway. It wasn¡¯t right; we couldn¡¯t be together. Maybe, if I couldn¡¯t stop having these thoughts, it would have been better to just follow my father¡¯s orders and be done with it.

    Besides, I had already made a vow to myself that I would never get married or put myself in that vulnerable position with another person. It would only cause Moana pain when she finally realized that I would never be with her like that. Would it cause less pain, though, to send her away? I couldn¡¯t be sure.

    The next morning, I finally dragged myself out of bed after my entirely sleepless night and made my way over to the dining room for some breakfast. When I arrived, Moana and E were already there. Moana looked just as tired as I was; did she sleep at all?

    ¡°Morning, Daddy,¡± E said, sounding a bit wistful as she poked at her scrambled eggs with her fork.

    ¡°Good morning, Princess,¡± I replied as I kissed her on top of her head. I stopped then to look at Moana, who was only staring down at her te. ¡°Good morning, Moana.¡±

    ¡°Morning.¡± Moana¡¯s voice sounded hoarse. She certainly hadn¡¯t slept very much at all, judging from that and the dark circles under her eyes.

    I stifled a sigh and sat down in my chair. The three of us ate rather quietly; even E, who was normally chatty at breakfast, hardly said a word. I would have to talk to herter. I must have scared her when I suddenly scooped her up at the banquet and whisked her away, and thest thing I ever wanted was to scare my little girl.

    As I ate, however, the memory of my kiss with Moana in the fountain kept floating through my mind, no matter how hard I tried to push it away. It was as if it was burned into my memory, as though the sensation of her lips on mine still lingered. I couldn¡¯t help myself from asionally ncing up at Moana; once or twice, I was certain I almost caught her looking at me as well, but she looked away too quickly for me to tell.

    When we finished, Moana quickly got up and cleared the table with Selina despite the housekeeper¡¯s insistence that Moana sit down and rest. I sighed and stood to go to my study, but as soon as I began walking away, I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket.

    I froze. Was it my father, calling to tell me to kick Moana out? Was it my mother, scolding me for fighting with Ethan?

    But it wasn¡¯t either of them.

    It was Kelly.

    I furrowed my brow as I stared down at my phone. It only continued to ring; for a moment, I debated ignoring it, but I knew Kelly well enough to know that she would have probably just kept calling until I did finally answer, so I figured it was just easier to answer now. So, with onest nce over my shoulder, I walked into my study and answered my phone.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I said, shutting the door quietly behind me.

    ¡°Edrick,¡± Kelly said, sounding oddly chipper, so much so that I could hear the smile in her voice, ¡°can I talk to you? It¡¯s aboutst night.¡±

    I frowned, furrowing my brow. Surely she was only feigning kindness to try to convince me to have a ¡°fake¡± rtionship with her again, but I decided to humor her.

    ¡°Uh, sure, I guess,¡± I replied. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Well... Listen. I know I was a jerkst night, and I just wanted to say that I am really, truly sorry for everything. It was uncalled for.¡±

    Now, I was taken aback. All my life, I had never once heard Kelly apologize for anything. And now she was saying she was sorry and admitting that she was being a jerk? What changed?

    Before I could answer, however, Kelly continued. ¡°I also want to say that, while I don¡¯t necessarily approve of having a baby with a human out of wedlock, you are still my closest childhood friend. And I want to be supportive. So... I¡¯d like to make it up to you.¡±

    ¡°Kelly, I¡ª I don¡¯t know what to say,¡± I said, stunned by this major improvement in her attitude. ¡°Um... Thank you for apologizing.¡±Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    Kelly paused before responding. ¡°So... When is Moana¡¯s next prenatal appointment?¡± she asked. ¡°I want to make it up to her, too. I was thinking that I could take her. I know that the hospital staff gave her troublest time, and you¡¯re always so busy. Plus, with the tabloid incident, it might be risky for you to go in public with her just yet. It¡¯ll be fun; it¡¯ll be like a girl¡¯s day out. I¡¯ll even take her out for lunch, if she¡¯s interested in going with me. Assuming either of you aren¡¯t too mad at me...¡±

    I sighed. Kelly was my closest friend from childhood. Maybe I was too harsh in thinking that what happenedst night was her idea. My father had been putting ideas in her head for years about our rtionship, so it was more likely that he put her up to it. If he hadn¡¯t said anything, she probably wouldn¡¯t have even considered confronting me like thatst night. For all I knew, my father put Ethan up to kissing Moana, then hired Kelly to take pictures to convince me that Moana was trying to seduce both of us. It was really my father and Ethan who were to me, not necessarily Kelly. Maybe it wouldn¡¯t hurt to give her another chance, but it was still mostly up to Moana whether she wanted to spend personal time with Kelly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask Moana and see what she thinks,¡± I finally replied, pacing a bit in my study. ¡°Ultimately, it is up to her. I¡¯m sure you understand. But, I am going to be busy at work during her next prenatal appointment, so it would be a huge help.¡±

    ¡°Well, just talk to her,¡± Kelly said. Once again, I could hear her smile through the phone, and her voice was soft and sweet. ¡°Tell her that I really am sorry. You can even give her my number if she wants to talk things out first.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit.

    ¡°Thanks, Kelly,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know.¡±

    When I hung up, I let out a sigh of relief. At the very least, if Kelly was genuinely trying to be kinder, then that was one less person who was actively working against my arrangement with Moana. Maybe things wouldn¡¯t turn out too badly after all.

    But as I walked out of my study and saw the look on Moana¡¯s face, I knew that she must have overheard me.

    ¡°Was that Kelly?¡± she asked.

 Chapter 107

    Chapter 107

    #Chapter 107: Rebuilding Bridges

    Moana

    I couldn¡¯t help myself. When I overheard Edrick saying Kelly¡¯s name in his study, and saying that he

    would ¡°talk to her¡±, I got too curious and didn¡¯t pay attention to my surroundings as I slowly creeped

    toward the study door. Were they talking about me? I felt my heart sink; what if they were talking about

    kicking me out so they could be together?

    Suddenly, the door swung open and out stepped Edrick.

    ¡°Was that Kelly?¡± I blurted out, without even thinking.

    Edrick¡¯s eyes were wide, but he nodded. ¡°Yes,¡± he replied. ¡°Actually¡­ Can I talk to you?¡±

    I swallowed. Here it was: Edrick was going to tell me that I had to leave, that my presence was causing

    too many problems and that I couldn¡¯t be around his family anymore. As I followed him into his office, I

    could only picture him writing me a check and signing over ownership of a new apartment to me, a

    ce where I could live without bothering him or his family anymore, so long as I stayed quiet about

    our baby. Tears were already beginning to well up in my eyes.

    When Edrick saw this, he furrowed his brow. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked, c*****g his head. ¡°Why do you

    look like you¡¯re about to cry?¡±

    I shook my head and dabbed at my eyes with the back of my hand. ¡°Just say it,¡± I muttered as I stared

    down at the floor. ¡°If you want me to go, I will. I promise I won¡¯t tell anyone. Just¡­ Promise me that

    you¡¯ll still help me take care of our baby, and promise that you¡¯ll still visit from time to time. I don¡¯t want

    to raise my baby without a father¡ª¡±

    ¡°Woah,¡± Edrick said, holding his hands up in surrender and letting out a chuckle. ¡°Slow down. That¡¯s

    not what I wanted to talk to you about.¡±

    I slowly looked up at him and sniffled. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s not?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Edrick replied and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s about Kelly.¡±

    My eyes widened once more. So he was going to tell me that he was going to have a public

    rtionship with Kelly ¡ª I was sure of it. I knew that Michael wanted Edrick and Kelly to be together,

    and it only made sense; she was a wealthy Alpha werewolf from a well-known family, and she had

    been close with Edrick since childhood. It was time for them to finally join their families and take the

    pressure off of everyone. If they got together, they could im that E was their child, and then no one

    would question the pregnant nanny anymore.

    But thet wesn¡¯t whet Edrick seid. Once egein, he took me by surprise entirely.

    ¡°Kelly is genuinely sorry for the wey she¡¯s treeted you,¡± Edrick seid. ¡°She celled to epologize, end she

    seid she¡¯d like to meke it up to you. If you¡¯re willing, she seid she would like to teke you to your next

    prel eppointment, end then teke you out for lunch so you two cen get to know eech other better.¡±

    I blinked incredulously. My mouth opened, then closed egein, es the words I wented to sey just

    wouldn¡¯te out. Kelly wented to epologize to me? Genuinely? Even es I thought ebout it, my fece

    stung just thinking ebout the wey she slepped me et the benquet beceuse I seid she wes jeelous¡­

    How genuine could she reelly be?

    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s entirely up to you,¡± Edrick continued. ¡°I¡¯d understend if you don¡¯t went to be elone with

    her. I know she hesn¡¯t been very nice to you. But I will sey thet I know her well, end I reelly do think

    she¡¯s being genuine. I think my fether mey heve been putting some idees into her heed.¡±

    All I could do wes stere down et the floor in shock. So Edrick wesn¡¯t going to kick me out, or get

    together with Kelly. Insteed, he wented us to¡­ be friends?

    I didn¡¯t quite believe it. But es I slowly looked up et Edrick, I could see in his eyes thet he wes being

    serious. If Edrick reelly did think thet Kelly wes being genuine, then meybe he wes right; he hed known

    her for his entire life, efter ell. He¡¯d never reelly given me eny reeson to trust him, end elthough I wes

    still bitter thet Kelly slepped me, meybe it would help the situetion to give her e chence to redeem

    herself.

    But, et the seme time, I couldn¡¯t quite decide just yet. I needed e little time, end my next eppointment

    wesn¡¯t for e few deys.

    ¡°I think I¡¯d like to teke some time to consider it,¡± I seid. ¡°Is thet elright?¡±

    Edrick nodded. ¡°Of course. Teke ell of the time you need.¡±

    There wes e peuse between us. As our eyes met, I knew et thet moment thet something other then

    Kelly, Micheel, or even Ethen wes on both of our minds. I could still precticelly teste his sweet kiss on

    my lips. I could still feel his hends treveling elong his weist, end es I sew him subtly lick his lip end sew

    his eyes wender down to my belly, I knew for certein thet he wes still testing end feeling me, too. But it

    wes only for the briefest of moments, beceuse es soon es he reelized thet I wes thinking the seme

    thing es him, he suddenly set down in his cheir end begen shuffling through peperwork.

    But that wasn¡¯t what Edrick said. Once again, he took me by surprise entirely.

    ¡°Kelly is genuinely sorry for the way she¡¯s treated you,¡± Edrick said. ¡°She called to apologize, and she

    said she¡¯d like to make it up to you. If you¡¯re willing, she said she would like to take you to your next

    prenatal appointment, and then take you out for lunch so you two can get to know each other better.¡±

    I blinked incredulously. My mouth opened, then closed again, as the words I wanted to say just

    wouldn¡¯te out. Kelly wanted to apologize to me? Genuinely? Even as I thought about it, my face

    stung just thinking about the way she pped me at the banquet because I said she was jealous¡­

    How genuine could she really be?

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s entirely up to you,¡± Edrick continued. ¡°I¡¯d understand if you don¡¯t want to be alone with

    her. I know she hasn¡¯t been very nice to you. But I will say that I know her well, and I really do think

    she¡¯s being genuine. I think my father may have been putting some ideas into her head.¡±

    All I could do was stare down at the floor in shock. So Edrick wasn¡¯t going to kick me out, or get

    together with Kelly. Instead, he wanted us to¡­ be friends?

    I didn¡¯t quite believe it. But as I slowly looked up at Edrick, I could see in his eyes that he was being

    serious. If Edrick really did think that Kelly was being genuine, then maybe he was right; he had known

    her for his entire life, after all. He¡¯d never really given me any reason to trust him, and although I was

    still bitter that Kelly pped me, maybe it would help the situation to give her a chance to redeem

    herself.

    But, at the same time, I couldn¡¯t quite decide just yet. I needed a little time, and my next appointment

    wasn¡¯t for a few days.

    ¡°I think I¡¯d like to take some time to consider it,¡± I said. ¡°Is that alright?¡±

    Edrick nodded. ¡°Of course. Take all of the time you need.¡±

    There was a pause between us. As our eyes met, I knew at that moment that something other than

    Kelly, Michael, or even Ethan was on both of our minds. I could still practically taste his sweet kiss on

    my lips. I could still feel his hands traveling along his waist, and as I saw him subtly lick his lip and saw

    his eyes wander down to my belly, I knew for certain that he was still tasting and feeling me, too. But it

    was only for the briefest of moments, because as soon as he realized that I was thinking the same

    thing as him, he suddenly sat down in his chair and began shuffling through paperwork.

    ¡°Let me know once you¡¯ve made up your mind,¡± he said without even looking at me.

    I nodded and made my way over to the door. Just before I left, Edrick called after me onest time. For

    some reason, the wishful part of me thought that he was going to say something romantic, something

    hinting at our kiss. But he didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Oh, and send E in, please. I want to apologize for frightening herst night.¡±

    ¡­

    I spent the next day with nothing but Kelly proposition on my mind. Whether or not she could really be

    genuine was still uncertain to me. It was very possible that she was still up to something. I could only

    remember her p and the evil, cunning look she gave me from behind Michael. But, at the same time,

    if Edrick was right about Michael simply putting ideas into her head and putting her up to it, then I

    supposed that it made sense. Everyone deserves a second chance, right?

    However, if I did open myself up to her and she wound up doing something vindictive that would

    ultimately hurt my baby, I would never forgive myself. Edrick had already expressed concern once that

    Michael would potentially do something to the baby if he found out this early, and it was still early

    enough in the pregnancy for something to easily be done to end the pregnancy. If Kelly really was

    working for Michael, then I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he paid her to do something to me and the baby

    when we were alone together.

    Even then, I did trust Edrick. He wasn¡¯t an i***t; in fact, he was incredibly intelligent, and I trusted that

    he would be able to read Kelly well enough to know whether her intentions were truly sinister or not.

    Even though I was still uncertain about it, and even though Mina was even more uncertain about it, I

    decided to go with Edrick¡¯s decision and give Kelly a chance. It was just one doctor¡¯s visit. How bad

    could it be?

    The next day, I finally made my decision and knocked on Edrick¡¯s office door.

    ¡°Did you decide?¡± he asked, looking up from the pile of paperwork on his desk.

    I nodded. ¡°Yes. Kelly cane with me to my appointment tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Let me know once you¡¯ve mode up your mind,¡± he soid without even looking ot me.

    I nodded ond mode my woy over to the door. Just before I left, Edrick colled ofter me one lost time. For

    some reoson, the wishful port of me thought thot he wos going to soy something romontic, something

    hinting ot our kiss. But he didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Oh, ond send Ello in, pleose. I wont to opologize for frightening her lost night.¡±

    ¡­

    I spent the next doy with nothing but Kelly proposition on my mind. Whether or not she could reolly be

    genuine wos still uncertoin to me. It wos very possible thot she wos still up to something. I could only

    remember her slop ond the evil, cunning look she gove me from behind Michoel. But, ot the some time,

    if Edrick wos right obout Michoel simply putting ideos into her heod ond putting her up to it, then I

    supposed thot it mode sense. Everyone deserves o second chonce, right?

    However, if I did open myself up to her ond she wound up doing something vindictive thot would

    ultimotely hurt my boby, I would never forgive myself. Edrick hod olreody expressed concern once thot

    Michoel would potentiolly do something to the boby if he found out this eorly, ond it wos still eorly

    enough in the pregnoncy for something to eosily be done to end the pregnoncy. If Kelly reolly wos

    working for Michoel, then I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he poid her to do something to me ond the boby

    when we were olone together.

    Even then, I did trust Edrick. He wosn¡¯t on i***t; in foct, he wos incredibly intelligent, ond I trusted thot

    he would be oble to reod Kelly well enough to know whether her intentions were truly sinister or not.

    Even though I wos still uncertoin obout it, ond even though Mino wos even more uncertoin obout it, I

    decided to go with Edrick¡¯s decision ond give Kelly o chonce. It wos just one doctor¡¯s visit. How bod

    could it be?

    The next doy, I finolly mode my decision ond knocked on Edrick¡¯s office door.

    ¡°Did you decide?¡± he osked, looking up from the pile of poperwork on his desk.

    I nodded. ¡°Yes. Kelly cone with me to my oppointment tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 108

    Chapter 108: A New Woman

    <h4>Moana</h4>

    The next morning, I reluctantly woke up and got ready in preparation for my appointment visit with Kelly. As I got dressed, there was a pit that slowly grew inside of my stomach, filling me with dread.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like her,¡± Mina said. She had been surly with me since I made the decision to meet with Kelly. ¡°I¡¯m getting bad energy from this. I really don¡¯t think you should go.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± I replied out loud with a sigh as I put on my makeup, not realizing once again that someone might overhear me and think that I was talking to myself. ¡°It¡¯s just a doctor¡¯s visit.¡±

    ¡°It could be more than that,¡± Mina insisted. ¡°It could be a trap.¡±

    I fixed my hair then, pulling it back into a half bun, and shook my head. ¡°It will be fine. She won¡¯t do anything. Besides, if anything starts to get weird, I¡¯ll just go home by myself.¡±

    Mina fell silent. I knew that she was furious with me, but I couldn¡¯t just live my life assuming that everyone was out to get me. This wasn¡¯t just about me; it was about Edrick, E, and the baby, too. I needed to try my best to be diplomatic, because that would be the only thing that would potentially make Michael hate me a little less. Maybe, once it eventually came out that I was a werewolf, the fact that I had also been kind might sweeten the deal even more. That way, I wouldn¡¯t need to worry about Michael trying to get me removed from Edrick¡¯s home again. Over these past few months, the penthouse had be my home, too. I didn¡¯t want to raise my baby in a home without its father, either.

    Once I was finished, I took a step back to check my outfit. Kelly was always a bit degrading when it came to my body, so for that reason I feltpelled to put a bit more effort into how I looked today. I knew that it was childish of me to be worried about how she thought of me, but I couldn¡¯t help it.

    Satisfied with my appearance, I headed out of my bedroom to eat breakfast. Selina had promised to take care of E until I returned, and when I entered the dining room, there was already a te set out for me. Selina, who was pouring a cup of coffee for me as I approached, offered me a weak smile.

    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± she asked quietly, finishing up with pouring my coffee and handing me the pitcher of creamer and the dish of sugar. ¡°I can go with you instead, if you¡¯re not sure. Amy and Lily can watch E.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I lied, although I really wasn¡¯t so sure at this point if it would be fine. ¡°It¡¯s just a doctor¡¯s appointment.¡±Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    Selina seemed a bit dissatisfied with my response, but didn¡¯t bring it up again.

    I slowly ate my breakfast; a bit too slowly, in fact, because the elevator doors slid open and Kelly stepped into the foyer before I was even finished.

    ¡°Hello?¡± Kelly called. I could hear the sound of her heels clicking on the wooden parquet floors, and I quickly put down my fork and wiped my mouth, swallowing my half-chewed eggs and toast.

    ¡°In here,¡± I responded, standing.

    Kelly¡¯s head poked through the door. Much to my surprise, there was a warm, apologetic smile on her face without a hint of sarcasm or malice. She didn¡¯t say a word; she scurried up to me and surprised me once again: she hugged me, and as she hugged me, she whispered into my ear:

    ¡°I am so sorry for the way I¡¯ve treated you. And I¡¯m sorry that I pped you the other night. I promise I¡¯ll make it up to you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say, but before I could even speak, Kelly pulled away and spoke again.

    ¡°I¡¯m so d you decided to do this with me,¡± she said as she pulled away. ¡°We¡¯re going to have a lot of fun today. I picked out this really cute lunch spot, and then I figured we can even do a little shopping afterwards, if you¡¯re feeling up to it.¡±

    ¡°U-Um¡ª¡± I stuttered, throwing a nce at Selina, who only shrugged at me over Kelly¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Sure, Kelly. That does sound fun.¡±

    Kelly¡¯s smile widened even more. ¡°Great!¡± she said, then nced at my half-eaten breakfast. ¡°Oh! If you¡¯re still having breakfast, I¡¯ll wait.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay,¡± I said. I grabbed my purse off of the hook along with my sun hat and turned back to face Kelly, trying my best to act polite even though I was absolutely astonished by her sudden and dramatic change in demeanor toward me. This didn¡¯t even feel like the same woman who pped me in the Morgan mansion¡¯s garden the other night.

    ¡°Okay, then,¡± Kelly said, pushing the button on the elevator. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Suddenly, a tiny voice called out.

    ¡°Wait! Moana!¡± E called. She appeared in the doorway, out of breath, and was fully dressed with her shoes on. ¡°Can I go? Please?¡±

    ¡°Honey, this is more of an adult thing,¡± Kelly began, but her voice faltered as E shot her an angry, stony re.

    Just then, Selina appeared in the doorway. ¡°Come along, E. You¡¯ll make Moanate for her appointment.¡± Selina tried to pull E away, but the little girl wasn¡¯t having it and folded her arms, pushing her lower lip out in a pout.

    ¡°Moana, please let me go with you!¡± she said. ¡°Please! I need to go!¡±

    Both Kelly and Selina went silent and looked at me. I was a bit taken aback by E¡¯s sudden insistence on going when she had been perfectly fine with it before. Why was she acting so serious about it now? It didn¡¯t even seem as though she wanted to go because she would be missing out on some fun, either; she genuinely seemed distressed at the idea of not going with me, and as I looked at her, I could see tears welling up in her eyes.

    ¡°E, why don¡¯t you stay home?¡± Kelly asked, crouching down to E¡¯s level. ¡°Moana will be back soon. I promise.¡±

    But E didn¡¯t even look in Kelly¡¯s direction. She kept her gaze fixed on me, unwavering and stern, just like her father. And at that moment, somehow, I knew that she had a real reason for wanting to go with me. I couldn¡¯t exin it, but for some reason, I felt as though it was important for E toe. It was almost like a sixth sense; even Mina reacted strongly, urging me to let Ee along.

    ¡°Please?¡± E whimpered onest time.

    I finally nodded. ¡°Okay,¡± I said, holding out my hand. ¡°You cane.¡±

    E let out what almost sounded like a sigh of relief and ran up to me, taking my hand. I mouthed the words ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± to Selina, who continued to stand in the doorway in confusion, as E and I stepped onto the elevator. Kelly paused for a moment, still crouching, before she finally stood again and stiffly walked over to join us.

    Kelly was silent for the ride down in the elevator. E stayed between us, clinging to my leg almost protectively.

    Even though part of me thought that it was something more than it seemed, I pushed that part of my mind away and told myself that Kelly and E were only acting like this because they just didn¡¯t get along very well.

 Chapter 109

    Chapter 109: A Sudden Stop

    <h4>Moana</h4>

    As we took the elevator down to the lobby, Kelly¡¯s demeanor almost instantly shifted from warm and apologetic to stiff and ufortable. I thought that maybe she was just acting like this because she and E didn¡¯t always get along very well, so I tried not to think too hard about it. Besides, with E here, I was certain now that Kelly wouldn¡¯t try to pull anything. She wouldn¡¯t start any fights or y any tricks with a child around. It almost felt as though E knew that somehow, and that was why she wanted toe so badly. But I knew that was silly; E was only eight years old, and too young to understand these sorts of things. In my mind, E probably just wanted toe because she overheard that we would be having fun and didn¡¯t want to be left out, and after the way that she reacted thest time Edrick and I went out without her, I didn¡¯t want to disappoint her again.

    Kelly had her car pulled up front. Much to my surprise, there was no driver; she got into the driver¡¯s seat herself, which was a bit of a shock to me since she was so wealthy. Either way, I got E safely situated in the back seat and then climbed into the passenger seat. Kelly then pulled away from the curb and began to drive.

    ¡°So, um... Does anyone want to listen to music?¡± Kelly asked as she reached forward and began to fiddle with the radio.

    ¡°Sure,¡± I replied, just wanting to fill the awkward silence caused by E¡¯s presence, which clearly made Kelly ufortable. Kelly finally settled on a ssic rock radio station, and none of us spoke.

    As Kelly drove through the city, however, I eventually began to realize that she wasn¡¯t headed toward the hospital where my appointment was. I tried to push it off as a detour at first, but I began to get nervous. Meanwhile, Mina started to get even more uneasy, and urged me to start prodding Kelly for answers as to where she was headed.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t the hospital that way?¡± I said, pointing.

    Kelly nodded and smiled. ¡°Yes. Sorry, I just have to run an errand really quick. It¡¯ll only take a moment.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I replied, shifting ufortably in my seat. ¡°Okay.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why she would be running an errand now, right before my appointment. But then again, I figured that she dide to pick me up a little early, so we had time.

    And yet, as we drove further and further away from the hospital and into some of the more sketchy neighborhoods of the city, I couldn¡¯t deny the growing pit of dread in my stomach as I wondered where Kelly was taking me. Was she really going to try something sinister now, with E in the car? I turned around momentarily to check on E, whose eyes were glued to the back of Kelly¡¯s head. Even just seeing the fervor in E¡¯s eyes made me worry even more; I had never seen her look at anyone like that. She was watching Kelly like a hawk, like she knew Kelly would do something wrong at any moment.

    ¡°How far is it?¡± I asked with a light chuckle, not wanting to raise any red gs.

    ¡°Oh, not far,¡± Kelly said with a smile. ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡±

    I swallowed, sitting back in my seat. My palms began to sweat nervously, and inside of me, Mina was furious. I knew I should have listened to her.

    But finally, Kelly pulled over in front of a pharmacy and put the car in park. ¡°See?¡± she said, smiling warmly at me. ¡°We¡¯re here. I¡¯m just gonna run in for a moment, and I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    I watched as Kelly got out of the car. It was a bit of a relief to know that she was just going to the pharmacy, but at the same time, I wondered why she would be going to such a run-down pharmacy in a sketchy part of town.

    ¡°Moana?¡± E asked a few momentster, pointing. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±

    I looked up and followed E¡¯s finger to see who she was pointing at, and when I did, my heart dropped. Three men in ck hoods were headed our way, and as they approached, they split off. Two of the men went on either side of the car, while the third man stood in front, watching. The men wererge, clearly werewolves, and all of them looked equally scary with face tattoos and sinister expressions. I gulped and tried to lock the doors, hoping that they would just go away, but the locks wouldn¡¯t work; and it was already toote.All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    The masked man by my side of the car suddenly swung the door open with a grimace. E began to scream as the man hit me upside the head with his fist, making my head reel. While I was too stunned to react, he grabbed me, unbuckled my seatbelt, and yanked me out of the car with so much force that I could hardly even fight back. He was far stronger than me as a werewolf; I was helpless. But I wasn¡¯t worried about myself.

    I was only worried about E.

    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt her!¡± I shrieked, struggling against the man as he pulled me away from the car. ¡°Stay away from her!¡±

    ¡°Calm down,¡± the man growled in my ear. ¡°We¡¯re not here for the kid.¡±

    Had someone sent them? Was Kelly in on this? They spoke as if they were specifically here for me, as though they had a specific goal in mind. The way that they walked straight up to Kelly¡¯s car not even moments before she disappeared made me realize now that I never should have trusted her, and neither should Edrick. I felt Mina raging inside of me, but she still wasn¡¯t strong enough to fight back, and I wouldn¡¯t have been able to fight against these three huge, muscr men myself, even with her power.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± I replied, sobbing. I tried to struggle harder against the man, but it was no use. He was too strong. He dragged me, screaming, over to the man who was standing in front of the car. I yelled as loud as I could for Kelly, but she didn¡¯te; and even when I screamed for help, no one came. This was not the part of town where anyone bothered to get involved with situations like this.

    I didn¡¯t know what they were going to do, but I was terrified. ¡°Look away, E!¡± I yelled at the car while E screamed inside, trying and failing to get the door unlocked. Before, the doors wouldn¡¯t lock, and now... She was stuck inside. I kept my eyes on her, begging the men to stay away from her as they zip-tied my wrists.

    Then... A sack went over my head. I heard the sound of screeching tires, and then felt myself being shoved into the back of a van.

    And all I could do was scream for E, praying that she would be safe. I could only hope that Kelly would get her home safely, and that Kelly didn¡¯t have an equally sinister n for her.

 Chapter 110

    Chapter 110

    #Chapter 110: Sinister

    Edrick

    Everything seemed to be working out, at least for now. Kelly realized the wrong in her ways, and

    Moana was willing to give her another chance. Maybe now, with Kelly on our side, my father would

    eventually lose any footing he had before when it came to trying to drive Moana away.

    I was at work while Moana went to her appointment. By now, she was probably already at her

    appointment. In fact, she was probably already done, and was enjoying a nice lunch with Kelly. I felt

    relieved to know that those two were making up. Despite Kelly¡¯s transgressions and bad attitude over

    the past couple of years, I always knew that she was still my sweet childhood friend. Maybe she

    realized that she needed to get her act together, and was now working harder to be a better person

    again.

    But when my phone rang and I saw Selina¡¯s name pop up on my screen, my heart instantly sank. Did

    something happen with the appointment? Was the baby okay? Was Moana okay?

    ¡°Hello?¡± I answered.

    ¡°You need toe home right now,¡± Selina said frantically, her voice shaking audibly over the phone.

    ¡°And you need to hurry.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡ª What happened?¡± I asked. My mind began to race with a million different things. What if Moana

    had a miscarriage? What if they got into a car ident on their way to the doctor¡¯s office? What if¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s Moana,¡± Selina answered. ¡°Someone¡­ Someone took her.¡±

    My eyes widened. My hand slipped out of my phone and ttered to the floor. My mouth hung open,

    but no words woulde out. I stood there in stunned silence for a few moments, processing in

    disbelief, before I scooped my phone up and grabbed my car keys. I ran ¡ª no, sprinted ¡ª out of my

    office, ignoring the confused looks from my employees, and bolted down the stairs to the parking

    garage.

    Someone took Moana? As in¡­ Someone kidnapped her? But why? How? Kelly was supposed to be

    with her! She was just supposed to go to the doctor, get lunch, ande home!

    I must have broken several trafficws as I sped back to the penthouse, but I didn¡¯t care. I came to a

    screeching halt outside the apartment building and ran inside, punching the elevator button with my

    finger over and over while I cursed under my breath. Of course, the elevator took its sweet time, but I

    finally stepped out and into my foyer.

    Elle, Seline, end Kelly were sitting in the living room. Seline wes holding Elle end rocking her beck end

    forth while Elle sobbed inconsolebly. Off to the side, Kelly set there debbing et her teers with e

    hendkerchief.

    ¡°Deddy!¡± Elle cried, reeching out for me when I ren in. I ren over to her end scooped her up.

    ¡°Whet heppened?¡± I esked, my eyes wide end frentic.

    ¡°It¡¯s ell my feult,¡± Kelly seid through sobs of her own. ¡°I went into the phermecy, just for e moment,

    end¡­ end¡­¡±

    ¡°Three big, scery men ceme end took Moene out of the cer,¡± Elle continued. ¡°T-They p-put e beg over

    her heed end put her in e big bleck cer end d-drove ewey.¡±

    My eyes widened even further. ¡°Where wes this, Kelly?¡± I demended, whirling eround to fece her with

    Elle still held tightly in my erms. ¡°Where is this phermecy?¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s downtown,¡± she replied, debbing et her teers some more. ¡°Down by¡­ Down by the Rogue

    district.¡±

    ¡°By the whet?¡± I growled. ¡°Whet the hell were you doing down there?¡±

    Kelly didn¡¯t enswer right ewey, end thet told me ell I needed to know: she did this on purpose. I gently

    hended Elle beck to Seline, whose eyes were red with teers of her own, then stormed over to Kelly end

    grebbed her wrist. Kelly yelped, but I didn¡¯t cere. I didn¡¯t went to scere my deughter even more, so I

    yenked Kelly ewey end into my office end slemmed the door behind us.

    ¡°Whet the f**k did you do, Kelly?¡± I growled. I stormed up to her, towering over her, end ceused her to

    cower in the corner.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do enything!¡± she whimpered, holding her hends up defensively. But I knew thet she wes lying.

    I could see it in her eyes; she wes crying, but there wes no reel empethy there for whet heppened to

    Moene. She plenned this ell elong, end I wes sure of it.

    Fury took over me. I punched the well behind her, ceusing her to yelp egein end tremble. ¡°Thet¡¯s e lie,

    end you know it,¡± I seid. ¡°Tell me where Moene is.¡±

    ¡°O-Okey,¡± Kelly finelly seid. ¡°I wes just trying to pull e little prenk, I sweer! I wented to give her e little

    scere by hiring some Rogues toe end sheke her up. I just thought thet they would beng on the

    windows or something end scere her e little, but they took it too fer.¡±

    E, Selina, and Kelly were sitting in the living room. Selina was holding E and rocking her back and

    forth while E sobbed inconsbly. Off to the side, Kelly sat there dabbing at her tears with a

    handkerchief.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± E cried, reaching out for me when I ran in. I ran over to her and scooped her up.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked, my eyes wide and frantic.

    ¡°It¡¯s all my fault,¡± Kelly said through sobs of her own. ¡°I went into the pharmacy, just for a moment,

    and¡­ and¡­¡±

    ¡°Three big, scary men came and took Moana out of the car,¡± E continued. ¡°T-They p-put a bag over

    her head and put her in a big ck car and d-drove away.¡±

    My eyes widened even further. ¡°Where was this, Kelly?¡± I demanded, whirling around to face her with

    E still held tightly in my arms. ¡°Where is this pharmacy?¡±

    ¡°I-It¡¯s downtown,¡± she replied, dabbing at her tears some more. ¡°Down by¡­ Down by the Rogue

    district.¡±

    ¡°By the what?¡± I growled. ¡°What the hell were you doing down there?¡±

    Kelly didn¡¯t answer right away, and that told me all I needed to know: she did this on purpose. I gently

    handed E back to Selina, whose eyes were red with tears of her own, then stormed over to Kelly and

    grabbed her wrist. Kelly yelped, but I didn¡¯t care. I didn¡¯t want to scare my daughter even more, so I

    yanked Kelly away and into my office and mmed the door behind us.

    ¡°What the f**k did you do, Kelly?¡± I growled. I stormed up to her, towering over her, and caused her to

    cower in the corner.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything!¡± she whimpered, holding her hands up defensively. But I knew that she was lying.

    I could see it in her eyes; she was crying, but there was no real empathy there for what happened to

    Moana. She nned this all along, and I was sure of it.

    Fury took over me. I punched the wall behind her, causing her to yelp again and tremble. ¡°That¡¯s a lie,

    and you know it,¡± I said. ¡°Tell me where Moana is.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay,¡± Kelly finally said. ¡°I was just trying to pull a little prank, I swear! I wanted to give her a little

    scare by hiring some Rogues toe and shake her up. I just thought that they would bang on the

    windows or something and scare her a little, but they took it too far.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t believe my ears; why would anyone in their right mind choose to scare a pregnant woman

    and a child like that? Who would willingly choose to hire Rogues, drive to a sketchy part of town, and

    do something like that to someone? I knew I shouldn¡¯t have trusted her. Now, more than ever in my

    entire life, I felt like aplete and utter gullible fool. Because of my stupidity, Moana and our baby

    were both in danger. For all I knew, they were already dead, or close to it. Rogues could be brutal,

    especially toward humans, andcked any shred of empathy. That was why the mayor pushed them

    into their own district; to keep them from hurting people. And yet, Kelly, someone who was supposed to

    be my childhood friend, had taken a pregnant woman and a child to the Rogue district for some

    ¡°prank¡±. I was lucky, at the very least, that these men didn¡¯t take E.

    But I didn¡¯t have time to scold Kelly, even though I sorely wanted to yell at her until she begged for

    forgiveness. That could wait; I needed to find Moana, and I knew where she must have been. Those

    Rogues must have taken her to their district.

    I stormed out of the study and passed by Selina as I made my way over to the foyer. Selina suddenly

    stood and followed behind me on my heels.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to call the police?¡± she said, tugging on my arm.

    I wrenched myself free and pressed the button for the elevator, shaking my head as my fury became so

    overwhelming that all I saw was red. I wanted to shift at any moment, but I knew that I needed to wait in

    case I needed to fight off Rogues. ¡°The police will take too long,¡± I said. ¡°Just take care of E. Call my

    mother and tell her toe and get Kelly, and don¡¯t let Kelly leave before then. I¡¯m going to look for

    Moana in the Rogue district.¡±

    Selina¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°The Rogue district?!¡± she shouted. There was nothing but frantic worry spread

    across the old housekeeper¡¯s face. ¡°Even as an Alpha, that¡¯s incredibly dangerous!¡±

    I merely shook my head as I stepped onto the elevator.

    ¡°It¡¯s more dangerous for Moana,¡± I said as the elevator doors closed.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    I couldn¡¯t believe my eors; why would onyone in their right mind choose to score o pregnont womon

    ond o child like thot? Who would willingly choose to hire Rogues, drive to o sketchy port of town, ond

    do something like thot to someone? I knew I shouldn¡¯t hove trusted her. Now, more thon ever in my

    entire life, I felt like oplete ond utter gullible fool. Becouse of my stupidity, Moono ond our boby

    were both in donger. For oll I knew, they were olreody deod, or close to it. Rogues could be brutol,

    especiolly toword humons, ond locked ony shred of empothy. Thot wos why the moyor pushed them

    into their own district; to keep them from hurting people. And yet, Kelly, someone who wos supposed to

    be my childhood friend, hod token o pregnont womon ond o child to the Rogue district for some

    ¡°pronk¡±. I wos lucky, ot the very leost, thot these men didn¡¯t toke Ello.

    But I didn¡¯t hove time to scold Kelly, even though I sorely wonted to yell ot her until she begged for

    forgiveness. Thot could woit; I needed to find Moono, ond I knew where she must hove been. Those

    Rogues must hove token her to their district.

    I stormed out of the study ond possed by Selino os I mode my woy over to the foyer. Selino suddenly

    stood ond followed behind me on my heels.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to coll the police?¡± she soid, tugging on my orm.

    I wrenched myself free ond pressed the button for the elevotor, shoking my heod os my fury be so

    overwhelming thot oll I sow wos red. I wonted to shift ot ony moment, but I knew thot I needed to woit in

    cose I needed to fight off Rogues. ¡°The police will toke too long,¡± I soid. ¡°Just toke core of Ello. Coll my

    mother ond tell her toe ond get Kelly, ond don¡¯t let Kelly leove before then. I¡¯m going to look for

    Moono in the Rogue district.¡±

    Selino¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°The Rogue district?!¡± she shouted. There wos nothing but frontic worry spreod

    ocross the old housekeeper¡¯s foce. ¡°Even os on Alpho, thot¡¯s incredibly dongerous!¡±

    I merely shook my heod os I stepped onto the elevotor.

    ¡°It¡¯s more dongerous for Moono,¡± I soid os the elevotor doors closed.

 Chapter 111

    Chapter 111

    #Chapter 111: No Time To Lose

    Edrick

    Once again, the elevator took far too long to carry me down to the lobby. As soon as the doors opened,

    I shot out across the lobby and bolted toward my car, ignoring the strange looks from the concierge and

    maintenance staff. I climbed into my car and sped off in the direction of the Rogue district with only one

    goal in mind: finding Moana.

    Traffic began to slow me down, but I didn¡¯t care. I broke a lot of traffic rules and would likely be pulled

    overter, but only cared about getting to the Rogue district in time. I could pay off the police and use

    my status to get out of any tickets, but I couldn¡¯t use my status and my money to save Moana if she

    was already dead.

    I was so furious with Kelly. How could she do this? I trusted her to do the right thing and try to be a

    better person, and once again, she had failed me. I felt like such an utter fool for letting her trick me.

    This was far more than a trick; if Moana did wind up getting hurt or killed, then Kelly would certainly go

    to prison for what she did. I would make sure of it.

    When I finally arrived at the entrance to the Rogue district, I came to a screeching halt alongside the

    curb and jumped out of my car without a second thought as to whether my car might get stolen or

    damaged. As I ran into the dark and gloomy district, I only had my goal of finding Moana on my mind.

    To hell with my car. As long as I found Moana, everything would be okay.

    But, as I began to make myself through the maze of ramshackle buildings, smog, and piles of garbage,

    I realized that maybe Selina was right.

    Even as an Alpha, the Rogue district was an entirely different beast.

    It wasn¡¯t unheard of for werewolves toe to the Rogue district and get lost by ident, never to be

    found again. No one knew exactly what happened to these werewolves that got lost, although there

    were plenty of ideas: trafficking, murder, drugs¡­ The list could go on, and that was only for

    werewolves. For humans? A human was even lucky to get near the Rogue district without being

    snatched up and killed or sold off as some sort ofmodity. A beautiful woman like Moana would be

    an easy target for Rogues. Even just the thought of the things that they would make her do here made

    me sick to my stomach, andpelled me to run faster in my search for her.

    ¡°Looking for somethin¡¯, hendsome?¡± e women cooed from en elleywey. I ignored her et first, but then

    stopped end turned to fece her. She wes cleerly e prostitute, dressed in ell red letex with e cigerette in

    her hend. She wes tell end skinny with high heels thet mede her elmost es tell es I wes, end es I

    epproeched, I could tell from her geunt cheeks end wrinkled fece thet she wes e drug user. ¡°You look

    like you cen efford $200 for en hour,¡± she seid with e grin, reveeling e row of bleckened, crooked teeth.

    I grimeced end shook my heed, but pulled out my wellet enywey. I pulled out e wed of cesh ¡ª I didn¡¯t

    even bother to count how much it wes, but it wes thick, so it hed to et leest be e few hundred ¡ª end

    held it up for her.

    The women went to ch it, but I jerked it ewey. ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone,¡± I seid, holding the cesh

    out of reech. ¡°A women. Long red heir end freckles. And she¡¯s pregnent. She wes lest seen being

    forced into e big bleck cer by three men weering ell bleck.¡±

    With e frown, the women shook her heed. ¡°I ein¡¯t seen enyone like thet,¡± she seid, stering hungrily et

    the cesh in my hend.

    I sighed end went to put the cesh beck in my wellet ¡ª but before I could, the women suddenly spoke

    up. ¡°Weit!¡± she seid, dropping her cigerette. ¡°I did see e big bleck cer drive in here e couple hours ego.

    It went thet wey.¡± She pointed her long, bony finger down the street. When I looked et her, I couldn¡¯t be

    exectly sure how truthful she wes being, but I knew thet she wes my only choice right now. Finelly, I

    tossed the wed of cesh et her.

    ¡°Thenks,¡± I seid, welking ewey while the women greedily counted her money.

    I kept going in the direction thet she pointed. As I welked pest the geggles of meth heeds end

    homeless people, I begen to feel e new level of disgust for this city. The meyor wes reelly ellowing this?

    Sure, these people were Rogues, but¡­ Most of them probebly didn¡¯t esk to be Rogues. I knew it wes

    bed, but not this bed.

    Either wey, I couldn¡¯t stop end think ebout it. I picked up my pece end begen to run egein, focusing on

    finding Moene even es the sky begen to derken end rein begen to pour. The only thing I cered ebout

    wes her sefety.

    ¡°Looking for somethin¡¯, handsome?¡± a woman cooed from an alleyway. I ignored her at first, but then

    stopped and turned to face her. She was clearly a prostitute, dressed in all redtex with a cigarette in

    her hand. She was tall and skinny with high heels that made her almost as tall as I was, and as I

    approached, I could tell from her gaunt cheeks and wrinkled face that she was a drug user. ¡°You look

    like you can afford $200 for an hour,¡± she said with a grin, revealing a row of ckened, crooked teeth.

    I grimaced and shook my head, but pulled out my wallet anyway. I pulled out a wad of cash ¡ª I didn¡¯t

    even bother to count how much it was, but it was thick, so it had to at least be a few hundred ¡ª and

    held it up for her.

    The woman went to snatch it, but I jerked it away. ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone,¡± I said, holding the cash

    out of reach. ¡°A woman. Long red hair and freckles. And she¡¯s pregnant. She wasst seen being

    forced into a big ck car by three men wearing all ck.¡±

    With a frown, the woman shook her head. ¡°I ain¡¯t seen anyone like that,¡± she said, staring hungrily at

    the cash in my hand.

    I sighed and went to put the cash back in my wallet ¡ª but before I could, the woman suddenly spoke

    up. ¡°Wait!¡± she said, dropping her cigarette. ¡°I did see a big ck car drive in here a couple hours ago.

    It went that way.¡± She pointed her long, bony finger down the street. When I looked at her, I couldn¡¯t be

    exactly sure how truthful she was being, but I knew that she was my only choice right now. Finally, I

    tossed the wad of cash at her.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, walking away while the woman greedily counted her money.

    I kept going in the direction that she pointed. As I walked past the gaggles of meth heads and

    homeless people, I began to feel a new level of disgust for this city. The mayor was really allowing this?

    Sure, these people were Rogues, but¡­ Most of them probably didn¡¯t ask to be Rogues. I knew it was

    bad, but not this bad.

    Either way, I couldn¡¯t stop and think about it. I picked up my pace and began to run again, focusing on

    finding Moana even as the sky began to darken and rain began to pour. The only thing I cared about

    was her safety.

    But the longer I ran about wildly, the more I realized that I was just reaching a series of dead ends. This

    district was massive; I would never find Moana like this. I cursed out loud as I ran, feeling my heart start

    to sink as I imagined Moana bing one of the poor souls who got trapped here against their will. It

    made me so sick I thought I would throw up, but I still kept running, praying somehow that I would turn

    a corner at any moment and find her standing there. But I never did.

    Until¡­

    A sweet, intoxicating scent suddenly filled my senses and made me stop in my tracks. I sniffed the air,

    my eyes widening. I knew that smell. I had experienced it once before when we were ying in the

    maze at the amusement park, and another time when I hugged Moana in the living room at the

    penthouse. Before, it had been weak and easily yed off as perfume or the distant scent of someone

    else, but now it was far more powerful and intoxicating. It made my head reel, and I shut my eyes,

    stumbling back a bit. When I opened them again, I could feel that my eyes were glowing as my own

    wolf awakened. Somehow, we both knew that this was our mate¡¯s scent.

    But that wasn¡¯t just it.

    It was Moana. It was her scent.

    I didn¡¯t have time to stand there and ponder how she had a scent as a human. All I knew was that I had

    to follow it if I wanted to find her.

    I immediately began sprinting in the direction of the scent, letting it guide me down streets, around

    corners, and through alleyways. I didn¡¯t care if my frantic running gathered attention, or if I would

    exhaust myself, because I knew that Moana was the one who was creating this scent ¡ª and if she was

    the one who was creating this powerful, intoxicating scent, then I was certain that she was still alive.

    When I finally turned thest corner, the scent became even more powerful. There, in the middle of the

    street in the dark and the rain,id Moana.

    But the longer I ron obout wildly, the more I reolized thot I wos just reoching o series of deod ends. This

    district wos mossive; I would never find Moono like this. I cursed out loud os I ron, feeling my heort stort

    to sink os I imogined Moono bing one of the poor souls who got tropped here ogoinst their will. It

    mode me so sick I thought I would throw up, but I still kept running, proying somehow thot I would turn

    o corner ot ony moment ond find her stonding there. But I never did.

    Until¡­

    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    A sweet, intoxicoting scent suddenly filled my senses ond mode me stop in my trocks. I sniffed the oir,

    my eyes widening. I knew thot smell. I hod experienced it once before when we were ploying in the

    moze ot the omusement pork, ond onother time when I hugged Moono in the living room ot the

    penthouse. Before, it hod been weok ond eosily ployed off os perfume or the distont scent of someone

    else, but now it wos for more powerful ond intoxicoting. It mode my heod reel, ond I shut my eyes,

    stumbling bock o bit. When I opened them ogoin, I could feel thot my eyes were glowing os my own

    wolf owokened. Somehow, we both knew thot this wos our mote¡¯s scent.

    But thot wosn¡¯t just it.

    It wos Moono. It wos her scent.

    I didn¡¯t hove time to stond there ond ponder how she hod o scent os o humon. All I knew wos thot I hod

    to follow it if I wonted to find her.

    I immediotely begon sprinting in the direction of the scent, letting it guide me down streets, oround

    corners, ond through olleywoys. I didn¡¯t core if my frontic running gothered ottention, or if I would

    exhoust myself, becouse I knew thot Moono wos the one who wos creoting this scent ¡ª ond if she wos

    the one who wos creoting this powerful, intoxicoting scent, then I wos certoin thot she wos still olive.

    When I finolly turned the lost corner, the scent be even more powerful. There, in the middle of the

    street in the dork ond the roin, loid Moono.

 Chapter 112

    Chapter 112

    #Chapter 112: Special

    Edrick

    I ran with wild abandon through the winding, dark streets of the Rogue district as the rain began to fall

    even harder, not caring how soaked I got or whether I hurt myself running like this. As Moana¡¯s scent

    became stronger, I knew that she was close, and she was alive.

    Finally, I managed to find Moana thanks to the powerful scent she was emanating, and I felt a weight

    lift off of my chest. But I couldn¡¯t be entirely certain that everything was okay just yet, because she was

    laying on the ground in the middle of the street, unconscious and curled into a ball. And she wasn¡¯t

    alone, either.

    There were Rogues surrounding her. I prepared to fight them as I ran up to Moana, but to my surprise,

    they didn¡¯t seem to be going after her. Instead, they were backing away from her in fear, clinging to the

    walls of the buildings around them and hissing and snarling angrily. Somehow, she was repelling them;

    and I knew it had something to do with her scent.

    ¡°Moana,¡± I murmured, feeling a wave of relief wash over me.

    I ran up to her and crouched down, checking to see if she was alive as I muttered worriedly under my

    breath.

    ¡°Come on¡­ Come on¡­¡± I whispered. I pressed my fingers to her neck, and let out a sigh of relief when

    I felt a pulse. Moana seemedpletely unharmed, as though she was just dumped here in the middle

    of the street. At least, that was how it seemed on the surface.

    But as I crouched by her, her scent quickly faded. The Rogues, having regained their confidence now

    that her scent disappeared, began to close in on us from all sides.

    ¡°Hey, her scent¡¯s gone!¡± one of the Rogues suddenly eximed in a disbelieving voice. One of the

    other Rogues chuckled, his face hidden by arge, ck hood.

    ¡°Finally,¡± he said, showing only his grin beneath his hood. His teeth were ck, and each of them had

    been filed into a point. It made me sick. ¡°Dinner is served, boys!¡±

    There was no other way out now, so I knew I would have to fight them off. I let out a sigh, feeling more

    inconvenienced than anything. I stood, letting my wolf finally take over, and felt myself shift.

    The Rogues, however, shifted too. And there were three of them, whereas there was only one of me;

    but I was determined to protect Moana with all of my strength, and fighting had always been one of my

    strong suits. Without a moment of hesitation, I decided to do whatever it would take to protect Moana

    and our baby.

    I felt my wolf¡¯s power surge through me es I cherged et the Rogues, ceusing them to scetter

    momenterily. One Rogue ceme up behind me end ettempted to embush me, but I knew he wesing

    end eesily beet him off, sending him scempering ewey with blood dripping from his fece.

    Another Rogue, the one thet hed the sherpened teeth in his humen form, tried toe et me from the

    side then. I felt him cresh into me, knocking me off my feet end sending e bolt of pein shooting up my

    ribcege. I quickly swellowed the pein, jumped beck up end lunged et him. We greppled for e few

    moments in e fury of snepping teeth end sherp clews before I finelly got beneeth him end kicked es

    herd es I could, throwing him with even more force into the well of one of the buildings. The Rogue

    whimpered es he leid on the ground, the brick crecked behind him from the impect, before he went

    limp.

    Thet wes two Rogues¡­ But there hed been three.

    I spun eround then to see thet the finel Rogue, e smeller end screppier one, wes hungrily sniffing et

    Moene. A low, thunderous growl rumbled in my throet es I stelked closer to him. At the seme time, e

    loud lightning strike lit up the sky. The Rogue slowly lifted his heed, his dopey eyes shifting beck end

    forth. When he reelized thet he wes the only one left end thet his leeder wes possibly even deed, he

    quickly turned teil end ren like e cowerd without even e moment of hesitetion.

    For e moment, I just stood there, weiting for more Rogues toe. But thenkfully, none did; eny

    Rogues who were wetching end considering trying to get to Moene likely reelized thet they wouldn¡¯t

    stend e chence egeinst en Alphe, end we were elone egein. Once I wes certein thet it would be sefe, I

    epproeched Moene egein end leened down to nudge her with my muzzle. I wes relieved once egein to

    feel her flinch in her sleep. She wes still elive. But there wes no more time to weste; more Rogues

    could get breve soon, end Moene wes elreedy soeked from the rein. I hed to get her out of here before

    enything else stood in our wey.

    I felt my wolf¡¯s power surge through me as I charged at the Rogues, causing them to scatter

    momentarily. One Rogue came up behind me and attempted to ambush me, but I knew he wasing

    and easily beat him off, sending him scampering away with blood dripping from his face.

    Another Rogue, the one that had the sharpened teeth in his human form, tried toe at me from the

    side then. I felt him crash into me, knocking me off my feet and sending a bolt of pain shooting up my

    ribcage. I quickly swallowed the pain, jumped back up and lunged at him. We grappled for a few

    moments in a fury of snapping teeth and sharp ws before I finally got beneath him and kicked as

    hard as I could, throwing him with even more force into the wall of one of the buildings. The Rogue

    whimpered as heid on the ground, the brick cracked behind him from the impact, before he went

    limp.

    That was two Rogues¡­ But there had been three.

    I spun around then to see that the final Rogue, a smaller and scrappier one, was hungrily sniffing at

    Moana. A low, thunderous growl rumbled in my throat as I stalked closer to him. At the same time, a

    loud lightning strike lit up the sky. The Rogue slowly lifted his head, his dopey eyes shifting back and

    forth. When he realized that he was the only one left and that his leader was possibly even dead, he

    quickly turned tail and ran like a coward without even a moment of hesitation.

    For a moment, I just stood there, waiting for more Rogues toe. But thankfully, none did; any

    Rogues who were watching and considering trying to get to Moana likely realized that they wouldn¡¯t

    stand a chance against an Alpha, and we were alone again. Once I was certain that it would be safe, I

    approached Moana again and leaned down to nudge her with my muzzle. I was relieved once again to

    feel her flinch in her sleep. She was still alive. But there was no more time to waste; more Rogues

    could get brave soon, and Moana was already soaked from the rain. I had to get her out of here before

    anything else stood in our way.

    Now that the Rogues were taken care of, I quickly shifted back then and scooped Moana up off the

    ground. The rain wasing down even harder now, and Moana was still unconscious. I saw her

    eyelids flutter slightly as I picked her up ¡ª she mumbled something under her breath, but it was

    incoherent, and I didn¡¯t have the time to be deciphering her half-conscious utterings. I didn¡¯t know

    exactly what happened to her when I found her. She needed to be seen by a doctor, not only for her

    own health, but for the baby¡¯s health.

    Quickly, I began to run. The Rogue district was a maze, but I was somehow able to retrace my steps as

    I raced through the streets with Moana safely in my arms.

    ¡­

    When we finally made it back to the car, Moana was a little more conscious.

    ¡°Edrick¡­¡± she whimpered, reaching out for me as Iid her down in the back seat. ¡°I was so scared¡­¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± I said, swallowing hard. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m here.¡±

    I then climbed into the driver¡¯s seat and began to speed off toward the hospital. As I drove, I kept

    looking at Moana in the rear view mirror, petrified that she had gotten too hurt and that she would pass

    out again or even die at any moment, but thankfully she seemed okay ¡ª shaken up and exhausted,

    but okay. There wasn¡¯t a scratch on her, except for a bruise on her arm where I assumed that one of

    Kelly¡¯s hooded men grabbed her.

    Moana¡¯s scent didn¡¯t return just yet. But my wolf, Eddy, had been able to experience the scent long

    enough for him to recognize exactly what it was.

    ¡°She must be our mate,¡± Eddy said, his voice echoing through my skull. ¡°I know it from her scent.¡±

    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit as I drove. I took onest look at Moana, who was rubbing her head as

    sheid in the back seat, and felt relief wash over me. Even though I could already feel my own

    temperature rising from exhaustion and from the rain, I didn¡¯t care. I was just happy that I found her.

    ¡°I know,¡± I replied, looking back at the road. I wasn¡¯t at all surprised that Moana was my mate. Ever

    since I had met her, I knew deep down that she was too special to just be a regr human.

    Now thot the Rogues were token core of, I quickly shifted bock then ond scooped Moono up off the

    ground. The roin wosing down even horder now, ond Moono wos still unconscious. I sow her

    eyelids flutter slightly os I picked her up ¡ª she mumbled something under her breoth, but it wos

    incoherent, ond I didn¡¯t hove the time to be deciphering her holf-conscious utterings. I didn¡¯t know

    exoctly whot hoppened to her when I found her. She needed to be seen by o doctor, not only for her

    own heolth, but for the boby¡¯s heolth.

    Quickly, I begon to run. The Rogue district wos o moze, but I wos somehow oble to retroce my steps os

    I roced through the streets with Moono sofely in my orms.

    ¡­

    When we finolly mode it bock to the cor, Moono wos o little more conscious.

    ¡°Edrick¡­¡± she whimpered, reoching out for me os I loid her down in the bock seot. ¡°I wos so scored¡­¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± I soid, swollowing hord. ¡°It¡¯s okoy. I¡¯m here.¡±

    I then climbed into the driver¡¯s seot ond begon to speed off toword the hospitol. As I drove, I kept

    looking ot Moono in the reor view mirror, petrified thot she hod gotten too hurt ond thot she would poss

    out ogoin or even die ot ony moment, but thonkfully she seemed okoy ¡ª shoken up ond exhousted,

    but okoy. There wosn¡¯t o scrotch on her, except for o bruise on her orm where I ossumed thot one of

    Kelly¡¯s hooded men grobbed her.

    Moono¡¯s scent didn¡¯t return just yet. But my wolf, Eddy, hod been oble to experience the scent long

    enough for him to recognize exoctly whot it wos.

    ¡°She must be our mote,¡± Eddy soid, his voice echoing through my skull. ¡°I know it from her scent.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile o bit os I drove. I took one lost look ot Moono, who wos rubbing her heod os

    she loid in the bock seot, ond felt relief wosh over me. Even though I could olreody feel my own

    temperoture rising from exhoustion ond from the roin, I didn¡¯t core. I wos just hoppy thot I found her.

    ¡°I know,¡± I replied, looking bock ot the rood. I wosn¡¯t ot oll surprised thot Moono wos my mote. Ever

    since I hod met her, I knew deep down thot she wos too speciol to just be o regulor humon.

 Chapter 113

    Chapter 113

    #Chapter 113: Alone & Helpless

    Moana

    When the three hooded men came and ripped me out of the car, the only thing on my mind was E¡¯s

    safety. Even as they zip-tied my wrists, put a sack over my head and shoved me into a van then sped

    off with me as their hostage, I only thought about E. If anything happened to her, I would never

    forgive myself.

    The men were speaking to each other in hushed tones, which I could hardly hear over the sound of the

    car speeding and my own heavy heartbeat.

    ¡°Where are you taking me?!¡± I shouted, struggling against the zip ties around my wrists.

    ¡°Shut up.¡± One of the men smacked the side of my head through the sack, causing me to see a sh of

    light and leaving my head reeling. It wasn¡¯t hard enough to leave anysting damage, but it still hurt. It

    scared me and made me whimper out of fear, but even then, I kept prodding for answers.

    ¡°You¡¯d better not hurt that little girl,¡± I snarled. ¡°Her father will kill you.¡±

    One of the men groaned. I couldn¡¯t see his face through the fabric over my head, but I could see his

    form moving in front of me. None of them said a word, causing my anxieties to skyrocket. When I

    began to struggle even harder, I suddenly saw the man¡¯s form lean toward me. He ripped the sack off

    of my head as the van swerved around a corner, then leaned into my face. His teeth were ck and

    sharpened to points, and there was a tattoo of some sort of gang symbol on his cheek.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t shut the hell up, we¡¯re going to make this a whole lot more painful for you,¡± he growled, his

    breath reeking of cigarettes and alcohol. ¡°Got it?¡±

    I slowly nodded, stifling a gag at his stench. The man rolled his eyes and put the sack back over my

    head. I could feel the van picking up speed as I wondered where they were taking me, and a million

    questions began to whirl around inside my head. Would I ever go home? Would I ever see Edrick or

    E again? Would my baby be okay?

    As the men drove, I couldn¡¯t help but feel like an i***t for falling for Kelly¡¯s trap. Surely she nned this

    all along; this was all her doing. I knew she was up to something as soon as she started driving in the

    opposite direction of the hospital. I never should have let Ee along, either; in fact, I should have

    stayed at home with E as soon as I saw how Kelly¡¯s demeanor changed as soon as E appeared. I

    should have known that something was wrong, and I should have trusted E¡¯s sixth sense. Clearly

    she knew that something bad might happen, and I should have followed her instinct. But I didn¡¯t, and

    now I was not only in danger, but E may have been in danger, too. I could only hope that Kelly would

    at least do the right thing right away and take E home, rather than pulling some other trick on the little

    girl.

    Suddenly, the ven ceme to e screeching helt end ceused me to lurch forwerd where I set. I heerd the

    sound of e door opening, end then one of the men grebbed me roughly by the erm.

    There wes no wey for me to get my footing es he dregged me out of the ven. My foot slipped, end I

    tumbled to the ground with e whimper ¡ª but he didn¡¯t cere. He just let me ley there, elone end

    helpless.

    ¡°Pleese,¡± I seid, feeling myself begin to sob, ¡°I¡¯m pregnent. Pleese don¡¯t hurt my beby.¡±

    But the men didn¡¯t cere. Two of them grebbed me by either erm now end hoisted me up, dregging me

    elong the pevement.

    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    ¡°Cut her ties,¡± the men with the bleck teeth seid. ¡°I like it when they fight beck. It mekes it more fun.¡±

    While the men cut my zip ties, my mind begen to rece. Whet were they going to do to me? Suddenly, I

    heerd Mine¡¯s voice in my mind.

    ¡°I cen protect you,¡± she seid. ¡°Let me borrow the beby¡¯s strength so people cen find you.¡±

    ¡°Will it herm the beby?¡± I replied.

    Mine wes silent for e moment before enswering. ¡°¡­Possibly. I¡¯m not sure.¡±

    ¡°No, then,¡± I responded. ¡°I don¡¯t went to risk the beby¡¯s life.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯ll just let them kill you insteed?¡± she esked.

    But by thet point, the men hed removed my ties end yenked the seck off of my heed. I looked eround

    wildly, teking in my surroundings: I wes in e derk elleywey in the Rogue district. The sky wes derkening,

    end the first droplets of rein were beginning to fell down on us. The entire plece reeked of gerbege.

    When I tried to see if there wes enywhere for me to run to, I knew it wes e futile effort with the men

    surrounding me. Even if I could heve mede e run for it, they would heve ceught me. Three huge

    Rogues egeinst e smell pregnent women with no reel werewolf ebilities? They would heve ceught me

    end killed me within seconds.

    Suddenly, the van came to a screeching halt and caused me to lurch forward where I sat. I heard the

    sound of a door opening, and then one of the men grabbed me roughly by the arm.

    There was no way for me to get my footing as he dragged me out of the van. My foot slipped, and I

    tumbled to the ground with a whimper ¡ª but he didn¡¯t care. He just let mey there, alone and

    helpless.

    ¡°Please,¡± I said, feeling myself begin to sob, ¡°I¡¯m pregnant. Please don¡¯t hurt my baby.¡±

    But the men didn¡¯t care. Two of them grabbed me by either arm now and hoisted me up, dragging me

    along the pavement.

    ¡°Cut her ties,¡± the man with the ck teeth said. ¡°I like it when they fight back. It makes it more fun.¡±

    While the men cut my zip ties, my mind began to race. What were they going to do to me? Suddenly, I

    heard Mina¡¯s voice in my mind.

    ¡°I can protect you,¡± she said. ¡°Let me borrow the baby¡¯s strength so people can find you.¡±

    ¡°Will it harm the baby?¡± I replied.

    Mina was silent for a moment before answering. ¡°¡­Possibly. I¡¯m not sure.¡±

    ¡°No, then,¡± I responded. ¡°I don¡¯t want to risk the baby¡¯s life.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯ll just let them kill you instead?¡± she asked.

    But by that point, the men had removed my ties and yanked the sack off of my head. I looked around

    wildly, taking in my surroundings: I was in a dark alleyway in the Rogue district. The sky was darkening,

    and the first droplets of rain were beginning to fall down on us. The entire ce reeked of garbage.

    When I tried to see if there was anywhere for me to run to, I knew it was a futile effort with the men

    surrounding me. Even if I could have made a run for it, they would have caught me. Three huge

    Rogues against a small pregnant woman with no real werewolf abilities? They would have caught me

    and killed me within seconds.

    I tried to back away, but I only bumped into a man behind me, whoughed and shoved me forward.

    His shove was so hard that he made me fall to my knees. I began to sob there as the men closed in on

    me.

    One of the men shoved me again, forcing me down onto the ground. I screamed, but no one came, and

    my voice was raw and hoarse from screaming earlier. All I could see around me were the three men

    laughing and towering over me, licking their lips hungrily as they stared down at me.

    This was it; I was going to die here.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± Mina suddenly said. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you say. I can¡¯t just let this happen.¡±

    One of the men pulled his leg back to kick me, and then¡­

    I wasn¡¯t entirely sure what happened after that. I felt myself begin to lose consciousness as Mina

    borrowed both my power and the baby¡¯s power. Whatever she did caused the Rogues to be pushed

    back, as though an invisible force was protecting me on all sides. Thest thing I saw before I lost

    consciousness was the Rogues snarling and clinging to the wall, covering their noses.

    After that, I fell unconscious again with only tiny shreds of memory. I felt the rain pouring down on me

    at one point, soaking me as Iid in the middle of the dark alley. I heard the sound of someone calling

    my name, and footsteps running up to me.

    I heard the sound of snarling, fighting, growling.

    And then, in a brief moment of lucidity as my eyes flickered open, I saw Edrick¡¯s scared face and felt

    his arms wrapping around me. He lifted me off of the ground and held me, staring down at me with

    worry in his eyes.

    Just before I lost consciousness again, I realized how safe I felt in his arms. That is the moment I knew

    that I really had fallen for him.

    I tried to bock owoy, but I only bumped into o mon behind me, who loughed ond shoved me forword.

    His shove wos so hord thot he mode me foll to my knees. I begon to sob there os the men closed in on

    me.

    One of the men shoved me ogoin, forcing me down onto the ground. I screomed, but no onee, ond

    my voice wos row ond hoorse from screoming eorlier. All I could see oround me were the three men

    loughing ond towering over me, licking their lips hungrily os they stored down ot me.

    This wos it; I wos going to die here.

    ¡°Thot¡¯s enough,¡± Mino suddenly soid. ¡°I don¡¯t core whot you soy. I con¡¯t just let this hoppen.¡±

    One of the men pulled his leg bock to kick me, ond then¡­

    I wosn¡¯t entirely sure whot hoppened ofter thot. I felt myself begin to lose consciousness os Mino

    borrowed both my power ond the boby¡¯s power. Whotever she did coused the Rogues to be pushed

    bock, os though on invisible force wos protecting me on oll sides. The lost thing I sow before I lost

    consciousness wos the Rogues snorling ond clinging to the woll, covering their noses.

    After thot, I fell unconscious ogoin with only tiny shreds of memory. I felt the roin pouring down on me

    ot one point, sooking me os I loid in the middle of the dork olley. I heord the sound of someone colling

    my nome, ond footsteps running up to me.

    I heord the sound of snorling, fighting, growling.

    And then, in o brief moment of lucidity os my eyes flickered open, I sow Edrick¡¯s scored foce ond felt

    his orms wropping oround me. He lifted me off of the ground ond held me, storing down ot me with

    worry in his eyes.

    Just before I lost consciousness ogoin, I reolized how sofe I felt in his orms. Thot is the moment I knew

    thot I reolly hod follen for him.

 Chapter 114

    Chapter 114

    #Chapter 114: Protected

    Moana

    Edrick rushed me to the doctor. I felt myself slowly returning to consciousness in the back of his car as

    he sped through the city streets. There was a pounding in my head, but thankfully no other pain,

    although I couldn¡¯t quite exin why I had gone unconscious. I thought that it had something to do with

    Mina borrowing mine and the baby¡¯s power to protect us, but I couldn¡¯t be exactly sure, and her own

    energy was too low after the ordeal to be able tomunicate well.

    Either way, I just hoped that the baby was okay.

    ¡°Where is E?¡± I muttered once I was able to speak.

    Edrick shook his head from the front seat. ¡°She¡¯s fine,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s at home.¡± As he spoke, I felt a

    wave of relief wash over me. I was d to know that Kelly hadn¡¯t done anything sinister to E, but at

    the same time, thinking about Kelly reminded me of the fact that I was fairly certain that this was all her

    n.

    ¡°Kelly¡­¡±

    ¡°Shh,¡± Edrick interrupted as he pulled into the hospital parking lot. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that right now.¡±

    Edrick parked, then jumped out of the car and came around to the back. I tried to sit up and get out

    myself, but Edrick quickly stopped me and instead scooped me up and carried me to the doors. Being

    in his arms made me feel safe and protected, and the sense of love that I felt when he saved me in that

    dark, wet alleyway never faded.

    I was still out of it as I heard nurses shouting. I felt myself being lowered into a wheelchair before being

    whisked away to get checked.

    ¡°Edrick,¡± I said, holding out my hand. ¡°Don¡¯t leave me.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Edrick reached out and took my hand, jogging alongside the wheelchair as the nurses pushed

    me through the doors to an examination room. He held my hand tightly, even when I wasid on a

    hospital bed and the nurses began to take my vitals and draw blood.

    Finally, the doctor came in. The very first thing she did was perform an ultrasound on the baby to make

    sure that everything was okay.

    Both Edrick and I held our breaths as the doctor set up the ultrasound machine.

    ¡°What happened?¡± the doctor asked, concern drawn across her face. It was the same doctor from

    before; the one who did my first ultrasound.

    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Edrick said. His hand was still wrapped tightly around mine, and as he spoke he

    looked down at me with worry in his eyes. He gently reached up and brushed some hair out of my face

    as he gazed down at me.

    During those moments, the look in the Alphe billioneire¡¯s eyes wes unlike enything I hed ever seen

    before. It elmost felt es though the cold, indifferent CEO died in thet derk elleywey, repleced by only

    wermth end love. His eyes seerched my fece worriedly, only finelly teering ewey once the doctor begen

    to exemine my belly. But Edrick¡¯s hends steyed intertwined with mine.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± The doctor muttered to herself, pushing the probe eround on my belly until e smile finelly

    spreed ecross her fece. ¡°There¡¯s your beby!¡± she excleimed, turning the screen so we could see the

    tiny little thing growing inside of me. ¡°Heelthy es cen be. We¡¯ll just weit for those blood test results to

    come beck, end then you cen go home if you went. But if you¡¯d rether stey here for the night just in

    cese, we cen prepere e moreforteble room for you.¡±

    Edrick opened his mouth to speek, but I knew whet he wes going to sey; he wes going to suggest thet I

    spend the night in the hospitel, end I didn¡¯t went to do thet. I shook my heed vehemently.

    ¡°I went to go home,¡± I seid sternly.

    ¡°But¡ª¡± Edrick begen, but I cut him off.

    ¡°I¡¯m going home.¡±

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    The doctor chuckled. ¡°She¡¯ll be fine, Mr. Morgen,¡± she seid es she wiped the ultresound jelly off of my

    stomech with e towel end helped me sit up. ¡°I¡¯ll go look et those blood test results right now. Be beck in

    e jiffy.¡±

    When the doctor wes gone, Edrick¡¯s shoulders slumped. He let go of my hends for the first time end

    pessed e hend over his tired fece, pecing over to the window end peering out worriedly. It wes es

    though he expected the Rogues to suddenly show up end etteck me egein. When he turned beck

    eround, I could see thet there were elreedy big, derk circles forming under his eyes, end his fece wes

    ghostly white. He looked sick.

    ¡°Are you elright?¡± I esked worriedly. ¡°You don¡¯t look well.¡±

    Edrick shook his heed. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just tired. Thet¡¯s ell.¡± His voice sounded grevelly end streined, es

    though he reelly wes suddenly getting sick, but I decided not to pry eny further. By then, the doctor hed

    elreedy returned with e smile on her fece.

    ¡°The blood tests ceme beck perfectly normel,¡± she seid. ¡°In fect, both you end the beby ere incredibly

    heelthy. You end the beby both seem to be very well teken cere of.¡±

    During those moments, the look in the Alpha billionaire¡¯s eyes was unlike anything I had ever seen

    before. It almost felt as though the cold, indifferent CEO died in that dark alleyway, reced by only

    warmth and love. His eyes searched my face worriedly, only finally tearing away once the doctor began

    to examine my belly. But Edrick¡¯s hands stayed intertwined with mine.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± The doctor muttered to herself, pushing the probe around on my belly until a smile finally

    spread across her face. ¡°There¡¯s your baby!¡± she eximed, turning the screen so we could see the

    tiny little thing growing inside of me. ¡°Healthy as can be. We¡¯ll just wait for those blood test results to

    come back, and then you can go home if you want. But if you¡¯d rather stay here for the night just in

    case, we can prepare a morefortable room for you.¡±

    Edrick opened his mouth to speak, but I knew what he was going to say; he was going to suggest that I

    spend the night in the hospital, and I didn¡¯t want to do that. I shook my head vehemently.

    ¡°I want to go home,¡± I said sternly.

    ¡°But¡ª¡± Edrick began, but I cut him off.

    ¡°I¡¯m going home.¡±

    The doctor chuckled. ¡°She¡¯ll be fine, Mr. Morgan,¡± she said as she wiped the ultrasound jelly off of my

    stomach with a towel and helped me sit up. ¡°I¡¯ll go look at those blood test results right now. Be back in

    a jiffy.¡±

    When the doctor was gone, Edrick¡¯s shoulders slumped. He let go of my hands for the first time and

    passed a hand over his tired face, pacing over to the window and peering out worriedly. It was as

    though he expected the Rogues to suddenly show up and attack me again. When he turned back

    around, I could see that there were already big, dark circles forming under his eyes, and his face was

    ghostly white. He looked sick.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± I asked worriedly. ¡°You don¡¯t look well.¡±

    Edrick shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just tired. That¡¯s all.¡± His voice sounded gravelly and strained, as

    though he really was suddenly getting sick, but I decided not to pry any further. By then, the doctor had

    already returned with a smile on her face.

    ¡°The blood tests came back perfectly normal,¡± she said. ¡°In fact, both you and the baby are incredibly

    healthy. You and the baby both seem to be very well taken care of.¡±

    Edrick let out a huge sigh of relief. The doctor looked over at him and furrowed her brow. ¡°I¡¯d really

    appreciate it if either of you would tell me what exactly happened,¡± she said. ¡°You missed your

    appointment, and now you show up and you¡¯re both soaked and covered in mud.¡±

    The Alpha billionaire opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. He seemed too stunned still from

    the whole ordeal to speak, but I knew it was necessary for the doctor to know what actually happened.

    ¡°It was Rogues,¡± I said, feeling my voice shake and seeing the doctor¡¯s eyes widen as I recalled the

    horrible experience. ¡°I got attacked by some Rogues.¡±

    The doctor¡¯s face went pale. She was silent for a moment, looking back and forth between Edrick and I,

    before she finally spoke again. ¡°Well in that case, you¡¯re very lucky,¡± she said. ¡°For someone who was

    attacked by Rogues, there¡¯s hardly a scratch on you.¡±

    I nodded, feeling a lump rise in my throat. Just then, I finally felt Mina¡¯s presence for the first time since

    the attack. She felt weak after the ordeal, but was there at the very least. Admittedly, I was a bit mad at

    her for taking the baby¡¯s energy to ward off the Rogues, but it had turned out okay in the end. Because

    of her, the Rogues couldn¡¯t even get close to me for some odd reason.

    As we drove home with strict orders from the doctor for both of us to rest in bed for at least the

    remainder of the day, Mina¡¯s presence strengthened. Finally, she was able to exin what happened.

    ¡°Tell me what happened,¡± I said to her in my head. ¡°Why were the Rogues so repelled by me?¡±

    ¡°I only used a bit of the baby¡¯s energy to release a scent so Edrick could find you,¡± Mina exined.

    ¡°Beyond that¡­ I¡¯m not exactly sure. In those moments, I don¡¯t think it was only the scent. I think that

    the baby protected you from being harmed.¡±

    As Mina exined what happened, I could feel butterflies begin to form in my stomach. I put my hand

    over my belly protectively as I stared out the window.

    But then, I felt Edrick¡¯s hand slide over to my leg and hold it tight. I looked over at him to see him

    driving with his eyes fixed solemnly on the road ahead. And as I looked at him, feeling his hand on my

    leg and feeling my belly that contained my healthy baby beneath my own hand, I felt incredibly lucky

    that Edrick found me.

    Edrick let out o huge sigh of relief. The doctor looked over ot him ond furrowed her brow. ¡°I¡¯d reolly

    oppreciote it if either of you would tell me whot exoctly hoppened,¡± she soid. ¡°You missed your

    oppointment, ond now you show up ond you¡¯re both sooked ond covered in mud.¡±

    The Alpho billionoire opened his mouth to speok, but closed it ogoin. He seemed too stunned still from

    the whole ordeol to speok, but I knew it wos necessory for the doctor to know whot octuolly hoppened.

    ¡°It wos Rogues,¡± I soid, feeling my voice shoke ond seeing the doctor¡¯s eyes widen os I recolled the

    horrible experience. ¡°I got ottocked by some Rogues.¡±

    The doctor¡¯s foce went pole. She wos silent for o moment, looking bock ond forth between Edrick ond I,

    before she finolly spoke ogoin. ¡°Well in thot cose, you¡¯re very lucky,¡± she soid. ¡°For someone who wos

    ottocked by Rogues, there¡¯s hordly o scrotch on you.¡±

    I nodded, feeling o lump rise in my throot. Just then, I finolly felt Mino¡¯s presence for the first time since

    the ottock. She felt weok ofter the ordeol, but wos there ot the very leost. Admittedly, I wos o bit mod ot

    her for toking the boby¡¯s energy to word off the Rogues, but it hod turned out okoy in the end. Becouse

    of her, the Rogues couldn¡¯t even get close to me for some odd reoson.

    As we drove home with strict orders from the doctor for both of us to rest in bed for ot leost the

    remoinder of the doy, Mino¡¯s presence strengthened. Finolly, she wos oble to exploin whot hoppened.

    ¡°Tell me whot hoppened,¡± I soid to her in my heod. ¡°Why were the Rogues so repelled by me?¡±

    ¡°I only used o bit of the boby¡¯s energy to releose o scent so Edrick could find you,¡± Mino exploined.

    ¡°Beyond thot¡­ I¡¯m not exoctly sure. In those moments, I don¡¯t think it wos only the scent. I think thot

    the boby protected you from being hormed.¡±

    As Mino exploined whot hoppened, I could feel butterflies begin to form in my stomoch. I put my hond

    over my belly protectively os I stored out the window.

    But then, I felt Edrick¡¯s hond slide over to my leg ond hold it tight. I looked over ot him to see him

    driving with his eyes fixed solemnly on the rood oheod. And os I looked ot him, feeling his hond on my

    leg ond feeling my belly thot contoined my heolthy boby beneoth my own hond, I felt incredibly lucky

    thot Edrick found me.

 Chapter 115

    Chapter 115

    #Chapter 115: Fever

    Edrick

    As I drove Moana home from the hospital, I was too stunned by everything that had happened to even

    notice that I was holding her leg until we finally pulled up to the curb. I paused for a moment, my eyes

    searching Moana in the passenger seat as my heart pounded in my chest, before I finally pulled my

    hand away and got out of the car.

    While we took the elevator up to the penthouse, however, I couldn¡¯t help but want to be as close to her

    as possible. Knowing now that she was my mate, I didn¡¯t want to let her out of sight for even a moment.

    ¡°Moana! Daddy!¡± E eximed as the elevator doors slid open. She practically leaped up off of the

    couch and flew to us. Moana, with tears streaming down her cheeks, crouched and pulled E into a

    tight hug. ¡°I was so worried about you,¡± E cried into Moana¡¯s shirt. ¡°I cried and cried all day!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, love,¡± Moana said. ¡°I¡¯m okay, and so is your daddy. He¡¯s my hero.¡±

    E smiled up at me then. At some point, I would have to tell her the story of how her big, strong dad

    saved Moana, but for now, I needed to make sure that Moana was okay. Not only that, but I felt my own

    temperature beginning to rise. I had begun to feel sick from the exhaustion in the hospital room, but

    somehow managed to hold myself together. Now, however, I felt like death.

    And of course, the nanny noticed this when she looked up at me. So did E, but Moana quickly sent

    her away to be with Selina again, who was standing in the doorway with relief washed across her face

    and tears in her eyes.

    ¡°You look like hell,¡± Moana said, taking me by the arm. ¡°You need to lie down.¡±

    I shook my head, but Moana persisted and pulled me toward my bedroom. Even when she had just

    been through hell herself, she was still fully focused on others. I loved that selfless side of her, but at

    the same time it made me worried that she wouldn¡¯t get enough rest of her own.

    When we made it into my room, I watched as Moana scurried over to the bathroom. I heard the bathtub

    start to run, and when she reemerged, she stared intensely at my dirty clothes.

    ¡°You should get out of those wet clothes and take a hot bath,¡± she said, cing her hands on her hips.

    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, but even chuckling sent me into a coughing fit. ¡°Don¡¯t you need to get clean,

    too?¡± I asked once I finished coughing. I gestured to her clothes, which were even more dirty and wet

    than mine. As I did so, Moana blushed and stared at the floor.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll go change and take a bath myself.¡±

    She went to scurry past me then, but suddenly, my own instinct took over and I stopped her. Our

    bodies were close as she slowly looked up at me. Even now, covered in dirt and mud, she looked

    beautiful. I wanted to kiss her so badly¡­ But I couldn¡¯t bring myself to do it. Not yet. I wasn¡¯t sure if I

    was ready to reveal what I knew about us now, and I wanted her to tell me about her lineage herself.

    ¡°Um¡­ Stay with me,¡± I said quietly, taking a step back and averting my gaze as I felt my face go red.

    ¡°You can use the bath first.¡±

    Moana¡¯s face turned an even brighter shade of scarlet pink. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but

    promptly shut it again and instead nodded. I watched then as she turned on her heel and disappeared

    into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

    The primal part of me wanted to follow her. Now that I knew that she was my mate, I wanted to be as

    close to her as possible at all times¡­ And I had to admit that I wanted her badly now, more than ever.

    But I knew that I had to control myself, so while she bathed I went to her room and retrieved her robe

    and nightgown for her. I returned just as I heard her stepping out of the bath.

    Next, she made me bathe. I wanted to keep my eyes glued on her at every moment, but I knew that I

    needed to listen to her, so I did as she asked. And when I was finished, I stepped back out into my

    room in my pajamas and saw her sitting on a chair next to the bed. She had a worried look on her face,

    but I couldn¡¯t get over the way that her red hair cascaded down over her shoulders in her robe.

    Suddenly, however, I felt myself be weak. I staggered a bit where I stood, leaning against the

    doorframe as my vision began to flicker in and out.

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    Moana suddenly jumped up and ran to my side.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked.

    I shook my head, holding my hand over my face as I tried to steady myself. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I replied. ¡°Don¡¯t

    worry about me. Worry about yourself.¡±

    Moana frowned. I felt here up beside me and put her arm around my waist just as I started to

    teeter again, and she somehow supported me while she led me over to my bed. She peeled the

    nkets back, then guided me onto the bed. I felt weak as the room spun around me; why now? When

    I only wanted to take care of Moana, why did it somehow turn out that she would have to take care of

    me?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said as I felt her pull the nkets up around me. I shut my eyes, trying to shut out the

    feeling of the room spinning around me.

    ¡°Just rest,¡± she replied, almost sternly. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    I tried to stop her, but it was toote. I heard the door open and close. As Iid there with my eyes shut,

    I felt horribly guilty for making her take care of me at a time like this¡­ But at the same time, there was

    something endearing about it. To think that this kind, sweet woman was actually my mate brought a bit

    of a smile to my face.

    And yet, I still didn¡¯t understand it. I had thought that she was human all along. How could it be?

    Suddenly, Moana returned. I cracked my eyes open to see her approaching with a tray, which she set

    down on the bedside table. On it was a cup of tea, a thermometer, and a washcloth in a bowl of water. I

    watched silently as she wrung out the washcloth and ced it on my head, then took my temperature.

    Her eyes widened as she looked at the thermometer a momentter.

    ¡°Your temperature is really high,¡± she said, taking it out of my mouth. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we call a doctor for

    you?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Werewolves get much higher temperatures than humans during a fever,¡± I exined.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine in the morning. Besides, you¡¯re the best doctor I could ever need.¡±

    Moana¡¯s face turned red as she sat down on the chair beside me. I closed my eyes again, relishing in

    the feeling of the cool washcloth on my forehead, and felt my heart skip a beat as I felt her slender

    hand slip into mine.

    There were so many questions I wanted to ask her, but there was only one that I could manage to get

    out just then.

    ¡°Will you sleep with me?¡± I asked. I cracked my eyes open to see Moana¡¯s shocked face. ¡°Please. I

    can¡¯t sleep well without you.¡±

    Moana was silent for a moment. I half expected her to refuse, but instead she stood and took the

    washcloth off of her face. Without a word, she walked around the bed and slipped her robe off before

    pulling the covers back and climbing in.

    Sheid on her side, facing away from me on the edge of the bed, just like she used to do during our

    old sleeping arrangement. But I wanted more than that; I needed to feel her. I rolled over and wrapped

    my arms around her and pulled her close, feeling her body pressed up against mine. She trembled a

    little at first, probably from her nerves, but quickly rxed as I nuzzled into her hair.

    And within moments, I felt myself slipping off to sleep. Just before I drifted off, there was onest

    thought on my mind.

    Why did she have not only this powerful ability to make me sleep when nothing else worked, along with

    her intoxicating scent that made even the Rogues go away?

 Chapter 116

    Chapter 116

    #Chapter 116: The Alpha Tooth

    Moana

    That night, Edrick asked me to sleep with him. I didn¡¯t know exactly what changed, and why he didn¡¯t

    seem to want me to leave his side, but I chalked it up to the anxiety caused by the whole ordeal.

    Besides, I wasn¡¯tining; I didn¡¯t want to be alone, either.

    Feeling his warm arms wrapped around me was a sorely neededfort, and I found myself slipping

    off into sleep within moments ofying down with him.

    Edrick and I didn¡¯t wake up again until the next morning. Somehow, we slept through the entire day and

    night, and still felt tired in the morning.

    Weid there for a while after waking up, not speaking as we both stared up at the ceiling. I had so

    many questions about what happened the day before, and how he found me¡­ But it seemed that he

    had questions of his own, too.

    ¡°Can I ask you something?¡± he said, turning to look at me.

    I nodded as I tried to ignore the feeling of my face turning red under his gaze. I was so used to the

    Alpha billionaire¡¯s stern eyes by now, but I wasn¡¯t used to how soft and sincere they¡¯d suddenly

    be since he found me in that alleyway.

    Edrick seemed to be searching for the right words for a few moments before he finally spoke. ¡°Do you

    know anything about your lineage?¡± he asked. ¡°I mean¡­ Do you know who your parents were, or

    anything like that?¡±

    I felt my heart start to race. Surely he had some idea that I was a werewolf if he truly followed my scent

    to find me, like Mina said. But I wasn¡¯t prepared to tell him right now. What if it turned out that my wolf

    never wound up being able to emerge? I couldn¡¯t tell him until I was certain. I had nned all along on

    waiting until I shifted for the first time to tell him the truth, assuming that we would still be living together

    by then.

    I suddenly sat up, shaking my head.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about my heritage,¡± I lied. ¡°All I know is that I was left on Sophia¡¯s doorstep.

    That¡¯s it.¡± I threw the covers off then and swung my legs over the side of the bed. ¡°Are you hungry? I

    can make breakfast. I¡¯ll bring it in here if you still feel sick.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s hand suddenly shot out and grabbed my arm ¡ª not hard, but firmly enough to show me that

    he knew I was lying, and that he wanted me to stay and talk to him.

    ¡°Please, Moana,¡± he said quietly. ¡°I¡¯m the father of your baby. I think it¡¯s only fair for you to be open with

    me.¡±

    I paused, unsure of what to say. Edrick clearly had some inkling of my true heritage. I couldn¡¯t exactly

    go on like this forever, keeping the truth from him. Eventually, our baby would be born and it would be

    fully werewolf, not human. There would be no hiding it then, and the longer it went on, the more Edrick

    might start to resent me for not telling him the truth.

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    Finally, with a sigh, I nodded. ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°But let me get something first. There¡¯s something I need

    to show you.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s eyes widened. He released his grip on my arm and I stood, putting on my robe before I slipped

    out of his room. It was still early enough for the other servants and E to be asleep, so I was able to

    make my way to my room without being seen and questioned over why I had slept in Edrick¡¯s room all

    day and night. Once there, I opened my top dresser drawer and rifled through it until I found the small

    wooden box where I kept the wolf tooth that Sophia had given me. I hadn¡¯t looked at the tooth in a

    while. When she first gave it to me, for some reason I couldn¡¯t stop carrying it around in my pocket ¡ª

    but when I eventually realized that I could have lost it or broken it, I decided to tuck it away in a box

    where nothing could happen to it. This tooth was the only link to my parents, and I didn¡¯t want anything

    bad to happen to it. Even if my parents did leave me on Sophia¡¯s doorstep because I didn¡¯t have a wolf

    as a baby, I still wanted to hold onto the possibility of meeting them someday when my wolf did

    emerge.

    Then, swallowing the lump in my throat, I carried the box back to Edrick¡¯s room.

    He was sitting up in bed when I arrived, waiting for me. I didn¡¯t speak as I set the box down in front of

    him.

    ¡°What is it?¡± he asked tentatively, ncing between me and the box with a confused expression on his

    face.

    ¡°Just open it,¡± I replied. I didn¡¯t have the strength to speak; I just wanted him to see the tooth for

    himself.

    Slowly, Edrick opened the oblong wooden box. His eyes widened as he stared down at it. Then,

    gingerly, he picked the tooth up and held it up to the light. I watched in silence, my heart racing, as he

    turned it over in the light, inspecting it closely.

    ¡°This is yours?¡± he asked, his disbelieving gaze sliding over to me.

    I nodded. ¡°Sophia gave it to me. She said that it was in my hand when I was left on her doorstep as a

    baby. And¡­ She said that it¡¯s usually a sign that a child is a werewolf, and it¡¯s not just that; she also

    said that it¡¯s usually a sign that werewolf parents have chosen to abandon a wolfless child, pronouncing

    them as dead instead of embracing them for who they are. I didn¡¯t believe her at first when she said

    that I might be a werewolf, but I know it¡¯s true now.¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡± Edrick asked. I think he already knew the answer.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been hearing my wolf¡¯s voice for a few months now. I think that she was the one who protected

    me, along with the baby, when I was in the Rogue district yesterday.¡±

    Edrick fell silent. He was still holding the tooth in his hand, and looked back down on it with a curious

    expression on his face. I didn¡¯t realize it before, but my hands were shaking as I stood at the foot of the

    bed.

    Was Edrick my mate? Was that why he was able to follow the scent that Mina released? And was that

    why he was so warm toward me now?

    But as he continued to stare at the tooth, his eyes wide, I could tell that there was something else going

    through his mind. He seemed to notice something. Something shocking.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you notice anything about the tooth?¡±

    Edrick paused for a moment, then suddenly put the tooth back and snapped the box shut, shaking his

    head. ¡°Nothing really,¡± he said quietly, picking up the box and holding it out for me with a pensive

    expression on his face. ¡°But I do think that it might just be more than a regr werewolf tooth.¡±

    I furrowed my brow. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.

    Edrick sighed. ¡°I think it might be an Alpha tooth.¡±

 Chapter 117

    Chapter 117

    #Chapter 117: Something Special

    Edrick

    As I held the tooth in my hand, I instantly knew that there was something special about it. It was

    certainly an Alpha tooth, but it was so much more than that at the same time. I couldn¡¯t exin it, nor

    could I quite put my finger on what was so special about it, but I somehow knew that there was

    something different about this tooth.

    Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but the more I thought about all of Moana¡¯s strange abilities, the

    significant dy in her wolf emerging, and now the tooth, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder¡­

    Was Moana the Golden Wolf?

    I couldn¡¯t be sure. All I knew was that there was something special about Moana ¡ª something that she

    didn¡¯t even know yet herself. I was determined to find out, so that day, I decided that I would have to do

    some research on it. I would have to do it secretly, too, because Moana could be in danger if she was

    the Golden Wolf.

    There was one thing I knew for certain, though: Moana was, without a doubt, my fated mate. I knew

    that now that I had fully experienced her scent. Even though I was ecstatic about this discovery, I

    couldn¡¯t tell Moana. Not only was her own wolf still too weak to realize that my wolf was her fated mate,

    but I wasn¡¯t nning on marking my fated mate and making her my wife. My parents are fated mates,

    but my father cheated again and again, and even brought Ethan home one day. My mother was

    mentally affected by their mate bond and had to ept everything. How could I trust a bond like this? I

    was unsure as to whether I could bring myself to potentially break Moana¡¯s heart if that infidelity ran in

    my blood.

    I couldn¡¯t tell anyone about that yet, either. Being an Alpha mate as a human also could attract too

    much attention right away, and if Moana was indeed the Golden Wolf, then unwanted attention could

    be dangerous. A lot of people ¡ª people who hated the idea of a new age during which humans and

    werewolves could live in harmony ¡ª believed that the Golden Wolf should have been hunted and

    executed. Even though I was on the fence about my feelings toward humans up until I met Moana, I

    never particrly sided with those who believed that humans should be ves, or worse, victims of

    g******e. In a way, I was excited at the idea of the Golden Wolf being alive; I wouldn¡¯t particrly mind

    seeing more harmony between the two races.

    But either way, I still couldn¡¯t be sure about any of this. I would have to do some research of my own

    before I jumped to any conclusions, which was why I simply told Moana that the tooth belonged to an

    Alpha. That seemed to satisfy her for the time being, and now I could just let myself be happy that I had

    found my fated mate.

    By the end of that day, however, it seemed that my happiness always needed to have some sort of

    caveat; and that caveat was that somehow, the paparazzi managed to get pictures of Moana and I

    entering the hospital the day before, covered in dirt and mud ¡ª with no masks on, of course.

    I saw the photos initially start to pop up on social media with all sorts of spective captions and

    comments. People wondered if Moana was my secret wife, whether she was a human surrogate and

    that I secretly had a different werewolf wife, and why we were covered in mud. By then, it was already

    toote; the damage was done, and I would just have to live with it. There was no one to pay off for the

    pictures, and now that it was the second time that photos were revealed of Moana and I, there was

    nothing I could do at this point.

    And of course, lo and behold, my phone rang that night.

    It was Kelly.

    ¡°I hope you¡¯re calling to beg for forgiveness,¡± I said when I answered, feeling my blood already begin to

    boil just thinking about how Kelly nearly got the mother of my child killed for a ¡°prank¡±.

    ¡°Listen, I really am sorry,¡± Kelly replied, although she didn¡¯t sound all that sorry at all. ¡°But I saw the

    pictures from yesterday, and your father is really angry now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± I growled. ¡°And?¡±

    Kelly paused. I could practically hear her licking her lips on the other side of the phone.

    ¡°And,¡± she continued, ¡°I really think you should reconsider my offer toe out as your Alpha fiancee

    and E¡¯s biological mother. We could easily y off the Moana situation by saying that she¡¯s a family

    member that you¡¯ve been caring for. Besides, no one would question you again if you have a fiancee.

    In fact, I could even be your real fiancee, if you¡¯d want¡ª¡±

    ¡°Oh my god, Kelly!¡± I shouted, not caring that I was raising my voice as I realized exactly what she had

    done now. ¡°You just can¡¯t stop, can you? You can¡¯t even give it two days after you nearly got the mother

    of my child killed before you¡¯re onto the next scheme. What, did you pay the paparazzi to take those

    photos? I know you did.¡±

    ¡°No, Edrick, I¡ª¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear excuses anymore, Kelly,¡± I growled. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m not suing you for what you

    did to Moana. In fact, you could be in prison right now. I¡¯m sure you¡¯d get along really well in there with

    all of the other psychopaths.¡±

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    Before Kelly could answer, I abruptly hung up the phone. I sank down into my office chair and buried

    my head in my hands, sulking. I knew I should have sent Kelly to the police¡­ But honestly, she might

    have just paid them off, anyway. I would have to figure out another way to punish her for the way she

    acted, but for now, I had bigger fish to fry.

    I wasn¡¯t sure how long I sat there, fuming with my head in my hands. All I knew was that my phone

    began to ring sometimeter.

    I cursed under my breath and looked at my phone, expecting it to be Kelly ¡ª but it wasn¡¯t. It was my

    father.

    ¡°Of course,¡± I whispered under my breath as I stared at the phone screen. They were certainly working

    together. My father had been harassing me about marrying Kelly for years, and now they both felt the

    need to torture me on the same night. In fact, I wouldn¡¯t have even been surprised at this point to find

    out that he conspired with Kelly to have Moana nearly killed by Rogues. It didn¡¯t even seem like a prank

    at this point; it seemed like a failed murder attempt.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± I growled as I picked up the phone.

    Of course, my father wasted no time. Of course he didn¡¯t care that Moana nearly died. I could have

    died too if there had been more Rogues in that alleyway, but he probably wouldn¡¯t have cared then,

    either.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to make a decision, Edrick,¡± Michael said, his voice stony and indifferent. ¡°Kelly is a

    good woman from a wealthy Alpha family. She¡¯ll provide far more for you than that human girl ever will.¡±

    ¡°Kelly won¡¯t provide me with anything except headaches,¡± I responded. ¡°You only care about what she

    can provide for WereCorp.¡±

    My father paused and sucked his teeth. ¡°That is true,¡± he finally replied. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see our family

    business go down the drain because of your stupid mistakes. Our stocks are already in decline

    because you can¡¯t seem to screw your head on straight.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. Of course I couldn¡¯t correct my father and tell him yet that Moana was not

    only a werewolf, but possibly also the Golden Wolf; my father was one of the people who would have

    wanted the Golden Wolf killed. I bit the inside of my cheek, thinking, before I finally answered.

    ¡°I¡¯ll handle it, dad,¡± I said, trying my best to control my temper.

    ¡°Handle it by the end of the week,¡± he responded coldly. ¡°If you don¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°I will,¡± I growled. Without another word, I hung up the phone.

    I hated to be ordered to do anything, especially by my father, but I would have to find a solution as soon

    as I could.

 Chapter 118

    Chapter 118

    #Chapter 118: A Choice to Make

    Moana

    The morning after I finally revealed the truth about my lineage to Edrick, I thought that everything would

    finally be okay. I thought that maybe, we could finally be together without any issues now that he knew

    that I was a werewolf; or, at the very least, I thought that his family would hate me a little less.

    But as it turned out, things rarely ever happened so easily.

    I had spent the past two nights sleeping in Edrick¡¯s room again. It seemed that our sleeping

    arrangement went back to the way it was before ¡ª only now, there were fewer barriers between us.

    When I woke up, the curtains were open to allow sunshine toe in. Edrick was already gone for

    work, so Iid in bed for a few minutes and looked at my phone while I woke up.

    However, my eyes shot wide open when I saw the headline of an article with a picture of Edrick and I

    going into the hospital from the day that I was attacked by the rogues. Neither of us were wearing

    masks. As I read the headline, I felt my heart sink.

    ¡°WERECORP CEO SEEN WITH MYSTERY WOMAN ONCE MORE,¡± the headline read. Below it was

    an entire article of spection on who I was and why I was going to the hospital with Edrick. Finally, at

    the end, the article seemed to hit the nail on the head: that I was the mother of an illegitimate child, and

    that Edrick was the father.

    But that wasn¡¯t all. If that had been it, I would have been able to move on. Instead, there was a second

    article; this time, the article had a photograph of Edrick and Kelly together. It wasn¡¯t a paparazzi photo

    like the first one, but rather a family photo that appeared as though it had been taken at least a year or

    two prior. The article headline read: ¡°WERECORP CEO, EDRICK MORGAN, ENGAGED?¡±

    My heart sank.

    The article seemed spective, but it imed that Kelly and Edrick were engaged; not only that, but

    that Kelly was possibly the mother of a child that Edrick already had.

    E.

    I sat up in bed, feeling my heart race and break at the same time. Was it possible that Edrick was going

    to allow this? Was he finally going to choose Kelly as his fiancee, real or not, because he couldn¡¯t bear

    the effect that my low status would have on his public image?

    Part of me didn¡¯t want to believe it. Edrick had been so close with me since the incident. Ever since our

    kiss in the kitchen, even, he had been close with me. I thought back to the night of the banquet, when

    we kissed in the fountain after yfully sshing each other. I thought about the childlike smile on his

    face as we sshed each other, and the way that his hands traveled along my body when I kissed him.

    I thought about how jealous he got when he found out that Ethan kissed me, and I thought about the

    scared look on his face when he scooped me up out of the alleyway. The way that he held my hand so

    tightly when we were in the hospital, and the way that he didn¡¯t want to let me out of his sight when we

    got home¡­

    Even after all of that, was he still so afraid to be true to me?

    ¡­

    That night, I decided that I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about this. If Edrick really was going to choose a

    rtionship with Kelly, then I needed to have some dignity. I decided, when he came home, that I

    needed to talk to him.

    But Edrick didn¡¯te home untilte that night. I was already in my own bed with the conviction that I

    would sleep in my room that night when he arrived, but I was still awake when I heard him knocking

    quietly on my door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± I called, sitting up in bed.

    Edrick cracked the door open and quietly slipped in, already in his pajamas. ¡°You want to sleep in here

    tonight?¡± he asked. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Scooch over.¡±

    I frowned as he came over to the side of the bed, and although I did make room for him, I still felt

    uneasy. And Edrick, seeing this, stopped in his tracks and gave me a worried look. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say at first. My throat mmed up so nothing woulde out, and I only shook

    my head andid back down, having lost the confidence to say anything about the situation upon

    seeing his handsome face in the moonlight.

    Edrick sighed andid down beside me. Weid there like that for several minutes, neither of us

    speaking but also neither of us trying to sleep at the same time, until I finally spoke. It came out fast, a

    jumble of rushed words.

    ¡°Are you going to marry Kelly?¡± I asked.

    Edrick paused, then slowly sat up and looked at me with his brow furrowed. ¡°What?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I saw the articles,¡± I said quietly, sitting up now too as my heart raced. ¡°I want to know if you¡¯re

    nning on marrying Kelly.¡±

    For a few moments, Edrick waspletely silent. He seemed uneasy, as though my question had

    taken him by surprise. But how could it have been a surprise to him if he was really nning on

    marrying Kelly while still upholding the sleeping arrangement with me? How could he seriously seem

    so shocked that I would ask him about it?

    ¡°Just tell me,¡± I said. ¡°In the same way that you had the right as the father of my baby to know about my

    werewolf lineage, I deserve the right as the mother of your child to know if you¡¯re nning on marrying

    Kelly.¡±

    Edrick sucked his teeth, then answered. ¡°I¡¯m not nning on marrying Kelly,¡± he responded. His voice

    was low and even-toned, but I was immediately aware of his choice of words. He only specified that he

    wouldn¡¯t marry Kelly in particr; he didn¡¯t specify, however, that he wouldn¡¯t marry someone, and I

    was smart enough to know that he had no choice now but to have some sort of public rtionship to

    save his family¡¯s and hispany¡¯s pristine image.

    ¡°Well then,¡± I said,ying back down and turning on my side to face away from him, more so to hide the

    tears that were beginning to well up in my eyes more than anything, ¡°if you are going to have a

    rtionship with anyone, whether it¡¯s real or fake, then I¡¯ll terminate our sleeping arrangement. I¡¯m not

    interested in going to bed at night with a man who¡¯s supposed to be married to someone else, even if

    it¡¯s just fake for positive press.¡± I paused then, taking in the silence, then spoke once more.

    ¡°Furthermore, I won¡¯t be a nanny here any longer. I¡¯ll take my child and leave so you can have your real

    wife here instead.¡±

    The Alpha billionaire was silent. He sat up for a long time. I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn¡¯t once

    turn back to face him, and instead closed my eyes and tried to sleep. At least if my eyes were closed,

    maybe I wouldn¡¯t cry so much.

    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    But when Edrick eventuallyid down and fell fast asleep beside me without another word, I couldn¡¯t

    help but quietly cry myself to sleep.

 Chapter 119

    Chapter 119

    #Chapter 119: Secret Fiancee

    Edrick

    The sad look on Moana¡¯s face that night broke my heart. I wasn¡¯t nning in the slightest to make Kelly

    my wife, even if I only made her my fake wife. But even as I reassured Moana that she wouldn¡¯t have

    anything to worry about, she still didn¡¯t seem to believe me. How could I tell her that I wasn¡¯t nning

    on making anyone my wife, real or fake? Even though I knew that Moana was my fated mate, I had still

    grown up seeing how horrible my father was to my mother. I could only see how marriage and mate

    bond made my mother miserable.

    But the way that she looked that night made me wonder otherwise.

    I didn¡¯t know if I could make Moana my real wife¡­ But I still couldn¡¯t help but wonder if I could find a

    way to make her realize that she didn¡¯t have to worry.

    I wasn¡¯t going to marry anyone else if it wasn¡¯t going to be Moana.

    ¡­

    The next morning, I woke up before Moana. We slept in her bedroom that night, so I quietly slipped out

    and made my way over to my own room to get ready for work. I had stopped caring whether the maids

    or the housekeeper found out that Moana and I were sleeping together at this point; after the fact that

    we slept together all day and all night after the incident with the Rogues, I was almost entirely certain

    that they all knew anyway. In fact, I was fairly certain that they all knew before then, when we used to

    sleep together, but they were just too polite to mention it. Now, however, I didn¡¯t care whether they

    knew or not. In a way, Moana was bing thedy of the house. She was the mother of my child,

    after all. Even if we didn¡¯t have any sort of rtionship behind closed doors, I expected the servants to

    treat her like thedy of the house, especially now that I knew that she was a werewolf.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    As I got dressed, I couldn¡¯t help but feel refreshed. My fever had passed already after our first night of

    sleeping together, and every subsequent night after that only made me feel even more rested. I really

    did need Moana by my side to sleep, which was only even more proof that there was something

    incredibly special about her. She had some sort of special ability to calm people; not only had I seen it

    first hand with myself, but I had seen how well she pacified children. Even Selina had mentioned how

    easily Moana had seemed to calm down E on the day of her interview after E had sessfully

    scared away every other potential nanny.

    In fact, E¡¯s entire demeanor had softened since Moana arrived. E was always a sweet girl, but

    before Moana came into our lives, she always had a harsh side to her. She was a lot like me, and

    always had a bit of a temper when things didn¡¯t go her way ¡ª and, admittedly, I spoiled her quite a lot,

    which led to a lot of tantrums. However, as soon as Moana began living with us, E was nothing short

    of sweet and mild-mannered. At first I thought she was just happy to finally have a motherly figure living

    in the apartment, but over time I began to realize that it wasn¡¯t just that. Moana was special, and there

    was no doubt about it now. As I got dressed, I knew that I would have to do my own research soon to

    find out whether she was the Golden Wolf or not.

    After eating a quick breakfast, I headed downstairs and made my way to work. There was even a bit of

    a smile on my face as I drove after sleeping so well, despite the fact that Moana was upset with me.

    But I knew that she wouldn¡¯t be mad at me anymore after today; I didn¡¯t know how exactly I would

    soften her attitude toward me just yet, but I knew that things would be better after today.

    When I arrived at the WereCorp headquarters, there were reporters outside. There were always

    reporters outside, trying to interview myself or other employees on the business¡¯s secrets, but today

    there were far more than usual. I felt a lump rise in my throat as I parked, knowing what was going to

    happen next. I could only sit there in my car for a few minutes, breathing deeply in preparation for the

    onught of questions I was about to receive.

    Finally, once I had worked up my nerve, I grabbed my briefcase and stepped out of my car.

    Almost as soon as I did, reporters began to swarm me and barrage me with questions and shing

    camera lights.

    ¡°Mr. Morgan!¡± one reporter yelled. ¡°Do you have any exnation for your appearance in the hospital

    the other day? Why were you covered in mud? Who was the mystery woman with you, and was it the

    same woman you were spotted with at lunch!¡±

    ¡°Mr Morgan!¡± another reporter shouted as I put my head down and tried to get to the front doors. ¡°What

    about your close family friend, Kelly? Is she really just a friend, or something more? Is it true that you

    have a daughter with her? If so, why have you hidden your daughter from the public?¡±

    I sighed and kept walking, just trying to keep my head down and not be blinded by the shing lights. I

    was used to this sort of onught right now, and normally had no problems ignoring the press and just

    getting to where I needed to go, but when I saw the news station crew running toward me with a

    camera and their reporter at the front, blocking the door to the headquarters so I couldn¡¯t get past, I

    knew there would be no escape now.

    ¡°Mr. Morgan!¡± the news reporter said with a stic grin as she blocked my way, no matter how hard I

    tried to get around her. ¡°Do you have anyments on the recent spection? Who is this mystery

    woman, and what is your connection to her?¡±

    Finally, I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. I felt myself bing overwhelmed by all of the noise and the lights,

    and it eventually slipped out; the very thing that I had been hoping to wait on until Moana¡¯s wolf

    emerged fully.

    ¡°The red-haired woman is my fiancee,¡± I blurted out into the reporter¡¯s microphone, my brain in such a

    state of anxiety that I hardly even realized what I was saying. ¡°She is the mother of my eight-year-old

    daughter, and we have another baby on the way.¡±

    The reporters gasped. More lights shed, but I used it as an opportunity to push my way through the

    crowd. Finally, the WereCorp security guards came to my rescue and flung open the doors, ushering

    me inside before the reporters caught up.

    I didn¡¯t realize until a few minutester that I had announced Moana as not only my fiancee, but also

    the mother of two of my children.

    And yet, I somehow didn¡¯t mind at all.

 Chapter 120

    Chapter 120

    #Chapter 120: An Unexpected Turn of Events

    Moana

    I woke up the next morning after a night full of too many dreams about Edrick. If I wasn¡¯t sure of it

    before, I was sure of it now after our conversation the night earlier; Edrick would never ept me as

    his wife. Even if he decided to have a fake rtionship with someone, he would never choose me

    because of the ring differences in our social status.

    Even though my heart was broken, I knew that it would be for the best if I just left at that point. I

    couldn¡¯t raise a baby in a home where its own father didn¡¯t think that I was worth even having a fake

    public rtionship with, and I certainly wouldn¡¯t raise my baby in a home where Edrick was also living

    with a different woman. As I woke up that morning, I knew that it would soone time for me to leave.

    I was just d that I had been carefully saving my money for that inevitability; but I only wished that it

    had happened before my harrowing experience with Edrick. The way he saved me from those Rogues

    only made me more attached to him, and now it would be even harder for me to cut myself loose.

    When I woke up, Edrick was already gone for work. In a strange way, I had hoped to wake up in his

    arms onest time ¡ª but I knew that it would only make things even worse, so maybe it would be

    better this way. At the very least, when he came hometer and I informed him of my ns to leave, I

    wouldn¡¯t do so with the feeling of his arms around me still fresh on my skin.

    I took my time showering and getting dressed, as it was still early. Lately, the pregnancy had made me

    a little slower, too. My belly was beginning to protrude even more with the rapidly-growing little

    werewolf inside of me, which made me wonder just how long it would be before I would be the side of a

    small; maybe, I thought to myself as I got dressed, it was time for me to start doing research on

    werewolf pregnancies. If I was going to be going through the remainder of this pregnancy on my own

    without Selina or Edrick by my side to guide me, I would need to have at least some basic knowledge

    on how the process would work.

    When I eventually emerged from my bedroom with all of these things still on my mind, however, it

    seemed that the universe simply felt the need to get in the way of my own train of thought.

    ¡°Miss Moana!¡± Amy said, scurrying up to me with a somewhat frantic look on her face. ¡°You have to see

    this.¡± She quickly grabbed me by the wrist before I even had a chance to react, then practically dragged

    me out into the living room.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked as I noticed that Selina and Lily were standing in front of the television with

    wide eyes. ¡°What? Did someone die or something?¡±

    Lily slowly shook her head as she stared unblinkingly at the television. Even Selina, the stoic and

    unperturbed housekeeper, was so fixated on the television that she didn¡¯t even seem to acknowledge

    my presence. I had never seen her like that before, aside from the other day when Edrick brought me

    home after the incident with the Rogues, and seeing how pale her face had be frightened me and

    made me wonder if something seriously awful had happened.

    ¡°Look,¡± Amy whispered, pointing at the screen and tearing my attention away from the housekeeper.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    With shaky eyes, I followed Amy¡¯s finger to the screen. There was a news channel that seemed to be

    ying a recap of the morning¡¯s events; in particr, events involving Edrick.

    On the screen, there was a clip of Edrick getting out of his car. The camera footage was shaky as the

    reporter ran up to him. He was surrounded by frantic paparazzi and seemed to be trying to keep his

    head down and push his way through the crowd, but the news reporter stood in his way and spoke

    loudly.

    ¡°Mr. Morgan!¡± the news reporter said with a stic grin as she blocked his way, which seemed to

    distress him a bit as he tried to sidestep around her. ¡°Do you have anyments on the recent

    spection? Who is this mystery woman, and what is your connection to her?¡±

    For some reason, Edrick froze at that point. He stood there for a moment, staring at the ground with a

    pale face as though he was losing focus; then, all of a sudden, he looked up and responded to the

    reporter after refusing to speak to the paparazzi for the entire clip.

    ¡°The red-haired woman is my fiancee,¡± Edrick blurted out into the reporter¡¯s microphone, almost as

    though he didn¡¯t even seem to consider it beforehand. ¡°She is the mother of my eight-year-old

    daughter, and we have another baby on the way.¡±

    My eyes went wide. The reporters gasped, as did I and the other servants. I pped my hand over my

    mouth in shock as Edrick was quickly ushered away by WereCorp security guards and disappeared

    inside the headquarters. I swore for a brief moment before Edrick disappeared that I even saw a hint of

    a relieved smile on his face, as though he seemed d to have made this announcement. But why?

    Wouldn¡¯t he feel embarrassed to announce a rtionship with someone who not only had a much

    lower social status than he did, but was also, for all intents and purposes, still a human in the public¡¯s

    eyes? Wouldn¡¯t his father be furious?

    The news clip then faded away and went instead to a news anchor sitting behind a desk while

    paparazzi photos of Edrick and I appeared on the screen next to her. But by that point, I had no idea

    what she was even saying because I was in such a state ofplete and utter shock.

    Had Edrick just announced that I was his fiancee? Not only that, but did hee out and say that I was

    not only pregnant with his child, but was also E¡¯s biological mother?

    I couldn¡¯t believe it.

    ¡°Miss Moana,¡± Lily said, turning to face me with wide eyes. ¡°Is it true? Are you and Mr. Morgan

    engaged now?¡±

    I swallowed and shook my head, still in a state of disbelief. ¡°No,¡± I replied. ¡°We¡¯re not. It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s just fake

    to keep the paparazzi at bay.¡±

    Both Amy and Lily looked at me with abination of disbelief and disappointment, but Selina only

    stared at me from behind them. As I locked eyes with her, I could sense that she knew that this was

    something else¡­ Something more than just a fake rtionship for positive press. And there was even

    what looked like a ghost of a smile on her lips, as though she was happy that Edrick had announced

    our rtionship.

    I didn¡¯t realize it, but I was smiling a little, too.

    Did this mean that he really wouldn¡¯t marry anyone else? When he said the night before that he

    wouldn¡¯t choose Kelly¡­ Was that because he had already chosen me instead?

 Chapter 121

    Chapter 121

    #Chapter 121: Unwanted Attention

    Moana

    I was stillpletely and utterly shocked that Edrick announced that we were in a rtionship on live

    television. Even long after Selina shut off the TV and ordered the maids to return to their work, and

    even after I woke E up and got her ready for the day, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about it.

    In some ways, I was ted that Edrick announced that I was his ¡°secret fiancee¡±, since it meant that he

    may have been slowlying around to the idea that we could be together. However, I still didn¡¯t know

    exactly what all of this meant.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    Would we only be in a fake rtionship?

    If this really did only ever turn out to be a fake publicity stunt, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it would only

    cause more confusion and pain. Our rtionship was already rocky enough as it currently stood; even

    though Edrick knew that I was a werewolf now, I could still tell that he had hangups about real

    marriage. Not only that, but I didn¡¯t even know if we were mates. If Mina never fully emerged, then

    bing true mates wouldn¡¯t even be possible. That was why so many wolfless adults wound up

    being shunned by the majority of the werewolf world; obviously, there were countless other reasons for

    it as well, but one of the major reasons was that wolfless adults couldn¡¯t create a mate bond. Therefore,

    werewolves who did have their wolves wouldn¡¯t want to waste their time trying to bond with someone

    who could never feel the same way.

    Aside from that, the thought of only ever being a fake wife made me uneasy. I wanted to be with

    someone who loved me and devoted themselves to me and our child, not someone who only

    pretended to be in love with me to keep the media from creating negative news articles about us. The

    whole thing felt somewhat fishy, and I couldn¡¯t decide by that point if I should have just been happy that

    this potentially meant that Edrick wouldn¡¯t marry someone else and make our home life confusing for

    our baby and E, or if I should try to find out what his true intentions were.

    Either way, I waspletely confused.

    ¡­

    Later that evening, after putting E to bed, Edrick still wasn¡¯t home. I couldn¡¯t sleep after everything

    that happened that day, so I sat on the couch and looked at my phone to pass the time until Edrick got

    home.

    However, I quickly realized that I made a mistake when I started looking at social media.

    My eyes widened as I began to read all of the posts made about Edrick and I.

    Somehow, within mere hours of Edrick announcing our fake rtionship, there were already hundreds

    ¡ª if not thousands ¡ª of posts about us. And the more I read, the more I began to realize that the

    majority of those posts were distinctly not positive.

    In fact, the majority of those posts were extremely negative.

    I always knew that Edrick had a sizable fanbase of women who adored him. After all, he was an

    incredibly handsome Alpha billionaire, and up until today, he was always known as being single and

    avable to the public. It seemed that a lot of those women believed that they had a chance at

    bing the Alpha CEO¡¯s next wife, and my presence seemed to royally piss them off.

    Even though I knew that it was never a good idea to readments on these sorts of things, and that I

    should have turned off my phone, I couldn¡¯t stop myself from scrolling a little. My heart sank as I began

    to read some of the nastyments that were made about me.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Edrick Morgan is actually nning on marrying a human,¡± onement read. ¡°And he

    really had kids with her! Gross!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be okay,¡± anotherment replied. ¡°She¡¯s clearly just a human ything. Plenty of the werewolf

    elites like to dabble with humans when they¡¯re bored and waiting for their true mate to appear. When he

    finds his real mate, he¡¯ll throw her in the trash where she belongs.¡±

    As I read even more nastyments, many of them seemed to fall into this simr vein. It seemed that

    most people agreed that I was nothing more than a ¡°human ything¡± for Edrick, as they didn¡¯t yet

    know that I wasn¡¯t even a human; not that it made it any better, of course. My entire life, I had been

    raised thinking I was a human, so seeing people speak about humans like that made my blood boil.

    Eventually, I came to my senses and realized that it was best to shut off my phone for the night. I

    tossed my phone down on the couch and let out a deep sigh, shutting my eyes as I leaned my head

    back on the pillow.

    This was too much attention, too fast. I never asked for this. Even though Edrick¡¯s announcement of

    our fake rtionship made me excited in the moment, I realized now that it might not have been a good

    thing. In fact, I couldn¡¯t help but worry if the stress of it all would impact my baby. I wished that he had

    at least talked to me about it first before jumping to that decision, and now it was toote ¡ª the news

    was out.

    I couldn¡¯t help but feel incredibly sad after that. Would my baby only ever be viewed as an impediment

    to other women¡¯s chances to be with the Alpha billionaire? Even more so, would my baby be in danger

    with so many women being furious about my ¡°rtionship¡± with Edrick, regardless of whether it was

    real or fake?

    Suddenly, I wished that I had simply stepped away from all of this as soon as I found out that I was

    pregnant. Maybe I should have taken Michael¡¯s offer and used the money to move to another city; but

    at the same time, I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that I enjoyed being near Edrick and E, and even Selina

    and the maids. In a way, this ce had be my home, and these people had be my family.

    Even after just a couple of months of living here, I already couldn¡¯t imagine living somewhere else. But

    the stress of the public finding out about our ¡°rtionship¡± still made me rethink whether or not this was

    a safe situation, not only for myself, but also for my baby.

    I tried to read a little to pass the time after I shut my phone off, but I found myself unable to focus with

    my mind racing, so I finally gave in and closed my eyes as Iid on the couch.

    Finally, a little whileter, I heard the elevator doors open. I quickly jerked my head up and peered over

    the back of the couch to see Edrick stepping into the foyer.

    He didn¡¯t see me at first. During those moments, as I watched him take off his jacket and his shoes, I

    swore I saw a slight smile faintly flickering across his lips. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he was smiling

    about his announcement earlier.

    And even the thought of his announcement making him happy enough to smile made my heart flutter.

 Chapter 122

    Chapter 122

    #Chapter 122: Someday

    Edrick

    I came home that night after a long, exhausting day of work. The news of my fake rtionship with

    Moana quickly spread, and I found myself having to dodge all sorts of questions about it from intrigued

    coworkers. Thankfully, my father didn¡¯t appear yet to berate me for it, although I knew that it was only a

    matter of time until that happened.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    When I arrived at home, I just wanted to sleep. The apartment was quiet and dark, so I took off my

    shoes and my jacket before heading into the living room to have a drink before bed.

    However, when I walked into the doorway, I finally saw Moana peering at me over the back of the

    couch.

    I knew instantly from the look on her face that she had seen the news. And I also knew that I would

    have to exin things to her, as she was clearly upset. Admittedly, I knew that I shouldn¡¯t have said

    what I said earlier that morning; it just slipped out in the heat of the moment, and I found myself

    regretting it afterwards. But what was done was done, and now we had to make the best of it.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯d like to talk,¡± I said, sticking my hands in my pockets as I watched Moana stand from the

    couch. ¡°Let¡¯s talk in my office.¡±

    Moana, who was dressed in her robe and nightgown, followed me to my study. I closed the door behind

    us in case anyone would overhear our conversation, then gestured for her to sit in one of the soft

    armchairs by the firece. But she continued to stand, her eyes burning with abination of

    confusion and anger.

    ¡°Let me exin¡ª¡± I began, but Moana quickly cut me off and shook her head vigorously. Her hands

    were balled up into fists at her sides, and as she shook her head, bits of curly red hair fell into her face.

    ¡°Just tell me whether I¡¯m just a human ything or not,¡± she said, her voice low and intentional.

    I furrowed my brow. ¡°What?¡± I asked. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Moana let out an exasperated sigh and pulled her phone out of her robe pocket. I watched silently as

    she furiously tapped on her phone screen, then held the phone out for me to see.

    Of course, it was just as I suspected; it seemed that many of my ¡°fans¡± were angry about this

    ¡°rtionship¡±, which I did expect. However, to make matters worse, they were saying horrible things

    about Moana and calling her a human ything. They didn¡¯t know yet that Moana was a werewolf, and

    that she was actually my fated mate. Of course it wouldn¡¯t matter even if the public did know that

    Moana was a werewolf, though, because these women would have found any reason to be angry

    about it. I was used to this sort of thing and that was why I had removed myself entirely from social

    media, but it was all extremely new to Moana.

    Seeing the look on her face and the way that her hand shook when she held the phone out to me made

    me feel even worse for jumping into this so soon. I should have spoken to her about it first and given

    her time to prepare. I didn¡¯t even ask if this was what she wanted, and I did feel bad about it.

    ¡°Look,¡± I said, watching as she shut off her phone and slipped it back into her pocket, ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I

    didn¡¯t consult you before I said what I said this morning. But now that you¡¯re in the public eye, there are

    some changes you¡¯ll need to make; to start, you¡¯ll be better off if you make all of your social media

    ounts private. Not only that, but you¡¯ll have to delete anything that¡¯s unnecessary or that could hurt

    our image. That includes any distasteful photos or posts. My manager can help you with that.¡±

    Moana¡¯s eyes widened. She seemed taken aback.

    ¡°Why should I have to change my habits over something like this?¡± she growled. ¡°You¡¯re the one who

    suddenly decided you were going to make this announcement. I had no idea.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°If it makes you feel any better, I had no idea either,¡± I replied. ¡°It just sort of slipped out this

    morning. I¡¯ll admit I got a bit overwhelmed with all of the paparazzi.¡±

    Moana fell silent. I couldn¡¯t tell if she was understanding where I wasing from or if she was still

    royally pissed at me ¡ª maybe both of those things at once. She stared at me with a certain amount of

    intensity for a few moments, chewing the inside of her cheek deliberately, before she spoke again.

    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why you did this,¡± she said quietly. ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t want to get married to

    anybody. Not only that, but you¡¯ve made it abundantly clear in the past that you have no interest in

    having a rtionship with me because of our differences in social status, and I¡¯m positive that that

    hasn¡¯t changed at all despite the fact that you know I¡¯m a werewolf now. What changed?¡±

    I didn¡¯t know how to respond. All I could do was stare at the floor unblinkingly as I digested her words.

    She was right; even as a werewolf, there were still ring differences in our social status, and a

    marriage was off the table. Aside from that, even though I knew now that she was my fated mate, it

    didn¡¯t necessarily mean that I wasfortable with creating a mate bond with her or that I would want

    tomit to her. If I learned one thing about marriage from my parents¡¯ horrible history, it was that

    marriage was aplete sham and a waste of time. Even people who had a mate bond with each

    other, like my parents, still abused and cheated on each other. No matter how I felt about Moana, I

    couldn¡¯t picture myselfmitting to anyone like that. Sure, I was okay for now just having a fake

    rtionship with her, even if it meant never being with anyone else. I had beenpletely alone for

    years before I met Moana, so being without intimacy was not really a problem for me.

    ¡°I may have made it clear that I have no interest in marriage between the two of us,¡± I said finally, ¡°but

    you also made it clear that you don¡¯t want me to get married to anyone ¡ª real or fake ¡ª because you

    clearly don¡¯t want E or our child to have another mother. So you had just as much of a hand in this as

    I did, and now I expect you to y the role as my fake fiance. Isn¡¯t this what you wanted?¡±

    Moana¡¯s eyes widened. I could see anger bubbling up inside of her, mixed with a bit of confusion.

    ¡°So it is only fake?¡± she asked.

    I nodded.

    Moana was silent for a moment, staring up at me incredulously with her big green eyes before she

    finally responded and took mepletely by surprise by what she said next. Apparently, unlike myself,

    it was in fact an issue for her to live without intimacy.

    ¡°What if I fall in love with someone someday?¡± she asked. ¡°What then?¡±

    Moana¡¯s words made me freeze. All I could do was stare at her intensely,pletely taken aback by

    this statement.

 Chapter 123

    Chapter 123

    #Chapter 123: Decisions

    Edrick

    ¡°What if I fall in love with someone someday?¡± Moana asked, her green eyes full of fire and fury. ¡°What

    then?¡±

    I froze at her words. My eyes widened as what she said settled in fully, and already I felt a little bit of

    anger and jealousy beginning to bubble up inside of me.

    Even though I partially understood what Moana meant, and that she didn¡¯t know yet that she was my

    mate, what she said just then angered me. The thought of her being with anyone else, despite the fact

    that I knew I would never be able to get married, made me feel almost sick. I didn¡¯t know how to

    respond for the longest time as a million different things whirled around inside my head.

    Finally, I was able to speak.

    ¡°You¡¯re free to make any decision you want,¡± I replied, feeling my blood run cold as I spoke. ¡°But you

    had better be prepared to pay the price for a decision like that.¡±

    Moana¡¯s face fell. She red at me intensely for several long moments, almost as though she was in

    disbelief, before she spoke. ¡°Is that a threat?¡± she asked, instinctively cing her hand over her belly

    and instantly making me feel guilty for my choice of words. Of course I wasn¡¯t threatening her; I only

    meant that she should be prepared to face the consequences if she chose to be with someone else. If

    she was going to have an issue with me being with someone else, even if it was only a fake

    rtionship with another woman, then I felt as though I had every right to set my own boundaries as

    well. If she was going to fall in love with another man, then she could also leave my house to go and be

    with that other man.

    In fact, I was frankly appalled by her sudden double standards. I wanted to tell her all of these things

    that were on my mind, but I was suddenly reminded of what the man in the baby supply store had said

    about not fighting with the mother of my child. Moana had already dealt with enough stress this early on

    in her pregnancy, and I wasn¡¯t about to cause more stress by arguing with her.

    All I could do was sigh. ¡°Listen,¡± I said, passing my hand over my tired face. ¡°What¡¯s done is done. For

    now, you need to just go along with it and pretend to be my fiancee. We can cross those bridges when

    ¡ª or if ¡ª wee to them. It¡¯s best for everyone right now if we just go through with this.¡±

    Moana was silent. Her hand stayed nted on her belly, almost protectively, but I knew she was also

    soothing herself by holding her stomach. Then, without a word, she turned on her heel and stormed

    out.

    I watched after her while she walked away; and admittedly, she looked sexy in her robe. She had the

    sash tied around her waist tightly, entuating her small waist and round hips. Maybe it was just

    because it had been so long since I¡¯d been intimate with anyone, but even as she stormed out angrily, I

    couldn¡¯t help but be a little turned on. Maybe now that I knew that she was my fated mate, it would

    prove to be too much of a distraction.

    As soon as the door mmed shut behind her, I let out another sigh and sank into the armchair by the

    firece.

    Of course I didn¡¯t like the idea that Moana could ever love someone else; she was supposed to be my

    fated mate. And after everything that had happened recently, I couldn¡¯t imagine not having her by my

    side. But at the same time, I knew that I would never get married, and I still wasn¡¯t even sure if I was

    willing or ready tomit myself to a mate bond. Would it be best if I just cut her loose so she could be

    in a normal rtionship with someone? If her wolf never fully emerged, then she would never know that

    I was supposed to be her fated mate, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it would be better for her like

    that. Not only that, but if she was already distracting me this much, I couldn¡¯t imagine the level of

    distraction that woulde from it if we had a mate bond. How could I ever continue to perform well at

    my job as the CEO of WereCorp if I was constantly being distracted by this beautiful red-haired

    woman?

    Maybe it really would have been best if I hadn¡¯t announced our fake rtionship earlier that morning.

    But what was done was done, and we needed to stick with it for the time being if we didn¡¯t want even

    more unnecessary attention. If I announced my fake rtionship with Moana and then she moved out

    and we ¡°broke up¡± a weekter, it would onlybel me as someone who couldn¡¯tmit to anything.

    WereCorp stocks were already on the verge of suffering enough from this entire mess and I didn¡¯t want

    to risk them dropping even more.

    But that wasn¡¯t the only thing on my mind.

    The stunt that Kelly pulled was still fresh, and I couldn¡¯t let her get away with it. I knew that she would

    only pay off the police if I tried to turn her in, or she would feign innocence too easily, and she would

    never receive any repercussions. However, I knew that her parents would not be proud of their

    daughter if they found out what she did.

    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    And so, even though it waste, I decided to call her father anyway.

    Just as I suspected, Kelly¡¯s father answered almost immediately. He was a businessman just like my

    father, and rarely slept. He was in his office until all hours most nights, poring over documents, and

    probably had no intention of going to bed anytime soon.

    ¡°Hello?¡± he answered in his usual gruff, gravelly voice.

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Anderson,¡± I replied. ¡°It¡¯s Edrick Morgan.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Edrick! To what do I owe the pleasure at thiste hour?¡±

    I stifled a sigh and chewed on my lower lip, unsure of how to broach the subject. I had always

    respected Kelly¡¯s father. Even though he was a ruthless businessman, he was a sessful and proud

    person, and I always looked up to him in some ways. I hated to be the bearer of bad news, especially

    when it came to Kelly; she was his pride and joy, and aside from that, she had also given him plenty of

    trouble throughout her life. Hearing about yet another antic that she pulled might have just sent him

    over the edge.

    ¡°Oh no,¡± Mr. Anderson said. ¡°You went silent. It¡¯s about Kelly, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    That was another thing about Kelly¡¯s father: he was terribly astute.

    ¡°¡­Yes,¡± I replied.

    ¡°What did she do this time?¡±

    I sighed and cleared my throat. ¡°Kelly paid Rogues to attack my daughter and my¡­ fiancee.¡±

    Kelly¡¯s father was silent for a long time. I could only picture his face turning bright red and his knuckles

    turning white as he gripped the phone for dear life.

    ¡°She what?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± I replied solemnly. ¡°I wish I was joking, but I¡¯m not. She nearly got my fiancee ¡ª and our

    baby ¡ª killed. I found Moana in the Rogue district the other day after Kelly was supposed to take her to

    a doctor¡¯s appointment. Kelly confessed to it herself; she thought she would y a ¡®prank¡¯ on my

    fiancee, and it got out of hand.¡±

    Mr. Anderson let out a long, drawn out sigh. ¡°I see¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to press charges right now,¡± I replied. ¡°But I think that Kelly needs help. Serious help.¡±

    Kelly¡¯s father made an indiscernible sound through the phone that seemed like a grunt. I could hear

    him pacing around the room through the phone.

    ¡°Very well,¡± he said. ¡°Thank you for letting me know. I knew that Kelly would get in trouble like this

    someday¡­ And I¡¯ve been thinking about it for awhile, but I think it¡¯s finally time.¡±

    ¡°Time for what?¡± I asked.

    Kelly¡¯s father sighed. ¡°Time for me to cut her off financially until she bes a better person.¡±

 Chapter 124

    Chapter 124

    #Chapter 124: Alpha Daddy to the Rescue

    Moana

    I didn¡¯t sleep in Edrick¡¯s room that night, and he never came to my room to sleep with me. I had to

    admit that I felt a little lonely without him, but I simply couldn¡¯t get over everything he had said to me. It

    felt as though I had no choice in the matter, and now I was stuck in a fake rtionship that I didn¡¯t ask

    to be in and would have to change myself to fit the role of the ¡°billionaire¡¯s fiancee¡±.

    Not only that, but what had he meant when he said that I should be prepared to ¡°pay the price¡± for

    falling in love with someone else?

    There was no denying the fact that we were both young, and it would be nearly impossible for either of

    us to live our entire lives without feeling love for anyone else. Maybe it was natural for Edrick to be

    closed off and without intimacy, but it wasn¡¯t natural for me. I craved a loving rtionship with a good

    man not just for my baby¡¯s sake, but for my own sake, too. What woman didn¡¯t want to feel loved and

    cared for?

    But then again, I did feel a little cruel for what I said. I supposed that it was a bit of a double standard

    for me to be angry with Edrick to even consider a fake rtionship with someone else while I

    considered falling in love with someone else someday, and maybe I shouldn¡¯t have said that. In the

    moment, it felt right, but it didn¡¯t feel so good when I thought about it whileying alone in my bed.

    ¡­

    The next morning, I woke up shortly before Edrick left for work and ran into him on my way to the

    kitchen to make tea.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± I choked out, feeling my heart race as we passed each other. Edrick replied with

    hardly more than a grunt and brushed past me, leaving me standing in the middle of the dining room by

    myself.

    Of course I expected there to be tension between us, but as I heard the elevator doors open and close

    without Edrick so much as saying goodbye, I felt even worse about the situation.

    However, it was a beautiful day; maybe I just needed to get out. I hadn¡¯t taken E out for crepes for

    breakfast recently, so I decided to get dressed and wake her up.

    E¡¯s big eyes widened when I woke her up with the mention of crepes. ¡°Really?!¡± she said, practically

    shouting as she jumped out of the bed.

    I nodded, stifling augh at the little girl¡¯s sudden energy after only waking up a few moments earlier.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied. ¡°Get dressed and brush your teeth, and then we can go.¡±

    E excitedly zoomed around her room as she got ready. I helped her put on a little dress and fix her

    hair, and once she was ready, we headed downstairs to the lobby. It really was a beautiful day outside,

    and I looked forward to even going on a little walk in the park across the street after we ate.

    However, I quickly realized that going out alone with E may not have been a good idea.

    At first, I didn¡¯t realize what was happening; there were a lot of people on the street, many of them with

    cameras. I wondered if there was something happening on the news, but when E and I exited the

    lobby hand-in-hand and the lights on the cameras began to blindingly sh in our faces, I knew what

    was happening.

    I was instantly stunned by the amount of shing lights and all of the noise. E also immediately

    began to cry, not understanding at her young age what was happening. I held her tightly to my side as

    the paparazzi began to crowd around us, shouting their questions at us.

    ¡°Please stand back!¡± I shouted, feeling my voice shake with fear. ¡°T-There¡¯s a child here and I¡¯m

    pregnant!¡±

    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    But the paparazzi didn¡¯t care. They only closed in on us more tightly, squishing us up against the

    building and blinding us with their lights as they asked their questions.

    ¡°How does it feel to be the Alpha CEO¡¯s new fad?¡± one woman shouted.

    ¡°Are you and Edrick Morgan really engaged, or is this just a publicity stunt in light of his poor treatment

    of human workers?¡±

    ¡°Is Edrick Morgan paying you to be his bride? Why do you think a wealthy Alpha werewolf would be

    interested in a human such as yourself?¡±

    ¡°P-Please!¡± I begged again, ignoring the barrage of questions that were being thrown at me. ¡°Stand

    back!¡±

    I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes. E sobbed into my skirt, clinging to me for dear life. I couldn¡¯t

    even see a way to get out over all of the shing lights, not that there was a way out anyway; they were

    fully closed in on us on all sides, with only the side of the building behind us.

    Suddenly, I heard a booming voice emanating over the paparazzi that caused a slight lull in all of the

    noise and the chaos.

    ¡°Back OFF!¡± the voice bellowed. ¡°NOW!¡±

    I recognized that voice immediately; it was Edrick.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± E shouted, her face caked with tears. I let out a sigh of relief as I saw Edrick forcing his way

    through the crowd. He didn¡¯t say anything as he came up to E and me, but he instead blocked us

    with his body.

    ¡°All of you leave, now!¡± he shouted. I had never heard him this angry before; his voice was deep and

    threatening, almost like a growl.

    Some of the paparazzi got scared of the Alpha werewolf and scattered, but not all of them. One man in

    particr kept putting his camera in our faces regardless of Edrick¡¯s warnings, causing E to sob even

    harder.

    All of a sudden, Edrick did somethingpletely unexpected: when the man wouldn¡¯t stop taking

    photos and barraging us with questions, Edrick¡¯s face turned red, and in one swift movement he pulled

    his fist back and then punched the man right in the center of his face.

    Nearby onlookers gasped as the man fell to the ground, blood gushing out of his nose and his camera

    shattering on the sidewalk. My eyes went wide, and E¡¯s wails raised in intensity, but Edrick only

    whirled around and scooped her up with one arm while putting the other around me. He quickly

    ushered us both out of there and back into the lobby, where two security guards immediately locked the

    doors before more paparazzi tried to run inside.

    Edrick was silent as we took the elevator up. E continued to sob and wail after being traumatized by

    the paparazzi, and it was all my fault; I should have known better. I half expected Edrick to berate me

    for doing something so stupid when we got back to the penthouse, and I would have epted it

    because I knew that what I did was wrong.

    But, much to my surprise, he didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, he only continued to hold E tightly in one

    arm while his other arm stayed firmly wrapped around me, and together the three of us collected our

    bearings in the foyer until Selina and the maids came scurrying in.

    ¡°Are you okay?!¡± Selina said, her eyes wide.

    ¡°It¡¯s those goddamn paparazzi,¡± Edrick growled, setting E down now that she was a bit calmer.

    ¡°They¡¯re animals. But it¡¯s over now, at least. I¡¯m d I decided toe home for something, but I think

    I¡¯ll be staying now.¡±

    But when my eyes shifted over to the TV and I saw that clips of Edrick punching the paparazzi were

    already being broadcast on the news, I knew that I wasn¡¯t over. Now, because of a stupid decision I

    made without thinking about the consequences, Edrick would have to deal with even more bad press.

 Chapter 125

    Chapter 125

    #Chapter 125: Getaway

    Moana

    My eyesnded on the TV in the living room, which was already showing clips of Edrick punching the

    paparazzi.

    I felt my blood run cold as I watched it. Not only did the paparazzi spread the clips of what happened so

    quickly, but I felt as though it was entirely my fault. If I hadn¡¯t made such a stupid decision to go out

    only a day after Edrick announced our ¡°rtionship¡±, then none of this would have happened. Not only

    that, but I put E in danger by deciding to take her out with me, and now she was terrified.

    But when I looked over at Edrick, he didn¡¯t look concerned in the slightest. Without a word, he calmly

    walked over to the television and shut it off.

    ¡°Keep the news off for today,¡± he said, turning to Selina and the maids. The three of them often liked to

    y the news on the TV in the background while they worked, but now it wasn¡¯t the best idea after

    what happened. Not only would it be upsetting for E to see clips of her father punching someone

    over and over again, but it would be upsetting for the rest of us as well.

    I opened my mouth to apologize to Edrick, but before I could say anything, he pulled out his phone and

    retreated to his study. The door mmed shut behind him and I could hear him speaking quickly. I

    couldn¡¯t help but wonder who he was calling, but the door was thick and his voice was muffled.

    However, I could only imagine that he was calling the tabloidpany like before, to pay them off for

    the clips. I couldn¡¯t think of anything else that he would be doing, although I wasn¡¯t sure how sessful

    it would be considering the fact that the clips of him punching the paparazzi were already stered all

    over the news.

    Selina, the maids and I all shot each other concerned looks.

    ¡°This is all my fault,¡± I whispered, feeling my eyes well up with tears. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have gone out there.

    Not with E, at least. I feel like an idiot.¡±

    Selina shook her head and rubbed my back as she guided me over to a chair to sit down. Meanwhile,

    E was sitting on the couch and sniffling. Amy had given her a picture book to keep her busy, which

    seemed to be working.

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault and you¡¯re not an i***t,¡± Selina said gently. ¡°You¡¯re not used to this. But let it be a

    lesson for the future; there¡¯s a reason why Edrick brings bodyguards when he goes out without his

    mask on.¡±

    I nodded and sat down. Selina brought me tea while I breathed deeply, trying not to stress anymore

    about it for the baby¡¯s sake.

    Eventually, Edrick came out of his study a little whileter.

    ¡°That¡¯s settled,¡± he said, sounding rather satisfied with himself. I was surprised to see that he didn¡¯t

    even seem to be fuming; it almost seemed like this was nothing more than a mild inconvenience,

    despite the fact that he punched someone to save me.

    In fact, this was now the second time in the past week that Edrick had saved me; first the Rogues, and

    now the paparazzi. I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit awed by his strength and ability to handle situations like

    this, but I still felt bad for what I did that morning.

    I quickly stood and looked at him, my brow furrowed with anxiety. ¡°Edrick, I¡¯m so sorry¡ª¡±

    ¡°I know you¡¯re going to apologize, and there¡¯s no need,¡± he said nonchntly as he poured a cup of tea

    for himself. ¡°My PR agency handled it. With a few articles on how the paparazzi were harming a

    pregnant woman and a child, along with exposing a few other nasty things that those damn tabloids

    have done in the past, everyone will take our side. And maybe, they¡¯ll leave us alone from now on.¡± He

    paused then, sipping his tea, and nced over at E. The stress of it all must have exhausted her,

    because she was now fast asleep on the couch. Edrick then turned back to me and lowered his voice.

    ¡°Maybe with everything going on, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to get out of town,¡± he said.

    I raised my eyebrows, surprised by this proposition. ¡°Oh?¡± I asked. ¡°Where?¡±

    Edrick shrugged. ¡°I like to keep the mountain estate for times like this. It¡¯s a nice, quiet ce to go

    when the city gets to be too much. If you want to go, I¡¯ll take you and E.¡±

    I was shocked not only by Edrick¡¯s calm demeanor about the situation, but also by the fact that he had

    just invited me on a small vacation away from the city. Even after I put his daughter and our baby in

    danger by going out during a media frenzy, he still seemed to have my best interests in mind. Or

    maybe he just had E¡¯s and the baby¡¯s best interests in mind.

    As I went about my day, I couldn¡¯t help myself from thinking about Edrick¡¯s offer. Getting out of the city

    for a few days did sound nice, and I needed to de-stress. If I didn¡¯t manage my stress, I knew it

    wouldn¡¯t be good for the baby, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to do that if I was cooped up inside this penthouse

    for days until the media calmed down. Besides, I remembered visiting the mountain estate during my

    interview; it was stunning there. The mansion was surrounded by nature, the air smelled like pine trees,

    and the mansion itself was stunning. Maybe I could even bring my painting supplies and my easel so I

    could paint a bit while I was there. A nice little painting would be perfect for the baby¡¯s nursery.

    Finally,ter that night, I decided to agree to Edrick¡¯s proposition. I walked over to his bedroom in my

    robe and nightgown and knocked on the door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± he called.

    When I cracked open the door, the Alpha billionaire was sitting up in bed and reading a book. He

    nced up at me over the book, his eyes lingering on thece of my nightgown for the briefest moment

    before his face turned slightly red and his eyes met mine again.

    ¡°I decided that I would like to go to the mountain estate after all,¡± I said, nervously fiddling with my

    fingers. ¡°If you¡¯d still like to go, of course.¡±

    Edrick set down his book and, much to my surprise, smiled slightly.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go first thing in the morning,¡± he said.

    ¡°So soon?¡± I asked, raising my eyebrows. ¡°What about work?¡±

    Edrick merely shrugged. ¡°My baby¡¯s health is my top priority,¡± he said. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m the CEO. I have

    unlimited paid vacation days.¡± For a moment, after he spoke, he shed a bit of a mischievous smile. It

    was only a second, but it made me blush to see him grin. The thought of Edrick being willing to blow off

    work on a dime for our baby also made me feel happy, and that maybe things weren¡¯t so bad after all.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. Edrick nodded and picked his book back up. I turned to walk out the door again,

    but stopped when he called after me.

    ¡°Will you sleep in here tonight?¡±All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

 Chapter 126

    Chapter 126

    #Chapter 126: The Mountain Estate

    Moana

    I agreed to sleep with Edrick that night. Even though I was still a bit upset by what he had said the night

    before, I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that I missed him and wanted hispany, especially after the fact that

    he saved E and myself from the paparazzi.

    The next morning, I awoke to the sound of the shower water turning off. Edrick was already awake, and

    before my eyes were even fully open, he came out of the bathroom in his robe with his toothbrush in

    his mouth.

    ¡°Rise and shine,¡± he said, his mouth full of toothpaste as he rifled through his dresser drawers. ¡°We¡¯re

    leaving in an hour. You should go and pack.¡±

    I sat up and furrowed my brow. It was still early; I knew that he had nned on leaving for the mountain

    estate today, but not this early. Nheless, I obliged and quickly rushed over to my bedroom to pack

    some clothes and toiletries for the uing few days. I packed my painting supplies and my small

    travel easel as well, just in case I did decide to do some painting after all.

    Within the hour, all of us were packed and ready to go. Selina helped E pack while I got ready, so

    there was nog in our preparation time. Soon enough, all of us ¡ª including Selina and the maids ¡ª

    were piled into the car and on our way out of the city.

    ¡°I love the mountain house!¡± E eximed, swinging her legs happily as Edrick drove. She had a little

    breakfast sandwich in her tiny hands from the bakery downstairs from the penthouse; Edrick had

    purchased all of us something to eat there, as we didn¡¯t have time to eat breakfast and deal with

    cleaning up before we left. Once again, I was immensely grateful for the Alpha billionaire¡¯s sudden

    kindness, and I was even more surprised that he still wasn¡¯t even remotely bothered by the paparazzi

    incident the day before.

    The ride to the mountain estate took a lot of winding and twisting roads that slowly led us up into the

    mountains. I could feel the air in the car begin to cool down the higher we got, which was refreshing.

    But at the same time, I felt myself be motion sick from all of the twists and the turns.

    When I had driven up to the mountain estate before, on the day of my interview, the road hadn¡¯t

    bothered me at all. In fact, I loved the drive, and the view was amazing. However, now that I was

    pregnant and prone to nausea, I felt sick the entire way despite Edrick¡¯s careful driving.

    Finally, however, we reached the mountain estate before I threw up. I was relieved to finally get out of

    the car as quickly as possible and breathe in the sweet, chilly mountain air.

    While the maids took our bags in, I took my time to walk up to the front door of the mansion. It was a

    huge and sprawling Tudor-style mansion that overlooked the mountain range, surrounded by tall pine

    trees on all sides. The pebbled walkway was lined with fountains and statues that were covered in

    moss, and I paused to look at one of them.

    ¡°I should have someone clean these off,¡± Edrick said suddenly, picking at a bit of the moss and looking

    at it between his fingers.

    My eyes widened and I turned toward him, shaking my head vigorously. ¡°No!¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t clean it off.

    The moss is beautiful.¡±

    Edrick raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really?¡± he said.

    I nodded. ¡°It makes everything look so lush and natural. Leave it alone. Please?¡±

    Edrick paused, then shrugged. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right,¡± he replied thoughtfully. ¡°Maybe I will leave it

    alone.¡±

    When we walked into the mansion, Selina and the maids ran around in a frenzy opening up windows

    and curtains. Meanwhile, E ran about wildly, pounding her feet on the wooden floors. I called after

    her to slow down before she hurt herself, but it was toote; she was already long gone, exploring the

    mansion on her own. I couldn¡¯t wait to explore the mansion, either.

    ¡­

    Later that evening, I was finally settled into my own room. It was a sweet little room with a bay window

    overlooking the garden in the back, which was lit by little lights that were dotted around on the stone

    fence. The sun was on its way down, casting the mountains in a bluish glow. I couldn¡¯t wait to get

    outside in the morning and paint the sunrise, but it had just begun to rain, and so I wouldn¡¯t be going

    outside tonight.

    Suddenly, I heard a knock on my door.

    I looked up to see the door open and Selina¡¯s head poke in. I waved for her toe in the rest of the

    way, and when she did, I saw that she was holding a long, wrapped gift box.

    ¡°Mr. Morgan wanted me to give this to you,¡± she said, setting the box down on the bed.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    I furrowed my brow and stood from the chair I was sitting in by the window. ¡°What is it?¡±

    Selina merely shrugged. I tore open the wrapping paper, admittedly feeling a little excited, and my eyes

    widened when I saw what was inside.

    It was a beautiful blue dress: soft satin with thin straps, and it came down to my ankles. I held it up to

    myself in the mirror, my eyes still wide. What was this sudden gift for? I almost felt a little spoiled if he

    really got it for me for no reason.

    ¡°What is it for?¡± I asked sheepishly.

    ¡°Mr. Morgan wants you to have dinner tonight,¡± she said. I swore I could see a hint of a smile on her

    lips. ¡°And he wants you to wear that.¡±

    Once again, I was taken aback by Edrick¡¯s sudden kindness. Despite everything that happened with

    the paparazzi the day before, he continued to be nothing but kind and sweet to me. Not only that, but

    he was even kind and sweet even after I clearly hurt him the other night by mentioning that I might fall

    in love with someone else if we could only ever have a fake rtionship.

    Was this Edrick¡¯s way of making me feel better for everything, or was he secretly apologizing? I

    couldn¡¯t deny the fact, either, that I secretly hoped deep down that this was his way of showing that

    maybe he would want a real rtionship someday.

    And Mina seemed to feel the same way.

    She reacted strongly as I held the dress up to myself in the mirror. She had been reacting strongly to

    Edrick¡¯s presence ever since he saved me from the Rogues, but it was only getting more intense every

    day. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if she was beginning to think that Edrick might be my mate, but at the

    same time, I knew that she still wasn¡¯t strong enough yet to realize something like that. But I did know

    that she liked Edrick a lot, and she wanted to get closer to him.

    And I wanted to get closer to him, too.

 Chapter 127

    Chapter 127

    #Chapter 127: Dinner For Two

    Moana

    Selina helped me put on the dress. It fit like a glove, and even showed off my growing belly a bit. As I

    stood in the mirror while Selina fixed up my hair, I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit while I looked at my belly

    in the dress.

    Even though I didn¡¯t particrly like the concept of not being in a real rtionship and only being in a

    fake one, I was relieved to finally not have to hide my pregnancy. Now that everything was out in the

    open, I could finally enjoy the early stages of pregnancy when my belly was beginning to show the little

    life that was growing inside of me. Before, I had been nervous about what would happen when my belly

    was too big to hide anymore, but now I couldn¡¯t wait. The thought of walking down the street with E¡¯s

    hand in mine and my other hand on my big pregnant belly ¡ª once the paparazzi calmed down and it

    was safer to go out, of course ¡ª made me smile.

    When Selina was finished with my hair, I headed downstairs to meet Edrick.

    He was sitting at a small table by the window in the dining room when I arrived. The room was dark,

    aside from the light emanating from little candles that were scattered around, and he stood up as soon

    as he saw me.

    For a few moments, Edrick just stood there and stared at me. Even in the darkness, I could see his

    eyes wandering my body, admiring the dress. It made me blush, but I didn¡¯t mind. Having him look at

    me like that made me happy; I felt like thedy of the house, even though I wasn¡¯t really.

    Finally, Edrick tore his eyes away from my dress and cleared his throat. ¡°Do you like the dress?¡± he

    asked.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    I nodded, feeling my hands tremble a bit with nerves as I approached the table. ¡°It¡¯s perfect,¡± I said

    sheepishly as he pulled the chair out for me so I could sit. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± he said as he sat across from me. ¡°I was worried you wouldn¡¯t like it.¡±

    There were two covered silver tters in front of us, and crystal sses filled with what looked like

    wine. I was a bit confused at first as to why Edrick would give me wine knowing that I was pregnant, but

    he quickly exined when he saw the look on my face.

    ¡°Sparkling grape juice for you,¡± he said. ¡°Non-alcoholic. And wine for me.¡±

    I nodded and blushed a bit. Of course Edrick wouldn¡¯t try to give me alcohol when I was pregnant, and I

    felt a bit silly for thinking that. He then lifted the covers off of our tes to reveal two decadent meals of

    what looked likemb, fresh vegetables, and garnished with little sprigs of rosemary. My eyes widened

    at the beautiful meals, and finally I couldn¡¯t contain my curiosity any longer.

    ¡°What¡¯s all of this for?¡± I asked. ¡°This is so nice of you.¡±

    ¡°What, a man can¡¯t simply want to take care of the mother of his child?¡± Edrick asked with a bit of a

    smile.

    My face went red. I was taken aback by his caring nature, but something told me that it wasn¡¯t just him

    simply wanting to take care of me. All of this felt too romantic for that¡­ The candles, the dress, the

    beautiful meal. It was different from all of the other times that he doted on me.

    Edrick¡¯s smile faded then as he looked at me. He seemed to be struggling to say something, but it

    finally came out.

    ¡°I hope you won¡¯t want to leave,¡± he said quietly. ¡°Maybe¡­ I don¡¯t want you to leave.¡±

    My eyes widened at Edrick¡¯s words. Was this true? Did he really want me to stay?

    But then, as I opened my mouth to respond, he suddenly changed the subject.

    We ate dinner together peacefully with light conversation after that. The rich, juicy vor of themb

    combined with the taste of the vegetables, which almost tasted as though they had been pulled out of

    the ground on that very day, made mepletely forget my nausea from before. And in fact, the longer

    we sat and ate together, the morefortable I became. If I tried hard enough, I could almost convince

    myself that we really were husband and wife having a romantic dinner together. And even though it

    might not have been the healthiest thing to tell myself, I decided that it was okay to feel that way for just

    one night.

    After dinner, Edrick stood and opened the set of French doors by the table, letting in the cool mountain

    air.

    ¡°Let¡¯s sit on the porch,¡± he said, taking his ss of wine and the wine bottle in one hand, then my ss

    and the bottle of sparkling juice in the other.

    I followed, still awed by our wonderful dinner together. Edrick led me around the huge wraparound

    porch to a small sitting area. There were two chairs and a little side table there, which he set our drinks

    on and refilled our sses. While he did that, I couldn¡¯t help but lean on the railing and let the light rain

    mist my face for a few moments.

    Everything outside the porch was pitch ck by now, but I didn¡¯t mind. The darkness and the sound of

    nothing but the crickets was a wee reprieve from the noise and the lights of the city, and I hoped

    that we could spend more time here in the future. No matter how much I loved the city, I still felt tired of

    all of the noise sometimes, but I had never really had a chance to get away from it all. There was only

    one time in college where I managed to scrape together enough money from babysitting and

    waitressing to take a little weekend trip out of town, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as nice as this. Now, I felt like I

    was living in thep of luxury in this gorgeous Tudor mansion.

    When I finally turned back around, Edrick was already sitting in one of the chairs with his ss of wine

    in his hand. I thought I caught him looking at me again, but he quickly darted his eyes away and busied

    himself with drinking his wine while I sat down next to him.

    Neither of us spoke much as we sat outside, aside from the asionalment or question. But it

    was afortable quietness, and it felt natural, as though we had been doing this for years.

    Eventually, Edrick finished his bottle of wine. When I looked over at him, his cheeks were a bit rosy

    from the alcohol and there was a slight smile twitching at the corners of his lips. He seemed a little

    drunk.

    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte,¡± he said then, standing. ¡°We should go to bed.¡±

    I nodded and went to stand ¡ª but before I could, Edrick held out his hand for me to take.

    I took his hand quietly, unsure as to what was happening. But when he led me up the stairs, past my

    room and over to his room instead, I couldn¡¯t help myself from blushing an even deeper shade of red

    when I realized that he wanted me to stay with him again that night.

    ¡°D-Do you want to sign another contract?¡± I whispered, our bodies close in the dark hallway.

    Edrick merely smiled and shook his head.

 Chapter 128

    Chapter 128

    #Chapter 128: A Child¡¯s Laughter

    Moana

    That night, I fell asleep next to Edrick with a full heart. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if all of this meant that

    our rtionship might go further than simply being a fake rtionship, but I didn¡¯t want to spend too

    much time getting my hopes up in case things didn¡¯t work out as nned. All I knew was that my wolf

    was happy to be near him, and I was also happy to be near him. Edrick seemed happier than usual as

    well, and it made me think that maybe things would at least be just a little different after our mini

    vacation at the mountain estate.

    The next morning, I awoke to the feeling of Edrick¡¯s warm arms around me. I was turned toward him

    with my face buriedfortingly in his chest, so close I could feel his heartbeat. We had fallen asleep

    the night before with a respectable distance between us as we didn¡¯t want to get too close, but it

    seemed that we simply couldn¡¯t avoid getting close to one another in our sleep. However, I couldn¡¯t

    deny that feeling him this close to me gave me a sense of safety andfort.

    Edrick¡¯s eyes opened shortly after mine did; he rarely ever slept any longer after I woke up, as though

    he needed me to be asleep beside him in order for him to sleep as well. I felt my heart begin to race as

    his gray eyes looked down at me, expecting him to pull away.

    But he didn¡¯t. For several long, quiet minutes we just looked at each other as the sun shined on us and

    the cool, fragrant mountain air wafted in through the open window. His arms stayed firmly wrapped

    around me, holding me close to his body and keeping me warm in the chilly morning air. He was so

    much bigger than me, but our bodies fit perfectly together like two puzzle pieces.

    Neither of us pulled away, in fact, until we suddenly heard a knock on the door. I gasped and quickly

    moved away with the intention of jumping out of bed and hiding in the closet so as not to be seen, but

    Edrick¡¯s hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist, stopping me before I could.

    ¡°Daddy?¡± E¡¯s tiny voice called through the door. ¡°Are you awake?¡±

    My eyes widened, but Edrick stayed surprisingly calm.

    ¡°Come in, Princess,¡± he said, releasing his grip on my wrist as my heart pounded even harder. How

    was he not panicking? We weren¡¯t together romantically ¡ª or at least, we weren¡¯t supposed to be ¡ª

    and therefore we shouldn¡¯t have been sleeping in the same bed. It would have been difficult enough

    already to admit our sleeping arrangement to the maids, let alone E. And yet, Edrick didn¡¯t seem

    concerned in the slightest. What changed?

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    The door cracked open then, and E shuffled in with her stuffed duck under her arm and her hair a

    mess from sleeping all night. Her tired eyes didn¡¯t catch me at first as she walked up to her father¡¯s

    side of the bed, but when they finally did, her jaw dropped.

    ¡°Moana?¡± E said, rubbing her eyes with one hand. ¡°What are you doing in here?¡±

    I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing woulde out. However, Edrick seemed to have it

    handled already, and what he said next took me byplete surprise.

    ¡°Moana and I sleep in the same room now,¡± Edrick said matter-of-factly, as though it was only natural

    for the two of us to sleep together. I waspletely taken aback by the fact that he so casually

    admitted our sleeping arrangement to his daughter, and my heart pounded even harder as I wondered

    how E would react. Would she get the wrong idea and wonder again why we weren¡¯t married? Would

    she resent me and feel as though I was stealing her daddy away from her? Maybe they had a morning

    ritual of ying together sometimes and she thought that my presence would only get in the way of her

    bonding time with her father.

    E was silent for a few moments. Her blue eyes flickered back and forth between Edrick and I as she

    looked at us both, processing what Edrick said. I feared the worst.

    But, much to my surprise, E merely shrugged and mbered up onto the bed with her stuffed duck in

    tow. ¡°Okay,¡± she said with a grunt as she hauled her tiny body up onto the tall bed without any help.

    She seemed just as nonchnt about the situation as her father; I couldn¡¯t quite tell if Edrick¡¯s own

    nonchnce made her feel at ease, or if she was simply expecting things like this to happen between

    Edrick and I at this point.

    ¡°I want to go on a walk today,¡± E said, nestling herself down between the two of us with her stuffed

    duck in her arms. ¡°Can we go?¡±

    Edrick chuckled. ¡°Sure,¡± he said, ¡°but you¡¯ll have to pay the toll first.¡±

    ¡°The toll?¡± E asked, sitting up again and c*****g her head to the side.

    I watched as Edrick grinned. In the morning sunlight, he looked even more handsome with a smile on

    his face. ¡°Yep,¡± he said, ¡°you have to pay a fee to the tickle monster!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± E shrieked, but it was already toote. Edrick grabbed her and began tickling her furiously,

    causing her to scream withughter as she kicked her little legs and threw her stuffed duck in an

    attempt to get away. ¡°Not the tickle monster!¡±

    Edrick let out aical, cartoonishugh that sounded like an evil viin as he kept yfully terrorizing

    E. I couldn¡¯t help but grin andugh along with them. A rush of emotion for both of them came over

    me at that moment, and I swore for the briefest of moments that I really did feel like Edrick¡¯s wife and

    E¡¯s mother as I watched them y together. Seeing Edrick act so openly and candidly with his

    daughter made my heart fill with warmth, and as he began tossing E in the air and causing her

    giggles to grow even louder, I couldn¡¯t stop smiling.

    Seeing them like this together made me so happy, and I was d that we had decided to get out of the

    city after all. It seemed that a bit of fresh air and a slower pace away from the hustle and bustle and

    noise of the city was something that we all needed, and I felt my own stress beginning to melt away,

    too.

    And yet, at the same time, I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that there was a tiny pang of confusion deep within

    me still.

    As I watched E and Edrick y together, I was smiling. I loved seeing them like this, and it warmed

    me to see the once-cold and indifferent Alpha billionaire acting in such a silly way with his daughter in

    front of me. But that feeling of confusion was relentless, and it put a bit of a damper on the moment.

    I just wished that my rtionship with Edrick didn¡¯t have to be soplicated. If only it could be simple,

    as simple and pure and natural as the love he had for his daughter.

 Chapter 129

    Chapter 129

    #Chapter 129: Wildflowers

    Moana

    Later that morning, after enjoying breakfast in the garden in the fresh air with E and Edrick, E

    reminded Edrick that she wanted to go for a hike. Edrick of course agreed, as it was nice outside.

    ¡°Go put your shoes on,¡± he said. ¡°And pants, too. I don¡¯t want you falling down in a dress.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± E eximed as she sprinted off to her room to get changed.

    Edrick stood and stretched, identally revealing the lower portion of his abs as he did so. He was

    dressed casually in a simple polo shirt and trousers, which was strange to see as I had grown so

    ustomed to seeing him only dressed in business attire. He must have forgotten that he wasn¡¯t

    wearing his shirt tucked in when he stretched, and seeing even just a small portion of his abs made me

    blush a deep shade of red.

    ¡°We won¡¯t be out for too long,¡± Edrick said then. ¡°Feel free to explore anywhere you want in the

    mansion or the gardens while we¡¯re out.¡±

    Although the thought of exploring the mansion sounded fun, I furrowed my brow. It was too beautiful

    outside, and I had been looking forward to going on a nice walk.

    ¡°I was thinking I would go with you, actually,¡± I said, standing from the table.

    Edrick pursed his lips and looked at me. His eyes traveled down to my belly; he seemed hesitant.

    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s a good idea?¡± he asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to get sick or get hurt if it¡¯s too much

    exertion.¡±

    I put my hands on my hips and frowned. ¡°I¡¯m only a few months pregnant. I¡¯m not aplete invalid

    just yet. Besides, it¡¯s only a walk.¡±

    Edrick paused and chewed the inside of his lower lip for a few moments before finally nodding.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he replied. ¡°I guess some exercise could be good for you and the baby.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but grin. I thought it was sweet that Edrick was so concerned about our baby, but I knew

    that he worried too much when it came to certain things. I had always been somewhat athletic, and

    never had any problems with exercising. Being a few months pregnant may have stopped me from

    doing crazy things like rock climbing or downhill skiing, but a nice hike through the forest was

    something that I knew I could handle. Besides, the doctor told me that exercise was extremely healthy

    for the baby, and I had done enough research of my own to learn that many women could do all sorts

    of athletic things, even while they were eight or nine months pregnant. Once, I even read about a

    woman who was a marathon runner and kept winning marathons up until her water broke!

    Now that Edrick agreed to let me go with them, I quickly ran upstairs and changed out of my dress and

    into something more suitable for a hike. Once I was ready, I headed back downstairs with E¡¯s hand in

    mine and met Edrick outside.

    As we began to follow the path that led into the woods, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that Edrick kept

    ncing at me on asion while we walked. He seemed to be looking at my outfit, and I didn¡¯t realize

    it until a whileter that he had never seen me in anything that wasn¡¯t purely professional. Now, I was

    wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans with boots and a zip-up hoodie on top, with my hair up in a bun, and

    he almost seemed fascinated by it. Seeing the way he looked at me made me blush and feel a bit

    embarrassed until I realized that I had looked at him the same way earlier. In a strange way, seeing

    each other in casual clothing almost felt like anotheryer of the barrier between us being peeled away.

    While we walked, I couldn¡¯t help but feel rxed. The cool mountain air smelled sweetly of pine trees

    as we walked further into the forest, and the quiet sound of the forest around us was extremely

    rxing. Every so often, E would run ahead with a flower or a cool rock or anything else that she

    would demand for Edrick to keep in his pocket, and soon enough his pockets were bursting with rocks

    and acorns.

    Eventually, however, Edrick¡¯s phone rang. I tried not to look as he pulled it out of his back pocket, but I

    couldn¡¯t keep myself and took a quick peek, only to see that it was none other than his father.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    As soon as Edrick saw his father¡¯s name on the screen, his face went dark. Before, he had been

    smiling and chatting happily, but now he was sullen and gloomy like the flick of a switch.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back,¡± he growled. Before I could answer, he stormed off a ways into the woods to answer

    the phone.

    Meanwhile, E ran in circles around me, picking little wildflowers. I stayed where I was and sat down

    on arge boulder to rest my feet, keeping an eye on E while Edrick was busy. I hoped that his father

    wasn¡¯t berating him for announcing our ¡°rtionship¡±, but I knew that that was probably exactly what

    was happening.

    ¡°Here, Moana!¡± E said, running up to me. Her fist was full of wildflowers and she shoved it in my face

    to show me all of the delicate petals and muted colors. ¡°It¡¯s for the baby!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but tear up as I took the flowers from E. ¡°Aww, love,¡± I said, touching the flowers

    gently, ¡°is it really?¡±

    E nodded vigorously. ¡°Mhm,¡± she said. ¡°I picked lots of daisies, see? And Selina once told me that

    those flowers are called¡­ Hmm¡­¡± She pointed thoughtfully at one of the flowers. It was a cluster of

    white flowers that were spread out on their stem in an umbre-like shape, causing the petals to look

    almost likece.

    ¡°Those are called Queen Anne¡¯s Lace,¡± I said.

    E¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yes! Queen Anne¡¯s Lace!¡± she eximed. ¡°If the baby¡¯s a girl, I think you should

    name her after the flowers¡­ Daisy Anne!¡±

    I smiled. It was a name that I hadn¡¯t thought of yet, but it was sweet, and I knew that I wouldn¡¯t forget it.

    Daisy Anne¡­ I liked that name.

    But then, suddenly, this sweet moment with E was suddenly broken when she gasped and pointed

    out at something in the distance, her eyes wide. ¡°M-Moana,¡± she said, taking a few steps backwards.

    ¡°W-Wolf!¡±

    I quickly jumped up and stood in front of her, looking out toward where she was pointing.

    Just as E said, there was a wolf out there¡­ And it was stalking toward us. It wasrge and gray, with

    bright yellow eyes that were fixed directly on the both of us. I identally dropped the flowers as I

    quickly grabbed E¡¯s hand and backed away, keeping her behind me.

    ¡°Stay behind me, E,¡± I said, feeling a knot form in my throat. The wolf wasing straight for us as

    though it had a mission toe for us.

    And the closer the wolf got, the more I could hear its low, threatening growls rumbling in its throat.

    If this wolf decided to attack us, E and I would be defenseless. As I opened my mouth, I only hoped

    that Edrick was still close enough to hear me when I called his name.

    ¡°Edrick! Help!¡±

 Chapter 130

    Chapter 130

    #Chapter 130: Too Many Scandals

    Edrick

    If I thought that Moana looked beautiful in her new dress the night before, then she looked even more

    stunning now dressed inly in hiking clothes. I had never seen her dressed so casually before, and

    although I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on why I felt this way, I felt even more attracted to her when she

    was dressed like this. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that for a moment, as the three of us

    walked together and enjoyed nature away from the noise and the chaos of the city, it almost felt as

    though we were a normal little family that was simply out for a hike on a nice summer¡¯s morning.

    I had never told anyone this before, but I had never particrly enjoyed following in my father¡¯s

    footsteps. I always knew that it was expected of me from a very young age, but I had secretly always

    envied other boys who didn¡¯t have such high expectations. In college, as I watched my friends go on to

    follow their dreams and be artists or teachers or adventurers, I resented the fact that my path was

    set in stone that wasid down by someone else before me. I never even had a say in it; no matter how

    much I just wanted to y the piano and enjoy being young and free, I had no choice but to be

    the next WereCorp CEO.

    And I got used to it, for the most part.

    But ever since I met Moana, it was times like this that reminded me that I just wanted a quiet life. Sure,

    the money was nice, but I wanted to live here all of the time, not in the city; I only really lived there most

    of the time to be close to WereCorp. It was times like this, which were rare, when I realized just how

    much I hated being a CEO. And seeing Moana in jeans and a hoodie, with her curly red hair piled on

    top of her head and with E running ahead of us and collecting little rocks and things to line up on her

    windowsill, made me feel at peace. If only we didn¡¯t have to go back and return to the city.

    That spell was quickly broken, however, by the feeling of my phone vibrating. When I saw my father¡¯s

    name on the screen, I almost considered declining the call¡­ But I knew that it would only make things

    worse, and he was already too mad at me for everything. Even though it broke our peace, I knew that I

    needed to do some damage control.

    I didn¡¯t want Moana or E to overhear my conversation with my father and ruin our walk, so I quickly

    excused myself and walked off out of earshot before I answered.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I answered.

    Of course, just as I expected, my father didn¡¯t even bother to greet me before he startedying into me.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that my own son would cause so much trouble,¡± he growled, without so much as a hello.

    ¡°You¡¯ve done nothing but create scandal after scandal recently. Are you going to take control of

    yourself, or do I need to take control for you?¡±

    I froze, feeling my blood run cold at my father¡¯s harsh words. And in that moment, maybe I was a bit

    disrespectful as well when I said the first thing that came to my mind. ¡°You do have another son, you

    know,¡± I replied, feeling myself fill with fire as I spoke. ¡°Why don¡¯t you appoint him as WereCorp CEO?¡±

    My father scoffed. ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous,¡± he snarled. ¡°And control your temper; not just with me, but with

    others. At the very least, control your temper in public. I could care less what you do at home.¡±

    I knew that he was talking about the incident where I punched the paparazzi the day before, but I didn¡¯t

    care. If anything, that whole incident helped us teach the paparazzi a lesson, and I was only doing what

    any father would do to protect his daughter and the mother of his unborn child.

    In fact, I opened my mouth to say that, but quickly stopped when I suddenly heard my name being

    called.

    ¡°Edrick! Help!¡±

    Moana. Her voice sounded scared. I didn¡¯t waste a moment before abruptly hanging up the phone and

    taking off at a sprint toward Moana and E, my mind racing with a million possibilities. Had E fallen

    and gotten hurt? Had Moana gotten hurt?

    However, it was much different than that.

    When I finally burst back out onto the trail and found Moana and E, they were both cowering behind

    a boulder, shaking and crying. Moana pointed to something that made my blood run cold.

    It was a wolf.

    And it wasn¡¯t just any wolf; it was a Rogue in its wolf form. I could smell it.

    Without a moment of hesitation, I jumped in front of Moana and E and did what any protective Alpha

    would do: I growled, deep and low. I could feel my eyes begin to glow, and I awakened my wolf in case

    I would need to shift and fight this thing off.

    But, thankfully, the Rogue seemed to take the hint. In a cowardly fashion, as soon as it heard my growl

    it turned tail and took off into the woods like a bolt of lightning.

    Once it was gone, I quickly turned around and ran over to Moana and E, reassuring them that it was

    okay; but we needed to leave. I picked up E and carried her while Moana followed alongside me, and

    I instinctively reached out and wrapped my free arm around Moana as well, asionally ncing over

    my shoulder to make sure that the Rogue didn¡¯t decide toe back for more. Thankfully, my growl

    seemed to scare it off for good.

    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    But regardless, I couldn¡¯t shake that feeling of impending danger. The mountain estate was secluded

    and it wasn¡¯t entirely unfeasible for strangers to identally stumble onto the vast property, but this

    seemed deliberate. When I found them, the wolf was stalking straight toward them as though it was on

    a mission ¡ª like someone sent it here.

    Maybe I was just being paranoid, but the whole thing felt suspicious. The timing was too perfect; just

    moments after I walked away and left E and Moana alone in the woods, a Rogue suddenly appeared

    and seemed to have its sights set on them. I wondered for a moment if it had something to do with the

    fact that Moana was special, and that she was even possibly the Golden Wolf, but it didn¡¯t make any

    sense; she didn¡¯t have a continuous scent yet, and I would have noticed if she had suddenly released

    her scent. Not only that, but her scent would have repelled the Rogue. No¡­ This felt different, but I

    couldn¡¯t quite exin why.

    Either way, I didn¡¯t feel safe here anymore. And neither did E and Moana. Even though I wanted to

    stay here in the peace and quiet forever, I knew that staying in our urban penthouse would be safer

    until I got to the bottom of this and knew that Moana would be safe, so I decided to have everyone pack

    up early and head home that night.

    At first, I thought Moana would be upset that we had to leave so early. But thankfully, she only agreed

    with me. I knew that she had an intuition that something was wrong, too.

 Chapter 131

    Chapter 131

    #Chapter 131: Under Pressure

    Moana

    Even though I was enjoying spending time at the mountain estate, it seemed that maybe it wasn¡¯t very

    safe here right now. Edrick didn¡¯t say much about it, but he seemed to be worried ever since that wolf

    came after E and myself, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he knew something that I didn¡¯t. I trusted

    Edrick to make the right decisions, so when he told me that it was best for us to return to the penthouse

    for now, I agreed. My only regret was that I didn¡¯t have any time to paint while we were there, and I

    hoped that I would have another chance to paint soon.

    When we finally arrived back at the penthouse, it was alreadyte that night. Selina and the maids

    prepared a quick meal, but I was too tired and uneasy after what happened to have much of an

    appetite, and only wanted to go to sleep. E was hardly keeping her eyes open, too, so I put her to

    bed before heading over to Edrick¡¯s room to get some sleep myself.

    I couldn¡¯t stop myself from feeling worried, though. Edrick had been extremely quiet ever since what

    happened in the forest; in fact, he had been quiet ever since his father called him that morning. I

    couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it was because of me, and if this would mean that he would distance himself

    from me again.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Mina said, noticing my anxiety. ¡°He¡¯lle around. He just needs a little time. But I know

    that he cares about you deeply, so you shouldn¡¯t worry about it too much.¡±

    Even though I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if I believed Mina, I supposed that she had never been wrong about

    this sort of thing before. Maybe she was right; maybe Edrick just needed a little time toe around

    and sort some things out. He had already shown me so many times just how much he cared about me.

    The way he treated me at the mountain estate, even after the horrible things I said to him when he

    announced our ¡°rtionship¡± and after I put E and my baby in danger by being exposed to the

    paparazzi, he had still treated me lovingly, almost like his real wife. Even as Iid there now, waiting for

    him toe to bed, I could still feel his warm arms around me from that morning and I could still see

    the softness in his eyes.

    However, as Iid there waiting for Edrick, he never came to bed. I found that it was bing more

    and more difficult to sleep without him ever since the incident in the Rogue district, and so I stayed

    awake in bed, waiting for him with my eyes fixed on the canopy above the bed. It was well after

    midnight now, and I still hadn¡¯t seen or heard him, so I began to get worried. I thought that maybe he

    fell asleep at his desk or got too absorbed in work to notice what time it was, so I quietly got out of bed

    and threw my robe on before walking out into the living room.

    Just as I suspected, Edrick was still in his study. I could see a little bit of light pouring out from

    underneath the door, and I walked over to knock and see why he wasn¡¯ting to bed, but before I

    could I froze when I heard him talking to someone.

    His voice was raised, and it sounded strained and frustrated.

    ¡°I know you sent that thing,¡± Edrick growled, sounding exasperated. ¡°Just admit it. Were you just trying

    to scare them, or are you actually such a horrible person that you would try to hurt a pregnant woman

    and a child?¡±

    Edrick paused, as though he was listening. Was he talking to his father? It sounded as though he was

    referring to the incident with the wolf earlier that day. I had thought that it was just a random wolf that

    happened to stumble upon us in the woods, but judging from the way that Edrick was talking about it, I

    realized that maybe it wasn¡¯t so simple as that. I froze as I heard what he said next.

    ¡°I knew it. You¡¯re not going to get your way. Not with me here to protect them. If you want to hurt them,

    you¡¯ll have to hurt me, first, dad.¡±

    My eyes widened. So he was talking to his father. Had his father really sent a wolf ¡ª a Rogue, possibly

    ¡ª to attack us?

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    I supposed that I should have expected that he wanted to hurt me. I was, after all, a threat to his

    family¡¯s image. But to put his granddaughter, as well as an unborn child, in harm¡¯s way¡­ It made me

    sick. I instinctively put my hand over my belly protectively as though that would be any help if Michael

    were to try to harm us again, and wondered if he would only continue to be a threat even after my baby

    was born. As long as Michael was alive, would we ever feelpletely safe if he was really so cruel as

    to put a child and a pregnant woman in harm¡¯s way?

    Suddenly, I heard the unmistakable sound of Edrick mming the phone down. I bit my lip as I stood

    there in the darkness outside his study door, wondering if I should go in there and talk to him. I knew

    that he needed someone to be there for him, and I understood his frustrations. If I could only show him

    that he could be open with me, then I knew he would feel better. He was putting too much pressure on

    himself by not talking about these things, and I needed him to understand that he didn¡¯t need to take

    his father on alone when he had me.

    I decided then that I would go in there and talk to him.

    But just as I was about to put my hand out to knock on the door, I heard him speak again.

    ¡°Olivia?¡± he said, sounding even more exasperated than before. ¡°What do you want now? It¡¯s almost

    one o¡¯clock in the morning.¡±

    I froze once more. This Olivia person¡­ Again? Who was she, and why was she always calling Edrick

    in the middle of the night? I thought back to the night that we kissed in the kitchen, when he mentioned

    that someone from his past always called relentlessly around this time of year, and I knew that it was

    ¡°Olivia¡±, but I still didn¡¯t understand why. Was she an ex-girlfriend? A family member? An estranged

    friend?

    ¡°Not this again,¡± he growled. ¡°I¡¯ve given you enough. Stop calling me.¡±

    Edrick suddenly hung up then. I felt my heart leap into my throat, and out of instinct I quickly ran out of

    the room and jumped back into Edrick¡¯s bed before he could realize that I was eavesdropping.

    But as Iid there, pretending to be asleep while Edrick quietly entered the room finally and got ready

    for bed, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about everything I had heard. Why was Edrick¡¯s father so hell-bent on

    harming me, even going so far as to put his granddaughter and his second unborn grandchild in harm¡¯s

    way? Would any of us be safe so long as he was in the picture?

    And, secondly¡­ Who was Olivia, and why was she calling Edrick so much?

 Chapter 132

    Chapter 132

    #Chapter 132: The Coincidence

    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    Moana

    I woke up the next morning with the memory of what I overheard still fresh on my mind. To not only

    hear that Michael had sent that wolf to attack us, but also to hear that ¡°Olivia¡± called Edrick again, left

    me feeling both confused and scared. If my baby was going to be in danger of someone like Michael, I

    didn¡¯t know what I would do. I could only trust that Edrick would handle it and keep us protected.

    It was Saturday morning, which meant that it was also a training day for E. I woke up early to get her

    ready, and decided that I would go to the orphanage and volunteer while E was in training. Thest

    time I was at the orphanage, I discovered that Sophia was in need of help, so I decided that I would

    spend every Saturday morning that I could helping her out. I just hoped that she wouldn¡¯t be too upset

    with me for not telling her about the baby sooner, as I was certain that she likely saw the news by now.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to the orphanage while E is in training today,¡± I told Edrick as we ate breakfast together.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be volunteering for Sophia on Saturdays now.¡±

    Edrick furrowed his brow as he took a sip of his coffee. He seemed a bit concerned, which I

    understood; with everything that had happened recently between the Rogue district and the Rogue that

    came to attack us in the woods, it was no wonder that he was worried about letting me spend time out

    of the house by myself.

    ¡°Well, at least bring a bodyguard with you,¡± he said, somewhat sternly. ¡°I don¡¯t want you going

    anywhere alone from now on.¡±

    I agreed, only because I was constantly reminding myself of Edrick¡¯s phone call with Michael the night

    before. But on the way to E¡¯s training and then the orphanage after that, I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that I

    felt a bit ufortable having a bodyguard follow me around. However, I knew that it was the safest

    thing to do, and the bodyguard that Edrick hired was very nice. In fact, as I sat down at the front desk

    and began my work for Sophia, I couldn¡¯t help but smile when I heard the children pestering the

    bodyguard and making him y with them.

    Sophia, just as I suspected, was a little sullen when she saw me.

    ¡°I do wish that you told me sooner,¡± she said, setting a cup of tea down on the desk in front of me. ¡°I

    would have preferred to hear it from you instead of from the news.¡±

    I felt myself blush a bit. ¡°I know,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t know that Edrick was going to announce it

    like that.¡±

    Sophia sighed, then shrugged. Finally, a bit of a smile spread across her face and she reached out

    from across the desk to squeeze my hand. ¡°I¡¯m happy for you. You¡¯re going to make a wonderful

    mother.¡±

    Sophia¡¯s words made me smile. She didn¡¯t mention my rtionship with Edrick, however, which was a

    relief; I didn¡¯t feel like I was in the mood to exin that entire mess to anyone, let alone Sophia ¡ª

    although I was certain that she already had a good idea as to what was really going on, anyway. After

    the past week, I felt even more confused about my rtionship with Edrick than ever. I just hoped that

    Mina was right when she told me that I just needed to give Edrick time, and then he would want to have

    more than a fake rtionship. If it was going to be confusing like this forever, I wasn¡¯t so sure if I would

    be able to handle it, let alone how our future child would handle it. How could I exin to our son or

    daughter that their mommy and daddy weren¡¯t really married, but were instead only pretending to be? I

    couldn¡¯t imagine that going well.

    Thankfully, however, I was able to stop thinking about these things and keep myself busy with work for

    a few hours. The phone rang almost nonstop; it seemed that Edrick¡¯s foundation was bringing a lot of

    attention to the orphanage, and there were a lot of couples who wanted to get started with the adoption

    process. Not only that, but there were a lot of potential donors who called to make appointments so

    they could tour the orphanage, as well as other people who wanted to volunteer. Between all of the

    phone calls and workersing in to make repairs thanks to the money from the foundation, I was

    busy nonstop during the few hours that I was there. No wonder Sophia was having a hard time keeping

    up; working at the front desk was a full time job in and of itself.

    Everything went smoothly for the few hours that I was there. Or, at least, it did up until the very end.

    It was only a few minutes before I had to leave to pick up E. The phone calls had died down a bit, so

    I was getting ready to leave. Just before I got up from the desk, however, the phone rang onest time

    and I answered.

    ¡°Bayside Orphanage,¡± I answered politely. ¡°How can I help you?¡±

    ¡°Hi!¡± a cheerful, female voice said on the other end. She sounded young ¡ª about my age. ¡°I¡¯d like to

    make an appointment. I¡¯m interested in adopting.¡±

    I smiled, thrilled once more to hear that more people were interested in adopting. It made my heart

    swell to know that some of the children who were here would finally be going to homes with loving

    families.

    ¡°Sure,¡± I replied, opening up the appointment book. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Olivia.¡±

    My blood suddenly ran cold. This couldn¡¯t possibly be the Olivia, could it? The same Olivia who called

    Edrick relentlessly in the middle of the night? It couldn¡¯t be¡­ This woman sounded perfectly nice, not

    at all like the disturbance that Edrick made her out to be. I couldn¡¯t imagine that the lovely young

    woman on the other end of the phone was the same woman who pestered Edrick for money on an

    almost nightly basis. Surely it was just a coincidence.

    Swallowing the lump in my throat, I decided that it was really just nothing but a coincidence ¡ª Olivia

    wasn¡¯t an umon name, after all ¡ª and that I was just being paranoid.

    ¡°Okay, Olivia,¡± I said as I looked through the appointment book. ¡°Can youe in on Wednesday next

    week at ten o¡¯clock in the morning?¡±

    The young woman paused for a few moments before answering.

    ¡°Hm¡­ Actually, can Ie in on a Saturday? I work all week.¡±

    ¡°Uh, sure,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯ll put you in for next Saturday at ten o¡¯clock.¡±

    Olivia thanked me and we hung up. I kept telling myself that it really was just a coincidence, but

    something in me felt as though there was something fishy about all of this. Was it possible that Olivia

    was an ex-girlfriend of Edrick¡¯s who found out about our ¡°rtionship¡± and wanted to confront me in

    person?

    No, I thought to myself as I followed the bodyguard out to the car to go and pick up E. You¡¯re just

    being paranoid.

    And so, I swallowed the odd feeling of dread in my throat and left to pick up E from training, deciding

    that the Olivia who just called the orphanage was simply nothing more than a coincidence.

 Chapter 133

    Chapter 133

    #Chapter 133: Pizza Party

    Moana

    By the time I picked up E and took her home, I had almostpletely forgotten about the woman

    named Olivia who called the orphanage. E and I spent the remainder of the afternoon drawing and

    ying in the penthouse, and by the time that dinnertime came around, I was too tired and hungry after

    my long day to think about much of anything.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get ready for dinner, E,¡± I said. I wasn¡¯t sure what Selina and the maids nned on preparing

    for dinner that night, but I looked forward to sitting down and rxing a bit. I helped E clean up her

    coloring books and toys, then had her wash her hands and clean herself up before we headed back out

    to the dining room to eat.

    However, when we walked into the dining room, I was surprised to find that there was no dinner. In fact,

    when I poked my head into the kitchen, it didn¡¯t seem that Selina and the maids were preparing

    anything at all. The three of them were seated around the kitchen ind with tea and their own meals,

    but nothing else had been prepared.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    I was about to open my mouth to ask if I should prepare something for myself and E ¡ª which I didn¡¯t

    mind doing at all ¡ª when I suddenly heard the elevator doors open and Edrick¡¯s voice came bellowing

    through the penthouse.

    ¡°I brought pizza!¡± he called. As he spoke, I could already smell it, and my mouth instantly began to

    water. I hadn¡¯t had pizza in ages, but even more than that, I was surprised to hear that the Alpha

    billionaire actually bought take-out pizza for dinner.

    ¡°Yay! Pizza party!¡± E shouted. She took off running into her bedroom, leaving me standing in the

    middle of the dining room with a puzzled expression on my face.

    Edrick came in then and set the pizza down on the table. ¡°What are you doing still dressed?¡± he asked,

    eyeing me. ¡°Put your pajamas on. It¡¯s time for a pizza party.¡±

    I was utterly shocked. Not only had the maids and Selina not mentioned that we were supposed to be

    having a ¡°pizza party¡± tonight, but I was also shocked to find that Edrick wanted us to eat in our

    pajamas. But before I could ask why, Edrick walked out of the dining room and disappeared into his

    own bedroom.

    I could only stare at Selina and the maids in shock. Selina chuckled when she saw the confused look

    on my face.

    ¡°He does this every so often,¡± she said. ¡°It makes E happy.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± I was still taken aback, but it made sense that Edrick might want to make E happy after all of

    the stress she¡¯d been throughtely. I decided not to question it any further and went to my room to put

    on a set of pajamas that I feltfortable wearing in front of everybody, then headed back out to the

    living room to see that Edrick and E were already seated on the floor in front of the television with

    tes of pizza in their hands.

    ¡°Come sit and grab some pizza,¡± Edrick said, nodding his head toward a cushion on the floor that he

    set out for me. ¡°E, do you want to pick out a movie?¡±

    As I sat down sheepishly and picked up a te of cheesy, gooey pizza that made my mouth water

    even more, E puzzled over which movie to pick until she finallynded on an animated children¡¯s

    movie with talking animals.

    Together, the three of us sat on the floor and watched the movie while we ate pizza. Even though it felt

    a bit awkward at first to do something so casual with the Alpha billionaire, I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that it

    was a lot of fun. With my belly full of delicious pizza, there was a bit of a smile on my face as I

    asionally nced over at E and Edrick sitting together in the dark room with only the glow of the

    television to illuminate them. Eventually, we moved from the floor to the couch, and Edrick held E

    tightly in his arms while she watched the movie.

    In an odd way, just in the same way that it felt when we hiked together in our casual close, it felt both

    strange andforting to see this rxed and yful side of Edrick. I had never seen him do anything

    so spontaneous like this, and during those moments, it really did feel like we were a normal little family

    enjoying quality time together. I couldn¡¯t help but rest my hand on my belly as we sat and watched the

    movie, thinking about how we would soon have another addition to our makeshift family for nights like

    this, no matter how rare they were. Besides, seeing how sweet and caring Edrick was with E warmed

    my heart, as I thought about how he would treat our child the same way. Even though our rtionship

    was stillplicated, it was a relief to know that I was bringing a child into a world with a man who

    cared so deeply about his children, even though he didn¡¯t seem like the type when I first met him.

    I couldn¡¯t help but wonder, though, if he really was like this when I met him and that he just didn¡¯t show

    it, or if he rxed more since I met him. Just a few months ago, he was a cold and ruthless Alpha

    billionaire who seemed to spend all of his time working and hardly paid any attention to E. But now,

    here he was, spontaneously bringing home pizza and watching children¡¯s movies on the couch in his

    pajamas. Not only that, but to think about how sweet he had been when he took us to the mountain

    estate, even though it wound up going wrong in the end, made me think even more that the Alpha CEO

    was bing more and more of a family man by the day. And in a lot of ways, it made me feel safe in

    knowing that I made the right decision to keep our baby and stay here with him and E.

    At one point, I must have spent too much time looking over at Edrick in the darkness, watching how

    handsome his face looked even in the dim blue glow of the television, and he seemed to notice me

    looking. He nced over at me, but I didn¡¯t look away at first, and we held our gaze for a long few

    moments.

    During those moments, I felt Mina reacting strongly inside of me. I knew that she wanted me to get

    closer to Edrick, but at the same time, I still felt too confused by what our rtionship had be to

    feelpletelyfortable just yet ¡ª so I quickly looked away, hoping that he didn¡¯t see how red my

    face became during those moments.

    By the time the movie ended, E was half asleep with her belly full of pizza. Edrick carried her to bed,

    and I couldn¡¯t help but follow behind when he disappeared into her room. Through the crack in the

    door, I watched as heid her down in her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin.

    ¡°Daddy?¡± E asked, her tiny voice sleepy.

    ¡°Yes, Princess?¡± he asked.

    E yawned. ¡°Can we have more pizza parties?¡±

    Edrick paused. I felt my heart flutter to see this interaction between father and daughter, and felt my

    heart flutter even more at his response.

    ¡°Sure, Princess,¡± he said gently, kissing her forehead. ¡°We can have lots of pizza parties from now on.

    You, me, and Moana.

 Chapter 134

    Chapter 134

    #Chapter 134: Losing Control

    Moana

    Hearing how sweetly Edrick spoke to E made my heart swell. And to hear him mention me, too,

    made my heart swell even more. Was my wolf right when she said that Edrick woulde around?

    These past few days, did his attitude toward our rtionship begin to shift in the right direction?

    I heard Edrick kiss E goodnight and approach the door, so I quickly scurried away before he realized

    that I was eavesdropping. I wasn¡¯t sure whether he actually saw me or not, but if he did, he didn¡¯t say

    anything about it.

    When we climbed into bed that night, however, I still couldn¡¯t wipe the smile off of my face.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Edrick asked, watching me as I climbed into bed. ¡°You¡¯ve been smiling nonstop all night.¡±

    I shrugged andid down next to him, not sure if I wanted to openly say that I was smiling because our

    little pizza party made me feel even more strongly about him, and that I wanted us to be a real family. I

    wasn¡¯t sure how he would take it.

    It was a cool night out, and the balcony doors were wide open to let in the cool summer breeze.

    Outside, the city was noisy as always, and it felt even more noisy after our couple of days in the

    mountains.

    ¡°I just want to say thank you for everything you¡¯ve done for metely,¡± I finally said. ¡°You¡¯ve been giving

    me such a nice time.¡±

    Edrick fell silent for a few moments. I thought for a second that he might make some sort of indifferent

    comment that would allude to his old self, but much to my surprise, he didn¡¯t. It really did seem as

    though the Alpha billionaire was changing for the bettertely ¡ª or maybe he was just more

    comfortable being open these days.

    ¡°I only want to make you happy,¡± he said finally. His voice was low and soft, and the way he spoke gave

    me instant butterflies in my stomach. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯refortable here.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. His words were so sweet and seemed so heartfelt that it made me blush, and

    I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing woulde out.

    However, it seemed that I didn¡¯t need to say anything at all. I felt Mina react even more strongly than

    ever at Edrick¡¯s words, as though the way he spoke almost made her go feral. And then, in that same

    instant¡­

    Edrick suddenly rolled over to face me. He pushed himself up on his hand and cupped my cheek with

    the other, his steely gray eyes glowing a bright silver like I had never seen before. The air between us

    was electrified, and I felt somehow attracted to him and nervous at the same time.

    I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing so suddenly, but before anything coulde out, he

    suddenly pressed his lips against mine with a fervence that I had never experienced before. His sweet

    lips parted gently and his tongue pressed its way into my mouth while his hand traveled down my neck,

    over my corbone and my shoulder, down my waist andnded on my hip, where his fingers

    squeezed gently and dug into my flesh, causing tingling sensations to shoot through my body like

    lightning bolts.

    I wanted him so badly. I couldn¡¯t exin it, but I wanted him more now than ever, as though he was the

    one thing I needed in life, like oxygen. I kissed him back with the same amount of passion, our lips

    never parting, and I pressed my hands into his chest. My fingers worked open the buttons on his shirt

    and slid beneath the fabric to feel his smooth skin, and at the same time, I felt his hand slide lower on

    my hip, onto my thigh.

    So many emotions took over me then. Passion, heat, desire¡­ but above all else, love. It was the same

    way that I felt when I saw his face in the alleyway, saving me from the Rogues. When he picked me up

    and all I saw was him looking down at me, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on me. I knew I loved him then,

    and I loved him now. I didn¡¯t want a fake rtionship with Edrick; I wanted a real one. I wanted this all

    along, and now it was finally bing a reality. I could tell from the way that he gently yet firmly

    touched me, and the way that his lips worked their way across my jaw and down my neck, that he felt

    the same way.

    But then, it ended almost as quickly as it began.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    Edrick suddenly sat up, ripping his hands away from me with wide eyes. I propped myself up on my

    elbows while I watched him quickly button his shirt back up, my own eyes wide with disbelief.

    ¡°Edrick, what¡¯s wrong?¡± I whispered, my throat choking up already.

    Edrick only shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, standing suddenly. ¡°I got carried away. I shouldn¡¯t have

    done that.¡±

    My lower lip began to quiver as he stormed over to the door.

    ¡°But, Edrick¡ª¡± I called after him, sitting up fully now; but he was already gone. I could only stare at the

    door in disbelief, wondering if I did something wrong. Even if I went after him, I knew that I wouldn¡¯t

    even get an answer. Was being intimate with me really such a mistake that he couldn¡¯t even look me in

    the eye afterwards? Even though he knew that I was a werewolf now, were our differences in social

    status and all of the scandals surrounding us too much for him to want to be with me romantically?

    Suddenly, as a sob caught in my throat, I heard my wolf¡¯s voice echo inside my head.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said, sounding somewhat ashamed. ¡°That was my fault.¡±

    I shook my head and wiped the tears out of my eyes with the back of my hand. ¡°What happened?¡± I

    asked. ¡°Everything seemed fine, and then¡­¡±

    ¡°Like I said, it was my fault. I¡­ I think Edrick might be our mate. I know I should have asked you first,

    but I got too curious, and you two seemed so close, so I released my scent. It made him lose control.¡±

    My eyes widened as I processed what Mina had just said. Was it true? Edrick may have really been our

    mate?

    But¡­ If he was, why wouldn¡¯t he just be intimate with me instead of tearing himself away and running

    out of the room like that? Surely, if he was my mate, he would have felt the same way. Were the

    differences between us really so vast that he couldn¡¯t even bring himself to be with his own mate?

    ¡°He¡¯lle around,¡± Mina saidfortingly. ¡°I promise. Just give him some time. I think I just released

    too much scent at once and it overwhelmed him.¡±

    I sighed and flopped back onto the mattress as I stared up at the ceiling.

    ¡°I hope you¡¯re right,¡± I whispered out loud. ¡°I really hope you¡¯re right.¡±

    But that night, Edrick didn¡¯te back to bed.

 Chapter 135

    Chapter 135

    #Chapter 135: Public Debut

    Moana

    The next morning, I awoke with a pounding headache. I felt more confused now than ever with my

    rtionship with Edrick; if my wolf really was right about Edrick being my mate, then it only made all of

    this even moreplicated. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder, too, if Edrick also knew that I was his mate and

    that he wasn¡¯t telling me about it. But I couldn¡¯t imagine why he would want to keep something like that

    a secret from me.

    I finally got out of bed and made my way out into the living room, expecting Edrick to be locked away in

    his study after what happened the night before.

    But, much to my surprise, he wasn¡¯t. In fact, he was standing in the living room and looking out the

    window when I walked in. As I approached, he turned to face me directly without even a hint of remorse

    or embarrassment on his face.

    ¡°Sorry for thete notice,¡± he said, ncing at his watch, ¡°but I just found out that I¡¯ll need to go to a

    networking event tonight. You¡¯ll need to be there as my fiancee, of course. Selina will keep an eye on

    E tonight.¡±

    My eyes widened. ¡°A¡­ A public event?¡± I asked. The thought of going out into public with Edrickas his

    ¡°fiancee¡± made me nervous, especially after all of the media attention we were already receiving. As

    our debut as a couple, it would no doubt be even more chaotic.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Edrick replied. ¡°Well¡­ Sort of. There will be paparazzi outside, but once we get in, it won¡¯t be so

    bad. It¡¯ll only be other socialites and businesspeople.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure if Edrick thought that telling me that the event would only be other rich people was

    supposed to make me feel better, but it didn¡¯t. My heart was already racing just thinking about how out

    of ce I would feel as the only human there; of course, I was a werewolf like the rest of them, but they

    didn¡¯t know that. To them, I was still just a lowly human¡­ And I was sure that many of them agreed

    with the sentiment that I was a human ything, too.

    However, I knew that I didn¡¯t have much of a choice. Edrick had already made it clear the other night

    that I would have to y the role of his fiancee, and that meant that I couldn¡¯t always be hidden away. I

    would need to attend things like this with him for appearances, even though it freaked me out. At least

    now I had some hope that Edrick really was my mate, though, which would mean that maybe in the

    future these sorts of things wouldn¡¯t need to be fake anymore.

    ¡°Um¡­ Okay,¡± I choked out, my face going red as Edrick¡¯s steely gaze stayed fixed on me, reminding

    me of the night before. ¡°What time will I need to be ready?¡±

    ¡°The event starts at seven o¡¯clock tonight,¡± Edrick replied. ¡°I booked an appointment for you with Tyrus

    to do your hair and makeup at four.¡±

    I nodded in understanding. Having my hair and makeup professionally done for public events like this

    would still take some getting used to, but I did like Tyrus and enjoyed talking to him. Besides, I couldn¡¯t

    help but think that it was a bit sweet that Edrick hired his old college friend for this. I had never

    envisioned Edrick as someone who seemed to have many friends, and I never was sure if Edrick would

    be open to talking about his past, so talking to Tyrus was like looking through a window into Edrick¡¯s old

    life.

    ¡­

    Like clockwork, Tyrus came at exactly four o¡¯clock to do my hair and makeup.

    ¡°You look stunning in green and gold,¡± he said as he did my eyeshadow in front of my vanity mirror. ¡°Or

    maybe I¡¯m just biased because those are my favorite colors. Ha!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh. Tyrus was right, though; green and gold went perfectly with my hair and skin

    tone, and when he was finished, I was awed yet again by his work. He gave me a subtle sage green

    eyeshadow with flecks of gold in it, as well as subtle pinkish lipstick that looked natural. My hair was

    pulled back into a half bun with curls that came down on either side to frame my face, and he even took

    the extra effort to add tiny, delicate braids woven with green thread in my hair. With the simple ck

    satin dress that I wore to the end of summer banquet ¡ª which had of course been carefully dry

    cleaned after my stint in the fountain ¡ª I felt like a wealthy socialite myself.

    Once I was ready, Tyrus held out his hand for me and led me out to the living room, where Edrick

    waited for me.

    ¡°Ta-da!¡± Tyrus eximed, gesturing to me with a flourish. ¡°The belle of the ball.¡±

    Edrick stood from the couch to look at me. It was only a brief second, but I swore that his eyes widened

    slightly, and I felt myself blush. Tyrus gestured with his finger for me to spin, and I did; and when I

    stopped, Edrick¡¯s face was a little red as well.

    He kind of looked like a nervous, lovestruck schoolboy as he stared at me, which almost made me

    giggle.

    ¡­

    Shortly before seven o¡¯clock, Edrick and I took the car to the event. Both of us were silent for the ride

    ¡ª I was too nervous to speak and Edrick didn¡¯t seem to want to look at me for too long, although I

    thought I caught him ncing on asion.

    But when the driver pulled up to the event, I heard myself let out an idental gasp.

    The event was held at a huge theater with marble pirs out front, and a long red carpet that led up the

    pathway, up the steps, and to the front door.

    There were other people walking up the red carpet, and I noticed instantly that many of them stopped

    to pose for the mobs of paparazzi. The women were dressed in extremely luxurious gowns with not a

    single hair out of ce, and all of the men were dressed in perfectly pressed tuxedos of various colors.

    Even though I knew I was dressed well, I already felt out of ce; and, not to mention the dozens ¡ª

    hundreds, even ¡ª of paparazzi crowding around on either side of the red carpet.

    Edrick must have seen my expression, because he suddenly reached out and took my hand. ¡°Don¡¯t

    worry,¡± he said while the driver got out and came around to open our door. ¡°Just stay with me.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but blush as I felt Edrick¡¯s warm hand around mine, but I nodded and took a deep

    breath, steeling myself for what was toe.

    Edrick got out of the car first, then held out his arm for me and helped me out. The instant we set foot

    on the carpet, the paparazzi turned their attention to us, their bright lights shing and their voices

    shouting.

    ¡°Moana! Look over here!¡± I heard them shout. ¡°Mr. Morgan! Over here!¡±

    ¡°Just smile and walk with me,¡± Edrick said through a fake smile as he waved politely at the paparazzi. I

    gulped and did as he said, but I was already stunned, and I imagined that I would look more terrified

    than anything when I eventually saw some of those photos of us.

    I felt myself be dizzy as we slowly made our way up the red carpet, and I instinctively put my hand

    on my belly ¡ª which, of course, attracted even more attention.

    ¡°Moana! Show us the baby bump!¡± the paparazzi shouted as their shing lights blinded me.

    I felt myself begin to choke up, and my smile faded. The only thing that kept me from freezing on the

    spot was the feeling of Edrick¡¯s arm wrapping protectively around my shoulders.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

 Chapter 136

    Chapter 136

    #Chapter 136: Deer in Headlights

    Edrick

    As soon as I saw the look on Moana¡¯s face as the paparazzi swarmed us, I knew that I should have

    prepared her more for an event of this magnitude. It wasn¡¯t just any old event; it was a hugeworking

    event for some of the most affluent people in the city. The majority of people in attendance were other

    CEOs, celebrities, and extremely wealthy werewolf socialites. It really was no ce for a girl like

    Moana, who had very little experience with events of this caliber, and I should have given her more

    time to get used to all of the media attention before I suddenly sprung this on her. But I hadpletely

    forgotten that the event was this weekend, and had mistaken the date as being the following weekend.

    I could tell that Moana was trying her best to smile for the cameras and stay close to me, but when the

    paparazzi noticed her holding her belly and began to swarm her even more, it became too much.

    Instinctively, I put my arm around her¡­ But that only sent the paparazzi into even more of a frenzy.

    ¡°When is the wedding?¡± the paparazzi shouted. ¡°Will you wait until after the baby is born? When is the

    baby due?¡±

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t going to answer any of these questions; not only because there would be no

    wedding, but also because I needed to get Moana inside before she had a full-blown panic attack out

    here. The paparazzi, thankfully, were being held behind a barrier and couldn¡¯t get too close to us, but it

    still felt suffocating with all of the shing lights and shouting. I was used to this by now, and even this

    was too much. I could only imagine the terror that Moana felt right now.

    ¡°Come on,¡± I said, guiding her toward the door with my arm still wrapped firmly around her shoulder as I

    used my body to block the view that the paparazzi had of her. I didn¡¯t want to give them the satisfaction

    of getting any more photos of Moana in such a vulnerable state. They already had too many. ¡°We¡¯re

    almost there.¡±

    Finally, we made it up the steps and to the front door. The bouncer ushered us in, and once the door

    was shut firmly behind us, the din of the paparazzi outside became muffled and it finally felt as though

    we could breathe. But that was only the beginning of the night; the paparazzi were abrasive and

    annoying, but wealthy werewolf socialites and CEOs were just as bad, if not worse¡­ Just in a different

    way.

    I stopped Moana in the entryway before we went inside to give us some time to regroup, and held her

    by both shoulders as my eyes frantically searched her face. She had gonepletely pale as a sheet,

    and her eyes were wide and blinking slowly. I could tell that she was not only blinded by all of the

    shing lights, but she was also out of it mentally from all of the noise and attention.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear without even thinking about it. ¡°Do you

    need water?¡±

    Moana only nodded. She still seemed too stunned to speak, so I decided to get her seated at our table

    and get her something cold to drink. There would be meals providedter, as well as live entertainment,

    but for now people were socializing before the show and our only option was the open bar.

    I led Moana over to our table, which was marked with a card that read ¡°Mr. Morgan & Guest¡±, which

    made me a little annoyed; I knew that my ¡°engagement¡± with Moana was fake, but it still felt a little

    insulting that her name wasn¡¯t even on the card. Instead, she was just a ¡°guest¡±. But I decided not to

    let it get to me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get you some water and I¡¯ll be right back,¡± I said, squeezing her shoulder as she sat down.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    Moana nodded and offered me a weak smile, which was a relief. She seemed to be a bit more rxed

    now that we were inside where it was cooler and quieter; I just hoped that no one would bother her

    tonight. I knew that some of these people could be nasty, especially to humans, and none of them

    knew yet that she was a werewolf.

    As I stood at the bar and waited for the bartender to pour Moana¡¯s water and prepare my own drink, I

    immediately got a taste of the nastiness from some of the other nearby socialites.

    ¡°Oh, look at that,¡± one woman said to another as though I wasn¡¯t even standing right there. ¡°It¡¯s the

    human ything.¡±

    Immediately, I felt my blood boil. The event had barely even begun, and already these gossips were

    beginning to dig in their ws. I cast a nce over my shoulder at Moana, who was still sitting by

    herself. I was just d that no one decided to bother her while I was gone.

    ¡°Well, I guess she is somewhat pretty,¡± the second woman replied with a snicker. ¡°Although, I wonder

    how pretty she¡¯d be without all of that expensive makeup and that fancy dress.¡±

    The first woman giggled. ¡°Maybe she¡¯s not as dumb as they say,¡± she whispered. ¡°Kudos to her for

    swindling a billionaire into spoiling her.¡±

    The bartender handed me my drinks. As I gripped the sses and began to walk away, all I could do

    was keep willing myself not to spin around and yell at these two women. I recognized them easily, too;

    the first one was the much younger trophy wife of one of my business partners, and the second was a

    B-list actress who ended her prime years ago. I could have said both of those things to those nasty

    women, but I decided not to for Moana¡¯s sake, as I knew it would only make things worse for her ¡ª

    and right now, my priority was to get her some water.

    But when I heard what the women said next, I froze.

    ¡°I suppose we¡¯ve all had the asional interest in humans,¡± the trophy wife said. ¡°But it neversts.

    They¡¯re simply lesser than us. Their little brains simply can¡¯tprehend the power of a mate bond,

    and that¡¯s why they¡¯re only good for experimenting¡­ Sexually, if you know what I mean.¡±

    The second woman ¡ª the actress ¡ª giggled, but I was fuming. I spun around then and strode up to

    the two women, whose eyes widened as I stopped in front of them.

    ¡°If you have something to say about my fiancee, then you can say it to me,¡± I said, my anger rising so

    quickly that it took all of my strength to not say more.

    The women¡¯s faces went red. They both began to stammer out excuses, but I didn¡¯t care to hear them.

    Without another word, I turned on my heel and walked back to my table to give Moana her water, and

    as I did, I made the decision to not leave her side again that night.

    I realized something, though, as I sat back down with Moana.

    When I referred to her as my fiancee to those two women, I didn¡¯t even think about it. In fact, calling

    Moana my fiancee felt more natural than anything.

 Chapter 137

    Chapter 137

    #Chapter 137: Keeping Up Appearances

    Moana

    Edrick showed so much affection for me when he realized that I was freezing up in front of the

    paparazzi, and without a moment of hesitation, he shielded me from the cameras with his body to hide

    my vulnerability and ushered me inside. Once we were safely inside, he led me over to a table and left

    me there while he got me some water. Even though I was still stunned by all of the shouting and the

    shing cameras, I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that my heart felt full of love for the man who always cared so

    deeply about me.

    While I waited for him, I began to calm down a bit and take in my surroundings. The inside of the

    building was a beautiful old concert hall with round tables scattered around, an art deco ceiling, and an

    ornate wooden stage at the front. There was a microphone and a stool sitting on the stage, and it made

    me realize that there must be a live show tonight. I hoped it was aedian; I needed tough.

    But as I sat, I still couldn¡¯t help but notice that people were talking about me. I could hear their whispers

    and their snickers, and as I looked around, I realized that there were many sets of eyes on me,

    watching me like hawks circling their prey. It almost seemed as though they were suspicious of me, as

    if I would steal something or cause some trouble. All I could do was stare down at myp and wait for

    Edrick to return.

    As soon as he returned, he put his arm around me once again. The people whispering about me

    immediately stopped as soon as they saw him, which made me feel safe once more.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said quietly.

    Edrick merely nodded. ¡°Let me know if you need another,¡± he said. He seemed so nonchnt, but I

    could tell from the way that his jaw was clenched that he was annoyed about something, and the way

    that he held me tightly was almost territorial. Maybe he noticed that people were staring, too, and

    wanted to show them that he would be here to protect me if they tried to say or do anything nasty.

    Not longter, waiters dressed in ck and white uniforms came around and started taking people¡¯s

    orders. There was a limited menu, but each meal was extremely luxurious and decadent. I ordered

    pasta with ms, and when it came out I was awed by how fragrant and full of vor the meal was. I

    had never eaten such exquisite foods in my life; sure, Sophia tried her best to give us a wide variety of

    foods to try, but we never had the money for food like this. As I nced around at all of the other

    women who hardly even touched their meals, I felt culture shocked. I still couldn¡¯t wrap my head

    around the fact that there were people who were so used to this that they didn¡¯t even want to eat the

    food, and I decided then and there that no matter how much Edrick spoiled me, I would never let myself

    forget what it was like to go hungry as a child.

    Once the meals came out, the lights dimmed so that the only light in the room aside from the spotlight

    on the stage were the flickering candles at each table. Then, someone came out on stage to announce

    the show for the night: a celebrityedian.

    While we ate, theedian performed his show and made Edrick and Iugh together. It was so funny

    that I quickly forgot about how scared I was before, and soon I felt as though it was just Edrick and I

    there, enjoying a show together while we had dinner. In fact, with the way that Edrick sat right next to

    me with either his hand or his leg touching me at all times, I really did feel like a real couple on a night

    out. And at one point, I nced over at him to see himughing loudly at one of theedian¡¯s jokes.

    He was even more handsome when he was happy. I loved the way his eyes squeezed shut and the

    way that he tilted his head back when heughed, and it made me smile even more. During those

    moments, I thought that I could see himugh like that forever and I¡¯d be happy.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    After the show, the lights came back on and people began to stand.

    ¡°Is the event over already?¡± I asked.

    Edrick shook his head. ¡°Not for a while yet,¡± he replied, sounding a little disappointed. ¡°Now we¡¯ll have

    to mingle. It¡¯s important for appearances.¡±

    I swallowed and nodded, feeling nervous as we stood, but Edrick held his arm out for me. As I looped

    my hand through his arm and followed him around while he chatted with people, however, I could tell

    that their smiles were fake and that they kept giving me side nces ¡ª especially the women. I felt

    instantly judged and out of ce, and as the time went on, I felt more and more ufortable despite

    being right beside Edrick. However, I quickly learned to put on a fake smile like the rest of them, and

    tuned out all of the boring conversations and instead busied myself with looking at all of the beautiful

    artwork and reliefs carved into the walls and ceiling. Even if events like this would always contain a lot

    of boring chatter between businesspeople, I couldn¡¯t help but think that I was at least lucky to enjoy so

    much beautiful and historic artwork. But I also noticed that many of the other wives seemed to be

    mingling together and talking, and not a single one of them invited me to chat, which honestly hurt quite

    a bit.

    At one point, I needed to use the restroom. I excused myself while Edrick was having a lengthy

    conversation with one of his business partners about market fluctuations or some other boring business

    topic, and made my way over to the restrooms.

    The restrooms were located down a small hallway, which offered a bit of reprieve from the noise of the

    event. I let out a small sigh as I walked up to the door and put my hand out to open it.

    But I stopped when I heardughter and voices inside.

    ¡°How ridiculous!¡± I heard a woman say. ¡°Who wears green eyeshadow to an event like this?¡±

    Another womanughed loudly. ¡°Maybe she got too busy ying with her mommy¡¯s makeup before the

    event.¡±

    Then, a third woman: ¡°No, darling. She¡¯s an orphan. Don¡¯t you know?¡±

    The other women gasped in unison. ¡°Edrick Morgan is nning on marrying not only a human, but an

    orphan, too? I always thought that there was something wrong with him. Surely a man like that being

    single for this long has some sort of strange fetish or another.¡±

    My eyes widened as I listened to their conversation. I could handle people talking poorly about me, as it

    was something that I had grown used to as a human in a world dominated by werewolves¡­ But to say

    something so nasty about Edrick made my blood boil.

    Maybe I should have just walked away, but I was too stubborn. I couldn¡¯t stop myself from pushing the

    door open.

 Chapter 138

    Chapter 138

    #Chapter 138: Us Against the World

    Moana

    I knew that I should have just walked away, but I was too stubborn to just let these women get away

    with talking so poorly about Edrick like that.

    When I pushed the door open, the women suddenly stopped talking. Their eyes were wide as they

    turned to face me.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I said as I stepped into the bathroom.

    The women were silent. I felt like I was being appraised and judged as they looked me up and down,

    but I didn¡¯t care. If people were going to say such nasty things about Edrick, then they could judge me

    all they wanted; but I was going to say something about it, and I felt as though I caught them in the act.

    However, the women¡¯s shock quickly wore off. Their wide-eyed looks turned to stic smiles.

    ¡°It¡¯s not very polite to eavesdrop,¡± one of the women, a blonde with an enormous diamond ring on her

    finger, said. She leaned into the mirror and wiped a bit of her lipstick away from the corner of her mouth

    with her pinky finger, eyeing me in the reflection as she did so. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t eavesdrop often. It¡¯s

    not very bing; especially not for someone of your status to be doing to a group of upper ss

    werewolves.¡±

    I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing woulde out; and the women quickly realized that their

    rudeness left me speechless, which meant that they had won. All I could do was stand there with

    narrowed eyes while all three of them brushed past me, one after the other. Thest woman bumped

    me with her shoulder deliberately before she left.

    Once I was alone, I stood there feeling abination of both sadness and anger; sadness that my

    social status would never let me be worthy of respect, and angry that these seemed to be the types of

    women I had to look forward to in the future now that I was involved with an Alpha billionaire. If I went

    on to continue to be in a rtionship with Edrick, real or fake, I couldn¡¯t help but feel as though I would

    never be able to make any true friends again. If this was what wealthy women were like, then I didn¡¯t

    want any part of it. And I could only hope that I never turned out like them in the end.

    ¡­

    Finally, the event came to an end. On the way home, I kept trying to remind myself that I did have a

    nice time with Edrick during theedy show, and that was the most important thing. None of the other

    things, such as the paparazzi or the mean women in the restroom, mattered. But that was easier said

    than done, and I still felt sad.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    As we got ready for bed, I was too tired to even hide my sadness anymore. And Edrick seemed to

    notice.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± he asked. He was sitting up in bed with a book in hisp while I busied myself with

    brushing out my hair in the bathroom mirror. I had just taken my makeup off, which always made me

    sad because of how beautiful Tyrus¡¯ work was ¡ª and I didn¡¯t care one bit if those horrible women

    thought that my green eyeshadow was ugly. I thought it was perfect, and from now on, I knew that I

    would always ask Tyrus to give me green and gold eyeshadow just to spite them.

    I nodded at first, but as I looked in the mirror, I could still see the deep frown at the corners of my lips

    and the sad look in my eyes. Edrick noticed, too, and wouldn¡¯t let me get away with lying.

    ¡°I can tell something¡¯s wrong,¡± he said, shutting his book and setting it on the side table before folding

    his arms across his chest. ¡°Just tell me. Is it the paparazzi? I promise you¡¯ll get used to it, and they¡¯ll

    calm down eventually so it won¡¯t be so bad in the future.¡±

    I shook my head and set my hairbrush down with a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± I replied. ¡°I know it¡¯ll get easier.

    It¡¯s just¡­¡± My voice faltered. I hung my head, unsure as to how to broach the subject. I didn¡¯t know if I

    should have told Edrick about what those women were saying or not; maybe he would have just told

    me that it was nothing more than gossip and he would have looked down on me for falling victim to it.

    ¡°Go on,¡± he urged.

    Another sigh escaped my lips. ¡°After tonight, I¡¯m just worried that I¡¯m ruining your image,¡± I finally

    admitted. ¡°At the event, I knew that people were staring at me and talking about me. And I¡¯m worried

    that it¡¯s going to reflect on you in a negative way. I don¡¯t want to hurt how other people see you. What if

    it makes you isted?¡±

    Edrick was silent for a long time. I was still facing the mirror, watching myself as I talked, but I finally

    worked up the nerve to turn to face him. I didn¡¯t realize it at first, but I now noticed that he had gotten

    out of bed and was now standing in the bathroom doorway.

    ¡°Why do you think I would care what any of those people think?¡± he asked, his voice low and quiet as

    he fixed his gray eyes on me.

    I shrugged. ¡°They¡¯re your colleagues. Your peers. I assume some of them are even your friends.¡±

    Edrick scoffed. ¡°Friends?¡± he said with augh. ¡°None of those people are my friends. In fact, I can¡¯t

    stand a single one of them.¡±

    My eyes widened. I was taken aback by what Edrick said; at the event, he seemed to interact with all of

    them so naturally and charmingly. I watched him all night as heughed along with his business

    partners and colleagues, how he charmed the women and bantered with the men. Their faces had all

    been stiff and stic, but I assumed that it was just because of my presence. But Edrick had seemed

    to be enjoying himself just fine, which made me surprised to hear that he couldn¡¯t even stand any of

    them.

    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°All night, you seemed to get along with everyone¡ª¡±

    ¡°Sure, I yed nice,¡± Edrick replied with a shrug. ¡°That¡¯s just what you do at these sorts of things. It

    doesn¡¯t mean I like any of them. The only thing I liked about the entire night was just having dinner and

    watching theedy show with you. I could have been perfectly happy if that was all we did, but I had

    to pretend to like people for appearances.¡±

    As Edrick spoke, I felt my face get hot. His words made me blush.

    ¡°I enjoyed dinner and the show with you, too,¡± I said quietly, staring down at my feet to hide my red

    face.

    ¡°Good.¡± Edrick turned then and climbed back into bed. ¡°All that matters to me is that you had a nice

    time, even for just a little while.¡±

    Edrickid down then and shut off his bedsidemp. I stood in the doorway for a few moments, still in

    shock, before I finally crawled into bed myself.

    And as I fell asleep next to him, I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I thought about Edrick¡¯s sweet words.

 Chapter 139

    Chapter 139

    #Chapter 139: Sweet Tooth

    Edrick

    I fell asleep beside Moana that night with a bit of a smile on my face. Even though the event started out

    on a bad note with the paparazzi, it was a lot of fun to enjoy theedy show with Moana. Even just

    that short time of the event made the entire event worth it, despite the fact that I was forced to mingle

    with people who I utterly hated.

    To call myself one of those people always made me sick. I hated how they acted, I hated their views on

    the world, and I hated their horrible attitudes. I never felt as though those people could ever evene

    close to being my friends, which was why it was almostughable when Moana told me that she was

    worried she would ruin my image. Those people were already looking for any little thing they could find

    to ruin anyone¡¯s image. If it wasn¡¯t Moana, it would have been something else. Even if they knew that

    Moana was not only a werewolf, but that she was my fated mate and that there was something else

    that was exceedingly special about her, they still would have found something to nitpick. Moana always

    held herself with so much grace, and she was so beautiful ¡ª especially in the hair and makeup that

    Tyrus did for her, although she still would have been stunning in a paper bag ¡ª that the other women

    would have hated her anyway. But I didn¡¯t care; I was just happy to have spent the night with Moana,

    and ever since I found out that she was my mate, I couldn¡¯t get enough of her.

    When we went to bed that night, I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that I felt as though I had made the right choice

    in announcing my ¡°rtionship¡± with Moana. And maybe, if she really was my mate, it wouldn¡¯t have to

    be fake forever.

    However, that night, I had strange dreams about Moana.

    I kept dreaming about that Alpha tooth that Moana had shown me. In my dreams, it always seemed to

    be there, but something was special about it. It wasn¡¯t just any ordinary tooth.

    At one point, the dreams started to get a little intense. I dreamed that Moana had some special powers

    that I couldn¡¯t quite exin, but there was something else¡­

    She was in danger. Someone was hunting her, but I didn¡¯t know why. All I knew was that I felt a sense

    of panic, and I needed to protect her.

    I awoke suddenly with a start, breathing heavily with my forehead coated in sweat from the intense

    dreams. When I looked over at Moana in the darkness, I was relieved to find that she was still sleeping

    soundly and peacefully. Her chest was rising and falling gently, and her red hair was syed out

    around her on her pillow like an orange halo. Of course she was safe¡­ It was just a dream, after all.

    But I still couldn¡¯t quite shake that feeling of dread in my stomach, and I knew that even with Moana by

    my side, I wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep now.

    My eyes wandered then over to my top dresser drawer. Since Moana had been staying in my room

    most nights, I had given her that drawer to put some of her things in; and one of those things was the

    box that contained the tooth. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure why she kept it in here instead of keeping it in her

    own room, but I got the sense that she felt ufortable being away from it for some reason. It was as

    if she needed to keep it close to feel at ease.

    Those strange dreams made me too curious; I needed to take a look at the tooth. I took onest nce

    over at Moana, who had now rolled onto her side, before I quietly got up and tiptoed across the room.

    When I silently opened the top drawer, there it was: the wooden box that held the tooth. I picked it up

    gingerly and opened it. As I gently picked the tooth up and held it up to the moonlight, my eyes

    widened at what I saw.

    I knew before that there was something odd about the tooth when Moana first showed it to me, but I

    hadn¡¯t looked at it in the moonlight that time. And, tonight was a full moon. As I held it up to the light, it

    began to glow ever so slightly. It glowed a soft golden color.

    A slight gasp escaped my throat. I quickly put the tooth back in the box and stuck it back in the drawer,

    my eyes still wide in disbelief.

    I had only heard stories about a tooth like this; a golden tooth that could only be seen in the moonlight.

    But those were just fairy tales for little kids¡­ Or were they?

    If I thought I wouldn¡¯t get any sleep before, I certainly wasn¡¯t going to get any sleep now. I needed to do

    some research of my own, because if Moana was truly in possession of a tooth like this, then that could

    only mean one thing.

    She was the Golden Wolf.

    All of the signs pointed to it: her strange abilities, her overpowering scent, her wolf not emerging until

    she was much older. And now, the tooth.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    But I was still skeptical. I never even thought that the Golden Wolf was real; everyone always thought

    that it was nothing but a legend. Maybe I was just seeing things, I thought to myself. Either way, I

    needed to do some research, and so I quickly put my robe on and quietly left the room to head to my

    office.

    Once I was in my office, the first thing I did was turn on myputer and begin to search for

    information on the Golden Wolf. Of course, there wasn¡¯t much avable other than the legend of the

    Golden Wolf that every mother told her children. But there were some sources pointing to the existence

    of a very old book that contained information on the Golden Wolf. I found mention of the book on some

    obscure online mythology forums; people seemed to talk about it like it was some sort of Holy Grail of

    information. The legend was that it was written by the very man who imed to have seen the Golden

    Wolf, right before he was executed. Some said that it was nothing but the ramblings of a mad man, but

    many other people insisted that this book held a lot of useful information. It was so rare that there were

    no copies avable online. In fact, there weren¡¯t even any pictures avable of it.

    Maybe it was a stretch. It was very possible that the book was also a myth in and of itself, and that it

    didn¡¯t actually exist. But it was my only link to learning more about the Golden Wolf, and I knew I had to

    try ¡ª because if Moana really was the Golden Wolf, then my dreams were right.

    If Moana really was the Golden Wolf, then she was in grave danger. And it was my job as her fated

    mate to protect her.

 Chapter 140

    Chapter 140

    #Chapter 140: A Day in the Life

    Moana

    A few days passed by after theworking event. Things felt peaceful in the penthouse, and although I

    really only stayed in with E to stay away from the paparazzi, I didn¡¯t mind. It was rxing to stay

    inside and away from the public, and I spent a lot of time drawing and reading with E, which was nice

    after being so busytely. I just hoped that events such as theworking event were few and far

    between. Although I enjoyed spending the evening with Edrick and watching theedy show together

    that night, I didn¡¯t like the other people that were there and I feared that I would see many of the same

    people at future events like that.

    However, it seemed that my reprieve was brief, because Edrick came to me a few dayster and told

    me about another uing event that I would have to attend with him.

    ¡°I need you toe to a work event with me tomorrow morning,¡± Edrick said casually as he stirred his

    tea on Thursday morning before work.

    I felt my shoulders sag as he told me this. I was still tired from thest event, and I didn¡¯t feel up to

    mingling with more celebrities and businessmen who looked down on me because of my social status.

    ¡°Do I have to go?¡± I asked, a bit sheepishly. ¡°I¡¯m still tired after that first event.¡±

    Edrick sighed. ¡°I know you are. But this event will be different, I promise.¡±

    I raised an eyebrow. ¡°How so?¡±

    The Alpha billionaire shrugged and took a sip of his tea. When he set the teacup down, he picked up

    his newspaper and opened it with a flick of his wrists while he crossed his legs. I thought that I wouldContent from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    never get used to how handsome he looked during mundane moments like this. Even when he was just

    casually drinking his breakfast tea and reading the paper, he looked incredibly attractive.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pic,¡± he replied. ¡°Just a little employee appreciation event. It¡¯ll be outside with games and food,

    and E cane, too.¡±

    The way that Edrick described the event was tempting. It did sound nice to spend the day outside, and

    if E could have a chance to y in the park after being cooped up in the penthouse all week, then I

    would do it for her.

    ¡°Will I need to have my hair and makeup professionally done again?¡±

    Edrick chuckled and shook his head. ¡°No. It¡¯s just casual. Wear something nice, of course, but

    remember that you¡¯ll be outside. Dressfortably.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a small sigh of relief. Now that the pregnancy was progressing, high heels

    were bing more and more ufortable. My feet were beginning to swell a bit and I found myself

    feeling more tired in my knees, hips, and back than usual, sofortable shoes were a necessity at

    this point.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I finally agreed. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±

    Edrick seemed pleased and took another sip of his tea. However, I did secretly wonder if this would be

    my life from now on as the ¡°wife¡± of a famous Alpha CEO: event after event with little rest in between.

    And somehow, Edrick must have seen the ufortable look on my face and nced up at me over

    his newspaper with a furrowed brow. ¡°Everything okay?¡±

    I nodded at first, but Edrick kept staring at me, and finally I decided to tell him the truth about how I felt.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t know how well I¡¯ll handle so many events from now on,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯m still tired from the first

    one. Is this what it¡¯s like? One event after the other with hardly any rest in between?¡±

    Edrick was silent for a few moments before he neatly folded his newspaper back up and set it down on

    the table. He leaned on his elbows then and looked at me with a sigh.

    ¡°I promise this is thest one for a while,¡± he replied. ¡°The end of summer and the holidays are busy,

    but other than that, it¡¯s not typically like this. Besides, you get used to it quickly, and it doesn¡¯t feel so

    draining after your first few events; especially once the paparazzi gets bored of our rtionship and

    moves on.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s words wereforting, but a bit depressing at the same time. I didn¡¯t want to admit it, but I

    really didn¡¯t enjoy these sorts of events. The thought that I would have to learn to simply ¡°get used¡± to

    them was a little depressing, as it meant that there was no getting away from them ¡ª despite the fact

    that our public rtionship was fake. Not only that, but to have our ¡°rtionship¡±, real or not, be treated

    as a fad that people would quickly get bored of made me feel sad. I wasn¡¯t amodity to be sold to

    the public; I was a person.

    But, despite all of this, Edrick reached across the table then and squeezed my hand. I felt my heart skip

    as his hand touched mine, and when I met his gaze, his eyes were soft and understanding. Maybe

    things like this wouldn¡¯t be so bad after all when I had him here for support.

    Edrick then pulled his hand away just as quickly as he extended it and stood, ending our brief moment

    offort together. I felt my face go red as he stood, and I quickly looked away and hid my hands

    beneath the table.

    ¡°Remember,¡± he said as he looked at his watch and picked up his suit jacket off of the back of the

    couch, slinging it over his forearm. ¡°It¡¯s just a Labor Day pic. It¡¯ll be fun.¡±

    I nodded and watched as Edrick walked out of the dining room. I heard the elevator doors open and

    close before I let out a small sigh and returned to eating my own breakfast. Maybe it would be fun. It

    would be fun for E, too, especially if there were other children there.

    But, even with all of this in mind, I still couldn¡¯t deny the fact that the first event left a bad taste in my

    mouth. It wasn¡¯t the event itself that was the problem ¡ª I actually had a nice time with Edrick and

    would have dly done it again ¡ª but rather the people. Because of my lower social status, people

    hated me. And I knew that some of those very same people would likely be at the pic, where they

    would also likely ridicule me once again. I didn¡¯t want to put E through ridicule, too, since they

    thought that she was my biological daughter; I could only imagine the sorts of nasty things that people

    like that would say about a half-blooded little girl. Besides, even if they did know that I was a werewolf, I

    would still be nothing but a freak for not having my wolf emerge until muchter in life, not to mention

    my low status of growing up in an orphanage. No matter which way I turned, I knew that I would always

    face the ridicule of wealthy people like that.

    And I didn¡¯t want to put E or my baby through that same ridicule.

 Chapter 141

    Chapter 141

    #Chapter 141: Lady of the House

    Moana

    The rest of that day went by smoothly and quietly after Edrick left for work. As the day went on and I

    busied myself with taking care of E, I eventually forgot about my anxieties about the uing pic.

    Maybe it would be fun just like Edrick said, and I hoped that E could make some friends while she

    was there. I knew that she felt isted in this penthouse all by herself, and if one good thing came out

    of Edrick announcing our ¡°rtionship¡±, it was that E would no longer have to be hidden from the

    public.

    E and I spent the afternoon going about our usual routine. Her piano teacher came to give her a

    lesson, and after that we spent the remainder of the day reading, drawing, and ying. By dinnertime, I

    was somewhat exhausted, but in a happy way.

    Around dinnertime, I decided to help Selina and the maids prepare the meal. Selina chose to make a

    dinner that consisted of roast chicken, soup, potatoes and vegetables, and it was my job to peel the

    potatoes and cut the vegetables.

    While the four of us cooked, the maids and I began to chat. Selina was usually quiet at times like this,

    solely focused on preparing the meal, but I knew that she was listening intently. Amy and Lily were a

    rather funny duo, and I thought I even caught Selinaughing a little at the two sisters¡¯ banter when her

    back was turned.

    ¡°Are you going to another event with Mr. Morgan, Ms. Moana?¡± Amy asked as she stirred the pot of

    soup on the stove. ¡°I overheard Mr. Morgan talking about it this morning. It¡¯s so soon after thest

    event.¡±

    I nodded and let out a small sigh. I hadn¡¯t thought much about the uing pic since I had been

    busy all day, but thinking about it brought back some of my stress.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied. ¡°He said that there¡¯s going to be a work pic tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that sounds fun!¡± Lily eximed. She was sitting over in a chair by the kitchen table, folding linens

    that had juste out of the wash. ¡°I love pics. The weather is going to be nice tomorrow, too.¡±

    Lily was right; the weather was supposed to be nice on Friday morning. But I wasn¡¯t particrly

    excited, and the maids could tell just from the look on my face.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Amy asked, c*****g her head. ¡°You don¡¯t look very happy about it.¡±

    I shrugged and bit my lip for a moment before answering. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just¡­ I think that a lot of the

    people who go to those sorts of events look down on me. I¡¯m not exactly upper ss.¡±

    Amy and Lily were silent for a moment. Meanwhile, Selina continued to work on the roast chicken. Her

    back was turned to us, but I saw her head prick up a bit as we talked, and I knew that she was listening

    intently; no doubt she was thinking of something wise andforting to say. At first I wondered if

    maybe she thought that I was being ridiculous for being so nervous about it, but then I remembered our

    experience at the werewolf hospital and was reminded of how upset she had gotten when the

    receptionist wouldn¡¯t serve us before the werewolf couple behind us. Selina was a werewolf, but she

    was still an Gamma, which meant that she was from a lower rank. Even dressed in her nice clothes for

    going out, other werewolves could still smell it on her. Since Gammas typically took on service roles

    such as the one that Selina was in as a housekeeper, many other werewolves often saw them as

    inferior. I imagined that it was even worse for werewolves who were lower than Gammas¡­ And then

    below that, there were wolfless werewolves, and below them were humans. Those two were often

    lumped together.

    Finally, Lily spoke up again and broke my train of thought.

    ¡°Well, they shouldn¡¯t be looking down on you,¡± she said, sounding somewhat agitated at the thought.

    ¡°Mr. Morgan is one of the most wealthy and powerful men on the, and you¡¯re the Lady of his

    house.¡±

    My eyes widened as Lily said this. I nced back and forth between Lily, Amy, and Selina in shock, but

    both of them seemedpletely unfazed by this statement.

    Of course I had thought that I felt like the Lady of the house on asion here and there, but I had

    never said it out loud. It was just a fantasy in my mind and nothing more. I couldn¡¯t possibly be the Lady

    of the house unless Edrick and I were married, and as things stood as of right now, it didn¡¯t seem that

    marriage was likely.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s sweet of you to say, but I don¡¯t think¡ª¡± I began, but Lily shook her head and shot me a

    smirk.

    ¡°There¡¯s no denying it,¡± she said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you and Mr. Morgan sharing a room together now?¡±

    My eyes widened even more. Selina whipped around then and red at Lily.

    ¡°Lily,¡± she said in an annoyed tone of voice, ¡°focus on your work and leave Moana alone. It¡¯s not polite

    to bring up personal matters like this.¡±

    Lily fell silent, but her eyes stayed fixed on me. She had a knowing look in her eyes, and I knew at that

    moment that it was alreadymon knowledge amongst the servants that Edrick and I shared a room

    together. Of course it was bound to happen, and neither of us had been as careful recently, but it was

    still a bit embarrassing.

    I opened my mouth to say something else, but before I could, I suddenly heard Edrick¡¯s voiceing

    from behind me.

    ¡°We are sharing a room,¡± he said.

    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    All three of us, excluding Selina, who was now focused on cooking once more, whipped around to look

    at Edrick. I felt my face get hot and red, but much to my surprise, Edrick seemed more nonchnt than

    ever. In fact, he was simply loosening his tie from around his neck, as he always did when he came

    home. He seemed perfectly rxed, as though admitting that we were sharing a room in front of

    everyone was nothing. It reminded me of how matter-of-factly he admitted the same thing to E when

    she found us in the same room in the mountain estate, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why exactly he

    had be so rxed about ittely. First he announced our ¡°rtionship¡± to the media like it was

    nothing, and now everyone in the house knew about our sleeping arrangement. I wondered if finding

    out that I was a werewolf had something to do with it; maybe he did secretly know after all that there

    was a chance that we were mates. In some ways, it made me happy, but I also couldn¡¯t deny the fact

    that there was a tiny shred of myself that felt a bit hurt that it took Edrick finding out that I was a

    werewolf to befortable enough with our situation to tell anyone about it.

    Beyond that, however, I was just d now that everything was out in the open. We wouldn¡¯t need to

    sneak around any longer in our own home, and that made me incredibly happy.

    And the way that Edrick¡¯s cool, gray eyesnded gently on me after he spoke made my heart skip.

 Chapter 142

    Chapter 142

    #Chapter 142: Family Debut

    Moana

    The next morning was the day of the pic. I woke up feeling a bit nauseous, although I was unsure as

    to whether it was from the nerves of the uing event or simple morning sickness. Either way, I felt

    as though I needed to drag myself out of bed, but Edrick was kind and supportive along the way.

    After eating a quick breakfast, I felt much better and got ready. I put on afortable, light sundress

    and a pair of t shoes, then pulled my hair back into a bun and put on a very small amount of makeup.

    I dressed E in a pair of overalls and sneakers so she could y with other children. The entire time,

    she chattered nonstop about how excited she was to meet other children, and it made me smile. Even

    though I wasn¡¯t particrly excited about this event myself, I was happy that E would have a chance

    to meet other kids, and I hoped that she would have plenty of opportunities to make even more friends

    in the future. After all, it was about time that she finally had a chance to socialize with other kids her

    age. She couldn¡¯t stay cooped up in a big penthouse forever.

    Once we were all ready, Edrick, E and I headed down to the car, where the driver was waiting. Soon

    enough, we were on our way. E swung her legs happily in her car seat and asked a million questions

    about what sort of food, games, and other children would be at the event. And much to my surprise,

    Edrick answered all of her questions quite patiently. It really did feel as though the Alpha billionaire had

    gained a lot of patience with E over the past few months.

    Finally, we arrived at the park where the pic would be held. It was a much smaller event, and I was

    grateful to see that there were a lot of security guards who were keeping the paparazzi away. Because

    of this, the three of us got out of the car and made our way over to the park with no hassle. E walked

    between Edrick and I, holding each of our hands. It reminded me of the day that we went to the theme

    park, when she tricked the workers into thinking that Edrick and I were both her biological parents.All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    The park was also beautiful. I had never been to this specific park before, as it was located in the

    uptown area of the city. The park was surrounded by a tall brick fence covered in moss and vines, and

    the pathways were lined with cherry trees that I imagined were a beautiful shade of pink in the

    springtime. As we walked along the pathway and toward the center of the park where everyone was

    gathered, I thought to myself that I would have toe back here in the spring to see the cherry

    blossoms. At the center of the park, there was a beautiful green gazebo with a rounded roof on top.

    There was a microphone standing at the top of the gazebo steps, and there were folding chairs lined up

    in front of it. People were sitting in the chairs as well as mingling around, sses of ice cold lemonade

    already in hand. In the distance, beneath a cluster of weeping willow trees, there were dozens of

    covered round tables and a long buffet with covered dishes. I could see workers running around in a bit

    of a frenzy as they finished preparations.

    However, despite how happy it made me to be out with E and Edrick on a beautiful sunny morning, I

    felt my anxiety begin to bubble up to the surface when I saw everyone¡¯s eyes start tond on us. There

    were a lot of employees and other business partners at the pic, and as we entered, everyone turned

    to look at us. I could see some people whispering as they looked at E and myself, but it felt different

    this timepared to thest event; of course, there were plenty of people who seemed to be judging

    E and myself, but there were even more people who were smiling and waving at E. E waved

    back, grinning from ear to ear.

    ¡°Look, Moana!¡± she eximed, pointing toward a yground area. ¡°Swings! Can I y on them?¡±

    ¡°Daddy has to give a speech first, Princess,¡± Edrick said. ¡°Then you can y as much as you want.¡±

    E seemed pleased with this. However, it also seemed that some people overheard the brief

    exchange, and they seemed puzzled. I quickly realized that it was because E had referred to me by

    my first name instead of calling me her mom.

    My face instantly went red. I hadn¡¯t thought about that beforehand, and therefore hadn¡¯t had a chance

    to talk to E about it. Edrick never brought it up before, either, which made me wonder if he also forgot

    or if he simply wasn¡¯t worried. E referring to me by my first name when I was supposed to be her

    biological mother was bound to raise some eyebrows, and I felt myself get nervous as I wondered how

    long it would be before the inevitable questions regarding my true rtionship with E were asked.

    However, as we walked up onto the small gazebo for Edrick to give his speech to his employees, I

    swallowed my nerves as best as I could and put on a smile, just as Edrick asked me to do earlier that

    morning. He had told me to just smile out at the crowd, but that I could just stare over their heads so I

    wouldn¡¯t have to look at them.

    And I did just that.

    E and I stood behind Edrick while he stepped up to the microphone. I put my hands on E¡¯s

    shoulders and held her in front of me, but she quickly got nervous from the crowd and hid partially

    behind me with wide eyes.

    The crowd let out a chorus of aww¡¯s at E¡¯s cuteness. Edrick turned around and shed both of us a

    comforting smile, which helped E rx, and I wrapped my arm around her while she leaned into my

    hip.

    Finally, Edrick gave his speech. It was a nice speech dedicated to his employees, and it seemed

    incredibly heartfelt. Hearing it made me smile, and I soon forgot my anxiety about the crowd. I even

    became a bit morefortable, and without realizing it my eyes began to scan the crowd while I

    listened to Edrick speak, the smile still stered across my face.

    However, as my eyes scanned the crowd, I noticed a strikingly familiar face. I narrowed my eyes

    slightly to get a better look, and once I realized who I was looking at, I knew exactly who it was.

    I felt my heart sink and a pit grow inside my stomach as I looked out at the face that was staring

    straight back at me.

    I should have known that he would be here; he was an employee at WereCorp now, after all. But in all

    of the fuss of everything going ontely, I hadpletely forgotten, and so I hadn¡¯t prepared myself at

    all for the possibility that I might see him.

    It was my ex-boyfriend, Sam. And he was staring up at me and E with wide, disbelieving eyes.

 Chapter 143

    Chapter 143

    #Chapter 143: New Friends, Old Enemies

    Moana

    I felt my heart sink as I saw my ex-boyfriend, Sam, staring up at me from the crowd. His eyes were

    wide and disbelieving; of course he knew that I wasn¡¯t E¡¯s mother. And of course he knew that I

    wasn¡¯t Edrick¡¯s real fiancee, as Sam and I had only broken up a few months prior. I could spin the story

    to make it seem as though Edrick and I quickly got engaged after I found out that I was pregnant, but if

    Sam said anything publicly about how I wasn¡¯t really E¡¯s mother, there was no way I could possibly

    hide that.

    Although I wanted to run away and hide from embarrassment, I put on a brave face, continued smiling

    as Edrick asked me to, and went back to staring above the crowd just like I had been doing before. And

    soon, Edrick¡¯s speech was over. We stepped down off of the gazebo as the crowd stood and made

    their way over to the pic area for brunch, and now that I wasn¡¯t standing in front of everyone, I felt a

    lot less anxious about Sam being here. I just hoped that he wouldn¡¯t say anything to anyone about his

    past rtionship with me, but at the same time, I had to have faith that Edrick would handle it if he did

    say something.

    ¡°See? That wasn¡¯t so bad,¡± Edrick said, shooting me a smile and patting E¡¯s head. We then turned to

    see a group of other kids who were already on the yground. A few of them had gathered at the edge

    of the yground area and were staring at E curiously. One of them waved at her, and E waved

    back.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    ¡°Can I go and y?¡± E asked, looking back and forth between Edrick and myself with wide, hopeful

    eyes.

    Edrick nodded. ¡°Go ahead. Come find me or Moana if you get hungry.¡±

    E took off running to meet the other children, who immediately swarmed her and began asking all

    sorts of questions. She seemed to handle it well, which made me proud.

    ¡°She¡¯s so good with other kids,¡± I said to Edrick as we watched E y. ¡°She has no trouble

    whatsoever making friends.¡±

    Edrick nodded. ¡°Well, she didn¡¯t get that trait from me, I¡¯ll say that much,¡± he said with augh.

    Suddenly, a female voice came from behind us.

    ¡°That¡¯s a lie,¡± the voice said. Edrick and I both spun around to see a gorgeous woman standing behind

    us. She had long, ck hair, tanned skin, and was tall and athletic-looking. She had on dark red lipstick

    and an attractive matching top and bottom set that made her look powerful and intelligent. As she

    spoke, she looked over at me with shining brown eyes that looked like caramel in the sunlight. ¡°Edrick

    never had any trouble making friends when we were kids.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned!¡± Edrick said with augh. ¡°If it isn¡¯t my old friend Mia. I didn¡¯t think you would be

    here today.¡±

    The woman, Mia, shrugged and smiled. ¡°I got a little homesick. Decided toe home until I get sick

    of being here and get the itch to travel again.¡±

    ¡°And how long will that be?¡± Edrick asked. ¡°A week?¡±

    ¡°Maybe less.¡± Mia¡¯s smile widened, and then she turned to face me. She held her hand out for a

    handshake, and when I took it, her hand was warm. ¡°I¡¯m Mia. Edrick and I were friends growing up. I

    manage a few of his overseas branches.¡±

    Much unlike Kelly, Mia was warm and inviting, and I immediately feltfortable with her; although she

    was stunningly gorgeous, which made me a little jealous that she knew Edrick so well for so long.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯m Moana. Edrick¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Fiancee. I heard,¡± Mia interrupted with a warm smile. She then turned to look at Edrick and shot him a

    mischievous look, lowering her voice so no one could overhear. ¡°I¡¯m d you picked her over Kelly.

    She¡¯s gorgeous.¡±

    I felt my face go red at Mia¡¯spliment. To hear that such a gorgeous woman also thought that I was

    pretty was more ttering than anypliment any man had ever given me, and it instantly made my

    tinge of jealousy melt away.

    Edrick, however, said nothing. It seemed that even the mention of Kelly turned him cold.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s great seeing you, Mia,¡± he said. ¡°Have a drink and something to eat. I have to speak to one of

    my business partners about something.¡± And with that, he turned on his heel and headed over to the

    pic area, leaving Mia and I alone together. As I followed Edrick with my eyes, I could also see that

    there was a gaggle of the other wives that had formed at one of the tables, and they were all staring

    over their sunsses at me like I was aplete outcast.

    Mia must have seen this, because she turned to look at me and made a disgusted face.

    ¡°They¡¯re all a bunch of bitches,¡± Mia said.

    My eyes widened, but I couldn¡¯t help butugh at her candidness. They were, in fact, a bunch of

    bitches. I was liking Mia more and more now.

    ¡°So¡­¡± I said, clearing my throat. ¡°You and Edrick grew up together?¡±

    Mia nodded. ¡°Sort of. We were in the same training program. We kind of fell off after high school, but it

    happens.¡±

    I nced over Mia¡¯s shoulder to see Edrick talking to one of his business partners with what looked like

    a mimosa in his hand, then looked back at Mia. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, what was he like as a

    kid? I¡¯ve always been curious. He¡¯s not exactly¡­¡±

    ¡°Not exactly an open book?¡± Mia interrupted. I nodded. ¡°He was a lot different then,¡± she continued. ¡°He

    was fun. We all had a lot of fun¡ª even Kelly. But, with a father like his, I think the pressure got to him.

    He went from being a little scamp who liked running around in the woods and turned into a full-grown

    man whose entire personality revolves around WereCorp. I don¡¯t me him, though. I me his father.

    That man¡¯s a jackass.¡±

    I liked Mia¡¯s straightforward thinking. She seemed to be the type to always say what was on her mind,

    and I respected that.

    ¡°It¡¯s not just his father, though,¡± she continued. ¡°Ever since his half-brother, Ethan, came into his life, I

    could tell that it bothered Edrick a lot. I still don¡¯t know if it was that he felt like he hadpetition, or if

    it was something else.¡±

    I wanted to tell Mia what Ethan had told me before: that his father¡¯s cheating turned Edrick cold and

    made him lose faith in love and the power of the mate bond. But that wasn¡¯t my ce, and by that

    point, someone else was waving Mia over anyway.

    ¡°I should go and mingle a bit, just for business reasons,¡± Mia said with a smile. ¡°It was nice meeting

    you, Moana. I hope we can be friends.¡±

    I smiled as I watched Mia go. I hoped we could be friends, too. I liked her. And between her and Tyrus,

    I felt as though I knew a little bit more about the Alpha billionaire.

    But my smile quickly faded when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Sam standing

    behind me with a frown on his face.

 Chapter 144

    Chapter 144

    #Chapter 144: Good Mom

    Moana

    As I watched Mia walk away, there was a smile on my face. I liked her; she was so much nicer and

    warmer than Kelly, and I loved meeting Edrick¡¯s old friends so that I could get a bit more of an insight

    on the way that the Alpha billionaire used to be as a kid. And it made me happy to hear that he used to

    be rambunctious and full of life, because I could see those little bits of his personality poking through

    his hard exterior more and moretely. Someday, I wondered if I could break down his hard shell

    entirely. I wanted to know the true Edrick.

    But when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see my ex-boyfriend, Sam, standing behind

    me, my smile faded.

    ¡°Hey, Moana,¡± he said before I could even say anything. He folded his arms across his chest and

    looked me up and down, his eyes lingering on my belly for a few moments. ¡°Remember me?¡±

    Of course I remembered Sam. Lately, I had been so busy with everything going on that I hadn¡¯t thought

    much about what he did to me, but seeing his face made it alle back so fast that it felt as though I

    had been hit by a train.

    Just a few months earlier, Sam and I had been dating. I really thought that he was the one, up until I

    found him sucking on another woman¡¯s lips in the window of a fancy restaurant. And when I confronted

    him about it, he didn¡¯t even show any remorse. All he cared about was getting his high-paying job at

    WereCorp, which his new girlfriend helped him get, and he didn¡¯t care that I had been by his side as a

    constant and loving support system for years. I had helped him get through college. I had helped him

    gain his confidence. And I supposed, by extension, I had given him the confidence to cheat on me.

    I wanted to say all of these things, but I didn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t; not here, at least. I didn¡¯t want to cause a

    scene. I especially didn¡¯t want to piss him off enough to make him reveal the fact that E wasn¡¯t

    actually my biological daughter.

    ¡°Do you need something, Sam?¡± I asked, ring up at him in a way to show him that I wasn¡¯t scared of

    him. I hade so far since we broke up, and I wanted him to know that his mind games wouldn¡¯t work

    on me any longer.

    Sam shrugged. ¡°Just figured I¡¯de and say hi,¡± he said. ¡°It seems like a lot has changed since I

    broke up with you. We should catch up.¡±

    I scoffed. ¡°Catch up?¡± I asked. ¡°After what you did to me? Why would I possibly want that?¡±

    ¡°Come on, now,¡± Sam replied, his face hard and his eyes cold as he eyed me up and down again.

    ¡°Let¡¯s let the past be in the past. You certainly seem like you¡¯ve moved on, anyway. How far along are

    you, huh? Three months? Tell me, was the CEO of WereCorp an intentional rebound, or did you just

    happen to run into him on the street?¡±

    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.

    Actually, I did just happen to run into Edrick in the street. Everything that happened between us was

    nothing but pure coincidence, and I was quickly learning that those coincidences may have happened

    because there was a chance that Edrick and I were fated mates. Someday, Sam would find out that I

    really was a werewolf, and I wished that I could see the look on his face when that happened. After

    everything that he said to me, how I should have felt lucky that a werewolf would even give a human

    like me the time of day, I hoped that he would feel like a real i***t when the truth finally came out.

    ¡°What does it matter?¡± I asked, lowering my voice and instinctively touching my belly in a protective

    manner. ¡°You made your decision when you cheated on me. You have no right to know anything about

    my personal life.¡±

    With that, I turned on my heel and began to walk away.

    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Sam called after me. ¡°Did I not have a right to know about your daughter before then? You

    seem like such a good mom; I¡¯m surprised you never introduced me to her.¡±

    Sam¡¯s words made me freeze momentarily and I felt my heart drop. My eyes widened as I looked

    around frantically, praying that no one had heard him say that. I supposed from the beginning, as soon

    as Edrick made his announcement on TV, that people would eventually learn the truth about E; but I

    didn¡¯t want it to be today, and I didn¡¯t want it to be Sam¡¯s doing. I couldn¡¯t let him win like that.

    But thankfully, no one looked our way. E continued to y on the yground, the gaggle of nasty

    wives were preupied at their table as theypared the sizes of the diamonds on their

    engagement rings, and the other employees were too busy mingling and enjoying the pic.

    I let out a small sigh of relief and decided not to give Sam the pleasure of ruining my day. I was allowed

    to enjoy this pic with everyone else, so I made my way over to the buffet and helped myself to a

    lemonade before spotting Edrick talking to one of his business partners. I wanted to be near him after

    what Sam just did, but I didn¡¯t want to disturb his conversation or make him worried, so I nonchntly

    sipped my lemonade as I walked up to him.

    When I walked up to Edrick, he was in the midst of a conversation with his business partner about

    overseas manufacturers andbor strikes. Most of it made little sense to me, so I quickly tuned it out;

    but as I walked up to him, Edrick absentmindedly reached for me and wrapped his arm around my

    shoulders.

    I felt my heart leap in my chest at this casual romantic gesture. He didn¡¯t pause org in his

    conversation one bit; it really was just instinct for him. It reminded me of the day we went to the mall

    and the creepy man tried to hit on me, as well as the day that we took the elevator down after having

    lunch with E and he put his hand on my lower back. It was small, casual gestures of protectiveness

    like this that made me feel safe and warm, and I didn¡¯t even bother to nce back at Sam to see if he

    was still staring. In fact, I felt entirelyforted in Edrick¡¯s arms.

    However, there was still a chance that Sam would expose our lie. If he didn¡¯t do it today, then he could

    easily do it another day. These people already hated me enough as it was, let alone if they found out

    that my rtionship with E and Edrick was a lie; and I couldn¡¯t even imagine how stressful it would

    be for people to begin questioning Edrick¡¯s paternity over the baby in my belly.

    I just hoped that, if something did happen, Edrick would take care of it. And when I nced over my

    shoulder to see that Sam was still eyeing me from afar, I became even more worried that things would

    need to be handled today after all.

 Chapter 145

    Chapter 145

    #Chapter 145: Taking Care of Business

    Edrick

    We went to the pic, where everything went well at first. Moana and E were the perfect picture of a

    happy family while I gave my speech, and I was proud of both of them for that. Some people seemed to

    notice that E was referring to Moana by her first name, though, which I knew I would have to handle

    later before people began asking questions. I knew that I should have talked to E beforehand, but I

    had to admit that Ipletely forgot. But it was nothing that we couldn¡¯t handle, even if people did start

    asking questions. With a child that age, it was easy to im that she was simply trying out something

    that she saw in a movie, or that she was pushing parental boundaries. Besides, with the work that my

    PR agency did to mitigate the clips of me punching the paparazzi, I knew that people were unlikely to

    bother us much ¡ª at least for now.

    After I briefly spoke to Mia, I decided to let Moana and my old friend get to know each other a bit, so I

    made my way over to speak to one of my business partners. I had to talk to him about something

    important that couldn¡¯t wait, anyway.

    I had known Mia since we were kids. She was always a good friend, although we did fall off a bit after

    high school. It wasn¡¯t like it was with Kelly; Mia was her own person, and she never had any interest in

    marriage. She never followed me around like a lost puppy, and she wasn¡¯t vindictive and cruel like Kelly

    was. Mia was just a good friend who I saw very rarely, and she was an incredible businesswoman. If I

    ever had to give up control of WereCorp, I always knew that I would offer her the position of CEO in a

    heartbeat; and I knew that she would dly take the role and do incredibly well. Her branches of the

    company overseas were some of the most sessful branches in the world, and she was a fair yet

    brilliant boss.

    Either way, I hoped that Mia and Moana could be friends. I knew that Moana needed some allies

    in this brutal business world, and Mia was a wonderful person.

    I quickly became engrossed in my conversation with my business partner. We had been having some

    issues with overseas manufacturers dealing withbor strikes, and it needed to be dealt with.

    ¡°I say we fire the lot of them and hire new people who won¡¯tin so much,¡± my business partner

    said in a gruff tone of voice. ¡°I¡¯ll tell ya¡­ These humans. They¡¯re never happy with anything.¡±

    I frowned. ¡°We can¡¯t just fire thousands of employees and hire all new ones,¡± I replied. ¡°Regardless of

    whether they¡¯re humans or werewolves, they still deserve basic decency. The only way to go about this

    is to listen to their problems and do the best we can to amodate them.¡±

    My business partner scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re already too amodating, Edrick. Give them too much ck,

    and they¡¯ll keep taking and taking and taking. You need to learn to rule with an iron fist.¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the Dark Ages,¡± I replied with a bit of a chuckle. My business partnerughed, too, his big

    round belly jiggling as he did so. The event had only just begun, and his face was already red from too

    many mimosas.

    Suddenly, I felt Moana¡¯s presence beside me. And as I spoke, without even thinking, I put my arm

    around her. I felt so at peace with her by my side, and despite the fact that my bigoted business partner

    kept shooting her dirty looks as though I wouldn¡¯t notice, I was happy to have her here. I knew that he

    and many others thought that she was human, and I couldn¡¯t wait for the day when the truth could

    finallye out. But first, I needed to know if she really was the Golden Wolf, because she could be in

    grave danger before her wolf emerged. And I certainly wasn¡¯t going to mention anything about her

    lineage until our baby was safely born.

    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ll keep you updated, I suppose,¡± my business partner said. ¡°Perhaps we can make a deal with

    them. But if they don¡¯t ept our first offer, I say wey them all off.¡±

    I watched as my business partner walked away, but his idiotic suggestions weren¡¯t at the forefront of

    my mind. In fact, I was already preupied by the fact that Moana kept ncing over her shoulder. I

    followed her gaze to find that she kept looking at one of my newer employees ¡ª a young man whose

    name I couldn¡¯t remember ¡ª and she almost looked frightened.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked, feeling myself be worried. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Moana snapped her head around to look at me and nodded rapidly. She took a sip of her lemonade,

    but I could see that her hand was shaking a bit as she held the ss, and it made me even more

    worried. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine.¡±

    I frowned. ¡°Tell the truth,¡± I said. ¡°You look like you saw a ghost.¡±

    Moana paused for a few moments, biting her lip as she stared down at the ground. I was just about to

    press her to tell me what was going on again when she finally looked back up at me with watery,

    worried eyes.

    ¡°That employee over there is my ex-boyfriend,¡± she said.

    I nced over at the employee again. I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that a bit of jealousy bubbled up already

    just from knowing that Moana¡¯s ex was here, but I tried not to show it. But it still didn¡¯t exin why she

    seemed so worried.

    ¡°Did he say something to you?¡± I asked.

    Moana slowly nodded. ¡°We broke up on the day I met you, actually. When¡­ Our baby was conceived. I

    found him cheating on me, with¡­¡± She nced over at him again, then subtly pointed her index finger

    while she was still holding her ss of lemonade at a tall, blonde woman who was standing with him.

    ¡°With her. I found them in a restaurant window, and when I confronted them, he threatened me and

    said some really horrible things instead of showing even a little remorse.¡±

    Although I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that I felt a bit more jealousy bubbling up inside of me as I learned that

    Moana had only just broken up with her ex on the very day that we met, I was more angry with him that

    he had done that to her.

    ¡°But it¡¯s not just that,¡± Moana continued before I could say anything. ¡°I¡¯m not upset about it anymore. I

    hardly even think about it, actually. But I think he might try to reveal the fact that E isn¡¯t my biological

    daughter.¡±

    My eyes widened at this. It made sense¡­ If this guy had been dating Moana only a few months earlier,

    of course he would know for a fact that E wasn¡¯t Moana¡¯s biological daughter. It would only be a

    matter of time before he revealed it and people began to question it. And if people questioned whether

    E was Moana¡¯s biological daughter, then they would surely question whether the baby in Moana¡¯s

    belly was even mine.

    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    But I had dealt with assholes like this before, and as I took another nce at the little prick with his

    girlfriend that was clearly way out of his league, I knew that I could handle him, too.

    And I would make him suffer for what he did to Moana.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said, tightening my grip around Moana¡¯s shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±

    Moana¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°I-I don¡¯t want to cause a scene¡ª¡± she began, but I cut her off with a wave of

    my hand and began steering us toward the one person who I knew would excel at a time like this.

    Mia.

 Chapter 146

    Chapter 146

    #Chapter 146: Once a Cheater, Always a Cheater

    Moana

    I hoped that Edrick wasn¡¯t too upset with me or jealous. After all, I did just reveal to him that I had

    conceived our child with him on the very night that my ex-boyfriend and I broke up, which would

    certainly seem like rebounding. I felt my voice shaking a bit as I told him what happened, but at the

    same time, it felt better to get things out in the air.

    And, much to my surprise, Edrick didn¡¯t say anything about the fact that I slept with him on the same

    night that Sam and I broke up. In fact, he seemed entirely focused on Sam¡¯s transgressions. It really

    made me realize that Edrick was on my side above all else, and it made me feel safe with him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it,¡± Edrick said. His voice was low and stern, and even though I felt better after telling

    him everything, I instantly became worried that I was about to cause a scene after all.

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t want to cause a scene,¡± I began, but Edrick waved his hand for me to stop. With his arm still

    wrapped firmly around my shoulders, he steered me away from Sam and in another direction, which

    took me by surprise. I had thought that he was going to march up to Sam and confront him with me, but

    he didn¡¯t.

    In fact, he was heading toward someone else entirely.

    Mia.

    She was standing by herself when we walked up to her. She was talking on the phone, but when she

    saw using and saw the look on Edrick¡¯s face, she quickly hung up.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± she asked, swirling her mimosa around in her ss. ¡°You two look like you just had war

    shbacks.¡±

    ¡°I have a proposition for you,¡± Edrick said as he stopped in front of her. ¡°Are you interested?¡±

    Mia raised an eyebrow. So did I; in fact, I was utterly confused. What was Edrick getting at?

    ¡°Um, that depends on the offer,¡± she said slowly. ¡°What is it?¡±

    Edrick let out a wry chuckle before ncing over his shoulder at Sam again. He lowered his voice so

    no one could overhear us, then shed Mia a mischievous smile.

    ¡°See that guy over there? The one with the tall blonde?¡± he asked, nodding his head subtly toward Sam

    and his new girlfriend. Mia casually nced over at Sam, looking him up and down, then looked back

    at Edrick and nodded.

    ¡°Yeah. What about him?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a cheater,¡± he said. ¡°And he just threatened Moana. If you can make him betray his new

    girlfriend, I¡¯ll give you whatever you want.¡±

    Mia slowly sipped her mimosa, her eyes narrowing as she thought hard about Edrick¡¯s proposition.

    Meanwhile, I was still too stunned to talk. This wasn¡¯t what I had in mind when I decided to tell Edrick

    about what Sam did to me. I just wanted him to know about the situation so it could be handled in case

    Sam tried to expose the lie that I was E¡¯s biological mother. I didn¡¯t tell Edrick in the hopes that he

    would get revenge for me.

    Finally, Mia shrugged. ¡°Sure. I want a new sports car, though. A red one.¡±

    Edrick nodded and folded his arms across his chest. ¡°Whatever you want. If you can expose him for the

    asshole that he really is, I¡¯ll go to the car dealership with you and buy you a dozen cars if you want.¡±

    Mia chuckled, then knocked back the rest of her mimosa and shoved the empty ss into Edrick¡¯s

    hands. ¡°One is enough,¡± she said, patting him on the shoulder with a grin. ¡°But I¡¯ll tell you what¡­ If I get

    this done in thirty minutes ¡ª and I will ¡ª you two had better invite me to your wedding.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but blush. Edrick said nothing, but nodded. It seemed that Mia wasn¡¯t even aware that

    our rtionship was fake, and I couldn¡¯t tell if Edrick simply didn¡¯t want to tell her the truth right now or

    if it was something else.

    Regardless, I was about to open my mouth to tell Mia not to go, but it was toote. She was already on

    her way over toward Sam. I watched with wide eyes and a ck jaw as she let down her long, ck

    hair, then stopped at the bar for another mimosa and began to saunter up to Sam.

    ¡°Edrick, isn¡¯t this too far?¡± I asked, turning to face him. ¡°I didn¡¯t want anyone to get in trouble. I was just

    worried that he would expose everything.¡±

    Edrick merely shrugged. ¡°People always follow the same pattern,¡± he said matter-of-factly. ¡°Once a

    cheater, always a cheater. Maybe this will teach him a little lesson.¡±

    I was still shocked. This mischievous side of Edrick was entirely new to me, but it was bing more

    and more abundanttely. And I couldn¡¯t help but admit to myself that it was something that I was

    attracted to¡­ And Sam did deserve to learn a lesson for being a cheater. Not just a cheater, but a jerk

    who said such horrible things to me when I was the one who found him cheating, especially after

    everything I had done for him during our rtionship.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Edrick said, taking my hand and shing me a smile. ¡°You look hungry.¡±

    Admittedly, I was. And although I could have stood there and waited for the oue of Mia¡¯s n all

    morning, I was starting to feel nauseous from the hunger, so Edrick and I made our way over to the

    buffet. I couldn¡¯t help but blush as he stuck close to me, our shoulders touching the entire time we

    picked out our food. We sat down at a table beneath a tree and waited for Mia¡¯s big reveal. It was like

    brunch and a show. I ate some fruit and yogurt with a deliciously frothy coffee prepared by the barista

    that was there, and if I pretended that nothing had happened with Sam, it did feel like it was just a nice

    pic in the park beneath a beautiful willow tree.

    But, like clockwork, not even fifteen minutes had passed before we heard screaming.

    ¡°Ugh! I can¡¯t believe you!¡± a female voice shouted. ¡°You¡¯re a cheater!¡±

    Edrick and I nced at each other, shing each other a quick smile, before we suddenly got up and

    made our way over to where Mia, Sam, and Sam¡¯s new girlfriend were standing. A small crowd had

    formed around them.

    ¡°Baby, it¡¯s not what it¡ª¡±

    Suddenly, before Sam could finish, his new girlfriend pped him hard across the face.

    The crowd erupted into a wave of gasps and mutters. Sam¡¯s face instantly turned red, both from the

    hard p and the embarrassment, while his tall blonde girlfriend towered over him in his heels.

    Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Sam just stood there, holding his face in shock.

    And meanwhile, Mia just stood off to the side. She was leaning against a tree, standing in the shade

    with her arms folded across her chest. She wasn¡¯t even trying to help in the slightest.

    When Mia¡¯s eyes met mine and Edrick¡¯s, she winked subtly. And I knew that she had done it.

 Chapter 147

    Chapter 147

    #Chapter 147: Humiliation

    Moana

    ¡°Ugh! I can¡¯t believe you!¡± Sam¡¯s new girlfriend shouted, causing Edrick and I to run over to the scene

    while a group of other intrigued employees gathered around as well. ¡°You¡¯re a cheater!¡±

    ¡°Baby, it¡¯s not what it¡ª¡±

    p.

    Sam¡¯s face went red with a mixture of embarrassment and redness from the hard p that his girlfriend

    gave him. A chorus of gasps and confused mutters erupted amongst the people who had gathered

    around, and meanwhile, Mia only stood leaning against a tree with a subtle smirk on her face. Her eyes

    finally met mine and Edrick¡¯s, and she winked.

    I knew then that she had aplished what Edrick had essentially hired her to do: she had made Sam

    betray his new girlfriend. I wondered if his new girlfriend even knew that he cheated on me to be with

    her, or if he just brushed me off as some crazydy who he didn¡¯t even know when I found them in the

    restaurant that day.

    Either way, Edrick was right. Once a cheater, always a cheater.

    ¡°You know, you wouldn¡¯t even have this job if it wasn¡¯t for me,¡± his girlfriend, a Beta, said with a scowl.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you would pull a stunt like this. We are over!¡±

    With that, Sam¡¯s new girlfriend ¡ª well, ex-girlfriend now ¡ª turned on her heel and stormed off.

    ¡°Baby!¡± Sam called. He tried to chase after her, but Mia suddenly ran after him like a sh and grabbed

    him by the cor of his shirt. ¡°H-Hey! What are you¡ª¡±

    ¡°Save it for the judge,¡± Mia said with a smirk. She yanked Sam over by his cor, causing him to

    struggle the entire way, and presented him to Edrick and I like a cat that had just dropped a dead bird

    on our doorstep. ¡°Here you go.¡±

    Sam¡¯s eyes widened as he stood in front of Edrick and myself. He began to stutter out a series of

    apologies for causing a scene, but Edrick only stared down at him with narrowed eyes.

    ¡°Everyone, return to the pic,¡± Edrick said, addressing the crowd that was still standing around us.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not let pretty high school drama ruin your nice afternoon.¡± People in the crowd snickered at the

    way that Edrick referred to it as nothing more than petty high school drama, which caused Sam¡¯s face

    to turn an even deeper shade of red. His eyes shifted back and forth between Edrick and I, and Mia

    continued to stand behind him with her arms folded across her chest in case he decided to try to leave

    again.

    I really hadn¡¯t expected any of this to work. When Mia said that she could make Sam betray his new

    girlfriend in less than thirty minutes, I thought that she was either joking or that she was too full of

    herself. But now, Sam stood here like a little kid who got in trouble in front of Edrick, and I had to focus

    all of my energy on containing my smile. It felt good to see him get a little taste of the humiliation I felt

    when he berated me outside the restaurant on that busy city street.

    As the crowd dissipated, Edrick only continued to stare down his nose at Sam, who was practically

    trembling by now. Once we were alone, Edrick finally spoke.

    ¡°I don¡¯t tolerate cheaters and abusers in mypany,¡± Edrick said, his voice low and serious and not

    mischievous at all like before. ¡°I have half a mind to fire you on the spot just for disturbing mypany

    pic. And you should apologize to your colleagues for causing so much of a scene.¡±

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, sir,¡± Sam blubbered, his eyes fixed on the ground. I had always thought that Sam was

    pretty tall, but Edrick was far taller and towered over him. Edrick especially towered over him now as

    Sam began to shrink into himself, slouching as though he wanted to make himself appear smaller. He

    looked like a dog that got caught rummaging through the trash.

    ¡°I think you should fire this jerk,¡± Mia said. She wrapped her arm around Sam¡¯s shoulders and gave him

    a lighthearted shake as though they were old friends, but it was entirely condescending and

    emascting. ¡°He did threaten your fiancee, after all.¡±

    Edrick nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right, as usual, Mia,¡± he replied. ¡°We¡¯ll fill the role with someone better.¡±

    Sam¡¯s eyes widened even further. ¡°No, please,¡± he whined. He then turned to face me and sped his

    hands together in front of them, pleading with me. ¡°Please, Moana. I need this job. I have to pay my

    rent. I-I need to pay off my expensive car. Please.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t hide my scoff. Of course Sam would be the type to get a fancy apartment and an expensive

    car as soon as he got a job at WereCorp, even going so far as to go into debt to appear rich.

    But, at the same time, I knew what it was like to struggle financially. I hade from the lowest caste

    in our society; not just a human, but an orphan, too. I knew how it felt to barely make ends meet, and

    even though I knew that Sam would have little trouble finding another job as a werewolf, and even

    though he had done me horribly wrong in the past, I hated to put other people in that situation.

    ¡°Please, Moana¡­¡±

    Finally, I sighed and turned to face Edrick. ¡°Don¡¯t fire him,¡± I said.

    Edrick¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Why not?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I know what it¡¯s like to live as a lower status, and I wouldn¡¯t wish it upon anyone else.

    Not even this sorry sack of shit.¡±

    For several long moments, Edrick just stared at me with his eyebrows raised. I knew that he felt

    ufortable by my request, but I just didn¡¯t like the idea of causing someone to lose their job entirely

    over this. Sam got humiliated, and that was enough for me.

    ¡°Fine,¡± Edrick said finally, smacking his lips together annoyedly. ¡°I won¡¯t fire you. But you¡¯ll be working

    in the mailroom from now on.¡±

    I could tell that Sam was not excited about being demoted, but at the very least, he still had a job. ¡°T-

    Thank you, Mr. Morgan,¡± he said.

    Edrick stared down his nose at him for a few more long moments before he stooped down to Sam¡¯s

    level and stopped just inches from his face, causing Sam to look even more panicked. He then lowered

    his voice so no one else could hear.

    ¡°And if you say a word about E or Moana¡­ You won¡¯t even be working in the mailroom,¡± he said.

    ¡°And I¡¯ll make sure you can¡¯t find another halfway decent job in this city for the rest of your pathetic little

    life. Do you understand me?¡±

    Sam¡¯s eyes widened so far I could see the whites of his eyes all the way around his irises. He nced

    back and forth between Edrick and I several times before rapidly nodding and taking a big, nervous

    gulp.

    ¡°I won¡¯t say a word,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Good.¡± Edrick straightened again, then waved Sam away with his hand. ¡°You can go home now.

    You¡¯re not wee at this pic anymore.¡±

    Sam didn¡¯t say a word. He simply turned on his heel and took off toward the parking lot with his

    metaphorical tail between his legs.

    I felt relieved. It felt nice to see Sam finally get the same amount of humiliation that I felt, and maybe it

    would teach him not to treat women poorly in the future. But, like Edrick said¡­

    Once a cheater, always a cheater.

 Chapter 148

    Chapter 148

    #Chapter 148: Cityscape

    Moana

    After Sam left, I felt relief wash over me. I was happy to see Sam finally get just as humiliated as I was

    when he cheated on me, and now he had to actually work his way up in thepany instead of using

    his Beta girlfriend to get the job.

    However, when I looked over at Edrick, his face had fallen and gone dark.

    ¡°Thanks, Mia,¡± he said, his voice sounding rather coldpared to how it sounded earlier when he was

    acting mischievous with his old friend. ¡°I¡¯ll get you that car you wanted. Just let me know which day

    you¡¯d want to go to the dealership.¡±

    Mia shook her head, the look on her face indicating that she also realized the sudden change in

    Edrick¡¯s demeanor. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± she replied with a wave of her hand. ¡°I can afford my own car

    if I want it. I was just joking earlier.¡±

    Edrick looked a bit surprised, but he didn¡¯t say anything. In fact, without another word he simply turned

    around and walked away. I could only watch after him with wide eyes as he disappeared into the crowd

    of employees, my heart practically pounding out of my chest. What changed so suddenly? He had

    been so full of life when he was making his little n with Mia, and now that it was over, he was sullen

    and quiet. Was it because I didn¡¯t want Sam to get fired, or was it something else?

    ¡°Good old Edrick,¡± Mia said with a shrug. ¡°Gotta love when he does that.¡±

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    I turned to face Mia then. ¡°Um¡­ Really, thank you,¡± I said. ¡°You really didn¡¯t have to do that for me.¡±

    Mia only smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll do anything if it means exposing a cheater and a liar,¡± she said. ¡°But I have to

    say¡­ I¡¯m surprised that you didn¡¯t want to get him fired.¡±

    I bit my lip for a moment, then shrugged. ¡°I just don¡¯t want to inflict too much suffering on others,¡± I

    replied. ¡°An eye for an eye, you know? He got what he deserved.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s childhood friend nodded slowly. I watched as her gaze shifted over toward where Enzo

    disappeared for a few moments, and I followed her eyes. He was talking to another business partner

    already with that same stic smile on his face. It was as though he put on a mask when he talked to

    people.

    I realized then that Mia had asked for a wedding invitation earlier. Although Edrick didn¡¯t say anything

    at the time, which indicated that Mia didn¡¯t know that our rtionship was fake, I feltfortable

    enough with her to tell her the truth. She was so kind and did something really important for me, and I

    felt as though she deserved to not be lied to.

    ¡°Um¡­ About the wedding,¡± I said, turning back to face Mia. ¡°I don¡¯t know if¡ª¡±

    Mia suddenly cut me off and shook her head with a smile. ¡°I know already,¡± she said.

    I raised my eyebrows. ¡°Edrick did tell you?¡±

    ¡°Well, not really,¡± she said. ¡°I can just tell. I know him too well. But¡­ If I¡¯m being honest, I have a

    feeling¡­¡±

    ¡°A feeling about what?¡± I asked.

    Suddenly, Mia shook her head again. ¡°I¡¯ve already said too much,¡± she said, shing me a warm smile.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see you around.¡±

    With that, Mia left me standing there feeling utterly confused.

    ¡­

    Later that night, after everything was said and done, I was finally getting ready for bed in Edrick¡¯s

    bathroom. The pic went on for much longer than I expected, but I didn¡¯t mind. After everything that

    happened with Sam, I finally just wound up spending the remainder of the pic with the children.

    Hearing theirughter and seeing how happy E was to be ying with other kids her age made up

    for everything else.

    When I walked out of the bathroom, however, I noticed that the balcony doors were open. And Edrick

    was standing outside, which was rare for him.

    I watched him for a few moments. He was leaning over the railing and looking out at the city. In his

    white button-down shirt and ck trousers, with his dark hair moving in the breeze, he looked

    incredibly handsome even from behind. I tried to get a good mental image of the scene, because I

    wanted to sketch it at some point.

    Finally, I decided to join him. I quietly walked up to him and leaned on the railing beside him. He

    nced over at me for the briefest moment before both of us silently stared out at the city without a

    word.

    However, Edrick¡¯s cold demeanor hadn¡¯t changed much all day. Even now in this peaceful moment, he

    seemed sullen.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I upset you by asking not to fire my ex earlier,¡± I said, breaking the silence.

    Edrick didn¡¯t answer for a few moments, but I could see him tense up beside me. Finally, after a long

    time, he spoke.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± he said.

    ¡°Then what is it?¡±

    He shook his head and stared down at the city street beneath us. ¡°Did you really sleep with me on the

    same day that you two broke up?¡±

    I felt a lump rise in my throat. I should have known that that was what he was upset about; it only made

    sense.

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± I admitted, feeling my heart race in my chest. ¡°But I never saw you as a rebound.¡±

    ¡°Then what was it, then?¡± he asked, standing up straight and looking over at me with his steely gray

    eyes. ¡°What would you call that night?¡±

    I swallowed. Maybe I didn¡¯t know. Or maybe I just wasn¡¯t willing to think about it. Either way, nothing

    woulde out, and Edrick only nodded and turned away. I watched as he slowly walked back into the

    room, where he went over to the closet without a word and kicked off his shoes before beginning to

    unbutton his shirt.

    ¡°What would you call it?¡± I asked from the doorway. ¡°It was all the same to you, wasn¡¯t it? A one night

    stand?¡±

    Edrick froze. I immediately felt a little guilty for what I said. Finally, he just shook his head and finished

    taking off his shirt before turning to face me. I tried not to look at his bare chest, but it was difficult.

    ¡°It was a one night stand,¡± he said. ¡°A one night stand during which we just so happened to conceive a

    child together. Nothing more, nothing less.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. I thought back to what Mia had said earlier, about how she had a feeling

    about something. What was it? A feeling that we would get married after all? Part of me wanted to ask

    him, but I knew deep down that I wouldn¡¯t get an answer. Even if I could get an answer, the words

    wouldn¡¯te out anyway. I could only stand there, frozen.

    ¡°Let me release my scent, and he¡¯ll calm down,¡± Mina suddenly said.

    ¡°No.¡±

    Edrick froze. So did I. My eyes widened as I realized that I had just responded to my wolf out loud, and

    Edrick had heard me.

    ¡°What?¡± he asked.

    I shook my head. ¡°N-Nothing.¡± Without another word, I walked over to the bed and climbed in. Edrick

    didn¡¯t say anything else about my slip-up as he got ready for bed, and the only noise between us after

    that was the sound of him getting into bed and shutting themp off.

    And in the morning, he was already gone when I woke up.

 Chapter 149

    Chapter 149

    #Chapter 149: Lock & Key

    Edrick

    I couldn¡¯t sleep at all that night after the pic.

    It was for a variety of reasons: first of all, I was still admittedly upset over what Moana had told me

    earlier that day. I knew that I shouldn¡¯t have been jealous or hurt over it, as Moana was my mate and

    what happened between us was only fate striking at just the right time, but it didn¡¯t make it hurt any

    less. I just wished that she told me sooner that she broke up with her ex not even an hour before we

    met, and I had to admit that the way she pitied him made my mood darken.

    However, that feeling was quickly overshadowed by the way that she suddenly blurted something out.

    It was only one word: ¡°No.¡±

    Somehow, I knew that she was talking to her wolf, and not to me. But what were they talking about?

    Was there something that she wasn¡¯t telling me?

    Either way, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before Moana¡¯s wolf fully emerged. If she

    identally shifted, and if she was in fact the Golden Wolf, she would be putting herself in grave

    danger. I needed to get to the bottom of this before it was toote. If she was the Golden Wolf, I would

    have to find some way to keep her from shifting for the first time until the baby was born. People would

    instantly know about her existence the second she shifted, and they would no doubt be hunting her.

    With a baby in her belly, it only made it more dangerous¡­ Not that I wouldn¡¯t also be terribly worried

    about her anyway even if she wasn¡¯t pregnant.

    That night, I kept tossing and turning. I would fall asleep for a few minutes, only to wake up again from

    my nerves. Finally, I decided that I simply wouldn¡¯t sleep at all.

    My mind kept wandering back to the forum thread that I found about the book on the Golden Wolf. It

    was supposedly extremely rare, and possibly didn¡¯t even exist. But I had a feeling that I could find it.

    There was a private library in the city that was only open to the highest ss of werewolves. I had

    never been there before myself, but it wasmon knowledge that the librarian lived there, and she

    had an enormous collection of rare and banned books. It waste, but I didn¡¯t care; I needed to see her

    now.

    I quietly got dressed while Moana slept, taking onest nce at her before I slipped out of the room

    and headed outside. And soon, I was driving my car across the quiet city, and pulling up to the curb

    outside the library.

    It was a massive stone building that had been a part of this city since the city was built. The librarians

    here were always from the same family, and the library would be passed down to each generation.

    There was something almost ominous about the building, but I swallowed my nerves and walked up the

    front steps to the big, ornate wooden door and pressed the doorbell.

    There was a long wait. I pressed the doorbell a couple more times, and by the third time, I began to

    think that no one was going to answer.

    However, just as I was about to walk away, the door finally cracked open.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± a gruff, old woman¡¯s voice said through the crack. ¡°It¡¯s three o¡¯clock in the

    morning. Can¡¯t you read? The hours are posted right in front of your face.¡±

    I felt my face flush with embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said. ¡°I know you¡¯re not open. But I have urgent

    research to do. Can you please let me in?¡±

    The door cracked open a little wider, and now I could see an old woman¡¯s face staring up at me. Her

    face was covered with wrinkles, but she had piercing blue eyes. ¡°I recognize you,¡± she said, her voice

    low and gravelly. ¡°You¡¯re Edrick Morgan. What are you doing here?¡±

    I swallowed. ¡°Like I said, I have urgent research I need to do,¡± I replied. ¡°It¡¯s really important, but

    unfortunately I can¡¯t tell anyone what it¡¯s about.¡±

    The woman didn¡¯t say anything for a few long moments. Finally, she pulled the door open the rest of

    the way and gestured for me toe in. ¡°Do you want tea?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, thanks. I just need to see your rare books. The rarest of the rare.¡±

    The woman grumbled something to herself, butplied anyway and led me through the narrow

    walkways between bookshelves that towered all the way to the high ceiling. There must have been

    thousands of books in there ¡ª no, millions ¡ª and each of them looked even older than thest. Unlike

    any regr library that would normally be spacious with lots of seating, this library was nothing but

    shelves. Books were even piled on the floor, along with paper scrolls and half-melted candles. The

    whole ce reminded me of some sort of demented wizard¡¯s tower from a fairy tale.

    ¡°The rarest of the rare, huh?¡± the old woman asked, her appearance shing beneath therge skylight

    that let the light of the moon in, revealing a hunched over posture and gray, frazzled hair. ¡°How rare,

    exactly?¡±

    ¡°Rare as in¡­ It might not even exist,¡± I replied.

    The old woman stopped and stared at me for a moment over her shoulder, pursing her thin lips as she

    looked me up and down. I stared back, and eventually she nodded and led me over to a narrow

    wooden door that was nestled in between two bookshelves. If she hadn¡¯t led me there, I never would

    have seen it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t normally let people in here,¡± she said, extracting a ring of keys from the pocket on her robe, ¡°but

    since you¡¯re¡­ well, you, I¡¯ll allow it. It¡¯s where I keep my most prized books.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I replied. The old woman didn¡¯t respond as she rifled through the keyring. She finally

    found the key she was looking for and unlocked the door. When she pushed the door open, it creaked

    loudly and exposed a set of narrow stone steps that led downward.

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± she said, gesturing for me to enter. ¡°Be careful on those steps. And try not to get your

    fingers all over everything. The oils from your skin will ruin my books.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful,¡± I replied. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and switched on the shlight,

    then descended down the stairs.

    With each step, the air became colder. By the time I got to the bottom, it was almost frigid. I found

    myself in a surprisingly small room, but it was still packed with books. The walls were made of

    bookshelves, and there were a few ss cases that housed extremely decrepit old tomes. Unlike

    upstairs, everything seemed to be neatly organized.

    I began to scour the bookshelves, searching for anything that would even remotely resemble the book

    that I heard about. If it was going to be anywhere, it would be here¡­ I was sure of it. I had a good

    feeling about this ce.

    At first, my search was fruitless. There were plenty of rare books, but none of them seemed to contain

    any information on the Golden Wolf. I even went through each bookshelf twice, but found nothing. I

    must have been in there for a few hours at that point; the sun was probably rising and I had no way of

    knowing since it was so dark down there.

    I was about to give up after my third time looking through all of the bookshelves. Obviously the book

    simply didn¡¯t exist, because if this library didn¡¯t have it, then it couldn¡¯t possibly be anywhere else. If it

    did exist at one point, then it probably didn¡¯t exist now.

    But then, something caught my eye.

    I only noticed it because there were three books that protruded from the shelf slightly more than the

    rest. At first, I thought that they were just shaped differently, but on closer inspection I realized that

    something was behind them. With a furrowed brow, I carefully pulled the books out.

    A cloud of dust sprung up as something flopped down onto the shelf. My eyes widened; it had been

    pinned behind the books.

    And as I pulled it out, I realized that it was exactly the book I was looking for.

    My heart practically leaped out of my chest as I snatched the book off of the shelf. The pages were

    yellow and brittle, but it was still fully intact. I thumbed through it as carefully as I could, straining my

    eyes to read the faded text.

    ¡°The Prophecy of the Golden Wolf,¡± I whispered to myself, reading the text on one of the pages. ¡°The

    Golden Wolf will return in the form of a human at first¡­ But they will possess strange abilities unlike

    any human, with only a single physical indicator of their existence¡­ A single Alpha tooth that glows in

    the light of the full moon.¡±

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    My eyes widened even more as I read the text. I snapped the book shut, my breath catching in my

    throat.

    There was no doubt about it; Moana had the tooth. She came in the form of a human at first, but she

    possessed strange abilities. She had to be the Golden Wolf.

    But I still needed more proof. Not only that, but I needed guidance, and there was only one person in

    the world who could possibly help us now: the Mother Witch. The wisest, oldest, and most powerful of

    all witches.

    First, however, I would need a lock of Moana¡¯s hair to bring to the Mother Witch.

 Chapter 150

    Chapter 150

    #Chapter 150: An Unexpected & Unwee Visitor

    Moana

    When I woke up and found that Edrick was gone, I was confused. It was still early, and he usually didn¡¯t

    leave for work until a littleter. I figured that he just got up early and was having breakfast in the dining

    room, so I got up and made my way out there to see where he was.

    However, when I headed out to the dining room, Edrick wasn¡¯t there. His study door was also open and

    he wasn¡¯t in there, either. Furrowing my brow, I headed into the kitchen next, where Selina was already

    awake and preparing some coffee.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± she said. ¡°Coffee?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please,¡± I replied as I walked up to the counter ind. I then looked around, my brow still

    furrowed. ¡°Have you seen Edrick?¡±

    Selina shrugged. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him yet this morning. Was he not in bed?¡±

    I shook my head. It was still a bit awkward to hear others, especially Selina, mention the fact that

    Edrick and I slept in the same bed so casually. But I was getting used to it. ¡°He wasn¡¯t there,¡± I replied.

    ¡°I guess he left for work early.¡±

    Selina and I shared some coffee in the kitchen. As much as I loved E, it was nice to have a little bit of

    quiet time in the mornings before she woke up, andtely I had been spending more time getting to

    know Selina. I felt as though she was opening up to me more and more the longer I lived here, and I

    even felt as though I could begin to call her a friend.

    However, Selina and I weren¡¯t sitting there for long before we heard the elevator doors open.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    ¡°That must be him,¡± she said, standing. ¡°Maybe he just went out for a run early this morning or

    something.¡±

    I stood along with Selina and peered out of the kitchen doorway, hoping to see Edrick.

    But it wasn¡¯t Edrick. It was his father, Michael.

    My eyes widened. Michael¡¯s eyes stared coldly back at me from the foyer, his gaze traveling down to

    my nightgown. I had my robe open casually in the front, and I quickly darted out of view and tied it shut,

    feeling my face get hot.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Selina asked quietly.

    ¡°It¡¯s Michael.¡±

    Even the housekeeper¡¯s eyes widened when I mentioned that Edrick¡¯s father had suddenly shown up.

    She quickly brushed past me and came out into the dining room. ¡°Good morning, Mr. Morgan,¡± she said

    politely with a small curtsy. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you caught us so early we¡¯re still in our dressing gowns. Are you

    looking for Edrick?¡±

    ¡°I am, actually,¡± Michael said, his voice cold and gruff. ¡°Where is he?¡±

    ¡°Edrick stepped out early this morning,¡± Selina replied. ¡°We think he might be at work or running some

    errands.¡±

    I stood behind Selina in the hallway, my heart pounding. Michael stared calmly and coldly at me over

    Selina¡¯s shoulder. His steely gray eyes shot daggers at me, and I felt like a deer in headlights.

    Michael cleared his throat, then abruptly pulled out a chair. As he did, he pulled it out so roughly that it

    scraped on the wooden floor and made a horrible screeching sound that made both Selina and I flinch,

    but he didn¡¯t even seem to notice or care about making such noise so early in the morning.

    ¡°I¡¯ll wait, then,¡± he said, sitting and crossing his legs over each other. He leaned back in the chair and

    folded his hands in hisp, then stared down his nose at both of us. ¡°I¡¯ll have some tea.¡±

    ¡°Right away, Mr. Morgan,¡± Selina said. She turned on her heel and scurried into the kitchen. My eyes,

    however, stayed glued on Michael, and I instinctively ced my hand over my belly in a protective

    manner. As I did so, Michael¡¯s eyes flickered down to my stomach. He almost looked disgusted.

    ¡°U-Um¡­ It¡¯s nice to see you,¡± I said, not wanting to be impolite despite the fact that Edrick¡¯s father

    scared the living hell out of me.

    He didn¡¯t answer. I swallowed, hard, as he just continued to stare intensely at me.

    Selina returned to the dining room a few momentster with a tray that contained a pot of tea and a

    teacup. She set it down in front of Michael and picked up the teapot to pour it, but Michael¡¯s hand

    suddenly shot out and he stopped her from pouring the tea, his eyes still locked on mine.

    ¡°I¡¯d like my future daughter-inw to serve the tea,¡± he said gruffly.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Selina set the teapot down, then looked over at me. Her eyes were just as wide as mine; both of

    us knew the sort of subservient position that Michael was trying to put me in. But nheless, I nodded

    and walked up to the table. Selina walked away, returning to the kitchen, although I knew that she was

    still keeping one eye on me at all times in case Michael tried to do anything.

    The air was silent and thick with tension as I walked over to Michael. He watched me like a hawk as I

    poured the tea. I tried to hide the fact that my hands were shaking, but I knew that he noticed anyway.

    Finally, I poured the tea and went to set the teapot back down. However, before I could, his hand shot

    out again; not to block me this time like he had with Selina, but instead to grab my wrist. Hard.

    His grip was so hard, in fact, that it made me wince.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think that you¡¯ll be getting anything more out of this fake rtionship with my son, you little

    human w***e,¡± he snarled, his voice low enough so that Selina couldn¡¯t hear.

    I could feel my eyes instantly well up with tears, and my face got even more red. My hands started to

    shake violently, causing the lid on the teapot to vibrate. When Michael finally released his iron grip on

    me, my wrist burned like someone had scalded it with boiling water. All I could do was calmly set the

    teapot back down and stiffly walk back to the kitchen, where Selina stared cautiously at me from where

    Michael couldn¡¯t see her.

    Finally, the elevator doors opened a few minutester. Edrick came walking in, and although I was now

    practically cowering in the corner of the kitchen and sobbing quietly while I held my wrist where I was

    out of both Michael¡¯s and Edrick¡¯s line of sight, with Selina rubbing my back gently, I could hear the two

    of them talking.

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk in your office,¡± Michael said, standing. ¡°And this tea is disgusting, by the way. Can¡¯t you

    afford proper tea leaves instead of these silly tea bags? Or maybe you should consider hiring more

    competent servants.¡±

    Edrick didn¡¯t respond to thatment. I heard them retreat into the study, followed by the study door

    closing.

    ¡°Come,¡± Selina said, guiding me over to the kitchen sink now that we were alone. ¡°Let¡¯s put your wrist

    under some cool water. That bastard¡­¡±

    Selina ran my wrist under the cold water from the tap, which soothed the burning on my wrist where

    Michael had grabbed me. Thankfully, there was nothing more than a faint red mark; I was more scared

    than actually hurt. I was just d that he hadn¡¯t hurt my baby in any way.

    However, Selina and I both heard raised voicesing from Edrick¡¯s study not even five minutester.

    The yelling onlysted for a couple of minutes, and the two of us could only stand in the kitchen in

    shock as we heard the study door swing open. Michael stormed past the kitchen, then disappeared into

    the foyer, followed by the sound of the elevator opening and closing.

    Once he was gone, Selina and I finally emerged from the kitchen to see Edrick standing in the doorway

    of his study.

    I opened my mouth to ask if something was wrong, but before I could, Edrick simply gave me a strange

    look before suddenly mming the door shut.

 Chapter 151

    Chapter 151

    #Chapter 151: Rue the Day

    Edrick

    When I finally came home from the library, I had intended on going straight to work despite how tired I

    was. I didn¡¯t realize it when I was in that dark basement, but it was well after sunrise by the time I came

    out, and I knew that Moana would be awake and wondering where I went. I didn¡¯t want to rm her, so

    I nned on telling her that I had a work emergency; especially since I would have to cut a lock of her

    hairter to take to the Mother Witch. Right now, I really didn¡¯t need her getting suspicious and worried.

    However, when I walked in the door and saw none other than my father sitting at the dining room table,

    I knew that my ns would be thrown out the window. My eyes widened as I saw him, and I instantly

    felt a pit of dread grow in my stomach. He was sipping a cup of tea, and Selina and Moana were

    nowhere to be found. I instantly became worried.

    ¡°Edrick,¡± he said, standing abruptly from the table without so much as a hello. ¡°Let¡¯s talk in your office.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Alright,¡± I responded. I wanted to ask why he was here, but I knew that he would only get even

    more surly with me. As I followed him, I caught a glimpse of Moana and Selina in the kitchen, which

    made me feel more rxed. But Moana looked like she was crying, and I instantly felt anger bubbling

    up inside of me as I wondered what my father did to her. He felt the need to make a snidement

    about the tea as we walked to my office, but I didn¡¯t care. I only cared if he had hurt Moana.

    As soon as I shut the office door behind us, I gritted my teeth. I was about to snarl at him and ask what

    he did to Moana, but before I could get a word out, he immediately lit into me and began to berate me.

    ¡°You had a perfectly good chance to have a public rtionship with Kelly,¡± he growled, pointing his

    finger at me with his eyebrows knitted together angrily, ¡°but you chose that human instead? And to

    make matters worse, you create all sorts of bad press, you take off into the countryside, hang up my

    phone calls, and even use those bloody body guards against me. I had to practically fight my way in

    here, Edrick!¡±

    I sighed and passed a hand over my face. Part of me wanted to firstly correct my father about Moana¡¯s

    status before anything else and tell him that she wasn¡¯t even a human, but I decided against it. I knew it

    should be her choice when or if she told anyone, and besides; if he found out that she was the Golden

    Wolf, there would be no telling what he would do to her. My father was not one of the people who

    wanted the Golden Wolf to return. He had always said that he would kill the Golden Wolf himself if it

    ever existed. That, alone, was enough to add even more pressure to this whole ordeal. What would I

    do if my father eventually found out that Moana was the Golden Wolf and tried to kill her? Even with her

    full power, my father still wouldn¡¯t rest until one of them was dead.

    Therefore, instead of correcting my father, I decided to keep my mouth shut about the subject and

    address the other elephant in the room: the issue with Kelly.

    ¡°Why would I want to have any sort of rtionship, even a fake one, with someone who willingly paid

    Rogues to attack the mother of my child? Why would I want to be even remotely involved, romantically

    or not, with a monster who happily put a pregnant woman in the arms of Rogues who wanted to kill

    her?¡±

    My voice was raising, but I didn¡¯t care. If Moana and the others overheard this, then so be it. I wasn¡¯t on

    my father¡¯s side anymore, and I didn¡¯t care if the world knew.

    My father opened his mouth to say something else, but I kept going and cut him off once more.

    ¡°That woman put the health of my baby and the mother of my baby in jeopardy,¡± I snarled. ¡°I don¡¯t want

    to hear about her anymore. You¡¯ll just have to get over the fact that I¡¯m never going to marry Kelly, and

    you need to stop putting such ridiculous ideas into her head because I¡ª¡±

    I suddenly stopped myself. I knew what I was going to say next. I was going to say that I loved Moana.

    But I couldn¡¯t say that; not just to my father, but not even out loud. It was too soon.

    My father smirked. He knew what I was going to say.

    ¡°You¡¯ll rue the day that you decided to lower yourself enough to have s*x with a human and put some

    freak half-breed in her belly,¡± my father growled.

    My eyes widened. Was that a threat? Before I could even say anything, however, my father turned on

    his heel and stormed out. All I could do was stand in the doorway of my office as I watched him

    disappear, followed by the sound of the elevator. Then, he was gone.

    I was still standing there in shock when Moana and Selina stepped out of the kitchen. Moana¡¯s eyes

    were red from crying. I wanted to go to her, but at the same time, my father had made me so angry¡­

    And now, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it was time for me to distance myself from her for her own safety.

    ¡­

    I stayed in my office for the remainder of the day. Just as I suspected from my first nce at my father

    sitting at my dining room table, he ruined my day after all. I made sure to tell the security guards not to

    let anyone in without my prior consent from now on. I couldn¡¯t trust anyone after what my father said¡­

    Not even my mother.

    That night, I finally emerged from my office long after midnight. My eyelids felt heavy, and I knew I

    needed to sleep.

    But there was something else I needed to do, too: I needed to get a lock of Moana¡¯s hair to bring to the

    Mother Witch.All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    As I quietly entered my room to find her asleep and retrieved a pair of scissors from the medicine

    cab, I realized that I didn¡¯t know exactly what I would do if the Mother Witch confirmed that Moana

    was the Golden Wolf. I could only hope that the Mother Witch could offer some wisdom, or maybe a

    protection charm to keep Moana safe. I hated to consider it, too, but¡­ I wondered if the Mother Witch

    would help me get rid of my father. A curse, maybe. Or even poison.

    But was I really willing to kill my own father?

    I wasn¡¯t sure. All I was sure of, as I stood over Moana¡¯s sleeping body with a small lock of her vibrant

    red hair in my hand, was that I needed to protect her regardless of whether she was the Golden Wolf or

    not.

 Chapter 152

    Chapter 152

    #Chapter 152: Crepe Date

    Moana

    I didn¡¯t know what Edrick and Michael were exactly talking about, but I had a pretty good idea of it. It

    was clearly because of his fake rtionship with me, and when I heard raised voices and saw Michael

    storm out, followed by Edrick giving me a strange look and mming the door, it only solidified my

    suspicions.

    Edrick stayed in his study and didn¡¯te out for the remainder of the day; not even for dinner. In fact,

    I didn¡¯t see or hear him evere to bed, and he was gone again when I woke up the next morning as

    well.

    To wake up without him sleeping beside me for the second morning in a row was not only a bit odd, but

    also a little heartbreaking. I had quickly grown used to feeling his presence beside me, whether his

    arms were wrapped warmly around me or not. Not only that, but it was Saturday morning; he rarely

    worked on Saturdays, and when he did, it was never this early. But maybe it was just because he

    needed to do extra work to mitigate the falling stock prices due to our fake rtionship. However, I

    couldn¡¯t deny the fact that there was a small part of me that wondered if he simply didn¡¯t want to be

    around me. I hoped that that wasn¡¯t the case.

    Either way, E had training this morning and I needed to get her ready. So, swallowing my anxiety, I

    crawled out of bed and slipped on my robe and slippers, but as I did, something shiny caught my eye.

    It was a little pair of scissors on Edrick¡¯s bedside table.

    I furrowed my brow as I walked over to look at them. Why did Edrick leave the bathroom scissors out

    on his bedside table, of all ces? He was usually careful with things like that, and it was important to

    keep sharp things out of E¡¯s reach in case she came in and identally hurt herself; but maybe he

    was just in a rush and had to cut a loose thread or something like that. Without another thought, I

    picked the scissors up and carried them over to the medicine cab.

    After that, I made my way over to my bedroom, where I showered and got dressed for the day. I

    promised Sophia that I would also volunteer again at the orphanage, so I made sure to dress

    comfortably for a day of work and pack a small lunch.

    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    Finally, I woke E up and got her ready for training.

    ¡°Moana?¡± she asked as Ibed her hair and put it into two braids for her training.

    ¡°Yes, love?¡± I replied.

    ¡°Um¡­ Can we have crepes for breakfast?¡± she asked, her voice sounding almost sheepish. ¡°At the

    bakery downstairs. We haven¡¯t gone in so long¡­¡±

    I pursed my lips. Of course I wanted to go, and we hadn¡¯t gone in weeks. But with the frenzy that the

    media was in recently, I didn¡¯t want to just go out with her without Edrick there. After what happened

    last time, I was scared that she would get hurt again. I didn¡¯t want to put her through that again, as it

    already scared her so much the first time.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sweetheart,¡± I said gently. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can go without your daddy. Remember what

    happenedst time we went out with just the two of us?¡±

    E let out a loud, long, almost dramatic sigh. ¡°I suppose,¡± she muttered. When I looked up at her in the

    mirror, I could see that she was hanging her head and pushing her lower lip out in a pout. But what was

    I supposed to do? Without her father here, I couldn¡¯t even get permission from him if it was okay to go.

    Suddenly, I heard Selena¡¯s voice call through the door. When I looked up, she was standing in the

    doorway. ¡°You can bring one of the bodyguards,¡± she said, causing E¡¯s head to jerk up excitedly. ¡°It¡¯s

    just next door. It¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    I was shocked. ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°You don¡¯t think Edrick will be worried?¡±

    Selina shrugged. ¡°He hired you both a bodyguard for a reason. And besides, you two can¡¯t stay cooped

    up here forever.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile. Maybe Selina was right; we couldn¡¯t spend the rest of our lives feeling terrified

    of the outside world after one bad experience with the paparazzi. With a trained bodyguard protecting

    us and our hats on to cover up our faces a little bit, it would be okay.

    ¡°Alright,¡± I said, causing E to let out an excited gasp. ¡°Let¡¯s go quick, though. You¡¯ve got training

    today.¡±

    ¡­

    Later, E and I were seated at one of the tables in the bakery with two tes of delicious crepes, fresh

    fruit, and whipped cream sitting in front of us. I ordered a fancy coffee for myself as well, and as I

    watched E happily eating with whipped cream all over her face, I couldn¡¯t help but smile even more.

    It made me happy to see E happy, and despite everything with the paparazzi and Michaeltely, I

    knew that Edrick¡¯s public announcement was good for her. It was allowing her to get out of the house

    without having to hide her identity, and she could enjoy being a child. I kept thinking about how happy

    she was at the pic the other day, when she spent the entire morning and afternoon ying tirelessly

    with other children. I wanted her to be able to enjoy things like that even more.

    While we ate, E prattled on about all sorts of things. She was excited for training, just as she always

    was, and asked me to tell the other children at the orphanage that she said hello. She also couldn¡¯t

    stop talking about the pic as well, which made meugh.

    But then, suddenly, she set down her fork and gave me a very serious look.

    ¡°Moana,¡± she said, sounding almost like a little adult all of a sudden, ¡°I have a question.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I replied. I set down my coffee and looked at her with the same amount of seriousness,

    expecting her to ask me something silly, such as whether she could finish my crepe if I wasn¡¯t going to

    eat all of it or if she could skip training to tag along to the orphanage. But what she said next took me

    byplete surprise.

    ¡°Do I always have to call you Moana?¡±

    I furrowed my brow at this strange question. ¡°What do you mean, love?¡± I asked, c*****g my head to the

    side. ¡°That¡¯s my name.¡±

    E sighed. ¡°Yes, but¡­¡± She paused. She seemed to be puzzling over how to word her thoughts

    properly, like it was extremely important to her. ¡°You act like my mommy. Can¡¯t I call you mommy

    sometimes?¡±

    My eyes widened at this. It wasn¡¯t anything that I had expected her to say, and while I had had

    moments in the past where I secretly thought that I felt as though E and I were a real mother and

    daughter, I never expected her to ask if she could refer to me as her mother.

    ¡°Um¡­¡± I stammered, trying toe up with the right response that wouldn¡¯t hurt her feelings or give

    her too much false hope. ¡°Why don¡¯t we ask your dad about thatter, hm? Let¡¯s see what he has to

    say about it.¡±

    E nodded understandingly. Sometimes, she seemed so mature for such a little girl that it took me by

    complete surprise. ¡°Okay,¡± she said, rather calmly. ¡°It¡¯s okay if I can¡¯t call you mommy. I know that I had

    a real mommy, and she died. But sometimes, I just feel like you¡¯re¡­ Sort of like a mommy to me.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile. I reached across the table and took E¡¯s little hand in mine, blinking back the

    tears that formed in my eyes.

    ¡°I know, sweetheart,¡± I said gently. ¡°Sometimes I feel that way, too.¡±

 Chapter 153

    Chapter 153

    #Chapter 153: Olivia

    Moana

    After E and I had our little breakfast date together, we headed out for training. I dropped her off at the

    training facility before heading over to the orphanage to spend a few hours volunteering and helping

    Sophia out.

    Ever since E mentioned wanting to refer to me as her mother, my heart couldn¡¯t stop fluttering. I felt

    both anxious and ecstatic at the thought; I had considered this before, but never seriously. I had only

    ever thought of us asionally as acting a bit like mother and daughter, but I knew that I could never

    really rece E¡¯s biological mother. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was really appropriate to even bring the subject

    up to Edrick, as he had never really brought up E¡¯s biological mother. All I knew was that E¡¯s

    biological mother died when E was very young, and no one ever really talked about her. There

    weren¡¯t even photographs or anything indicating her existence around the house. Edrick¡¯s family never

    mentioned her, and Edrick never really gave off the feeling of being a widower. But, then again, maybe

    that had something to do with his fear ofmitment. Maybe he didn¡¯t talk about her because it was

    too painful, and part of me always wanted to see if he would be willing to tell me a bit more about her. If

    E really wanted to refer to me as her mother, then I wanted to be able to do it in a way that was

    respectful of her biological mother.

    When the driver eventually pulled up to the orphanage, the hot summer sun was climbing higher in the

    sky. It was supposed to be very hot out today, but thankfully it was one of thest hot days of the

    summer. With autumn just around the corner, I was excited for the vibrant fall leaves, warm drinks, and

    the cool air. I loved summer the most out of all four of the seasons, but I still got tired of the heat by

    now; not to mention the fact that the pregnancy was making the heat take more of a toll on me. I was

    d that I would be done with this pregnancy by the time the next summer rolled around.

    I climbed out of the car and headed inside with the bodyguard on my heels. When I got inside, I could

    hear what sounded like Sophia giving the children a lesson from the ssroom upstairs, so I decided to

    just sit down at the front desk like thest time I was there and take care of all of the secretarial duties.

    The front office felt a bit stuffy, but after opening the windows and watering the nts, letting some air

    and sunlight in, it feltfortable.

    The orphanage, especially this room, had been so dusty and unkempt for a long time. Thanks to

    Edrick¡¯s foundation, it seemed as though the entire orphanage was improving, and Sophia had hired

    builders with the extra money to fix things such as cracked window panes, creaky doors, and unpainted

    walls. Now, the orphanage felt much nicer than it ever did, and it made me happy that Edrick had taken

    the time to put together this foundation for the orphanage.

    However, many of the children still had yet to be adopted. Most werewolves weren¡¯t interested in

    adopting human children, and most humans couldn¡¯t afford to take care of extra children. When I grew

    up here, I only saw a small handful of the other children go to live with families. The rest of us grew up

    here until we were old enough to move out, so Sophia was really more like our mother than anything. I

    knew that, even with Edrick¡¯s foundation, most of the children who were here now would live the same

    way I did unless people changed their minds about human children.

    As I thought about this, I couldn¡¯t help but remember the story that Ethan had told me ages ago at his

    art opening: the story of the Golden Wolf. He had said that the Golden Wolf would supposedly bring

    humans and werewolves into a new era. I didn¡¯t know exactly what that meant, and of course the

    Golden Wolf was just a fairy tale for children, but I wondered if it would mean that humans and

    werewolves could live as equals if the Golden Wolf was real. If I was the Golden Wolf, that would be

    something that I would have wanted to achieve.

    Unfortunately, though, the Golden Wolf wasn¡¯t real. And I wasn¡¯t going to get my hopes up that it was.

    Instead, all I could do was hope for the best, and do my best to help Sophia. Maybe, between that and

    the foundation, at least some of these children would eventually go on to live with families; and if not,

    then at the very least they would be able to experience a greater quality of life and more opportunities

    thanks to the foundation.

    I worked for a while that morning, but the phone didn¡¯t ring too often. However, when I opened the

    appointment book, I was quickly reminded that there was one appointment this morning¡­ And my eyes

    widened when I saw the name on the page and was reminded of it.

    Olivia.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    Surely it was just a coincidence. Olivia was amon enough name, and there was no way that this

    was the same Olivia who I had overheard Edrick arguing with before.

    However, her appointment was in five minutes. And, like clockwork, she walked in the door at exactly

    ten o¡¯clock.

    She was beautiful. Not only that, but she looked oddly familiar.

    In fact, she looked almost exactly like E. The face shape, the dirty blonde hair, the button nose¡­ The

    resemnce was uncanny. She was wearing a pretty, yellow sundress and had a wide-brimmed hat in

    her hand. As she walked in the door, she took off her sunsses and put them on top of her head,

    revealing almond-shaped eyes that were a different color from E¡¯s, as E had her father¡¯s gray

    eyes, but they were the same shape. Even just looking at this woman, it was almost like seeing E

    from the future, as an adult.

    ¡°Hello,¡± she said, shing me a warm smile as she approached the desk. ¡°I¡¯m Olivia. I¡¯m here for my

    appointment.¡±

    My eyes were wide, but I blinked quickly and tried to hide my shock. She couldn¡¯t be rted to E;

    E¡¯s mother was dead. Perhaps Olivia could be a different rtive, though? A cousin or an aunt,

    perhaps?

    ¡°U-Um¡­ Yes, hi,¡± I stammered, trying not to show how confused I felt. ¡°Um¡­ Which of the children

    were you hoping to meet? They¡¯re in a lesson right now, but they should be done soon.¡±

    Olivia¡¯s smile widened, and she shook her head. ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯te today to meet any of the

    children,¡± she admitted.

    I c****d my head in confusion. ¡°Oh? Were you looking for a tour? Did you want to meet the

    headmistress?¡±

    Once again, Olivia shook her head. What she said next made my heart race faster than I ever thought

    possible.

    ¡°I came to meet you, Moana. I¡¯m E¡¯s biological mother.¡±

 Chapter 154

    Chapter 154

    #Chapter 154: The Mother

    Moana

    My eyes were wide with disbelief. There was no way that Olivia was E¡¯s biological mother. E¡¯s

    biological mother was dead!

    I didn¡¯t know what to say or do. All I could manage was to stare back at Olivia, unblinkingly, as I tried to

    figure out if she was telling the truth or that she was simply ying a joke on me. But at the same time,

    the resemnce was uncanny. She really did look just like an adult version of E, aside from the color

    of her eyes. Everything else was almost exactly the same. Her face shape, her nose, her hair¡­ If no

    one had ever told me that E¡¯s biological mother was dead, I would have believed her instantly.

    Olivia must have immediately noticed the confusion on my face, because she let out a sigh and ran a

    hand through her dirty blonde hair.

    ¡°I know it¡¯s hard to believe,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what Edrick told you about me, but I am E¡¯s

    biological mother.¡±

    ¡°H-He told me you were¡­ dead,¡± I replied, my voice shaking. ¡°Even E said that you died when she

    was a baby.¡±

    Olivia shook her head and let out another, longer sigh. ¡°I figured as much. Would you be interested in

    hearing my side of the story?¡±

    I didn¡¯t know how to respond. Part of me still wondered if this was some kind of practical joke. Was

    Edrick secretly outside, giggling to himself as he pranked me? Or maybe Michael was trying to get

    under my skin and make me leave Edrick? And yet, when I nced over her shoulder and out the

    window, I didn¡¯t see anyone else. There was only one other car pulled up out front, and I could see

    from here that it was empty. Even my bodyguard, who was leaning on the hood of the car and letting

    the sun hit his face while he folded his arms across his chest, seemedpletely rxed. I knew that

    he wouldn¡¯t be acting like that if someone else was there. Especially if Michael was there, he would

    have done something about it immediately.

    Olivia followed my gaze for a moment, then turned back to face me and smiled again to sh a row of

    straight, perfect white teeth.

    ¡°No one sent me, you know,¡± she said with a chuckle. ¡°I decided toe because of everything I¡¯ve

    seen on the news.¡±

    I swallowed, then nodded. If she really was E¡¯s biological mother and this wasn¡¯t some sort of mean-

    spirited prank, then I did want to hear her side of the story. Of course I wanted to know why everyone

    else only ever said that she was dead, and never brought her up again after that. And, aside from that,

    I also wanted to know why she and Edrick argued on the phone constantly.

    It hit me then; Edrick had said that Olivia called him around this time every year.

    E¡¯s birthday was only a couple of months ago. Olivia called him around this time of year because¡­ It

    was around her daughter¡¯s birthday.

    ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯d like to hear your side of the story,¡± I finally replied, swallowing the lump in my throat. ¡°I¡¯ll get

    you some tea.¡±

    Olivia shook her head, causing her dirty blonde hair to fall in her face a bit; when it did, it reminded me

    of how E had looked the very first time I met her, like a little feral child with her hair in her eyes. Olivia

    quickly tucked her hair back behind her ear, but the resemnce there was unmistakable.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± she said, waving her hand dismissively. ¡°I can only stay for a short while.¡±

    I nodded, then gestured for her to sit at the chair across from the desk. I hadn¡¯t realized it, but when

    she originally walked in I jumped up from my seat immediately, and so I sat back down now too.

    ¡°So¡­ He told you I was dead,¡± she said, her voice sounding thoughtful. ¡°Did he say anything else?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No. No one talks about you. Although, I have to admit that I think I might have

    overheard phone calls between the two of you before. I don¡¯t know what else was said, but I heard him

    say your name.¡±

    Olivia nodded thoughtfully. ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯ll admit I do call a lot around this time of year. Obviously, I want to

    know how my daughter is doing. I try to send her gifts for her birthday, but I don¡¯t think that Edrick ever

    gives them to her.¡±

    As Olivia spoke, I could see that tears were beginning to form in her eyes. I picked up the box of

    tissues on the desk and held it out to her, and she took one and dabbed at her eyes with it.

    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± she whimpered, blinking rapidly to dissipate her tears. ¡°I just miss my baby so much.¡±

    I felt a hard pang in my chest at Olivia¡¯s words. The baby inside of me hadn¡¯t been born yet, and I still

    couldn¡¯t even imagine being separated from my child. E was eight years old now, and I imagined that

    it must have been incredibly difficult for Olivia to not see her daughter at all for eight years.

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    ¡°E¡¯s doing really well, if it makes you feel any better,¡± I said gently. ¡°She¡¯s a smart and sweet little girl.

    She ys the piano, and she¡¯s very well behaved.¡±

    Olivia smiled through her tears. ¡°Good. I¡¯m d to hear it,¡± she said, then paused for a minute, chewing

    on her lower lip. ¡°I was so worried when he kicked me out. Because of his status, there wasn¡¯t even a

    custody battle. He spun all sorts of lies to make me appear as though I was a bad mother and a drug

    addict, when that couldn¡¯t be further from the truth¡­ Does he still drink heavily?¡±

    My eyes widened. I had never imagined that Edrick would have been the type to do something like that

    to the mother of his child. He had never mentioned anything about that to me, but I couldn¡¯t help but

    wonder if that was because he nned on doing the same thing to me when my baby was born.

    ¡°Um¡­ He did drink a lot when I met him,¡± I replied somewhat sheepishly. ¡°He doesn¡¯t really drink much

    anymore.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Olivia replied. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re a good influence on him. I hope he doesn¡¯t continue the pattern

    with you. But be careful¡­ He¡¯s a really good liar. It was how he swindled me.¡±

    I felt the lump in my throat grow even more. Instinctively, I ced my hand over my belly. Olivia¡¯s eyes

    flickered down to my belly, and she took a deep breath before speaking again.

    ¡°So you are pregnant after all.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Three months,¡± I replied.

    Olivia nodded solemnly. She lowered her gaze to the floor, as though she was thinking deeply, before

    she looked back up at me.

    ¡°There¡¯s something you need to understand about Edrick,¡± she said. ¡°The way that he views women

    isn¡¯t as innocent as you¡¯d think. He only has one goal in mind: producing the next Alpha heir for his

    company. Women are nothing but reproductive tools for him, and once that baby is out of you, he¡¯ll lose

    all interest in you.¡±

    My jaw dropped. I didn¡¯t know what to say or do. If Olivia was telling the truth, then that could mean my

    baby would be taken from me someday, and I didn¡¯t want that to happen.

    But before I could say anything, Olivia suddenly stood.

    ¡°I have to go,¡± she said, rifling through her purse. She retrieved a small white business card and

    handed it to me. It had her name and her phone number on it. It looked as though she worked for a

    travel agency or something of the sorts. ¡°Here¡¯s my number. If anything happens, please don¡¯t hesitate

    to call me.¡±

    I nodded, hesitantly taking the card and slipping it into my pocket. I stood to watch Olivia go, but just as

    her hand touched the doorknob, she stopped and spoke without looking back at me.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t tell Edrick that I talked to you,¡± she said quietly. ¡°And¡­ Take good care of E for me.¡±

    I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, Olivia swung the door open and scurried out. For a

    long time, I just stood there in total shock before I finally sank back down into my chair.

    And even as Sophia and the children came downstairs and swarmed me with love, I could only think

    about what I was going to do about all of this.

 Chapter 155

    Chapter 155

    #Chapter 155: The Mother Witch

    Edrick

    While Moana slept, I secretly snipped off a small lock of her hair and stashed it away in my sock

    drawer. It was only a small piece, and I made sure to take it from a spot where it wouldn¡¯t be noticed

    easily. Once I stashed it away, I was so exhausted from two days of no sleep that I couldn¡¯t do anything

    else except climb into bed and pass out immediately.

    The next morning, I woke up earlier than Moana. I made sure to quickly get dressed and slip out of the

    room without waking her up, her lock of hair in a little stic baggie in my pocket. On second thought, I

    turned back around and cautiously took the Alpha tooth out of its box, hoping that I would be home in

    time to put it back before she ever noticed it was missing.

    I didn¡¯t need Moana, or anyone else for that matter, asking where I was going; if they found out that I

    was going to see the Mother Witch, then they would soon discover that I was investigating Moana¡¯s

    lineage when they discovered that I had taken both the Alpha tooth and a lock of Moana¡¯s hair.

    Eventually, the truth woulde out; but I needed to keep everything secret for now. If Moana really

    was the Golden Wolf, then no one could know until she had the baby; not even Moana. I felt bad

    keeping it from her, but it was the only way to keep herpletely safe. If she found out that she was

    the Golden Wolf, then she might try to shift too soon and would cause all sorts of people, like my father,

    to sense her presence and try to hunt her down. That was why I slipped out that morning before

    anyone else woke up. I couldn¡¯t be seen.

    The Mother Witch lived directly at the center of the city. Her services were highly sought after, and her

    incredible age had allowed her to be a pir in our society. People from all over flocked to see her,

    seeking her services from cing blessings on their babies and their marriages to finding lost loved

    ones or evenmunicating with the dead.

    I had always been somewhat of a skeptic when it came to magic. My mother hired all sorts of witches

    and fortune tellers when I was growing up in the hopes of having a happy marriage with my father, but

    it never worked. My father was still a bastard, and he treated my mother terribly. That alone was

    enough to make me not believe in magic.

    However, there was no denying the Mother Witch¡¯s wisdom. She was over a hundred years old; if

    anyone knew about the Golden Wolf, it was her. And right now, I was willing to put aside my skepticism

    if it meant potentially protecting Moana.

    I pulled up in front of the Mother Witch¡¯s home. Surprisingly, it wasn¡¯t as luxurious as people would

    imagine; it was a simple little house smack dab in the center of the city, with a pagoda roof and a tall

    fence all around. There was a sign on the gate telling visitors to just walk in, which was also surprising;

    but, I supposed that if she really was as wise and powerful as she imed, then maybe she didn¡¯t need

    to be afraid of being attacked. Either that, or she assumed that no one would attack her out of the fear

    that she could easily fight back with her own abilities.

    When I walked through the gate, I walked up a stone path lined on either side by perfectly manicured

    hedges and red maple trees, then ascended the steps to the porch. There was a bamboo wind chime

    on the porch that made a pleasant sound in the breeze, and I could hear the sound of trickling water

    from the fountains in the yard. It was an incredibly rxing atmosphere.

    I raised my fist to knock on the door, but before I could, the door slid open.

    My eyes widened. And incredibly old woman, her back hunched so much that she was practically bent

    at a ny-degree angle, stood in front of me. She had white hair that was pulled back into a neat bun

    at the nape of her neck, and she wore traditional clothes. Despite her frail appearance as she leaned

    on a cane, she looked up at me with bright, youthful eyes.

    ¡°Hello, Edrick,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°I was expecting you.¡±

    ¡°You were?¡± I asked. The Mother Witch simply nodded and pointed at my shoes. I hastily removed

    them, leaving them on the porch, and then stepped inside when she moved out of the way. The inside

    of her house was sparse and surprisingly small, but it smelled like patchouli and feltfortable. At my

    tall height, however, I had to bend over a bit as I walked in.

    ¡°I made tea,¡± she said, hobbling over to a small kitchen. ¡°Take a seat.¡± She gestured over to a little

    table that sat beneath a window. I hesitantly walked over and sat down, and within a few moments she

    was setting a tray of tea in the middle of the table. I realized that she barely even used her cane to walk

    as it swung loosely in her knotted old hand.

    ¡°Well?¡± she said, sitting down across from me. ¡°You have the tooth, correct?¡±

    I nodded. I was still too stunned to speak; how did she know that I wasing? How did she know that

    I would bring a tooth?

    Either way, I pulled the tooth out of my pocket along with the lock of Moana¡¯s hair and set them both

    down on the table. The Mother Witch sucked her teeth as she peered down at the two things over the

    top of her wire-rimmed sses and nodded thoughtfully.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She picked up the tooth first, holding it up to the light, and mumbled something incoherent

    under her breath. I sipped my tea politely as she then set down the tooth and picked up the lock of hair.

    She pulled the hair out of the bag and rubbed it between her fingers, then smelled it.

    ¡°Yep.¡± The Mother Witch nodded matter-of-factly and looked up at me with her bright, vibrant eyes.

    ¡°The Golden Wolf is alive.¡±

    My eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± I asked.

    The Mother Witch nodded again. ¡°I¡¯m positive. Has she shifted yet?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, she hasn¡¯t. Her wolf is emerging, but slowly.¡±

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    For a few long moments, the Mother Witch sipped her tea with a thoughtful expression on her face

    before setting the cup down a little too hard, causing tea to slosh out onto the table, but she didn¡¯t

    seem to care.

    ¡°Bring her to me as soon as you can,¡± she said. ¡°I want to teach her how to shift. This world sorely

    needs the Golden Wolf.¡± The Mother Witch looked excited, and as she spoke, she seemed to sit up

    straighter despite the hunch in her back.

    But I shook my head.

    ¡°I want to wait,¡± I replied. ¡°She¡¯s pregnant. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe.¡±

    The Mother Witch frowned and stared at me for a long time, but I wouldn¡¯t budge. For both Moana¡¯s

    and the baby¡¯s safety, I didn¡¯t want her to shift until the baby was born. In fact, now that I knew the

    truth, I wondered if I should send Moana and E away to stay in the mountain estate until she had the

    baby. I would send them with as much security as possible, of course. I wouldn¡¯t let anyonee even

    close to the estate.

    Finally, the Mother Witch nodded.

    ¡°Alright,¡± she said, sounding a little disappointed. ¡°But I hope you know that if she does shift on her own

    by ident, it¡¯ll be even harder on her and the baby.¡±

    I nodded in response. ¡°I know.¡±

    The Mother Witch then stood. Without a word, she hobbled over to another room and disappeared for a

    few moments, leaving me wondering if I should stay where I was or follow her. I heard the sound of

    sses clinking around before she finally returned with a vial of something in her hand. She walked

    over to me and ced it in front of me; it was a small ss vial of a clear liquid.

    ¡°Put a drop of this in her morning tea or coffee,¡± she said. ¡°It will prevent her from shifting too early.¡±

    ¡°Will it harm her or her wolf?¡± I asked. ¡°What about the baby?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll all be fine,¡± she replied. ¡°It¡¯ll just make her wolf a little sleepy so she¡¯ll be less likely to emerge

    fully. Once the baby is born, you can stop giving her the medicine and bring her to me.¡±

    I nodded and took the vial and the tooth, then thanked the Mother Witch. After that, I left.

    The entire way home, I was both excited and terrified. Moana was the Golden Wolf after all; that meant

    that she would be the one to bring this world into the next era, but it also meant that she truly was in

    grave danger.

    I didn¡¯t know exactly what I would do, but I did know one thing for sure: I had to keep Moana¡¯s true

    nature a secret for now, even from her, for her safety.

 Chapter 156

    Chapter 156

    #Chapter 156: In His Pocket

    Moana

    I felt utterly shocked after my conversation with Olivia. At first, I thought that there was no way that she

    really was E¡¯s biological mother, because E¡¯s biological mother was supposed to be dead. But the

    resemnce was uncanny, and she even knew things that no one else knew, such as Edrick¡¯s drinking

    problem. And the way that she cried when she talked about E¡­ It was too real. She didn¡¯t seem to

    be faking it, and if she was, then she was a hell of a good actress.

    But even then, I still didn¡¯t know if I could trust Olivia enough to fully believe her. There was always a

    possibility that she was lying and wasn¡¯t E¡¯s biological mother, but was instead somehow rted to

    Michael or Kelly. That would exin why she knew so much about Edrick and E, and why she called

    Edrick so muchte at night. Maybe Michael or someone else wanted her to bother Edrick and lie to

    me to get me to leave. I had no way of knowing at this point.

    Either way, as I took E home that day after training I decided to just pretend for a moment that Olivia

    was telling the truth. If I assumed that Olivia really was E¡¯s biological mother, then that meant that

    this entire situation was potentially more sinister than I originally thought.

    I couldn¡¯t help but worry that my baby would be ripped away from me in the same way that E was

    ripped away from Olivia. Would Edrick really do that to me, after everything that happened between

    us? I thought that there was a chance that we were mates, but now I wasn¡¯t so sure.

    Not only that, but did I really want to be with someone who stole his first wife¡¯s child away from her?

    As I looked over at E, who was swinging her legs in her car seat and happily sucking on a post-

    training ice pop, I really could see the resemnce between her and Olivia. I imagined how E¡¯s life

    would have been different if she hadn¡¯t been raised to think that her mother was dead, and honestly the

    fact that Edrick lied to E in the first ce made me almost sick.

    But, even then, I still couldn¡¯t be entirely sure if I could trust Olivia or not. Maybe some of what she told

    me was right, but not all of it. I wouldn¡¯t know until I had the perspective from Edrick¡¯s side of the story,

    and as I took E up the elevator and sent her to her room to get washed up for dinner, I wondered

    when or if I could ask Edrick about all of this. Maybe he could offer some better insight on it. Maybe he

    would have some proof, unlike Olivia.

    When we got home, I decided that I immediately wanted to talk to Edrick. It simply couldn¡¯t wait; I

    needed to tell him what happened and hear his side of the story, because if Olivia was telling the full

    truth, then I wanted to make arrangements to leave and get my baby out of here¡­ As sad as that

    made me. To think that E had only just asked me that morning if she could refer to me as her mother,

    and now I had supposedly met her mother and even found out that Edrick may have stolen her from

    her mother¡­ All of it felt like too much.

    However, when we got home, Edrick wasn¡¯t there. I looked in the kitchen, the living room, his study and

    his bedroom, and he wasn¡¯t there. In fact, when I asked Selina where he was, she said that she hadn¡¯t

    seen or heard from him all day.

    First, I had woken up without him two days in a row. And now he was out all day on a Saturday when

    he was normally home, and no one even heard a peep from him?

    All of this was strange, even for Edrick. Frankly, I was getting worried.

    I felt the sudden urge to retrieve my wolf tooth. I always felt as though I was more clear headed when I

    held the tooth in my hand, and right now I needed to be able to think straight after everything that had

    happened.

    I let out a sigh and made my way over to Edrick¡¯s bedroom, where I had been keeping the wolf tooth

    lately. He had cleared out a drawer in his dresser since I had been sleeping in there again, where I kept

    a few clothes and some toiletries so that I wouldn¡¯t always need to run back and forth between my

    room and his room for basic things. I always liked to have the tooth nearby, especially when I was

    sleeping, so I wound up keeping the tooth in that drawer as well. Now that Edrick knew about it, I

    wasn¡¯t worried about keeping the tooth a secret anymore so I didn¡¯t mind keeping it in his room.

    I opened the top drawer of the dresser, where the ornate little wooden box sat where I kept the tooth. I

    pulled the box out and walked over to sit down on the bed with a sigh.

    But when I opened the box, the tooth was gone.

    My eyes instantly widened with shock and my mouth fell agape. I pped my hand over my shock in

    dismay before furrowing my brow and jumping up, running over to the drawer and frantically rifling

    through it for the tooth. Maybe I misced it. Maybe it fell out somehow¡­ But it wasn¡¯t in there.

    In fact, it wasn¡¯t anywhere. I searched behind the dresser, in all of the drawers, in my bedside table and

    even under my pillow. I checked under the bed, under the mattress, in the bathroom cabs¡­ I

    checked everywhere. When I realized that it wasn¡¯t anywhere in Edrick¡¯s room, I tried to keep myself

    calm as I hurried over to my own room, thinking that maybe I had brought it over there at some point

    and forgot about it.

    But I tore my room apart, and it wasn¡¯t there.

    By now, I was panicking. Did I put it in my pocket and drop it somewhere outside? I knew that there had

    been a few times in the beginning when I put it in my pocket without even realizing it. I had some sort of

    bond to it that made me instinctively want to keep it nearby, but when I eventually realized that it could

    easily get lost, I had be more careful about keeping it safely tucked away.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    I decided that I needed to check in a few other ces. Maybe it fell in the car, or maybe I even dropped

    it in the cafe with E earlier that morning. In fact, I even considered having the driver take me back to

    the orphanage to look for it if I needed to.

    But when I re-emerged from my room with my shoes on, ready to go out in search of this tooth, I saw

    Edrick step out of the elevator. As soon as he did, his eyes instantly met mine, and his eyes were wide.

    ¡°He has it,¡± Mina suddenly said, sounding agitated. ¡°Check his pockets.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know how Mina knew that Edrick had the tooth, but I didn¡¯t care. I wanted to trust my wolf¡¯s

    instinct, and by this point I was frantic. Therefore, I didn¡¯t even hesitate for a moment before storming

    up to Edrick, causing his eyes to widen even more, and held my hand out.

    ¡°Show me what¡¯s in your pocket,¡± I growled.

 Chapter 157

    Chapter 157

    #Chapter 157: To Trust Or Not To Trust

    Moana

    ¡°He has it.¡± My wolf¡¯s voice was steady and even-toned, but also agitated. ¡°Check his pockets.¡±

    I immediately trusted Mina¡¯s instincts. She was too sure of it for me to even begin to question it, and

    she had never been wrong about these sorts of things before. And besides, by now I had spent so long

    frantically searching the apartment for my tooth that I was desperate. It was the only physical thing I

    had that was linking me to my past and my lineage. If I didn¡¯t have that tooth, I felt lost, and I felt as

    though I might never find my parents or at least find out who they were.

    ¡°Show me what¡¯s in your pocket,¡± I growled, holding my hand out t as I red up at Edrick with

    narrowed eyes.

    Edrick looked taken aback.

    ¡°Why?¡± he asked, sounding a bit confused. He seemed innocent, but my wolf was insistent that he had

    my tooth. And I could sense it, too. The way that Edrick¡¯s eyes widened for just a split second as I

    stormed up to him told me everything that I needed to know.

    ¡°You know why,¡± I replied. ¡°I have a feeling that you took something of mine without permission.¡±

    Edrick stared at me for a while, but I only stared back with my hand still outstretched. He had the tooth;

    I could sense it.

    And I was right. Finally, with a sigh, Edrick reached into his pocket and retrieved the tooth. He ced it

    in my hand, and my fingers instantly curled around it as my eyes widened with abination of anger

    and confusion.

    ¡°W-Why did you take it?¡± I asked, still gripping it tightly in my hand. ¡°You should have asked first.¡±

    Edrick looked a little embarrassed, and for a few moments he stared at the floor, chewing the inside of

    his cheek before he finally looked back up at me and let out another sigh. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said quietly. ¡°I

    just kept getting a feeling about it. I wanted to see if it was a real Alpha tooth, so I took it to a friend of

    mine to run some tests on it.¡±

    I was still shocked by this. Why would Edrick need to know whether the tooth belonged to an Alpha or

    not? It wasn¡¯t his tooth, and therefore it wasn¡¯t really any of his business whether it was an Alpha tooth

    or not. Not only that, but he should have asked me. If he really was that interested in my lineage, he

    could have included me in these tests. I would have been curious to know, too.

    But then, as I stared up at Edrick with surprise, my eyes widened even further as I remembered

    something. During my conversation with Olivia earlier that day, she had said that Edrick¡¯s only goal was

    to produce the ultimate Alpha heir to take over someday as the next CEO of WereCorp. He wasn¡¯t

    interested in having a loving rtionship with a woman or with his child; he was only interested in

    continuing his legacy. If he was really that concerned as to whether my wolf tooth belonged to an Alpha

    or not, then that only solidified what she told me.

    If my baby wasn¡¯t one hundred percent Alpha, did that mean that Edrick would potentially leave us both

    out on the street?

    ¡°Daddy!¡± E suddenly called from behind. I quickly pocketed the tooth and turned to see E running

    toward Edrick with a grin on her face and her arms outstretched. ¡°I shifted all on my own at training

    today! I didn¡¯t need any help at all!¡±

    ¡°Hey there, Princess,¡± Edrick said, crouching down to her level with a warm and loving smile on his

    face, causing his gray eyes to shine in the sunlight that was streaming in through the living room

    window. ¡°Did you really, now? All by yourself?¡±

    ¡°Mhm! The teacher told me to try it, and I did it! I did what the teacher taught me before, about taking a

    deep breath and letting my wolf borrow my energy¡­ Like this!¡± E suddenly took a big, deep breath

    and squeezed her eyes shut, and as she did, her ears began to grow more pointed and her fingernails

    began to extend; the first signs of her shifting. Edrick and I both gasped as she started to shift, and I

    took a few steps backwards and mped my hand over my heart. Even a little werewolf that was only

    E¡¯s size could wreak havoc indoors, and children were notorious for not controlling their wolves very

    well when they shifted. If she shifted indoors, it could be a bit of a disaster.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    ¡°No shifting in the house, E!¡± Edrick suddenly said, scooping her up off of the ground and tossing her

    in the air yfully, causing her to open her eyes and giggle before she shifted. Her ears returned to

    their normal state and her ws retracted, and I watched as Edrick kept tossing her in the air with a

    grin on his face, causing her littleughs to float through the room like the sound of angels.

    As I watched this, I found myself almost forgetting all about the incident with the tooth. Seeing Edrick

    like this only made me think that there was no way that Olivia was right; Edrick clearly loved E more

    than anything, and the way that heughed and yed with her only proved it. He was now zooming

    around the room with her on his back, both of their arms outstretched as he made airne noises, and

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh along with E.

    Seeing Edrick¡¯s kind hearted nature toward E made me realize that maybe I shouldn¡¯t have been so

    quick to trust Olivia. I still didn¡¯t know for sure if she was E¡¯s biological mother. For all I knew, she

    was just an actress sent by Michael or Kelly to throw me off and make me paranoid around Edrick.

    Both of them clearly wanted me to stay away from Edrick so badly that I wouldn¡¯t have put it past them

    at this point to work together to do something like that, and it would have been too easy for them to get

    inside my head and make me hate Edrick.

    After that, I realized that maybe I overreacted a bit with Edrick. When he finally set E down and sent

    her off to help Selina and the maids set the table for dinner, he slowly turned back to face me with an

    apologetic and almost sheepish look in his eyes that told me that maybe his intentions were more

    curious than sinister.

    ¡°I really am sorry,¡± he said quietly, sticking his hands in his pockets. The sunlight shined in through the

    open window as the sun slowly sank below the horizon, causing a halo of light to beam around him. He

    looked so handsome in this light that, even after how upset I had been earlier, I wished that I could kiss

    him.

    I quickly averted my gaze as I felt my face flush from looking at him, and shrugged.

    ¡°Just¡­ Ask me before you do things like that,¡± I replied softly. ¡°You¡¯ve said so yourself that you deserve

    to know the truth as the father of my baby, and I think that I deserve the same respect as the mother of

    your baby, too.¡±

    Edrick nodded, and when I met his gaze his eyes were soft and full of regret.

    ¡°I won¡¯t do something like that again,¡± he said. ¡°I promise.¡±

 Chapter 158

    Chapter 158

    #Chapter 158: Plein Air Painting

    Edrick

    As soon as I saw the hurt expression on Moana¡¯s face, I knew that I messed up by taking her tooth.

    Obviously I still couldn¡¯t tell her about the Golden Wolf, but I realized that maybe I should have asked if

    I could take her tooth ahead of time; I could have simply told her that I wanted to take it to have some

    tests done, or anything to not make her panic. She clearly had been frantically searching for the tooth

    when I came home, and I instantly felt like a jerk for making her feel that way.

    Even though Moana said that it was okay, and simply told me not to do that again, she was distant for

    the next couple of days. I noticed that she was being much more quiet than usual, and whenever she

    came to bed at night she would simplyy down and turn away from me. Maybe abination of

    taking the tooth, getting upset with her over what happened with her ex-boyfriend, and not being there

    when she woke up for two days in a row made her feel upset.

    So, I decided to make it up to her.

    One morning, Moana was busy giving E a bath when I found Selina in the kitchen preparing

    breakfast.

    ¡°Selina,¡± I said, walking into the kitchen and pouring myself a cup of coffee, ¡°can you help me with

    something?¡±

    The housekeeper looked up from the fruit sd she was mixing and furrowed her brow. ¡°What is it?¡±

    I chewed my lip for a moment. It was a bit embarrassing to admit that I needed to find a nice way to

    make things up to Moana, but it had to be done.

    ¡°I think I really hurt Moana¡¯s feelingstely,¡± I said. ¡°I want to make it up to her, but I don¡¯t know how.

    Has she mentioned anything to you?¡±

    Selina stared at me for a moment, then shrugged and returned to stirring the bowl of fruit sd. ¡°She

    doesn¡¯tin much,¡± she replied. ¡°But she has been a little cooped up since the media attention

    started. On Saturday, E begged her to go out for breakfast. I think they¡¯re both feeling a little stir

    crazy.¡±

    I nodded slowly, considering what Selina had said. Maybe I needed to find something that Moana, E,

    and I could do as a family. Summer would be ending soon, and it wouldn¡¯t be long after that before

    winter came and we would be spending a lot more time inside. Maybe it would be nice to do something

    outside in the fresh air.

    As I sat down and began to drink my morning coffee, I opened the newspaper and started to read it

    front to back, just as I always did every morning. I rarely paid any attention to the advertisements,

    however. At least, that was until something suddenly caught my eye as I was reading.

    It was an advertisement for an outdoor art ss. It was called ¡°plein air painting¡±, which meant that

    students would be paintingndscape scenes out in the fresh air. And, it was family friendly. I

    remembered that Moana had brought her plein air easel to paint at the mountain estate, but that she

    had never been able to get any painting done due to the fact that we had to leave so suddenly. Moana

    loved drawing and painting, and I knew that going to a ss to paint outside with E would make her

    happy.

    I also thought back to the day that we painted at the orphanage. Even though Moana¡¯s lesson that day

    was geared toward children, I had still had a lot of fun that day. It made me want to try painting some

    more, and so I decided to cut the newspaper advertisement out and slip it into my pocket just before

    Moana and E came out for breakfast.

    ¡°Daddy,¡± E said as she sat down at the table, ¡°do you have to work today?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I do, Princess. Why?¡±

    E let out an exasperated, almost theatrical sigh. Meanwhile, Moana poured syrup onto E¡¯s

    pancake and tucked a napkin into the front of E¡¯s shirt without a word before sitting down next to her.

    The entire time, Moana didn¡¯t so much as look in my direction.

    ¡°I just wish we could have some ytime,¡± E finally said. ¡°ytime outside of the house. It¡¯s stuffy in

    here.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile. This only solidified the fact that the plein air ss would be good for everyone,

    but I decided not to say anything right away. I wanted it to be a bit of a surprise.

    The plein air ss was set for the day after the next, so I decided to give a little hint to get E excited

    as well as to see how Moana would react.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll take the day off of work the day after tomorrow,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Then, maybe all three of

    us can go out and have some fun.¡±

    E gasped. ¡°Really?¡± she squealed excitedly.

    Moana didn¡¯t say anything, but I caught her quickly ncing up at me with wide, sparkling eyes; that

    was all the confirmation I needed. I knew that this art ss would make both of them happy.

    ¡°Really,¡± I replied, reaching out and pinching E¡¯s cheek.

    ¡­

    Later that evening, I decided to sneak into my bedroom just before dinner and ce the art ss

    advertisement in an envelope on Moana¡¯s bedside table. I even added a little note on the front of the

    envelope that said to get her painting supplies ready, and couldn¡¯t help but smile when I set the

    envelope carefully down for her to findter.

    As we ate dinner that night, I felt as though I could hardly contain my excitement. Even though I had

    never been particrly interested in painting, I had to admit that I enjoyed it now after my little art ss

    with Moana at the orphanage. Not only that, but I was even more excited to make Moana and E

    happy.

    Hopefully, I thought to myself as we ate dinner together, this art ss would show Moana that I truly

    was sorry for hurting her feelings. I didn¡¯t want her to be stressed, and I also had to admit that I felt

    lonely without her affection. Already I had be too used to feeling her snuggling up to me in the

    middle of the night, and it hurt a bit to only ever see her all the way over on the edge of myrge bed

    every night.

    But, that wasn¡¯t the only reason behind why I wanted to make Moana happy.

    Since the Mother Witch gave me the special potion to keep Moana¡¯s wolf from emerging, I had been

    too nervous to try using it yet. I was worried that it would not only be potentially dangerous for Moana

    and the baby, but also that she would be too suspicious of me after the way that I had disappeared so

    much for two days as well as the fact that I stole her tooth that day.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    Hopefully, this painting ss would help Moana rx enough for me to start putting the drops in her

    morning coffee, just as the Mother Witch said.

    After all, I did need to make sure that her wolf wouldn¡¯t emerge for her own safety.

 Chapter 159

    Chapter 159

    #Chapter 159: The Sound of Music

    Moana

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    After my conversation with Olivia as well as finding out that Edrick took the wolf tooth without my

    permission, I was a little distant for a couple of days. I just didn¡¯t know how to feel about everything,

    and I needed some time to think.

    I still found it hard to believe that Edrick was really the type to use women as reproductive tools. I also

    found it strange that he would have told E that her mother was dead for no reason, which was why I

    couldn¡¯t stop wondering if Olivia really was just lying to me. At this point, I didn¡¯t know who to trust. All I

    knew was that I needed to make sure that my baby would be safe.

    Edrick must have noticed that I was acting distant. When he mentioned doing something outside with

    E and I at one point at breakfast on Monday morning, I nced up to see that he was looking at me.

    His gaze was still apologetic, just as it had been on the day that he took the wolf tooth. Maybe he really

    did feel bad for what he did.

    However, I didn¡¯t think that he would actually want to do anything with me and E. I thought that he

    was just saying things to make E happy in the moment, and that he still nned on working all week

    in the hopes that she would forget anyway. E had beenining a lot about feeling cooped up,

    but I still wasn¡¯t sure if it was safe for us to go out together; the bakery on Saturday was just a little treat

    because it was right next to the penthouse, but I didn¡¯t feel safe going any further than that without

    Edrick around.

    That was why I was shocked when I went to bed that night and found an envelope on my bedside

    table. Edrick was in the shower when I found it.

    I scrunched together my eyebrows confusedly as I picked it up. He had written something on the front

    of the envelope:

    ¡°Make sure to get your painting supplies ready for a fun day outside. -Edrick¡±

    When I opened the envelope, a small gasp escaped my mouth. Edrick had clipped an advertisement

    for a family friendly plein air painting ss for the day after the next. Although I couldn¡¯t be entirely sure

    if this was what he was referring to earlier that morning when he mentioned going outside to do

    something together, I had a pretty good idea that this was what he meant.

    Edrick came out of the bathroom a few momentster. I jerked my head up as he entered, my eyes

    wide with excitement. He instantly smiled.

    ¡°You want to go?¡± he asked.

    I nodded vigorously, feeling excited like a little kid again. I loved plein air painting; I had nned on

    doing it at the mountain estate, and was devastated when we had to leave suddenly after the wolf

    attack and I couldn¡¯t do it. And now, I could not only enjoy an entire plein air ss, but E coulde

    as well.

    ¡°Are youing, too?¡± I asked. I hoped that he would; after all, we had fun that day at the orphanage

    when he joined in on my painting lesson. He had mentioned that he wanted to learn more about

    painting, too.

    Much to my pleasure, Edrick nodded and shed me a smile. ¡°Of course,¡± he said casually as he dried

    his damp hair with his towel. He was wearing only his pajama pants and no shirt. By now, I had

    be a bit more used to seeing his chiseled upper body without anything covering it. ¡°I wanted all

    three of us to go. Like a¡­¡±

    His voice faltered. I knew what he was going to say: like a family. But, in typical Alpha billionaire

    fashion, of course he couldn¡¯t bring himself to say those words. I didn¡¯t care at the moment, though. I

    was just excited to be going to the ss, and it made me almost forget about how upset I had been

    over the past couple of days.

    Honestly, I was just happy that Edrick seemed to be okay with taking part in my interests. It was

    something that Sam never did; in fact, I had never had a boyfriend who would even look at my art, let

    alone make art with me. Not that Edrick was my boyfriend, technically¡­

    But it made me wonder something: Edrick had to have some other interests. I never saw him doing

    much other than asionally reading. Other than that, he was always busy or at work.

    As we got into bed that night, I couldn¡¯t contain my curiosity any longer. If Edrick was willing to take part

    in my interests, then I felt as though it was only fair for me to do the same.

    ¡°Do you have any hobbies?¡± I asked as he flicked the light off.

    Edrick was silent for a moment. I nced over at him in the dim light of his bedroom and I thought I

    could see him chewing his lip almost nervously.

    ¡°Um¡­ Not really,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Come on,¡± I said, turning on my side to face him. ¡°You have to have something that you enjoy doing.¡±

    He paused again before finally answering. ¡°I guess I like the piano. I used to y a lot when I was

    younger.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you y, then?¡± I asked. ¡°You have a piano here. E is the only one who ys it during her

    lessons.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Edrick shrugged. ¡°I just don¡¯t really have a reason to y it.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s words made me frown. ¡°You don¡¯t need a reason to y music,¡± I replied gently. ¡°You can just

    y if it makes you happy. That¡¯s a better reason than anything else.¡±

    After I finished speaking, Edrick only responded with a short, low hum. I couldn¡¯t tell if my words

    inspired him to y the piano more, or if it annoyed him. Maybe he was one of those people whose

    parents pushed him to y so much that now he got agitated whenever anyone tried to convince him

    to y. I went to bed after that and decided not to bother him about it anymore than I already had, and

    assumed that he would probably not y in front of me or anyone else.

    But the next morning, when I awoke to a sound other than the cars and the people in the city below, I

    knew that my words had struck a chord with Edrick.

    I sat up abruptly in bed, my eyes wide, and immediately jumped up and threw my slippers and my robe

    on to go and see the source of the beautiful music. When I came out of Edrick¡¯s room, however, Selina

    was standing in the hallway. She quickly grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out of sight before I

    walked into the living room.

    Even the housekeeper¡¯s eyes were wide, but she was smiling. She ced her finger over her lips. We

    listened for a few moments, and as we did, my heart felt lighter than ever.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard him y the piano in years,¡± Selina whispered, a few tears pooling up in her eyes.

    It seemed that Edrick had decided to y the piano after all. For the first time since I moved in, the

    penthouse was filled with the sound of music.

    I hoped that I could stay here forever and always listen to him y.

 Chapter 160

    Chapter 160

    #Chapter 160: A Scene Worth Painting

    Moana

    On the day of the painting ss, E and I were both ted. Edrick kept his promise and took the day

    off of work, and after breakfast we were on our way.

    The ss was held in a beautiful park in the uptown area of the city by ake. Edrick parked the car on

    the street and we each held one of E¡¯s hands as we walked over. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as we

    approached, with my plein air easel folded up and tucked under my arm. The air that day was beautiful

    with a nice breeze, and as we approached the littleke I could see that it was teeming with all sorts of

    wildlife: ducks swimming around in search of breadcrumbs, little frogs jumping off of lily pads, and

    turtles sunning themselves on floating logs. Theke was surrounded byrge weeping willow trees

    whose long fronds swayed in the breeze. It really was like a picture straight out of a storybook.

    As we approached, there was already a group of other families gathered by the pic area. A woman

    was standing at the front of the group and setting up a demonstration easel facing theke, and while

    she did, I noticed that the other children were running around like wild little animals.

    I didn¡¯t me the children for acting so rambunctiously. There was a spreadid out on one of the

    tables filled with all kinds of fruit and sweets, and it seemed as though the children already had their fair

    share of sugar. Even E, who normally would have been excited to y with other kids, halted in her

    tracks and looked up at Edrick and me with an apprehensive look on her little face. Even she was a bit

    taken aback by the sheer amount of energy surrounding the ce; it seemed like some of the parents

    were genuinely trying to wrangle their children, but some other parents also seemed to be ignoring their

    kids as though this was more of a romantic date for them to go on while their kids could run amok

    around theke.

    ¡°Hello!¡± the teacher called, waving at us excitedly as we walked up to join the group. She looked down

    at my easel, and her smile widened. ¡°It looks like you brought your own supplies! Are you a painter?¡±

    I felt myself blush as the other attendees turned to look at me. A couple of werewolf women gave me

    snide looks. I could only imagine what they were thinking about a family of a wealthy and famous CEO

    with his supposedly human fiancee, their half-breed daughter and the half-breed baby growing in her

    belly. With our security guard standing a little ways away and the fact that our faces had been stered

    all over the news recently, I knew that the other couples recognized us. The teacher, however,

    thankfully treated us just like everyone else with kindness and warmth.

    I shrugged in response to the teacher¡¯s question. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t consider myself much of an artist, but I do

    draw and paint sometimes,¡± I said, wanting to be humble.

    ¡°That¡¯s a lie!¡± E suddenly chimed in. ¡°She¡¯s really good at art! She even teaches me how to make art

    sometimes!¡±

    The teacher grinned. ¡°Is that so?¡± she said. ¡°Well, maybe if I get tired today I¡¯ll let your mommy step in

    to teach the ss.¡± She said it in a joking manner, but it made me blush even harder; not to mention

    the fact that she referred to me as E¡¯s mother. I still hadn¡¯t talked to Edrick about it just yet.

    I set up my easel, and the teacher gave Edrick an easel with supplies to use. E even got her own

    miniature easel, which was ced next to Edrick¡¯s. I was slightly behind the two of them, which gave

    me the perfect view of them. The way that they looked was more stunning than just the view of the

    lake, in my opinion.

    However, the other children were still too rambunctious. The teacher patiently tried to get their

    attention, but it didn¡¯t seem to be working since most of the parents weren¡¯t paying much attention. I felt

    a little bit bad about it as I watched her get somewhat frustrated as she tried to get them to settle down

    so she could begin the ss.All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    Finally, when Edrick and E both shot me a concerned look almost in unison, I decided to step in.

    ¡°Hey, kids,¡± I said, approaching the group of children who were now on the verge of wrestling in the dirt

    next to theke, ¡°it¡¯s time to start painting. Don¡¯t you want to have a souvenir to bring hometer?¡±

    The children suddenly stopped their y-fighting and looked up at me, c*****g their heads as I spoke. I

    could already see that they were listening more to me than even the teacher, which was no surprise; I

    had always been good with kids. I didn¡¯t know why, although now that I knew I was a werewolf I had

    begun to wonder if it was an ability of mine. But pacifying children wasn¡¯t a werewolf ability that I had

    ever heard of, so I simply figured that it was just because of my experience with children. I had, after

    all, been the one child to help Sophia around the orphanage a lot while I was growing up and I had

    always enjoyed taking care of the younger kids.

    ¡°Come along,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s go paint.¡±

    The kids seemed to be listening. They calmed down and made their way over to join their parents, and

    as they did, the teacher, Edrick, and many of the other parents looked at me with shock. I felt a bit

    embarrassed by the attention as I made my way back over to my easel, but I was just d that we

    could start painting now.

    The teacher began the lesson, which was to paint a scene of theke in front of us. She began by

    teaching everyone how to paint the perspective of theke, using simple terminology to exin things

    such as foreground and background.

    As she taught, however, I just couldn¡¯t get my eyes off of Edrick and E. They were both focusing so

    hard on their paintings, and I noticed now for the first time that they were both left-handed. Between the

    little bow on E¡¯s sun hat and the way that Edrick¡¯s white shirt rippled in the breeze, it was too

    beautiful of a scene for me to ignore.

    And so, I added a little something extra to my painting.

    The art ss was a lot of fun. The other children turned out to be little angels now that they were calm,

    and E even seemed to make friends. When we were finished, the teacher came around and looked

    at everyone¡¯s paintings. She stopped in front of everyone¡¯s easels and pointed out to the ss how

    beautifully they did ¡ª she even did the same in front of a toddler¡¯s easel, which was just a giant splotch

    of color. It made me smile, and it made me want toe back to another one of her sses.

    At the end, she came to look at my painting. Her eyes widened a bit as she looked at what I had

    painted; I had painted theke, of course, but I also added E and Edrick in the foreground, standing

    together as they painted on their easels.

    The teacher looked over at me.

    ¡°This is gorgeous,¡± she said. ¡°You were being too humble earlier. I love how you added something

    special to you.¡±

    Edrick seemed to get curious. He c****d his head and came over, and when he saw my canvas, he said

    nothing; instead, he only blushed a deep, scarlet red.

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh a little.

    On the ride home, I gingerly held my painting in myp while E chattered nonstop about how much

    fun she had.

    ¡°Can we hang up our paintings together?¡± she asked, her voice practically a squeak from her level of

    excitement.

    Edrick nodded, and I noticed that he nced over at my painting again. ¡°We can even get them

    framed,¡± he said with a warm smile. I felt my face turn red, and was reminded of what Olivia had said

    about him. I was believing her less and less; why would he go to the trouble to frame and hang our

    artwork together if he just nned on kicking me out once the baby was born?

    E seemed pleased with this, and let out a satisfied sigh.

    ¡°I hope I can go to lots of sses someday,¡± she said, staring winsomely out the window. ¡°I had so

    much fun with the other kids.¡±

    E¡¯s words admittedly made me feel a little sad. She really had so few chances to experience what it

    was like to be a regr student. Even her weekly training sessions were one-on-one.

    When I looked over at Edrick, he seemed to be looking at E thoughtfully. I hoped that he wasing

    to the same realization that I hade to.

 Chapter 161

    Chapter 161

    #Chapter 161: New Friends, New Experiences

    Moana

    After E, Edrick and I went to the outdoor painting ss together, it started to be more and more

    apparent to me that E was deeply craving more interactions with other children her age. With each

    passing day, she begged me more and more to bring her to the orphanage to y with the other

    children, and began to grow a little defiant when Edrick told her that she couldn¡¯t be going out all of the

    time.

    My years of working with children and my career in early childhood education taught me that one of the

    most important things for any child to experience was socializing with other children. E had been

    mostly cooped up her entire life, and I even began to honestly wonder if she even had any interactions

    with other children before I came into the picture. Maybe she ran into children at training or saw her

    little cousins once or twice a year during family gatherings, but she didn¡¯t have consistent chances to

    socialize with other kids. I saw the toll it was taking on her, and as the days ticked closer to the

    beginning of the school year, I could tell that E was deeply upset.

    Finally, I decided to talk to Edrick about the possibility of sending E to school.

    I knew that he would likely be hesitant about the idea, so I decided to prepare first. I began to do some

    research on local private schools, and even spent a few days just spending all of my free time

    compiling a list of the best local private schools for Edrick to look at. I made sure to find schools with

    plenty of extracurricrs for E to get involved in, and also made sure to find schools that offered pre-

    kindergarten through high school so that she could stay with her friends, as I was certain that she was

    bound to make a lot of friends.

    After several days of searching, I finallypiled a list of schools that I was certain would pique

    Edrick¡¯s interest. How could he say no to sending his little girl to such nice schools? Surely he would at

    least go on some tours and think about it. In fact, there was even one school that was within walking

    distance of the penthouse; it was an all-girls school that had been around for a long time, and judging

    from the pictures that I found online, it looked beautiful.

    Later that evening, after I had the list and an entire little speech ready for Edrick, I waited patiently for

    Edrick toe home. When I heard the elevator doors open, I immediately jumped up from the

    armchair in the living room and scurried over to Edrick.

    ¡°Let me take your coat,¡± I said, quickly taking his suit jacket off of his arm. I took his briefcase next, and

    set everything aside with a smile.

    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    Edrick shot me a strange, confused look as I hung up his coat and let out a low chuckle. ¡°What¡¯s all this

    for?¡± he asked lightheartedly. ¡°Are you trying to butter me up or something?¡±

    I shook my head at first, and guided him over to the dining room table. I pulled a chair out for him, then

    ran into the kitchen and returned with a covered tray of food that I had kept hot, knowing that he would

    be at workte that evening. When I set it down in front of him, heughed again and made my face go

    red.

    ¡°Moana, this is very nice, but what on earth is going on?¡± Edrick asked. ¡°Did someone die? Are you

    finally trying to poison me?¡±

    ¡°N-No,¡± I replied sheepishly, feeling my face get even more hot as I fiddled nervously with the front of

    my dress. ¡°Well¡­ Maybe I am trying to butter you up a little.¡±

    Edrick raised an eyebrow, but uncovered his te regardless and began to stab the steaming pasta

    with his fork. He seemed to be in good humor that evening, which gave me more confidence about

    bringing up such a sensitive topic. ¡°What is it?¡±

    I cleared my throat, then produced the pamphlet of potential schools that I had folded up in my pocket.

    ¡°I think E really needs to start socializing more with other children,¡± I said. ¡°She¡¯s getting older, and

    she¡¯s hardly had any opportunities to meet other kids. It¡¯s taking an obvious toll on her, as I¡¯m sure

    you¡¯ve noticedtely.¡±

    Edrick, who was about to put a forkful of pasta in his mouth, froze and looked up at me with somewhat

    wide eyes. ¡°Are you suggesting¡­¡± He set his fork down.

    I nodded. ¡°E needs to go to school.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s face went cold and he said nothing. Seeing him react like this was a bit disheartening, but it

    wasn¡¯t unexpected; I had spent days preparing for this. I set the pamphlet down on the table in front of

    him and sat down at the table.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re unsure about sending her to school, but I¡¯ve been doing a lot of research and I found

    quite a few nice private schools in the area,¡± I said, trying my best toe across aspassionate

    and gentle. I understood why sending his little girl away to school after she lived cooped up in the

    penthouse for the past eight years was difficult, but at the same time I knew that he knew that I was at

    least half right. I slid the pamphlet closer to him, and although he just stared down at it silently, I kept

    talking. ¡°I really think you should at least just take a look,¡± I said. ¡°Please.¡±

    Edrick was silent for several moments. He seemed stiff, and almost seemed as though he would get up

    and walk away at any moment, but then he finally picked up the pamphlet and slightly flipped through it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll consider it,¡± he said. His voice was cold and he stood abruptly without eating his dinner. Without

    another word, he started off toward his study. Panicking and worrying that I had put him off somehow, I

    jumped up and called after him.

    ¡°Edrick, I know it¡¯s scary to send her out into the world, and I know that you¡¯re worried about her getting

    hurt or the paparazzi scaring her, but she needs this more than you realize,¡± I said. Edrick paused, his

    back still turned to me, but he did seem to be listening. ¡°Think about everything that E is missing out

    on. She needs friends, new experiences. She needs to learn things that she wouldn¡¯t otherwise be able

    to learn about while being homeschooled, and she needs more than a one-on-one experience in life if

    you want her to be sessful when she grows up.¡±

    Edrick stood there for a few moments. I could tell that he was thinking about it, and that he wasn¡¯t just

    ignoring me or waiting for me to be quiet. And although he still walked into his office without saying

    anything, I couldn¡¯t help but smile.

    I was pretty certain that my words struck a chord with him. Above all else, I knew that he cared deeply

    about E¡¯s future and her happiness, and I knew that he wouldn¡¯t want her to live her life being

    cooped up and separated from society.

    At least, that was assuming that what Olivia told me wasn¡¯t true.

 Chapter 162

    Chapter 162

    #Chapter 162: A Parent¡¯s Fears

    Edrick

    When Moana brought up the idea of sending E to school all of a sudden, I felt my blood run cold. The

    thought of sending E away every day, where anything horrible could have happened to her, made me

    feel sick. Throughout the entire eight years so far of her existence, I had done such a good job of

    keeping her safe and away from the public eye. Even when I announced her existence to the news, I

    knew that I would eventually have to start bringing her to public events along with Moana, but I still

    didn¡¯t think that I would ever send her to school. I had plenty of money to hire the best tutors for her,

    and her education so far was excellent.

    But, at the same time, I knew that Moana was right to an extent. School wasn¡¯t just about learning; it

    was also about children being given the chance to socialize, form bonds with other children, and get

    exposed to different types of people and different environments.

    Even then, I still wasn¡¯t sure if I could bring myself to let her go. Between my father, E¡¯s mother, and

    the paparazzi, I was terrified about the idea of sending her to school.

    I initially tossed Moana¡¯s pamphlet down on my desk and chose to ignore it. And I did a good job of

    ignoring it at first as I got some work done on myputer, but after a while it was almost as though

    the pamphlet was inching its way closer into my field of vision, taunting me, begging me to look at it.

    And finally, with a sigh, I decided to flip through it. What was the harm in that, right?

    As I flipped through it, it immediately became apparent that Moana had put quite a lot of work into her

    research. She had pictures of each school, their locations, the names of their principals, reviews taken

    from the inte, and a lot of other information. That alone was what kept me flipping, and soon

    enough I looked up at the clock to realize that I had spent almost half an hour thoroughly reading

    through information on fifteen different schools without even noticing how much time had passed.

    However, none of the schools piqued my interest. They were all either too far, not good enough for my

    daughter, or didn¡¯t have the right extracurricrs. Maybe I was just being too harsh, and I was just

    looking for reasons to hate the schools. Either way, I decided not to choose any of them. Moana and

    E would be understandably upset, but I could make up for it. I could take E to a summer club with

    other children, or find her some friends who coulde over for ydates¡­

    But that wouldn¡¯t be good enough. I knew that, and I only ever wanted E to be happy and healthy

    and to have plenty of opportunities in her life. I didn¡¯t want to be the reason that she felt cooped up all

    her life, and I especially didn¡¯t want her feeling bitter toward me about it when she grew up. So, biting

    my lip, I decided to give the pamphlet yet another look.

    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    As I scoured the pamphlet for a second time, it turned out that there was actually one school that

    piqued my interest after all.

    It was an all-girls private school. When I looked at the address, I realized that I recognized the street it

    was on; it was only a few blocks away, so it was within walking distance and was still in the nice part of

    town. In fact, I recalled having passed it quite a few times since living here, and I knew how nice it was.

    It was an old building with tall windows and plenty of space outside. I remembered walking past on

    multiple asions and seeing the children ying on a fenced-in yground while teachers watched

    them. Not only that, but it offered pre-kindergarten all the way through high school, which meant that

    E would never need to switch schools so long as we continued living at the penthouse.

    Honestly, it was the perfect school.

    But I still didn¡¯t want my daughter to go.

    Suddenly, as I sat there with my head in my hands as I tried and failed toe up with an alternative to

    sending E to school, I heard a knock on the door. Before I could even answer, the door cracked open

    and Selina¡¯s head popped in.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t eat your dinner.¡±

    I nced up at the clock; it was after nine o¡¯clock at night. I simply shrugged. ¡°I wasn¡¯t hungry.¡±

    Selina frowned and came in, revealing a tray of food in her hands. It was a cup of tea and a slice of

    toast with jam, and as she came closer, I realized that I was actually hungry now. I thanked her when

    she set the tray down and expected her to leave after that, but, to no surprise, the old housekeeper

    looked down at my desk and made a hmph sound.

    ¡°Schools?¡± she asked, picking up the pamphlet before I could snatch it away. The old housekeeper was

    always like this; she was more like a mother to me, or maybe an aunt, than an actual housekeeper. Not

    that I ever would have admitted that to her.

    ¡°Uh, sort of,¡± I replied with a shrug as I took a bite of my toast, trying to act nonchnt. ¡°I doubt I¡¯ll pick

    one.¡±

    Selina¡¯s frown deepened as she looked up at me. ¡°Why not? E would love to go to school.¡±

    I froze for a moment, unsure of what to say. Selina looked back down at the pamphlet with the page

    open to the school that was down the street, and suddenly smiled.

    ¡°I went to this school!¡± she eximed. ¡°I loved it here. Oh, I wonder if the headmistress is still there.

    She¡¯d be too old by now, I suppose.¡±

    I hated to admit it, but the housekeeper¡¯s excitement made my heart beat a little faster. Hearing that

    she went to that school, and that she loved it, relieved some of my anxiety and softened me toward the

    concept of E going. I chewed and swallowed my toast, then looked up at her and watched as she set

    the pamphlet back down and made her way back toward the door.

    ¡°Do you think she¡¯d like it there, too?¡± I asked.

    Selina stopped, thinking for a moment, then turned back to look at me with a smile on her aging face.

    She nodded. ¡°She would love it,¡± she said. ¡°And I would love to see her finally going to school. Every

    child deserves to go.¡±

    Without another word, Selina walked out of the room after that and left me alone. I felt awful now for not

    giving E the chance earlier to go to school, and that made mee to a conclusion. Moana and

    Selina were right; E did deserve to go to school if she wanted to go. Maybe it wouldn¡¯t hurt just to go

    and take a look, I thought to myself.

    And so, the following morning, I found Moana and E sitting at the breakfast table.

    ¡°Get dressed, both of you,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re going to look at a school today.¡±

 Chapter 163

    Chapter 163

    #Chapter 163: Art Department

    Moana

    Both E¡¯s and my eyes widened when Edrick came out into the dining room early the next morning

    and announced his ns.

    ¡°Get dressed, both of you,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re going to look at a school today.¡±

    E¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°A school?!¡± she shrieked, jumping up from her chair excitedly. ¡°Really?¡±

    Edrick nodded with a slight smile. ¡°Yep. We¡¯re gonna look into sending you to school like all of the other

    kids. Would you like that?¡±

    With a wide, ecstatic grin, E nodded vehemently and ran over to her father. She threw her little arms

    around his legs and hugged him tightly. ¡°Yes, daddy!¡± she shouted. ¡°I really really want to go to school!¡±

    E¡¯s excitement made me smile, and I could tell that Edrick was trying ¡ª and failing ¡ª to hide a smile

    of his own. ¡°Go get dressed, then,¡± he said. ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot of time. I told the headmistress we¡¯d

    be there soon.¡±

    E took off at a full sprint toward her room. I thought I heard the sound of her tripping, falling, and

    skidding across the floor on her way, but she seemed fine. I stood, smiling, and ced my hands on

    my hips.

    ¡°So you really did think about it, huh?¡± I asked.

    Edrick shrugged. ¡°You were right. E does belong in school, and she deserves to socialize with other

    kids. Besides¡­ With the babying, having her at school during the day will be a good thing for you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t necessarily agree with thatst point ¡ª I was confident that I could easily handle both a baby

    and E on my own, so long as I had just a little help ¡ª but I wasn¡¯t about to argue with Edrick. I was

    just d that he had decided to send E to school after all. It was about time that she had a chance to

    make friends, try new experiences, and learn new things in a ssroom setting.

    After quickly getting dressed and helping E get ready, the three of us headed downstairs. It turned

    out that Edrick chose the school that was within walking distance, which made me happy, and so we

    walked to meet the headmistress. E walked between us, holding one of each of our hands, and it

    really did feel like we were a little family. The walk was nice, too, and I imagined that I would enjoy

    walking E to school every morning.

    When we arrived, the school was just as lovely as the pictures. It was an old building with tall windows,

    stone facades, and arched wooden doors. There was a yground out front with lots of shade from

    trees and plenty of yground equipment, and there was even a garden on the other side with nter

    boxes for fruit and vegetables. As we walked up the long pebble pathway to the front door, an elderly

    woman stepped out onto the front stoop and waved to us. She had long white hair that was piled into a

    neat bun on top of her head, and wore an elegant suit jacket with a matching pencil skirt. As we

    approached, I saw that she had the school emblem ¡ª a golden crown ¡ª embroidered onto thepel of

    her jacket.

    ¡°Good morning!¡± the old woman said with a bright smile. ¡°You must be Mr. Morgan, Miss E, and¡­¡±

    she turned toward me, pausing and waiting for me to introduce myself.

    ¡°Moana,¡± I replied, holding out my hand. The old woman shook it with a smile.

    ¡°I¡¯m Headmistress Hawkins,¡± she replied, then turned and held open the heavy wooden door for us.

    ¡°Come on in. Let¡¯s start your tour.¡±

    Headmistress Hawkins was a spry woman for her age, and scurried around the school with ease as

    she showed us everything. The inside of the school was even more lovely, with tile floors, high ceilings,

    and a lot of natural light. There was a gymnasium, auditorium, countless ssrooms, a cafeteria, a

    beautiful inner courtyard with a fountain, and plenty of recreation spaces. She showed us the music

    room, the scienceb, the daycare room, and the library, and before we knew it we had spent well over

    an hour just touring the entire school.

    ¡°And this is the art room,¡± the headmistress said, gesturing to a closed and rather dusty looking door.

    ¡°Well¡­ It was the art room.¡±

    I furrowed my brow and peered in through the window on the door to see arge, dark room with all of

    the furniture covered by white sheets. The curtains were closed and there were boxes everywhere, as

    though it was being used for storage.

    ¡°Is it not being used?¡± I asked, turning to face the headmistress.

    She sighed and nodded. ¡°I¡¯m afraid our art program isn¡¯t what it used to be,¡± she replied. ¡°And by that I

    mean that it¡¯s nonexistent right now.¡±

    I frowned. ¡°What happened?¡±

    Headmistress Hawkins let out another sigh and lowered her voice a bit. ¡°Our beloved art teacher

    passed away a couple of years ago,¡± she said. ¡°She was getting on in age. We haven¡¯t found a good

    enough recement, so unfortunately our art department is currently on hold.¡±

    Hearing that the art department was nonexistent now put a bit of a damper on my opinion of the school.

    Of course it was out of the headmistress¡¯s control, but I wanted to make sure that E went to a school

    with a good art program, and now I wasn¡¯t so sure if this would be the right fit.

    Suddenly, however, E spoke up.

    ¡°Moana is a really good art teacher!¡± she eximed, causing my face to go red.

    Headmistress Hawkins raised her eyebrows. ¡°Oh?¡± she asked, looking at me. ¡°You¡¯re a teacher?¡±

    I shook my head and blushed an even deeper shade of red. ¡°No. Well, not really. I do have my degree

    in childhood education, but I only really teach art at an orphanage downtown. I don¡¯t know if I would

    really call it teaching experience¡­¡±

    E frowned and folded her little arms across her chest. Sometimes she really did look like a little adult,

    and right now was one of those times. ¡°But you¡¯re the best teacher ever,¡± she said. ¡°She even taught

    my daddy how to paint, and he¡¯s a terrible artist!¡±

    I stifled augh and looked up at Edrick. He was still silent, but when he looked down at me, I could tell

    from the look in his eyes that we were thinking the same thing. I wondered at that moment if I should

    apply for the position of the art teacher here. I didn¡¯t have any ¡°real¡± teaching experience, but I did go to

    school for it, and if it had been years since they had found a teacher who was a good fit for the role,

    then what was the harm in applying?

    ¡°Well, do let me know if you¡¯d like to apply,¡± Headmistress Hawkins said with a smile as we continued

    the tour. ¡°I¡¯d love to look at your resume. If you¡¯re interested, of course.¡±

    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    As we continued the tour, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it would be good for me to apply. I had always

    wanted to be an art teacher, after all, and this would be the perfect ce. I could be there for E all

    day if anything happened, and Edrick wouldn¡¯t have to worry anymore. Every day, I could walk with her

    to school and walk home with her.

    And as I looked up at Edrick, and he met my gaze, I knew that he was having the same thoughts.

 Chapter 164

    Chapter 164

    #Chapter 164: New Horizons

    Moana

    When we were finished with the tour, we stopped in the downstairs foyer. Headmistress Hawkins

    smiled at us, her brown eyes radiating with kindness.

    ¡°Well?¡± she asked. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    I looked over at Edrick expectantly. He was fairly quiet throughout the entire tour, only asionally

    asking questions. I was a bit worried that he wouldn¡¯t like it and that he would make up some excuse to

    say no, but much to my surprise, he looked down at E with a gentle smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s up to you, E,¡± he said. ¡°Do you like this school?¡±

    E nodded excitedly. ¡°I really like it here!¡± she said, squeezing Edrick¡¯s hand tightly. ¡°I really want to go

    to school here!¡±

    Edrick smiled and looked up at the headmistress. ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s that,¡± he said with a bit of a

    chuckle.

    Headmistress Hawkins grinned. ¡°Perfect,¡± she replied. ¡°Let¡¯s get you enrolled.¡±

    ¡­

    That day, we got E enrolled in school. The school year would begin in just a few short weeks, which

    was fairly short notice, but I knew that Edrick would make sure that E was prepared.

    Later that evening, as I was getting ready for bed I simply couldn¡¯t stop beaming over the fact that

    Edrick was going to let E start going to school. E hadn¡¯t stopped talking about it all day, and even

    getting her to sleep was a battle because she was so excited. It made me feel warm inside to see her

    get so excited over school, and I was d that Edrick had made the right decision after all. Even

    though I knew that this would be difficult for him, I was certain that it would be the best thing for

    everybody in the long run.

    However, that wasn¡¯t the only thing that was on my mind.

    I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about that empty art ssroom. It was important for any child to have ess to

    a good art program in school, and it made me sad to think that the children at that school had been

    without a proper art program for years since thest art teacher passed away. E loved that school

    and wanted to go there so badly, and it was the perfect ce for her to go, but it made me uneasy to

    think that she would be without a proper art ss for the foreseeable future. Sure, I could give her

    some art lessons and make sure that she had time to be creative when she was home, but it wasn¡¯t fair

    for the other students to not have that luxury.

    And when I came out of the bathroom after my shower, drying my hair with a towel, I could tell instantly

    from the thoughtful look on Edrick¡¯s face that he was dealing with an internal dilemma as well. He was

    leaning on the balcony railing and looking out over the city, and when I came out, he looked over his

    shoulder at me with a strange expression on his face.

    ¡°You¡¯re thinking about something,¡± I said, walking up to him. ¡°What is it?¡±

    Edrick shrugged and didn¡¯t answer for a few moments. But I knew what he was thinking about: he was

    worried about E. He didn¡¯t like the idea of sending her to school every day.

    ¡°You¡¯re worried about her.¡±

    Edrick nodded hesitantly. ¡°I guess so,¡± he replied, almost as though he didn¡¯t want to admit that he

    actually had a soft side.All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    I sighed and leaned on the balcony railing next to him. The city was bustling as always, and it would

    never stop. Even though the walk to E¡¯s new school wasn¡¯t very far and was a nice walk in a safe

    neighborhood, it was still the city, after all. Anything could happen, and I understood why Edrick was

    scared. Even the paparazzi alone were bad enough, not including the danger of cars and people with

    bad intentions.

    E was still little, and she would of course need to be chaperoned both two and from school until she

    was at least a few years older. But I also knew that having her away from the penthouse during the day,

    when anything could happen, was terrifying for a father who had always kept his daughter cooped up.

    ¡°She¡¯s smart,¡± I said gently. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry so much. And it¡¯s in a safe neighborhood, and

    she¡¯ll be surrounded by teachers and staff all day.¡±

    Edrick was silent for a few moments before licking his lips and answering. ¡°Teachers and staff can be

    dangerous, too,¡± he replied. His words made my heart sink; he wasn¡¯t wrong. Bad things happened in

    schools all of the time, but it didn¡¯t mean that he should spend the rest of his life worrying. For all we

    knew, someone could have walked into the penthouse right then and there and killed all of us.

    I thought back to the open art teacher position once more. I did, after all, have a degree in early

    childhood education with a concentration in art therapy. I did also have some teaching experience

    thanks to the orphanage.

    ¡°Maybe I should apply,¡± I said. ¡°Then I can be with E all day in case something happens. You won¡¯t

    need to worry anymore.¡±

    Edrick froze, then slowly turned to look at me. I knew that he had been thinking the same thing when

    we were touring the school together earlier that day, but it seemed as though he didn¡¯t think that I

    would actually be serious about applying.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked, gesturing lightly toward my growing belly. ¡°Won¡¯t it be too much for you,

    especiallyter on in the pregnancy?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°The baby is strong,¡± I replied, thinking back to everything that happened with the Rogues.

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried. I might need a little extra help at home since I¡¯ll be working every day, but it¡¯s not like

    taking care of E is a chore in the slightest. Besides¡­ With E at school, I won¡¯t have much to do

    during the day anymore. I¡¯ve always wanted to be an art teacher.¡±

    ¡°What about when the babyes?¡± he asked. ¡°Won¡¯t it be stressful to start working and then have to

    take maternity leave just a few monthster?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m not worried. I have Selina, and the maids, and I have you. And don¡¯t forget that

    they do have a daycare center.¡±

    Edrick chewed his lip for a moment. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. I¡¯m¡­ sorry if it seems like I¡¯m trying to talk

    you out of it. I¡¯m just worried about¡­ you.¡±

    Without thinking, I reached over on the railing and touched Edrick¡¯s hand. He didn¡¯t pull away, and

    instead wrapped his fingers around mine gently. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was intentional on his part or not, but

    it made my heart race a bit either way.

    ¡°If it would make you happy, I think you should do it,¡± Edrick said quietly, his steely blue eyes meeting

    mine.

    ¡­

    I slept on it that night, thinking that I should take my time to make my decision before I jumped into

    anything. But when I woke up the next morning, I simply couldn¡¯t get it off of my mind. Edrick went to

    work, and finally I couldn¡¯t contain it anymore.

    So, after asking Selina to keep an eye on E for a while, I printed out a copy of my resume and

    marched down to the school. I swallowed the nervous knot in my throat as I knocked on the door to

    Headmistress Hawkins¡¯ office.

    ¡°Oh! Moana!¡± she said with a beaming smile when she saw me. ¡°Is that¡­¡± She pointed at the resume

    in my hand.

    I nodded and held it out for her. ¡°I¡¯d like to apply for the position after all,¡± I said with a smile.

    Headmistress Hawkins took the papers. I felt my heart start to race as she looked over it, the inner

    voice in my head telling me that she wouldn¡¯t hire me because she thought that I was a human¡­

    But, much to my surprise, she looked up at me and grinned.

    ¡°I¡¯ll call your reference today,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m so d you decided to apply.¡±

    That day, I went home with a big smile on my face.

 Chapter 165

    Chapter 165

    #Chapter 165: Overexcited

    Moana

    After I handed the headmistress of E¡¯s new school my resume, I went home with a big smile on my

    face.

    Even if I didn¡¯t wind up getting the job due to myck of teaching experience, this was still a step in the

    right direction. After spending years being unable to get decent jobs due to my low status as a human,

    it seemed as though potential employers might start actually taking me seriously. I knew that most of it

    had to do with the fact that I was now publicly Edrick¡¯s ¡°fiancee¡±, but I didn¡¯t care. To me, it was still a

    win.

    As the day went on, however, I went from excited to downright nervous. Every time I started to think

    about it, knowing that the headmistress may have been talking to Sophia for my reference at any

    moment, I felt my heart start to race. I tried to stay calm, but thisbination of excitement and

    nervousness made it incredibly difficult to focus on anything else that day.

    By the evening, I still hadn¡¯t heard back. I didn¡¯t expect to hear back for at least another day, but it still

    made me feel even more worried. What if the headmistress simply never responded to my application?

    It was a terriblymon practice for employers to never respond to applications, and despite the fact

    that E would be a student at that school in just a few weeks, I supposed that I wasn¡¯t immune to that.

    I just hoped that wouldn¡¯t be the case.

    Eventually, Edrick came home from work. I was sitting on the sofa in the living room and trying to read

    when I heard the whir of the elevator doors opening.

    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± E yelled, jumping up and running over to him excitedly. I heard the sound of her kissing him

    on the cheek, followed by Edrick¡¯s voice as he asked her how her day was. E seemed to be

    whispering something to him, and a few momentster, the Alpha billionaire walked into the living room

    with E in his arms.

    ¡°E told me that you¡¯re waiting for something special news,¡± Edrick said to me, raising an eyebrow.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    I felt my face go red. I hadn¡¯t nned on saying anything unless I got the job, but I should have known

    that E would spill the news as soon as possible. She was only eight, after all, and it was a bit naive of

    me to think that she was capable of keeping a secret for more than five minutes.

    ¡°Um¡­¡± I swallowed and set down my book, then nervously fiddled with my braid. ¡°I applied for the art

    teacher position this morning. The headmistress said that she would call Sophia, my reference.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s face went from stoic to surprised, but I couldn¡¯t help but notice that there was a bit of a smile

    tugging at the corners of his lips.

    ¡°Oh? Did you?¡± he said, setting E down.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait for Moana to be my real teacher!¡± E eximed. ¡°Then we can go to school together

    every day!¡±

    Edrick smiled a bit, and despite my nervousness, even I couldn¡¯t help but smile at E¡¯s excitement.

    Edrick then sent E to her room to get ready for dinner, and when he turned back to me, I could sense

    a bit of worry in his eyes. I couldn¡¯t tell if he was hoping that I would get the job or hoping that I wouldn¡¯t

    get the job.

    ¡°Have you heard back yet?¡± he asked once we were alone again.

    I shook my head and bit my lip. ¡°No. Probably not until tomorrow at lea¡ª¡±

    Suddenly, as if on cue, my phone began to buzz on the coffee table. I fell silent, my eyes widening

    when I saw the unsaved number on my phone. No one except for Sophia ever called me, and I had her

    name saved in my phone. Unless this was a scam call, it had to be the headmistress.

    ¡°Well?¡± Edrick asked, noticing my hesitation. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to answer it?¡±

    I nodded sheepishly. My hand shook as I picked up my phone and tapped on the screen to answer it,

    and it took all of my strength not to sound nervous.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I answered.

    ¡°Is this Moana? It¡¯s Headmistress Hawkins.¡±

    My eyes widened even further and I stood involuntarily. ¡°Yes,¡± I replied, eyeing Edrick as he watched

    me expectantly.

    ¡°Moana, I called your reference,¡± the headmistress said. ¡°She was lovely, and had a lot of nice things to

    say about you. I¡¯d like to offer you the position.¡±

    I felt my heart leap into my throat. I almost let out a wild whoop of excitement, but I mped my hand

    over my mouth and just stared at Edrick with wide eyes. He was leaning on the doorframe with his

    arms folded across his chest. Even Selina and the maids were poking their heads curiously out of the

    kitchen.

    ¡°U-Um¡­ Thank you so much,¡± I said, hardly able to contain my excitement. ¡°I ept. I can¡¯t wait to

    start.¡±

    As I spoke, I saw the maids begin to dance around excitedly in the background while Selina stared at

    me with disbelief. Edrick, however, just smiled. It seemed as though he had been confident in me

    getting the job.

    ¡°Good,¡± the headmistress replied. ¡°You cane by anytime within the next week and sign your

    paperwork. Once that¡¯s done, you can have your keys. I¡¯be have the custodians clear out anything

    that¡¯s been stored in your room.¡±

    ¡°T-Thank you,¡± I said, unable toe up with anything else amidst my shock. ¡°I-I¡¯ll see you soon.¡±

    Finally, I hung up and continued to stare at Edrick in shock.

    ¡°I knew you would get it,¡± he said with a smile.

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. It felt as though my body was taken over with excitement, and what I did next

    almost felt out of my control.

    Without thinking, I ran over to Edrick, cupped his face in my hands and pulled him down to my level,

    and kissed him.

    His lips were soft and sweet, and he didn¡¯t pull away.

    When I finally pulled away, my face was red and my eyes were wide. The room was silent, and I could

    see Selina quietly shoving the two curious maids back into the kitchen to give Edrick and I some

    privacy.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ S-Sorry¡ª¡±

    I tried to stammer out an apology for kissing him so suddenly, but I was too embarrassed for anything

    coherent toe out. Part of me expected Edrick to simply storm off, just as he always did when he

    realized that we had gotten too close.

    But he didn¡¯t.

    Instead, he just smiled down at me. His eyes were warm and bright, and he didn¡¯t seem embarrassed

    by the kiss at all.

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to go school supply shopping for two now,¡± he said, causing me to smile.

    Between the good news, my kiss with Edrick, and his kind words, that smile didn¡¯t leave my face until I

    finally drifted off to sleep that night. It felt as though things were really beginning to look up now, and I

    couldn¡¯t have been more excited.

    In fact, my worrisome conversation with Olivia had slipped my mind entirely by that point.

 Chapter 166

    Chapter 166

    #Chapter 166: Regr Girl

    Moana

    The next morning, I woke up to the sound of Edrick walking around the room. When I looked at the

    clock, I realized that it was a littleter than I usually would have gotten up, and I quickly sat up and

    rubbed my eyes.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said, throwing the covers off and getting out of bed. ¡°I overslept. Guess I missed my rm.¡±

    Edrick shook his head. ¡°I turned it off for you,¡± he said as he fixed his hair in the en suite bathroom

    mirror. ¡°I let you sleep in.¡±

    I scrunched my eyebrows together. ¡°Why?¡± Normally I woke up a full half hour earlier than this so that I

    could help prepare breakfast and get E ready, and sometimes I woke up even earlier than that.

    ¡°We¡¯re going out,¡± he replied. ¡°School supply shopping. Remember?¡±

    My eyes widened for a moment. Edrick had mentioned that we would have to do some school supply

    shopping, but I didn¡¯t think that he would want to do it so soon. Either way, I smiled and ran to my room

    to get ready for the day. I put on somethingfortable to wear, knowing that we would likely be

    walking around a lot, and then got E ready as well at Edrick¡¯s request. E was, of course, excited to

    go school shopping for the first time, and hardly sat down long enough to even eat her breakfast.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to be a regr girl,¡± E suddenly said as we gathered our things and waited for the

    elevator to open. ¡°I¡¯ll be just like all of the other kids!¡±

    At E¡¯s words, Edrick and I both suddenly looked up at each other with incredulous looks on our

    faces.

    ¡°You are still a regr girl, love,¡± I replied with a chuckle as I tugged her sun hat onto her head.

    ¡°I know¡­¡± E said. ¡°But I¡¯m still excited.¡±

    I smiled and took her hand, then stepped onto the elevator with her and Edrick. As the elevator carried

    us down, I chanced a look over at Edrick. I could have sworn that I saw a bit of a tear in his eye, but he

    quickly blinked it away and just smiled at me instead.

    We headed to the mall, where our first stop was at a children¡¯s store for E. Even though she would

    be wearing a uniform at school and there was no need for new clothes, she still picked out a backpack,

    essories, and a little pair of Mary Jane shoes to wear with her uniform. I was excited to see how

    cute she would look in her uniform, and I couldn¡¯t wait.

    Afterwards, we went to the office supply store. I helped E pick out notebooks and folders off of the list

    of supplies that the headmistress gave us. Edrick disappeared for a bit, then returned with a cart full of

    stuff.

    ¡°Woah!¡± E said, jumping up on the side of the cart to peer in. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of stuff.¡±

    Edrick simply shrugged. ¡°There¡¯s a sale,¡± he said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder in the direction

    of the art supply aisle. I peered into the cart as well to see that he had fully stocked up on dozens of

    containers of crayons, coloring books, miniature canvases, acrylic and watercolor paint sets, and more.

    ¡°This might be too much, Edrick,¡± I said with augh. ¡°She¡¯s just one kid.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just for her.¡± He grinned. ¡°You¡¯ll need supplies for your ssroom too, right? And, I wanted to

    get something for the kids at the orphanage.¡±

    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.

    My eyes widened at the Alpha billionaire¡¯s sudden charity. He certainly didn¡¯t need to buy anything for

    the kids at the orphanage, but he decided to do it without even being asked. I couldn¡¯t help but smile;

    he had changed so much since I had met him. The Edrick Morgan who I knew when I was almost hit by

    his car on the city street was gone now, and I didn¡¯t know where he went. It was almost as though he

    was reced by this newer, kinder Edrick Morgan.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ very kind of you,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°But you don¡¯t need to buy my supplies for me. Let me

    buy them with my own sry.¡±

    Edrick was silent for a moment. I could tell that he was about to refuse, just as he always did; but this

    time, I wouldn¡¯t let him. E had jumped off of the cart to go and look at a colorful notebook on the

    shelf, and now I grabbed the end of the cart and tugged it lightly toward myself.

    ¡°Seriously, Edrick,¡± I said with a bit of augh. ¡°Let me pay.¡±

    Edrick narrowed his eyes and tugged the cart back toward himself. ¡°No. I¡¯m paying.¡±

    Now, I was the one who narrowed my eyes, and I pulled the cart even harder and with more

    determination than before. ¡°Edrick Morgan, let me pay for these supplies.¡±

    The smile on Edrick¡¯s face turned to a frown, and maybe he was a little more determined than I was.

    He tightened his grip on the cart, then yanked it back toward himself. ¡°I won¡¯t let you¡ª¡± he began, but

    then his eyes widened and his voice faltered as I lost my bnce from the cart being yanked away and

    suddenly fell backwards.

    I started to fall, my arms windmilling at my sides as I tried to bnce myself, but it was toote. I nearly

    landed on my butt on the floor.

    But I didn¡¯t fall.

    Edrick moved like a sh of lightning, faster than I had ever seen him move before. He raced around

    the cart and caught me. I let out a small gasp, more so at his speed than the fact that I was about to

    topple over two feet onto my bottom on the carpeted floor, and looked up at Edrick with wide eyes as

    he held me.

    His eyes were glowing; he had used his werewolf abilities to catch me, even though I wouldn¡¯t have

    hurt myself at all.

    ¡°I¡­ Um¡­¡± I stammered. Edrick was looking down at me with intensity, his arms wrapped tightly around

    me. I thought I even saw his eyes flicker down to my lips, but I couldn¡¯t be entirely sure. All I knew was

    that, even though I would have been fine if I had fallen and I had only lost my bnce, he had gone out

    of his way to catch me. And now, for some strange reason, I felt Mina get excited inside of me and urge

    me to kiss him again. The taste of his lips from the night before still lingered on my tongue, and I felt my

    heart rate quicken as I imagined kissing him again¡­

    ¡°Woah! What happened?¡± E said, dropping the pile of colored pencils and shiny notebooks in her

    hands as she ran over to us. ¡°Moana, did you faint?¡±

    I shook my head, snapped back to reality by E¡¯s voice. Edrick stood me upright and let go of me. He

    quickly averted his gaze, but I thought I saw him blush a bit.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I said, smoothing down my skirt. I spotted the pile of discarded things on the floor and

    pointed to them. ¡°E, don¡¯t make a mess. Pick those up.¡±

 Chapter 167

    Chapter 167

    #Chapter 167: First Day of School

    Moana

    A few weeks passed after that. With each passing day, E became more and more excited for school,

    and I was just as excited. After singing my paperwork and getting the keys to my ssroom, I then

    spent the next few weeks leading up to the start of the school year preparing my lesson ns, stocking

    up on supplies, and cleaning out the abandoned art ssroom.

    On the morning of the first day of school, I woke up to E jumping on the bed and shouting.

    ¡°Moana! Daddy!¡± she shrieked excitedly, jumping up and down and jostling both of us out of our sleep.

    ¡°Wake up! It¡¯s the first day of school!¡±

    I cracked my eyes open to see E standing above us with a wide grin on her face. Beside me, Edrick

    groaned slightly and finally sat up.

    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± he said, rubbing his eyes and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. ¡°Come on.

    Let¡¯s all have breakfast together before your first day of school.¡±

    The night prior, I had already helped E pack her backpack andid out her uniform. I had also

    packed my own bag filled with the things that I would need for the day, and set our bags out by the front

    door together. I had to admit that I felt a little nervous as I got dressed that morning, but I was also

    excited, and seeing E in her adorable little id uniform and Mary Janes made me smile.

    After breakfast, it was time to go. Selina packed a lunch for both of us, and even gave E a little

    squeeze and a smile before sending us on our way. Edrick walked to school with us; once again, E

    walked between us and held each of our hands, and I felt like we were a little family once more. I

    hoped that this would be a tradition of ours.

    As we arrived at the school, the front yard was bustling with the activity of the hordes of other little girls

    who were excited for their first day. The disy ranged from preschool children who were crying and

    being carried in by their exhausted parents, all the way to bored high school students who just seemed

    happy to see their friends and to know that they would be graduating this year. E was clearly

    nervous, and clung to Edrick¡¯s leg tightly as we walked up to the parent drop-off point.

    ¡°Daddy, I¡¯m scared,¡± E whined, looking up at Edrick with big saucer eyes. ¡°There are so many kids.

    And it¡¯s loud.¡±

    Edrick smiled and crouched down to her level. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and then

    held her firmly by both shoulders.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to have a lot of fun,¡± he said. ¡°I promise. And Moana will be here all day if you need her,

    and I¡¯ll be waiting right here for you when the day is over. It¡¯ll go by before you know it. Okay?¡±

    E hesitantly nodded, sniffling a bit. Edrick nted a kiss on her cheek.

    Almost as soon as he did that, it seemed that another group of little girls had already taken interest in

    E and were slowly inching their way toward us, fiddling nervously with their backpack straps.

    ¡°Um¡­ What¡¯s your name?¡± one of the little girls, a scrawny little thing with wispy blonde hair, said

    sheepishly.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    ¡°E,¡± E replied, her face turning red.

    One of the other girls, a slightly bigger girl with brown hair and freckles, stepped out from behind the

    rest of the group and grinned widely. ¡°I¡¯m Stacie. Wanna y with us before school starts?¡±

    E hesitated and looked up at Edrick. He nodded, and as though she had known these girls for her

    entire life, E took off toward the yground with them. I couldn¡¯t help butugh at how simple it was

    for children to make friends; I missed those days. By the end of the day, I was certain that she would be

    calling them all her best friends forever.

    Finally, Edrick turned back to look at me and smiled.

    ¡°You sure you¡¯ll be okay?¡± he asked.

    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Just¡­ Call me immediately if you start to feel sick or anything.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh a bit. ¡°Edrick, it¡¯ll be okay,¡± I said, giving his arm a squeeze. ¡°I¡¯ll see youter,

    okay?¡±

    Edrick nodded hesitantly. I gave him a little wave and turned to leave, but suddenly, I felt his hand on

    my arm. He pulled me back, turning me to face him so that I could see the worried look in his eyes.

    And then¡­ He kissed my forehead, making my face turn beet red.

    ¡°Be careful,¡± he whispered, taking a step back and releasing me. He shoved his hands in his pockets,

    and without another word, he walked away and left me standing there with a racing heart and

    butterflies in my stomach.

    ¡­

    Once the bell rang, all of the students lined up to go inside. E was still with her group of little friends,

    which made me feel a bit relieved, and I made my way up to my ssroom as the teachers began to

    march their students through the hallways for homeroom. I noticed that quite a few kids, of all ages,

    were giving me strange looks; but I just waved and smiled, and unlocked my ssroom door.

    I still had some time before my first ss would begin, so after I settled in a bit I made my way over to

    the faculty lounge for some coffee. There were a couple of other teachers in there; the music teacher,

    whose name was Jeff, and one of the science teachers, Deborah. I had already bumped into them a

    couple of times over the summer, and so we exchanged brief pleasantries before I scurried back to my

    ssroom to get ready for my first lesson.

    It didn¡¯t take long before the first ss came in; and, much to E¡¯s surprise ¡ª although I already

    knew, and was looking forward to seeing her smile throughout my first ss ¡ª it was her third grade

    ss.

    ¡°Good morning, everyone,¡± I said as the students filed in with their teacher standing in the doorway.

    ¡°I¡¯m Miss Fowler, but you can call me Moana. Sit anywhere you like.¡±

    As the kids hurried around to pick their seats, I stood up at the front and waited patiently. I had set up

    the desks in a semicircle around the room to make the atmosphere more weing, and there was a

    carpet on the floor in the middle with cushions that I would let the students sit on if they wanted. Almost

    immediately, E and several other girls beelined for the cushions. The other girls got their first, and

    almost shoved E out of the way in the process.

    ¡°Hey!¡± E said, frowning. ¡°You pushed me!¡±

    ¡°You should sit in the back, half-blood,¡± one of the little girls snarled. She was a little girl who was taller

    than the rest, with ginger hair and blue eyes. Her face was pointed, like a little fox, and she had a bit of

    a nasty look to her.

    My eyes widened. I opened my mouth to say something with the intention of shutting that sort of

    nastiness down immediately, but before I could, E folded her arms and puffed her chest out.

    ¡°You know¡­¡±

 Chapter 168

    Chapter 168

    #Chapter 168: Little Lawyer

    Moana

    ¡°You know¡­¡± E frowned and folded her arms, puffing out her chest confidently before I could say

    anything. After those little girls nastily called her a half-blood and shoved her, I had expected E to

    come to me crying and that I would have to send them to the headmistress¡¯s office, and all on my first

    day of teaching. But instead, E stood up straight and took on a confident air that I hadn¡¯t expected

    from her.

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    ¡°Buzz off,¡± one of the other little girls said, waving her hand dismissively. ¡°We don¡¯t bother with half-

    bloods. You smell.¡± She pinched her nose, causing the other girls in her group to giggle.

    ¡°You¡¯re really mean!¡± E replied. ¡°Why do you have to say things like that? Didn¡¯t your parents ever

    teach you to treat everyone equally and with respect?¡±

    The little girls giggled nastily at E¡¯sment. Even though E was confident, I was well aware of

    how school bullies functioned, and I knew that she wouldn¡¯t get through to them. I would have to speak

    to their teacher or even their parents, and that would be the only way to stop the bullying. Even then,

    many kids continued to be bullies regardless of the repercussions. It was sad that E had to realize

    this on her first day of school, but it was the truth.

    ¡°E,¡± I said finally, stepping in. ¡°Take your seat. I¡¯ll handle this.¡±

    However, E just ignored me and kept reprimanding them with even more vigor.

    ¡°You should learn to treat everyone nicely,¡± E growled. ¡°If you were half human too, or even a whole

    human, you wouldn¡¯t like it if anyone else said mean things to you. My daddy always says to treat

    everyone else how you want to be treated!¡±

    The gaggle of nasty little girls went silent. I was shocked by E¡¯s impressive public speaking abilities;

    she seemed to have gotten it from her father, I thought to myself. The mean girls¡¯ apparent leader, the

    redhead with the pointed face, scowled deeply and seemed as though she couldn¡¯te up with

    anything nasty to say as a retort.

    It also seemed as though the other children noticed the argument, and had now gathered around and

    were beginning to cheer E on.

    ¡°Reba, you¡¯re a meanie!¡± one little girl said ¡ª I recognized her as the timid blonde girl from that

    morning.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± another girl, the one who introduced herself as Stacie earlier, said loudly. ¡°You¡¯re always

    bullying everyone! You¡¯re just a big meanie because your mom¡ª¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± I said, deciding to intervene before things got any worse and more insults got thrown

    around. ¡°Let¡¯s all settle down.¡± I then looked down at the mean girls, who were still sitting on the floor

    but whose faces were all beet red by now, and I frowned. ¡°I won¡¯t send you to the headmistress this

    time, but I won¡¯t tolerate bullying in my ss. If I see you three bullying anyone again, whether it¡¯s in

    ss or outside of ss, you¡¯ll be marching down to the headmistress¡¯s office right away. Understand?¡±

    The three nasty little girls nodded, clearly regretting their actions. I ordered them to sit at desks and

    revoked their privilege to sit on the cushions for that day, and instead let E and her friends sit there.

    E grinned widely as she sat down.

    ¡°Thanks, mom,¡± she said to me.

    My eyes widened. There was a chorus of gasps across the room. One of the kids who was sitting with

    E jumped up and eximed, ¡°E, the new art teacher is your mom?¡±

    E nodded vigorously before I could say anything ¡ª not that I would have been able to correct her

    anyway, considering the fact that Edrick had told the news that I was her mother, but it was still strange

    to hear her refer to me as anything other than my first name. Not only that, but I quickly became

    worried that the other kids would like her less if they knew that I was her ¡°mom¡±. Maybe they would see

    her as even more of an outsider, and would use me of favoritism.

    ¡°Yep,¡± E said, grinning. ¡°She¡¯s the best mom ever.¡±

    Everyone was shocked. I felt a teare to my eye as I saw E smiling up at me, but I quickly blinked

    it away. A hush fell over the room for a few moments, before one of the other girls spoke up.

    ¡°I wish my mom was a teacher,¡± the little girl said. ¡°But she works at an office. My dad says that she¡¯s a

    ¡®pencil pusher¡¯. I don¡¯t know what that means, though.¡±

    I stifled augh, and finally decided to cut the discussion short and begin my lesson after that.

    We spent the remainder of ss ying fun games so the children could getfortable with me, and

    then ended the ss with a coloring session. I actually got along well with all of the kids, and even the

    nasty girls seemed to have settled down their bad behavior. Soon enough, the half hour of the ss

    flew by and the childrens¡¯ teacher came to take them back to their ssroom. E and all of the other

    kids waved at me as they left, and I couldn¡¯t wipe the smile off of my face after that.

    That day, after E¡¯s little speech and the way that she exposed our ¡°rtionship¡±, I noticed that no one

    seemed to be bothering her. I ran into E a few more times that day during lunchtime and recess, and

    she didn¡¯t seem to be having any more trouble with anyone. In fact, it seemed as though E had even

    made quite a few more friends by the time we walked out of the school together that afternoon.

    Everyone must have wanted to be friends with the cool new girl who stood up to the bully and whose

    mom was the art teacher. As I took her little hand and led her out of the school, I couldn¡¯t stop smiling;

    although I couldn¡¯t tell if my smile was from E¡¯s sess on her first day of school, or if it was from

    her calling me ¡°mom¡±. Maybe it was both.

    Either way, as E skipped happily next to me and Edrick¡¯s tall frame came into view in the golden light

    of thete afternoon sun, I felt happier than ever.

    Edrick was waiting for us at the parent drop-off point as we approached, and when E saw him, she

    let go of my hand and raced up to him. He scooped her up and kissed her cheek, but as I got closer I

    saw that he looked a little worried.

    ¡°Well?¡± he asked. ¡°How was your first day?¡±

    ¡°It was amazing!¡± E eximed. ¡°I made lots of friends, and I learned all about sy¡­. Syl¡­¡±

    ¡°Sybles?¡± Edrick asked.

    E nodded excitedly. ¡°Yeah, those! And there were these mean girls, but I stood up to them¡­¡±

    As we began to walk home, E continued to chatter nonstop about her exciting first day of school. She

    told Edrick all about how she stood up to the nasty girls in art ss, and how she made more friends at

    recess, and how she couldn¡¯t wait for her second day of school. Slowly, as she talked, Edrick¡¯s look of

    worry turned into a warm smile.

    And as he carried her on his shoulders, I felt his hand reach out and slip into mine.

 Chapter 169

    Chapter 169

    #Chapter 169: A Visitor

    Moana

    A few more days passed by after that. By the end of our first week of school, it seemed as though E

    and I both had settled in quite well. E was making loads of friends and loved her teachers, and I also

    enjoyed teaching. It finally felt as though I was living my childhood dream of being an art teacher,

    although I did find it difficult to connect with the other teachers. They weren¡¯t unkind and did exchange

    pleasantries with me each day, but I could tell that they didn¡¯t want to associate with me too much since

    they still thought that I was human. Maybe over time they would get to know me a bit more and would

    get over some of their biases. However, right now I couldn¡¯t help but wish that my wolf would just

    emerge already so that I would stop having to deal with this sort of attitude from people. Unfortunately,

    however, it didn¡¯t seem like Mina was getting a whole lot stronger. She seemed to be stagnating a bit at

    her current level of strength.

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    ¡°It¡¯s probably the baby,¡± she said when I asked her about it one morning. ¡°I think when you have the

    baby, I¡¯ll be able to get stronger. For now, your body is focusing on keeping you both healthy for the

    pregnancy.¡±

    It made sense, but it didn¡¯t necessarily make me feel any better about the situation.

    For now, because no one really wanted to talk to me too much, I spent the majority of my lunch breaks

    eating and drawing in my ssroom. Normally it was fine and I quite enjoyed the down time, but on this

    particr Friday I quickly came to the realization that I should have gone to the faculty lounge when I

    heard a knock on my door.

    I looked up, my cheeks stuffed with my sandwich, and quickly covered my mouth with my hand when I

    saw the headmistress standing there.

    ¡°Oh, sorry to interrupt,¡± she said. ¡°But you have a visitor.¡±

    I finished chewing and swallowed, then waved her in. ¡°Thank you, Headmistress Hawkins,¡± I said with a

    smile. I half expected it to be Edrick stopping by, or maybe Selina.

    But my smile faded when I saw who it really was: Ethan.

    ¡°Hi, Moana,¡± he said with a bit of a sheepish smile. He was holding a vase of flowers in his hand as he

    walked into my room.

    Part of me wanted to yell at him to get out after the way that he kissed me. I had thought about it a lot,

    and I was almost entirely certain that he and Kelly had worked together that night to make Edrick kick

    me out. I remembered the evil look in his eye when I saw Edrick confronting him, and how his

    demeanor suddenly shifted theatrically when he noticed me standing there. It wasn¡¯t just that, but

    seeing him so suddenly instantly reminded me of my conversation at the orphanage with ¡°Olivia¡±, who I

    was still unsure about. If it was possible that she really was an actress after all, then Ethan would have

    been on my list of suspects as to who hired her to begin with.

    But I didn¡¯t yell at him or kick him out. Maybe I was too nice; or maybe I was afraid. If he worked with

    Kelly before, then did he work with her when she hired those Rogues to attack me?

    ¡°Hey, Ethan,¡± I said, standing from my desk so abruptly I almost knocked my chair over. ¡°Um¡­¡± My

    voice faded away. What was I supposed to say to him? To what do I owe the pleasure? Nice to see

    you? What the hell are you doing in my ssroom? ¡°Long time no see.¡±

    I almost instantly cringed at my choice of words, but Ethan didn¡¯t seem to notice. Instead, he simply

    held up the flowers a bit.

    ¡°I brought you a peace offering,¡± he said, his cheeks turning a little red with embarrassment. ¡°I know I

    hurt your feelings that night at the party. I¡¯ve spent a lot of time thinking about it and I¡¯ve realized that I

    overstepped a lot of boundaries, and that wasn¡¯t right. But I¡¯d like to make it up to you, if you¡¯ll let me.

    I still didn¡¯t entirely trust him, but I was willing to hear him out. Maybe he would confess to working with

    Kelly. He did seem as though he was trying to make amends.

    With a stiff smile, I walked around my desk and took the flowers from him. They came in an expensive-

    looking crystal vase, and the flowers were a lovely array of sunflowers, baby¡¯s breath, and chamomile. I

    set the vase down on my desk, feeling Ethan¡¯s eyes on me the entire time, and turned back to offer him

    another stiff smile.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said.

    Ethan smiled back at me. There was a bit of an awkward silence as we stared at each other like two

    cautious felines, before he broke the silence by looking around at the ssroom.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re an art teacher now, huh?¡± he asked.

    I nodded. ¡°Yeah. E ising to school here now, and the position was open, so I just went for it.¡±

    Ethan looked at me and raised an eyebrow. ¡°You convinced Edrick to send E to school? How on

    earth did you do that?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°He pretty much came to the conclusion himself,¡± I said. ¡°I just rmended it.¡±

    ¡°Hm.¡± Ethan nodded slowly, then shoved his hands in his pockets and stared down at the floor. ¡°Well,

    I¡¯m happy for both of you,¡± he finally said, lifting his gaze a bit to meet mine. I had forgotten how

    charmingly shy he always was. It didn¡¯t make up for what he did and what I saw in him on the night of

    the party, but he wasn¡¯t acting suspicious now. Was this all an act too, or was he genuinely sorry for

    everything that happened and wanted to be friends again? Honestly, I was a bit lonely since the other

    teachers didn¡¯t really want to associate with me, but at the same time I knew that being friends with

    Ethan ¡ª regardless of how sincere he was being ¡ª wouldn¡¯t bode well for my rtionship with Edrick.

    Things were going so smoothly between Edrick and I now that I didn¡¯t want to throw a wrench into it by

    secretly bing friends with his half-brother again behind his back.

    ¡°Anyway¡­¡± Ethan paused, chewing the inside of his cheek, and leaned back on one of the desks

    behind him. ¡°I saw on the news that you two are officially engaged?¡±

    I nodded. I didn¡¯t know if I should have told him whether it was fake or not, although if Michael, Verona,

    and Kelly all knew, then he surely knew as well. Either way, I wanted to be vague, so I didn¡¯t say

    anything.

    Ethan looked at me for a moment, then quickly looked away. His cheeks turned a little red again as he

    spoke.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking,¡± he said, clearing his throat and meeting my gaze once more, ¡°what made

    Edrick suddenly decide to have a public rtionship and announce you as E¡¯s biological mother?¡±

 Chapter 170

    Chapter 170

    #Chapter 170: Fishing for Information

    Moana

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, what made Edrick suddenly decide to have a public rtionship and

    announce you as E¡¯s biological mother?¡±

    My eyes widened at Ethan¡¯s sudden question. It was rather unexpected and, despite the gentle and

    curious tone of voice he used and the innocent redness in his soft cheeks, I found his question

    downright creepy. After everything that had happened with Ethan both leading up to and during thest

    party when he kissed me without my consent, I didn¡¯t think for a moment that any sort of question like

    that wasn¡¯t loaded in some way or another. The fact alone that he suddenly showed up at my ce of

    work ¡ª and I didn¡¯t even fully know how he knew that I worked here yet ¡ª was enough of a cause for

    concern.

    ¡°Um¡­ I mean, I am pregnant with his child,¡± I responded with a bit of a nervousugh, and gestured at

    my belly ¡ª which had grown a bit since Ist saw Ethan and now couldn¡¯t be hidden terribly well under

    my dress. ¡°It was the most logical thing to do, I guess.¡±

    Ethan nodded slowly, but didn¡¯t answer right away. He then pushed himself up off of the desk he was

    leaning on and walked over to a corkboard that I had on the wall, which disyed some of my students¡¯

    artwork. He studied it carefully, and seemed to be thinking. I noticed that his eyesnded on something

    that E drew, and I knew that he knew that it was her drawing because her name was on it in big,

    crooked letters. He continued staring at it for a few moments, which made me oddly ufortable,

    before he turned back to face me and smiled.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m d that you two figured something out that works for you,¡± he said. He paused, licking his

    lips. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ I don¡¯t know. Edrick was always part of the whole anti-human crowd. So much has

    changed about him recently. I mean, I was already surprised enough when he wanted you to live with

    him and keep the baby, but to announce a public rtionship with a human and to im that you¡¯re

    E¡¯s biological mother¡ª¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your point, Ethan?¡± I asked, feeling myself getting more agitated. Part of me wanted to snap at

    him and tell him that I wasn¡¯t even a human, but I didn¡¯t feelfortable disclosing that information to

    him.

    Ethan shrugged. ¡°Nothing, really. Well¡­ That¡¯s a lie, actually.¡± He let out a wry chuckle. I folded my

    arms across my chest, trying to make him aware that I was losing patience without outright telling him

    off, but he didn¡¯t seem to notice. ¡°I¡¯m only curious because I thought that there was something special

    about you, Moana. I could sense it on you. Maybe Edrick already knows, or maybe he doesn¡¯t realize it

    ¡ª maybe you yourself don¡¯t even realize it ¡ª but I just want to say that if you happen to need any help

    figuring out your lineage, or anything like that, I¡¯d be happy to help you out with it.¡±

    I tried to hide my shock. Was Ethan being truthful, or was he just pulling my leg? Either way, it felt as

    though he was fishing for information, and it filled me with difort.

    ¡°Thanks, but I¡¯m fine,¡± I replied. ¡°And I¡¯m not sure if you know this, but Kelly did hire Rogues to attack

    me. Edrick had to save me. So if you¡¯re wondering why we suddenly decided to have a public

    rtionship, then maybe it was because that whole terrible ordeal traumatized both of us so much that

    it actually brought us closer and made us realize our feelings for each other. And you can tell Kelly that,

    too.¡±

    Ethan¡¯s eyes went wide for a moment. I couldn¡¯t tell if he already knew about the ordeal in the Rogue

    district or if that whole experience had been kept a secret, but either way, I didn¡¯t care. At this point, I

    just wanted him out of my ssroom; my lunch break was almost over and I would have a high school

    ssing in soon that I needed to prepare for. Therefore, when Ethan opened his mouth to speak, I

    cut him off.

    ¡°Thank you for the flowers, but I do need to get back to work,¡± I said, trying to sound at least somewhat

    polite without giving the impression that I was even remotely interested in speaking again.

    Ethan seemed to get the picture. He nodded slowly and, without a word, turned on his heel and walked

    out of the room.

    Once he was gone, I sank back down into my chair with a sigh and passed my hand over my face.

    Even just that ordeal was enough to exhaust me, and now that it was over I felt deted. I ced my

    hand over my belly and rubbed it gently, soothing both myself and the little werewolf that was inside of

    me.

    ¡°Mina,¡± I thought, leaning my head back on my chair and staring up at the ceiling, ¡°I know it¡¯s hard, but I

    need you to try to get stronger. I¡¯m tired of having to hide my true nature, and I¡¯m tired of feeling

    helpless when Edrick isn¡¯t around.¡±

    My wolf didn¡¯t respond, but I knew that she heard me. Whether or not she would be able to heed my

    words was still up for debate; I knew that there was no way to rush her getting stronger and emerging,

    and I really only said it to make myself feel better.

    For the remainder of that day, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about Ethan¡¯s strange visit. His flowers sat on my

    desk, taunting me in their stupid crystal vase as I wondered if I should tell Edrick that Ethan came and

    asked me all of those questions or if I should just keep it a secret and pretend it never happened. If he

    found out eventually, would he be mad at me or would he understand?

    It wasn¡¯t just that, either. The way that Ethan pried for answers¡­ The way that he stared at E¡¯s

    drawing with such a strange intensity¡­ The way that he somehow knew where I worked when it

    shouldn¡¯t have beenmon knowledge yet. All of it felt strange.

    A visit that, to Ethan, was apparently supposed to be a chance to reconcile, wound up unsettling me

    more than anything. Was he watching me? Was he working with Kelly and Michael? Did I need to be

    worried about myself, the baby, or even E?

    There was no way of knowing just what Ethan was up to, if anything. And I had been through enough

    stress already.

    That was why, by the end of the day, I decided that it was best to just move on and pretend that it never

    happened. It was better for everyone if it was swept under the rug, and when I saw Edrick¡¯s smile as I

    walked to meet him with E, I knew that I had made the right decision.

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    After all, I didn¡¯t want the news of his half-brother¡¯s strange and uncalled for visit to make that smile

    fade from his face.

 Chapter 171

    Chapter 171

    #Chapter 171: Stage Fright

    Moana

    I went home after work that day with an odd feeling in my stomach after my conversation with Ethan.

    All of it felt so¡­ contrived. At first, I thought that he was just trying to make amends for what happened

    at the family party. But when the strange questions began, it became obvious to me that he was either

    fishing for information or he was trying to drive another wedge between Edrick and I. Maybe it was both

    of those things, or maybe it was neither. Either way, I didn¡¯t know what to do.

    I didn¡¯t know if I should tell Edrick about it or if I should just pretend it didn¡¯t happen. Part of me felt as

    though the right thing to do would be to tell Edrick that Ethan had suddenly shown up in my ssroom,

    but at the same time I was worried that he would tell me that I shouldn¡¯t be teaching there anymore.

    Even though it had only been a week since I had begun my new job, I loved every moment of it and it

    felt as though my dreams were finally bing a reality. I couldn¡¯t let anyone get in the way of that,

    and so that evening I decided not to tell Edrick after all. I just told myself that Ethan wouldn¡¯te back

    again after that, and that I didn¡¯t need to worry. Everything would settle down soon.

    That evening, I helped E with her homework before dinner. She seemed to be doing well in school

    and was enjoying her new learning environment. Thanks to her excellent tutors, she wasn¡¯t behind in

    her education at all. However, she still seemed to be adjusting to being in a learning environment with

    other children. I expected that, of course, and so I wasn¡¯t surprised when she came to me with gripes

    about other students.

    ¡°Lucy always takes too long to answer the teacher¡¯s questions, and the teacher reprimanded me when

    I said the answer today,¡± E growled, sounding annoyed.

    I frowned. ¡°She reprimanded you?¡± I asked. ¡°Howe?¡±

    E shrugged. ¡°She says that everyone needs to raise their hand if they want to answer a question, but

    I don¡¯t see why. I knew the answer, and Lucy was taking forever, so I just said it.¡±

    I had to stifle a bit of augh. ¡°E, you have to give other kids a chance to answer,¡± I said gently.

    ¡°Maybe some kids need to take a little longer to think before they can answer, and that¡¯s okay.¡±

    E furrowed her brow. ¡°But it was an easy question. Is there something wrong with Lucy?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, love,¡± I replied. ¡°Just because someone takes a little longer doesn¡¯t mean that

    there¡¯s anything wrong with them. And besides, there¡¯s nothing really ¡®wrong¡¯ with anyone. Everyone is

    just different.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± E scrunched up her nose, just like she always did when she was a little annoyed. I ruffled her

    hair and sent her off to her room after that to get ready for dinner.

    ¡­

    Edrick didn¡¯te home until after dinner that evening. In fact, I was a bit surprised to hear hime

    home sote. I was sitting up in bed in Edrick¡¯s room, sketching in my sketchbook while I waited for

    him. The sun had just gone down, and the city lights hade on. I sort of missed the mountain

    estate, when it was actually dark out after the sun went down. Even though I loved the city, it was never

    really dark here. I wanted to see the stars.

    I didn¡¯t realize that Edrick came home, actually. I assumed that he would be out eventer; with

    everything going on recently, I supposed that he would be workingter in the day for a little while. I just

    hoped that he would be home before I fell asleep. I liked having him beside me when Iid down to go

    to bed.

    However, just as I was giving up hope and wasing to the conclusion that I would need to go to

    sleep without him, the sound of soft piano music suddenly came to my ears.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    I perked up in bed, my eyes widening as I looked around and realized that the piano music wasing

    from the living room.

    Edrick had yed the piano only once since I had moved in. I only got a chance to listen from afar for a

    few minutes before he noticed my presence and he stopped ying, and I hadn¡¯t heard him y since

    then. But as I slowly got up and creeped out of the room, I was determined to listen to him y for a

    little longer tonight.

    I wasn¡¯t sure why the Alpha billionaire chose to y the piano tonight. Lately, he had seemed happier

    than usual; maybe that was it. I quietly closed the bedroom door behind me and made my way toward

    the dark living room. As I did, the piano music became louder. It was even more beautiful now, and

    made me smile.

    When I walked out into the living room, I saw Edrick sitting at the piano. He had tossed his suit jacket

    down over the back of the couch and had rolled up his sleeves, and was hunched over the piano as the

    cool blue moonlight streamed in through the open window. I didn¡¯t know the name of what he was

    ying, but it was ethereal. The way that his fingers gently brushed each key made it look almost as

    though he was lightly petting the piano, and not actually ying it. He looked so peaceful during that

    moment.

    Maybe I got a little too close, though, because Edrick suddenly stopped and looked up at me. Even in

    the darkness, I could see that his face went red.

    ¡°S-Sorry,¡± he stuttered. ¡°Did I wake you up?¡±

    I shook my head and smiled. ¡°No,¡± I replied. ¡°I like hearing you y. Please don¡¯t stop.¡±

    Edrick looked at me for a few moments before taking in a sharp breath and starting to y again. Only

    this time, he started making mistakes. There was an odd chord here, an out of tune note there, and at

    one point he hit more than one key at once.

    I could tell that he was getting frustrated. He suddenly stopped again, and let out a sigh.

    But I had an idea; I could tell that he was nervous with an audience, but I still wanted to listen. So, with

    a smile, I walked over to the window and looked out with my back turned to him.

    ¡°I won¡¯t look, if that helps,¡± I said gently. ¡°But I really do like to hear you y. I¡¯ll just listen, if you don¡¯t

    mind.¡±

    Edrick didn¡¯t say anything for a bit. I heard him shifting ufortably on the piano bench, and I felt a

    pang in my chest as I wondered if I should have just left him alone and listened from his bedroom. But

    then, a smile spread across my face as I heard the first notes being yed again.

    Now that I was only listening, he didn¡¯t mess up any of the notes. In fact, he only yed even more

    beautifully. The melody was almost haunting, but only in the best way. And the entire time he yed for

    me, even though I couldn¡¯t see him, the smile never left my face.

    During those moments, I was happier than I had ever felt before.

 Chapter 172

    Chapter 172

    #Chapter 172: Control

    Moana

    As I listened to Edrick ying the piano, I couldn¡¯t wipe the smile off of my face. I wished that I could

    see him, but if it made him too nervous, then I was happy to just listen. He yed beautifully, and I

    hoped that I could always hear his music from then on.

    The song that he was ying came to an end, and was followed by silence. I didn¡¯t realize it, but I had

    shut my eyes as I lost myself listening to the music. I opened them again and turned, expecting him to

    still be sitting at the piano, but he wasn¡¯t.

    He was standing right behind me, looking down at me with those glowing silver eyes.

    Edrick was so close to me that I could smell his cologneing off of his shirt and could feel his warm

    breath on my face. Being this close to him made me tremble, but only in a good way.

    ¡°Edrick¡­¡± I whispered, looking up to meet his gaze.

    He stared down at me silently, with only his glowing silver eyes conveying his emotion. There was

    something harsh and dominant about them, but something soft, too.

    Suddenly, Edrick bent down to kiss me. His kiss was deep and passionate, and his tongue began to

    work its way in between my parted lips as our breaths intertwined. I felt his arm wrap firmly around my

    waist, and he pulled me close. It was almost a little too rough, but at the same time it sent an excited

    shiver down my spine. My entire body bristled with titition; finally, after seemingly bing closer to

    me after the most recent weeks, I could be intimate with Edrick again. Everything felt as though it was

    falling into ce, and I couldn¡¯t have been happier.

    As he kissed me deeply and sensually, Edrick¡¯s hands slid up my back, through my hair and around the

    nape of my neck. He tilted my chin up further with his hands as he cupped my face. I felt a soft,

    involuntary moan escape my lips, and I pressed my hands up against his chest and began to work at

    his shirt buttons while his lips traveled down to my throat.

    While I worked at his buttons, he suddenly pulled my hands away and picked me up as though I

    weighed nothing. I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me to his bedroom, and heid me down

    on the bed.

    He pressed his body against mine, running his hand up my leg and pushing up my nightgown as he

    kissed my lips. I could feel his erection through his pants, pressing against me and reminding me of the

    night that we first had our fated one night stand. I remembered how big he was, and it made me want

    to feel that sensation of fullness inside of me again.

    His kisses traveled across my jaw, then down my neck and down to my chest, only stopping where the

    lace of my nightgown covered my skin. Once he reached that point, he looked up at me, as though

    silently asking permission to remove my nightgown. I bit my lip and nodded slowly, watching as he slid

    a finger under the strap and slid it off of my shoulder. The fabric fell down and exposed my round, milky

    white breast in the moonlight. Goosebumps were already raised on my skin, and my n****e was hard. I

    wanted him to kiss my breasts. I wanted him to kiss my entire body.

    And he was about to.

    But then, he just¡­ stopped. The silver light in his eyes faded back to gray, and he quickly covered my

    breast again before sitting up and putting distance between us. His face looked red with

    embarrassment, and he avoided my gaze. I sat up abruptly, my eyebrows knit together with worry.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked, feeling a pang in my chest as I looked at him.

    Edrick shook his head and stood. ¡°You have to stop releasing your scent,¡± he said, his voice low and

    stern. ¡°It¡¯s not fair. It makes me¡­ It makes me lose control.¡±

    My eyes widened. I didn¡¯t know that Mina had released her scent yet again, and I would have to

    reprimand her for itter as we had agreed that she would ask for permission first. But at the same

    time, I didn¡¯t fully understand why we had to keep doing this.

    ¡°What does it matter?¡± I asked, standing and letting my thin nightgown fall back down around my legs.

    ¡°We want each other. Why can¡¯t we just be intimate for once?¡±

    ¡°I just can¡¯t,¡± Edrick replied, sounding almost annoyed. ¡°It¡¯s not right.¡±

    I furrowed my brow. ¡°I¡¯m carrying your baby,¡± I said. My voice was beginning to raise slightly. ¡°We¡¯ve

    announced ourselves publicly as a couple. We sleep in the same bed, for goodness¡¯ sake. Why do we

    need to keep doing this? What makes it not right?¡±

    Edrick¡¯s face darkened. Instead of answering, he turned and walked over to the door to leave, but I ran

    after him. I wasn¡¯t going to let him just storm off, just like he always did when we got too close and he

    felt the need to distance himself from me for no apparent reason. I grabbed his arm, maybe a little

    harder than I meant to, causing him to freeze and stare down at me with wide eyes.

    ¡°Just talk to me, Edrick,¡± I said. ¡°This has gone on for too long. I want to know the real reason behind

    why you find it so abhorrent to be intimate with me.¡±

    ¡°Because!¡± Edrick said, almost shouting now. He whirled around to face me fully, and his face was

    twisted with an expression that I couldn¡¯t read. ¡°I will never marry you! Not you, and not anyone, and I

    don¡¯t want to give you the wrong idea! I don¡¯t care that you¡¯re my mate. The mate bond means

    nothing.¡±

    My jaw dropped at Edrick¡¯s words. I pped my hand over my mouth and shook my head, my eyes

    widening as I took a step backwards.

    He knew all along that he was my mate? So my wolf¡¯s intuition was true after all?

    Edrick¡¯s eyes were just as wide as mine as we stared at each other inplete silence. I could tell that

    he didn¡¯t mean to reveal it, but there was no taking it back now.

    I didn¡¯t know what to say; I didn¡¯t even know where to begin. The fact alone that Edrick knew that I was

    his mate all along and never said anything hurt enough, but now to know that he still nned on not

    being with me despite knowing that I was supposed to be his mate just made me sick to my stomach.

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    I couldn¡¯t be here anymore; tonight, I would sleep in my own room, away from him. I needed space to

    think. Without another word, I quickly brushed past Edrick. As I ran across the penthouse to my room,

    Edrick didn¡¯t seem to be following me, either.

    Once the door was locked behind me, I threw myself down on my bed that night, and stared listlessly

    up at the moonlight-speckled ceiling.

    Never before had I heard of a mate refusing the mate bond. And now, it was happening to me.

    Why did it seem as though I was cursed when it came to love?

 Chapter 173

    Chapter 173

    #Chapter 173: Said Too Much

    Edrick

    ¡°I want to know the real reason behind why you find it so abhorrent to be intimate with me,¡± Moana

    said, chasing after me and grabbing my arm as I tried to storm out.

    What I said next was a mistake. I knew that as soon as the cruel words came out of my mouth, and I

    wished that I could take them back when I saw the look on Moana¡¯s soft face.

    ¡°Because!¡± I said, whirling around to face Moana. ¡°I will never marry you! Not you, and not anyone, and

    I don¡¯t want to give you the wrong idea! I don¡¯t care that you¡¯re my mate. The mate bond means

    nothing.¡±

    Moana¡¯s eyes widened. She released her grip on my arm and covered her mouth with her hand, taking

    a step back. We stared at each other in shocked silence for several long moments before she suddenly

    brushed past me and ran out of the room.

    ¡°God dammit, Edrick,¡± I whispered to myself once she was gone. I pped my hand on the wall and

    cursed under my breath. I felt like such a fool for saying too much; not only had I revealed that Moana

    was my mate too early, but I hadpletely misconstrued what I wanted to say and I had hurt her

    feelings because of it.

    ¡°You¡¯re too harsh with her,¡± Eddy, my wolf, said. He was normally silent, and only offered advice when I

    specifically asked for it. Every wolf had its own personality, and Eddy was definitely the stoic type. But

    even he realized that I messed up just now and had to tell me about it.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware of that, Eddy,¡± I responded out loud as I paced restlessly around my bedroom. I sighed and

    flung the balcony doors open to let in the fresh air, and stepped out into the cool night. As I leaned on

    the railing and looked out over the city, I felt myself beginning to be able to think more clearly.

    Truthfully, I did want to mate with Moana. I knew how I felt about her; I knew that, eventually, I would no

    longer be able to resist her, no matter how hard I tried. But at the same time, I was terrified.

    I had spent my entire life hating the entire idea of the mate bond. I hated everything it stood for. I hated

    the lies that it spread, how people were so blinded by the idea of it that they just assumed that nothing

    could ever break the mate bond. My father and my mother were both living proof of the fact that the

    mate bond wasplete and utter bullshit. They were supposed to be fated mates, and he still

    cheated on her. He still treated her poorly, and yet she continued to love him unconditionally. It made

    me sick.

    But deep down, I knew that Moana would never betray me. I knew that I could never betray her, either.

    I knew that I couldn¡¯t bring myself to hurt her, which was why I had beening around to the idea.

    It wasn¡¯t that simple, though. If she marked me now, then she would shift too early. I had done my

    research over the past few weeks and discovered that te bloomers¡± like Moana ¡ª rare cases where

    people¡¯s wolves wouldn¡¯t appear untilter in life ¡ª would often shift upon marking their mate. It was

    rare, but it could happen. Not only that, but it could be dangerous for both her and the baby, and I

    especially didn¡¯t need to worry about her being hunted. I was only trying to keep her safe.

    And yet, I still hurt her because I couldn¡¯t keep control of my stupid tongue. Why was I cursed with

    always saying the wrong things at the wrong times?

    Finally, with a sigh I pushed myself away from the balcony railing and headed back inside. The bed

    looked empty without Moana; I needed to make things right with her. I decided to go over to her room

    and apologize, and exin what I really meant earlier. At the very least, I thought that I should check

    on her.

    However, when I walked over to her bedroom and tried to open the door, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to do it.

    My hand froze just before I touched the doorknob.

    I heard what sounded like a sniffle inside, followed by a quiet sob. Had I made her cry?

    I stood frozen there for a few moments, battling with myself about whether I should go in there and talk

    to her or leave her alone.

    ¡°Go,¡± Eddy urged me. ¡°Don¡¯t just ignore her.¡±

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    But I couldn¡¯t. She was crying because of me; I didn¡¯t want to show my face and make it even worse.

    Ultimately, I would only hurt her feelings again.

    And finally, despite my wolf¡¯s wishes, I chose to leave her alone.

    Eddy wasn¡¯t happy about that decision. Neither was I, admittedly. But I couldn¡¯t bring myself to look her

    in the face ¡ª not after I had made her cry with my words. I would have never admitted it to anyone, not

    even to myself, but I was embarrassed by my own actions.

    I decided that I would talk to her in the morning, after we had both had a good night of sleep.

    Everything was always better in the morning.

    But I couldn¡¯t sleep without her. I quickly realized that when Iid down; after almost an hour of tossing

    and turning, I finally cursed to myself and threw the nkets off. I got out of bed and walked over to the

    bathroom to retrieve my sleeping pills from the medicine cab.

    ¡°Just one,¡± I said to myself under my breath with a sigh before popping the pill in my mouth and

    swallowing it without even any water. I frowned as I looked at myself in the mirror; I had been doing so

    well without the sleeping pills, and I hated the way that they made me feel. I hadn¡¯t even really been

    drinkingtely, and I probably had Moana to thank for that. Moana and her strange abilities. Now, I had

    pushed her away and had to resort to the old methods of getting sleep.

    I went back to bed, but another hour passed and sleep still didn¡¯te. I popped another couple of

    pills; within half an hour after that, I was beginning to feel fuzzy.

    But I still couldn¡¯t sleep.

    I got out of bed and stumbled back to the medicine cab, dumping two more pills out into my hand.

    How many had I taken at this point? I furrowed my brow as I counted in my head, but I quickly lost

    count, and I lost my sense of logic along with it. I popped two more pills¡­

    What happened that night after that was a blur. I wasn¡¯t sure how many times I got up and stumbled

    over to the medicine cab, but soon it got to the point where I lost count entirely, and forgot that I had

    even gotten up before. Each time I got up, I felt like a broken record, and each time I popped a pill, I felt

    as though I hadn¡¯t taken any medicine yet.

    I didn¡¯t know what happened exactly after the fifth or sixth time that I stumbled over to the medicine

    cab. Reality was fading in and out in shes, and then¡­

    Before I even made it back to the bed, everything wentpletely dark and all I felt was the sensation

    of my knees buckling under me, and my head hitting the floor.

 Chapter 174

    Chapter 174

    #Chapter 174: Emergency Care

    Moana

    That night, I tried to fight the tears. But no matter how hard I fought and tried to keep my head up, I

    couldn¡¯t entirely stop myself from crying just a little bit.

    After all, I had just discovered that Edrick not only knew all along that I was his mate, but that he also

    still didn¡¯t n on ever being with me despite this. The thought of it made me feel incredibly sick, and I

    felt helpless. All I ever wanted was to give my baby the happy home life with two loving parents that I

    never got to have, and yet I had somehow managed to be the fated mate of someone who simply

    couldn¡¯t even bear the thought of being with me. Was there something wrong with me? Was that why I

    had such bad luck in love?

    My wolf, however, was surprisingly quiet throughout all of this. Even though she supposedly released

    her scent and that was what made Edrick ¡°lose control¡± and kiss me passionately, I didn¡¯t feel much

    from her. In fact, when I reached out and tried to talk to her for some guidance, she seemed different

    than usual.

    ¡°Mina?¡± I called out in my mind. Even though it had only been a short few months since I had

    discovered that I even had a wolf, talking to her telepathically was bing more and more natural. I

    rarely ever identally spoke out loud, and it felt much less awkward now to talk to her in my mind. In

    fact, on asion I even felt as though I could picture her whenever we talked.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Yes?¡± she responded. Her voice sounded like a distant echo. There was a sleepy, almost

    giddy quality to it. It almost sounded as though she had too much to drink, although that was just a silly

    thought.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± I asked. ¡°Were you sleeping?¡± Even though it didn¡¯t make sense that she could have

    been sleeping with everything going on, I supposed that I still didn¡¯t quite know everything about how

    werewolves worked.

    Mina took a long time to respond. When she did, her voice sounded a little closer, but it still had that

    sleepy quality to it.

    ¡°I¡¯m okay. I¡¯ve just been a little¡­ Tired¡­¡±

    I furrowed my brow and rolled onto my back, wiping the leftover tears off of my face with the back of my

    hand as I stared up at the ceiling. It was a bit worrying to hear my wolf sounding like this, and I had

    noticed that she seemed to be acting a bit offtely. But I decided that it was likely just from the

    pregnancy, or maybe the stress of the incident with the Rogues. Either way, I thought for sure that it

    couldn¡¯t be anything serious. I decided to let her rest that night; besides, I was getting tired as well.

    Even though I wanted Edrick by my side, I was still angry with him, and so I decided to finally crawl

    under my covers and try to sleep.

    ¡­

    Somehow, I did manage to sleep that night. There was a bit of tossing and turning, but it did finally

    happen. And when I woke up, I felt a little bit better about what had happened the night before.

    Maybe it was from a good night of sleep, or maybe it was from the sun shining in through my open

    window. Maybe it was both. Either way, as I got out of bed, I decided that I was going to go over to

    Edrick¡¯s room to talk to him. It was Saturday, so E would have trainingter, but there was still time.

    Maybe I could even convince Edrick to go to the orphanage with me, and seeing the children would

    make both of us feel better.

    I threw on my robe and pulled my hair into a bun before heading over to Edrick¡¯s room. When I arrived,

    I almost hesitated for a moment before biting my lip and knocking anyway.

    There was no response.

    I wanted to see if he was even home, so I quietly cracked open the door and peered in. I furrowed my

    brow, however, when I saw that the bedsheets were unkempt but the bed was empty, as though he had

    gotten out of bed and left without making the bed. He always made his side of the bed as soon as he

    woke up, so it was out of character. Was he really so upsetst night that he couldn¡¯t even follow his

    own routine in the morning?

    ¡°Edrick?¡± I called out quietly. I noticed that the bathroom door was open and the light was on, which

    was only more confusing, so I slowly stepped into the room.

    And when I did, my jaw dropped.

    ¡°Edrick!¡± I shouted, running over to where he was lying on the floor. He was lying face down on the floor

    with his arms outstretched, as though he had fallen in the middle of the night. I struggled to roll him

    over, but I finally managed to get him onto his back. His lips were a slight shade of blue. ¡°How did this

    happen?¡± I whispered.

    But then, I saw it: the empty bottle of pillsying on the bathroom floor.

    I couldn¡¯t believe it; I didn¡¯t want to believe it. Had Edrick really tried to¡­ kill himselfst night? My eyes

    filled with tears, and I began to shake him roughly. ¡°Wake up!¡± I shouted. ¡°Wake up! Selina! Help!¡±

    A few momentster, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. The door swung open, and Selina

    came into the room. She pped her hand over her mouth and let out a sharp yell of surprise at the

    scene in front of her.

    ¡°What happened?¡± she said, her voice shaking.

    I couldn¡¯t speak. I could only point at the empty bottle of pills as my hand shook violently, and I

    continued to shake Edrick in an attempt to take him up to no avail.

    ¡°I¡¯ll call the doctor,¡± Selina said before running away.

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    I continued to shake Edrick. My tears dripped down my cheek and onto his shirt. ¡°Please, Edrick, wake

    up,¡± I whimpered as I continued to shake him. ¡°Please¡­¡±

    I bent down over him as a choked sob came out of my mouth, and put my ear to his chest. His heart

    was beating, at least. When I ced my finger under his nose, I could feel his breathing out. A

    wave of relief washed over me as I realized that he was still alive at the very least, but I didn¡¯t know for

    how long.

    ¡°Please be okay,¡± I whispered. I took his hand and rubbed it gently, watching his face for any sign of

    movement while I heard Selina frantically calling the doctor in the other room. By now, I could hear the

    maids causing amotion. E¡¯s tiny voice was mixed in, but I heard one of the maids make up a lie

    and take her away before she saw anything.

    ¡°I called the doctor,¡± Selina said as she burst back into the room. ¡°He¡¯ll be here in ten minutes.¡±

    I nodded, but I felt too numb now to respond. All I could do was keep holding Edrick¡¯s hand, and keep

    watching his face.

 Chapter 175: Homeopathic Methods

    <strong>Chapter 175: Homeopathic Methods</strong>

    Edrick

    ¡°Oh, good. He¡¯s waking up.¡±This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    The first thing I noticed when I came back to consciousness was a splitting headache pounding in my skull. When I finally cracked open my eyes, squinting against even the dim light of my bedside table, I saw three figures bent over me. And, judging from the hardness under my back and the position I was lying in, I quickly realized that I wasid out on the floor rather than my bed.

    ¡°Wh...What happened?¡± I muttered, noticing the distinct feeling of nausea rolling around in my stomach as though I had had too many drinks the night before and was now hungover.

    ¡°Shh. You¡¯re alright,¡± a male voice said. My eyes slowly came into focus, and the blurriness in my vision faded enough for me to see that my doctor was standing over me with a concerned look on his face and his stethoscope in his ears. Behind him, I could see Selina standing there with her arms folded across her chest and disappointment in her eyes. On my other side, Moana was staring intently at me and was holding my hand so tightly that it seemed as though her life depended on it.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re lucky you¡¯re a werewolf,¡± the doctor said with an exasperated sigh as he finished listening to my heartbeat and put his stethoscope back around his neck. ¡°That many pills could have killed a human, but you won¡¯t have anysting damage.¡±

    I furrowed my brow, feeling a bit confused. Last I remembered, I went to bed the night before after taking some sleeping pills. But oddly, everything felt much fuzzier than normal. I had never felt this way from taking my sleeping medicine before, unless...

    ¡°Did I take too much?¡± I asked, blinking rapidly to refocus my eyes.

    Selina scoffed. ¡°Too much? Too much!¡± she reprimanded. ¡°You took the entire bottle! What on earth possessed you to do something so horrible? If it weren¡¯t for Moana finding you this morning, you would have left two children without a fathe¡ª¡±

    ¡°Now, now,¡± the doctor intervened, noticing the baffled expression on my face. ¡°Let¡¯s not jump to conclusions. Edrick... Do you remember how many pills you tookst night?¡±

    I shook my head. It was starting toe back to me, but it was still fuzzy. ¡°I think I might have gotten up a few more times than I meant to,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t remember, though.¡±

    The doctor let out another sigh and nodded slowly. ¡°So it wasn¡¯t intentional?¡± he asked. I shook my head again, and everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief. The doctor pursed his lips thoughtfully before answering. ¡°It¡¯s not umon. If you take too many at first, you can forget how much you took before. It can be quite dangerous, and it does lead to idental overdoses. Like I said, you¡¯re lucky that you¡¯re a werewolf and not a human. I¡¯m guessing that your wolf had to put you into a bit of a dormant state in order to stop the poison from getting through your bloodstream.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± my wolf said in my mind. ¡°I kept trying to stop you, but the pills made it so you couldn¡¯t hear me.¡±

    So that was what happened. I was relieved and thankful that my wolf was there to stop it.

    ¡°Thank you, doctor,¡± I said, sitting up with ease. ¡°I promise it won¡¯t happen again.¡±

    The doctor looked at me for a moment, thenughed and shook his head. ¡°Of course it won¡¯t happen again. I¡¯m discontinuing your prescription.¡±

    My eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re what?¡± I asked, feeling anger already beginning to bubble up inside of me. ¡°I need my medicine. You don¡¯t understa¡ª¡±

    ¡°Edrick, I¡¯ve already given him your stockpile of pills,¡± Selina interrupted. When I looked over at her, she was frowning deeply at me. She looked both exhausted and angry. ¡°You¡¯re not taking them anymore.¡±

    I passed my hand over my face and shook my head incredulously. This couldn¡¯t be happening; I needed my medication. I paid the doctor out of my own pocket, and he couldn¡¯t take my medication away.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a child,¡± I said angrily. ¡°You can¡¯t just confiscate my own medication that I paid for.¡±

    Suddenly, Moana, who had been silent this entire time, spoke. ¡°Edrick...¡± Her voice was weak and shook a little bit. When I looked over at her, she was looking up at me with tears in her eyes. I realized then from the look on her face and the way that she was gripping my hand that she must have been so terrified when she found me lying on the floor that morning, and it made me feel like a major jerk for allowing that to happen. ¡°Please listen to the doctor. That medication is dangerous.¡±

    I stared silently at Moana¡¯s soft face for a few moments. She looked haggard and terrified, and the longer I looked at her, the more I became angry with myself for letting her see me like that. Maybe she was right; if that medication was dangerous, maybe I shouldn¡¯t take it. I didn¡¯t want to scare her like that ever again.

    Finally, I let out an exasperated sigh and turned back to face the doctor.

    ¡°Fine,¡± I murmured. ¡°I won¡¯t take the medication anymore. But, doctor, I need something for my sleeping problems. Isn¡¯t there anything you can do?¡±

    The doctor simply shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not,¡± he said gently. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Edrick. I wish I could do something for you, but I think that you¡¯re just going to have to find alternative methods for sleep. There are all sorts of homeopathic herbs and teas. You could try yoga or meditation before bed; I¡¯ll give you some rmendations, if you¡¯d like.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary,¡± I replied, feeling myself go a bit numb at the prospect of being without my medication.

    Suddenly, I felt Moana¡¯s hand tighten even more around mine. When I looked over at her, I felt myself soften once more at the sight of her. She seemed to give me a knowing look, as though she knew that her presence was the only thing other than medication that could make me sleep. And she was right. Thanks to her, I knew that I wouldn¡¯t need medication or any other homeopathic methods to sleep.

    But as my memories of the previous night flooded back into my brain, I remembered the awful things that I had said to her. I had told her that I would never marry her or anyone, and I had revealed that I knew that she was my mate and yet I still didn¡¯t n on marrying her, despite the baby in her belly. It wasn¡¯t really what I meant, but I had still said it because I was frustrated and angry that I had lost control around her, and because I was scared ofmitting when the thought of a mate bond made me sick.

    All of this happened because of me ¡ª because I took her for granted and pushed her away. I was a real jerk for that, and I didn¡¯t know how I could ever make it up to her.

    Moana was my only true sleeping pill, and I had hurt her badly with my horrible words. I only hoped that she could forgive me.

 Chapter 176

    Chapter 176

    #Chapter 176: Live-In Caretaker

    Moana

    The relief I felt when the doctor said that Edrick would be okay couldn¡¯t even possibly be put into

    words.

    ¡°Well, I think you¡¯ll be okay now,¡± the doctor said as Edrick got up to his feet with no trouble. ¡°Rest

    today and you¡¯ll be fine by tomorrow.¡±

    Edrick nodded. Both of us watched as Selina and the doctor walked out of the room, leaving Edrick and

    I alone once more. Instantly, I turned toward him with a frown.

    ¡°Don¡¯t scare me like that,¡± I said in a scolding, yet quiet voice. Before Edrick could answer, I ushered

    him over to the bed and forced him to lie down, just as the doctor ordered.

    ¡°Geez,¡± Edrick said, lying down. ¡°I get it. You don¡¯t need to worry about me now, though.¡±

    I shook my head and frowned even more. There was so much I wanted to say; I wanted to tell him that

    he was a bloody fool for pushing me away. I wanted to ask him if he realized now that he needed me

    after all, and that it wasn¡¯t smart of him to take my presence for granted. But as I looked down at him

    and watched as he pulled the nkets up to his chest and stared up at me with his icy gray eyes, I

    couldn¡¯t bring myself to scold him. I was just d that he was okay, and I wanted to take care of him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get you some tea,¡± I said quietly. I turned on my heel and walked out of the room, then made my

    way over to the kitchen to put the kettle on. Selina was still giving the doctor the remainder of Edrick¡¯s

    leftover pill bottles by the front door, and I could overhear him giving her strict instructions on how to

    keep an eye on him to make sure that he didn¡¯t try anything else to sleep, such as illicit drugs or too

    much alcohol. While they talked, I prepared a pot of chamomile tea and waited for the water to boil.

    I tried to reach out to my wolf again to see if she was feeling better, but still got no response. She

    seemed to be sleeping again, and when she stirred a bit, it wasn¡¯t for long. This made me nervous; I

    decided then and there that if this went on for too much longer, I would have to figure out why this was

    happening. I still figured that it was just the pregnancy, but I couldn¡¯t be too sure.

    Suddenly, Selina came into the kitchen and saw that I was preparing Edrick tea. I had even begun to

    make breakfast for the two of us without fully realizing it; even I was exhausted after the night before

    and the whole ordeal from that morning.

    ¡°You look tired,¡± Selina said with a sigh. ¡°Let me take care of E today.¡±

    I shook my head and stifled a yawn. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I won¡¯t make you do that.¡±

    Selina frowned as she looked at me. ¡°Nonsense. Besides, Edrick needs someone to keep an eye on

    him. Doctor¡¯s orders; and that person might as well be you¡­¡±

    A little whileter, I returned to Edrick¡¯s room with a trayden with tea and breakfast. He was no longer

    in bed when I walked in, which caused me to panic for a moment until I heard the bathroom door open.

    Steam poured out of the bathroom as he walked out, drying his hair with a towel. He was only wearing

    his pajama pants with no shirt, and I felt myself blush as I set the tray down on the bed.

    ¡°I¡¯m really fine,¡± Edrick said. ¡°You don¡¯t need to go to all of this effort.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the doctor¡¯s orders,¡± I replied. ¡°Just eat your breakfast and don¡¯tin.¡±

    I thought I saw a bit of a smile sh across Edrick¡¯s lips, and I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit, too.

    ¡°Well¡­ Thanks,¡± Edrick said quietly as he sat down on the bed and picked up a cup of tea. ¡°I do

    appreciate it. I appreciate you.¡± Edrick¡¯s words made my face turn a deep shade of scarlet red. Without

    a word, I nervously sat down across from him and joined him in eating breakfast in bed.

    However, after our argument from the night before, the air between us was awkward and silent as we

    ate. Finally, after several minutes of eating without a single word said between the two of us, Edrick

    opened his mouth to speak. Part of me thought that he was going to apologize¡­ But instead, he

    pointed at the TV.

    ¡°Wanna watch a movie while we eat? I found a good one that I think you¡¯ll like.¡±

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    ¡°Um¡­ Sure,¡± I replied. Edrick nodded and turned on the television, then turned on the movie. Much to

    my surprise, it was a romanticedy; Edrick had never struck me as a movie-watcher, let alone

    someone who liked romanticedies. But soon enough, I found myselfughing alongside him. In

    fact, when we finished the movie, Edrick suddenly jumped up and ran out of the room, only to return a

    few minutester with his arms full of snacks. Her threw the bags of popcorn and chips down on the

    bed like a little kid who had just raided the pantry, and put on anotheredy movie.

    It was odd seeing this side of him after our argument from the night before. Edrick never brought it up

    or apologized for it, but in a way, I almost felt as though this was his way of trying to make it up to me. I

    even caught him looking at me sheepishly on more than one asion, as though he knew that he had

    hurt my feelings the night before and that he had scared the hell out of me that morning.

    As weughed and ate too many snacks, watching movies well into the night, it reminded me of the

    night that we had watched the liveedy show at theworking event. I remembered how much I

    loved seeing himugh loudly and naturally that night, and that was what he did tonight. The sound of

    hisughter filled the air, and regardless of everything that was said during our argument and

    regardless of what had happened that morning, I couldn¡¯t help but smile as well.

    Somehow, we managed to spend the entire day and all eveningying in bed and watching movies.

    Once Edrick knew that E was asleep, he sneakily ordered food to be delivered to the penthouse. We

    spent the rest of the evening eating take-out burgers andughing at more funny movies, and soon

    enough I found myself not thinking about our argument or his idental overdose at all.

    In fact, that night I fell asleep on Edrick¡¯s chest as the movie yed. And just before I slipped off into

    sleep, I felt his arm gently wrap around me, and I felt his lips kiss my forehead. I pretended to be

    asleep and hid my expression.

    But secretly, I was still hurt over what Edrick had said the night before. And now, I hoped that I wasn¡¯t

    just a sleeping pill or a live-in caretaker to him.

 Chapter 177

    Chapter 177

    #Chapter 177: Caffeine Crash

    Moana

    The rest of the weekend went by too quickly. I spent all of Sunday with E to make up for not seeing

    her on Saturday, and soon enough Monday morning came around.

    However, I noticed something over the weekend as well as the first few days of the week: Mina¡¯s

    sleepiness wasn¡¯t getting any better. In fact, it only seemed to be getting worse, and it was making me

    nervous. At first, I thought it was just the pregnancy, but now I was beginning to think otherwise.

    And in fact, there was something especially odd about it.

    Mina seemed to get better at nighttime. She still had very little energy during that time, but it was an

    obvious improvement nheless. This slightly heightened energy would go on through the night and

    the early morning, but then she would get extremely sleepy again whenever I drank my morning coffee.

    By Thursday, I was beginning to get suspicious. I decided then to try an experiment; on Thursday

    morning, I decided not to drink my morning coffee.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± Selina said as I walked into the kitchen. I was already dressed for work, and E was

    already sitting at the kitchen counter and eating her toast and eggs before school. I kissed E on top

    of her head and smiled at Selina, who had just ced a te of breakfast down for me.

    But when I sat down, I saw that my coffee was there. I subtly pushed it away and ate my breakfast

    without mentioning it, but Selina noticed that the cup was untouched as I finished eating and stood up

    to get ready to leave.

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t like your coffee?¡± she asked, looking a bit confused. ¡°I thought you loved your morning

    coffee.¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± I replied with a nonchnt smile. ¡°I¡¯m just not in the mood for coffee this morning, I¡¯m afraid.¡±

    Selina looked at me for a moment, then nodded and poured the cup of coffee down the sink. I felt a bit

    bad for wasting it, but I needed to find out if the coffee had something to do with my wolf¡¯s sleepiness.

    Maybe the caffeine was interacting strangely with my body due to the pregnancy.

    Edrick was waiting for E and I in the foyer when we walked out. He smiled at us as the elevator doors

    opened, but what he said in the elevator baffled me.

    ¡°I heard you didn¡¯t want your coffee this morning.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow and look at Edrick with a bit of confusion. Why did it seem as

    though both Selina and Edrick were overly concerned about whether I drank my coffee or not that

    morning?

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said as the elevator doors opened to the lobby and we stepped out. ¡°I didn¡¯t want the caffeine

    this morning.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Edrick almost seemed a little bit put off by that, which I thought was strange. However, he

    didn¡¯t bring it up again, and instead had pleasant conversation with E and myself as we walked to

    school. By the time we arrived and waved goodbye, I had almost forgotten about it.

    However, as I taught my sses that day, I noticed that Mina¡¯s energy was indeed higher than it had

    been recently. In fact, by the time school was out and I walked out of the school with E, Mina¡¯s

    energy seemed almost normal again.

    Maybe it was just the caffeine interacting poorly with my body because of the pregnancy.

    ¡°Hi, daddy!¡± E said as we walked up to meet him. Edrick grinned and crouched down to let E climb

    up onto his shoulders. As he stood once more, however, I noticed something.

    He was holding a smoothie in his hand.

    ¡°Here,¡± he said with a smile, holding the smoothie out for me. ¡°I got you something. It¡¯s hot out, so I

    thought this might be refreshing for you after working all day.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I replied, taking the cold smoothie cup out of his hand. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Daddy, did you get a smoothie for me?¡± E asked.

    Edrick sighed and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Princess,¡± he replied. ¡°I forgot. We¡¯ll pass the smoothie

    cart on the way back, so I¡¯ll get you one. Okay?¡±

    ¡°She can have mine,¡± I said, holding the cup back out. ¡°I don¡¯t really need it.¡±

    Suddenly, Edrick¡¯s face changed in an unexpected way, and his eyes widened. ¡°No!¡± he said, almost

    shouting.

    My own eyes went wide. I was taken aback by Edrick¡¯s insistence, and stared up at him confusedly.

    ¡°Well¡­ Why not?¡± I asked, looking down at therge smoothie cup. ¡°I don¡¯t mind sharing. Heck, all

    three of us could share. It¡¯s a big cup.¡±

    Edrick went silent for a moment. He kept opening and closing his mouth, as though he was trying to

    come up with something to say. Seeing him like this made me nervous, and I couldn¡¯t help but think

    back on Edrick¡¯s strange obsession with my coffee that morning. I looked back down at the smoothie

    cup then and started to have an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach.

    ¡°I just¡­ don¡¯t think that E would like that vor,¡± Edrick said with a smile. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s yours. If you

    can¡¯t finish it, that¡¯s okay.¡±

    With that, Edrick began to walk with E on his shoulders. I watched after him for a moment before

    catching up, but I couldn¡¯t stop wondering what his deal was today. But the longer I thought about it, the

    more I figured that he was just having an off day; maybe he still felt bad about what he had said on

    Friday night and was trying to make it up to me. And besides, it was incredibly hot out that day, and the

    smoothie did look cold and refreshing. I decided to take a sip, and found it surprisingly delicious. In fact,

    I had drunk half of it by the time we stopped at the smoothie cart to get her her own, and I had finished

    it by the time we got home.

    As we took the elevator back up to the penthouse, Edrick noticed my empty cup and almost seemed to

    rx a little bit.

    And within the hour, I was pretty certain that I realized why; something was in that smoothie, because

    Mina¡¯s energy suddenly dropped again.

    Had Edrick been putting something in my coffee, and when he noticed that I didn¡¯t want my coffee that

    morning, he put something in that smoothie? But why would he do that? Selina had made ament

    about my coffee that morning, too; was she in on it as well?

    After dinner, I quickly excused myself to my room to think. I paced for a while before suddenly freezing,

    my eyes widening.

    Olivia.

    I had nearly forgotten about my conversation with her. I hade to the conclusion that she was being

    paid to spread lies about Edrick, but now¡­

    What if she had the same experience as I did?

    If Olivia had simr symptoms while she was living with Edrick, then it would be extremely concerning. I

    needed to know if someone was trying to drug me, and why they would do that; but I couldn¡¯t just walk

    up to Edrick or Selina and ask.

    As I thought back on my conversation with Olivia, I remembered that she had given me her business

    card ¡ª and when I quickly rifled through my purse, it was still there.

    I held the business card in my shaky hand, wondering if I should call her.

 Chapter 178

    Chapter 178

    #Chapter 178: Coffee With a Friend

    Moana

    As I held Olivia¡¯s business card in my shaking hand, I wondered if I should call her.

    I needed to know if she, too, had experienced these sort of strange urrences. Although I couldn¡¯t

    imagine why Edrick would ever want to give me something that would make my wolf sick, if someone

    really was intentionally poisoning me, then I needed to get out and get my baby to safety. However, I

    still had no way of knowing for sure, and I was afraid to ask Edrick or Selina about my wolf¡¯s symptoms

    in case either of them were in on it and got suspicious of me.

    But I still couldn¡¯t be sure. Not only was I unsure of the situation with my wolf, but I was also still unsure

    of Olivia. I still couldn¡¯t help but wonder if she really was an actress hired by Michael or someone else

    to get between Edrick and I, and so with a sigh I slipped the business card back into my purse and

    decided not to call her yet.

    After all, Edrick had never really given me a reason not to trust him¡­ Right?

    However, as the night went on, I found myself unable to sleep. Edrick was staying upte in his study,

    and as Iid in his big king-sized bed in his dark bedroom, I kept tossing and turning relentlessly. The

    whole situation with the coffee that morning, followed by the smoothie, was suspicious to say the least.

    My first conversation with Olivia kept swirling around my head, and I couldn¡¯t forget the fact that Edrick

    had stolen my wolf tooth at one point. And the worst part about it was that I couldn¡¯t even talk to my

    wolf, who was normally a voice of reason, because she was too sleepy to even hear me. I felt alone.

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    Finally, I decided that I couldn¡¯t sleep without contacting Olivia. If I really was being poisoned, and if it

    really was dangerous, then I couldn¡¯t risk another day of practically being force-fed whatever was

    making my wolf sleepy. And if Edrick or Selina got too suspicious, then I had no way of knowing what

    other sorts of methods they would try to give me the poison.

    While Edrick was still in his study, I quietly made my way to my room and retrieved the business card

    from my purse. I held it for a moment, reading the number in the dim light of my bedroom, before I took

    a deep breath and punched her number into my phone.

    ¡°Hi Olivia,¡± I typed. ¡°It¡¯s Moana. Can we talk? It¡¯s important.¡±

    When I hit send, the deep breath that I had taken in finally came out. I hid the business card back in my

    purse and quickly made my way back to Edrick¡¯s room; and, by the time I got to his room, my phone

    buzzed already.

    ¡°Sure thing,¡± Olivia¡¯s text replied. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to show you something, actually. Let¡¯s meet up for

    coffee on Sunday?¡±

    ¡­

    On Sunday morning, I prepared to meet Olivia for our conversation. Leading up to that morning, I had

    hidden the fact that I wasn¡¯t drinking my morning coffee; lo and behold, Mina¡¯s energy came back

    almostpletely. Edrick and Selina didn¡¯t seem to notice that I was secretly pouring my coffee down

    the sink when they weren¡¯t looking, and by now I was almost entirely certain that they were, in fact,

    putting something in my coffee. There was no doubt about it; the way that my wolf¡¯s energy perked up

    whenever I didn¡¯t drink my morning coffee was too distinct to think otherwise. Of course I was still

    paranoid about anything else I ate or drank that had been prepared for me, but thankfully nothing other

    than the coffee seemed to be causing the issues.

    That morning, I got dressed to meet with Olivia. I wore something nondescript and casual ¡ª a pair of

    jeans and a light jacket, since the weather was cooling down now with autumn just around the corner

    ¡ª which was quite different from what I normally wore and would hopefully keep people from noticing

    me easily.

    The night before, I had already told Selina and Edrick that I nned on going out on Sunday morning;

    when they asked where I was going, I simply said that I was having coffee with an old friend from

    college who was visiting town.

    Once I was dressed, I inspected myself in the mirror for a moment before taking in a deep breath and

    steadying my nerves, then headed out into the living room.

    Edrick was sitting in the armchair when I came out. He looked over at me, seemingly taking in my

    appearance, and shot me a slight smile.

    ¡°You look nice.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± I smiled weakly. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Edrick looked at me for another moment before returning to his newspaper. ¡°Make sure to bring the

    driver with you,¡± he said. ¡°And maybe you should wear a surgical mask. It makes me nervous that

    you¡¯re going out in public alone, now that people know who you are.¡±

    I nodded hesitantly. Although I hated that I had to hide my identity in order to feel safe, I couldn¡¯t deny

    the fact that Edrick was right. The media attention since Edrick had announced our rtionship had

    died down a bit, but the paparazzi were still roaming around like tigers pacing their cages in the zoo.

    Even when Edrick and I walked to school with E during the week, we asionally got bombarded by

    cameras and annoying questions. And now, I especially didn¡¯t need to garner any attention lest Edrick

    find out that I was meeting up with E¡¯s supposedly dead mother.

    ¡°Sure,¡± I replied. I fished a blue surgical mask out of my purse and held it up with a smile. ¡°Got it right

    here.¡±

    Edrick, without looking up from his newspaper, nodded. ¡°Well, have a nice time,¡± he said.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, trying to sound as nonchnt as possible. It was difficult, though, knowing that I was

    about to meet up with someone that would likely make Edrick feel incredibly angry if he found out about

    it. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    With that, I stiffly walked out of the living room and stepped into the elevator.

    On my way down, I did wind up putting on the surgical mask. I put on my sun hat as well to hide my

    distinct hair. However, when I walked out into the lobby, there was one bit of advice that I didn¡¯t take

    from Edrick.

    I decided not to have the driver take me.

    After all, I didn¡¯t need the driver revealing any information about who I was meeting up with. I didn¡¯t

    know whether the driver knew Olivia, or even if he ryed all sorts of information back to Edrick. I

    needed this to be as discreet as possible, because if Edrick really was poisoning me for whatever

    reason, I would need to escape safely with my baby. If he knew too much, then there was a good

    chance that I would never escape.

    Therefore, I walked out onto the street and took a right down the sidewalk, keeping my head down so

    as not to be noticed by the driver or anyone else.

 Chapter 179

    Chapter 179

    #Chapter 179: Discovering the Truth

    Moana

    A little whileter, after walking a few blocks through the city, I arrived at the coffee shop where Olivia

    and I nned to meet. It was a small, nondescript coffee shop that didn¡¯t appear to be well known,

    which would be helpful in keeping our meeting secret.

    When I stepped into the little coffee shop, I looked around and didn¡¯t see Olivia yet.

    ¡°Can I get you anything?¡± the barista behind the counter, a bored-looking teenage girl, asked.

    ¡°U-Um, just an icedtte,¡± I replied, fishing through my purse for my wallet. The baristazily made my

    drink and handed it to me, and I gave her the money before sitting down. I made sure to sit away from

    the window, just in case anyone would see me with Olivia.

    A few minutes passed, and finally the bell on the door rang as someone came in. It was Olivia. She

    shot me a stiff smile and ordered her own coffee before sitting down across from me. Although we had

    nned to act nonchnt, as though we were just old friends meeting up to chat, I found it difficult to

    feel natural as I sat across from the spitting image of E. She seemed to look even more like E now,

    with her hair pulled back in a slightly messy ponytail, and she was wearing a in shirt and jeans. I

    could see why Edrick would have liked Olivia, but it was all the more confusing knowing that he had

    imed that she was dead.

    ¡°How is everything going?¡± Olivia asked, keeping her voice low.

    ¡°Um¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know where to begin. Already, I could feel my voice beginning to shake. Olivia,

    somehow noticing this, smiled and reached across the table to give my arm a squeeze.

    ¡°Is he hurting you?¡±

    I shook my head vigorously. ¡°No. He¡¯s been¡­ He¡¯s been wonderful. On the outside, at least. But I¡¯ve

    been feeling as though he¡¯s up to something and I don¡¯t know what.¡±

    Olivia nodded slowly and pulled her hand away. She didn¡¯t seem surprised in the slightest. ¡°Tell me

    everything.¡±

    Taking a deep breath, I began to speak. ¡°First of all, I know that this isn¡¯t public knowledge, but you

    need to know for the context of the story: I¡¯m a werewolf, and not a human. I didn¡¯t know myself until

    recently, when my wolf suddenly began to manifest. Buttely, I¡¯ve been noticing that my wolf has been

    feeling strange and tired. At first, I thought that it was just my pregnancy hormones or something, but

    then I noticed that it was always worse after I had my morning coffee. So the other day, I decided not to

    drink it, and I noticed that my wolf felt better. But Edrick noticed, too. And when he picked me up from

    workter, he had a smoothie for me ¡ª which is sort of random.¡±

    ¡°Did you drink the smoothie?¡± Olivia asked, to which I nodded. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°The symptoms came back within a couple of hours. And Edrick was¡­ weird about it. It was like he

    was insisting on me drinking it. E wanted some, and when I offered to give her a sip, he suddenly

    freaked out.¡±

    As I spoke, Olivia¡¯s eyes slowly began to widen. I could instantly tell from the expression on her face

    that she had experienced the same thing, or had at least experienced something very simr, when she

    lived with Edrick.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t been drinking anything else they¡¯ve given you, right?¡± Olivia asked, leaning across the

    table a bit and looking at me intensely.

    I shook my head. ¡°No,¡± I replied. ¡°And I¡¯ve been feeling better. My wolf¡¯s energy is back up.¡±

    Olivia seemed to let out a small sigh of relief. ¡°Have you noticed any other strange urrences?¡±

    I furrowed my brow, thinking for a moment, before I remembered the incident with the wolf tooth, as

    well as something else. Something tiny, that I didn¡¯t think much of at the time, but now it felt as though

    every little thing was evidence of a conspiracy.

    ¡°Well, first of all, I have this wolf tooth.¡± I pulled it out ¡ª ever since the initial incident I had been

    keeping it in my purse ¡ª and slid it across the table for Olivia to see. ¡°I showed it to Edrick when he

    found out that I was a werewolf. He started acting strange about it, though. He seemed to look at it

    intensely when I showed it to him, and he said that it¡¯s an Alpha tooth. But that¡¯s not all; a little while

    later, right after I met you, actually, he stole it.¡±

    Olivia gingerly picked up the tooth, turning it over in her hand. Her eyes widened when I said that

    Edrick stole it. ¡°Why did he do that?¡± she asked quietly.

    I shrugged. ¡°He just said that he was taking it to have it analyzed so he could see whether it was an

    Alpha tooth or not. Of course, it made me think about what you told me¡­¡±

    ¡°That he¡¯s only interested in producing Alpha heirs.

    I nodded slowly. There was a long silence as Olivia inspected the tooth carefully before she handed it

    back to me. But I wasn¡¯t finished.

    ¡°There¡¯s something else,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s nothing. But on the same morning that he had taken the

    tooth, I found a pair of scissors on his bedside table. And he was gone when I woke up. Like I said,

    maybe it¡¯s nothing, but¡ª¡±

    Olivia¡¯s eyes suddenly went even wider than before. ¡°Check your hair,¡± she said.

    I furrowed my brow. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Your hair,¡± she continued. ¡°Is any of it missing? Like it¡¯s been cut? Check underneath, where you¡¯d be

    less likely to notice.¡±

    A slight chuckle escaped my lips, but Olivia didn¡¯t seem to be joking. My smile faded, and I slowly

    raised my hand to grope around on the underside of my hair. I didn¡¯t notice anything at first, until¡­

    My eyes widened.

    ¡°There¡¯s a shorter piece, isn¡¯t there?¡± Olivia asked, to which I nodded slowly. On the underside of my

    hair, there was a shorter piece than the rest. When I pulled it out and brought it around to look at it, I

    could tell that it had been cut judging from how straight and perfect the chunk was, making it obvious

    that it hadn¡¯t grown like that naturally. Olivia¡¯s face darkened and she shut her eyes for a moment,

    sighing.

    ¡°I knew it,¡± she whispered.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, feeling my voice shake. ¡°What does all of this mean?¡±

    Olivia shook her head and passed her hand over her face. ¡°I have no way of knowing for sure. But all of

    the signs are pointing to him going to a witch. I think he¡¯s slipping potions into your coffee.¡±

    My blood ran cold at Olivia¡¯s words. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing woulde out for a

    long time, as the shock of it all made it feel as though my throat closed up. Why would Edrick want to

    do something like that?

    Suddenly, Olivia dug into her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She opened it, then slid it

    across the table for me to look at. It was an old newspaper clipping about a woman who had been

    found dead.This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked quietly, picking up the newspaper. Olivia didn¡¯t answer, but she didn¡¯t need to; as

    I read the article, I got the answer I was looking for.

    ¡°Just this week, a local Beta woman was found dead,¡± the article read. ¡°Although her cause of death is

    unknown, one thing is for certain: just a few months prior to this event, this woman, whose family have

    decided to keep her name anonymous for personal reasons, was discovered to have given birth to a

    son. ording to birth records, the newborn son¡¯s father is none other than Alpha billionaire and CEO

    of WereCorp, Michael Morgan. While Mr. Morgan has not given a statement at this time, some are

    specting that he or his wife, Verona Morgan, may have had something to do with the mystery

    woman¡¯s death, as this child was the result of an extramarital affair. Of course, this is all spection.¡±

    By the time I finished reading, my hands were shaking violently. I unintentionally dropped the

    newspaper article, allowing it to flutter down to the table as I covered my mouth with my shaking hand.

    Meanwhile, Olivia only looked back at me with a look of sadness and concern drawn across her face.

    ¡°That¡¯s not all,¡± she said.

 Chapter 180

    Chapter 180

    #Chapter 180: Poached for Profit

    Moana

    ¡°That¡¯s not all,¡± Olivia said, looking at me with a sickeningbination of sadness and concern on her

    face that only filled me with dread.

    I had already just read that a woman ¡ª who was likely Ethan¡¯s mother, judging from the information in

    the newspaper article ¡ª had died under mysterious circumstances around the Morgan family. Not only

    that, but I had discovered that it was very likely that Edrick had taken my wolf tooth and a lock of my

    hair to a witch, and he was now putting some sort of potion in my morning coffee. I couldn¡¯t fathom why

    he would want to do that, but now that I had read the newspaper article about Ethan¡¯s mother, I was

    beginning to wonder if that poor woman had met a fate that I was bound to meet if I continued being

    poisoned.

    And now, before I could even process all of this, Olivia was saying that she had something else to

    reveal to me, as though there was even possibly anything else that could add anotheryer to this

    twisted mess.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    ¡°W-What else is there?¡± I whispered, my voice shaking just as much as my hands.

    Olivia, with a sigh, reached into her purse again and retrieved something else. It was another folded

    piece of paper. She hesitated with it in her hands, then looked up at me. ¡°Can I see the tooth again?¡±

    she asked.

    I froze for a moment, then nodded and handed it back to her. As I did, she opened the folded piece of

    paper to reveal what looked to be a page ripped out of a book. She put both of the objects in the center

    of the table. The page had an illustration of a wolf tooth on it, with text all around. Immediately, I could

    see two words that stuck out to me: Golden Wolf. And now that my own wolf tooth wasying next to

    the illustration, they looked eerily simr.

    ¡°You¡¯re the Golden Wolf, Moana,¡± Olivia said. She was whispering now, as though she didn¡¯t want

    anyone to overhear a single word of what she was saying. It instantly transported me back to the night

    that Ethan told me about the story of the Golden Wolf, and how people would hunt the Golden Wolf if it

    was real.

    But that was just a fairytale.

    I let out a wry chuckle and shook my head. ¡°Very funny,¡± I replied, sitting back in my chair. ¡°But I know

    that that¡¯s just a story for kids.¡±

    Olivia just stared back at me with a serious expression on her face. My smile slowly faded, and my

    eyes started to widen.

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± she said, pushing the illustration a little closer to me and tapping on a specific paragraph.

    ¡°Look here. ¡®The Golden Wolf will manifest as a pure soul who is thought to be human. They will

    possess a single tooth, the only link to their true lineage.¡¯ That¡¯s you, Moana. Everything that you told

    me points to this. And the tooth that you have¡­ Have you looked at it in the moonlight, by any

    chance?¡±

    I shook my head, still too shocked to speak.

    ¡°Try it tonight,¡± Olivia said quietly. ¡°It¡¯ll glow a golden color, but only in the moonlight. I promise you, it¡¯s

    true.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. All along, I thought that this was nothing but a fairytale meant to entertain

    kids, not a true story. And yet, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. And it made me

    wonder¡­

    ¡°Do you think that Edrick knows?¡± I whispered.

    Olivia nodded slowly. ¡°I think so,¡± she replied. ¡°He may have known from the beginning. For all we

    know, he knew that you were the Golden Wolf when he met you, and that was why he got you

    pregnant. It all lines up too perfectly with his agenda to produce the best heirs possible. How did you

    two meet, anyway?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ I was just walking down the street, and we ran into each other,¡± I said, not wanting to go into the

    full details of our fateful encounter.

    ¡°And you think that that was just pure coincidence, for you to just randomly run into an extremely

    famous Alpha CEO in the middle of the street one day?¡± Olivia said.

    My eyes widened. ¡°But I think Edrick is my mate,¡± I replied. ¡°I thought that was why. I thought it was

    fate.¡±

    Olivia shrugged and leaned back in her chair. ¡°Maybe. But do you know for certain that he¡¯s your mate,

    or is that just what he told you?¡±

    Olivia¡¯s words made me think deeply. I had thought that he was my mate, and my wolf seemed to think

    so as well, but then again¡­ With the way that my wolf had been so sleepytely, I had absolutely no

    way of knowing now. For all I knew, Edrick was giving me potions to hide the fact that he wasn¡¯t my

    mate.

    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± I whispered, feeling hot tears beginning to prick at the backs of my eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t

    know what¡¯s real and what isn¡¯t anymore.¡±

    With a sigh, Olivia reached across the table again and squeezed my hand once more. When I looked

    up at her, I could see a soft, gentle expression on her pretty face. ¡°That was how I felt, too,¡± she said

    quietly. ¡°For months, I had no idea what to think or who to trust. But you can trust me. And I don¡¯t want

    to see you get hurt.¡±

    I had never thought that Edrick would hurt me, but now I wasn¡¯t so sure. What if he just nned on

    producing a child of the Golden Wolf, and then he was going to discard me in the same way that his

    father had discarded Ethan¡¯s mother? What if the potions would keep me from being able to fight back

    and defend myself?

    Finally, I looked back at Olivia with tears in my eyes.

    ¡°Thank you for telling me the truth,¡± I whispered.

    Olivia nodded, still holding my hand across the table. ¡°If you ever want to escape,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯m just a

    phone call away. I can get you out of there.¡±

    ¡­

    Olivia and I finished our conversation and parted ways. She left first, and as I watched her walk down

    the street through the window of the coffee shop, I couldn¡¯t help but think that maybe I should take her

    up on her offer.

    All of the signs right at that moment pointed to Edrick being up to something sinister. Olivia was right;

    my first encounter with Edrick had been too perfect, almost as though it was nned. And although I

    had been beginning to think that it was fate bringing two mates together, I was beginning to think

    otherwise now. However, I needed more evidence first before I jumped into anything. I needed to know

    for sure that Edrick was up to something before I potentially made a mistake by trusting the wrong

    person.

    But I did know one thing for sure: if I decided to take Olivia up on her offer and run away, I was going to

    bring E along with me so that I could reunite mother and daughter once more.

 Chapter 181

    Chapter 181

    #Chapter 181: A Dangerous ce

    Moana

    Once I saw Olivia leave through the coffee shop window, I waited five minutes before leaving myself

    and walking in the opposite direction. We had nned to leave separately like this just in case anyone

    was waiting for me outside; at the very least, I could make up a convincing story that Olivia and I didn¡¯t

    recognize each other at all, and it was likely that no one would ask too many questions.

    As I walked, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about everything she had just told me. It felt as though the entire

    world that I hade to know over the past few months had beenpletely turned upside down, and

    I didn¡¯t know what to do. If it was true that I was the Golden Wolf, then that meant that I was already in

    enough danger of being hunted as it was. Not only that, but if Edrick already knew that I was the

    Golden Wolf, then he was deliberately keeping it from me. And, judging from everything that I had

    learned recently, I knew why he was keeping it from me.

    However, I still had no way of knowing for sure. I hardly knew Olivia, and although she seemed

    genuine, I still didn¡¯t know for sure if I couldpletely trust her. I decided that before I would jump to

    any rash conclusions, I would have to do some digging of my own. Until I did that, though, at least my

    wolf had regained some of her energy and I could talk to her now.

    ¡°What did you think about all of that?¡± I asked my wolf as I walked down the sunny street toward the

    penthouse. ¡°What about the part where she said that he might be lying about being my mate?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet,¡± Mina replied. She still sounded a little sleepy, but she was lucid at least. ¡°I think I¡¯m

    still a little too foggy from the potions to be able to think clearly. I need a little more time.¡±

    I bit my lip as I walked, thinking that there was a good possibility that we didn¡¯t even have time.

    However, if Edrick really was nning on producing a child of the Golden Wolf, then at least there was

    a good chance that I would be somewhat safe until the baby was born. But then again, I still had no

    way of knowing. I couldn¡¯t read Edrick¡¯s mind, or anyone else¡¯s, for that matter. And although part of me

    felt silly for thinking that Edrick would ever want to hurt me, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the kind, sweet

    part of Edrick was just an act. Maybe he really was just like his father after all.

    Suddenly, as I turned a corner, I saw a familiar car speeding up to me. My eyes widened as I saw it

    come to a screeching halt in front of me, blocking me from crossing the street. The window rolled down

    and Edrick was sitting in the driver¡¯s seat.

    ¡°Get in,¡± he said, sounding stern and aggravated.

    Swallowing, I hesitantly got into the car. Did he know that I met up with Olivia? What was he going to

    do if that was the case?

    However, as he pulled the car around and began to drive again in the direction of the penthouse, it

    seemed as though he was angry for a different reason.

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring the driver or a bodyguard,¡± he said. His voice was low, so low it almost sounded like a

    growl. ¡°You know how dangerous it is, don¡¯t you? Why didn¡¯t you listen to me, Moana?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a few blocks away,¡± I said, feeling my face getting hot with abination of fear and

    embarrassment. ¡°I don¡¯t see the issue.¡±

    Edrick scoffed. ¡°You really don¡¯t see the issue? You put yourself and our baby¡¯s safety at risk, Moana!

    Why couldn¡¯t you just have the driver take you?¡±

    ¡°Because I just wanted to feel normal,¡± I lied, folding my arms across my chest. ¡°I was only meeting up

    with a friend for coffee, and besides; I wore the surgical mask like you told me to, I dressed discreetly,

    and I wore my hat to cover my hair. No one recognized me and it was fine. You worry about me too

    much.¡±

    With a shake of his head, Edrick came to a hard stop at a red light. When I looked over, I could see that

    his hands were wrapped so tightly around the steering wheel that his knuckles were white, and he was

    clenching and unclenching his jaw repeatedly.

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand how dangerous the city is,¡± he muttered as he waited for the light to turn green

    again.

    Now, I was the one who scoffed incredulously. ¡°Seriously?¡± I asked with a bit of a wry chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m the

    one who doesn¡¯t understand how dangerous the city is? I grew up here, Edrick. I didn¡¯t live in a fancy

    pce outside of the city like you did, without a real care in the world. I¡¯m the one who has spent her

    whole life living here, so I think I know the city a little bit better than someone who was raised in thep

    of luxury like you.¡±

    Edrick opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I instantly felt a little guilty for the nasty things

    that I said, and as the light turned green and Edrick began driving again, I wondered if I should

    apologize. But then again, I reminded myself that Edrick was up to something, and aside from that, he

    still hadn¡¯t even properly apologized for the nasty things that he said when we argued the other night.

    When we pulled up to the penthouse, I immediately unclicked my seatbelt and went to open the door.

    But when I pulled on the handle, it was locked, and I froze.

    ¡°I need you to listen to me from now on,¡± Edrick said, his voice low and quiet as he spoke through his

    teeth. ¡°And furthermore, I¡¯m not letting you go anywhere without me anymore. I¡¯m tired of having to be

    scared half to death that you¡¯ll get yourself hurt or killed whenever you go out for coffee.¡±

    I ground my teeth together, unsure of how to respond. But it didn¡¯t matter anyway, because the lock

    clicked open. I swung the door open and climbed out, mming it behind me before I stormed inside.

    I didn¡¯t even wait for Edrick to park the car before I got onto the elevator and headed upstairs. And the

    entire way up, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if I should take Olivia¡¯s advice after all.

    What Edrick said was just more proof, in my eyes, that he saw me as an expensive object that needed

    to be tucked away neatly into a ss cab where no one else could get to me. I didn¡¯t feel as though

    I was a person to him, but rather amodity; and when our baby was born, would he discard me

    once he had what he wanted? Would he send me away like he did with Olivia? Would he sell me to

    bounty hunters who wanted the Golden Wolf? Or would he kill me, just like his father killed Ethan¡¯s

    mother?

    The more I thought about this, the more appealing the idea of running away and returning little E to

    her real mother became.

 Chapter 182

    Chapter 182

    #Chapter 182: Mood Swings

    Edrick

    When Moana told me that she was going out to have coffee with a friend, I was happy for her. In fact,

    so long as she stayed safe, I encouraged it. I knew how much stress she had been under over the past

    few months, so it would have been good for her to see a friend for a couple of hours.

    However, when my driver called me and asked what was taking Moana so long toe down, I started

    to feel confused.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°She left half an hour ago.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen her,¡± the driver replied. ¡°I¡¯ve been sitting right out front the whole time.¡±

    I furrowed my brow and stood. Before I jumped to any conclusions, I decided to check both bedrooms

    to see if she wasn¡¯t feeling well and decided not to leave, and maybe I just didn¡¯t notice hering

    back in. However, she wasn¡¯t there.

    By then, I was pretty certain that I knew what she had done. She had gone without the driver.

    Cursing under my breath, I grabbed my keys and ran downstairs. Since the driver hadn¡¯t seen her at all

    due to her hiding herself for some reason, I had no way of knowing which direction she even went in.

    But if she had left on foot, then I was certain that she couldn¡¯t have gone too far. So, climbing into my

    car, I sped off to check all of the nearby coffee shops for her.

    I searched for her for about an hour, running into all of the local coffee shops to see if she was there;

    unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t in any of them. By now, I was starting to feel panicked. This was too soon

    after what Kelly had done to her by having her get kidnapped by Rogues, and I became worried that

    something else had happened to her. As I drove, I eventually pulled out my phone and debated callingThis belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    the police to look for her. But thankfully, I spotted a head of red hair walking down the street before I

    made the phone call.

    I came to a screeching halt and told her to get in the car. Moana seemed to be in a bit of a mood, and

    almost immediately snapped at me when I told her that she had done something very dangerous by

    going out by herself with no protection, especially on foot. Why couldn¡¯t she understand that it wasn¡¯t

    safe for her to be walking around by herself when she had only just gotten over the incident with Kelly,

    and the paparazzi were still on the lookout for her? Part of me almost wanted to tell her that she was

    the Golden Wolf, and that she needed to be kept safe or else there was a chance that she could be

    kidnapped or hunted. But I couldn¡¯t bring myself to do it; if she knew too soon, then it could speed up

    her progress with her wolf emerging, and I needed her to wait to shift until the baby was born for a

    multitude of reasons. Although, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how much longer I could let this go on

    without telling her. Especially when she climbed out of the car and mmed the door behind her, I

    thought to myself that she would grow more and more impatient with me over time.

    With a sigh, I watched Moana disappear into the building before I parked the car and headed inside.

    She didn¡¯t wait for me, not that I expected her to, and by the time I made my way back up to the

    penthouse she was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°Did Moanae through here?¡± I asked Selina, who was baking a pie while the two maids were deep

    cleaning the kitchen.

    ¡°She ran past just a minute ago,¡± Amy blurted out as she scrubbed the inside of a cupboard. ¡°She

    seemed mad.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Lily chimed in before I could respond. ¡°She mmed her bedroom door. Did you two have a

    fight?¡±

    ¡°Lily!¡± Selina hissed. ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±

    I sighed and shook my head, then walked over to one of the stools at the counter ind and sat down.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I said, passing my hand over my face. ¡°I think she¡¯s just dealing with some hormones.¡±

    The maids fell silent. I realized then that I had revealed more than I really meant to;tely, I had been

    bing noticeably more open with the servants. I had always been a bit closer with Selina since I

    had known her for a long time, but I rarely chatted with Amy and Lily. However, ever since Moana

    moved in, I had found myself talking with them more often. It was a stark enough difference that even I

    noticed, and sometimes surprised myself with my candidness. Even just thinking about it made me

    smirk; Moana had had such a positive impact on me that I was even beginning to change my opinions

    on how servants should be treated. I just wished that she could see that, instead of always getting so

    aggravated with me. Although, after the way that I snapped at her the other night, I supposed that I

    deserved it.

    Selina pushed a fresh, steaming cup of tea across the counter toward me and gave me a knowing look.

    I could tell that she didn¡¯t believe that it was hormones one bit, and she was right.

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to herter,¡± she said, returning to decorating the top of the pie. ¡°Just give her some space

    today. Not just today, but every day. She is an adult, and she¡¯s capable of taking care of herself.¡±

    I felt myself tense up a bit at Selina¡¯s words. Of course she was right, but at the same time, I just felt

    too protective over Moana. Maybe that protectiveness would only push her away, though.

    I did wind up leaving Moana alone for the rest of the day. She didn¡¯te out of her room very much

    except to check on E, and didn¡¯t even look at me when I passed by. Even though I wanted to ask her

    what her problem was, and part of me even wanted to grill her on who she had coffee with as though

    something about whoever she saw would exin her secretiveness and poor attitude, I decided to take

    Selina¡¯s advice and just gave Moana her space.

    However, Moana didn¡¯t wind uping to my room that night. I waited for a few hours, but she never

    came. Finally, unable to sleep without her, I decided to go over to her room and see if she was still

    awake; but when I went to open the door to climb into bed with her, the door was firmly locked and she

    didn¡¯t answer my knocks. With a sigh, I resigned myself to staying up all night in my study. I wouldn¡¯t be

    able to sleep without my pills, and I had already made a personal decision to not fall back into the pit of

    drinking copious amounts of alcohol to make myself sleep.

    After all, sleep wouldn¡¯te for me without Moana by my side.c

 Chapter 183

    Chapter 183

    #Chapter 183: Video Evidence

    Moana

    I went to work the next morning with my meeting with Olivia still guing my mind. Between all of the

    evidence I had gathered so far, what Olivia said, and how Edrick reacted when he discovered that I

    hadn¡¯t taken the driver, I was seriously beginning to doubt my own safety at home.

    That morning, I sneakily dumped my morning coffee again. By the time I got to work, my wolf¡¯s energy

    was back to normal and she was able to offer me some insight on the situation.

    ¡°I am almost entirely certain that Edrick is indeed our mate,¡± Mina said during my lunch break, while I

    paced back and forth in my empty ssroom and chewed nervously on my fingernails.

    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean that his intentions are entirely pure, does it?¡± I asked.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    Mina was silent for a few moments before responding. ¡°No. It doesn¡¯t.¡±

    I cursed under my breath, thinking hard. I didn¡¯t know much about the inner world of werewolves, but I

    had always been under the impression that fated mates would never want to betray each other. Then

    again, however, I couldn¡¯t help but think back to the story of how Ethan was born. Michael and Verona

    were supposed to be fated mates, but Michael cheated on her anyway and betrayed her trust. It

    sounded as though there was more emotional abuse going on as well, but I didn¡¯t know for sure. Either

    way, Michael had betrayed Verona despite the fact that they were mates. Was it possible that

    something ran in that family that made the men untrustworthy? I hated to believe it, especially after how

    kind Edrick had been¡­

    But then again, he had just told me that he would never marry me. And although he seemed to have

    tried to make up for it the next day by spending the day with me, he had still not apologized, which

    made me think now that his nasty side was his true nature. Not only that, but the way that he had

    locked me in the car and told me that he wouldn¡¯t let me out of his sight anymore made me nervous, as

    though I was his prisoner in some way.

    As I paced back and forth in my ssroom, I thought back to the first night that I had spent in the

    penthouse. After I realized that Edrick was the one who hired me, I had tried to go home; but he had

    sent frightening men after me. Maybe I should have taken that alone as the first red g. Even before

    my true nature as a werewolf was known, he wouldn¡¯t let me leave. Did he know that I was the Golden

    Wolf then, somehow, or did he only find outter and that just solidified his desire to keep me tucked

    away on a shelf?

    All day, I couldn¡¯t get my worries out of my mind. When I went home that evening, however, I had an

    idea as to how I could potentially ease my worries and find out for sure if I really was being poisoned, if

    I was simply being paranoid.

    The next morning, I woke up earlier than normal. I woke up before everyone else and snuck over to the

    kitchen, where I ced my phone on video mode in a cupboard. I made sure to angle it in such a way

    that it couldn¡¯t be seen normally, but so that the video would show a perfect shot of the coffee machine.

    After that, I hit record and snuck back to my room.

    Later, I came out of my room dressed for work as though I had just woken up. And just as I suspected,

    my coffee and breakfast were waiting for me on the kitchen counter.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± Selina said from where she stood by the kitchen sink. ¡°Sleep well?¡±

    I nodded, trying to act nonchnt as I sat down and began to eat my breakfast. I made sure to only

    pretend to sip my coffee, and waited for a moment when Selina had walked out of the room. Then, I

    quickly dumped my coffee down the sink and ran over to the cupboard to retrieve my phone. Selina

    came back in just as I was sitting back down at the kitchen counter, oblivious to everything I had just

    done.

    My heart pounded as I finished eating my breakfast and got ready for work. Edrick walked with E and

    I to school and we said our goodbyes, and the entire time I felt as though I was going to explode,

    When I got to my ssroom that morning, the very first thing I did was sit down at my desk and pull my

    phone out of my purse. With shaking hands, I opened it up and clicked on the video that I had taken.

    I scrolled through the video. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first; Selina came in and ground up

    the coffee beans, then filled the pot with water and put the coffee grounds into the filter. She turned on

    the coffee machine and walked away to start cooking on the stove with her back turned to the camera.

    A little whileter, however, Edrick came in. I watched with wide eyes as he took two mugs out of the

    cupboard and poured coffee and creamer into them; one for himself, and one for me.

    Then, while Selina¡¯s back was still turned, Edrick ced my coffee cup down at my seat.

    My heart started to pound so hard that I felt as though it would pound straight out of my chest as I

    watched in horror. Edrick nced nervously over his shoulder at Selina, as though checking to make

    sure she wasn¡¯t looking, and then¡­

    He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial of liquid. He put two drops of the mystery liquid

    into my coffee, quickly concealing the vial back in his pocket just moments before Selina turned around

    with the pan of scrambled eggs in her hand.

    And then, he just walked away.

    I stopped the video, my hands shaking more than ever before. I mped my hand over my mouth,

    feeling vomit beginning to bubble up, and suddenly stood and bolted out the ssroom door. Across

    the hall there was a bathroom, and I ran inside and burst into one of the stalls, ignoring strange looks

    from two high school girls.

    The entire contents of my stomach came out into the toilet.

    When I was finished vomiting, I staggered back out to the sinks. The two high school girls were gone

    by now. I leaned over the sink, sobbing quietly as I sshed cold water onto my face.

    Now, I had all of the proof that I needed.

    Edrick Morgan, the Alpha billionaire who I thought that I had been falling genuinely in love with, and

    whose baby I was carrying in my belly, was poisoning me.

    I needed to not only get myself and my baby to safety¡­ But I also needed to get little E to safety,

    too.

    That night, I would have to return her to her mother. And then, I needed to disappear.

 Chapter 184

    Chapter 184

    #Chapter 184: Escape n

    Moana

    After I saw the video of Edrick putting something in my coffee, I knew that I needed to get out.

    It both broke my heart and made me sick to think about leaving. I had been falling deeply in love with

    Edrick, and yet this entire time it turned out that he was secretly plotting something against me; I didn¡¯t

    know what it was exactly that he was nning, but whatever it was certainly wasn¡¯t good. I needed to

    get myself and my baby out of there, and I nned on returning E to her rightful mother, too. Even

    though I knew that taking E and returning her to her mother couldnd me in prison, I was willing to

    take that risk for the sake of getting little E out of a household with a father who was dangerous and

    up to no good.

    That afternoon, during my lunch break, I made my escape n. I called Olivia as soon as I could and

    exined everything.

    ¡°Okay,¡± she said, taking a deep breath after I had told her all about the video evidence I had. ¡°We¡¯ll get

    you out of there.¡±

    ¡°And E, too,¡± I said.

    Olivia fell silent. I thought I heard her sniff, and it made me wonder if she was crying. When she

    responded, she didn¡¯t mention anything but her voice was shaking.

    ¡°Okay¡­ Okay.¡± She was repeating herself, like she was thinking deeply. Then, after a few more

    moments of silence, she seemed to havee up with something. ¡°Here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do¡­¡±

    ¡­

    After work, Edrick picked E and I up again as usual. It pained me to see his smiling face as E ran

    up to him. He picked her up and put her on his shoulders, and as we began to walk home he slipped

    his arm around me. I felt myself instantly be tense under his touch.

    ¡°Are you sure we should do this?¡± my wolf asked, sounding unsure. ¡°He is our mate, after all¡­¡±

    I almost responded out loud on ident, but caught myself just in time. ¡°Yes,¡± I replied. ¡°It¡¯s for the

    best. I¡¯d rather be alone forever than put my baby in danger.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    I could tell that Mina was horribly upset, but she was understanding of the situation. It was indeed for

    the best.

    When we got home, I feigned sickness and went straight to my room. I locked my door and then spent

    the remainder of the afternoon nning, preparing, and packing.

    Olivia had told me that she booked a hotel room for me and E all the way across town. Once E and

    I would get therete that night, the n was to change our clothes, wait for a couple of hours, and

    then leave. After we left, there would be a ck car with tinted windows waiting for us that would have

    Olivia inside. Together, the three of us would drive to the airport. Olivia purchased three ne tickets to

    Europe. Apparently, when Olivia was first kicked out by Edrick she kept getting death threats and was

    being stalked by people who Edrick hired; she told me that she had changed her identity, purchased a

    fake ID, and that the ¡°original¡± Olivia had essentially dropped off the face of the earth. She still called

    Edrick to check on her daughter, but she always called from different phones that would hide her

    number so she couldn¡¯t be tracked. Apparently, that was what was going to happen that night. I would

    withdraw all of my money, dump my phone and my wallet in the river on our way to the airport, and

    Olivia would give me a new ID. Once we were in Europe, I could convert all of my money and open a

    new bank ount there under my new name.

    Of course, I was putting a lot of trust in Olivia by nning all of this. My wolf kept reminding me of that.

    But I felt as though I had no other choice, and it was the only way to protect myself, my baby, and E.

    Edrick and his family were far too powerful and dangerous, and I was more willing to put my trust in a

    woman who I hardly knew at this point than to trust that Edrick¡¯s intentions were good.

    All day, I stayed in my room. Selina tried knocking on the door a few times, but each time I either

    pretended to be asleep or I said that I was too sick toe out. Finally, it seemed as though they had

    given up.

    Eventually, I heard Edrick putting E to bed in her room next door. I stayed quiet, listening through the

    wall.

    It pained me greatly to hear how sweet E was with Edrick, knowing that this was theirst time that

    they would see each other. I listened tearfully as he read her a bedtime story.

    ¡°Goodnight, daddy,¡± E¡¯s tiny voice said. ¡°I love you.¡±

    ¡°I love you too, Princess.¡±

    I heard the sound of Edrick¡¯s footsteps leaving the room, followed by the sound of E¡¯s bedroom door

    closing. There was a pause, and then his footsteps came over to my door.

    I practically held my breath as I heard him walk up to my door and pause there. He didn¡¯t move for a

    long time, but he didn¡¯t knock or try the door. Something about it was almost terrifying, as though he

    was watching me through the door. But finally, he walked away and I didn¡¯t hear anything after that.

    It was hours that I waited in my room. I watched in silence as the hours ticked by; first ten o¡¯clock, then

    eleven, then midnight. When one o¡¯clock struck, I knew that it was time.

    My bag was already packed. I didn¡¯t pack much other than a few changes of clothes and some

    sentimental things. When I opened the door, I slowly looked around to see that the penthouse was

    completely dark before I quietly tiptoed over to E¡¯s room.

    While she slept, I quietly packed a bag for her; once again, just some changes of clothes and

    sentimental things. My eyes were filled with tears the entire time, especially as I picked up pictures of

    E and Edrick that were ced in picture frames around the room. There was one picture of all three

    of us, taken by Selina one day while we were all ying in the living room. I had framed it a while back,

    thinking that I would be here forever; but now, I knew that the smiling Edrick in that photograph was

    nothing but a facade. However, I didn¡¯t want E to forget her father regardless of what he had done,

    so I tucked the photo away into her bag.

    Once I was finished, I gently shook E to wake her up. I ced my finger over my lips as soon as her

    eyes opened, indicating for her to stay quiet.

    ¡°Moana?¡± she whispered, yawning sleepily. ¡°Did you have a bad dream?¡±

    ¡°No, love,¡± I responded. I gently pulled the covers off of her, blinking my own tears away. ¡°You and I

    have to go somewhere.¡±

    E sat up, looking confused. ¡°Where are we going?¡±

    I sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her little ear. ¡°I¡¯m going to take you to meet your real

    mommy,¡± I whispered.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.

    E¡¯s eyes widened. I held out my hand for her, and she took it.

 Chapter 185

    Chapter 185

    #Chapter 185: The Cab Driver

    Moana

    E took my outstretched hand. As I helped her get up, she rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked up at

    me with more confusion written across her face.

    ¡°You¡¯re taking me to meet my real mommy?¡± she murmured. ¡°What do you mean? My mommy is

    dead.¡±

    ¡°E¡­¡± I crouched down to her level and held her by both shoulders, looking at her intensely. ¡°I¡¯ll

    exinter, okay? For now, I just need you to trust me. Do you trust me?¡±

    E stared at me for a few moments, looking skeptical, before she finally nodded and didn¡¯t ask any

    more questions. I helped her get dressed quickly, then put her shoes on and grabbed both of our bags.

    Opening the door just a crack, I checked once more to make sure that the apartment was still quiet. It

    seemed as though everyone was asleep. Of course, there was still a chance that Edrick was awake, so

    we would have to move quickly. I took E¡¯s hand and quickly led her across the living room and over

    to the foyer.

    Since the elevator would ding and make noise, I decided to take us downstairs through the fire exit

    stairs. I quietly opened the fire exit door next to the elevator and brought E into the dimly lit concrete

    stairwell with me.

    ¡°Moana,¡± she said, pausing at the top of the stairs, ¡°why are we going down this way? I never go down

    this way, and it¡¯s scary in here.¡±

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°I know, love,¡± I said gently, still holding her hand. ¡°But I¡¯m right here with you. See?¡± I walked down the

    first couple of steps and then turned to look back up at her. She stared at me, still with that skeptical

    look on her face, before she shakily took the first step.

    It took us longer than I would have liked, but eventually we made it down to the bottom floor. I couldn¡¯t

    walk us through the lobby where people would see us ¡ª although I was certain that someone would

    eventually see us on the cameraster, and I hoped that we would be long gone by then ¡ª so I took us

    instead through the back door that led to the alleyway.

    Once again, E paused reluctantly and looked up at me with confusion. But she didn¡¯t ask anything

    this time, and bit her lip and followed me instead.

    Someday, I knew that I would have to exin everything to her. I hoped that she would understand and

    not resent me for everything that was happening that night, but I wasn¡¯t sure. All I knew for sure was

    that this was for the best; even if she hated me when she got older and never wanted to see me again,

    I could at least rest easy knowing that I had gotten her away from a dangerous living situation.

    I led E down the dark alleyway, checking over my shoulder the entire time, before we eventually

    came out onto the street behind the penthouse.

    And, just as Olivia said there would be, there was a cab waiting for us a little ways down the street.

    ¡°Come on, E,¡± I said quietly. She seemed to hesitate again, but freedom was so close, and so I

    picked her up and rushed down the street with her in one arm, my bag in my other hand, and E¡¯s

    new school backpack slung over my shoulder.

    ¡°Moana, I¡¯m scared,¡± E whimpered as we ran closer to the waiting cab.

    As she spoke, I felt tears poking at the backs of my eyes. Involuntarily, I froze for a moment and took

    onest look up at the penthouse.

    Inside, Edrick was likelyying in bed and trying to sleep,pletely oblivious to the fact that I was

    running away and stealing his daughter. The longer I looked up at the penthouse, imagining the lonely

    Alpha billionaire tossing and turning, the more I remembered how it felt to sleep in his arms. How it felt

    to wake up with him and feel the warm sun shining in through his open window. How it felt to see his

    smiling face when I finished the school day with E.

    But none of that mattered now, because he was going to hurt me and my baby. And no matter how

    much I had grown to love him over thest few months, I had to cut myself loose.

    My eyes began to well up with tears, but I managed to tear my gaze away from the penthouse and

    make my way over to the waiting cab. I opened the door and ushered the sleepy and scared E into

    the cab, then climbed in behind her and shut the door.

    ¡°Um¡­ Here,¡± I said, handing the silent cab driver the address for the hotel that I had written down. But

    the cab driver didn¡¯t take it, and as she pulled away from the curb, it seemed as though she knew

    where we were going. It did make sense, after all; Olivia probably knew this cab driver personally. I

    doubted that she would have allowed any regr cab driver to take us to the hotel, as an untrusted

    person could have easily given mine and E¡¯s whereabouts to the police.

    The cab driver appeared to be a woman. She was thin, wearing a beanie that covered most of her hair

    and a blue surgical mask. As she drove, the radio yed staticky music in the background that filled

    the silence.

    Behind me, E sniffled. She leaned into me and I wrapped my arm around her, rubbing her gently.

    Soon, this would be all over and she wouldn¡¯t need to be afraid anymore. At least, that was what I

    hoped. I could only hope that I was making the right decision.

    But as the cab driver took us through the glowing city, I began to get a bad feeling in my stomach. A pit

    of dread slowly opened as my sixth sense kicked in.

    Something was wrong. I didn¡¯t know what it was, but something was definitely not right.

    ¡°I-I think we¡¯re supposed to be going north,¡± I said quietly, pointing out the window. But the cab driver

    wasn¡¯t taking us north; she was taking us south, in the opposite direction.

    The cab driver didn¡¯t answer, though.

    ¡°H-Hello?¡± I said, feeling my heart beginning to quicken its pace. ¡°I think you¡¯re going in the wrong

    direction.¡±

    Once again, the cab driver didn¡¯t speak. We came to a stop at a red light; we were still only a few

    blocks away from the penthouse, and I began to wonder if I should get out here with E and run back

    home. Every fiber in my body was screaming at me to do just that.

    Swallowing, I reached for the door handle¡­

    But the car doors were locked.

    ¡°P-Please let us out,¡± I said, my voice shaking as I tried the handle over and over again. Beside me,

    E was beginning to catch on as well, and I could feel her get tense. ¡°I want to get out now,¡± I pleaded.

    Suddenly, the cab driver began to chuckle¡­ And she pulled down her mask.

    It wasn¡¯t just any cab driver; it was Kelly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you two,¡± she said, turning in her seat to look at us with a twisted grin on her gaunt face.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take you far, far away. And I¡¯ll make sure that Edrick never finds you.¡±

 Chapter 186

    Chapter 186

    #Chapter 186: Mousetrap

    Moana

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you two,¡± Kelly said as she turned around in her seat to look at us. There was a sick,

    twisted grin on her gaunt face. She looked even more skeletal than before, as though she hadn¡¯t eaten

    or slept in days, maybe even weeks. ¡°I¡¯m going to take you far, far away. And I¡¯ll make sure that Edrick

    never finds you.¡±

    ¡°K-Kelly?¡± I whimpered. I tried the car door again, but it was still locked. And it was toote now; the

    light turned green and Kelly hit the gas, speeding down the mostly empty street.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to see me, huh?¡± she said,ughing almost maniacally as she gripped the steering wheel

    tightly. Even in the dim light of the car, I could see that her knuckles were as white as a sheet.

    E, who had caught onto the danger by now, was beginning to panic. I felt her little arms slip around

    my waist, and when I looked down, she was looking up at me with terror in her eyes. I pulled her close,

    holding her tightly, and took her head and buried it in my side so she wouldn¡¯t have to see in case Kelly

    did anything insane.

    ¡°Kelly, what is all of this?¡± I asked, my heart practically pounding out of my chest. ¡°Do you know Olivia?

    Why are you here?¡±

    Kelly giggled, sounding almost like a child. ¡°Oh, her?¡± she asked. She took a sharp turn, causing E

    and I to slide across the seat. I quickly buckled E into a seatbelt as I mentally prepared for Kelly to do

    something rash like intentionally crash the car. ¡°Yeah, of course I know my good friend Olivia,¡± she

    continued. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t thanks to her, I wouldn¡¯t be here right now. She¡¯s been really helpful.¡±

    ¡°Helpful with what?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well, you see,¡± Kelly said, speeding through a yellow light, ¡°you¡¯ve done nothing except get in the way

    of my rtionship with Edrick. Both of you, really. First that little snot-nosed brat,¡± she gestured over

    her shoulder at E with her thumb, ¡°and then you, with your stupid pregnancy.¡± Her eyes met mine in

    the rear view mirror then. They looked hollow and pale, like ghosts of what they once were. Kelly was

    always a bit unhinged, but now she seemed far worse. It had only been a few weeks since the incident

    in the Rogue district, and already she seemed like an almost entirely different person.

    ¡°You never had a rtionship with Edrick,¡± I growled. ¡°He can¡¯t stand you.¡±

    Suddenly, Kelly came to a screeching halt at another red light. She whipped around in her seat, her

    eyes shooting daggers. Her face was twisted into such an evil expression that she looked like a demon,

    and I covered E¡¯s face with my hand.

    ¡°Shut the f**k up,¡± she snarled, ¡°before Ie back there and shut you up myself.¡±

    My eyes widened. I decided that it was best for me to stay quiet, as she seemed so unhinged that I

    wouldn¡¯t have put it past her to intentionally run the car into a building over my nextment.

    The light turned green again, and Kelly hit the gas once more, causing us to lurch in our seats. I heard

    E sob quietly beside me, and I pulled her closer.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, sweetheart,¡± I whispered into her ear. ¡°I¡¯m gonna protect you. Momma¡¯s gonna protect

    you.¡± In the moment, I didn¡¯t even think twice about referring to myself as E¡¯s mother. In fact, now

    that I knew that Olivia was indeed either an actress or simply a horrible person who led us right into a

    trap, I felt more maternal over E than ever. But at the same time, I felt like a horrible mother for letting

    her get into this situation with me, all because of things that a stranger told me¡­

    ¡°Anyway,¡± Kelly said, gesturing wildly with one hand while she drove with the other, ¡°I¡¯ve figured out the

    perfect way to finally make Edrick understand that I¡¯m the only one for him. I know that we¡¯re meant for

    each other, but it¡¯s just gonna take a little extra push to get him there.¡±

    ¡°If you let us go right now, you can have him,¡± I begged. ¡°Please, just let us go and don¡¯t hurt El¡ª¡±

    ¡°So,¡± Kelly interrupted, ¡°here¡¯s my n: while Edrick is dealing with his grief, that¡¯s when I¡¯ll swoop in. I

    actually learned a little lesson from you, believe it or not, and that¡¯s that I can lock him down by getting

    pregnant. I don¡¯t even care if it¡¯s his baby, honestly. If I need to get pregnant before I ever even sleep

    with him, then so be it. It doesn¡¯t matter whose baby it is, so long as he thinks that it¡¯s his. Then, he¡¯ll

    never leave me, and he¡¯ll finally realize his true feelings for me.¡±

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    She¡¯s sick, I thought to myself. We took another sharp turn, and by now we were headed into the

    Rogue district. I felt my stomach twist inside of me as we picked up speed, and all I could do at this

    point was hold E as tightly as possible, as though that would keep her safe from this maniac.

    ¡°And, you know,¡± Kelly said as she drove, her voice raising in pitch, ¡°it¡¯s been really hardtely. Ever

    since you survived the Rogue district ¡ª which you weren¡¯t supposed to, by the way, in case you

    already didn¡¯t know ¡ª my parents have been punishing me. I¡¯m sure you remember how hard it is to

    be a peasant. I¡¯ve been miserable. Edrick had them cut me off from the money; but once I marry him, it

    won¡¯t matter anymore. I¡¯ll never need to worry about money again.¡±

    While Kelly spoke, I began to subtly look around for anything that I could use to defend E and myself

    or escape with: a heavy shlight, an ice scraper, anything that could have been in the back of the car.

    But there was nothing. Outside the car, the streets of the entry of the Rogue district were lined with

    hungry Rogues who looked at the car as if it were their next meal.

    Kelly ranted for a long time about her parents¡¯ money and how she had been cut off. All the while, I

    desperately searched for ways to escape. I even pleaded with my wolf to see if I could shift once the

    car stopped, but I couldn¡¯t. It was too early, and she was too weak. I was certain that Kelly somehow

    knew that, and that was why all of this came together on that night.

    Eventually, the roads darkened and turned from brightly straight city streets to dark and ominously

    twisting alleyways, and soon the city lights were nothing but dots in the distance. Even in the car, I

    could feel the weight of the darkness and the silence all around us as we went further and further into

    the Rogue district.

    At least, I told myself, E could shift when we got out of the car and make a run for it. At least she

    could stand a chance.

    Finally, we pulled down a long, narrow road. Eventually, arge brick building came into view; I could

    tell from its square shape andrge paned windows with broken ss that it was an abandoned

    warehouse.

    And it was likely to be the ce that I would die that night.

    ¡°When the car door opens, I want you to shift and run away,¡± I whispered into E¡¯s ear as quietly as I

    could. She looked up at me with wide eyes and shook her head, but I squeezed her shoulders and

    looked at her intensely, mouthing only three words: I love you.

    Kelly came to a stop and got out of the car.

    The car door opened on my side first. I gave E onest look, wishing that I could tell her that I was

    sorry, before I got out.

    ¡°Give me your hands,¡± Kelly said. Iplied, only because I wanted her to be distracted with tying me

    up while E ran.

    Behind me, I heard a scuffle as E leaped out of the car and made a run for it.

    ¡°s**t,¡± Kelly said.

    And then, something hit the side of my head, and everything went ck.

 Chapter 187

    Chapter 187

    #Chapter 187: The Hunt

    Edrick

    When I picked Moana and E up from school that day, I could tell that something was off. Moana

    seemed distant and cold, and stiffened under my touch. Was she really still that angry over what I had

    said the other day? I was only worried about her, and I didn¡¯t want her to get hurt by going out by

    herself. Moana was normally a level-headed person, so for her to be so angry over something so

    simple for days was out of character for her. But I just figured that it was pregnancy hormones, or

    maybe the potion that the Mother Witch gave me to keep her wolf from emerging was making her a bit

    cranky.

    Moana stayed in her room for the remainder of the day. She said that she wasn¡¯t feeling well, so I

    figured that it really was the pregnancy after all. I decided to give her plenty of space to rest, but by the

    time I put E to bed that night, Moana still hadn¡¯te out of her room.

    I thought about going into her room and checking on her. But after a few moments of standing silently

    outside her door, I decided against it, and instead went to bed without her.

    A few hours passed after that. I tossed and turned the entire time, and finally I couldn¡¯t take it anymore.

    I needed Moana by my side in order to sleep; maybe if I talked to her sincerely and apologized for

    making her angry, she wouldn¡¯t be so cold toward me. I still hadn¡¯t apologized for what I said during our

    last argument, after all.

    I made my way over to Moana¡¯s room and raised my fist to knock on the door.

    But when I did, the door just swung open. And Moana¡¯s bed was empty.

    Figuring that E may have had a bad dream and that Moana was sleeping with her, I decided to go

    over to E¡¯s room. I slowly cracked the door open and peered inside, not wanting to wake E up.

    What I saw made my blood run cold.

    E¡¯s bed was empty.

    ¡°E?¡± I called into the room, frantically looking around as though they would both suddenly appear out

    of thin air. ¡°Moana?¡±

    There was no answer. My first instinct was to check the closet and the bathroom, which were, of

    course, both empty. My heart pounded then as I flung the window open and looked down at the street

    below, praying that I wouldn¡¯t see their bodiesying on the sidewalk. But I couldn¡¯t imagine why

    Moana would have jumped, and there was nothing down there anyway.

    I flew into a rage after that. My wolf almostpletely took over; I didn¡¯t shift, but I went into pure

    instinct mode, and began frantically searching the penthouse. Selina and the maids were all woken up

    by my shouting and banging, and when they came out of their rooms and I exined the situation, they

    all flew into a frenzy as well.

    Moana and E were nowhere to be found.

    I called the police. Thanks to my status, several of the city¡¯s best police and investigators were at the

    penthouse within thirty minutes.

    ¡°Does your fiancee have any enemies? Anyone who would kidnap her or give her a reason to run?¡±

    one of the investigators asked while the others searched the penthouse thoroughly.

    At first, I shook my head. But then¡­ I remembered the Rogue district.

    ¡°Kelly,¡± I said, my heart pounding so fast that I felt as though I would be sick. ¡°Kelly hates her. She

    already tried something once.¡±

    The investigator furrowed his brow and scribbled something in his notebook. After that, the police set

    up a phone tracer. Since I knew Kelly, I would be easy to contact her; but if she did kidnap E and

    Moana, then we would need to trace her call so we could find them. I just hoped that we could find

    them before it was toote.

    ¡°They¡¯ll find them,¡± Selina said, her voice shaking as she squeezed my arm tightly. ¡°They¡¯ll find them.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t speak. I could hardly even move. All I could do was stare numbly at the wall in front of me,

    praying that nothing horrible would happen to my mate and my daughter.

    I wished that I had told Moana how much I loved her¡­ And if we did find them, I would never let her go

    another day without knowing the extent of my love for her. Now, more than ever, my fear of

    commitment felt so silly. I should have married her on the day I met her.

    Suddenly, my phone began to ring. The investigator waved me over, where my phone was hooked up

    to a call tracer.

    ¡°Just try to keep her on the phone as long as possible,¡± the investigator said. ¡°Just keep her talking.

    We¡¯ll let you know once we¡¯ve traced the call.¡±

    I nodded numbly, then swallowed and shakily picked up the phone.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I answered.

    ¡°Hey, handsome,¡± Kelly¡¯s voice croaked on the other end. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you.¡±

    Her voice sounded strained and nasally, like she hadpletely lost her mind. I didn¡¯t know if it was

    drugs or what, but it didn¡¯t matter. I just needed to keep her on the phone. I decided to y dumb to

    keep her talking for longer, as though I hadn¡¯t found out yet that Moana and E were gone.

    ¡°Hey, Kelly,¡± I said, resisting the urge to growl obscenities and threaten her life. I wanted so badly to

    reach through the phone and rip her to shreds, but I knew that I had to stay calm. ¡°It¡¯ste. Is

    everything okay?¡±

    Kelly giggled, then fell silent for a moment. Her giggle almost seemed to echo; she sounded as though

    she was in a big, empty room. ¡°Have you noticed that anything is missing?¡± she said, thenughed

    again. ¡°Of course you have. I know you¡¯re trying to keep me on the phone, but I can make this easier

    for you so you don¡¯t have to go out of your way to save the nanny and your little b***h of a daughter; I¡¯ll

    release them if you promise to marry me. Deal?¡±

    Really? I thought to myself. That¡¯s why she¡¯s doing this? Because she still can¡¯t get over me?

    ¡°How do I know you¡¯re not lying?¡± I asked, watching with wide eyes as the investigators gestured to

    indicate that we were almost there, and we almost had her location. ¡°What if I promise to marry you

    and then you do something to them?¡±

    Once again, Kelly let out an insane giggle. She really did sound as though she had gonepletely

    mad. ¡°I guess you¡¯ll just have to find out,¡± she said. ¡°You have two choices: you can either refuse to

    marry me, and then they¡¯ll definitely die, or you can promise to marry me and they¡¯ll only maybe die.¡±

    Suddenly, the investigator gave me a thumbs up to indicate that they had sessfully traced the call. I

    opened my mouth to say something to Kelly, anything to cate her long enough until we got there so

    she wouldn¡¯t hurt Moana and E; but then I heard the sound of a scuffle. I heard Kelly let out a yelp.

    And then¡­ Silence.

    My eyes went wide. Had Moana knocked her out? I hoped so¡­ More than anything, I hoped that was

    the case.

    ¡°It looks like she was calling from a location on the outskirts of the city,¡± one of the investigators said.

    ¡°But that¡¯s not all.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, feeling my heart stop in my chest.

    The investigator swallowed, then looked at me with concern written across his face.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°It¡¯s located in the Rogue district.¡±

 Chapter 188

    Chapter 188

    #Chapter 188: Return to the Rogue District

    Edrick

    ¡°It¡¯s located in the Rogue district,¡± the investigator said, his face pale and his eyes wide.

    The Rogue district was such a dangerous ce that even the police were terrified to go there. But I

    wasn¡¯t; if I had to fight a thousand Rogues to save Moana and E, then I would do it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± I said, storming over to the door.

    ¡°Mr. Morgan, are you sure it¡¯s safe for you toe¡ª¡± one of the cops began, but I whirled around to

    re at him intensely. I could feel my eyes beginning to glow, and my stare alone was enough to make

    the cop fall silent and shut his mouth. The rest of the cops nodded, and we left Selina and the maids

    standing in the foyer.

    ¡°Stay here and call me immediately if Moana happens to show up,¡± I told Selina as the elevator doors

    closed. Thest thing I saw was her nodding grimly with tears in her eyes.

    The police had their cars parked outside. I climbed into the passenger seat with the police chief and

    then we were on our way. As we drove across town, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about what Kelly had

    implied¡­ How she thought that I would actually marry her in exchange for Moana and E¡¯s lives. But

    the sound of whatever happened at the end seemed promising¡­ I could only hope that Moana had

    broken free and knocked Kelly out. Hopefully, we would arrive to find both E and Moana safe, and

    Kelly restrained so she couldn¡¯t cause anymore trouble.

    What surprised me, though, was the obviousck of a struggle. Neither Moana nor E¡¯s room seemed

    to have anything out of ce; it was as though they simply got up and walked out. Although, I

    supposed that I wouldn¡¯t have been terribly surprised if Kelly had threatened them and forced them to

    leave quietly. For all I knew, maybe she gave them something to make them sleep, and had her men

    take them away. Honestly, thetter was preferable in some ways, at least for E; I would have

    preferred if she could have just been magically asleep for everything so that it wouldn¡¯t haunt herter.

    But deep down, I logically knew that that wasn¡¯t going to be the case.

    The squad of police cars made their way through the city, using their lights to make traffic move aside

    so we could get quickly through the city. It wasn¡¯t long before we finally arrived at the entrance of the

    Rogue district.

    ¡°You ready?¡± the cop who was driving asked me as we drove into the darker part of town, where

    Rogues lined the streets and stared at us as we drove past. I nodded grimly, just trying not to look out

    the windows too much in case any of the Rogues got pissed off and decided to attack.

    As we drove, the streets began to get narrower and darker. The cop had a map on his console with the

    location that Kelly¡¯s call came from pinged on it, and as we got closer, it felt as though the tall buildings

    were caving in on us. The darker the Rogue district became, the heavier and more sickening it felt. On

    either side of the street, I could see Rogues wandering aimlessly. They looked at the cop cars with

    suspicion, and I knew that if we ran into the wrong group of Rogues, they could easily block us off in

    these narrow streets.

    And, eventually, that was exactly what happened.

    Up ahead, a group of Rogues came out of an alleyway and blocked the street.

    ¡°s**t,¡± the cop murmured. He pulled out his radio and contacted the other cars behind us. ¡°Looks like

    we¡¯ve got a Code Purple up here,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m gonna slow down and see if they move.¡±

    The cop slowed down, but the Rogues didn¡¯t move. He came to a stop and sat there for a few seconds,

    then clicked his radio again, this time using the speaker on the car to address the Rogues.

    ¡°Move out of the way,¡± he said firmly. ¡°We need to pass. This is an emergency.¡±

    But even then, the Rogues didn¡¯t move out of the way. In fact, they only began to walk closer to the car.

    More Rogues came out of the alleyway then, and by that point there were at least ten, maybe even

    twenty of them blocking all exits.

    ¡°God dammit,¡± the cop said.

    Suddenly, all of the Rogues shifted at once and descended on the line of cop cars. The car shook

    violently as two Rogues jumped on the hood, barking and snarling. The cop and I looked at each other

    in shock for a moment before he radioed something that I couldn¡¯t understand to the other cops, then

    got out his gun and got out of the car.

    Gunshots fired all through the alleyway. The Rogues and the police erupted into a violent fight. I

    couldn¡¯t just sit there and hope that the police would fight through the Rogues; I needed to help. I

    quickly jumped out and felt myself begin to shift.

    As I shifted, several Rogues circled around me and began to snarl and w at me. I wed back with

    more intensity, mming myself into their sides and sending them flying with a chorus of yelps while

    gunshots rang all around me. Another Rogue came, this one bigger, and bared his teeth at me.

    ¡°Who paid you?¡± I asked, snarling back at him.

    The Rogue¡¯s voice echoed in my head. He wasughing. ¡°I¡¯ll never tell,¡± he replied. ¡°But I¡¯ll say this: it¡¯ll

    just be easier if youy down and ept your fate.¡±

    I stifled my ownugh. ¡°Like hell I will,¡± I responded. Then, in one quick movement, I darted forward

    and collided with therge Rogue. We grappled on the ground for several long moments, rolling back

    and forth in a ball of ws and teeth. At one point, I managed to pin him to the ground and snapped my

    teeth at his throat.

    But he got his legs under me somehow and kicked me off, throwing me back against the brick wall of a

    building. I felt the air get knocked out of my lungs as I got mmed into the wall, but I wasted no time in

    scrambling back to my feet and making another charge at him.

    As I fought the Rogue, I only kept one thing in my mind: Moana¡¯s and E¡¯s faces. I pictured their

    smiles when I woulde to their rescue, and that was what helped me to fight. It filled me with

    strength, and with one final surge of power, I managed to mp my teeth around the Rogue¡¯s neck and

    throw him so hard against a wall that I heard a sickening crunch, and then he fell silent.

    Around me, gunshots continued to ring out as the police fought against the remaining Rogues. With a

    nod to the police chief, I charged at anotherrge Rogue and ced a deep gash in his side with my

    ws, causing him to fall to the ground with a whimper. Amidst all of the chaos, a few more Rogues fell

    to the ground as bullets pierced their flesh and fur. I shifted back just as a path was cleared, and the

    cops and I jumped back into the cars and sped off with a chorus of screeching tires.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    I¡¯ming, Moana, I thought to myself as I gripped the car dashboard while the cop sped through the

    narrow street, knocking more Rogues out of the way with the car. I¡¯ming, E. Daddy¡¯sing.

 Chapter 189

    Chapter 189

    #Chapter 189: A Small Sacrifice

    Moana

    When I came to, I felt myself sitting in a chair with my wrists tied behind me. My head was pounding

    from the blow that knocked me out, but that wasn¡¯t the only thing I felt on my head.

    Something cold and hard was pressed up against my temple.

    My eyes fluttered open, squinting against the bright light of a spotlight. The light was so bright as it

    shined down on me that I could hardly see past it, but I could tell that I was inside the warehouse now.

    The cold metal thing pressed harder into my temple. And then, a familiar voice spoke out.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Hello, Moana.¡±

    I jumped at the voice and whipped my head around, my eyes widening as I saw Ethan standing beside

    me with a gun raised to my head.

    ¡°E-Ethan?¡± I whispered, my voice shaking.

    Ethan smiled; it was that same creepy smile that I saw on the night of the banquet, when he didn¡¯t think

    that I was looking. But now, he knew that I was looking right at him and he didn¡¯t bother to keep up the

    facade anymore.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to see me, huh?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Where¡¯s E?¡± I asked. I looked around frantically, only to see her tied to another chair next to me.

    She was sleeping. ¡°What did you do to her?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Ethan said calmly. ¡°She¡¯s not hurt. Just under a spell. That way, she won¡¯t need to

    experience any of this. She will have just gone to sleep, and she¡¯ll never wake up.¡±

    I shook my head vehemently as tears began to pool up in my eyes. ¡°Ethan, you don¡¯t need to do this,¡± I

    begged. ¡°At least don¡¯t hurt E. Please. I thought we were friends. Why are you doing this?¡±

    Ethan sighed, but continued to press the barrel of the pistol in his hand against my head.

    ¡°You¡¯re both innocent,¡± he admitted, ¡°but you see¡­ It¡¯s not that simple. It was thanks to Edrick and his

    parents that my beautiful mother killed herself.¡±

    His mother killed herself? I thought back to the news article that Olivia showed me the other day, and it

    never indicated that she killed herself. In fact, it indicated quite the opposite; that Michael had killed her.

    And knowing Michael, I was sure of it. Did he really sink his ws in so much that he convinced Ethan

    that his poor mother killed herself?

    ¡°Ethan, I¡ª¡± I began, but was quickly cut off by the gun pushing harder into my temple. A choked sob

    caught in my throat, followed by a whimper.

    ¡°Just¡­ Shut the f**k up,¡± Ethan snarled. ¡°It¡¯s going to be easier on all of us if you just shut up and don¡¯t

    talk. Now, where was I¡­¡± He paused for a moment, still holding the gun against his head, and then his

    face lit up. ¡°So, as I was saying, I¡¯ve been looking for ways to get back at that godforsaken family. I

    wanted to make them feel the same pain that I felt when my mother died¡­ First, when I was a kid, I

    tried killing the family pets. It started with a pet bird, then a cat, and a puppy that Michael got for Edrick

    on his birthday. But although it caused them pain, it wasn¡¯t enough. It wasn¡¯t the same sort of pain that I

    felt when I found my mom¡¯s bodyying in her bathtub. Ever since then, I¡¯ve been plotting the perfect

    way to make them all suffer greatly. At first, I was just going to kill E, since Edrick didn¡¯t have anyone

    else that he actually gave a s**t about; but then, you came into the picture. You, with your pretty face,

    your long red hair, and your hot body¡­¡±

    Ethan paused then, his eyes traveling down from my face to my neck, my breasts, over my belly and

    down to my thighs. But even then, as he drank me in with his eyes, he never once lowered the gun. I

    felt myself trembling violently beneath the cold metal of the barrel. My eyes then caught something in

    the corner, just beyond the bright light that was shining on me. It was someone¡¯s body,ying in a heap.

    It was Kelly.

    ¡°Of course,¡± he continued, ¡°my half-brother was taken with you from the start. And I don¡¯t me him.

    You¡¯re a gem, Moana. A real gem¡­ But you¡¯re too perfect not to kill. You¡¯re the perfect key that I¡¯ve

    been missing. Once you and E are both gone, then Edrick will finally know what it¡¯s like to be truly

    alone, to be truly heartbroken. After you, I¡¯ll take Verona next. I don¡¯t think that Michael is really capable

    of true human emotions, but he¡¯ll still feel the sting of loneliness. She is his mate, after all, despite the

    fact that he betrayed her by f*****g my prostitute mother.¡±

    ¡°What about Kelly?¡± I asked, nodding my head toward where Kellyy. ¡°What did she ever do to you?

    From the looks of it, she only ever helped you. Did you kill her, too?¡±

    Ethan shrugged. ¡°She¡¯s not dead; just knocked out. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t care less about Kelly. She was

    only ever a pawn throughout all of this; her insatiable obsession with Edrick just made her easy to

    control, to manipte. As I¡¯m sure you¡¯re guessing now, judging from the look on your face, yes; I did

    tell her to hire those Rogues a while back to kidnap you. But of course, Edrick came to your rescue. It¡¯s

    okay, though. Now, it¡¯ll be even easier to pin everything on her.¡±

    He paused then, and lowered the gun slightly before making an innocent face like a puppy dog. His

    eyes became big and filled with tears, and his lower lip started to quiver. ¡°Officers, Kelly killed them! I

    had to knock her out, but it was toote! Look! Look at how their skulls are filled with bullet holes! She¡¯s

    insane!¡±

    When he was finished, his face went cold again, and he let out a wry chuckle before harshly pressing

    the gun up against my temple again. But this time, I didn¡¯t flinch away. Instead, I turned my head and

    spat on him. A wad of spitnded on the front of his shirt. He grimaced at it for a moment in shock

    before his cold, emotionless gaze returned to me.

    ¡°I trusted you,¡± I growled. ¡°I thought you were my friend.¡±

    ¡°Well, you shouldn¡¯t have been so naive,¡± Ethan replied coldly. ¡°Maybe you should¡¯ve listened to Edrick

    when he kept telling you to stay away.¡± He paused, then, licking his lips, and shot me a toothy grin.

    ¡°You know, that night that I took you out to dinner¡­ I did want to have s*x with you, of course. How

    could I not? I do like you, Moana. But¡­ You refused.¡±

    ¡°Would you have killed me anyway?¡± I whispered. ¡°Even if I had slept with you that night like you

    wanted, would you have still decided to kill me?¡±

    Ethan stared at me for a moment with a strange light in his eyes. He chuckled grimly, but then his smile

    quickly faded and he shoved the gun harder against my head.

    ¡°Of course I still would have killed you,¡± he said, his voice so nonchnt that it made me sick. ¡°You

    slipped through my fingers that night, though; your innocence, your devotion, made me hesitate. For

    too long, I went back and forth on whether I should do it. But I¡¯ve made my decision now.¡±

    He grinned, clicking the safety off on the gun as his eyes glinted in the light.

    ¡°And now, I¡¯m finally going to get it over with.¡±

 Chapter 190

    Chapter 190

    #Chapter 190: Stalling for Time

    Moana

    ¡°And now, I¡¯m finally going to get it over with,¡± Ethan said as he clicked the safety off on the gun.

    During that moment, it felt as though everything froze in time. My mind began to race with a million

    different things, a million different oues. In the corner of my eye, E continued to sleep peacefully,

    oblivious to everything around her. Kellyid motionless in the corner, and the spotlight that was

    beaming on my face blinded me so that I couldn¡¯t see anything beyond it.

    ¡°Mina, I need you,¡± I thought, searching for my wolf¡¯s presence. ¡°Please¡­ I know you¡¯re scared, but we

    have to do something. We can¡¯t let him kill E.¡±

    My wolf, who had been hiding in terror as it seemed as though Ethan would surely kill me, showed her

    presence slightly.

    ¡°Keep him talking,¡± she said, her voice echoing in my mind. ¡°Edrick will find us soon. Just keep him

    talking.¡±

    I swallowed, hard, and suddenly turned my head to stare straight down the barrel of the gun. Upon

    seeing my face, Ethan hesitated. His finger, which had been on the trigger, moved away. I felt as

    though something in him softened when I looked into his eyes, as though the sweet and gentle artist

    who I hade to call my friend was still in there somewhere. It was a tiny spark, but it was there.

    ¡°If I¡¯m going to die, at least let me ask some questions so I can die in peace,¡± I pleaded. ¡°Please. I just

    want some answers before I die.¡±

    Ethan paused, then slowly lowered the gun after a long time. As he did, I felt as though the gripping

    sensation around my heart lessened, and I could breathe again.

    ¡°Go on,¡± he said, his voice low and grim. ¡°What are your questions?¡±

    ¡°U-Um¡­¡± My mind scrambled, searching for something that would make him talk. Finally, I came up

    with something. ¡°When I talked to Olivia, she said that I¡¯m the Golden Wolf,¡± I said. ¡°Is that true? Did

    you know that?¡±

    Ethan slowly nodded. ¡°Yes,¡± he replied quietly. ¡°You are.¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Edrick went to the Mother Witch,¡± Ethan responded. ¡°She confirmed it. I had an inkling of it myself, and

    so I went to the Mother Witch after him. Believe it or not, despite her abilities as an oracle, she didn¡¯t

    seem to realize that I was just using my status and my charm to get information. She told me

    everything¡­ But, now that I think of it, there is something else that she told me. Maybe you should

    know before you die.¡±

    I nodded vehemently. ¡°Yes,¡± I begged. ¡°Please tell me. Whatever it is, I want to know before I die.¡±

    Ethan sighed and passed his hand over his face. I noticed that he was staring at the floor, as though he

    didn¡¯t want to look at me. He didn¡¯t want to look his prey in the face. There really was still a shred of

    humanity in there that didn¡¯t want to be a killer; I was sure of it.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Ethan finally said. ¡°She only hinted at it, but I believe it¡¯s true. You see, Michael has always

    hated humans. The idea of a Golden Wolf, someone who would bring humans and werewolves

    together in harmony, is something that he despises. So¡­ He killed your parents, Moana.¡±

    As Ethan spoke, my blood ran cold. Michael Morgan¡­ Killed my parents? Was that why they left me at

    the orphanage? To protect me?

    But that wasn¡¯t my main concern right now, because in the distance, I could see what looked like the

    red and blue shing of police lights through one of the broken windows of the warehouse. Ethan didn¡¯t

    see it, as he was too focused on his story. I just needed to keep him talking for a little longer¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re sure of this?¡± I asked. ¡°The Mother Witch was sure of it? Can she prove it?¡±

    Ethan chuckled. ¡°She can¡¯t prove it now, because she¡¯s dead. I killed her.¡±

    My eyes widened. The Mother Witch was known by all as the most powerful oracle in the world.

    ¡°H-How did you do what?¡± I whispered. ¡°And why?¡±

    ¡°Oh, Moana,¡± Ethan said. He reached out then, finally lifting his gaze to meet me as he brought his

    hand up to my cheek. His hand was cold and mmy. ¡°You¡¯re so naive. So innocent¡­ Don¡¯t you know

    that I couldn¡¯t let the Mother Witch live? She was an oracle, after all. My charm and my wit can only

    take me so far with someone like that, so of course she started to sense that something was wrong.

    But even though she¡¯s an oracle, her neck is still soft and made of flesh, and my knife was sharp.¡±

    I swallowed again, trying as hard as I could not to look past Ethan at the approaching lights. Thanks to

    the spotlight around us, the red and blue police lights didn¡¯t show unless he were to look back at them.

    If I could just keep him talking, keep him looking at me, then he wouldn¡¯t notice.

    My mind raced for another few moments before I suddenly had another idea.

    Trying to hide my fear, I smiled gently and leaned my hand into Ethan¡¯s palm. I softened my eyes as I

    looked up at him, and bit my lower lip. Ethan may have been a monster, but he was still a man¡­ and

    men had desires.

    ¡°You know, I did really like you,¡± I whispered, noticing as his eyes began to widen slightly. ¡°I only turned

    you down that night because of the baby, but if I¡¯m going to die anyway¡­ What do you say?¡±

    Ethan stared at me for a few moments, as though thinking. His thumb rubbed along my cheek, then

    came down and ran across my lower lip. It took every fiber in my body not to tremble in a terrified

    manner at his touch. I had to keep him upied, keep him looking at me.

    ¡°You had feelings for me at some point, didn¡¯t you?¡± I murmured.

    Slowly, Ethan nodded. His eyes flickered down to my lips and to my breasts.

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    But then, his hand dropped back to his side and he looked away, then raised the gun again.

    ¡°I did,¡± he whispered. ¡°But not anymore. Your death is too valuable.¡±

    ¡°Get down on the ground!¡± a voice suddenly shouted. Ethan whipped around, and I almostughed out

    loud in relief when I saw several police rush in with their guns raised. My heart leaped when I saw

    Edrick rush in with them, and his eyes widened when he saw me. I wanted so badly to run to him, to

    apologize for everything and never leave him again. I never should have listened to Olivia, or anyone

    else¡­

    ¡°Put the gun down!¡± the police yelled.

    But Ethan only ran around behind me and wrapped his arm around my neck. He pushed the gun up

    against my head, causing the police to stop in their tracks, unable to go further. Edrick stopped at the

    front of the group, his hands outstretched for me. Even from here, with the spotlight shining in my face,

    I could see the terror and fury in his eyes.

    ¡°If anyone takes one more step, I¡¯ll shoot her,¡± Ethan said, pressing the gun into my temple.

 Chapter 191

    Chapter 191

    #Chapter 191: Bullet in the Chamber

    Edrick

    We finally located the ce where Kelly called us from. It was a run-down abandoned warehouse

    nestled deeply into the Rogue district, where it was so dark that even the lights of the city from afar

    couldn¡¯t brighten the ce. Behind the warehouse were hundreds of stacked storage containers where

    the shipping boats came up the river and picked up shipments, but other than that there was nothing

    else; no people, no houses, no cars. Nothing. Long story short, it was the perfect ce for a crime like

    this to be carried out.

    The police quietly surrounded the warehouse and got out, drawing their guns. I wanted to feel relieved,

    but I couldn¡¯t yet until we were certain that Moana and my daughter were safe.

    When we burst in through the door, however, my heart sank. What I saw inside of that warehouse was

    my worst nightmare.

    Ethan, my evil half brother, was holding a gun to Moana¡¯s head.

    ¡°Put the gun down!¡± the police yelled, pointing their guns at Ethan as we burst in. ¡°Get down on the

    ground!¡±

    But Ethan didn¡¯t waver. In a swift motion, he swung around and stood behind Moana with his arm

    around her neck and the gun to her head. I could see the fear in her wide eyes, and I wanted so badly

    to run to her. That sick f**k had her tied up in a chair, and beside her my daughter was also tied up. E

    appeared to be sleeping. My eyes moved back to Moana, who shook her head ever so slightly; she

    was indicating that E wasn¡¯t dead. Not yet, at least. I let out a small sigh of relief, but I couldn¡¯t be

    fully relieved until they were both in my arms.

    ¡°If anyone takes one more step, I¡¯ll shoot her,¡± Ethan snarled, putting his finger on the trigger and

    causing the cops to freeze. ¡°I¡¯ve already got a bullet in the chamber. Just one wrong move, and I¡¯ll st

    her brains out.¡±

    I felt as though my chest was going to explode. Inside of me, Eddy began to rage at the sight of Ethan

    holding a gun to my mate¡¯s head. I wanted to rip him to shreds, but I knew that I couldn¡¯t. I needed to

    be tactful about this if I wanted to bring Moana and E home that night.

    ¡°Ethan,¡± I said, holding my hands up in surrender and trying not to show my intense and unwavering

    fury. ¡°Why? Why are you doing this?¡±

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    Beside me, I heard a police officer click the safety off on his gun. I held my arm out to stop him and

    shook my head.

    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot,¡± I said. ¡°No one shoot.¡±

    Suddenly, a low and menacingugh began to rumble in my half brother¡¯s throat. His eyes, which were

    usually masked by the fake charm that he used to manipte people, revealed his true self now. Cold,

    calcting, and twisted. I always wanted to believe that he wasn¡¯t born like that, that it wasn¡¯t entirely

    his fault that he was so messed up, but I couldn¡¯t help but think that he was just pure evil from the start;

    like he was sent here with the sole purpose of destroying my entire family, from my parents to Moana

    and E now.

    ¡°You¡¯re too good,¡± he said through hisughter. ¡°You work fast. I¡¯ll give you that.¡±

    ¡°Ethan, why are you doing this?¡± I asked. ¡°What do you want? What¡¯s your goal here?¡±

    Ethan¡¯sugh faded. His gun was pressed so hard up against Moana¡¯s head that I could see her

    wincing, and his arm was wrapped too tightly around her neck. ¡°You know, I wanted to get this over

    with before you got here so you could just face the pain of losing them,¡± he said grimly. ¡°But now that

    you¡¯re here, and now that I¡¯m looking at your stupid f*****g face, I do want to tell you exactly why this is

    going to happen to you¡­ Why you¡¯ll be miserable and alone forever until the day you die.¡±

    ¡°Please,¡± I said, ¡°enlighten me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you remember, or if you even care, but I was the one who found my mother¡¯s body,¡±

    Ethan began to exin. Of course I remembered that; no matter how much I always hated Ethan, I

    knew how horrific it was for him to find his mother after she had killed herself. I never thought that

    anyone should ever have to go through that. ¡°Either way, it doesn¡¯t matter. Because that day, I decided

    that I would make you and your family suffer the same pain that I felt when I lost the only person who

    ever truly loved me.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± I asked, furrowing my brow. I took a step forward, but then Ethan pushed the gun harder into

    Moana¡¯s temple. I watched in horror as she shut her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek while she

    trembled, and I held my hands up in surrender again. ¡°Why, Ethan? I¡¯m sorry about your mother. I really

    am. But what does her death have to do with Moana, or any of us for that matter?¡±

    Ethanughed again. Behind him, in the shadows created by the spotlight, I could see Kelly¡¯s body

    lying motionless on the concrete floor. I tried not to show any indication that I saw her, but it made my

    stomach drop. Had he killed her? Was that what I heard at the end of her phone call?

    ¡°I know that you and your father weren¡¯t innocent in that matter,¡± Ethan growled. ¡°The coroner covered

    it up because your son of a b***h father paid him off, but I can still see my mother¡¯s body, clear as

    day¡­ she didn¡¯t kill herself. Those cuts on her arms weren¡¯t self-inflicted.¡±

    Now, I was even more confused. ¡°What are you talking about, Ethan?¡± I asked. ¡°How would you even

    have known? You were a child.¡±

    ¡°Because!¡± Ethan shouted, clearly bing agitated as he tightened his grip around Moana¡¯s neck,

    causing her to gasp for air. ¡°There was no knife! Your father was smart enough to pay the coroner off,

    but he took the knife with him when he was finished killing my mother!¡±

    My eyes widened. I didn¡¯t know what to say; I wouldn¡¯t have been terribly surprised if my father had

    orchestrated that. When the papers came out about her death, they had only ever said that she died

    from suicide. Only one paper ever imed that my father may have had something to do with it, as the

    news of Ethan¡¯s existence as my father¡¯s son had only begun to circte a few months prior. Ethan¡¯s

    mother was a prostitute, so it was easy to cover up her death as well as to im that Ethan was not my

    father¡¯s child. But now, it made sense.

    Either way, though, only my father was to me for this. No one else.

    ¡°Why punish Moana and E for something that my father did?¡± I asked, taking another tentative step

    forward. ¡°Your gripe should be with him, not them. Just let them go, Ethan.¡±

    But Ethan just stared back at me with a maniacal look on his face, and pressed the gun harder into my

    mate¡¯s temple.

 Chapter 192

    Chapter 192

    #Chapter 192: Gun to a Fistfight

    Edrick

    Ethan continued to hold the gun firmly up against Moana¡¯s head. In the white blow of the bright

    spotlight that was trained on us, I could see the way that Moana¡¯s red hair was stuck to her neck from

    sweating as her adrenaline surged through her. The ropes that held her to the hard metal chair in the

    middle of the floor crossed over her belly, restricting the little life inside of her. Seeing her like this made

    me feel physically sick, and if Ethan didn¡¯t have a gun in his hand, then I would have ripped him to

    shreds as soon as I saw what he had done to her.

    ¡°Just let them go, Ethan,¡± I pleaded as I took another tentative step forward.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    However, Ethan just pushed the gun harder into Moana¡¯s temple.

    ¡°You¡¯re a liar,¡± he said through his teeth. ¡°I know that you and your mother had something to do with it,

    too. Don¡¯t take me for a fool, Edrick. Your family has done nothing but brought me pain, and now I¡¯ll

    make you feel the same pain.¡±

    ¡°Ethan, I seriously have no idea what you¡¯re talking about,¡± I said. ¡°My mother loved you like you were

    her own son. Sure, you and I never got along, but I would have never wanted your mother to die. I

    would never wish that sort of pain upon you.¡±

    Ethan stared at me for a few moments with the gun still pressed up against Moana¡¯s head and his arm

    wrapped firmly around her neck. Thankfully, as I spoke his grip seemed to loosen, allowing Moana to

    finally draw in a deep breath. Beside her, E continued to sleep. I could see now that E¡¯s chest was

    rising and falling gently, which filled me with immense relief; Ethan must have put her under a spell to

    make her sleep. I was d that she wouldn¡¯t have to see any of this, and I hoped that she wouldn¡¯t

    remember anything from this horrible night if I got her out of here.

    In the corner, though, Kelly stillid motionless on the floor. I couldn¡¯t tell if she was alive or dead.

    ¡°Did you kill Kelly?¡± I asked, nodding my head toward her.

    Ethan chuckled. ¡°Not yet,¡± he replied.

    Good, I thought to myself. As much as I despised Kelly for what she did to Moana in the Rogue district

    and for how nasty she was, I didn¡¯t want her to die. I knew now that Ethan probably yed a rather

    large role in that whole ordeal, too. For all I knew, he had been whispering bullshit into her ear since the

    beginning, molding her into this horrible person who hated Moana¡¯s very existence. There was no

    doubt in my mind that Ethan had orchestrated this entire kidnapping as well, and has probably used

    Kelly as a pawn.

    ¡°Listen,¡± I said, ¡°Moana and E don¡¯t need to be involved in this. They¡¯re both innocent, and I know

    that you care about both of them, although you won¡¯t admit it right now. So why don¡¯t you put the gun

    down, and we¡¯ll settle this like men?¡±

    For a few moments, Ethan just stared at me. He seemed to loosen his grip on Moana a little more, but

    he didn¡¯t seem to fully believe me. He nodded at the cops with his head. ¡°What about them? They¡¯ll just

    shoot me if I put the gun down.¡±

    I shook my head, then turned back to look at the cops. ¡°Why don¡¯t we all put the guns down at once?¡± I

    asked. ¡°Everyone. No one is getting shot tonight. You and I can handle this the old fashioned way: with

    our fists. No weapons, no interference.¡±

    There was a long silence. I stared intently at the cops, who looked back at me with disbelief while their

    guns were still trained on Ethan. Of course it was risky, but it was the only way to get the gun off of

    Moana¡¯s head.

    Finally, the police chief nodded grimly and slowlyid his gun down on the ground. After a few

    moments of hesitation, the other police followed suit; what Ethan didn¡¯t know was that there was a

    sniper trained on him from outside, ready to shoot just in case he tried anything. But, surprisingly, he

    didn¡¯t try anything. Not yet, at least. Much to my surprise, he set his gun down and released his grip

    from around Moana¡¯s neck. Moana let out a huge sigh of relief. I could see that her face was streaked

    with tears, but they had all dried by now. Later, I would have to make sure she knew just how brave I

    thought she was for holding it together; it was clear that she had been distracting Ethan and stalling for

    time when we came in. If she hadn¡¯t done that, then both Moana and E very well might have been

    dead by the time we found the warehouse.

    ¡°Untie her,¡± I said, nodding my head toward Moana. ¡°E, too. Untie both of them and let them go over

    to the police.¡±

    Ethan hesitated for a few moments. I could tell that he didn¡¯t believe me. He looked at Moana then.

    ¡°Ethan, please,¡± she begged, her voice shaking. ¡°Please. I know you care about us. Please let us go.¡±

    Something about Moana made Ethan do it. Solemnly, he untied both of them; first E, then Moana.

    E immediately jumped up and rushed over to E, who she scooped up and carried over to me. I

    pulled them both into my arms, feeling Moana sob quietly into my chest.

    Realistically, I could have had the police shoot Ethan while he was still standing there. But that night, I

    was overtaken with rage at what he had done; I needed to feel his flesh beneath my fists. I wanted to

    beat him to a pulp. He had put my fated mate, my daughter, and my unborn child in serious danger. If

    he thought that he felt pain when his own mother died, then that pain would feel miniscule in

    comparison to the pain I was about to inflict on him. Inside of me, my wolf raged nonstop. He couldn¡¯t

    wait to sink his teeth into Ethan¡¯s flesh.

    ¡°Go and stand with the cops,¡± I whispered, cupping Moana¡¯s face in my hands and kissing her

    forehead. ¡°You¡¯re safe now.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not really going to fight him, are you?¡± Moana asked. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous¡ª¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I kissed her forehead again, and reached over to touch E¡¯s face. After all of this was

    over, I decided then and there that I was going to give both of them the best day in their lives. I didn¡¯t

    care how much it cost; I just wanted to show them how grateful I was to have them in my life. I should

    have made sure that Moana knew that all along instead of pushing her away.

    Hesitantly, Moana carried E over to the police. I watched as the police surrounded her, barricading

    her within their circle. One of them took E, and another wrapped a nket around Moana tofort

    her while she continued to stare at me with wide, terrified eyes.

    ¡°Well?¡± Ethan said. ¡°Are you gonna fight me or not?¡±

 Chapter 193

    Chapter 193

    #Chapter 193: The Brotherly Rivals

    Moana

    I wanted to beg Edrick not to fight and to just let the police take Ethan away, but it seemed as though

    Edrick had his sights set on a fist fight with Ethan. As I watched them roll up their sleeves and prepare

    to fight, I just hoped that Edrick was a good fighter and that Ethan wouldn¡¯t pull any dirty tricks.

    One of the cops took E, who was thankfully still asleep. He took her to one of the police cars and

    asked if I wanted toe to safety, but I couldn¡¯t rip my eyes away from Edrick.

    I felt so stupid for not trusting Edrick. Of course the conversations with Olivia were all fake,pletely

    fabricated to make me lose trust in him. They wanted to separate me from the one person who would

    do whatever it would take to keep me safe.

    Ethan and Edrick stood on opposite sides of the open room and got into fighting stances. I watched

    with bated breath as Edrick put his fists up, prepared to fight. Everything felt still and silent, like the

    calm in the air right before a huge thunderstorm. The air felt static, like there was electricity floating

    through it.

    And then Edrick charged at Ethan. The two brothers flew into a flurry of punches and kicks. Ethan got

    one punch in on Edrick¡¯s cheek, causing him to hesitate for a moment as he shook the pain out of his

    head, but Edrick managed to dodge the next punch. Edrick then swiped his leg under Ethan¡¯s feet.

    Ethan tumbled to the ground, but he was incredibly agile thanks to his werewolf blood and bounced

    right back up a momentter with his fists still raised. He made a hook at Edrick¡¯s head, which Edrick

    ducked to dodge again. Edrick¡¯s fist jabbed into Ethan¡¯s stomach, causing Ethan to stagger backwards

    against the wall to catch his breath.

    While Ethan was up against the wall, Edrick flew at him and punched at him furiously. They moved so

    fast that they were almost a blur because of their werewolf abilities; Edrick¡¯s fists flew over and over

    again, and Ethan repeatedly dodged until he managed to uppercut Edrick in the jaw and send Edrick

    flying backwards.

    I gasped loudly as Edrick skidded across the floor. His shirt tore from scraping against the cement.

    ¡°Edrick!¡± I called, but he wasn¡¯t listening. With a growl, Edrick climbed back to his feet. I could see bits

    of blood beginning to bead up on his skin where his shirt had torn, but the cuts didn¡¯t seem to bother

    him in the slightest. Ethan charged at him again and feinted to the right, but Edrick was on his toes and

    caught Ethan. He picked Ethan up by the neck with one hand, then mmed Ethan into the ground. He

    was going to kill Ethan.

    I didn¡¯t want anyone to die, but Edrick was too furious to be stopped despite the fact that both I and the

    police were begging him not to take it too far. Edrick wasn¡¯t listening, though, and instead punched

    Ethan in the face repeatedly until Ethan¡¯s face was covered in blood. Edrick paused then, his chest

    heaving as he straddled Ethan and stared down at him. Edrick¡¯s eyes were wide and glowing brighter

    than I had ever seen them before.

    Ethan spit out a bloody tooth on the ground andughed.

    ¡°You never yed nice, Edrick,¡± he growled, his voice muddled by the blood. ¡°Every time we

    roughhoused as kids, you always left me bleeding¡­ But this time, you¡¯ll be the one who bleeds.¡±

    Suddenly, Ethan grabbed Edrick with an unexpected amount of force for someone whose face had

    practically just been beaten to a pulp. He grabbed him around the neck and yanked him closer,

    growling as he did, and then head butted Edrick hard. Edrick reeled at this, and I cried out with fear. I

    tried to rush out to him, but one of the cops stopped me and held me back, shaking his head.

    ¡°It¡¯s best you stay out of it, miss,¡± he said quietly. ¡°Once two Alphas start fighting, no one can break

    them up.¡±

    I could only watch in abject horror as Ethan then threw Edrick¡¯s body to the ground, causing Edrick to

    slide across the floor once more. Groaning, Ethan slowly climbed to his feet and limped over to Edrick.

    He put his foot on Edrick¡¯s head, turning it this way and that as though inspecting it, before grabbing a

    fistful of Edrick¡¯s shirt and pulling him up a bit. He punched Edrick square in the face. Edrick¡¯s head

    snapped back and his eyes rolled into the back of his head for a moment.

    ¡°Let me go,¡± I begged, wrenching myself free from the cop. ¡°He¡¯s going to die!¡±

    Ethan, hearing my struggle, turned to face me. He shot me a bloody, menacing grin and then stepped

    out of the way, gesturing to Edrick.

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± he said. ¡°Say your goodbyes. He¡¯ll die soon.¡±

    The cops flew into action then, scrambling to pick up their guns while Ethan justughed and stood

    there. I shoved my way through them and ran over to Edrick¡¯s side; his forehead was cracked open

    from Ethan head butting him and he was losing a lot of blood. When I ran up to him and fell to my

    knees, cupping his face in my hands, his zed over eyes flickered open.

    ¡°Edrick,¡± I whispered, blinking back the tears that were in my eyes, ¡°it¡¯s okay. I¡¯m here.¡±

    Edrick slowly shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna make it,¡± he replied. ¡°I¡¯m losing too much blood. I can¡¯t

    heal like this.¡±

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    Behind me, I could hear Ethan fighting the police. Somehow, he was managing to take all of them

    down. He was too fast and agile, and his strength was unparalleled. There was chaos behind me, but I

    only cared about Edrick.

    ¡°I can heal him,¡± Mina said suddenly. ¡°If you mark him, then I¡¯ll be able to heal his wounds, no matter

    how bad they are.¡±

    My eyes widened. Mina was a genius; it was bound to work. I didn¡¯t know much about werewolves, but

    I knew that mates had superior abilities when they were together. If I could just mark Edrick, then he

    would heal faster. He¡¯d be stronger, too.

    ¡°Let me mark you,¡± I whispered. ¡°I can do it.¡±

    Edrick shook his head again, but more adamantly this time. ¡°You can¡¯t,¡± he said. ¡°I won¡¯t let you.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯ll save your life¡ª¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the Golden Wolf,¡± Edrick replied. ¡°If you mark me, your wolf will emerge, and you might shift. It¡¯ll

    be dangerous for both you and the baby. Besides, I¡­¡± He paused for a moment, coughing. A bit of

    blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth.

    ¡°Besides what?¡± I whimpered, cupping his face. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Besides,¡± Edrick continued, his voice barely a croak as the puddle of blood on the floor grew in size,

    ¡°I¡¯ve been¡­ Putting a serum in your coffee to keep your wolf from emerging. I didn¡¯t want you to be in

    danger.¡±

    I felt a new wave of tears burst forth where the others had dried. I shook my head, mping Edrick¡¯s

    hand tightly in mine. ¡°No,¡± I whispered, ignoring the chaos of gunfire and snarling behind me as Ethan

    fought the police. I nced over my shoulder to discover that several Rogues had joined the fight, no

    doubt hired by Ethan. If I didn¡¯t save Edrick, then the Rogues were going to kill all of us anyway.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you die,¡± I said firmly.

 Chapter 194

    Chapter 194

    #Chapter 194: The Mark of a Mate

    Moana

    Edrick was bleeding out below me. I needed to mark him if I wanted him to survive, but he didn¡¯t want

    me to. He said that it would be bad for the baby; he even admitted that the drops he was putting in my

    coffee were to specifically prevent this. But he didn¡¯t know that I hadn¡¯t been drinking my coffee, and I

    could mark him then and there.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you die,¡± I said firmly as I held Edrick¡¯s hand in mine.

    Behind us, Ethan and several Rogues were fighting with the police. It was a flurry of chaos in that

    abandoned warehouse, and I wasn¡¯t sure what would happen if Edrick died. Ethan and the Rogues,

    who were likely hired by him, were certain to kill us. I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about little E, who was

    still asleep in the cop car. Even Kelly was lying hopelessly in the corner, still unconscious. The cops

    were struggling with Ethan and the Rogues, and I knew that they needed Edrick¡¯s help. If I marked him

    and healed him, then he would have the strength to fight better than anyone else there because his

    mate was at his side.

    But Edrick¡¯s eyes widened and he shook his head, despite the fact that blood was pooling up around

    him.

    ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous for you to mark me. Not with the baby inside of you. Just run, and one

    of the police will get you somewhere safe.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I already said that I won¡¯t let you die,¡± I whispered. ¡°I love you, Edrick.¡±

    The Alpha billionaire¡¯s eyes widened even further. Before he could respond, I suddenly bent down and

    pressed my lips against his, kissing him deeply.

    Inside of me, I could feel my wolf¡¯s power surge. She was searching for Edrick¡¯s wolf so that they could

    mark each other. Due to Edrick¡¯s injuries, however, his wolf was weak and Mina struggled to find him.

    All around me, I could hear the sounds of fighting. Gunshots, raised voices, and animalistic snarling

    echoed throughout the empty warehouse in a deafening cacophony of noise. I heard the sound of one

    of the police screaming.

    ¡°My leg!¡± the female officer screamed. ¡°The Rogue got my leg!¡±

    I pressed my lips harder against Edrick¡¯s. I could taste the metallic vor of his blood on my tongue, but

    I didn¡¯t care. I just kept kissing him, praying that Mina could find his wolf and mark him.

    A few momentster, I felt Mina¡¯s reaction to Edrick¡¯s wolf. ¡°He¡¯s weak,¡± she said, ¡°but I found him.¡±

    What happened next was a strange sensation that I couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom. I suddenly felt as

    though my soul found a missing piece that I had been without for my entire life. For years, up until this

    very moment, I hadn¡¯t realized it ¡ª but I had only been half of a soul. Edrick was the other half, and I

    knew that now. All of the times that I didn¡¯t trust him, all of the times that I thought that he was going to

    hurt me¡­ When I thought that the serum he was putting in my coffee was meant to harm me, but in

    actuality he was only trying to protect me, to keep me from shifting too early so that the baby wouldn¡¯t

    be in danger¡­ All of that felt so small now. I felt as though our souls clicked together like two pieces of

    a puzzle.

    Everything else around me faded, leaving just Edrick and I in a dark space together. I felt an

    overwhelming sense of peace. Below me, I could feel Edrick¡¯s body rx. I quickly pulled away, my

    eyes searching his face with worry. He was limp.

    The peace that I felt before dissipated, and I felt my heart catch in my throat as the fighting around me

    continued. Edrick wasn¡¯t moving.

    ¡°Edrick?¡± I said, shaking him gently as my eyes filled with tears. ¡°Edrick, are you alive? Please don¡¯t be

    dead¡­¡±

    Behind me, I heard the unmistakable sound ofughter. I jerked my head up to see none other than

    Ethan standing there, grinning maniacally.

    ¡°I told you he would die,¡± he said. ¡°Did you get to say your goodbyes?¡±

    Ethan stormed up to me and suddenly grabbed me by my arm. He hauled me to my feet, wrenching me

    away from Edrick¡¯s limp body. I screamed and kicked, bit and wed, but it was no use; no matter how

    hard I struggled against Ethan, he was too strong. He was an Alpha, and my wolf hadn¡¯t fully emerged

    yet.

    ¡°Now it¡¯s your turn,¡± Ethan said, wrapping his fingers around my neck. His grip tightened around me. I

    began to gasp for air and choke, iling my arms. Ethan just stared into my face with a calcted

    coldness that made me sick to my stomach.

    ¡°Fuck¡­ You¡­¡± I croaked as I tried to w at his face. My words only caused Ethan tough, and he

    just choked me even harder. I felt my vision begin to fade, but all I felt inside of me was my wolf¡¯s pain,

    her wild keening over our mate¡¯s fate.

    But then, something strange happened. Mina¡¯s wailing stopped.

    ¡°Look!¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s healing!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t turn my head, though. Ethan was holding me too tightly. My vision was fading so much that

    his image was bing a dark blob despite the fact that he was just mere inches from my face. I

    begged Mina to help me, to give me strength.

    And she did.

    I suddenly felt an immense amount of strength surge through me. I didn¡¯t know what happened exactly;

    all I knew was that one moment Ethan was strangling me to death, and the next moment he was on the

    ground, groaning and holding his head, while I had fallen to my knees. I coughed and sputtered as I

    regained my vision.

    All of a sudden, I felt a warm pair of arms wrap around me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± a familiar voice said softly in my ear. ¡°Your Alpha is here.¡±

    I looked up then to see Edrick crouching beside me, holding me tightly in his arms. My wolf was right;

    he had healed after all. I had thought that he was dead, but he was just healing the whole time, and

    now he exuded a strength that I had never seen anyone possess before. As I looked at him, my hand

    pped over my mouth and a sob caught in my throat. He cupped my face in his hands and pulled me

    toward him. For a moment that felt like an eternity, we kissed each other and I felt whole again.

    But the fight wasn¡¯t over; Ethan was getting up. I heard his maniacalugh again.

    ¡°Well, well,¡± he teased, finally climbing to his feet. ¡°Looks like we¡¯re gonna have a round two, huh?¡±

    Edrick gave me onest look. His eyes glowed silver, and from this close I could see that they were

    sparkling with so much love that it was dazzlingly bright. He gently kissed my forehead, then stood and

    rolled up his sleeves.

    With a low, thunderous growl, Edrick stepped in front of me and faced Ethan. From where I kneeled on

    the floor, he looked like a god standing there in the bright light from the spotlight.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, pushing his sleeves up to his elbows. ¡°I guess we are gonna have a round two.¡±

 Chapter 195

    Chapter 195

    #Chapter 195: Finishing Move

    Moana

    Edrick stood, pushing his sleeves up to his elbows. ¡°I guess we are gonna have a round two,¡± he said.

    Ethan¡¯s bloodied face shed with what looked like fear. Around us, the Rogues seemed to notice

    Edrick¡¯s surge in strength. In a flurry of frightened yips and snarls, the Rogues took off in their wolf

    forms, leaving only Ethan to deal with.

    ¡°I got this,¡± Edrick said, holding his hand out to the cops before they could jump in and restrain Ethan. I

    continued to kneel on the floor,pletely in awe of Edrick¡¯s strength. He looked bigger, even

    physically, since I marked him.

    Suddenly, Edrick rushed at Ethan with a speed that I had never seen before. Ethan didn¡¯t even have

    time to react before Edrick mmed him to the ground so hard that the floor around him cracked. I

    gasped, jumping to my feet as I mped my hand over my mouth. Had he killed him?

    I heard Ethan groan, and saw him move. Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t dead. Edrick picked him up by a fistful

    of his shirt and growled something in his ear before dropping him back to the floor. He stepped away

    from Ethan and allowed the cops to restrain him, and as they did he came back to me and pulled me

    tightly into his arms.

    ¡°I told you not to mark me,¡± Edrick whispered, stroking my hair as I buried my face in his chest.

    ¡°I had to,¡± I replied. I looked up to see that the silver glow in Edrick¡¯s eyes had faded back to his natural

    icy blue color, but there was something else there now. I could sense immense loveing from

    Edrick¡¯s gaze. He kissed my forehead gently, then cupped my face in his hands.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I said. ¡°Kelly knocked me out earlier by hitting me in the head, but I feel fine.¡±

    Edrick looked concerned, and checked my head. Thanks to my wolf growing in strength from marking

    him, though, my head was healed. There wasn¡¯t even a bump or a bruise, whereas before I had felt a

    splitting headache when I woke up.

    Behind us, the cops put handcuffs on Ethan and hauled him to his feet. Edrick and I watched as they

    led him out of the warehouse, reading him his Miranda Rights. ¡°You have the right to remain silent.

    Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court ofw¡­¡±

    Edrick and I followed. Ethan went silently with the cops, and didn¡¯t protest as they led him over to one

    of their cars. He seemed defeated; he knew what his fate was now. He would go to prison for what he

    did. As Edrick and I stood in the shing blue and red lights of the police cars, we saw an ambnce

    pull up. Several EMT¡¯s got out and rushed up to us and began to ask us a million questions while a few

    more ran inside with a stretcher. By the time they came out with Kelly on the stretcher, she was waking

    up and groaning and saying nonsense. I was d that she was alive and that no one had died that

    night, but at the same time I knew that she, too, would go to prison along with Ethan for what they did.

    Ahead of us, the cops opened their car door and began to push Ethan inside. That was the only time

    he struggled, just for a moment: ¡°Moana!¡± he shouted, yanking against the cops that were holding him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll always love you! I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    I shuddered as I watched him disappear into the cop car. Edrick¡¯s arm tightened around me

    protectively, and although the scene was a cacophony of noise as everyone rushed around, I swore

    that I could hear him growl slightly under his breath.

    When the EMT¡¯s finally gave us some space, I couldn¡¯t keep it in anymore. I turned toward Edrick and

    opened my mouth to begin telling him everything about how I tried to run away ¡ª but Edrick, seeing

    this, shook his head and put his finger to his lips.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± he said gently. ¡°I know you have a lot to tell me, but it can wait. Let¡¯s just get home.¡±

    I closed my mouth and nodded slowly, feeling my face go red. One of the police then waved us over to

    his car, and as we approached, I let out a massive sigh of relief to see E still sleeping peacefully in

    the back seat.

    ¡°She shoulde around soon,¡± the EMT who was checking on her said. ¡°It looks like someone put

    her under a simple sleeping spell. When she wakes up, she probably won¡¯t remember anything from

    thest twenty-four hours.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but feel relieved by this, and I knew that Edrick felt relieved, too. Not only did I of course

    not want E to remember anything about being kidnapped and held at gunpoint, but I also didn¡¯t want

    her to remember that I had taken her out of her bed and told her about her biological mother. I never

    should have done any of it, and I felt awful. From now on, I decided that I wouldn¡¯t bring up her mother

    until Edrick was ready; but it did need to happen eventually. That was one thing that I was sure of. E

    couldn¡¯t go on for her entire life thinking that her mother was dead. She needed to know what her

    mother was really like.

    Of course, I still didn¡¯t know Olivia¡¯s full story. But from what I observed that night, it seemed to me that

    she was a liar who took Ethan¡¯s money to make me hate Edrick. I decided that I would have to get

    Edrick¡¯s side of the story, just as I should have done from the beginning. From now on, things would be

    different. Edrick was my mate now; I would never use him of trying to hurt me again. I knew now

    that he only ever wanted to protect me and E.

    Finally, Edrick and I climbed into the back of the police car with E. Edrick wrapped his arms around

    her sleeping body and held her tightly, rocking her back and forth. I thought that I heard him whisper

    something to her under his breath, but I didn¡¯t pry. The terror he must have felt when he suddenly

    discovered her missing must have been unparalleled, and now they were reunited. I felt like the worst

    person alive for doing that to him.

    The cops pulled away from the empty warehouse. I turned in my seat and watched the big brick

    building fade into the distance as more police covered the door with crime scene tape. Even as we

    made our way back through the Rogue district, things seemed more peaceful; no Rogues bothered us,

    and it actually seemed as though word of Edrick¡¯s Alpha strength had spread, causing the Rogues to

    cower as the cop car drove past.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    That night, I couldn¡¯t wait to get home. I just hoped that Edrick would forgive me when I told him the

    true story of what had happened.

 Chapter 196

    Chapter 196

    #Chapter 196: The Way Home

    Moana

    As the police officer drove us home that night, I felt immense relief wash over me. We made our way

    out of the dangerous Rogue district and the city began to grow brighter and cleaner as we headed back

    to the penthouse. The city lights illuminated the inside of the car, and beside me I could see Edrick still

    cradling the sleeping E in his arms.

    Seemingly without thinking much about it, Edrick saw me looking and reached his arm out for me. I

    hesitated for a moment, still feeling bad about the trouble I had caused, but I finally relented and

    scooched over to nuzzle down into the crook of his arm. How that I had marked him and my wolf had

    emerged, his scent overwhelmed me; it was so sweet and tantalizing, and filled me with a profuse

    feeling of peace.

    But Edrick¡¯s concerns about my wolf emerging too early weren¡¯t unwarranted. I understood that now

    that Olivia, Ethan, and now Edrick had confirmed that I was the Golden Wolf. Although I didn¡¯t know

    much about the story, I did know that people wanted to hunt the Golden Wolf. If I shifted, there was a

    good chance that people woulde after me because of my scent; for all I knew, my scent had

    already permeated the city and poachers or bounty hunters were looking for me at that very moment.

    I also knew that, once someone¡¯s wolf emerged, they could shift fully at any point. There wasn¡¯t much

    to be done to control it. Most people shifted immediately upon their wolf emerging, but I hadn¡¯t shifted

    yet for some reason. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was ate bloomer already, or

    maybe it was because of the serum that Edrick had been giving me. Either way, even though I was still

    a bit hurt that Edrick secretly slipped the serum into my coffee and didn¡¯t tell me that he found out that I

    was the Golden Wolf, I was d that I hadn¡¯t shifted yet. I only hoped that I could somehow manage to

    not shift until my baby was safely born.

    ¡°What will we do if I shift too early?¡± I whispered to Edrick, too curious to stay quiet any longer.

    He was silent for a few moments before speaking. ¡°We¡¯ll take you to the Mother Witch first thing in the

    morning,¡± he responded. ¡°She¡¯ll know what to do.¡±

    As Edrick spoke, I felt my heart catch in my throat. He didn¡¯t know that Ethan had killed the Mother

    Witch.

    ¡°Edrick¡­¡± I swallowed nervously and rubbed my hand over my protruding belly, hoping that the baby

    inside of me was still safe and healthy after the whole ordeal. ¡°The Mother Witch is dead. Ethan killed

    her. He told me so earlier, before you came.¡±

    Edrick froze when I told him that the Mother Witch was dead. In the darkness, illuminated only by the

    city lights, I could see that his jaw was set hard as though he was clenching his teeth. His eyes shed

    with anger, and his grip around my shoulders tightened slightly.

    ¡°Fine, then,¡± he said, his voice almost a growl. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to figure it out ourselves.¡±

    I opened my mouth then to tell Edrick that there had to be someone else who could help us, but before

    I could, E suddenly began to wake up. She groaned lightly and yawned, rubbing her eyes. Edrick and

    I both sat up abruptly and watched her intently. Both of us let out an audible sigh of relief when her blue

    eyes popped open and she looked around confusedly.

    ¡°Daddy? Moana?¡± she croaked, her voice small from sleepiness. ¡°Where are we?¡±

    Edrick just shook his head and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Princess,¡± he said gently. ¡°Just go back to

    sleep.¡±

    E gave both of us a somewhat skeptical look, but she seemed too exhausted to care. Within

    moments, her eyelids had fluttered shut again and she was fast asleep once more. I was d to see

    her sleep so soundly, and hoped that she would sleep like that through the night. Just for that night, I

    hoped that we could all sleep soundly. But I knew that that likely wouldn¡¯t be the case; my nerves were

    too frayed from the whole ordeal to be able to sleep.

    The remainder of the car ride was silent. Eventually, the police officer pulled up to the curb outside of

    the penthouse and let us out. Now that my adrenaline had worn off, my body felt stiff from everything

    that had happened, and I needed to take Edrick¡¯s hand to get out of the back of the cop car. Once we

    were out, the officer quietly shut the door in order to not wake E up and looked at both of us.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to stay stationed out here for the rest of the night,¡± the officer said, keeping his voice low. ¡°If

    you need anything, here¡¯s my number.¡± He pulled out a business card and handed it to me, since

    Edrick¡¯s hands were full while he held E.

    I didn¡¯t think that there would be any risk of anything else happening that night, but I still felt grateful

    that the officer promised to stay. If anything went south with my situation as the Golden Wolf, then at

    least we would have the police close by. But, if I was being honest, I felt plenty safe with Edrick.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Edrick said with a polite nod. ¡°Thanks for everything you¡¯ve done tonight. I hope the rest

    of your men and women are okay after that fight.¡±

    The officer nodded. ¡°They¡¯re fine,¡± he said. ¡°A few bites and scratches here and there, but nothing

    serious.¡± He then looked at me, and his eyes subtly flickered down to my belly. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t

    need to go to the hospital? I can take you right now and I¡¯ll make sure that you can skip the waiting

    time.¡±

    I put my hand over my belly and shook my head. That night, I just wanted to be home.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take her to the doctor first thing in the morning,¡± Edrick said, his voice firm as he looked at me as

    though he was secretly telling me that there would be no way that I could get out of it. ¡°For now, I think

    it¡¯s best if we¡¯re all home for the night.¡±

    As Edrick spoke, he looked at me with a calm sternness in his eyes. Something in me made me think

    that he secretly knew that I had left with E earlier that night, but he didn¡¯t seem terribly angry about it

    ¡ª more concerned than anything. I knew that when we got upstairs, we would be having a long

    discussion about everything.

    ¡°Alright,¡± the officer said. ¡°Well¡­ Like I said, I¡¯ll be here if you need anything. Oh, and miss¡ª¡± He

    stopped us just as we were turning to head inside, and gave me a gentle look. ¡°You did well tonight.

    Your poise, calm demeanor, and stalling for time saved both of your lives tonight.¡±

    I smiled weakly, thanked the officer, and then headed inside with Edrick.

    Little did the officer know that I had essentially caused the entire debacle to begin with.

 Chapter 197

    Chapter 197

    #Chapter 197: Straight From the Heart

    Moana

    We headed upstairs after the police officer dropped us off. When we arrived, Selina and the maids

    were sitting on the couch and immediately jumped up when they heard using.

    ¡°Oh, thank goodness!¡± Selina cried, rushing toward me and pulling me into her arms. ¡°Are you okay?

    Are you hurt?¡±

    I shook my head, then put my finger over my lips and pointed at E, who was still sleeping on Edrick¡¯s

    shoulder. Selina nodded and wiped her tears away. Edrick took E back to her room without a word,

    leaving me alone with Selina and the maids.

    ¡°Moana, what happened?¡± Amy asked, keeping her voice low. ¡°We were worried sick.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll exin everything tomorrow,¡± I said. ¡°But we¡¯re okay. We¡¯re safe.¡±

    This didn¡¯t seem to fully satisfy the maids. Lily opened her mouth to ask me more questions, but Selina

    hushed her and sent them both off to her room. Selina left, too, but not before giving me another tight

    hug that took me just as much by surprise as the first one. As she hugged me, I couldn¡¯t help but rx

    a bit into her arms, feelingforted by the old housekeeper¡¯s touch. When we pulled away, there

    were tears in both of our eyes. Selina looked like she was about to say something, but she seemed to

    decide against it and instead simply patted my hand gently before leaving.

    A few minutester, Edrick returned to the living room. He looked exhausted, and his clothes were torn

    and filthy. Mine were just as dirty, no doubt from being dragged at some point while I was unconscious.

    Neither of us spoke as we cleaned ourselves off and changed into clean pajamas. We climbed into bed

    andid there motionless in the darkness for a long time, but I knew that neither of us would be able to

    sleep ¡ª and I couldn¡¯t keep my story in any longer. I felt as though it was best to get it out now, before

    it was toote.

    ¡°I ran away,¡± I admitted, feeling a lump form in my throat as I stared up at the ceiling. ¡°This is all my

    fault. For weeks, I¡¯ve been talking to Olivia; she convinced me that you were going to take my baby

    from me, and that you¡¯re just using me to get another Alpha heir. I found out that you were putting

    those drops in my coffee, and then I decided to run away with E.¡±

    Edrick was silent for a long time. The entire time I felt as though my heart would burst out of my chest,

    wondering what he was going to say. I wondered if he would yell at me or kick me out. Was it possible

    to denounce a mate?

    But he didn¡¯t do any of those things. In fact, he did quite the opposite.

    In the darkness, Edrick reached out for me. I felt his arms wrap around me and he pulled me close to

    him, so close that all I could feel was his warmth and his scent enveloping me. He stayed silent for a

    long time after that before he finally spoke.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I made you feel like you needed to run,¡± he whispered. ¡°I should have been honest with

    you from the beginning. About everything; Olivia, your lineage, the serum. I thought that I was

    protecting you by keeping the truth from you, but it turned out to put you in more danger in the long

    run.¡±

    As Edrick spoke, I shook my head and looked up at him.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re going to tell me that it¡¯s not my fault,¡± he said before I could say anything. He sat up then

    and swung his legs over the bed, standing and walking over to the closet. ¡°But it is. All along, I¡¯ve been

    hiding so much from both you and E. It¡¯s time that the truthes out.¡±

    Edrick began to rifle through his closet as he spoke. I sat up and turned on the bedsidemp to see him

    coming back with a shoebox in his hands.

    ¡°Let me tell you what really happened with Olivia,¡± he said. He set the box down, then sighed and

    passed his hand over his tired face. ¡°She¡¯s a liar. I¡¯m sorry that she manipted you; there was a point

    in time when she manipted me, too. She had me convinced that we would live a happy life together

    and that she loved me. I knew that she wasn¡¯t my fated mate, but I didn¡¯t care. When she got pregnant,

    I was overjoyed. And when E was born, and I held my little girl for the first time, I knew that Olivia

    was brought into my life specifically to bring E into the world. But things got bad after that.¡± He

    opened the shoebox to reveal what looked like a bundle of letters folded up, and started to pull them

    out. There weren¡¯t just letters inside, I realized; there were photos, too. Photos of Olivia with other men,

    photos of her passed out on the floor, photos taken through windows of her screaming at Edrick and

    pointing her finger in his face.

    ¡°What is all of this?¡± I whispered.

    Edrick shook his head grimly and swallowed. ¡°As soon as E was born, Olivia changed. The doctors

    told me that it was postpartum depression, but it never got better. Months went by, and she just got

    worse; she started drinking and taking drugs, and I found her with other men on multiple asions. I

    finally hired a private investigator to get all of this evidence so that I could win the custody battle for

    E, because I realized that Olivia was dangerous. But the thing is, during the custody battle she didn¡¯t

    even try to keep E. She only ever wanted the money; E was just a means to an end for her. So I

    gave her the money that she wanted, under the sole condition that she stay out of E¡¯s life forever. I

    told E that her mother died because I couldn¡¯t bring myself to tell her the truth.¡±

    My eyes widened as Edrick told me his story. What Olivia had told me was so different¡­ How she had

    fought so hard for her baby, and Edrick stole her. But now, Edrick¡¯s side of the story painted Olivia out

    to be a horrible mother, and he had evidence to prove it.

    ¡°Every year, Olivia starts up with trying to get more money out of me,¡± Edrick continued. ¡°That¡¯s why

    she calls nonstop around E¡¯s birthday. She uses it as an excuse and tries to pretend like she¡¯s just

    calling to check on E or send gifts, but that¡¯s not the case. She¡¯s just begging for more money to fuel

    hervish lifestyle, and I stupidly give it to her so she won¡¯t tell anyone the truth about E.¡±

    I didn¡¯t realize it at first, but as Edrick spoke I was slowly standing, and now I was standing in front of

    him. Without a word, I put my arms around him and hugged him tightly. He stiffened for a moment

    before rxing and wrapping his arms around me, and I felt his chin rest on top of my head. We held

    each other like that for a long time, neither of us speaking. I felt like such a jerk for listening to Olivia

    over him¡­ I should have just talked to him. But now, I knew that I wouldn¡¯t do anything like that ever

    again. Edrick was a good father who cared about E¡­ Who cared about our baby¡­ Who cared about

    me.

    Finally, when we pulled away, I looked up to meet Edrick¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°I think you should tell E the truth,¡± I whispered. ¡°I think it¡¯s time.¡±Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

 Chapter 198

    Chapter 198

    #Chapter 198: Hideaway

    Edrick

    Moana was right about the fact that I needed to tell E the truth about her mother. It was time that E

    knew what her mother was really like, especially after that whole ordeal. But at that moment, although I

    promised Moana that I would tell E about Olivia soon, I had more pressing matters to deal with.

    First thing in the morning, I took Moana to the doctor¡¯s office for a full checkup to make sure that both

    she and the baby were healthy. Thankfully, they were. The baby was as healthy as an ox; in fact, when

    Moana was being strangled by Ethan, I remembered seeing her suddenly ovee with a burst of

    light thatunched Ethan backwards. I didn¡¯t know if it was the baby or Moana¡¯s own abilities that

    protected her at that moment, but it didn¡¯t matter. All I knew was that that burst of light saved Moana

    from being strangled to death by Ethan when I was still too weak to move.

    However, as the day went on, it quickly came to my attention that the whole ordeal had already made

    its way to the news. Somehow, those damn paparazzi got footage of Ethan being escorted into the cop

    car and Moana¡¯s terrified face. Those clips were already circting various news outlets with all sorts

    of spections on what happened. I didn¡¯t know if I would bother having a press conference about it,

    though. At that moment, I just wanted to get Moana and E away from the city.

    Thest time we had gone to the mountain estate, it had gone poorly. My father had sent a hired rogue

    to intimidate us and we had left abruptly as we no longer felt safe there. And I supposed that we could

    easily run into trouble again if we went back, but the city was just too dangerous right now. There was a

    good chance that Moana could shift at any moment now that her wolf had emerged, and I wanted her

    to be out of the city for two reasons: for starters, a wolf shifting for the first time would be dangerous in

    an enclosed space like the penthouse, especially since she didn¡¯t know how to control it yet. And

    secondly, if Moana shifted her scent would permeate throughout the entire city, which would no doubt

    draw all sorts of sick people to us. If I wanted to keep her safe, I needed to get her somewhere where it

    would be unlikely for others to be close enough to pick up her scent.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    And so, that weekend I worked tirelessly to hire an entire team of security guards. I hired over twenty

    new guards, all of whom were the best of the best. They were all Alphas with extensivebat

    experience, and I vetted them thoroughly to make sure that they wouldn¡¯t turn on us if Moana turned. I

    paid them well, too; I didn¡¯t care how much it cost so long as Moana and E were safe.

    On Sunday evening, I finally finished my preparations. All that was left was to tell Moana that we would

    be leaving first thing in the morning. I knew that she wouldn¡¯t take it well.

    ¡°We¡¯re what?¡± Moana asked, standing up suddenly from the armchair by the window. ¡°Tomorrow?¡±

    I nodded grimly, trying not to pay any attention to the incredulous look on her face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be staying until the baby is born. Potentially longer than that if I still think it¡¯s unsafe for you in the

    city.¡±

    Moana shook her head vigorously and frowned deeply. ¡°We can¡¯t leave!¡± she pleaded as she stormed

    up to me and grabbed my arm. ¡°What about my teaching job? What about E¡¯s new school? You can¡¯t

    take that from her!¡±

    Seeing the look on her face made me feel sad. I knew how much she loved that job, but it just wasn¡¯t

    safe in the city. Until she shifted and until the baby was born, I wouldn¡¯t feelfortable bringing them

    back here. And besides, my father was still a threat. He would find out about Moana¡¯s true nature

    eventually, and I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if he was the very first person to try to hunt her down.

    He had too much at stake as one of the wealthiest and most corrupt men in the world to let the Golden

    Wolf bring a new era in which humans and werewolves could live in harmony. He had built his entire

    empire off of the backs of underpaid and overworked humans.

    ¡°Moana, I¡¯m really sorry,¡± I finally said. ¡°I promise we¡¯lle back. I know you love your job, and we¡¯ll

    find a substitute to fill in for you until wee back. You can im it as maternity leave; you can tell

    them that you¡¯re havingplications with the pregnancy. The headmistress will understand and will

    certainly give you the job back once we return.¡±

    Moana¡¯s eyes were full of pain. She looked as though she was about to say something, but apparently

    decided against it and just walked away. She walked over to the window and looked out, folding her

    arms across her chest.

    ¡°I think we¡¯re safer here.¡± Her voice was low, so low it was almost a whisper. ¡°This is our home.¡±

    Her words created a pang in my heart, but the preparations had already been made. The mountain

    estate would be the safest option during that time. I not only needed to make sure that Moana was safe

    until she had the baby, but I also needed to figure out how Moana would continue to be safe as the

    Golden Wolf. Without the help of the Mother Witch, I felt lost and clueless. The Mother Witch knew

    what would need to be done, and I hardly knew anything about the Golden Wolf aside from the fairy

    tales I was told as a kid.

    ¡°I know this is our home,¡± I finally said, walking up to stand beside her. We looked out the window at the

    bustling city for a few moments. Below us, there was a throng of paparazzi waiting outside the

    penthouse like hungry sharks. They had been camping out there all day and would likely be camping

    out there for several days on end, just hoping for us toe outside so they could bombard us with

    photos and questions. I gestured to them, then looked over at Moana. She shot me an angry, but still

    understanding, look. ¡°Just look at them,¡± I said. ¡°We can¡¯t be here with them out there like that. Imagine

    what it will be like when they find out that you¡¯re the Golden Wolf.¡±

    Moana chuckled slightly as she watched the mob mill about outside like zombies. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right,¡±

    she said quietly. ¡°They¡¯re like piranhas.¡±

    I turned to face her then and took both of her shoulders in my hands. I stared sternly into her eyes,

    hoping that she would see my sense of urgency. ¡°The poachers and bounty hunters will be worse,¡± I

    whispered, taking note of the way that her green eyes widened. ¡°I¡¯m only doing this to keep you safe. I

    hope you know that.¡±

    Moana looked up at me for a few moments, chewing the inside of her cheek before she finally nodded.

    ¡°I understand,¡± she replied. ¡°So long as you promise that we¡¯lle home soon.¡±

 Chapter 199

    Chapter 199

    #Chapter 199: Moving Day

    Edrick

    Moana was terribly quiet for the next few days. I didn¡¯t me her, of course. She was going to be

    rightfully upset about having to leave, but it was the safest thing to be done. I only ever wanted to keep

    Moana and E safe, and despite ourst incident at the mountain estate, I felt confident that our new

    security guards would protect us while we were there. During that time, though, I decided that I would

    have to figure out what to do about my father. I knew that he was going toe after us, but I had no

    real evidence. He hadn¡¯t made any real threats yet, at least not anything that we could prove, so we

    couldn¡¯t turn him in to the police. As of that moment, I was at a loss as to what to do about him. And my

    mother wasn¡¯t picking up her phone when I called, either. I was beginning to get worried, to say the

    least.

    The next few days went by too quickly. I hired a movingpany to get everything that we would need;

    mostly clothes, kitchenware, and sentimental items since the mountain estate was already fully

    furnished. I wanted Moana to feel at home there, so without her knowledge I hired an interior designer

    to go to the estate and furnish one of the rooms to make it a nice art studio for her. I figured that this

    would cheer Moana up and maybe make her not hate being there and being away from her job so

    much.

    By the middle of the week, however, I started to feel a bit sad too.

    I liked the penthouse. I had never really cared too much about the ce, but ever since Moana had

    begun to call the penthouse her home, it had be more special to me. What was once just an

    expensive and luxurious ce to live now felt entirely different. As we went around and prepared to

    move, I began to notice little things that I hadn¡¯t noticed before, too. Moana had ced flowers around

    the apartment. She had left various throw nkets andfortable pillows on the furniture. Her

    sketchbooky on the table by the armchair in the sun. Even in my bedroom, she had ced a little

    dish for her jewelry and a stack of books on the bedside table, and had a tray of lotions and serums for

    her skin and hair on the bathroom sink. I used to keep my bedroom curtains closed, as I needed

    complete darkness to try to sleep, buttely they had been open and my bedroom was filled with

    sunlight during the afternoons. I hadn¡¯t noticed, but apparently at one point Moana had reced the

    boring ckforter on my bed with a lighter colored one that brightened up the room.

    Seeing all of this now, I felt more reluctant to leave. I knew that we had to go, but it was so hard to say

    goodbye to this ce.

    E was distraught, too. When I initially told her about my ns to take them to the mountain estate,

    she had thrown a massive fit. She didn¡¯t remember anything about the event in the warehouse, so she

    really didn¡¯t understand why I was making them move, and she was furious with me. She spent the

    next few days fuming at me and refusing to speak because she didn¡¯t want to leave her new friends

    that she had made at school.

    By the end of the week, however, it was time to leave. The movers were scheduled toe at noon,

    and once they had packed up all of our things they would be following us to the mountain estate along

    with our caravan of security vans. We would be leaving out the back, where the paparazzi weren¡¯t

    waiting for us. Within a couple of weeks, news would probably start to spread that the Morgan

    penthouse was dark and empty, which would likely stir up a lot of news since Ethan was being held in

    jail. I didn¡¯t care, though. I just wanted to get out.

    Friday morning, I woke up and finished packing up a few things. Moana eventually came out and

    helped E get ready, but she hardly spoke to me.

    Oh well, I thought to myself. She woulde around soon. Soon, she would understand why I was

    doing this and she wouldn¡¯t be so mad at me. And besides, the mountain estate was beautiful. For all I

    knew, she might even want to stay there; maybe eventually we would sell the penthouse, send E to a

    private school near the mountain estate, and I would manage WereCorp remotely. I wouldn¡¯t mind that.

    I was passing through the living room at one point with a box in my hand, however, when something

    caught my eye: the piano.

    I stopped and looked at it for a few moments. This past week, I hadn¡¯t been ying it much. But now, in

    thete morning sunlight, it looked tempting. So, setting the box down on the floor, I decided to sit at

    the piano and y onest song before we left.

    At first, I yed quietly and tentatively. I hated being overheard, as having an audience made me oddly

    nervous. Despite my public speaking abilities, I couldn¡¯t stand ying the piano in front of people. But

    as I yed a little more, I soon got lost in the song. I started ying more fluidly, closing my eyes as I

    felt the smooth keys beneath my fingers. I stopped caring if anyone overheard me, and simply felt the

    music move through me.

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    I didn¡¯t know how long I yed for. It could have been minutes or even hours. All I knew was that when

    I opened my eyes, I wasn¡¯t alone anymore.

    She was standing by the window, looking out at the city. The sunlight streamed in and illuminated her

    red hair like fire. She was wearing a light, loose dress ¡ª I never would have admitted it, but I couldn¡¯t

    help but notice that I could see the outline of her shapely body as the sunlight shined through her dress

    ¡ª and was holding her belly with one hand and rubbing it with the other.

    Lately, her belly had been growingrger. It was much harder to hide it now that she was a few months

    along, and werewolf babies were notorious for growing a little faster than human babies. Seeing the

    protrusion of her round, full belly beneath her dress made me smile just a little bit.

    She slowly turned to look at me, noticing that I had stopped ying. There were tears in her beautiful

    green eyes, although she still held her head high, just like she always did. shes of the way that she

    held herself together, even when my brother had her at gunpoint, floated through my mind as I looked

    at her.

    For a long time, Moana and I just looked at each other without a single word said between us.

    During those moments, everything that I had made up my mind about that past week was instantly torn

    away. As I looked at Moana, seeing how beautiful she looked in the sunlight and the way that the tears

    in her emerald eyes just made them sparkle even more, I knew that I couldn¡¯t leave this ce.

    This was our home.

 Chapter 200

    Chapter 200

    #Chapter 200: Stay

    Moana

    Leaving the penthouse broke my heart. That ce had be my home. It was our home. I didn¡¯t

    want to leave, and neither did E.

    I didn¡¯t think that Edrick even wanted to leave, either. He kept telling me that it was for the best, that it

    would be safer at the mountain estate. I wanted to believe him, but part of me didn¡¯t think that the

    mountain estate was all that much safer at all. Thest time we had been there, we were almost

    attacked by a rogue in its wolf form. Even with all of the security guards that Edrick hired, I still didn¡¯t

    think that we were safe.

    However, I tried to be understanding, so I didn¡¯tin too much. No matter how much E¡¯s

    sadness over leaving her new friends that she made at school made me want to try, I needed to hold

    my head up. If Edrick thought that it would be better off for everyone if we went to the mountain estate,

    then I would listen to him. He hadn¡¯t failed me before.

    As the days went on, I found it harder and harder to pack up my sentimental things. My room felt empty

    after packing up all of my clothes and my books and art supplies, and E¡¯s room felt even more empty

    with her toys packed away. She insisted on keeping her stuffed duck, the one that I had bought for her

    at the farmers¡¯ market over the summer, out for the car ride. Other than that, everything went into

    boxes for the movers to pick up.

    By Friday morning, the day that we were supposed to leave, everything really did feel empty. As I

    walked around and checked to make sure that I had everything I wanted for the next seven or more

    months that we would be living at the mountain estate, I had to blink back tears on multiple asions.

    It¡¯s only going to be a few months, I told myself, as though that wouldfort me. We¡¯ll be back in a

    few months. That¡¯s all.

    But I didn¡¯t think that it was only going to be a few months in reality. One day that week, I had walked

    past Edrick while he was using his phone and I saw that he was looking at realtors online. He was

    thinking about selling the penthouse. I decided not to say anything, but the thought of it broke my heart.

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    As I walked around, I noticed that I had left a few things in my closet that I would want to bring. Sighing,

    I stooped down to pick up the pile of clothes that had been lost at the back of my closet, and as I did

    something came to my ears.

    Edrick was ying the piano.

    It was a sad, sweet song. One of my favorites, actually. The high notes mixed with the severity of the

    lower keys made for a mncholy tune, which fit the day perfectly. I quickly forgot the things that I had

    in my hand and walked out toward the sound, almost as though I was in a trance.

    As I approached, Edrick didn¡¯t seem to notice me. He had his eyes closed, and appeared to be

    completely absorbed in the music. He looked so handsome ying the piano in the sunlight, with his

    sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his dark hair a little messy. Smiling slightly, I quietly walked over to

    the window and looked out while he yed on the off chance that he opened his eyes and saw me

    there. Last time he had yed, he didn¡¯t want me to look at him. Even though I wanted a snapshot in

    my mind of the way that he looked just then, I decided to look out at the city instead.

    Eventually, the song came to an end and the air in the penthouse fell silent. I felt Edrick¡¯s eyes on me,

    and so I slowly turned. There were tears in my eyes, but I didn¡¯t bother to blink them away that time.

    For several long moments, we just stared at each other without a word. Edrick¡¯s face seemed to soften,

    and something unrecognizable shed through his eyes before he stood and slowly walked over to me.

    His shoes echoed against the wood floor.

    When he stopped in front of me, the air between us was almost static. I felt his hande down and

    press against mine, against my belly. He held it there firmly so that I could feel his warmth. I tilted my

    head back to look up at him, and as I did, he bent down and gently pressed his lips against mine.

    His lips were warm and soft, and filled me with a sense of peace. Our kiss was long and sweet; when

    we finally pulled away, it was reluctant, and our lips parted from each other with a gentle smacking

    sound.

    For a few more moments, Edrick touched his forehead to mine before raising his free hand and tucking

    a strand of hair behind my ear.

    ¡°We¡¯re staying,¡± he whispered.

    My eyes widened. I took a step back, half expecting him to be joking; but he wasn¡¯t. His eyes showed

    nothing but sincerity. ¡°R-Really?¡± I said.

    Edrick nodded. ¡°This is our home,¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t make us leave.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t contain my excitement. Without thinking, I let out an excitedugh and threw my arms around

    him. I kissed him again, more deeply and fervently this time, and when I pulled away my face was red

    with embarrassment. But Edrick just smiled at me and held me tightly with his eyes full of love.

    Suddenly, I heard E¡¯s little voice call out from the doorway.

    ¡°We¡¯re staying?¡± she asked. Edrick and I both nodded, and while a squeal of happiness, she ran over

    to us. Edrick scooped her up and held her between us. I felt like a little family; a real one this time. And

    Edrick was right; this was our home. I still didn¡¯t know what the future held for us now, even though I

    had marked Edrick, but I was excited about it. I was happy to call him my mate, and to be able to share

    this life together, even if this life was out of the ordinary.

    No matter what came our way, I knew that we could tackle it together. I wasn¡¯t afraid, so long as I had

    Edrick by my side.

    But, at the same time, there was still so much at stake. With my wolf having emerged, I could shift at

    any time. Not only could the first shifting process be dangerous for our baby in and of itself, but it would

    also cause my scent to permeate the city, which could lead bounty hunters to us. And one of those

    hunters was, without a doubt, Edrick¡¯s father.

    With Kelly and Ethan both in jail, they were no longer a threat. But all along, I was certain that Michael

    was plotting something. Perhaps he already knew that I was the Golden Wolf and he woulde for

    me soon.

    I had no way of knowing what would happen next. But I did know one thing for certain: with Edrick by

    my side, everything would be okay.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    My dear readers, Thank you for stopping by and reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it. I¡¯m trying my

    best to update assp. I¡¯ll appreciate it if you explore my other stories as well. Please follow my f******k

    page Eve above story and group eves alphas if you wanna chat or keep updated on my writing

    schedule.

    Yours, Eve above story

 Chapter 201

    Chapter 201

    #Chapter 201: A Close Eye

    Moana

    By the end of the weekend, I was dying to get back to work. Since we decided not to leave the

    penthouse after all, I decided that it wouldn¡¯t hurt any to return to teaching. Besides, E needed to go

    back to school as well, and since she didn¡¯t remember the events of the night that we were kidnapped

    she was only getting more aggravated by the day. With each passing day, E was bing more

    confused and agitated and I was feeling more stir crazy, which only led to increased shbacks from

    the whole ordeal.

    So, on Monday morning, I got dressed for work.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Edrick asked, looking up from his newspaper as I walked through the living

    room.

    ¡°I need to get back to work,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t just use a substitute forever. Tomorrow, maybe E should

    go back to school as well.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s icy gray eyes widened. He threw his newspaper down and stood abruptly, shaking his head.

    ¡°You can¡¯t go. It¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Edrick, I¡¯ll be in a school just a few blocks away in the middle of the afternoon,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s a

    security guard on the campus who watches everything. I¡¯ll tell them about the situation so they can

    keep an eye out for any trouble.¡±

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    For a few moments, the Alpha billionaire stared wildly at me as he gritted his teeth. I held my head high

    to show that I wasn¡¯t going to back down; despite what had happened almost two weeks prior, I wasn¡¯t

    a damsel in distress, and I had a job to do.

    Finally, Edrick seemed to see that I wasn¡¯t backing down and he let out a sigh, passing his hand over

    his face.

    ¡°Take one of the bodyguards with you, then,¡± he said quietly. ¡°Take Darren. He¡¯ll protect you. Actually,

    I¡¯ll drive with you as well.¡± Before I could say anything, Edrick rushed over to the foyer and began to slip

    his shoes on. I watched as he pulled two surgical masks out of his pocket, then held one out to me

    along with my wide-brimmed sun hat. ¡°Here. To protect your identity during the walk. We¡¯ll go out the

    back, and if you tuck in your hair, you¡¯ll be less likely to be noticed¡ª¡±

    ¡°Edrick,¡± I said exasperatedly, ¡°hold on. I¡¯ll walk with you and wear the disguise, but I can¡¯t bring a

    bodyguard to school. Darren is big and looks threatening. He¡¯ll scare the children, and I don¡¯t even

    think that the headmistress will allow it anyway. And also, I want to walk, not drive. I feel cooped up.¡±

    Edrick stared at me for another few moments. I could tell right off the bat that he wouldn¡¯t give up on

    the bodyguard, nor was he likely to give up on most of his stiptions. I figured that it was worth a try,

    though.

    Finally, after a long time of staring silently at each other, Edrick seemed to relent a little bit.

    ¡°I know that you feel safer with Ethan and Kelly in jail, but it¡¯s still dangerous for you out there,¡± he said

    firmly. ¡°But how about this: can you just let one of the bodyguards drive you? They can just wait in the

    car and keep an eye on the school entrance while you¡¯re at work. If you¡¯ll just allow that, I promise I

    won¡¯t nag you about it any longer.¡±

    I chewed my lip for a moment, thinking. Edrick was right; it was still dangerous, and even if no one

    knew that I was the Golden Wolf yet and I wasn¡¯t yet at risk of being hunted, the paparazzi were on

    another frenzy because of the news footage of what happened at the warehouse. Finally, I nodded and

    sighed.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll let one of the bodyguards drive me.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Edrick let out a small sigh of relief, then walked up to me and kissed my forehead. I felt

    myself blush a bit; he had been a lot more physically affectionate ever since I marked him, and I had to

    admit that I was enjoying it quite a lot.

    ¡°And E can go back to school, too?¡± I asked, looking up at him.

    Edrick nodded, although a bit hesitantly. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to her about it today,¡± he replied. Secretly, although I

    wasn¡¯t going to pressure him, I hoped that he would also talk to her about what really happened, and

    what her mother was really like. I doubted that he would do it so soon, though. Part of me thought that

    he should set up counseling for her ahead of time, as that news would no doubte as a major shock

    to her. She might even resent him for lying to her. E was a smart girl, not just an airheaded little kid

    who couldn¡¯tprehend suchplicated topics. She deserved the truth, but the truth woulde

    with unforeseen consequences.

    As I thought about this, shes of seeing E¡¯s little sleeping body tied up to the chair in the warehouse

    suddenly and unexpectedly shed through my mind, followed by images of Ethan holding the gun up

    to my face. I felt a pang in my chest, as though something was weighing me down and restricting my

    breathing. For the briefest of moments, I felt as though I was back there again¡­ Back in the

    warehouse with the bright white spotlight beaming onto me.

    ¡°Moana?¡± Edrick¡¯s voice pulled me out of my daze. ¡°Moana, are you okay?¡±

    When I came back to reality, I quickly blinked the tears out of my eyes and nodded, forcing a smile.

    Edrick was looking down at me with concern drawn across his face.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said, hoping that he hadn¡¯t seen my tears. ¡°Thank you for being so understanding.¡±

    Edrick looked at me for a moment with a worried look in his eyes. I thought for sure that he had picked

    up on my shback and that he would tell me not to go, but surprisingly, he didn¡¯t say anything. He just

    nodded and stepped onto the elevator with me, then took me downstairs to get into the car. He saw me

    off with another kiss on my forehead, and then I watched his face fade into the distance as the

    bodyguard drove off.

    Those shbacks had been happening more and more frequently with each passing day. It was

    strange, but they almost seemed to get more vivid as time went on, as though the horrific experience of

    what happened in that warehouse was blocked out of my mind at first but was now returning. I thought

    that it was just from being cooped up in the penthouse¡­ It had to be.

    Surely I would feel better after another few days at work.

    But somehow, no matter how much I told myself that things would get better, there was a part of me

    that wasn¡¯t so sure. And as the bodyguard drove me to work, I began to wonder if I would have a

    shback while I was teaching. I knew that I would be able to handle a simple shback if one were to

    happen at work, buttely, I had been feeling a sense of losing control during some of the worse

    shbacks.

    I hoped that it wouldn¡¯t trigger me to shift involuntarily.

 Chapter 202

    Chapter 202

    #Chapter 202: Under Supervision

    Moana

    The bodyguard dropped me off in front of the school, and I got out of the car.

    Already, as I walked up the pathway to the entrance of the school, I could see that some of the older

    students and even other teachers were giving me strange looks. I didn¡¯t think too much of it, however,

    as I had just gotten out of an unmarked vehicle with tinted windows and an intimidating-looking man in

    the driver¡¯s seat. I would have stared at me, too.

    But as I headed inside, the staring continued. Even people who hadn¡¯t seen me get out of the car were

    giving me odd looks. I felt as though people were whispering about me; but, once again, I decided not

    to let it get to me and headed to my ssroom.

    Once I got to my ssroom, I decided to head to the faculty lounge to make myself a cup of coffee and

    warm up a scone, just as I always did when I first got to school. When I entered the faculty lounge, a

    couple of other teachers were sitting at the table and chatting. As soon as I walked in, though, their

    conversation stopped abruptly.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± I said with a warm smile as I walked over to the coffee machine, trying not to show

    how ufortable I felt. ¡°How was everyone¡¯s weekend?¡±

    One of the teachers, who was a high school math teacher that I had only ever exchanged pleasantries

    with before, sort of scoffed. Something about it made the hairs on the back of my neck raise, and I

    turned to face her.

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± I asked, feeling anger beginning to bubble up inside of me as I was instantly

    reminded of what it felt like when those wealthy werewolf women were nasty to me at theworking

    event that I went to with Edrick.

    ¡°Oh, nothing, nothing,¡± the teacher said, waving her hand dismissively and throwing me a stiff smile.

    I stared at them for a few moments longer. Finally, the male teacher who was sitting with her spoke up

    when he realized that I knew that something was going on.

    ¡°Sorry, Moana,¡± he said, sounding more polite than the other teacher. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ Well, we heard about

    what happened at the warehouse. It¡¯s all over the news, and¡­¡±

    ¡°And¡­?¡± I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

    The teacher¡¯s face went red. ¡°There are some rumors circting that you¡¯re not actually human, but

    a¡­ a¡­¡±

    ¡°Ate bloomer?¡± I finished for him. Behind me, the coffee machine began to spurt my coffee out into

    my cup. Other than that, the air in the room was thick and silent. The teacher slowly nodded as his face

    turned into an even deeper shade of red.

    ¡°Not that it¡¯s a bad thing, necessarily,¡± he continued. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ Well,te bloomers are very rare.

    Some people see it as a sign of bad luck. And with your baby on the way, people like to gossip.¡±

    Before, I was angry enough that they were talking about me. But now, to hear that they were talking

    about my baby? ¡°What about my baby?¡± I snarled, my voice spiking in a simr stato to the coffee

    machine as it beeped behind me.

    The male teacher fell silent. His mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried toe up with what

    to say, making him look like a fish gasping onnd. Suddenly, the female teacher spoke up. ¡°More often

    than not, the children ofte bloomerse out with all sorts of¡­ developmental problems,¡± she said.

    The female teacher was far nastier with her words, and didn¡¯t beat around the bush. When she finished

    speaking, she just looked at me with a bit of a smirk on her face.

    Now, I was beginning to feel the anger bubbling up even more. I whirled around and picked my coffee

    up, not caring that I sloshed it on the counter in my haste, then turned and stormed off toward the door.

    Just before I left, though, I turned back onest time and shot the two teachers an angry re.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care if you gossip about me, but don¡¯t you dare gossip about my baby,¡± I growled. There was a

    lot more I wanted to say, but I chose not to. And with that, I left the two teachers alone with their

    mouths hanging open, and stormed out without even taking my scone with me.

    ¡­

    ¡°Good job!¡± I said, pping my hands together as I watched one of the children in my kindergarten

    ss cut a perfectly straight line with her safety scissors. The little girl beamed up at me with rosy red

    cheeks and shot me a toothless grin. I moved on to the next student, and repeated the same drill.

    ¡°Here you go¡­¡± I said, crouching down to the little boy¡¯s level. ¡°Like this¡­¡± I showed him how to use

    the scissors, and then held his hand while he cut. As he cut, he stuck his tongue out in intense

    concentration.

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    ¡°Um¡­ Miss Moana?¡± one of the children suddenly said.

    ¡°Just a moment, Jeremy,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯m helping Bobby.¡±

    The little boy who just called my name fell silent, but only for a moment. ¡°Um, Miss Moana, it¡¯s

    important,¡± he nagged.

    I let out a sigh. ¡°Jeremy, if you need to use the potty, you can go by yourself,¡± I said while the little boy

    that I was helping struggled to cut around a circr shape on his paper. Once again, the little boy,

    Jeremy, fell silent for just a couple of moments before calling out again.

    ¡°Miss Moana, there¡¯s a man looking in the window with b¡­ bin¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s binocrs, Jeremy,¡± one of the little girls corrected with a snide tone of voice. As they spoke,

    however, I already had jerked my head up and pulled the scissors out of Bobby¡¯s chubby little hands

    before running over to the window.

    ¡°s**t,¡± I whispered under my breath, then mped my hand over my mouth in the hopes that none of

    the children heard me curse. Just as the children had said, someone was watching us through the

    window with binocrs. It was the bodyguard. He was sitting on the hood of the car, looking right in

    through our windows! When one of the children waved, he even waved back.

    ¡°What¡¯s he doing, Miss Moana?¡± one of the children asked innocently.

    I shook my head and instantly closed the blinds, feeling as though my privacy and the privacy of the

    children had beenpletely vited. Edrick had said that the bodyguard would wait in the car, not sit

    outside and watch us with binocrs like he was at the opera!

    ¡°Who wants to y duck duck goose?¡± I asked, pping my hands together to divert the kids¡¯ attention,

    which worked. I had the children sit around in a circle on the carpet, and for the remainder of ss,

    they yed duck duck goose.

    However, I couldn¡¯t stop feeling vited by the bodyguard¡¯s actions. I decided that,ter that day, I

    would have to give the bodyguard a piece of my mind. Andter, I would have to give Edrick a piece of

    my mind as well.

 Chapter 203

    Chapter 203

    #Chapter 203: The Watcher

    Moana

    A little while after I caught the bodyguard that Edrick sent with me watching me through the window

    with binocrs, I calmed down a bit and didn¡¯t feel quite as mad about it. I decided against talking to

    Edrick about itter, and figured that I should just give it some time before I started any arguments.

    After all, Edrick was just trying to keep me safe by sending the bodyguard with me. The fact alone that

    he was even okay with me returning to work and with E returning to school was already a miracle. I

    didn¡¯t want to identally rock the boat and make Edrick change his mind, because I knew that the

    Alpha billionaire would be too stubborn if he suddenly decided that it was a bad idea for either of us to

    return to our normal lives.

    However, on my lunch break I started to notice that something was off when one of the other teachers

    came in and knocked on my door with a somewhat angry expression on her face.

    ¡°Hi,¡± I said, setting down my sandwich with surprise, seeing as how no one ever came to my ssroom

    during my break. ¡°Can I help you with anything?¡±

    The teacher, a young woman about my age who was one of the kindergarten teachers, stood in my

    doorway and folded her arms across her chest. Like me, she also had long red hair. ¡°Some man has

    been staring through my window, and I know it has something to do with you,¡± she growled. One of my

    kids said that he was staring through your window earlier, and she¡¯s very upset about it.¡±

    I felt my face go pale and my blood run cold. ¡°I-I¡¯m so sorry,¡± I replied nervously, standing and wringing

    my hands. ¡°He¡¯s not bad or anything of the sort, it¡¯s just that¡ª¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care what your excuse is,¡± the teacher interrupted, her voice sharp and grating. ¡°You either

    need to take care of it, or I¡¯m going to tell the headmistress. It¡¯s already bad enough that we have to

    deal with your bad luck, and now you¡¯re bringing strange, intimidating men on school property? What

    the hell is wrong with you?¡±

    As the teacher spoke, I felt as though my body had officially drained itself of all blood, leaving me

    standing there as nothing but a cold, empty husk of the woman who I once was. I opened my mouth to

    speak, but before I could stammer anything out, she whirled around and stormed off.

    I felt sick. The bodyguard must have mistaken her for me. He probably saw her red hair through the

    window and was watching her, not realizing that he was watching entirely the wrong person. She was

    right, though, despite the fact that she felt the need to get a little dig in about my supposed ¡°bad luck¡±

    as ate bloomer; he needed to be taken care of. He was making children and teachers alike

    ufortable.

    Grumbling to myself under my breath, I stormed out of my ssroom with my fists clenched and ran

    down the hallway. I ran past teachers, students, and ssrooms, past the confused elderly security

    guard, and stormed out of the building and into the sunshine.

    Just as I suspected, the bodyguard was leaning against the side of his car with a pair of binocrs in

    his hand. As I stormed up to him, I saw him push a button on his headset and say something before he

    straightened himself and put the binocrs behind his back.

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Afternoon, Miss,¡± he said politely, his sharp jawline jutting out as he towered over me. ¡°Is everything

    alright?¡±

    ¡°Alright?¡± I asked. ¡°Alright? You¡¯re practically terrorizing the students and the teachers at this school!¡±

    The security guard furrowed his brow and looked down at me through his dark sunsses. ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯m

    not sure what you¡¯re referring to, Miss,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m just doing my job.¡±

    Suddenly, I lurched forward and reached around his back. I grabbed the binocrs that were in his

    hand and yanked them away before he had a chance to stop me, then waved them in his face.

    ¡°Binocrs?¡± I growled. ¡°For goodness¡¯ sake, this is ridiculous! Your job was to drive me here, keep an

    eye on the property in case anyone suspicious shows up, and drive me home. That¡¯s it. And now you¡¯re

    acting like the suspicious one, looking through windows with bloody BINOCULARS!¡±

    After I finished speaking, the air fell silent. Through his dark sunsses, I could see that his eyes were

    wide. My own eyes were wide, too, because without realizing it I had raised my voice and was now

    shouting at him. Even passersby were giving us odd looks, and some of the children on the yground

    were standing by the fence and staring at us with open mouths while the recess attendants were trying

    ¡ª and failing ¡ª to usher them away.

    ¡°Miss, I¡¯m just doing what Mr. Morgan¡ª¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re my employee, too,¡± I said, lowering my voice so as not to be heard. ¡°And I¡¯m telling you to tone

    it back, or¡­ or¡­ I¡¯ll call the police and have you escorted off of the school¡¯s property.¡±

    The security guard looked at me for a moment in a state of shock before he finally nodded and hung

    his head slightly. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± he said, sounding rather much like one of the children who I had to

    scold for being unruly in the ssroom. ¡°I¡¯ll tone it back.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I muttered. I watched with my arms folded across my chest as he circled around the car

    and got into the driver¡¯s seat. Then, whirling around, I stormed past the yground, ignoring the

    shocked students and recess attendants, and ran back inside. I walked past the still-confused security

    guard, past the ssrooms and students and teachers, and back into my ssroom. Once I was

    inside, I closed the door behind me as calmly as I could.

    And once I was concealed inside of my ssroom, I angrily chucked the binocrs as hard as I could

    into the trash can by my desk. I relished in the sound of the stic and ss breaking for a moment

    before I dusted my hands off and sat back down to finish my sandwich.

    Thankfully, the bodyguard wasn¡¯t an issue for the remainder of the day. However, it seemed as though

    everyone saw my little disy earlier, and by the end of the day I felt as though even more people were

    staring at me and whispering as I locked up my ssroom and headed out.

    I kept my head down, ignoring the nasty whispers from fellow teachers as I passed by their ssrooms.

    But when I passed by the headmistress¡¯s office, I felt my face flush red as I saw her annoyed

    expression looking up at me from behind her desk through the open door. Swallowing, I bowed my

    head and scurried past.

    Hopefully, I thought to myself as I rushed out and down the pathway, then climbed into the back of the

    car, tomorrow would be better.

    And if not, Edrick was going to have to settle for an alternative to the bodyguard.

 Chapter 204

    Chapter 204

    #Chapter 204: Curiosity Killed the Cat¡­

    Edrick

    The thought of sending Moana back to work and E back to school made me incredibly nervous, but I

    knew that it needed to be done. It wasn¡¯t fair to keep them both cooped up, and as long as they both

    had the proper protection, I decided that it would be alright if it would make my girls happy.

    On the first day, Moana went to work by herself while I talked to E. E was bing increasingly

    aggravatedtely, seeing as how she didn¡¯t remember anything from the night of the kidnapping.

    Eventually, however, she was bound to find out; surely her little friends at school had heard whisperings

    of what happened at the warehouse already, and although the details of what really happened weren¡¯t

    known by the public yet, I didn¡¯t want E to learn about it from anyone except for me.

    So, while Moana was at work, I sat E down to talk to her. She was holding one of her dolls tightly in

    her hand and brushing its hair furiously, as though she was taking a bit of her frustration out on it.

    ¡°Princess, I need to talk to you,¡± I said gently. ¡°Can you please put your doll down?¡±

    With a huff, E threw her doll down on the floor where we sat and folded her arms across her chest. I

    debated scolding her for that, but decided against it.

    ¡°Why can Moana go back to school, but I can¡¯t?¡± she growled, her little pointed ears and sharp fangs

    showing as she shifted slightly from her anger. ¡°It¡¯s not fair!¡±

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°I know, Princess,¡± I replied. ¡°You¡¯ll go back to school tomorrow, but I need to talk to you first about why

    all of this has been happeningtely.¡±

    E seemed intrigued by what I said, and her fangs withdrew slightly at the prospect of going back to

    school. She waited patiently and allowed me to talk. ¡°The other night, when you woke up in the police

    car, I wasn¡¯t entirely truthful with you,¡± I said. ¡°I told you that there was nothing to worry about, which

    was the truth; but what I didn¡¯t tell you was that¡­¡±

    As I slowly and gently told E the entire story of what happened, her little eyes widened and her face

    went pale. When I was finished, she looked up at me incredulously.

    ¡°Uncle Ethan really did that¡­?¡± she whispered. I nodded.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Princess,¡± I said gently. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not mad at me for not telling you sooner.¡±

    E looked up at me for a few moments longer before she quietly climbed into myp. I held her there

    for a long time, gently rocking her back and forth. Now that the story was out, both of us felt much

    better. But there was something that I still didn¡¯t tell her.

    I didn¡¯t tell her about her mom.

    ¡­

    Later that afternoon, I was working in my study when my phone began to ring. When I picked it up, it

    was the bodyguard. My blood ran cold as I heard his voice, expecting something bad to have

    happened to Moana. I wondered if she shifted at work, or if my father showed up. All of the worst

    oues immediately came to mind before I even heard what really happened.

    ¡°Yes?¡± I said, standing abruptly from my desk and immediately preparing to run down there myself. ¡°Is

    everything alright? Is she hurt?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s fine,¡± the bodyguard, Darren, said. ¡°Nothing happened. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± I let out a sigh of relief and sat down as I ran a hand through my hair. ¡°What is it, then?¡±

    On the other side of the phone, I heard Darren let out an audible sigh. ¡°She saw me watching,¡± he

    replied. ¡°I guess other teachersined, too. She came out here and made quite the scene. And

    she took my binocrs.¡±

    As the bodyguard spoke, I felt myself sink in my chair. Of course Moana had made a scene; honestly, it

    was stupid of me to think that she wouldn¡¯t. I wasn¡¯t surprised that other teachers wereining,

    either. Maybe I was a bit too aggressive with my orders when I secretly told Darren to watch her

    through the window and not let her out of his sight.

    ¡°Alright,¡± I said, sighing again as I leaned back in my chair and shut my eyes exasperatedly. ¡°Tomorrow,

    just drop her off and act as though you¡¯reing home, but watch undercover,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t care

    how you do it, so long as you don¡¯t let Moana or E see you and you don¡¯t rm any of the teachers

    or students. Got it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Darren replied. After that, I hung up.

    That evening, I half expected Moana to give me a talking-to over what had happened. But surprisingly,

    she didn¡¯t say a word. The next morning, she simply woke up and got E ready for school. I saw both

    of them off at the lobby door downstairs, then watched as they drove away before I headed back up to

    the penthouse.

    However, by that afternoon, I had received yet another call from the bodyguard. This time, Moana had

    caught him watching from a park bench across the street, gave him the middle finger through her

    ssroom window, and then held up a sign that said that she was going to call the police. It took her

    holding up her phone in the window and dialing the numbers for him to finally walk away and call me

    again.

    Even though Moana¡¯s fiery attitude made me want tough, I knew that this was serious. Clearly, this

    bodyguard wasn¡¯t meshing well with her. She obviously didn¡¯t feelfortable or trust him, so after

    dismissing him from the job, I decided that it was time to take a different approach.

    Moana and E needed to be allowed to go to work and school. However, it was still dangerous.

    Besides, if she suddenly began to shift in her ssroom, having a bodyguard sitting outside wouldn¡¯t

    be much help. She needed someone specialized, someone who she wasfortable with having close

    by¡­ Maybe she needed someone who she saw as more of a friend than an intimidating bodyguard.

    If I could just find someone who could getfortable with Moana enough to stay inside the ssroom

    with her, someone who could be easily passed as a teacher¡¯s aide so that the other teachers wouldn¡¯t

    be too suspicious, it would be perfect. I would feel better knowing that she had someone right by her

    side in case something happened, and maybe she would be less resentful if she felt less intimidated by

    this new bodyguard.

    But who could I give this task to? All of the bodyguards that I hired wererge, intimidating men with

    combat training who I had initially hired with the intention of patrolling the mountain estate. They were

    extremely talented and valuable, and I felt safe having them on my security team. But I needed

    someone who Moana could rte to, and someone who also had specialized experience with being a

    personal bodyguard for a young woman¡­

    Suddenly, I had an idea. With a sigh, I picked up my phone to call my chief security officer.

 Chapter 205

    Chapter 205

    #Chapter 205: ¡­But Satisfaction Brought It Back

    Edrick

    With an exasperated sigh, I picked up my phone to call my chief security officer.

    ¡°Afternoon, Mr. Morgan,¡± he said when he answered. ¡°Everything alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied. ¡°But I need a favor. Do you have any female bodyguards you could send over for an

    interview?¡±

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    The chief security officer paused for a moment, thinking. ¡°I do,¡± he replied. ¡°I can send them over

    tomorrow. Is there anything you need them for specifically?¡±

    I sighed again, thinking back on the incident with Moana and the male bodyguard that I had assigned to

    her. She clearly felt ufortable with him, and it was obvious that the other teachers and students

    were ufortable as well. All I wanted was for Moana to be protected, but it wasn¡¯t going to help any

    if she kept pushing away the bodyguards.

    ¡°I need someone who can work closely with my¡­ fiancee,¡± I replied, still feeling strange about referring

    to Moana as that. Even though we had marked each other and had be a lot more affectionate

    since it had happened, we were still technically not in any sort of official rtionship. At least, we hadn¡¯t

    talked about it yet. ¡°She needs someone who can be helpful with kids, and someone who¡¯s easy to get

    along with but who will also provide good protection. Do you have anyone like that?¡±

    For a few more moments, the security officer paused. I could hear him typing on a keyboard on the

    other end, like he was looking something up. After a little while longer, he finally said, ¡°Aha! I found

    someone.¡±

    ¡°Who is it?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Her name is Katherine,¡± he replied. ¡°She¡¯s twenty-eight, has experience working on one-on-one jobs in

    family settings, and it looks like she performed excellently on all of her physical and intellectual exams.¡±

    I nodded, letting out a small sigh of relief. ¡°Send her over to the penthouse tomorrow,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯d like

    to have an interview with her.¡±

    I felt infinitely relieved by the time I hung up with the security officer. Perhaps having a female

    bodyguard who was good with kids might lift Moana¡¯s mood and make her feel a bit morefortable.

    Not only that, but maybe I could finally rest easy during the day knowing that Moana had an

    experienced bodyguard by her side in case of an emergency¡­ Although part of me felt as though I

    would never really rest easy. Not as long as I still had to worry that Moana could shift at any point out of

    nowhere.

    For the rest of that day, I prepared what I would say to Moana. She hadn¡¯t exactly been out of line with

    how she handled her first bodyguard, per se, but I needed her to understand why it was so important

    for her to be more open to this new bodyguard. When she came home that afternoon, however, judging

    from the angry expression on her face and the way that she stormed toward me it seemed as though

    my pre-nned speech might fall on deaf ears.

    As Moana stormed into the apartment, she immediately sent E off to her room to y before

    grabbing me by the arm and pulling me unceremoniously into my study. When the door was shut

    behind us, she folded her arms across her chest and shot me an angry re.

    ¡°He can¡¯t keep stalking me like this,¡± she growled. ¡°The agreement was that he would drive me to work

    and wait in the car, not that he would sneak around with binocrs and spy on my every move.

    Yesterday, he mistook another red-haired teacher for me. Today, one of my students started crying

    because she was scared of the enormous man on the park bench who kept staring into the ssroom

    window! Do you want me to lose my job?¡±

    I sighed and shook my head. ¡°No, Moana,¡± I replied. ¡°Look¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but you need a bodyguard. I

    don¡¯t feelfortable with you and E returning to school with someone just sitting outside. Someone

    could sneak in. You could shift during ss and wreak havoc if no one is equipped to handle it.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t shift,¡± she insisted. ¡°I think that I would know if I was going to shift.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple,¡± I replied exasperatedly. ¡°When someone shifts for the first time, they can¡¯t always

    recognize the warning signs. Many people can lose consciousness during their first time shifting, and

    their wolf can cause a lot of damage. Normally, people shift for the first time as children, in a safe

    environment with teachers. But as ate bloomer such as yourself, things are different. I understand

    that you¡¯re entitled to your independence, but do you want to potentially destroy your ssroom and

    terrify your students if you shift suddenly? What if you injured someone?¡±

    Moana fell silent for a few moments while she chewed the inside of her cheek. ¡°Fine,¡± she finally said

    quietly. ¡°I get it¡­ I get that I¡¯m just ate bloomer who could cause all sorts of problems.¡±

    I raised my eyebrows, shocked at this sudden use of words. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Where did thate from?¡±

    ¡°Everyone keeps saying that I¡¯m bad luck as ate bloomer,¡± Moana said, her voice quiet and almost

    timid. ¡°My colleagues keep whispering about me. No one wants to be near me, and with this whole

    security guard nonsense, it¡¯s even worse. I¡¯m not only there for a job, you know. I was hoping that

    maybe, just maybe, I could¡­ I don¡¯t know. I thought that I could¡ª¡±

    ¡°Make some friends?¡± I asked. Moana nodded and I sighed, running my hand through my hair. ¡°Would

    you want to be friends with superstitious people who spread nasty rumors like that anyway?¡±

    For a long time, Moana stared nkly at the floor in front of her. Her jaw shifted from side to side as

    she seemed to be thinking deeply, before she finally dropped her arms to her sides and shrugged. ¡°I

    guess not,¡± she said. ¡°But either way, this bodyguard business is causing problems, and I do have a job

    to do. Besides, people know that E is my ¡®daughter¡¯, and I don¡¯t want anything bad to rub off on her.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± I smiled slightly. ¡°You¡¯ll be happy to know that I found an alternative. A new bodyguard that you

    can have in the ssroom with you. Wouldn¡¯t that be better?¡±

    I expected Moana to feel better, but for some reason, this only seemed to make her even angrier. Her

    cheeks turned a shade of red that almost matched her hair, and she folded her arms across her chest

    again and shook her head vigorously.

    ¡°Did you not just listen to what I said?¡± she asked. ¡°I won¡¯t allow a bodyguard in my ssroom! And if

    you try, I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll send them away again!¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Now, I finally felt the need to put my foot down, and I narrowed my eyes at Moana. ¡°No,¡± I said.

    ¡°You won¡¯t send them away. You¡¯re going to just have to deal with this new reality, Moana, or I¡¯m going

    to have to take us to the mountain estate for real this time.¡±

 Chapter 206

    Chapter 206

    #Chapter 206: The Last Straw

    Moana

    The first day that my colleagues and students got wind of the bodyguard situation was already bad

    enough. By the second day, people were really beginning to pick up on the fact that a strange,

    intimidating man was sitting outside of the school and watching me with binocrs. Combined with the

    fact that everyone seemed to think that I was bad luck as ate bloomer, I quickly became even more

    of an outcast amongst the other teachers and even some of the older students. What I was most

    worried about, though, was that this would somehow reflect on E. I could handle people looking

    negatively upon me, but if they began to look negatively upon E because of me, then I couldn¡¯t live

    with it.

    When I went home on the second day, I decided that I had had enough. Yes, some horrible things had

    happened; but this whole bodyguard situation wasn¡¯t working out, and I couldn¡¯t risk it ruining both mine

    and E¡¯s reputations in an environment where our reputations were already fairly shaky because of

    my status as ate bloomer.

    At first, Edrick seemed to be understanding. I thought that he would rmend a different approach;

    maybe he could talk to the headmistress about hiring a second security guard for the school or even

    put up cameras in my ssroom just in case anything happened. But when he brought up the danger

    of me shifting in my ssroom, he seemed to make a good point. It was a dangerous potential, and I

    didn¡¯t want anyone to get hurt.

    However, when he told me that I would have no choice but to allow a bodyguard into my ssroom

    with me every day for the foreseeable future, I felt angry.

    ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°You won¡¯t send them away. You¡¯re going to just have to deal with this new reality,

    Moana, or I¡¯m going to have to take us to the mountain estate for real this time.¡±

    I felt my eyes widen. ¡°You can¡¯t keep holding that over my head!¡± I insisted. ¡°We stayed here because

    both of us agreed that we didn¡¯t want to leave our home. You can¡¯t just threaten to rip us away again

    because I rightfully don¡¯t feelfortable with having a bodyguard inside my ssroom.¡±

    Edrick red at me for a moment. ¡°You need to be kept safe, Moana,¡± he urged. ¡°You and E. I don¡¯t

    want you getting hurt.¡±

    ¡°I can protect myself,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m fine with finding an alternative method, and I understand why you¡¯re

    worried about me, but I don¡¯t need a bodyguard up my ass at all times. If something happens, I can

    handle mys¡ª¡±

    ¡°Oh, can you?¡± Edrick growled. ¡°Just like how you almost got yourself and my daughter killed just a

    couple of weeks ago? Hm? What about your supposed ability to protect yourself then?¡±

    When Edrick finished speaking, the air between us felt thick and heavy. I felt tears beginning to well up

    in my eyes, and Edrick showed no signs of remorse for his harsh words. Nothing else was said

    between either of us before I whirled around and stormed out. I ran to my room and mmed the door

    behind me, not caring if it rattled the doorframe, then threw myself down on my bed and sobbed into

    my pillow.

    Of course I knew that I f****d up by putting E and myself in danger. I saw that night over and over

    again in my head. I saw shes of E tied to the chair, of Ethan holding the gun to my head. I would

    never forget that night, and I was well aware that I had made a major mistake.

    But did Edrick need to be so cruel about it? Did he really need to make such a low blow during an

    argument and remind me of my fatal failure?

    As I sobbed into my pillow, the images of that night shed faster and faster through my mind until I felt

    sick and dizzy. I sobbed even harder, gripping my sheets so tightly in my hand that my knuckles hurt,

    just wishing that I could go back and undo everything that had happened that night. If I had just trusted

    Edrick¡­ If I had just not listened to Olivia, and told him instead when she began talking to me¡­

    Suddenly, I felt a familiar little hand on the back of my head. I quickly jerked my head up, drying my

    eyes and sniffling loudly as I forced a smile.

    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.

    ¡°Hey, love,¡± I whispered, looking up at E. She was sitting on the side of my bed with a concerned look

    on her face as she gently stroked my long hair. At that moment, she looked so mature. Her eyes looked

    so empathetic andforting, like a little adult. And she didn¡¯t say a word, either. She just continued to

    sit there, gently stroking my hair with one hand while her other hand curled up between my fingers.

    The two of usid there for a long time, E stroking my hair while Iid on my back and watched her.

    My tears slowly began to dry, and soon, everything else fell away. I knew it all along, but I really knew

    how much I loved her just then. The way that her sweet face looked at me wiped away the horrible

    image that I had of her sleeping, tied up in the chair beside me in that dark and terrifying warehouse.

    I knew that Edrick had told her about it, too. He had mentioned it the day before, that he had told her,

    but she hadn¡¯t said a word about it yet. What went through her little head when he told her, I

    wondered? Was she scared? Angry? Hurt? She didn¡¯t show any of those emotions now; she just

    seemed calm and empathetic, like a little cherub.

    ¡°Are you okay, love?¡± I whispered, reaching up to brush some of her messy blonde hair out of her eyes.

    ¡°Do you want to talk about what happened?¡±

    E simply shrugged. She seemed mostly unfazed by it; maybe because she didn¡¯t actually remember

    that night, but had just been told about it instead. Surely Edrick kept out most of the grizzly details of

    the night. Maybe, when she was older, she would want to know the full truth. But for now, she seemed

    content.

    Although, part of me wondered why she hadn¡¯t asked about her real mom yet. Did Edrick tell her, or

    was he still waiting?

    Suddenly, E popped up and jumped off of the bed.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back,¡± she said matter-of-factly, before running out of the room.

    I sat up and wiped my eyes, watching as she disappeared through the door. A few minutes passed,

    and I heard nothing. I began to think that she just got distracted from whatever it was that she was

    going to do, as children often did, and with a slight chuckle I shook my head and swung my legs over

    the bed to get up and shut the door the rest of the way.

    But then, before I could get up, she suddenly returned holding Edrick¡¯s hand. With a mischievous grin,

    she pushed him into the room and shut the door firmly behind him.

    Edrick and I just stared at each other in surprise, blinking slowly in the waning light of my bedroom.

 Chapter 207

    Chapter 207

    #Chapter 207: Stubborn

    Edrick

    Moana really could be far too stubborn for her own good sometimes.

    At first, I thought that we wereing to an understanding; she seemed to be on the same page as me

    when we discussed the dangers of not having security to keep an eye on her.

    When I told her that she would need to have a bodyguard in her ssroom in case anything happened,

    however, her reaction was full of unnecessary anger. Of course I expected her to be upset, but I

    thought that she at least understood the reasons behind why it was so important. There was a

    possibility that she could shift unexpectedly while she was teaching and cause mayhem. There was

    also a possibility that if my father or anyone else who wanted the Golden Wolf dead found out that she

    was the Golden Wolf, someone coulde and try to hurt her. Nowhere was safe, and it didn¡¯t matter

    if she was teaching in the middle of the day in broad daylight. If someone wanted her dead, it would be

    too easy to get the job done unless she had someone by her side to keep her safe. Why couldn¡¯t she

    just understand that?

    Maybe I was a little too harsh when I told her that I would take her away to the mountain estate, but it

    was the first thing that came to my mind, and it was the truth. If she couldn¡¯tply and at least

    attempt to have some sort of sense of self preservation here, then we would need to leave the city after

    all. She had two choices: live with the fact that she would need a bodyguard in her ssroom for the

    foreseeable future and stay in the city where she could keep her job and E could continue to go to

    school, or refuse to have a bodyguard in her ssroom and go to live with me at the mountain estate.

    There was no in-between.

    When I told her that she had no choice, however, Moana got even more angry. Her face got red and

    she clenched her fists at her sides angrily, ring at me with her green eyes. ¡°If something happens, I

    can handle mys¡ª¡±

    ¡°Oh, can you?¡± I growled. ¡°Just like how you almost got yourself and my daughter killed just a couple of

    weeks ago? Hm? What about your supposed ability to protect yourself then?¡±

    Both of us fell silent. Moana stared at me for several seconds in disbelief; admittedly, I did feel a little

    bad for my choice of wording, but I was telling the truth. I was forgiving of Moana, and I knew that she

    had been skillfully manipted into trying to run away, but I was still wary about her decisions. I needed

    to keep my daughter, my mate, and my unborn child safe.

    Moana opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again and suddenly stormed out. A few

    momentster, I heard her bedroom door m shut.

    I cursed under my breath and whirled around to walk over to my desk, where I angrily plopped myself

    down into my chair and let out an audible groan while I buried my face in my hands.

    Why did she need to be so stubborn? Why was it that these sorts of things always devolved into an

    argument, even when I was just trying to help her? Was it me? Was I the problem?

    Sighing, I sank further down into my chair and rubbed my eyes exhaustedly.

    ¡°Was I too harsh?¡± I asked my wolf.

    ¡°Maybe a little,¡± he responded. ¡°It wasn¡¯t her fault that she got manipted. You know how Olivia is.¡±

    I sighed again. ¡°I know that,¡± I replied, not caring if I spoke out loud. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­¡±

    Suddenly, I heard my door creak open. I looked up from my hands to see E standing in the doorway

    with a pout and with her arms folded across her chest. ¡°Hey, Princess,¡± I said gently. ¡°Is everything

    okay?¡±

    E stared at me for a moment. She was still in her school uniform; we hadn¡¯t even had dinner yet, and

    Moana was already furious with me. No doubt that E heard our argument, too.

    ¡°You made Moana cry,¡± E growled.

    My eyes widened slightly. ¡°I did?¡± I asked. I didn¡¯t mean to make her cry. I was just telling her the truth.

    But before I could say that, E suddenly stormed up to me and grabbed me by the sleeve with a fiery

    look in her eyes. She yanked on me angrily and took a step back while still holding my sleeve in her

    little hand.

    ¡°Come on,¡± she said, her voice firm for such a little girl, almost as though she was a small adult. ¡°You

    need to apologize.¡±

    ¡°I need to apologize?¡± I asked with a chuckle. Maybe Moana needed to apologize first, I thought to

    myself. She was the one who got so angry with me that she stormed in here as soon as she got home

    from work and dragged me into my study to fight with me.

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± E shouted, stamping her foot on the floor angrily. ¡°Apologize to Moana now for making her

    cry! She¡¯s my mom now and I don¡¯t like it when you make her sad!¡±

    As E spoke, my eyes went even wider. E had referred to Moana as her mom. I hadn¡¯t heard her

    mention that before, although now that I thought of it, Moana had just mentioned that E told everyone

    that Moana was her mom at school. The thought of it created a sudden warmth in my chest, and I

    couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit.

    Suddenly, during my moment of weakness, E dragged me to my feet. As she dragged me out of my

    study and toward Moana¡¯s room, I didn¡¯t resist. She then dragged me over to Moana¡¯s room,

    unceremoniously shoved me inside, and mmed the door behind me.

    Moana was sitting up on the bed. We stared at each other for a few moments in shocked silence, and

    during those moments I realized that E was right; Moana had been crying. Her eyes looked red and

    puffy, and her cheeks had a slight sheen to them from the tears. She seemed to be trying to hide it, but

    I could tell right away. And the instant I saw that she had been crying, I realized that I had been far too

    harsh on her earlier. I shouldn¡¯t have said those things; I didn¡¯t mean any of them. I never wanted to

    make Moana cry.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I whispered, taking a tentative step forward. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it.¡±

    Moana said nothing. She just looked up at me with those reddened eyes with their emerald green

    irises. Her lower lip was quivering slightly, and she bit it to make it stop. Now, more than ever, I wanted

    to hold her and kiss her all over. I took another tentative step forward, taking in the way that her red hair

    was messed up from crying into her pillow, and felt an ache in my chest as I realized just how much of

    a jerk I had been.

    Still, Moana said nothing. But then, without a word, she just held her arms out for me.

 Chapter 208

    Chapter 208

    #Chapter 208: Open Arms & Open Hearts

    Moana

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Edrick whispered, his eyes wide as he took in my appearance. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it.¡±

    His face showed nothing but sincerity. I was hurt by what he had said, but I couldn¡¯t stay mad at him.

    Without a word, I held my arms out for him.

    Edrick looked at me for a moment with shock on his face before he slowly walked toward me. He

    walked right into my arms, and his scent overwhelmed me. That sweet, tantalizing scent that made a

    shiver run down my spine.

    Outside, the sky had darkened and it had begun to rain. The sound of the rain hitting my windows filled

    the silence around us, and the darkness made me want to feel more of Edrick¡¯s warmth.

    I looked up at him then. He was watching me intently as he held me, his steely gray eyes searching my

    face with sincerity and pure emotion. In the dark light of the thunder storm outside, I thought that he

    looked so handsome. His gray eyes were ever so slightly glowing that same silver color as before, and

    I felt a slight smile spread across my lips as I noticed that tiny detail.

    Edrick opened his mouth to say something, but I couldn¡¯t hold back any longer. I wanted him too badly;

    it had been too long, and now, as his scent filled my nostrils, I felt toopelled to be with him again.

    Before he could get any words out, I suddenly reached up and grabbed his face, pulling him down to

    my level. I pressed my lips against his with fervor and felt my body be overwhelmed with

    sensation, with desire. As I kissed him deeply, Edrick let out a surprised moan. He pulled back slightly,

    only to give me an intense look of passion, before he firmly pushed me down against the bed and

    pressed his warm body against mine so that I could feel him entirely, which only filled me with even

    more desire.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    Suddenly, Edrick scooped his arm under my back and pulled me up further onto the bed. I felt his hand

    then slide up my skirt and along my thigh, his fingers brushing my skin as he made his way to my

    panties. His kisses traveled down my neck and along my cor bone while he teased me beneath my

    skirt, and I ran my fingers through his hair while I felt my back arch beneath him as I was ovee

    with pleasure.

    The rain beat down heavier on my window, covering up our heavy breathing and soft gasps. A lightning

    bolt struck outside, and at the same time Edrick suddenly stood and began to remove his belt. I sat up,

    breathing heavily, and pulled my dress off over my head. As I did, Edrick¡¯s eyes traveled down over my

    breasts, my rounded belly, and my thighs. I stood then and began to work at the buttons on his shirt

    while he buried his face in my hair.

    We undressed each other in the dim light of my room, with only the sound of the rain to mask our own

    sounds. For a few moments, we stood there and took each other in. The Alpha billionaire¡¯s eyes

    studied me intensely in the dim light while his hand tentatively reached out and cupped my bare breast.

    I felt a shiver run down my spine and I bit my lip as he reached down further with his hand, feeling me

    between my legs. Then, with a smile, Edrick peeled the nkets down on my bed. He wrapped his arm

    around my waist and pulled me down with him, covering us in the warmth and safety of my quilt while

    he positioned himself above me.

    His muscr chest pressed up against me firmly, like he wanted every inch of us to be touching. While

    I wrapped my legs around him, his lips traveled across my skin, causing goosebumps to raise all over

    me. I felt his hand then travel down between my legs, and our eyes locked as I felt the pressure of him

    entering me next. I suddenly felt the long-awaited filling sensation of finally being with him again, which

    I had sorely missed since our one night stand. Slowly, and with a bit of a smile ying on his lips, he

    began to move. We both simultaneously let out a soft moan, and his hand cupped my face while we

    began to move together beneath the nkets. His dark hair fell into his eyes while he gazed down at

    me. I arched my back and pushed my hands up against his firm chest while I twisted my hips against

    him, feeling so full with him there, and our lips only parted from one another to make soft sounds or

    kiss different body parts while the rain poured relentlessly outside my window and thunder rolled

    through the sky.

    By the time it was all over, I had almost forgotten entirely about why I was upset with Edrick. I only felt

    ovee with peace and happiness, and my body felt as light as a feather. It felt as though a great,

    huge weight had been lifted off of me, and as Iid on Edrick¡¯s chest and traced my finger along his

    skin and felt the bumps of his tight muscles beneath my fingertip, I couldn¡¯t help but smile.

    Neither of us said anything. We didn¡¯t need to. It felt good just toy in quiet together, listening to the

    rain and each other¡¯s breathing. Edricky beneath me with his eyes closed and his hand running

    through my hair. His breathing was deep and steady, as though he was on the verge of sleep. With the

    pouring rain outside, I felt as though I could have fallen asleep, too. I very much wouldn¡¯t have minded

    falling asleep there to the sound of the rain and the images of our shared passion flickering repeatedly

    through my mind.

    We did fall asleep, for a little while. Iid on his chest and let myself doze off in the safety of his arms

    as I listened to the sound of his steady heartbeat filling my ears.

    But we weren¡¯t asleep for long, however, as we were both eventually awoken by the sound of frantic

    knocking on the door. We woke up still tangled in each other¡¯s arms, and as the frantic knocking

    continued, Edrick quickly jumped up and put his pants on. I jumped up as well and hurriedly threw my

    dress on over my head, thinking that E or one of the maids might walk in at any moment and catch

    us in our post-passion embarrassment.

    When Edrick opened the door, Selina was standing there.

    ¡°What is it?¡± he asked, sounding slightly worried by the look in Selina¡¯s eyes.

    Selina looked back and forth between us for a few moments, clearly trying not to notice the fact that

    Edrick was shirtless and my hair was a mess, before her cheeks went slightly red and she finally

    spoke.

    ¡°The police are downstairs,¡± the old housekeeper said, sounding both confused and concerned, and a

    little sheepish as she surely knew what she had just walked into. ¡°They want to speak to you.¡±

 Chapter 209

    Chapter 209

    #Chapter 209: Testify

    Moana

    ¡°The police are downstairs,¡± the old housekeeper said, sounding both confused and concerned, and a

    little sheepish as she surely knew what she had just walked into. ¡°They want to speak to you.¡±

    Edrick and I suddenly looked at each other in shock.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± he said, grabbing his shirt off of the floor and putting it on. ¡°You can stay here, Moana.¡±

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    But Selina shook her head and pointed at me. ¡°They want to talk to her. They asked specifically for

    Moana.¡±

    As Selina spoke, my eyes suddenly widened. Surely the police wanted to talk to me about Ethan and

    Kelly, but why now? They really came in the pouring rain? Couldn¡¯t they have called first? Edrick, who

    seemed to be thinking the same thing, narrowed his eyes. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a good time,¡± he said. ¡°Why

    didn¡¯t they call first instead of just showing up?¡±

    The old housekeeper shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But they asked specifically for Moana.¡±

    Edrick looked at me again and opened his mouth to speak, but I shook my head and grabbed my

    sweater off of the chair. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±

    The police were waiting for us in the lobby downstairs, as our new bodyguards were given strict orders

    not to let anyone in who wasn¡¯t one of us. Edrick and I quickly put on our shoes and took the elevator

    down, and when we came out I saw two officers sitting on the bench in the lobby waiting for us. They

    both stood when we entered.

    ¡°What¡¯s all this about?¡± Edrick asked, peering past them to look outside. Thankfully, because of the

    pouring rain, it seemed as though the paparazzi weren¡¯t lingering around outside like a bunch of

    hyenas. If pictures went around of two police officersing into the building so soon after what

    happened at the warehouse, it was certain that there would be more media harassment about it.

    ¡°Good afternoon,¡± one of the officers said, who I recognized as the one that gave us a ride home after

    the incident at the warehouse. ¡°I apologize for the intrusion, but we wanted toe and talk to you

    personally.¡±

    ¡°What do you need to talk about?¡± Edrick asked. I could tell that he was feeling nervous, and so was I. I

    couldn¡¯t help but wonder if something had happened to Ethan or Kelly in jail, or something of the sort.

    ¡°Well, we have some questions for Miss Fowler,¡± the officer said, looking at me. ¡°If you¡¯d like toe

    down to the station with us, we¡¯d like to perform an interview. We¡¯d like your side of the story as to what

    happened leading up to the events at the warehouse a couple of weeks ago, and we need to take a

    formal statement.¡±

    Edrick suddenly frowned and protectively put his arm around my shoulders. ¡°This is very sudden,¡± he

    said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to make my fiancee dredge up what happened that night without any time to prepare.

    If you call back another time, maybe we can set up a date¡ª¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it needs to be done today,¡± the officer interrupted grimly. ¡°This whole incident is causing a lot

    of media attention, and Ethan said ¡ª on the record ¡ª that¡­ Miss Fowler went to the warehouse

    willingly.¡±

    My eyes widened. ¡°I did not!¡± I said, feeling my anger begin to bubble up inside of me. ¡°He¡¯s a liar.

    That¡¯s not what¡ª¡±

    ¡°Whatever you want to say will need to be saved for the interview,¡± the officer said gently with a polite

    smile.

    ¡°So you mean to interrogate my fiancee over something that my mentally insane, illegitimate half-

    brother said? You know he¡¯s full of s**t, right?¡± Edrick asked, sounding agitated now.

    The officer sighed and put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. ¡°It¡¯s not an interrogation, Mr.

    Morgan,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s just an interview. We know that Ethan is not telling the truth, but we¡¯d like to get

    Miss Fowler¡¯s statement first.¡± He turned then to look back at me. ¡°Now, if you¡¯d like a ride down to the

    station, we could get this all over with today. Eventually, you may need to testify in court.¡±

    I was still shocked by it all. Of course Ethan was lying, but¡­ If the truth came out that I was trapped

    that night because I was trying to leave with E, would he and Kelly and Olivia get away with what I

    did? What if I got in trouble instead for attempted kidnapping since I took E without permission?

    No, I thought to myself. That was a ridiculous thought. I was clearly manipted into going, and even if

    it wasn¡¯t clear enough, it didn¡¯t really matter. Either way, Ethan still tried to kill a pregnant woman and a

    little girl.

    But what really scared me the most was the thought of having to be interviewed on what had happened

    that night. I had seen clips of interrogations online where distressed victims were made to cry or have

    mental breakdowns over bringing up everything that happened, and I didn¡¯t want to be one of those

    people. Right now, thest thing I needed was to have a shback and wake up in the hospital.

    Suddenly, Edrick pulled me aside and spoke quietly. ¡°You don¡¯t need to go if you don¡¯t want to,¡± he

    said. ¡°And if you want awyer because of what happened that night, I can get you the bestwyer in

    town.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­ I¡¯ll go. It¡¯s better to just get this over with now, and there¡¯s no

    reason for me to get awyer. Unless¡­ The situation with E¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that,¡± Edrick reassured me. ¡°This is all Ethan¡¯s fault. You don¡¯t have anything to

    worry about.¡±

    I nodded reluctantly, then took a deep breath and turned back to face the two waiting police officers.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you,¡± I said, pulling my sweater more tightly around my shoulders. ¡°But I want Edrick to

    come with me. Otherwise I won¡¯t go.¡± I nodded my head toward Edrick and stood up straight, holding

    my chin high.

    The officer who was speaking before nodded understandingly, then smiled politely again. ¡°Of course,¡±

    he said. ¡°If you¡¯d like to just grab your things, we can take you both.¡±

    Edrick and I quickly went back upstairs to grab a few things before heading out. Neither of us knew

    how long exactly this ¡°interview¡± would take, so we told Selina to just give E dinner and that we would

    handle it ourselvester. Selina seemed worried about me, but I was intent on going. So long as I didn¡¯t

    have any shbacks about that night, I was certain that I would be fine. I just needed to answer their

    questions truthfully. They already said themselves that they knew that Ethan was bending the truth.

    On the way there, however, as the rain battered against the window of the cop car, I felt my anxieties

    beginning to rise again. I kept seeing intermittent shes of the gun in Ethan¡¯s hand, and it made me

    begin to wonder if the shbacks would be too much during the interview.

    ¡°You can do this,¡± my wolf said, offering me some words offort on the drive. ¡°If you get through this

    interview, it will ensure that Ethan and Kelly can never do something like this ever again.¡±

    I swallowed as I looked out the window, feelingforted by Edrick¡¯s arm around my shoulders.

    ¡°I hope you¡¯re right,¡± I responded. ¡°I really hope that you¡¯re right.¡±

 Chapter 210

    Chapter 210

    #Chapter 210: The Interrogation

    Moana

    When we arrived at the police station, Edrick helped me out of the cop car and held me closely as we

    walked inside.

    Once we were inside, I immediately noticed that the other people who were there suddenly got very

    quiet and started giving Edrick and I strange looks. I tried to ignore it, but it was hard to do that when I

    had spent thest two days at work being whispered about. Only this time, I didn¡¯t know whether they

    were whispering about my ¡°unluckiness¡± as ate bloomer or whether they were whispering about the

    warehouse incident.

    Either way, I felt myself getting somewhat sick as the officer led us down a narrow and fluorescent-lit

    hallway to the interrogation room.

    We stopped outside the door and he opened it, letting me in. It was a small room with a metal table in

    the center, a couple of chairs, and a fluorescent light on the ceiling. I could see a camera in the corner

    of the ceiling and a ¡°mirror¡±, which I was certain was a one-way mirror. I instantly felt even more sick as

    I wondered just how many people were watching this.

    Suddenly, just as Edrick wasing in after me, the officer stopped him.

    ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m going to have to ask you to wait outside,¡± he said. He sounded amicable, but his words

    made me nervous, and I could tell that Edric was just as nervous.

    ¡°You promised that I could be with her,¡± Edrick said somewhat angrily. ¡°Why can¡¯t I be with her now?¡±

    ¡°I said that you coulde to the station with her,¡± the officer rified. ¡°But the interview needs to be

    completed with just her. She¡¯ll be fine; this will only take a short while.¡±

    Edrick looked at me with concern in his eyes. I felt terrified, but I hid it well and nodded at him, even

    going so far as to shoot him a reassuring smile before the officer closed the door.

    ¡°Take a seat,¡± the officer said, gesturing to one of the chairs. I sat down sheepishly, holding my purse in

    myp as he sat across from me and pulled out a notebook. ¡°Now¡­ Let¡¯s begin. Can you tell me, in

    your own words, what happened that night before the police arrived at the scene of the crime?¡±

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Y-Yes,¡± I replied. Slowly, I began to recount my experience that night. I started with the taxi ride,

    followed by discovering that Kelly was actually driving the taxi. But then, just as I was about to tell the

    officer how I was hit in the head and woke up in the warehouse, he stopped me.

    ¡°Hold on,¡± he said, holding his hand out as he furrowed his brow. ¡°You said that you took a taxi at¡­¡±

    ¡°Midnight,¡± I said.

    ¡°Why were you taking your daughter in a taxi headed away from Mr. Morgan¡¯s penthouse at midnight?¡±

    As the officer asked this question, I swallowed. I didn¡¯t know where to begin¡­ If I revealed everything

    about Olivia, then it would potentially mean that the fact that I wasn¡¯t E¡¯s biological mother would be

    revealed to the public, which could cause a lot of problems. Not only that, but it could potentially get me

    in trouble for an attempted kidnapping. Of course I knew that Edrick wouldn¡¯t press charges, but once

    again, that sort of information being given to the public could be disastrous.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± I stammered, my heart racing. I felt myself get even more sick.

    ¡°We¡¯lle back to that,¡± the officer said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for interrupting your story. You can continue now.¡±

    Swallowing again, I started to tell the rest of the story. I told the officer about how I was hit in the head,

    and how E tried to run away. I then told him about waking up in the warehouse, tied to a chair with

    E beside me, a bright white spotlight in my eyes, and a¡­ a¡­

    Suddenly, I felt even more sick as I tried to say the word that I couldn¡¯t seem to get out: gun.

    ¡°Are you alright, Miss Fowler?¡± the officer asked. ¡°Keep telling your story.¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said quietly. ¡°He was holding a¡­ a g-gun¡­¡±

    As I spoke, I felt my vision begin to fade. The image of Ethan¡¯s twisted grin while he held the gun up to

    my head shed through my mind. I felt myself slipping away from reality, being transported back to

    that horrible night. I saw E¡¯s sleeping little body tied up to that metal chair. I saw Edrick¡¯s head split

    open, blood pooling up on the floor around him. I saw Kelly, turning around in the driver¡¯s seat,

    sneering at me as she went on a tirade about killing us. I felt E burying herself in my side, and I

    heard her little terrified sobs.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am?¡± the officer said. ¡°I need you to cooperate, otherwise this is going to take a long time¡­¡±

    ¡°R-Right,¡± I said, snapping back to reality for a few brief moments while beads of sweat began to form

    at the nape of my neck. ¡°As I was saying, he was holding a gun to my head, and there was a bright

    light¡­ H-He told me that he was going to kill me and E because he w-wanted Edrick to suffer¡­¡±

    Once again, my voice faltered. My throat felt dry and cracked, and I reached for the ss of water

    sitting in front of me. I drank several gulps, but it didn¡¯t help.

    ¡°Suffer for what?¡± the officer urged. ¡°Did Edrick do anything to Ethan at any point?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, that¡¯s the thing,¡± I replied. ¡°Edrick didn¡¯t do anything. Ethan¡¯s mother killed

    herself¡­ Well, Michael probably did it, in all reality¡­¡±

    The officer furrowed his brow and wrote furiously on his notepad. ¡°Michael who?¡± he asked.

    I felt my eyes widen. I had said too much. ¡°M-Michael Morgan,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Hold on.¡± The officer set his pen down and folded his arms across his chest. ¡°That¡¯s a very serious

    usation, Miss Fowler,¡± he said. ¡°Are you using Michael Morgan of murdering Ethan¡¯s mother?¡±

    This was too much. I suddenly shook my head, feeling shame for bringing it up. I had said too much,

    and for all I knew, Michael was connected to people in the police department. Ethan had said that his

    mother¡¯s murder was covered up. What if the cops helped? What if they would tell Michael that I was

    trying to rat him out?

    As all of this whirled around in my head, I felt myself getting more and more dizzy. Suddenly, I felt as

    though I would throw up. I stood, mping my hand over my mouth as vomit began to bubble up. The

    officer jumped up as well; he was saying something with a worried look on his face and was holding his

    hands out to me, but I couldn¡¯t hear what he was saying over the ringing in my ears.

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t feel so w-well¡­¡± I murmured. I saw a sh of Ethan¡¯s face. Ethan was the cop! No¡­ I was

    just seeing things¡­ I looked up at the mirror then, and jumped when I saw Ethan standing behind me,

    holding the gun to my head. I whirled around, but he wasn¡¯t there. I started hyperventting.

    ¡°Miss Fowler? Miss Fowler!¡± the officer said.

    My knees buckled under me, and everything went dark.

 Chapter 211

    Chapter 211

    #Chapter 211: The Situation Room

    Edrick

    I watched the police officer take Moana into the interrogation room and shut the door in my face before

    I could even really protest.

    ¡°She¡¯ll be fine,¡± I whispered to myself. But did I really believe that?

    What happened to Moana and E was extremely traumatic. At least E didn¡¯t have to remember

    what happened at her young age, but Moana¡­ She would never forget it. I had already seen the way

    that it was affecting her since it happened. During normal conversations, she would go elsewhere.

    Whenever the events in the warehouse were brought up, her face would darken and her eyes would

    gloss over, like she was reliving it. I tried to help snap her out of it whenever I noticed it happening, but I

    was worried that she would freak out in there and I wouldn¡¯t be around to help her. I highly doubted that

    the police officer would know what to do, or if he would even care. To them, Moana was just a piece of

    evidence to collect before Ethan could be convicted. That was it.

    For a long time, I just paced back and forth outside of the interrogation room in that little hallway. There

    was no window on the door, and no matter how many times I asked, they wouldn¡¯t let me into the room

    next door with them to watch through the one-way mirror. I feltpletely cut off from Moana, and it

    made me sick.

    Suddenly, one of the female officers came up to me as I was still pacing in front of the door.

    ¡°Mr. Morgan,¡± she said in a light, friendly voice with a stic smile spread across her lips, ¡°your fiancee

    will be fine. Why don¡¯t youe with me, and I¡¯ll get you some coffee?¡±

    ¡°No, thanks,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯ll be staying right here.¡±

    The female officer¡¯s face darkened slightly, but her smile didn¡¯t fade. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t stay here,¡±

    she said. ¡°We don¡¯t allow people to pace outside of the interrogation rooms, and it¡¯s a narrow hallway.

    Come with me; we have a nice room where you can wait and rx.¡±

    Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could, the female officer took me by the arm and led me

    away. She led me down the hallway and into a small waiting room with a couple of vending machines,

    a few tables and chairs, and a coffee station. It was anything butfortable in there, but I knew that it

    would be useless to try to get back to Moana, so I sat down at one of the chairs and put my head in my

    hands while I waited.

    A few minutester, the female officer slid a cardboard cup of steaming coffee to me from across the

    table. ¡°Here,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s good coffee. Cream and sugar?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°ck is fine, thanks,¡± I muttered. I took a sip of coffee and it burned my tongue, but I

    didn¡¯t care. At least the motion of raising the cup to my lips and sipping the bitter coffee was something

    to keep my hands busy.

    After a few minutes, however, the still air in the waiting room and the hum of the vending machines only

    raised my anxieties.

    But it wasn¡¯t just that; suddenly, I felt a pang in my chest. My wolf suddenly appeared, and he seemed

    panicked.

    Something was wrong.

    I suddenly stood so abruptly that I knocked my chair backwards onto the floor and toppled my coffee

    cup over, sending coffee spilling across the whitecquered table. I didn¡¯t care about that, though.

    While the female officer still stood there in shock, I took off out of the room and bolted back down the

    narrow hallway toward where they were keeping Moana.

    ¡°Sir? Sir!¡± the female officer shouted, running after me. Her calls alerted other officers, who came out of

    adjoining rooms with puzzled looks on their faces. I ran past them, ignoring their demands for me to

    stop, but was suddenly halted by two officers who stepped into my way.

    ¡°Sir, please calm down,¡± one of the officers said, putting his hands up. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s get you back to

    the waiting¡ª¡±

    ¡°Get out of my way,¡± I growled angrily. ¡°My mate is in distress. I can feel it.¡±

    The officers looked at each other, then back at me. I suddenly shoved past them to get closer to

    Moana, with only the thought of making sure that she was okay on my mind. I didn¡¯t care that they were

    yelling at me or threatening arrest for my actions; I just needed to get to Moana.

    However, I was quickly stopped by those same two officers tackling me to the ground. I felt my skin

    scrape against the tiled floor as I went down, but I only growled and writhed beneath the two officers.

    ¡°Let me go!¡± I snarled. ¡°Just let me get to my mate!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Morgan, you really need to calm down,¡± the female officer from before said. ¡°Ms. Fowler is fine.

    The interroga¡ª I mean, interview, will be done any minute now. Please juste back to the waiting

    room and rx, and we won¡¯t need to arrest you.¡±

    The two male officers hauled me to my feet, each one of them holding me by each arm. Realistically, I

    could have used my strength and abilities as an Alpha to break free and smash through the door to the

    interrogation room, but I knew that it was a futile effort that would only end in my arrest.

    I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that someone was seriously wrong, though. The aching pain in my chest

    was too distinct; it was the same pain that I felt when I realized that Moana and E were gone on the

    night that they were kidnapped, only now that Moana and I had marked each other, it was even

    stronger and more visceral. Maybe the police officer was grilling her too hard in the interrogation room.

    Maybe she had a shback, or maybe something was wrong with the baby¡­

    ¡°Look,¡± I said, feeling desperate now, ¡°I don¡¯t want to cause any trouble. But please just check on her. I

    have a really bad feeling.¡±

    The three officers looked at each other. Finally, the female officer sighed and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go and

    check,¡± she said. ¡°Just stay calm, okay?¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± I watched as the female officer walked away. Down the hall, I could see her knock on the door

    and crack it open a momentter. She poked her head in and said something.

    But then, she opened the door further, and gasped. I watched in horror as she ran in. Raised voices

    could be hearding from the interrogation room, and that was when I¡¯d had enough. I wrenched

    myself away from the two officers and bolted down the hall to the interrogation room, where I burst in

    through the open door. My eyes widened as I saw what was in front of me.

    Moana was passed out on the floor with her eyes rolled back, in some sort of fugue state. The two

    officers were bent over her.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± the female officer said.

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know,¡± the other officer replied. ¡°She just started to panic, and then this happened.¡±

    I felt my heart sink. Growling, I shoved the officers and picked my mate up off of the floor. ¡°Call an

    ambnce,¡± I ordered, ring at them with glowing eyes.

 Chapter 212

    Chapter 212

    #Chapter 212: The Golden Knife

    Moana

    One moment, I was in the interrogation room with the police officer sitting across from me.

    ¡°Ms. Fowler?¡± he asked, standing from his seat with a worried look on his face. ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    My eyes were wide and my hands were shaking. I was standing with my back against the wall, feeling

    as though I couldn¡¯t get a full breath into my lungs. The room felt as though it was closing in on me, and

    I felt trapped inside like an animal caught in a.

    And then, suddenly, I felt my knees buckle under me. I fell to the ground, and then everything went dark

    with only Edrick being the veryst thing on my mind.

    ¡­

    When I woke up, I was in a dark room. In fact, it was pitch ck¡­ But when I held my hands up in front

    of my face, I found that I could see my own hands perfectly. The room itself was ck, like a void.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I called out. My voice felt thick and heavy. There was no echo, and no response.

    I called out again. This time, after a few minutes of waiting, there was finally an answer.

    ¡°Hello,¡± a familiar female voice said. I immediately recognized it as my wolf, Mina.

    ¡°Mina?¡± I called out. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± But she didn¡¯t answer. In fact, a long time went by during

    which I didn¡¯t hear or see anything. It felt like an eternity, but also a split second at the same time. Was

    I sleeping? Was this just a strange dream? It felt too long and vivid to just be a regr dream¡­ I felt

    perfectly conscious, not at all like I was in a dreamlike state.

    I had to rack my brain to remember what had happened at first, but finally it started toe back to

    me. I remembered being in the interrogation room. I was answering the police officer¡¯s questions, but it

    started to get to be too much, and I started having shbacks when he started asking about the

    specifics of what happened in the warehouse. No matter how hard I tried to stay focused and keep

    myself level-headed, I couldn¡¯t stop seeing Ethan¡¯s gun in front of my face. At one point, I started to

    hyperventte. Yes; that had to be it. I hyperventted and lost consciousness. Surely any minute now I

    would wake up and would be safely in Edrick¡¯s arms once again. I never should have agreed to go

    down to the police station on a whim like that¡­ I should have waited until I was mentally prepared. But

    it was okay now. I would be okay once I woke up.

    But I didn¡¯t wake up. A long time passed, and I stayed in the ck void. I moved around, or at least I

    felt like I was moving around, but nothing changed. There was nowhere to go, and nothing to do except

    wait.

    Eventually, I started to wonder if I was dead. If this was what it was like to be dead, I thought to myself,

    then it was awful and lonely. The thought of being conscious with nothing but a void around me for all

    eternity made me shudder.

    At one point, though, I suddenly felt someone else¡¯s presence. A sort of presence, at least. I couldn¡¯t

    tell if I just made it up in my mind or if it was real, and if someone else was here with me. But when I

    started to see Michael¡¯s face materializing in front of me, I wished that it was neither of those things. I

    would have rather been alone.

    ¡°Go away,¡± I told Michael, taking a few steps back. But he didn¡¯t speak. He just sneered at me, and

    eventually the rest of his body came into view as though he was loading into this new instance, like a

    virtual reality. His neck, then his shoulders, his arms and his chest¡­ Then, eventually, his hands. He

    was holding something in one of them; a knife.

    It wasn¡¯t just any knife, though. It was golden ¡ª even the de itself was golden ¡ª with an ornate

    handle that had the head of a wolf on the end. He was holding it tightly in his hand, unmoving.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    Then, suddenly, the void shifted. It changed from a ck void to a rainy cliff with trees on either side. I

    felt a gasp catch in my throat and I whirled around to see a sheer drop below me with nothing but

    ckness below.

    ¡°I should have killed you sooner,¡± Michael¡¯s condescending voice said. I whipped back around to see

    that he was closer now. The knife was raised, ready to stab me. When I turned around, the tip of the

    knife was nothing more than a mere centimeter from my face and I shrieked, stumbling backwards.

    I thought for sure that I would fall into the void now. But I didn¡¯t. I fell to the ground, and Michael stood

    over me,ughing. He walked closer, straddling me, and lowered himself. Then, holding the knife with

    both hands now, he raised it high. I screamed again, but it was no use. No one could hear me. No

    sound even came out of my mouth. Just air.

    A bolt of lightning shed overhead, illuminating Michael¡¯s evil, twisted face and his glowing eyes. He

    brought the knife down hard just as thunder rolled in the sky. He brought the knife back up¡­ Then

    down. Up¡­ and down¡­ Until there was nothing left of my chest except for a bloody crater. Heughed

    the entire time, and when he was finished, he stood and tossed the knife to the ground. He wiped his

    bloody face with the back of his hand. I was stiff now; I was dead, but I was conscious, and I couldn¡¯t

    move or scream or even blink against the rain that was beating down on my pale face. With another

    chuckle, Michael kicked me over the edge of the cliff and I fell limply into the void like a ragdoll.

    All around me, all I could hear was the sound of a baby crying.

    Suddenly, I awoke with a start, coated in a cold sweat. I woke up for real this time¡­ Not in a void, but

    in a hospital bed, in a dark room lit only by the dim blue glow of the hospital machines. My body felt

    sore and weak, but it wasn¡¯t stiff; and when I looked down at my chest, all of it was still there. It was no

    longer a crater created by the knife that Michael wielded.

    Thankfully, it really was just a dream. I was asleep the whole time¡­ But why was I in the hospital? Was

    my panic attack so bad that they had to take me to the hospital?

    But part of me didn¡¯t think that it was just a dream. I didn¡¯t know if I believed it or not, but the dream felt

    too vivid and too bizarre to just be a machination of my own anxiety. There was something prophetic

    about it¡­ That knife. I had seen it a thousand times before, throughout a thousand lives. Each time, it

    had killed me ¡ª the Golden Wolf. And now, in this lifetime, someone had it. And that person was

    Michael. If he didn¡¯t have it already, then he would have it soon.

    And he would kill me with it.

 Chapter 213

    Chapter 213

    #Chapter 213: Sleeping Beauty

    Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    Edrick

    When I finally burst into the interrogation room, I found the two officers crouched over Moana as she

    was lying motionless on the ground with her eyes rolled back in her head. I shoved my way past them

    and scooped her up off of the floor, then ordered them to call an ambnce immediately, which they

    did.

    The ambnce came quickly, and before I knew it I was sitting in the back of it and holding Moana¡¯s

    limp hand while they drove her to the hospital.

    ¡°She went into a state of temporary shock,¡± the doctor said at the hospital, taking his stethoscope out of

    his ears and hanging it back around his neck with a sigh. ¡°I believe her wolf put her into a minora

    to cope with the stress, in order to protect her and the baby. But there¡¯s no knowing exactly how long

    she¡¯ll be asleep.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°You don¡¯t know when she¡¯ll wake up?¡±

    The doctor shook his head. ¡°No. I¡¯m sorry. The best we can do is monitor her and try to get things like

    her blood pressure back down to a normal state and see if that does the trick, but unless her wolf

    decides that it¡¯s safe enough for her to wake up, she¡¯ll stay asleep. I¡¯m sorry to say this, Mr. Morgan,

    but¡­ Some wolves don¡¯t decide it¡¯s safe for a very long time, if ever.¡±

    ¡°Just tell me what you¡¯re trying to say,¡± I growled. ¡°Don¡¯t beat around the bush.¡±

    The doctor swallowed and his face went pale. ¡°I¡¯m saying that you should be prepared to potentially

    lose both Moana and your baby,¡± he said quietly.

    As the doctor spoke, I felt anger bubbling up inside of me. I managed to stay silent and quelled that

    anger just long enough until the doctor left, but when he did, I lost it and punched the wall. Later, none

    of the nurses mentioned the hole that was left in the drywall by my fist, although I could see their eyes

    flickering nervously over to it whenever they came in.

    Moana stayed asleep for three days. During that time, I didn¡¯t leave her side. I didn¡¯t sleep or eat; I only

    sat and watched her intently, hoping and praying that she would wake up.

    I felt like such a jerk for letting her go down to the police station like that. I should have refused for

    her¡­ I should have put my foot down and told both her and the two officers that no, she would not be

    going down there out of the blue to be interrogated. I should have gotten her a therapist the day after

    the incident in the warehouse, and I should have kept her home from work until she was in a better

    mental state. But I didn¡¯t do any of those things, and now I felt as though it was my fault that she was in

    the hospital like this. If I lost Moana and our baby, I didn¡¯t know what I would do. Maybe I would die

    along with them.

    On the afternoon of the third day, my sleep deprivation was really getting to me. My speech was

    slurred, and I kept catching myself nodding off by Moana¡¯s bedside. I hadn¡¯t changed my clothes during

    that entire time, and I desperately needed a shower. Even the nurses took in my haggard appearance

    and seemed frightened of me.

    Finally, the doctor came in and told me that I needed to leave.

    ¡°Go home and get some rest,¡± he said gently, patting me on the shoulder. I stiffly looked up at him, still

    clutching Moana¡¯s small hand in mine. Even his form, which was right in front of me, seemed blurry and

    almost shapeless from my impaired vision due tock of sleep. ¡°Your driver is waiting outside for you,

    Mr. Morgan. Come on. I¡¯ll walk you out.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to go at first, but the doctor insisted. Finally, I agreed to go, although I felt my heart wrench

    as I let go of Moana¡¯s hand and walked away from her. But the doctor was right; I needed to sleep. I

    needed to shower and eat, and there was no doubt that E was absolutely distraught. I still needed to

    be there for my daughter, even if everything else was crumbling in around me.

    When I finally arrived back at the penthouse, it was just as I expected. E, Selina, and the maids were

    all beside themselves with grief and worry. They all looked just as haggard as I felt; even E had dark

    circles under her eyes and a gaunt appearance to her face.

    ¡°Is Moanaing home, daddy?¡± E asked as I crouched down to her level in the foyer and pulled

    her in for a tight hug.

    I sighed and took E by both shoulders. She deserved to know the truth.

    ¡°Moana is very sick, Princess,¡± I muttered. ¡°I don¡¯t know if she¡¯lle home¡­ Only time will tell. But

    the doctors are working very hard to make sure that she cane home to us.¡±

    As I spoke, E¡¯s big eyes filled up with tears. I held her while she cried, and eventually carried her off

    to my room to let her sleep with me that night. After I showered, I came out of the bathroom to find her

    fast asleep in my bed with her little yellow stuffed duck that she never let out of her sight.

    I only wished that I could sleep like that. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn¡¯t. And I didn¡¯t have my

    sleeping pills, either. I couldn¡¯t drink, because if I needed to be there for Moana, I wanted to be sober.

    All I could do wasy in my bed, staring at the ceiling as sleep seemed so far out of reach.

    Finally, I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. Around three o¡¯clock in the morning, I finally gave up on trying to

    sleep. Taking care so as not to wake E, I quietly got out of bed and got dressed, then left Selina a

    note before I headed downstairs and ordered the driver to take me back to the hospital so I could be

    near my mate. I didn¡¯t care that the nurses and doctors on the night shift whispered about me, or if they

    madements about how I wasn¡¯t helping the situation by being glued to Moana¡¯s side. I needed to

    be near her¡­ And in a strange way, I felt as though she needed me there, too. Maybe the presence of

    her fated mate would help her snap out of it, I thought. I tried to be hopeful¡­ But at the same time, a

    darker, more macabre part of me just wanted to be there because if she died, I didn¡¯t want to be away

    from her while it happened. At the very least, I knew that I needed to be beside her during herst

    moments. It didn¡¯t matter if it happened that night, or a thousand nights from now. I just needed to be

    with her.

    And so, on the third night, I returned to Moana and fell fast asleep with my head on her leg, listening to

    the steady beat of her heart monitor.

 Chapter 214

    Chapter 214

    #Chapter 214: The Omen

    Moana

    When I woke up, I found myself in a dimly lit hospital room with Edrick sleeping on myp. I was no

    longer floating in a void, nor was Michael above me with a knife. Instead, I was safe and sound with my

    mate by my side.

    But nothing felt right. That dream was too vivid to just be a machination of my own anxiety¡­ It felt like

    an omen. Was Michaeling for me with that knife, or was it really all just a dream made up in my

    own mind?

    Suddenly, Edrick must have sensed that I was awake because he jerked his head up and opened his

    eyes wide.

    ¡°Moana,¡± he whispered. He lurched forward suddenly, looking relieved, and kissed me deeply. I was

    comforted, but also taken aback at the same time, and when we pulled apart I gave him a puzzled look.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked quietly. My throat felt dry and cracked.

    Edrick shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ve been asleep for three days,¡± he responded, his own voice shaking. ¡°But

    you¡¯re okay. You¡¯re okay now.¡±

    I felt my eyes widen as Edrick spoke. ¡°Edrick, I have to tell you something¡ª¡±

    But before I could get a word out to tell him about my prophetic dream, the room suddenly became

    rushed with nurses and doctors who began taking my vitals, checking on me, and asking me questions.

    The room filled with a flurry of activity, and by the time all of the tests were over and they had finished

    wheeling me around to various rooms to get x-rays and scans, I felt utterly exhausted and disoriented.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    When I finally was returned to my original room where Edrick was waiting nervously with dark circles

    under his eyes, the doctor came in to give me my results.

    ¡°It looks like both you and the baby are perfectly healthy,¡± the doctor said with a smile. ¡°You can thank

    your wolf for putting you in a dormant state¡­ And you¡¯re lucky that you came out of it as soon as you

    did.¡±

    ¡°What should she do now?¡± Edrick asked. I noticed that he was holding my hand tightly, but I didn¡¯t

    mind one bit.

    ¡°I would like you to stay on bed rest for the next week,¡± the doctor said as he scribbled furiously on his

    clipboard. ¡°I¡¯m going to send in a prescription for you for some special vitamins and some medicine to

    help you sleep if you need it, and I¡¯d like you toe back when the week is over for a follow-up

    appointment.¡±

    ¡°A week?¡± I asked. I couldn¡¯t stay in bed for a week! I had a job to do, and I had already taken enough

    time off because of the whole warehouse ordeal!

    ¡°It¡¯ll be okay,¡± Edrick said gently, rubbing my shoulder with a worried yet relieved look in his gray eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a week.¡±

    ¡°And it¡¯s necessary,¡± the doctor continued. He gave me a stern look as he ripped the page off of his

    clipboard and handed it to Edrick. ¡°You¡¯ve been through a lot of stress for someone who is still

    rtively early on in her pregnancy. At this point, if you don¡¯t dial things back and stop biting off more

    than you can chew, you¡¯ll jeopardize both yourself and your baby. And I know that you won¡¯t want to do

    that.¡±

    I nodded slowly and stared down at my hands in myp. The doctor was right, of course; I didn¡¯t want

    to put my baby in harm¡¯s way. I would just need to get through the next week and hope that the

    headmistress wouldn¡¯t fire me for being out of work so much, and then hopefully it would be smooth

    sailing.

    The doctor cleared his throat then and let out a sigh. ¡°Now, this next part isn¡¯t so much an order as it is

    a strong rmendation,¡± he said, leaning on the end of my bed with his hands as he looked at me

    over the rim of his sses. ¡°But I sincerely think that you should find a therapist. I don¡¯t know exactly

    what happened a few weeks ago, although I¡¯ve heard bits and pieces. And I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the

    only thing that has happened to you. But it¡¯s a lot for one person to process. Combined with the

    pregnancy hormones, you¡¯re setting yourself up for some severe postpartum depression or even

    postpartum¡­ psychosis.¡±

    My eyes went wide. I had heard stories about women going through postpartum depression, and those

    stories were bad enough. Postpartum psychosis, on the other hand, turned out to be fatal more often

    than not without proper treatment. The things I had heard were troubling to say the very least.

    ¡°Rest assured, doctor,¡± Edrick suddenly said, standing. ¡°I have a few therapists in mind already.¡± He

    looked at me for a moment with pain in his eyes, but there was something else there, too. Fear. Was he

    afraid that I would kill our baby? Did he view me as a dangerous person because of what I went

    through in the warehouse, or was I just being paranoid now?

    The doctor, seemingly satisfied now by Edrick¡¯s promise, nodded and shot me a smile. ¡°I¡¯m going to

    have you stay the rest of the night to keep an eye on your vitals, but you can leave after that,¡± he said,

    patting my ankle. ¡°If you need anything, just call one of the nurses.¡±

    Edrick and I watched the doctor leave. Once we were alone again, Edrick sighed and ran a hand

    through his disheveled hair before he turned back to face me and offered me a weak smile.

    ¡°Are you afraid of me?¡± I suddenly whispered, unable to contain myself.

    Edrick¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What?¡± he asked, rushing over to my side. ¡°No. Of course not, Moana. I just

    want to make sure that you get the help you deserve.¡±

    I nodded slowly and stared down at myp. It wasforting to know that Edrick was worried about

    me, but at the same time it was frightening. I felt like a crazy person, someone who needed to be

    watched and monitored in case I had a sudden episode. But maybe Edrick and the doctor were right¡­

    Maybe some therapy would be helpful in the long run.

    ¡°Earlier, you said that you needed to tell me something,¡± Edrick said gently. ¡°What was it?¡±

    I was suddenly reminded of my horrible dream. At the time, I thought that it was an omen. But now,

    after being awake for a few hours, it didn¡¯t feel so scary at all. It really was just a dream, and nothing

    more; and I didn¡¯t want to worry Edrick any further by mentioning it, so I shook my head and smiled.

    ¡°It was nothing,¡± I said quietly. ¡°Just a dream. I hardly even remember it now.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Edrick furrowed his brow and sat down beside me. He seemed a bit disbelieving, but he didn¡¯t

    push it further, and for the rest of the morning we dozed off together while the nurses floated in and out

    of the room.

    Hopefully, it really was just a dream that would soon fade out of my memorypletely.

 Chapter 215

    Chapter 215

    #Chapter 215: Home Sweet Home

    Moana

    Just as the doctor promised, I was prescribed some medicine for the baby and for sleep and then I was

    sent hometer that day once my bloodwork and vitals all came back within a normal range. The entire

    way home, Edrick didn¡¯t let go of my hand. Every time I nced over at him, it seemed as though he

    was looking at me, and that wasforting to me. The memory of our time spent together in my bed

    before I was taken to the police station stayed in my mind, which was a wee distraction from

    everything else. It felt as though there was no longer a wall between us, and I hoped that everything

    would smooth itself out from there.

    When we arrived back at the penthouse, E came running as soon as the elevator doors opened and

    practically flew into my arms.

    ¡°Moana!¡± she cried, sobbing into my chest. ¡°I thought you were never gonnae home!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, baby,¡± I cooed as I stroked her hair and held her tightly and blinked back my own tears. ¡°I¡¯m

    home now.¡± I could only imagine the sort of distress that E was under the entire time I was at the

    hospital. After learning about what happened at the warehouse, I imagined that the poor little girl feared

    the worst. Although Edrick nned to find me a therapist, I just hoped more than anything that E

    could get some counseling, too. Hopefully, at the very least, I thought that this ordeal was thest bit of

    stress we would need to deal with as a little family. Although with my dream about Michael still lingering

    at the back of my mind, I wasn¡¯t so sure that that would be the case.

    As I held the crying E in my arms and Edrick silently rubbed my back, I suddenly looked up to see

    Selina standing in the doorway with tears in her eyes. Her face looked puffy, like she had been crying

    nonstop for days. Even just seeing her like that made me want to cry.

    Without a word, she walked up to me and pulled me in for a tight hug. The feeling of the old

    housekeeper¡¯s arms around me was a much neededfort, like an embrace from a mother. When

    we finally pulled away, I couldn¡¯t help but smile.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get you to bed,¡± Selina said, guiding me to my room before I could protest. I nced over my

    shoulder at Edrick onest time, who just watched me with a worried expression on his face before he

    was out of sight. Selina led me to my room andid me down, although I wasn¡¯t all that tired.

    ¡°If you need anything, just let me know,¡± she said, patting my hand gently with a weak smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be

    here for you all day.¡±

    Knowing that the old housekeeper would take good care of me made me smile. I was just d to be

    home, in a safe environment. Maybe now I would feel better about everything and wouldn¡¯t have

    another shback.

    That afternoon, Edrick had to leave to go to work since he had apparently spent all of his time at the

    hospital. I thought that he should stay home and rest along with me, but he insisted on leaving; and

    part of me felt as though he secretly felt like he needed to work in order to regain a sense of normalcy. I

    just hoped that his exhaustion wouldn¡¯t hit him too hard, and I gave the Alpha billionaire stern orders to

    have the driver take him to and from work, which he thankfully obliged.

    Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    E, the two maids, and Selina floated in and out of my room for a while to check on me or keep me

    company, but for the most part I was left alone so that I could rest. I wasn¡¯t tired, though, so I spent my

    afternoon drawing in my sketchbook and reading while wistfully ncing out the window and wishing

    that I could be in my ssroom instead. At the very least, I did have my wolf to keep mepany,

    although she was exhausted from protecting me during those few days and was not a constant source

    of conversation.

    It must have been around two or three o¡¯clock in the afternoon when I was drawing in my sketchbook. I

    was working on a nature sketch and listening to ssical music, and everything felt fine. That was why

    whatever happened next came as so much of a surprise.

    One moment, I was smiling to myself as I drew. I wasfortably propped up in bed with the promise

    of a cup of tea and a sandwich for lunch on its way from Selina. My window was wide open, allowing

    the cool autumn breeze and the sounds of the city to float in. Everything feltfortable, warm, and

    safe.

    The next moment, however, everything changed. It didn¡¯t feel as though any time passed at all; it was

    as though I was just sitting there, then I blinked and everything was different.

    I was no longer in my bed. I opened my eyes to find that I was standing in the middle of my room,

    although that wasn¡¯t the most rming thing. What was most unsettling, and what made me p my

    hand over my mouth in shock, was the fact that I had somehow scribbled dozens upon dozens of

    pictures that were now scattered all around my bedroom. The floor was covered in pieces of paper

    ripped from my sketchbook. The lines on the pages were dark and heavy, and I had pushed down so

    hard on some of them that I had bored holes straight through the paper.

    All of the images depicted the most vile, violent scenes that I could have possibly imagined. Blood,

    gore, death¡­ It was like a battle had been fought in my bedroom, and the evidence was on paper. I

    gasped as I looked around, but that gasp turned into an outright sob when I padded across my room to

    find that a particr sketch of Edrick and E at the theme park on the ferris wheel had been

    completely scribbled over and destroyed. I fell to my knees and sobbed again as I picked up the paper

    with shaking hands. I nearly shrieked when I saw that what I had covered my original sketch with was a

    dark, heavy, scribbled image of the knife from my dream about Michael.

    What had happened? I didn¡¯t remember doing any of this¡­ I just blinked; one moment I was in my bed

    andfortable, and then the next moment I was here with this horrific mess all around me. I didn¡¯t

    have a shback or anything of the sort; at least, I didn¡¯t remember having one.

    Suddenly, I heard the door creak. I jumped to my feet in an attempt to m it shut so no one would

    see, but it was toote. Selian was already standing in the doorway with a tray of food in her hands.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t have mayonnaise, so I hope you don¡¯t mind¡ª¡± she began, but her voice faltered as she saw

    the mess in my room. The old housekeeper froze, her eyes widening as she looked around. ¡°Moana¡­

    What happened?¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. All either of us could do was stand there, frozen to our spots, and stare at

    each other inplete and utter shock.

 Chapter 216

    Chapter 216

    #Chapter 216: Worried Sick

    Moana

    ¡°Moana¡­ What happened?¡± Selina asked as she looked around at the mess in my room with wide

    eyes. Scattered all around us were countless violent, graphic drawings that I somehow scribbled out in

    an unconscious state, even though I had absolutely no recollection of any of it. I didn¡¯t know how to

    respond, because I didn¡¯t even know what happened. All I could do was stand there, frozen, and stare

    at Selina.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    Selina slowly came into my room and set the tray of food down. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she whispered.

    I nodded. As I did, I already felt that all-too-familiar sensation of hot tears pricking at the backs of my

    eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened,¡± I finally managed to say. ¡°One moment I was just sitting in my bed

    and drawing in my sketchbook, and then it was like I blinked and my whole room was just covered in¡­

    whatever this is.¡±

    The old housekeeper looked around with a wide-eyed gaze for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± I said quietly

    as I began to stoop to pick up all of the discarded papers. ¡°I made a huge mess.¡±

    However, Selina just shook her head and took the papers out of my hands. She set them down beside

    the food and then guided me over to my bed. ¡°I¡¯m calling the doctor,¡± she said. ¡°Stay here.¡±

    Within half an hour, the doctor was standing by my bedside. Selina had already cleaned up all of the

    papers. She didn¡¯t say anything in particr about the contents of the violent and graphic images, but I

    could tell that she was deeply concerned by them. The doctor looked at a few after he took my vitals,

    and sighed.

    ¡°Your vitals are fine,¡± he said gently as he flipped through the drawings. As he did, I felt my face go red

    from embarrassment. It did seem, at the very least, as though Selina hid away the drawings that were

    the most graphic to save my dignity, which I appreciated more than anything.

    When the doctor was finished looking at the drawings, he handed them back to Selina and then gave

    me a worried look. ¡°I can only reiterate that you need to see a therapist,¡± he said. He paused, then

    made a sound to himself under his breath and pulled out his notepad. I watched as he scribbled on the

    pad, then tore the piece of paper off and handed it to me. On it was a name and a phone number.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked, looking up at him.

    ¡°It¡¯s a therapist that I¡¯d highly rmend,¡± he replied. ¡°He specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder,

    or PTSD. His methods are a bit¡­ out there, so to speak, but he¡¯s very good. I¡¯d highly rmend

    giving him a call.¡±

    I furrowed my brow. ¡°What sort of methods are you referring to?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Hypnotherapy, mostly,¡± the doctor replied. ¡°Some people see it as more of a fringe science, but his

    clients have all had very good results from what I¡¯ve heard. Give it a try; you never know.¡±

    I nodded slowly as I held the paper firmly in my hand. Hypnotherapy¡­ It wasn¡¯t exactly something that

    I had ever thought of trying, but I supposed that it wouldn¡¯t hurt any to give it a shot.

    ¡­

    The doctor left after that. I thought I overheard him speaking in hushed tones to Selina outside of my

    room in the hallway, but I couldn¡¯t make out what was being said and I didn¡¯t have the physical or

    emotional energy to get up and try to eavesdrop. All I knew was that, five minutester, the old

    housekeeper wasing back into my room with a ss of warm milk in one hand and two pills in the

    other.

    ¡°Here,¡± she said, handing me the milk and holding her hand out for me to take the two round, pink pills.

    ¡°What are those?¡± I asked as I pointed nervously at the pills.

    Selina shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s just your sleeping medicine,¡± she replied. ¡°Some rest will do you some

    good right now, I think.¡±

    I nodded and took the pills. Selina was right; sleep was important right now. At the very least, if I was

    asleep I couldn¡¯t have another episode. I didn¡¯t even want to imagine what it would be like if I had

    another episode, especially if it happened in front of E. I didn¡¯t want to scare her after everything.

    Once I finished taking the pills, Selina tucked me into my bed and headed back toward my door with a

    drawn and tired look on her face. But before she could leave, I suddenly sat up and called after her.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to tell Edrick, are you?¡± I asked, feeling my heart start to race. If Edrick found out

    about this, he was certain to take it very poorly. What if he never wanted me to go back to work? What

    if he was even more scared of me now? What if he got too worried and became sick himself?

    Selina slowly turned back around and gave me a stern look that told me everything I needed to know

    before she even opened her mouth; I had no say in this matter. No one could trust my mental state

    anymore, and therefore my opinions were invalid because of whatever sickness was taking over my

    brain. I felt helpless.

    ¡°He needs to know,¡± she said, her voice low and even.

    I felt my palms start to itch with anxiety as my eyes began to well up with tears again. ¡°Please,¡± I

    begged. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell him. I don¡¯t want him to get worried¡ª¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Moana!¡± The old housekeeper¡¯s voice was suddenly sharp and rigid, much like how

    she used to speak when I first moved in. For a moment, her body straightened and became hard as

    she gripped the handle of the door. My eyes widened slightly at her stern appearance, but after a

    moment, she let out a deep breath and rxed once more. ¡°He deserves to know the truth,¡± she said

    gently. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we can¡¯t keep this from him. It¡¯s for your own good.¡±

    Before I could say anything else, the old housekeeper suddenly swung the door open and left. Sniffing,

    I sank back down into my bed and stared nkly up at the ceiling as all of the worst possible oues

    floated through my mind. I imagined Edricking home and hearing about my episode, seeing my

    horrible drawings, and immediately sending me off to a psychiatric facility. I imagined my baby being

    ripped away from me in a padded room because the doctors thought that I would be a danger to my

    own child. I imagined E growing up thinking that I was a scary person, someone who only made a

    year of her childhood a living hell because I was constantly causing trouble or putting her in danger¡­

    But then, the medicine quickly began to kick in. Everything suddenly started to feel warm and fuzzy as

    the ceiling began swirling and drifting above me, and nothing felt quite so bad anymore. In fact,

    everything just felt distant and foggy, like nothing but a bad dream.

    Within minutes, I found myself floating off into a dreamless sleep without a care in the world.

 Chapter 217

    Chapter 217

    #Chapter 217: The Dark Images

    Edrick

    I hated to leave Moana behind, but I missed too much at work while she was in the hospital. Now that

    she was safely at home, I only needed to go to the office for a couple of hours to deal with some

    meetings.

    Unfortunately, those couple of hours quickly turned into a full day of work. By the time I headed home, it

    was already starting to get dark out. All I could think about was getting home to Moana and my

    daughter and spending the rest of the evening with them.

    However, when I got home things seemed incredibly¡­ off.

    The penthouse was dark and quiet when I arrived. It wasn¡¯t thatte, which was a bit confusing. But as

    I started to make my way through the penthouse and found Selina sitting in the kitchen by herself with

    only amp illuminating the room, I quickly realized why everything felt so strange.

    Selina was sitting with her back turned to the kitchen door, but I could tell instantly from the way that

    her shoulders were shaking that she was crying silently. She stopped when she heard meing, but I

    knew that she was crying. No matter how quickly she tried to wipe away her tears and smile, it was too

    obvious.

    ¡°Hungry?¡± she asked, getting up and wiping her hands on her apron. ¡°Sit down. I¡¯ll make you

    something.¡±

    I slowly walked into the kitchen and sat down, watching as the old housekeeper scurried around and

    began preparing a meal. It was strange to see her acting so emotionally; she was normally such a stoic

    and stern person as long as I had known her, and yet since she met Moana that seemed to change. It

    seemed as though she was beginning to see Moana as something like her own daughter, and it was

    clear that the warehouse incident and the three day long hospital stay were both getting to her. But I

    could tell that something else was wrong.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked suddenly, unable to contain my curiosity.

    Selina made a face as she clicked on the burner on the stove and spread butter on some bread to start

    making a grilled cheese. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± she said. It was clear that she was hiding

    something, judging by the look on her face.

    ¡°Tell me what it is, Selina,¡± I said. ¡°Is something wrong?¡±

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    The old housekeeper paused, then sighed. She set the bread down in the pan, then put a few slices of

    cheese on top before wiping her hands on her apron once more. I watched as she nervously withdrew

    a folded piece of paper from the pocket on her apron with shaking hands.

    ¡°Moana had another¡­ episode,¡± she said, shakily handing me the paper. I took it with a furrowed brow

    and unfolded it. My eyes widened as I saw the contents of the page. It was a drawing made with dark,

    heavy strokes that depicted a strange knife with a slightly curved de and a wolf¡¯s head on the

    handle. It looked oddly familiar to me for some strange reason, but the pressure of the lines and the

    way that the drawing seemed so chaotic indicated that it was not drawn while Moana was in a normal

    mental state. What especially gave that away was the fact that it was drawn over the picture that

    Moana drew of E and I on the ferris wheel. I knew that she would never want to draw over that

    picture.

    ¡°She said she doesn¡¯t remember anything,¡± Selina continued. ¡°She said that she was just sitting in her

    bed, and then when she came to she was surrounded by dozens of simr pictures. I found her like

    that, and I believe her¡­ But I think she needs help, Edrick. Serious help. Help that we might not be

    able to provide for her here¡­¡±

    Suddenly, I looked up at the old housekeeper with my eyes narrowed. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± I

    growled.

    Selina, seemingly unfazed by my anger, sighed again. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe she should be in an

    institution for a while where they can keep a close eye on her and take better care of her than we can

    here.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re suggesting that I send the mother of my child away to a psychiatric facility?¡± I said, standing

    suddenly as I gripped the paper tightly in my hand. ¡°I won¡¯t do that. I won¡¯t send her to one of those

    ces.¡±

    Selina narrowed her eyes at me. ¡°What do you suggest, then?¡± she murmured. She pressed her lips

    into a thin line and red at me for a few long moments before she hastily turned around and flipped

    the sandwich over in the pan, causing it to sizzle. As she did, I looked back down at the drawing in my

    hand and studied it even more closely. There was indeed something familiar about it, but I couldn¡¯t

    quite put my finger on it. All I knew was that I had seen it somewhere before, meaning that it wasn¡¯t just

    a violent image that Moana made up in her own head. At the very least, I wouldn¡¯t assume that right

    away. I had to give her the benefit of the doubt before I jumped to conclusions and sent her away,

    which would likely only make her symptoms even worse. No¡­ I had to do some research on this knife

    before I did anything else.

    ¡°Where is she now?¡± I asked.

    ¡°She took some of her medicine and she¡¯s sleeping now,¡± Selina replied. ¡°I called the doctor and he

    came and checked on her. He says that her vitals are fine, but he left the name and number of a¡­

    hypnotherapist who can supposedly help. But I don¡¯t believe in that sort of stuff. I think she needs a

    more straightforward approach.¡±

    For a few moments, I stared at the back of the old housekeeper¡¯s head, at the perfectly round, gray

    bun that rested just at the nape of her neck. She tersely shoved a spat under the grilled cheese that

    she was cooking and moved the sandwich to a te before clicking off the stove and turning back to

    face me. But by the time she did that, I was already gone. I ignored her calls and stormed into my

    office, where I shut and locked the door.

    My mate wasn¡¯t crazy. I had seen this knife before, and I was sure of it. I could sense it; it had to have

    some sort of significance. Yes, Moana¡¯s trauma in the warehouse was sure to cause her plenty of

    problems, and I was still going to get her some help, but this felt different. That night in the warehouse,

    she had marked me. I remembered when I finally healed and I stood up, Ethan picked her up by her

    throat and was choking her when a bright golden light burst out of her and sted him backwards,

    throwing him to the ground. That night, it was very likely that her Golden Wolf abilities were beginning

    to surface; and maybe this drawing was a depiction of more of her abilitiesing to light.

    It seemed to me that Moana may have begun having visions, and the depiction of this strange knife

    with the wolf head handle could be significant to her future.

 Chapter 218

    Chapter 218

    #Chapter 218: On Your Side

    Moana

    The medicine that Selina gave me must have made me sleep for a long time, because it was bright

    outside when I finally woke up. When I rolled over to nce at my clock with my bleary eyes, I saw that

    it was eight o¡¯clock in the morning already even though it felt as though I only slept for five minutes.

    Yawning, I rolled back onto my back and suddenly felt aforting presence beside me. It was Edrick.

    Moving slowly in order not to wake him, I slowly rolled over to face Edrick and couldn¡¯t help but smile.

    He was sleeping soundly beside me. I hadn¡¯t been dragged off to a psychiatric facility in my sleep; at

    least, not yet. Slowly, his eyes cracked open and he turned to face me. His hand came up and stroked

    my hair for a moment before he pulled me in tightly and let me bury my face in his chest.

    We stayed like that for a long time, just holding each other. I breathed in his scent in big, deep breaths,

    and felt myself rx a little more with each one. When we finally pulled away, I felt a little bit better. But

    the concerned look on Edrick¡¯s face made myfort turn into more worry.

    ¡°Selina told you, didn¡¯t she?¡± I asked quietly, feeling my heart start to race as I started to fear the worst.

    Edrick slowly nodded. Instantly, I felt tears begin to well up in my tired eyes. ¡°Are you going to send me

    away to a mental institution?¡±

    Suddenly, Edrick pulled me close again and shushed me. ¡°Of course not,¡± he whispered, stroking my

    back while I quietly cried into his chest. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that unless there was absolutely no other choice,

    and even then it would take a lot to convince me to send you away like that. I¡¯m always on your side,

    Moana.¡±

    I slowly looked up at Edrick, who looked down at me with nothing but love in his eyes. It wasforting

    to know that he wasn¡¯t going to send me away, but at the same time, I was still scared of myself. As the

    memories of my drawings slowly floated back into my groggy mind, I felt more and more guilty and

    afraid by the horrible images that I drew when I was unconscious. While many of the images were just

    violent nonsense, depicting things like blood and gore, the one picture that really stuck in my mind was

    the picture of the same knife from my dream about Michael; the one that had the slightly curved de

    and the wolf head handle. There was something strange about that knife, like I had seen it a thousand

    times before even though at the same time I felt as though I hadn¡¯t seen it even once in my entire life.

    In a strange and unfamiliar way, it felt like some sort of omen.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    As I looked up at Edrick, too, I could tell that he had seen the drawing of the knife. He seemed to have

    a puzzled expression on his face, as though he was also trying to rack his brain over it.

    ¡°That knife,¡± I said quietly, sitting up and rubbing my tired eyes. ¡°Have you seen it before?¡±

    Edrick slowly sat up beside me and leaned his back against the headboard of my bed. When I looked

    over at him, I saw that he was repeatedly running his hand through his dark hair and had a far away

    expression on his somber face.

    ¡°It does look sort of familiar,¡± he said quietly. ¡°But I don¡¯t want you to worry about it, alright? Maybe you

    just saw a picture of it somewhere and forgot. If you¡¯re really worried about it, I can look into it for you;

    but I just want you to rx and stop stressing about these things. Okay?¡±

    I nodded slowly. Of course I trusted Edrick, and he was right; stressing over it wouldn¡¯t help any.

    Sighing, I reached over to my bedside table to get a drink of water, and as I did my hand ran across the

    note that the doctor left for me with the therapist¡¯s name on it. I paused and picked it up, then handed it

    to Edrick.

    ¡°The doctor gave me this¡ª¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Edrick interrupted. ¡°Selina told me. Do you want to see that therapist?¡±

    For a few moments, I just looked down at the note in my hand and pursed my lips, thinking. I had never

    heard much about hypnotherapy, but it sounded interesting. And if it could get to the bottom of these

    strange urrences I was having, then maybe it would be helpful in more ways than one. Maybe this

    therapist could help me realize that the dream about Michael and the violent drawings were just

    created by my stress and didn¡¯t have any tangible meaning, or maybe he could use hypnotherapy to

    help me understand whether there was actually a deeper meaning behind these things and could

    potentially help me prepare just in case the dream and the drawings were some sort of omen.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll give it a shot, I guess,¡± I finally said, still holding the small piece of paper in my hand. ¡°If you

    think it might help¡­¡±

    Edrick nodded. ¡°I think it would be good for you to talk to someone with experience,¡± he said. ¡°I won¡¯t

    force you to do it, but I do think that you should try. But¡­ I have to ask you something.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± I replied. ¡°What is it?¡±

    For several long and silent moments, the Alpha billionaire seemed to be at a loss for words before he

    finally licked his lips and spoke. ¡°When you were in youra, did you see anything?¡±

    As Edrick asked me this question, my eyes widened. I didn¡¯t want to mention it to him ¡ª I thought that

    it was just a bad dream caused by stress, and that I would forget it. But I still remembered it so vividly,

    and it seemed as though this knife that I drew waspletely connected to the dream. It couldn¡¯t just

    be a coincidence.

    Finally, I nodded and decided to tell Edrick everything. I told him about my dream, about Michael and

    the knife. When I was finally finished, his steely gray eyes were wider than I had ever seen them

    before, and his face was as white as a sheet.

    ¡°It¡¯s probably nothing,¡± I said. ¡°Like you said, maybe I just saw a picture of that knife somewhere and

    forgot, andbined with my stress about being the Golden Wolf¡­¡±

    Edrick suddenly shook his head and stood. He had a far away expression on his face again, like he

    was thinking deeply. I couldn¡¯t tell if he suddenly had an idea or if I offended him by mentioning such a

    violent and horrible dream about his father. I opened my mouth to ask him if I said something wrong,

    but before anything coulde out, he suddenly turned on his heel and disappeared from my room.

    Once again, I was left alone and confused. Did Edrick know something about this knife and the dream

    that I had about Michael, or was it something else?

 Chapter 219

    Chapter 219

    #Chapter 219: Dr. Rhodes

    Moana

    By the next morning, Edrick had already called the therapist for me and I was scheduled to have my

    first session right there in the penthouse that very morning. I was nervous, but also excited in a strange

    way. I wanted to get to the bottom of these strange urrences, not only to figure out why this knife

    seemed to be so prominent in my mind and to see if it had any real, tangible significance, but I also

    wanted to get better so I could return to work.

    When the therapist walked into my room, I immediately noticed that he seemed like a nice man. He

    was older, tall and thin, and had apletely bald head with a gray mustache on his upper lip and a

    pair of round wire-rimmed sses sitting on his nose. He had a warm smile on his face and wore a

    tweed suit, and carried a notebook in his thin hand.

    ¡°Hello, Moana,¡± he said, holding his hand out for me to shake. ¡°I¡¯m Dr. Rhodes. Are you ready to get

    started?¡±

    I nodded nervously. Edrick had moved a small loveseat into my room that was ced across from my

    armchair by the window, and I gestured for the therapist to sit on the armchair while I sat down on the

    loveseat. It felt strange to have a therapist in my bedroom, but it was alsoforting to be doing this in

    afortable space that I knew well.

    ¡°So,¡± Dr. Rhodes said as he opened up his spiral-bound notebook, ¡°can you start with telling me what¡¯s

    been going on recently?¡±

    I took in a shaky breath, then began.

    ¡°A few weeks ago, I was kidnapped and held at gunpoint¡­¡±

    Over the course of the next half hour, I exined everything to Dr. Rhodes. I told him everything about

    the kidnapping, about Kelly and Ethan, about witnessing the fight between Ethan and Edrick, and about

    Edrick almost dying. I told him about Ethan choking me, the incident at the police station, and finally I

    told him about the dream that I had in the hospital. Of course, he asked a lot of questions about my

    rtionship with Edrick. Earlier, Edrick had told me that it was okay to bepletely truthful about our

    fake engagement with Dr. Rhodes, as it would be illegal for him to reveal the truth to anyone else. And

    so, by the end of the thirty minute mark, I had exined everything to Dr. Rhodes from beginning to

    end.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    When I was finished, the therapist leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment,

    processing what I told him while I nervously fiddled with my hands on the loveseat. When he finally

    opened his eyes again, he smiled at me.

    ¡°I think I¡¯d like to hypnotize you,¡± he said. ¡°If you¡¯refortable with it, I mean.¡±

    I nodded and took in a deep breath. ¡°Will it help me figure out what that dream was about, and why I

    cked out and drew those pictures?¡±

    Dr. Rhodes shrugged lightly. ¡°There are no guarantees,¡± he said. ¡°Not everyone is susceptible to

    hypnosis. If you¡¯re not open to it subconsciously, it might not get you anywhere. There¡¯s also a

    possibility that the dream and the drawings don¡¯t actually mean anything more than a simple

    machination of stress in your mind after the traumatic events. Perhaps you subconsciously view

    Edrick¡¯s father as thest remaining threat to your physical safety now that Ethan and Kelly are behind

    bars. Or, maybe¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe they¡¯re visions?¡± I blurted out.

    The therapist looked at me nkly for a few moments before standing. ¡°I won¡¯t say anything in regards

    to that just yet,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to make assumptions before our session is done.¡±

    I nodded ufortably. The therapist directed me to lie down on the loveseat. He closed the curtains

    and dimmed the lights in my bedroom, then began the session. He started by ying a low, droning

    tone on a singing bowl in his hand for a long time while he repeated a mantra, then had me repeat the

    same mantra for a long time while he circled around me with the singing bowl, causing the low tone to

    emanate around me from all directions. With my eyes closed, it felt a little disorienting. After that, he

    began to ask me questions.

    But I didn¡¯t really feel any different. Even after almost half an hour of attempting to get me into a trance,

    I still felt perfectly conscious and found myself entirely incapable of delving deeper into my

    subconscious mind.

    After half an hour of trying to hypnotize me, Dr. Rhodes finally ended the session. He opened my

    curtains and helped me sit up, then sighed deeply.

    ¡°I think that¡¯s all we¡¯ll be able to manage today,¡± he said, sounding regretful. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. But I don¡¯t think

    that you¡¯re subconsciously prepared to go into a trance.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± I felt a little disheartened.

    ¡°But don¡¯t worry,¡± Dr. Rhodes said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean that this session wasn¡¯t helpful at all. I¡¯m d that

    we had a chance to talk about everything that¡¯s getting to you, and it¡¯s helped me to better understand

    your mental state. Sometimes just talking about these sorts of things is enough to help the brain

    unwind. Do you feel any more rxed than before?¡±

    I paused for a moment, thinking, but finally nodded. ¡°I do feel a little better,¡± I said.

    Dr. Rhodes shot me a wide grin. ¡°Good. I¡¯lle back next week and we can have another session.

    Whether or not you want to just stick with talk therapy or try hypnosis again ispletely up to you.

    Okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I stood, then walked over to the door with Dr. Rhodes. But before I opened it, I suddenly turned

    to face him with a burning question on my mind. ¡°Dr. Rhodes,¡± I said, ¡°can I go back to work, do you

    think? I really hate being cooped up.¡±

    The therapist looked at me for a little bit. ¡°Would it make you feel better?¡± he asked.

    I nodded vehemently. ¡°Yes. I love working with my students¡­ Without that, I feel like I¡¯ll go crazy.¡±

    Dr. Rhodes nodded. ¡°Well, that¡¯s up to you, then,¡± he said. ¡°I think that if it would help you, then you

    could go back to work. But I think that you should make sure you have an aide in the ssroom in case

    you have another episode. In fact, if you do go back to work, I must insist that you have an aide,

    actually.¡±

    After that, Dr. Rhodes and I said our goodbyes and I saw him out. As I watched him disappear into the

    elevator, I thought about what he said about an aide, and it reminded me of my conversation with

    Edrick about having a bodyguard in the ssroom.

    At the time, I hated the thought of having a bodyguard with me. But now, after everything, I was

    beginning to realize that the help was really important. And I couldn¡¯t stay cooped up in this penthouse

    all day; with E still going to school and Edrick going to work, it was just me, Selina, and the maids all

    day, and they were busy during the day as well. I feared that if I stayed cooped up in the penthouse for

    much longer, my mental health wouldn¡¯t get any better.

    So, I waited for Edrick to return home from work that day so that I could talk to him about bringing a

    bodyguard to my ssroom.

    My dear readers, Thank you for stopping by and reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it. I¡¯m trying my

    best to update assp. I¡¯ll appreciate it if you explore my other stories as well. Please follow my f******k

    page Eve above story and group eves alphas if you wanna chat or keep updated on my writing

    schedule.

    Yours, Eve above story

 Chapter 220

    Chapter 220

    #Chapter 220: Kat the Bodyguard

    Edrick

    When I arrived back at the penthouse after work, I half expected Moana to be stillid up in bed and

    exhausted after her first therapy session. That would have been perfectly fine and reasonable, but I

    waspletely not expecting her to be standing in the foyer when I first stepped out of the elevator.

    ¡°I want to talk to you,¡± she said without so much as a greeting. She grabbed my hand and began to tug

    almost aggressively on my arm, like I was being an inconvenience just for trying to set down my

    briefcase and hang my suit jacket on the hook.

    ¡°Woah, woah, woah,¡± I blurted out with a chuckle as she tried to pull me away. ¡°What¡¯s the big deal? I

    haven¡¯t even walked in the door yet. Is everything alright?¡±

    Moana nodded. There was a bit of a twinkle in her eyes, which made me smile a bit. That twinkle also

    made me involuntarily let my guard down, which allowed her to seed in yanking me away to my

    office. She pushed me inside and closed the door behind us, which made me think that either one of

    two things were going to happen: either she was going to start an argument with me, or she was going

    to leap on me in a passionate frenzy after being cooped up all day. Neither of those things happened,

    though.

    ¡°I want to talk to you about something,¡± she said, putting her hands on her hips. ¡°It¡¯s important.¡±

    I furrowed my brow, but nodded anyway as I took off my suit jacket and loosened my tie. ¡°Go ahead,¡± I

    said. ¡°Lay it on me.¡±

    Moana took a deep breath, then spoke very quickly and all in one breath as though she expected me to

    shut her up right in the middle of her sentence. ¡°I want to go back to work and the therapist said that he

    thinks it could be good for me as long as I have an aide and I was thinking that maybe we could talk

    about the bodyguard situation again and¡ª¡±

    ¡°Geez,¡± I said, putting my hands up in surrender as I sank down into my chair behind my desk. ¡°Talk

    slowly. One thing at a time¡­¡±

    Moana sighed. ¡°The therapist said that he thinks it might be good for me to return to work, so long as I

    have an aide with me in case anything goes wrong,¡± she said. ¡°I know that the doctor told me that I

    should take a week of bed rest, but I feel like I¡¯m going crazy in here with you and E being gone all

    day. I really miss my job, so I was thinking that we could talk about the bodyguard situation again.¡±

    I raised my eyebrows. There were only a few days left of Moana¡¯s week of bed rest, but she seemed so

    passionate about it that I had a hard time saying no. Even though it terrified me, I knew how happy

    teaching made her. And if the therapist said that it could be good for her, then maybe it wouldn¡¯t be so

    bad so long as she promised to keep the bodyguard by her side.

    Besides¡­ I did have the perfect candidate lined up.

    ¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m Katherine. But you can just call me Kat.¡±

    The female bodyguard sent to me by my chief of security stood in front of Moana and me in my office

    the next morning. After some thought the night before, I finally agreed to at least let the two of them

    meet to see how it would go.

    Katherine ¡ª Kat ¡ª was tall and slim, with short ck hair cut into a boyish style and stood in a

    powerful stance. However, unlike many of the other bodyguards who I had interviewed when I was first

    setting up our security team, Kat also seemed sweet and friendly. I could tell instantly just from the way

    that she interacted with E when she first came in earlier that day that she would be really good with

    kids, which was a relief. I could also tell that Moana liked her right off the bat, and so I sat back and

    allowed them to talk while I only asked a few obligatory questions in regards to Kat¡¯s abilities.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    I could sense that Kat¡¯s wolf was strong, too. She seemed like the perfect fit, honestly, and by the end

    of our interview I had a good feeling about it. Now all that was left was for Moana to approve of having

    Kat in her ssroom; the night before, when I told her that I would let her go back to work early, it was

    only under one condition: she had to have her bodyguard with her at all times. Moana, unlike before,

    was just so desperate to go back to work that she was finally open to the idea, and I was feeling a lot

    better about it myself.

    Therefore, that evening, I already knew Moana¡¯s official answer before she gave it to me.

    ¡°I think I¡¯d be okay with having Kat in my ssroom,¡± she said, holding her chin up high as she spoke

    to me. ¡°I¡¯ll have to make sure that she¡¯s good with the kids, though.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she will be.¡± I cut my steak on my te and popped a piece in my mouth, chewing slowly as I

    watched a whole host of emotions run across Moana¡¯s pretty face. I could tell how badly she needed to

    return to her normal life. Although I still hadn¡¯t gotten to the bottom of whatever that knife represented, I

    had hope. And, unbeknownst to Moana, I had begun some research on what to do if she suddenly

    shifted. As it turned out, the Mother Witch had some apprentices who were very helpful the past few

    days, and when Moana thought I was at work I was actually spending part of my day talking to them.

    Although I didn¡¯t tell them that Moana was the Golden Wolf out of fear of them turning on us, they did

    have some ideas for keeping her safe if she shifted; one of those ideas was a perfume that could mask

    her scent if she shifted, which they were still working on. I just hoped that it would work on the Golden

    Wolf¡¯s scent.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s settled, then,¡± Moana said matter-of-factly. ¡°I¡¯ll notify the headmistress that I can return to

    work tomorrow.¡±

    Even though I still felt as though it was a bit too early, the happy look on my mate¡¯s face made it all

    worth it. Besides, I thought, maybe Moana and Kat could eventually be friends while Kat was

    working as Moana¡¯s bodyguard.

    After all, Moana had just told me how the prejudiced people at the school weren¡¯t talking to her much

    since she was ate bloomer. I knew how badly she needed a good friend. Sometimes, in my opinion,

    having a good friend to lean on during bad times was more helpful than any kind of medicine.

    And, I figured that having a good friend to talk to, along with the right therapy, might help Moana relieve

    some of her stress. The doctor did tell me, after all, that any more stress could be detrimental for both

    Moana and the baby¡­ And that terrified me

 Chapter 221

    Chapter 221

    #Chapter 221: The ssroom Aide

    Moana

    Even though I half expected to hate the bodyguard who Edrick supposedly found for me, I actually

    wound up liking my new bodyguard, Kat, quite a lot. During my interview with her, I found out that she

    was funny and sweet, and she got along well with E and loved kids in general. She really seemed

    perfect ¡ª almost too good to be true. Although I still didn¡¯t like the idea of being followed around by a

    bodyguard all day, I figured that if I had to choose one, then I would choose Kat.

    The next morning, I returned to work with Kat and E by my side. The headmistress and everyone

    else were under the impression that Kat was just a medical aide that my doctor wanted me to keep

    nearby due to pregnancyplications, and I preferred to keep it that way. If news got out that thete

    bloomer with all of the mysterious absences from work was walking around now with an undercover

    bodyguard, then it would only create more of a fuss over me. I was already despised enough by most

    of the other teachers as it was, and I could only imagine what it would be like if they all figured out that I

    was being sent to work with a bodyguard because I was having crazy PTSD episodes due to the soap

    opera that was my life.

    After the first ss of the day, I was already happy to have Kat there. She was actually very helpful with

    the ssroom duties, and it took a lot of stress off of me. By the time that E¡¯s ss came in, I was

    already feeling a lot better to be back at work. In fact, in between sses I even found myself talking to

    Kat quite a bit, and I had to admit that it felt nice to have someone at work who I could talk to since the

    other teachers seemed to collectively decide that I was a danger to be around. By the middle of E¡¯s

    ss, I had almostpletely forgotten about my dream and my drawings as well, and everything felt

    normal for a little bit.

    However, I quickly noticed that E was sitting by herself that day. Her little group of friends that she

    was normally stuck to like glue were sitting on the opposite side of the room, and every so often I would

    catch them giving her dirty looks or whispering. E kept her head down and just paid attention to her

    coloring, but I could tell that it was bothering her.

    The whispers and gossip that I asionally heard about myself bothered me, but not too much. But as

    I saw E being separated from her friends and being treated like an outcast, I couldn¡¯t help but think

    that it was because of me. Everyone still thought that I was bad luck because I was ate bloomer, and

    if they thought that E was my biological daughter, there was no doubt in my mind that they saw her

    as a pariah as well¡­ And that hurt me to my core.

    ¡­

    That night, as I tucked E into bed I decided that now would be a good time to talk to her about it.

    After I finished reading her bedtime story, I closed the book and set it down on the bedside table before

    leaning over and tucking her in.

    ¡°E, can I talk to you?¡± I asked gently, to which she nodded as she looked up at me with her big eyes

    peeking out over her nket. I took in a deep, ragged breath, then reached out and brushed a loose

    strand of hair out of her face. ¡°Is everything going okay at school? I noticed that you weren¡¯t sitting with

    your friends today.¡±

    E simply shrugged. I could tell that she didn¡¯t want to talk about it, but it needed to be addressed.

    ¡°You can be honest with me,¡± I said. ¡°If you had a fight or anything, I promise you won¡¯t get in trouble. I

    just want to know what¡¯s going on.¡±

    Finally, E sighed. ¡°Well¡­ I guess my friends just aren¡¯t my friends anymore,¡± she said wistfully.

    ¡°That¡¯s what they told me, anyway.¡±Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    I felt my heart sink. ¡°Why, love?¡± I asked.

    E shrugged again. ¡°They said that I¡¯m a weirdo who¡¯s the kid of a freak. Since first you were a human

    and now you¡¯re a werewolf, they say that there¡¯s something wrong with you and something must be

    wrong with me, too.¡±

    ¡°Oh, honey¡­¡± As E spoke, I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. The thing that I feared the

    most, above all else, hade true; E was being alienated from the other kids because of me.

    Because they thought that I was her biological mother, and therefore that something was wrong with

    her. She had a chance to be a normal kid, but now it was ruined because of me. Tears came to my

    eyes just at the thought of it, and I bowed my head for a moment to collect myself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, E.¡±

    E was silent for a moment. I looked up then and was surprised to see that she didn¡¯t look sad at all;

    in fact, she was smiling. Suddenly, she sat up and grinned, kissing me on the cheek and wrapping her

    arms around my neck.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she said, giggling. ¡°I don¡¯t care about all of them. I¡¯m just so happy to have the best mom

    ever. You¡¯re better than a million-bajillion friends.¡±

    E¡¯s words made meugh. I wiped the tears from my eyes with my finger and pulled her close,

    holding her tight against my chest. I kissed the top of her head and smiled, then put her to bed.

    However, although E¡¯s sweet words made me feel a bit better about the situation, it still broke my

    heart to know that she was having trouble at school, and so I vowed to make it right for her. That wasn¡¯t

    the only thing on my mind, though.

    I found it sweet that E referred to me as her mom. In fact, it made me feel over the moon with

    happiness. But it also meant, to me, that Edrick still hadn¡¯t told her that her real mom was alive out

    there. It made me wonder when he nned on talking to E about her mom, if ever.

    I also couldn¡¯t help but wonder where Olivia even was. Surely Ethan paid her handsomely for the trick

    she pulled on me, but the police didn¡¯t have her; in fact, after my meeting with her in the coffee shop, I

    never once saw her in person after that. Did she flee the country with the money, never to be seen or

    heard from again? Did she truly leave poor little E in the dust this time with no intention of ever

    rekindling her rtionship with her own daughter?

    If that was the case¡­ Then maybe I didn¡¯t mind being seen as E¡¯s mom after all. But even so, she

    still deserved to know the truth. Eventually, she would figure it out one way or another.

    And I didn¡¯t want her to hate Edrick or myself for keeping the truth from her.

 Chapter 222

    Chapter 222

    #Chapter 222: Over the Balcony

    Moana

    I decided that I couldn¡¯t let Edrick go on for any longer without telling E the truth about her biological

    mother.

    ¡°I know that you didn¡¯t tell her everything,¡± I said as I stood in front of him with my hands on my hips.

    He was standing in front of the bathroom sink in his bedroom and was brushing his teeth. With a sigh,

    he slowly spit out his toothpaste and then looked over at me.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked. I could tell that he was trying to y it off like he didn¡¯t know what I

    was thinking about.

    A frown came across my face. ¡°Don¡¯t y dumb. I know that you didn¡¯t tell E about her mother even

    though we talked about it. Are you going to tell her the truth, or do I need to? Because the longer she

    goes without knowing everything, the more she¡¯ll resent you when she eventually does find out.¡±

    For a few long moments, the handsome Alpha billionaire stared at me unblinkingly with a somewhat

    shocked and embarrassed expression on his face. But then that look was quickly hidden, and he shook

    his head and scowled slightly. I could tell that I had struck a chord by bringing it up to him, which was

    understandable but was nheless something that we would need to work through. ¡°I¡¯ll handle it

    when I¡¯m ready,¡± he said, brushing past me and heading into his bedroom. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I just

    didn¡¯t want to bombard her with too much information all at once. That¡¯s all.¡±

    I sighed and followed him. His excuse made sense, but it was just that: an excuse. And it didn¡¯t matter

    at this point whether he bombarded E or not, because it was better than letting her go on for any

    longer. But as I sat on my side of the bed and watched him as he took his watch off and set it neatly in

    the spot that he always kept it on top of his dresser, and saw the way that he ran his hand through his

    dark hair and the way that his muscles gleamed in themplight, I felt myself soften a bit.

    ¡°Edrick, she¡¯s having trouble at school,¡± I finally said quietly.

    Edrick spun around and looked at me with concern across his face. ¡°She¡¯s what?¡± he asked. ¡°Is she

    alright? What¡¯s happening? Is she being bullied? I swear, if I find out that any of those kids are bullying

    her, I¡¯ll¡ª¡±

    ¡°Calm down,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad, and I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll get over it eventually since they¡¯re just kids.

    It¡¯s just¡­¡± I paused, sighing again, and stared down at my hands in myp to hide the tears that were

    threatening to pool up in my eyes. ¡°She¡¯s being alienated because of me. Because I¡¯m a¡­ a freak. And

    now they think that she is, too, because everyone thinks that she¡¯s my biological daughter. So it¡¯s my

    fault, really. And I guess in a way, I thought that if you told her about her real mom¡ª¡±

    Suddenly, I felt a rush of wind as Edrick walked up to me, and I felt his hands firmly grasp my shoulders

    before I could finish.

    ¡°Look at me,¡± he demanded. I slowly looked up, blinking away my tears to see a stern expression on

    his handsome face. ¡°Moana, you¡¯re not a freak. The children and the other teachers will get over your

    sudden change; it¡¯s just new to them. That¡¯s all.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°But what if I am a freak?¡± I asked. ¡°What if I have another episode in the middle of

    the ssroom and I scare everyone? What if I have an episode and I nevere out of it, and you

    really do need to put me in a mental institu¡ª¡±

    ¡°Stop it.¡± Edrick¡¯s voice was harsh, and his hands gripped my shoulders even more tightly. Almost too

    tightly. His eyes screamed with hatred, not for me, but for the horrible things that I just said about

    myself. I instantly felt like a small ant beneath his re, and I immediately regretted it. ¡°I won¡¯t hear any

    more of that. You¡¯re not a freak, and everything will be okay. You¡¯ve just been through a lot and your

    brain is reacting in a perfectly reasonable way for someone who¡¯s been through that sort of trauma. As

    long as you keep seeing your therapist, everything will be okay.¡±

    ¡°What if I shift, then?¡± I asked. ¡°What if I shift, and everyone finds out that I¡¯m the Golden Wolf, and

    then I¡¯m not only a freak but I¡¯m also a hunted freak by people who hated me before I was even born?¡±

    Edrick stared at me for a moment with wide eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that,¡± he said. ¡°I

    wasn¡¯t going to say anything just yet, but I might as well now; the Mother Witch¡¯s apprentices are

    working on a perfume to mask your scent if you shift. It¡¯ll keep you safe.¡±

    My eyes went wide at Edrick¡¯s words. That wasforting, but¡­ I still felt uneasy. My dreams were

    too vivid, and something told me that no matter what, I would see that knife in my future.

    I let Edrick pull me in for a warm hug, but even as I felt theforting sensation of his lips kissing my

    forehead, I still didn¡¯t know how much I really believed him. How reasonable was it, really, for someone

    to ck out and draw dozens of violent pictures depicting blood and gore and a strange knife with a

    wolf head handle? How normal was it for someone to go into aa for three days and have a dream

    about being stabbed repeatedly by that very knife? What if part of the symptoms of being the Golden

    Wolf entailed losing one¡¯s mind, assuming that bounty hunters didn¡¯t kill me first?

    When Edrick pulled away, however, he was smiling. I forced a weak smile too, if only to make him

    worry a little less. ¡°How about this,¡± he said, brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll take you and

    E somewhere special this weekend. Just the three of us. We¡¯ll have a nice day out doing whatever

    the two of you want, and then I¡¯ll talk to her about Olivia. You and I can sit her down and do it together.

    Okay?¡±

    Edrick¡¯s words were a slightfort. I nodded and smiled against his soft lips as he kissed me, but as

    we went to bed that night, I still felt the ufortable feeling of uneasiness boring a hole through my

    stomach. No matter how warm and safe Edrick¡¯s arms felt, I still felt sick to my stomach as I slowly

    drifted off into a fitful sleep.

    ¡­

    Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    I had more dreams about Michael that night. I dreamed about that knife again, too. It was always in his

    hand, and he was always chasing me with it. He always won in the end¡­

    ¡°You can¡¯t run, Moana,¡± Michael¡¯s dark voice said. ¡°You might as well give up.¡±

    I was standing on that same cliff with the rain beating down on me. Only this time, I was standing facing

    away from Michael, looking out over the cliff into the dark abyss below. My stomach dropped as I

    looked down, down into the darkness. I stood so close to the edge that my toes curled over the slick

    rock that I stood on, and I didn¡¯t even bother to turn around because I already knew how this would all

    end. When I felt the knife plunge into my back, I wasn¡¯t even remotely surprised. I heard the sound of

    Michael¡¯sugh, and then he pushed me over into the darkness¡­

    ¡°Wake up! Moana, wake up!¡±

 Chapter 223

    Chapter 223

    #Chapter 223: Wake Up

    Moana

    ¡°Moana, wake up!¡± my wolf¡¯s voice suddenly said. That wasn¡¯t a dream¡­ It was real. The rain was real.

    The wind beating down on me, whipping my hair into my face, was all real.

    I opened my eyes, and shrieked at what I saw.

    I wasn¡¯t in bed. Iwas standing on the balcony, up on the ledge in my nightgown. I felt my stomach drop

    as I stumbled backwards and clung to the rail, heaving in my chest as the feeling of fight or flight kicked

    in. Every fiber in me screamed to get away from the ledge, and I scrambled away and back to my feet,

    sobbing loudly. Nothing could be heard over the sound of my own racing heartbeat and the sound of

    the wind and the rain; for all I knew, I was really on that cliff from my dream, and Michael very well

    could be standing behind me with the knife in his hand.

    Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    The door behind me stood wide open with the wind blowing the curtains aggressively. I ran inside to

    safety, and as I did, I ran straight into not Michael, but a petrified Edrick.

    ¡°Moana?!¡± he said. ¡°What happened?!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t speak. I could only sob and shake violently as he gathered me into his arms and carried me

    back to the bed. He held me there for a long time, just rocking me while I continued wailing.

    ¡°The knife,¡± I said, ¡°Michael has the knife. H-He¡¯s going to kill me¡ª¡±

    ¡°Shh,¡± Edrick said, stroking my wet hair as his wide eyes stared unblinkingly at the open balcony doors.

    ¡°Just breathe, and then you can tell me everything.

    For the longest time, Edrick just held me and rocked me back and forth until no more tears woulde

    and my chest was too sore to sob anymore. I kept feeling as though I was still inside of a nightmare,

    like I would suddenly wake up and everything would be okay. But I was awake, and the fact that I

    sleepwalked straight out onto the balcony in the pouring rain and nearly fell to my death was

    completely real.

    I didn¡¯t know what was going on¡­ I didn¡¯t know if the dreams were visions, omens, or if they were just

    bad dreams as my mind descended into madness. Either way, it felt as though something inside of my

    mind wanted me dead. It felt as though my entire body wanted to kill me, like I couldn¡¯t even trust the

    very fibers of my being to keep me alive. If it weren¡¯t for my wolf suddenly calling my name and waking

    me up, I most certainly would have fallen to my death.

    Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I felt calm enough to speak. Edrick left me for only a few minutes

    to make some tea, and when he returned I clutched the warm teacup in my shaking hands like my life

    depended on it. I was shocked by his calm demeanor, but I was incredibly thankful for it at the same

    time.

    ¡°Are you hurt?¡± he asked, stroking my leg as I sipped my tea.

    I shook my head. ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°But I was sleepwalking. One moment I was having a dream about

    Michael with that knife, and the next moment I was standing on the ledge on the balcony, like I was

    about to¡­¡± My voice faltered. A sob got caught in my throat, and Edrick let out a curse under his breath

    before he took my teacup, set it on the bedside table, and pulled me into his arms again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that knife is real, or if I¡¯ve just imagined it,¡± I said between sobs. ¡°But I¡¯m terrified. I¡¯m

    terrified that Michael might have it; I think he knows I¡¯m the Golden Wolf, and I think he¡¯sing for

    me.¡±

    Edrick was silent for a long time, thinking. I chanced a look up at him to see that his jaw was set hard,

    clenching and unclenching, while his eyes burned silver. He stared coldly at the wall in front of him, as

    though he was almost in a trance. I half expected him to do one of two things: either he was going to

    send me away to a mental hospital, or he was going to go after Michael.

    But thankfully, he did neither of those things. Instead, he retained his calm and collected Alpha

    demeanor, although there was no denying the bright silver glow to his eyes.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just get you to bed,¡± he said. He set me down and then stood. He walked over to his dresser and

    pulled a white t-shirt out of the drawer, then handed it to me. ¡°Put this on. Your nightgown is soaked.¡±

    I nodded slowly. But as I stood to take my nightgown off, my hands shook too much. Edrick let out a

    soft sigh and helped me, and as his hands lingered on my waist, I wished that this could be different. I

    wished that we could be undressing each other in a romantic way. I felt his gaze on me as I put the

    oversized t-shirt on, which I practically swam in once it was on all the way, then climbed into bed. He

    said nothing as he retrieved two of my sleeping pills and held them out for me.

    There was fear in his eyes. He didn¡¯t seem to want to let on that he was terrified, but I could tell that he

    was. He wasn¡¯t terrified of me, but rather he was terrified for me. And I was, too. If my dreams really

    were prophetic, then Michael was out there looking for a way to kill me. We had no tangible evidence to

    take to the police, and they wouldn¡¯t believe me anyway after the way that I passed out in the station.

    They would just think that I was really nuts.

    ¡°W-What if I sleepwalk again?¡± I asked nervously as I took the pills from him.

    Edrick just shook his head soberly. ¡°I¡¯ll stay awake,¡± he replied gently. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be here to watch

    over you.¡±

    I bit my lip as I stared down at the pills in my hand. It wasforting to know that Edrick would be right

    by my side, watching me for the rest of the night just in case anything else happened. But at the same

    time, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if I would have more nightmares, only this time I would stay in the

    dreams instead of waking up due to the effect of the sleeping pills. I couldn¡¯t decide what was worse:

    waking up from the terrifying dreams or staying stuck in a dream where I was violently killed over and

    over again.

    I took the pills, though. I needed to sleep, if only to keep my body in one ce so that I wouldn¡¯t have

    an episode while I was awake. And besides¡­ I supposed that being stuck in the nightmare was better

    than plunging to my death off of the balcony.

    And as I slowly began to drift off into my artificial slumber, all I could feel was the sensation of Edrick¡¯s

    hand wrapping around mine. And all I could see were his glowing silver eyes watching me like my

    guardian angel.

 Chapter 224

    Chapter 224

    #Chapter 224: Mother

    Edrick

    I was sleeping soundly when I suddenly heard Moana¡¯s screams.

    By the same I jolted myself out of bed and frantically began to scramble in the direction of the balcony

    where the screams wereing from, she ran into my arms and nearly knocked me to the floor. She

    was soaking wet andpletely inconsble, repeating things about my father having a knife and

    killing her with it. When she finally was able to tell me everything that happened, I felt my soul

    practically leave my body.

    I didn¡¯t want to let her know how terrified I was, so I kept my calm until she was safely asleep in bed.

    Her sleeping pills knocked her out quickly, and as soon as I saw her chest begin to rise and fall in a

    steady, deep rhythm, I quickly jumped to my feet and began to pace while frantically tugging on my air.

    I couldn¡¯t hide my terror any longer.

    I had heard stories about these visions before. It was an umon phenomena, but it was known to

    happen on asion. People who were gifted with the ability of Foresight, which was an extremely rare

    ability to begin with, were often known to have other symptoms in the beginning such as sleepwalking,

    ckout episodes, and getting hurt during those sleepwalking or ckout episodes. More often than

    not, if those symptoms were noticed early on, the person affected by it could wind up getting hurt and

    dying in their sleep. Moana, thankfully, woke up before that happened to her, and I would forever thank

    whatever gods watched over us, if any, for that miracle. At least now, we knew what was happening

    and could take preventative measures to ensure her safety at night until she developed her Foresight

    fully.

    But surprisingly enough, that wasn¡¯t the main thing that I was worried about.

    Moana was having visions. I was sure of it; all of the signs pointed to it, and unbeknownst to her, I had

    done my research while she was away at work earlier that day. That knife did in fact exist, and it very

    well could be used against her.

    There was only one weapon that was prophesied to kill the Golden Wolf, and that was the Golden Knife

    with the wolf head on the handle. It was said that the knife had to be used before the Golden Wolf

    shifted for the first time, otherwise the knife would shatter in the user¡¯s hand when it tried to stab the

    Golden Wolf. The source that I read also said that thousands of Golden Wolves may have existed

    between the time that the first Golden Wolf was seen and now, and that all of them had been killed with

    the Golden Knife before they shifted, which was why a Golden Wolf hadn¡¯t been seen in so long. I

    never really believed it and just saw it as another old wives¡¯ tale, but I sure as hell believed it now.

    And I believed that my father had the knife, and was going to use it to kill Moana before she could shift.

    I didn¡¯t know what to do. My first priority was to protect Moana and our baby as well as E, but I

    couldn¡¯t leave their side if my dad was waiting to attack. I knew that I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against

    taking him down on my own, either. He would dly kill me for the sake of destroying another

    generation of the Golden Wolf. I was sure of it.

    My only option was to get Moana to a safe ce where she could shift before my father had a chance

    to use the knife. Only then could she be protected. If she shifted, the knife would only shatter and the

    only weapon that could kill the Golden Wolf would be gone forever.

    The mountain estate; we would have to go there after all. With all of my security that I had hired, I was

    confident that we could surround the ce and keep a constant watch. My father wouldn¡¯t be able to

    get in, no matter how hard he tried. And then there, at least, Moana could shift safely where no one

    could get hurt. Maybe I could even try to help her shift for the first time, so we could elerate the

    process.

    But Moana and E weren¡¯t the only people who I was worried about. My mother still lived in a home

    with my father, and she would certainly try to stop his n¡­

    And I knew that he would kill her if he needed to. I had to get her to safety with me.

    Cursing under my breath, I quickly pulled out my phone and dialed my mom¡¯s number. It was well past

    midnight, and I half expected her not to even answer, but thankfully she did pick up on the third ring.

    ¡°Edrick?¡± she said, sounding groggy. ¡°Are you alright, darling? It¡¯s sote.¡±

    I let out a sigh of relief just at hearing her voice. ¡°Mom,¡± I said, ¡°is dad there?¡±

    ¡°Yes. He¡¯s sleeping right here. Why? Do you need to talk to him? I can wake him up¡ª¡±

    ¡°No!¡± I demanded, then cleared my throat. ¡°No. Mom, I need you to listen to me; dad is going to do

    something really dangerous. It¡¯s been seen in visions.¡±

    ¡°Visions?¡± my mom asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied. ¡°Moana has the power of Foresight and she saw my dad¡­ killing her. She¡¯s the Golden

    Wolf, mom. And he has the knife.¡±

    My mom fell silent. I knew that she believed me; she had always believed in spiritual things of that sort,

    especially Foresight.

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    ¡°Listen,¡± I continued, ¡°I¡¯m going to the mountain estate, and I want you toe with me. I¡¯m worried

    about you. I¡¯m worried that dad might¡ª¡±

    Suddenly, my mom interrupted me. Her voice was much quieter now, and it shook as she sternly

    spoke. ¡°Get as far away from the city as you can,¡± she whispered hastily. ¡°Get far, far away, and don¡¯t

    let that girl out of your sight.¡±

    ¡°Mom¡ª¡±

    But then, suddenly, the phone went dead. I pulled my phone away from my ear and stared wide-eyed

    at the screen as my mom¡¯s number shed, then disappeared. But I didn¡¯t think she hung up at all;

    something was telling me that my father had woken up and forced her to hang up. I could sense it.

    Something incredibly sinister was at y here. Now, more than ever, I believed that my father was up

    to no good. I swallowed hard as I looked over at Moana¡¯s sleeping body, and watched the way that she

    nuzzled peacefully into the pillow as she slept thanks to the sleeping pills. At the same time, I became

    aware of a newfound strength emanating from her wolf. My wolf could sense it, too; she was close to

    shifting. It could only be a day, maybe two, now. If my father knew, and he likely did, then it only made

    our situation even more dire.

    My mom was right. I needed to get Moana to safety far away from the city¡­

    And I needed to do it now, because there was no time left for any of us.

 Chapter 225

    Chapter 225

    #Chapter 225: Pulling the Rug

    Moana

    I woke up after a night of dreamless sleep to the sound of someone rushing around the room. When I

    cracked open my eyes, I saw Edrick pacing back and forth. He had a pile of shirts in his hand, and I

    watched in a state of shock as he walked over to a suitcase and quickly shoved the shirts inside.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked, sitting up.

    Edrick didn¡¯t even look up at me. ¡°We have to go,¡± was all he said.

    My eyes widened. ¡°Go where?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going back to the mountain estate for real this time.¡±

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    As Edrick spoke, I felt my heart sink. My limbs still felt too heavy from the sleeping meds to move

    quickly, and as I threw the covers off and swung my limp legs over the edge of the bed, it felt as though

    I was moving through a thick mud.

    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°You didn¡¯t mention that we would be leaving before. Was it because ofst night?¡±

    Edrick didn¡¯t answer. I watched with wide eyes as he stuffed more clothes into his suitcase. ¡°Come help

    me zip this up?¡± he asked. I nodded slowly and walked over, then pushed down onto the top of the

    suitcase so he could zip it up.

    ¡°Edrick,¡± I continued, ¡°please tell me what¡¯s going on. Is it because ofst night? I¡¯ll be okay, I promise.

    We don¡¯t need to leave¡ª¡±

    The Alpha billionaire just shook his head and scurried over to the bathroom, where he began tossing

    toiletries into a bag. ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s for your own safety. And that¡¯s all I¡¯m going to say. Go

    get dressed; we¡¯ll get breakfast on the road.¡±

    I felt my heart sink even further. ¡°But, Edrick¡ª¡±

    Suddenly, Edrick spun around and red intensely at me. His gaze wasn¡¯t mean, but it was stern and

    his eyes were still glowing silver, as though he was on edge. ¡°Just do it, Moana,¡± he demanded. ¡°Selina

    already packed your bags. Just get dressed so we can leave. Please.¡±

    The desperation in Edrick¡¯s voice unsettled me. I felt as though I wasn¡¯t even allowed to argue with

    him, and it was unfair. But even if I told him how unfair I found it to be, it didn¡¯t seem to matter anyway.

    Edrick clearly had made up his mind, and there was no way to get around it this time; whatever went

    through his headst night after I went to sleep seemed to solidify something. Or maybe something

    else happened¡­ I couldn¡¯t be sure.

    ¡°He¡¯s not angry with you,¡± my wolf said as I painfully made my way to my bedroom. ¡°He¡¯s just worried.¡±

    ¡°I know. It still hurts.¡±

    I opened my bedroom door and, just as Edrick said, Selina had already packed my things. Only a

    single outfit was left out for me on the bed, and a few toiletries so I could get ready for the day. Other

    than that, my other necessities were all packed up. Everything except my valuables and sentimental

    items were packed away, like Selina was rushing to get just what I needed into my bags. In E¡¯s room

    next door, I could hear the sound of E whining while Selina responded in hushed tones.

    ¡°But why?¡± E cried. I walked over to see her tugging on Selina¡¯s skirt with tears streaming down her

    cheeks. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna leave! I wanna go to school!¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Selina replied, sounding quite defeated herself. ¡°But we have to. It won¡¯t be forever.¡±

    E pouted. Selina yanked her skirt away so she could continue to pack E¡¯s bags and E, in a

    childish fit, plopped down on the ground and wailed loudly. Sighing, I rushed into the room and past the

    exhausted-looking Selina and crouched down to E¡¯s level.

    ¡°They¡¯re making me leave!¡± E wailed, sobbing loudly. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna leave!¡±

    As I looked at E, I felt my heart break just a little bit more; especially because I knew that this was my

    fault. ¡°Here, love,¡± I said. I grabbed her stuffed duck off of the dresser and put it in her hands, and that

    seemed to calm her down a bit. ¡°We¡¯ll be together, okay?¡±

    E nodded tearfully. I held back my own tears as I wiped hers away, and then led her to my room with

    me and let her sit on my bed while I got dressed, so that Selina could pack up her things in peace.

    Clearly, E and I were both in the same boat of being forced to leave with no say in the matter. But I,

    unlike E, had a pretty good reason why. It certainly had something to do with my dream and my

    sleepwalking episode from the night before, but I knew that I wouldn¡¯t get any specifics out of Edrick.

    And for that, I was a bit bitter toward him.

    The drive to the mountain estate was spent mostly in silence, with only E speaking up on asion to

    whine about how she wanted to go home or how she needed to go potty. Edrick just drove with his

    hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, and I could only clench my jaw and stare out the window.

    Thest time we went to the mountain estate, it was for a lovely vacation. That time, the mountain air

    felt fresh, the view was beautiful, and the trees calmed me. However, this time it just felt like we were

    ascending into a prison made of stone.

    When we arrived, E sprinted inside with one of the maids on her heels to keep an eye on her. Edrick

    immediately started unpacking the car, and I circled around to the trunk to help him.

    ¡°Go inside,¡± he demanded.

    I was taken aback. ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°We¡¯re here now, away from the rest of the world. Why imprison me

    inside, too?¡±

    Edrick didn¡¯t answer. I grimaced and reached for a bag, but he pushed my hand away and shot me a

    stern re.

    ¡°Moana¡­ Just¡­ Go inside.¡±

    I felt my eyes widen. I opened my mouth to protest, but no words woulde out beneath the weight

    of his re. With a hmph, I spun on my heel and stormed off.

    If Edrick wanted me to stay inside when we were already separated from the rest of society, and he still

    wouldn¡¯t tell me why exactly all of this was happening, then he would get his wish. Only now, I wouldn¡¯t

    just stay inside; I would stay in my room, imprisoning myself even further.

    Even Kat couldn¡¯t keep up with me. I ran inside and bolted up the stairs, taking two at a time as I

    ignored her calls in the background for me to slow down. When I arrived at my room from thest time

    that we were here, I stepped inside and mmed the door behind me before I locked it.

    I plopped myself down into the chair by my window, and shut out the rest of the noise in the house as I

    let my own anger take over.

    Maybe Edrick just saw me as a danger to myself and to our baby after my sleepwalking episode.

    And if that was the case, and if he would refuse to just talk to me about it and at least keep me in the

    loop, then I couldn¡¯t possibly be a danger to anyone if I was just locked in my room like a prisoner.

 Chapter 226

    Chapter 226

    #Chapter 226: Patrol

    Edrick

    ¡°Moana¡­ Just¡­ Go inside.¡±

    Moana¡¯s eyes widened. She red at me for a long moment before she took off like a bolt of lightning

    into the house.

    Maybe I was being a little too harsh when she was only trying to at least help me carry the bags inside,

    but the property wasn¡¯t fully secured yet and I didn¡¯t want her standing out in the open if someone was

    trying to hunt her down. Maybe tomorrow, when the property was deemed safe, she could go outside

    with her bodyguard. But for now, she needed to be inside where it was safe.

    ¡°Should I go after her, Mr. Morgan?¡± Kat asked.

    I nodded. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be right next to her if she doesn¡¯t want it. But at the very least, keep an

    eye on her whereabouts.¡±

    Moana¡¯s bodyguard nodded understandingly, then took off after Moana. I sighed as I heard the echoes

    of Kat calling Moana¡¯s name.

    Of course I felt bad for suddenly ripping her away and not being specific about why we were leaving so

    frantically, but I had no choice. There wasn¡¯t enough time to exin everything, and I didn¡¯t even know

    how I would say it yet.

    Last night, I was almost one hundred percent certain that my mother was forced off of the phone with

    my father. I didn¡¯t know if my mom knew something before I mentioned it to her, or if she was only like

    me and just had her own suspicions before I confirmed it for her.

    Either way, I took my mother¡¯s advice and got the hell out of town.

    Moana was on the verge of shifting. I could sense it when she was sleepingst night; her wolf¡¯s power

    was starting to surge. Within a couple of days, she would certainly shift. And I was pretty sure that my

    dad knew that as well, and he would eithere after her himself or send more Rogues to get the job

    done.

    ¡°You¡¯re being too harsh on her.¡± Selina¡¯s voice suddenly caught my attention.

    I let out a grunt as I pulled the bags out of the car, and only cast her a brief nce over my shoulder.

    ¡°She¡¯ll understand eventually,¡± I replied. ¡°It¡¯s for the best.¡±

    Selina walked around to face me and suddenly grabbed my arm with more strength than I expected

    from a woman her age. ¡°It won¡¯t be for the best if she resents you for keeping her in the dark,¡± she

    insisted. ¡°You need to talk to her.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I will talk to her. Just¡­ Not right now. If I told her earlier, she might have put up more of a

    fuss and insisted on staying in the penthouse. Sometimes she thinks that she¡¯s capable of more than

    she really is, and I just wanted to make sure that she was somewhere safe before I told her the truth.¡±

    The old housekeeper didn¡¯t seem to like this. Her lips pressed themselves into a thin line, and she

    released her grip on my arm. I watched as she turned around to walk away, took a few steps, then

    stopped and turned back to face me.

    ¡°Moana is more capable than you realize.¡±

    That was all she said. Before I could say anything else, ¡ª not that I had anything else to say anyway

    ¡ª she stormed off and disappeared into the house.

    Maybe Selina was right; maybe Moana was more capable than I realized. But that was a risk that I

    wasn¡¯t willing to take right now.

    ¡­

    It was dark out when I slowly stepped out into the back garden. The moon was out, and it was well after

    dinnertime. Moana and E both refused to leave their rooms for the entire day, but I didn¡¯t really care.

    I was just d that we were safely out of the city and under the watch of nearly two dozen fully capable

    security guards, who had the entire estate surrounded by their patrol.

    However, I wasn¡¯t fully satisfied. If I was going to be certain that Moana and my daughter were safe,

    then I needed to patrol as well to give myself some peace of mind.

    That was why I decided to shift under the moonlight and walk the entire perimeter of the estate.

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    I let my wolf take over. Feeling myself shift was a relief, like an itch that needed to be scratched. As I

    took off into the woods and started making my way around the estate, I felt a sense of what almost felt

    likefort taking over me.

    First, I made my way through the woods behind the house. I checked every nook and cranny, behind

    every tree, inside every hollow log and behind every boulder. All I found were scared deer and

    squirrels, and the asional roon. There were no Rogues in sight.

    After that, I headed down and around to the front of the estate. I passed by a few guards on my way,

    also patrolling in their wolf forms, and we gave each other nods as we passed.

    ¡°See anything?¡± I asked one guard, Darren.

    He shook his head. ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s all quiet.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    When we left the city, I made a point to keep a couple of body doubles in the penthouse. Moana wasn¡¯t

    aware of this, but I had hired two people who looked simr to us when I hired our security guards; a

    girl with red hair and a tall guy with dark hair. I had them stay in the penthouse while we were gone to

    make it look like we were still there.

    Of course, they also had some guards there of their own, and they were fully armed in case my dad or

    some Rogues tried to break in. But to me, it was a foolproof n to keep people thinking that we never

    left the penthouse.

    Maybe then no one would know where we really were.

    A couple of hourster, I had fully walked the entire perimeter of the estate and found nothing. Satisfied

    now with my patrol, I decided to head back to the house to call it a night. Maybe, I thought to myself,

    Moana wouldn¡¯t hate me so much by then. I couldn¡¯t sleep without her, after all.

    However, as I returned to the house, I realized that I was wrong in that assumption.

    I stopped in the back yard as something caught my attention. The light was on in Moana¡¯s room and

    her curtains were open.

    Still in my wolf form, I sat on my haunches and looked up at the window, hoping to get a glimpse of her.

    Slowly she came into view, brushing her hair as she paced back and forth in her room. I couldn¡¯t help

    but think how beautiful she looked now, and it made me wonder how much even more beautiful she

    would look when she finally shifted.

    She must have sensed me watching, because she suddenly stopped and walked over to the window.

    For a long time, our eyes stayed locked as she stared down at me and I stared back up at her.

    I wanted to convey that I was sorry for being short with her earlier, but she only scowled down at me.

    And then, with an even deeper scowl, she yanked the curtains shut and disappeared from sight.

    I sighed as I shifted back and walked up to the back porch with my hands in my pockets.

    ¡°Looks like I¡¯m gonna be sleeping alone tonight,¡± I whispered to myself.

 Chapter 227

    Chapter 227

    Moana

    I went to sleep that night with anger still in my heart for Edrick.

    When I woke up, however, that anger turned into fear.

    I found myself no longer in my bed, but I was now at the little desk that was in my room. And it wasn¡¯t

    just that, either. I had my sketchbook lying on the desk in front of me, and what was drawn on it¡­

    Was the knife.

    I gasped and quickly snapped the sketchbook shut. Why was this happening to me? I stood, knowing

    that I needed to tell someone, but I couldn¡¯t tell Edrick. If I told him, then he would likely only freak out

    even more, and I already felt like a prisoner.

    These drawings had to be prophetic. And the only way that I could get to the bottom of what they really

    meant was by essing whatever part of my brain that they wereing from. Maybe then, I could

    start to use them to my advantage before something really bad happened.

    It waste, but Dr. Rhodes did mention that I could call him anytime I needed anything. I quickly pulled

    out my phone and dialed his number with shaking hands.

    ¡°Hello?¡± he answered a few ringster. ¡°Is everything alright, Moana?¡±

    I let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Dr. Rhodes, I need your help. I¡¯ve been having more dreams¡­ I want to try

    hypnosis again.¡±

    Dr. Rhodes paused for a few moments. ¡°I coulde to the penthouse tomorrow, if you want¡ª¡±

    ¡°No!¡± I insisted. ¡°It needs to be right now. Is there any way you can do it over the phone?¡±Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    The therapist was quiet for another few moments. I bit my lip as I listened to him sigh over the phone.

    ¡°It is possible, but it¡¯s not easy. And if you see or feel something during hypnosis that frightens you or

    makes you feel bad, you might get hurt if I¡¯m not there to help you. Are you sure you¡¯re willing to take

    that risk?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± I knew the risks going into it, but I didn¡¯t care. I needed to get to the bottom of this, and

    something in me was telling me that I needed to do it now. Time was ticking, and somehow I felt that

    figuring out the source of these visions might help figure out how to stop something horrible before it

    happened.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Dr. Rhodes said with a sigh. ¡°Do you have afortable ce to lie down? And can you dim

    the lights?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± I dimmed the lights, leaving only my bedside tablemp on, and then quicklyid down on my

    bed. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±

    For the next twenty minutes, Dr. Rhodes slowly guided me into a state of hypnosis. I pushed my mind

    to open up to the idea, but for a long time nothing happened, just like thest time that we tried. In fact,

    I was about to call it quits again when I suddenly felt a change inside of me.

    I no longer felt fully conscious. I felt as though I was half in a dream, half out of a dream. My mind felt

    foggy, but clearer than ever at the same time.

    ¡°How do you feel, Moana?¡± Dr. Rhodes¡¯ voice floated across to me as though he was whispering into

    the wind across a pond. It felt light and airy and far away, but the words came to me all the same.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Okay,¡± I replied, my tongue feeling heavy in my mouth.

    ¡°Good. I want you to try to picture a ce. Any ce. Just let the imagee into your mind, and don¡¯t

    force it.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡± I did as Dr. Rhodes said. As my eyes were closed, everything was dark at first. But slowly, a

    landscape began to form around me; one that I had seen several times now.

    The cliff.

    ¡°What do you see?¡± Dr. Rhodes asked.

    I swallowed and looked around. ¡°A cliff,¡± I said. ¡°With pine trees on one side¡­ It¡¯s raining, and the sky

    is dark and cloudy. I¡¯m cold.¡±

    Dr. Rhodes paused. I looked around a little more, and turned fully around. My heart practically stopped

    as I saw a figure standing off in the distance, in the mist.

    ¡°There¡¯s someone else here,¡± I said.

    ¡°Can you walk up to that person?¡± Dr. Rhodes asked.

    I felt my heart sink at his question. I was scared to do it, but I also knew that this was just hypnosis, and

    it wasn¡¯t real. Deep down, I knew that it was Michael; but maybe walking up to him, confronting him in

    my mind, could help me somehow.

    Slowly, I began to walk up to the unmoving figure. The grass crunched underneath my feet and the

    wind blew so heavily. Even the rain soaked my clothes; it was all so real that it was deceptive. If I didn¡¯t

    focus on the fact that this was just a vision, I felt for sure as though I would suddenly get stuck in this

    vision and would never be able toe out.

    However, no matter how far I walked, I didn¡¯t feel as though I was really getting any closer to the figure.

    ¡°It just keeps getting further away,¡± I said.

    Dr. Rhodes paused for a moment. ¡°That¡¯s your mind not epting the vision,¡± he said gently. ¡°Try to

    open yourself up to it.¡±

    I stopped, and took in a deep breath. Open my mind, I thought to myself. The figure wasn¡¯t moving

    toward me¡­ It wasn¡¯t real. None of this was real, and maybe if I aplished this, I could learn

    something that could make sure that it didn¡¯t need to be real to begin with. Maybe I could learn

    something valuable that could stop all of this before it even started.

    Slowly, I began to walk again. This time, it didn¡¯t only feel as though I was just walking in ce, and the

    gap between myself and the figure began toe into view. The outline of Michael¡¯s tall, slim body

    slowly solidified in the mist. I could see him better now¡­ He was holding something.

    Of course he was holding the knife. I could see the gold glint in the rain.

    Upon seeing the knife, I felt my heart drop again. I stopped, unable to go any further.

    ¡°Can you describe what¡¯s happening, Moana?¡± Dr. Rhodes asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been quiet for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes,¡± I said, swallowing. ¡°Um¡­ It¡¯s Michael. He has the knife, and he¡¯s just¡­ Staring at me. And

    smiling. I¡¯m afraid.¡±

    ¡°You have two options, Moana.¡± Dr. Rhodes¡¯ voice was calm and steady. ¡°You can choose to stop the

    vision now if you¡¯re scared, or you can try to go a little further. It¡¯s up to you¡­¡±

    I swallowed again. ¡°I should go closer,¡± I whispered. I started to walk again. I reached my hand out

    toward the knife that was in Michael¡¯s hand¡­

    But then, Michael¡¯s hand shot out too, like a mirror image of me. His hand wrapped tightly around my

    wrist, and he held up the knife with his other hand. There was a gleam in his evil eyes, and then he

    brought the knife down toward me.

 Chapter 228

    Chapter 228

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 228: Dead End

    Moana

    I let out a yelp. I jolted, and then everything stopped. The rain, the wind, the grass¡­ All of it turned

    back into the still, calm air of my bedroom. Michael¡¯s hand no longer gripped my wrist, and the golden

    glint of the knife in his hand turned into the soft amber glow of themp on my bedside table.

    ¡°Moana?¡± Dr. Rhodes said, sounding concerned. ¡°Are you there?¡±

    I quickly sat up and rubbed my eyes. ¡°Y-Yes,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯m okay. It¡¯s just¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Nothing,¡± I lied. ¡°Dr. Rhodes¡­ Will you be avable to try again tomorrow?¡±

    The therapist paused, then cleared his throat. ¡°Sure. You can call me anytime if you want to try again,

    or even if you just need to talk. Are you sure you¡¯re okay, though?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I lied again, even though my hands were shaking. ¡°Thanks, Dr. Rhodes. I¡¯ll call you

    tomorrow.¡±

    ¡­

    I didn¡¯t sleep very much at all for the rest of the night. I was too nervous to try to sleep in case I

    sleepwalked again or had another vision, but at the same time I also couldn¡¯t stop thinking about the

    vision I had during hypnosis.

    It wasn¡¯t really any different than my other visions. But this time, something just felt¡­ off. It almost felt

    as though there was something else in the mist behind Michael, another presence. Was there someone

    else working with him?

    The next morning, I woke up after getting a couple hours of sleep and awoke to the smell of bacon

    rising up through the house. I was hungry, and my hypnosis session with Dr. Rhodes made me

    temporarily forget about my anger toward Edrick, so I quickly got dressed and headed downstairs to

    get something to eat.

    When I walked into the dining room, Edrick and E were sitting at the table while Selina scurried

    around cing food down.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± Selina said when she saw me. ¡°Sit down. I made breakfast.¡±

    I felt Edrick¡¯s eyes on me, and instantly felt a little sheepish beneath his gaze. He looked at me with a

    stony stare in his eyes, but there was also something soft and apologetic behind it. Instantly, I started to

    wonder if I was too mean when I stormed off and wouldn¡¯t speak to him at all yesterday.

    E, on the other hand, was picking at her eggs with her fork. She was leaning her cheek into her

    hand, and kept letting out loud, dramatic sighs every few seconds.

    ¡°I miss school,¡± she said.

    ¡°E¡­ It¡¯s Saturday,¡± Edrick chided gently. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be at school anyway.¡±

    E looked up at him. He was looking down at his newspaper, as he usually did during breakfast time,

    and she took the opportunity to stick her tongue out at him.

    ¡°Put your tongue back in your mouth. That¡¯s rude.¡±

    E¡¯s eyes widened at the fact that her father had seen her stick her tongue out without looking at her. I

    had to stifle a smirk.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s still not fair!¡± she whined. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to go to school on Monday!¡±

    Edrick sighed and folded up his newspaper calmly, then set it down on the table and picked up his cup

    of coffee. ¡°If you keep having an attitude, you wouldn¡¯t be able to go back to school even if we were in

    the city,¡± he said, to which E scowled. ¡°Besides¡­¡± He gestured toward the set of open French doors

    behind us that led out to the patio. ¡°Isn¡¯t it pretty here?¡±

    E shrugged. ¡°I guess,¡± she moaned. ¡°But I still want¡ª¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not always about what you want.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s voice was short and stern. The table fell silent. Even Selina and I froze at Edrick¡¯s sudden

    snap; it was extremely rare that he ever was so stern with her. I opened my mouth to say something,

    because I felt as though it was unfair for him to snap at her when he was the one who dragged her

    away from home to begin with, but he quickly spoke again.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He sighed and set his coffee cup down. ¡°That wasn¡¯t very nice of me.¡±

    ¡°Darn right¡­¡± I heard Selina whisper as she walked away. Edrick nced up at her, but said nothing.

    His eyes then wandered over to me, and his gaze locked on mine for the longest time.

    Once again, I felt sheepish beneath the Alpha billionaire¡¯s gaze. Part of me wondered if he had

    overheard my conversation with Dr. Rhodes the night before. If he hadn¡¯t heard it, I almost wondered if

    I should say something to him about it¡­ In private, of course.

    But I couldn¡¯t bring myself to do it. I felt my palms start to itch with anxiety beneath the table, and I

    busied my hands with buttering my toast. It was also a way for me to break my gaze away from Edrick,

    but I could feel him still looking at me nheless.

    ¡°I miss school,¡± she said.

    ¡°E¡­ It¡¯s Saturday,¡± Edrick chided gently. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be at school anyway.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± E said with a sigh, breaking the silence. ¡°I¡¯m sorry too, daddy.¡±

    Once again, E was acting beyond her years. Sometimes I really did forget that she was only eight

    years old.

    For a little while, the three of us ate in silence. The warmth of the coffee and the tasty breakfast food

    eased some of my worries, although I still couldn¡¯t get the image of my hypnosis session out of my

    mind. If my intuition was right, and if someone was working with Michael, then who could it be?

    Ethan and Kelly were in jail. Verona was likely not a suspect, and I trusted Edrick at this point. There

    was no way that Selina or the maids were up to anything, either¡­ There wasn¡¯t anyone who I could

    think of who could be working with Michael, and who could be an active threat anytime soon.

    Unless it was someone who I didn¡¯t know very well¡­

    But, no. Edrick hand-picked all of our security guards and had done extensive background checks on

    them. I trusted his judgment.

    Maybe I was just being paranoid. Sometimes, maybe a feeling was just a feeling and nothing else¡­

    Right?

    At the end of our meal, Amy and Lily came and cleared the tes away. I got up and helped them, if

    only to have a good excuse to not sit there in front of Edrick any longer.

    But when I stood and walked to the kitchen with two tes in my hands, I heard Edrick clear his throat.

    ¡°E,¡± he said, his voice gentle, ¡°can youe here, please?¡±

    I heard E sigh, and the sound of her chair scraping against the floor as she pushed it back. I heard

    her footsteps and then I peered around the corner to see Edrick holding out his arms for her. She

    climbed into hisp, and I couldn¡¯t help but smile.

    Edrick then took in a deep breath, and looked up. He looked right at me and held my gaze for several

    long moments.

    All I saw was love in his eyes.

    Then, he looked back down at E.

    ¡°E, there¡¯s something that I haven¡¯t told you. And I think you deserve to know the truth.¡±Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

 Chapter 229

    Chapter 229

    Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    #Chapter 229: The Truth

    Edrick

    I stayed up almost all night thinking about things.

    Moana was right about E needing to know the truth about her mother. Especially if bad things were

    about to happen, I felt as though I needed to finally tell her everything. And besides, Moana was angry

    with me; maybe this would remind her that I wasn¡¯t all that bad, and that I was trying my best.

    ¡°E, can youe here, please?¡±

    E sighed and pushed her chair back, causing it to scrape against the floor in an unpleasant way. She

    was upset with me, too, because she didn¡¯t understand why we had to leave the penthouse so

    suddenly. But nheless, she came over to me and sat in myp.

    I caught a glimpse of Moana standing in the kitchen. Her green eyes met mine, and as I held E, I saw

    them soften as they looked at the two of us.

    ¡°E, there¡¯s something that I haven¡¯t told you. And I think you deserve to know the truth.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± E asked, looking up at me with a pout on her face.

    I took a sharp breath. I wasn¡¯t mentally prepared to have this conversation, but it needed to be done.

    ¡°E¡­¡± I saw Moana lingering in the doorway. It seemed as though she didn¡¯t want to make it too

    obvious that she was listening, but if I was being honest, I wanted her here by my side for this. I just

    hoped that E would understand why I kept the truth from her for so long¡­ And I hoped that she

    wouldn¡¯t resent me.

    ¡°Daddy? What is it?¡± E was getting impatient, and looked up at me with wide eyes.

    I sighed. ¡°I haven¡¯t been telling you the truth,¡± I finally said. ¡°Your mom¡­ Your real mom¡­ She isn¡¯t

    dead. Actually, she¡¯s alive. The reason why I told you all this time that your mom isn¡¯t alive anymore is

    because she isn¡¯t very nice. See, when you were born, she didn¡¯t want you. Or me.¡±

    E¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Really?¡± she asked quietly.

    I nodded. ¡°It has nothing to do with you, Princess,¡± I said gently. ¡°Your mom is someone who has a lot

    of problems in her life. She doesn¡¯t feel things the way the rest of us do. When you were born, she only

    did it because she wanted the nice life that I could give her, and nothing else.¡±

    At this time, I could not only see Moana out of the corner of my eye standing in the kitchen doorway,

    but I could see Selina and the maids, too.

    But I kept going.

    ¡°When I realized that your mom was just using you and me to get money and a fancy life, I decided to

    send her away. That¡¯s why it was always just you and me. I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t tell you sooner, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it because sometimes, adults don¡¯t have things all figured out?¡±

    I felt my eyes go a little wide at E¡¯s wise words, and I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s exactly it. When you¡¯re little,

    like you are, you think that you¡¯ll have everything figured out when you grow up. But you never do,

    because that¡¯s just not how life works. And that¡¯s okay. I¡¯m just sorry that I didn¡¯t figure this out sooner.¡±

    E was silent for a long time. She seemed to be processing. I heard a sniff from the doorway, and

    looked up to see Selina dabbing at her eyes with her apron and scurrying away. Moana, however,

    stood steadfast and just looked at me with what almost seemed like adoration on her face.

    ¡°Daddy?¡± E finally asked.

    ¡°Yes, Princess?¡±

    E took in a deep breath. ¡°I think I already sort of knew that my real mommy was alive all this time.¡±

    I felt my eyes go even wider. ¡°What are you talking about, sweetheart?¡± I asked.

    E simply shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Sometimes, when I¡¯m dreaming at night, I have dreams about what

    it was like when I was a baby, before I could remember things. And one time, I had a dream that you

    and my real mommy were fighting, and you told her to leave and note back and hurt us anymore.

    That¡¯s what you said. In my dream, at least.¡±

    I was taken aback. That was exactly what I had said to Olivia years ago¡­

    ¡°Here! Just take this money, and get out! I don¡¯t want you to hurt us anymore!¡±

    Just hearing those words brought that whole memory rushing back like a train hitting me. I felt my heart

    practically stop, and all I could do was look in shock up at Moana, whose eyes were just as wide as

    mine.

    I always knew that E would have stronger powers than the other kids. She was an Alpha, after all,

    and it seemed now that she had the ability of Hindsight, or being able to see into the past.

    Since she was so young, it was probably only showing itself in sporadic dreams like that. But maybe,

    when she was older, it would manifest more solidly. Powers like that sometimes dissipated as kids got

    older, but I could at least hold out hope.

    But I kept going.

    ¡°When I realized that your mom was just using you and me to get money and a fancy life, I decided to

    send her away. That¡¯s why it was always just you and me. I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t tell you sooner, but¡­¡±

    I couldn¡¯t dwell on that right now, though. I just needed to know that E was okay with this, and that

    she wouldn¡¯t resent me.

    ¡°Well?¡± I asked gently, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. ¡°Is that okay with you? Is it okay that

    your real mom is alive? I¡¯d understand if you want to meet her someday.¡±

    E shrugged again. ¡°Maybe,¡± she said. ¡°I think I¡¯m okay not meeting her, though. Moana is my real

    mommy now, and I¡¯m happy¡­ When I first saw Moana, my wolf said, That¡¯s our mommy, and that¡¯s

    why I¡¯ve always loved her so much.¡±

    I looked up at Moana again. This time, there were tears in her green eyes. But she was smiling, and I

    couldn¡¯t help but smile, too.

    Moana didn¡¯t say a word. She just came over from the doorway. I stood, still holding E, and pulled

    Moana into my other arm.

    ¡°I love you too, E,¡± Moana said with a tearfulugh as she pinched E¡¯s cheek. E giggled.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    The three of us hugged for a long time. I buried my face in Moana¡¯s red hair, and felt the stress melting

    away. During those moments, I felt as though no matter what was thrown at us next, we could handle it

    if we were all together. And that wasforting.

    When we finally pulled away, I set E down on the floor and then crouched down to her level.

    ¡°I really am sorry for not telling you the truth,¡± I said. ¡°I know I always tell you that you should always tell

    the truth. I guess I didn¡¯t follow my own rules.¡±

    E nodded matter-of-factly. ¡°That¡¯s okay. I forgive you. Just don¡¯t do it again, okay? Promise?¡±

    E stuck her pinky finger out. I smiled and intertwined mine with hers. ¡°I promise. I¡¯ll never lie to you

    again.¡±

    After that, E ran off to y in the garden. I looked up at Moana, who was now standing by the

    window. The smile that was on her face before had faded, and she was looking outside with a wistful

    expression on her face.

    I wanted to go to her, but I wasn¡¯t sure if she was in the right mood yet. All I could do was watch her

    slender form as she touched her belly and sighed, looking out at the trees.

 Chapter 230

    Chapter 230

    #Chapter 230: A Promise

    Moana

    Seeing Edrick finally tell E about her real mother made me soften toward him.

    I softened even more when E said those sweet things, and it made me feel as though we really were

    a little family despite everything that was going on. I couldn¡¯t help but hug both of them tightly, and I felt

    comforted when Edrick buried his face in my hair.

    But when we pulled apart and I watched them reconcile Edrick¡¯s lies, I felt my smile fade because

    something just felt off.

    I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on it. It almost felt like some sort of sixth sense, but for what was still a

    mystery.

    All I could do was stare wistfully out the window as I tried to rack my brain over it. Maybe I was just

    feeling cooped up¡­

    ¡°Do you feel strange?¡± I asked Mina.

    ¡°A little,¡± she replied. I could tell that she was just as confused as I was. ¡°Some fresh air could be nice.¡±

    I nodded to myself. E was ying outside, so why shouldn¡¯t I? I turned to Edrick then, who was

    sitting back down at the dining room table, and held my chin up.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to go for a walk, if that¡¯s alright,¡± I said. ¡°Just by myself so I can think.¡±

    Edrick looked at me for a few moments. At first, I thought he would say no; but I also knew that he had

    the entire perimeter of the estate surrounded by a constant patrol, and I knew that he went out there

    himselfst night to check. Besides, there would be no doubt that he would have Kat follow me.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said with a slight smile. ¡°It looks like it might rain, though. Do you need an umbre?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Edrick nodded and smiled again. His demeanor today was a far cry from the day before, but I

    wasn¡¯tining. Maybe a night of sleeping alone changed his attitude a bit, although I still wished

    that he would just tell me the exact reason behind why he suddenly dragged us up here.

    Without another word, I headed outside into the fresh air and took in a deep breath, inhaling the fresh

    mountain breeze. The air smelled like pine trees, and it was cool and misty. It wasfortable and

    rxing, and I made my way toward the far end of thewn where the trees circled around the

    property.

    Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    First, I walked around the sprawling gardens for a while and took in the view of the freshly pruned

    hedges and mossy fountains. I sensed Kat¡¯s presence from afar, and decided to push my luck a bit to

    see how far I could go.

    I decided to head closer to the trees. The air in the forest was cool and inviting, and with onest look

    over my shoulder, I stepped into the treeline and began to walk a little bit.

    Of course, not even five minutester, I heard the distinct sound of twigs crunching behind me. I

    smirked and spun around, but saw no one.

    ¡°Kat, juste out,¡± I said with augh, putting my hands on my hips. ¡°I know you¡¯re there.¡±

    A few momentster, the short-haired tall girl stepped out from behind a tree and walked toward me.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°Edrick wants me to keep you in my sight.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re nearby, can I at least enjoy the forest a little bit?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s not often that I get to see this

    many trees in the city.¡±

    Kat shrugged and nodded. I smiled, not at all bothered by herpany, and the two of us walked a

    little further into the woods. The further we walked, the more I felt the air temperature drop, and soon I

    had to stick my hands into my pockets to keep my fingers warm.

    ¡°Do you have any idea why Edrick made use here so suddenly?¡± I finally asked after a while. ¡°He

    won¡¯t tell me anything.¡±

    My bodyguard shook her head. We stopped for a moment to look up at some birds overhead that were

    making a bit of a racket. ¡°Not really,¡± she said. ¡°As far as I know, he just gave me orders to keep watch

    over you, and he gave the other guards orders to keep a constant patrol going and not to let anyone

    onto the property. That¡¯s it.¡±

    I sighed and kept walking. ¡°So I take it if you¡¯ve been keeping such a close eye on me, you probably

    saw that I was up at one o¡¯clock in the morningst night.¡±

    Kat nodded. ¡°Yeah. I won¡¯t tell Edrick.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit. Even though things had been hectic and aggravatingtely, I was at least

    happy to have someone nearby who I was beginning to see as a bit of a friend. Kat and I didn¡¯t know

    each other terribly well yet, but I liked her. She was sweet, and I didn¡¯t mind having her around. It was

    nice to have a woman my age to talk to.

    Kat and I walked for a little while longer. We stayed within the treeline, but usually kept the house in our

    sight as we circled the property. Eventually, the issue of my shifting came up.

    ¡°I just wish that I could shift already and get it over with,¡± I said quietly as we walked. ¡°It¡¯s frustrating,

    not feeling like I¡¯m able to protect myself. And I think that Edrick sees me as weak right now, which is

    even more frustrating.¡±

    Kat was silent for a few moments.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never been in your shoes, so I can¡¯t really imagine what it¡¯s like,¡± she finally said after a bit. We

    paused to step over arge fallen tree. Kat gave me her hand, as my belly was getting fairlyrger at

    this point and it was a bit more difficult now to keep my bnce.

    ¡°Honestly, I never thought I was anything but human,¡± I said with augh. ¡°So much has changed over

    the course of just a few months. It¡¯s crazy. And honestly, maybe I¡¯m crazy for wanting to shift so quickly

    if you consider just how fast things have changed.¡±

    Kat suddenly stopped and turned to face me. ¡°It¡¯s not crazy,¡± she said. She had a thoughtful expression

    on her face and a hint of a smile on her lips. ¡°You know¡­ I could help you shift sooner, if you want. You

    could do it today, actually. Then, there will b no more waiting.¡±

    The bodyguard¡¯s words took me byplete surprise.

    I didn¡¯t know what to say; I didn¡¯t even know that it would be possible to shift any sooner. I just thought

    that it was something that came about naturally, and there was no real way to speed it up or slow it

    down once someone¡¯s wolf emerged. I thought that I was basically just a ticking time bomb at this

    point.

    ¡°Well?¡± Kat urged.

    All I could do was stare at her with wide eyes.

    Would it really be possible to shift early¡­ Even today? Would that end all of this mess?

 Chapter 231

    Chapter 231

    #Chapter 231: Shifting Early

    Moana

    I felt my eyes go wide at Kat¡¯s proposition.

    ¡°Really?¡± I asked quietly. ¡°You could actually help me shift¡­ today?¡±

    Kat nodded with a smile on her face. ¡°It¡¯s easy,¡± she replied. ¡°You could get it over with really quickly.¡±

    I could feel my wolf reacting strongly to this. It had felt as though Mina wasing close to shifting for

    a while, ever since Edrick and I marked each other, but it still hadn¡¯t happened. And maybe, just

    maybe¡­ shifting could finally make all of this ambiguity stop.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked Mina.

    She seemed excited. ¡°We should do it,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯ve been feeling stuck, like I keeping close to

    shifting but I just can¡¯t make it happen all the way. This could be what I need¡­ And I trust Kat.¡±

    I agreed with Mina. With a smile, I nodded at Kat. More than anything, I was just excited to finally be

    able to shift. Maybe then, Edrick wouldn¡¯t think that I was so incapable of taking care of myself.

    Maybe if I shifted, I could actually be my own person again, and not a damsel in distress who needed a

    man to protect me.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do it,¡± I finally said.

    Kat grinned, then nced over her shoulder at the house. We were still within sight of the house itself

    despite being in the forest a little ways. Suddenly, she took my hand and began to lead me deeper into

    the forest.

    ¡°Where are we going?¡± I asked. The deeper into the forest we walked, the more quickly the air

    temperature lowered. Soon, I let out a little shiver just from the chill in the pine-filled air.

    ¡°There are herbs that grow in the forest that can help induce the shifting process. We need wolfsbane

    and valerian roots. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard to find either of those around here¡­¡± Kat looked around as

    we walked, asionally pausing to check by tree stumps or around mossy rocks.

    I watched as she asionally bent down to small patches of weeds. She rifled through them,

    inspecting the leaves and flowers as she looked for the right nts that we needed. However, pretty

    soon the gap in the trees where we could see the house was bing smaller, and the house was

    turning into a small speck in the distance. I started to get worried that we would eventually lose our way

    in the woods, especially since it was getting much darker out because of the oing storm.

    I felt a bit clueless about all of this, but Kat seemed to know where she was going, and so I decided not

    to cause a fuss. As we kept walking further into the forest, I felt my anxiety starting to rise. The sky was

    darkening and I could feel the damp sensation in the air of oing rain.

    There was almost a sort of static electricity to the air, like a thunderstorm could happen at any moment.

    ¡°Are you sure we have time?¡± I asked, looking up at the sky as Kat let go of my hand for a moment to

    stoop down behind a log and pick at some weeds. ¡°It looks like it¡¯s about to storm.¡±

    As I spoke, the wind started to whip my hair around me even through the trees, which only solidified my

    concerns.

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    But Kat simply shook her head and stood again. She was holding a few small flowers in her hand. They

    were a dark purple color, and she held them up to me with a smile.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she reassured me. ¡°I already found some wolfsbane. Valerian might be a little more

    difficult to find, but we should be able to find some if we go just a little deeper into the forest.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ Okay,¡± I replied. I felt reassured by my bodyguard¡¯s warm smile, and followed her once again as

    she started walking down a gradual slope with the wolfsbane in her hand. She kept swiveling her head

    from left to right, searching.

    ¡°What happens when we find the valerian?¡± I asked. ¡°Do we make it into a tea, or¡­?¡±

    Kat shook her head. ¡°You can simply ingest them, so long as you do it at the same time.¡±

    ¡°What happens after that, though?¡±

    My bodyguard stopped, then crouched down to look into a hollow tree trunk. She muttered something

    to herself, then stood and started walking again.

    ¡°After that, it should only be five to ten minutes before you shift,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯ll be easier if you shift out

    here. I¡¯ll keep an eye on you, so if it gets to be too much and you lose control, you won¡¯t get lost or

    anything.¡±

    I had to admit to myself that I felt a little nervous about all of this; I wanted Edrick by my side when I

    shifted for the first time. It was scary to know that he wouldn¡¯t be next to me when I shifted, and when I

    looked up, I realized that the house was no longer in sight.

    By now, the rain had begun to fall. It was just a drizzle now, but I could tell from the wind in the air that it

    would soon get much worse.

    ¡°I-I think we should go back, Kat,¡± I finally said, stopping. ¡°Maybe we can get the valerian tomorrow.

    This oing storm is making me uneasy, and besides¡­ I don¡¯t want to shift without Edrick here.¡±

    Suddenly, Kat turned toward me with a concerned look on her face.

    ¡°Edrick wouldn¡¯t let you shift,¡± she said, sounding somewhat stern. ¡°He¡¯ll just make up an excuse or tell

    you that it¡¯s too dangerous for the baby¡ª which it isn¡¯t, I promise.¡±

    I stared at the bodyguard for a moment. She seemed genuine. Something felt amiss, but maybe it was

    just my nerves getting to me. Maybe she was right; maybe Edrick wouldn¡¯t let me shift, and it would

    only make things even worse.

    ¡°Come on, Moana,¡± Kat said with a warm smile. ¡°You can trust me. I¡¯ll be right by your side the whole

    time, and it¡¯ll be over before you know it. Besides, I think the valerian shouldn¡¯t be too much farther

    now.¡±

    I chewed my lip, thinking, then finally nodded. ¡°Alright,¡± I said quietly. ¡°Lead the way.¡±

    Kat grinned again, then started off down the slope once more. We finally came to a small stream, and

    she helped me step over it, bncing on the slick, mossy rocks as we went. Once we were on the

    other side, she paused for a few moments and looked around, mumbling to herself.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it close?¡± I asked. I almost had to shout now to be heard over the sound of the raging wind.

    Suddenly, Kat¡¯s smile widened. Without a word, she took off into the woods and disappeared through

    the trees.

    My jaw dropped.

    ¡°Kat?!¡± I called, jogging after her. ¡°Did you find it?!¡±

    But there was no answer.

    I stopped and looked around, turning in all directions. Maybe she spotted it and would be back soon¡­

    At least, that was what I told myself in order to feel better.

    In all actuality, I had a very bad feeling about all of this.

    Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have trusted Kat after all.

 Chapter 232

    Chapter 232

    #Chapter 232: Read Me a Story

    Edrick

    I watched as Moana¡¯s head of red hair slowly faded into the distance. She seemed to stop and look

    over her shoulder before stepping into the treeline, with Kat following secretly at a distance.

    From where I was standing, I could still see her as she began to wander around the entrance to the

    forest.

    Just one day ago, I wouldn¡¯t have let her go out like that. But I had a constant patrol keeping watch

    around the entire perimeter of the property where anyone could feasibly get in, I had patrolled the

    whole property myself justst night, and I sent Kat along with Moana to keep an eye on her.

    If my father was going to try to get at Moana, it would certainly be near impossible for him to

    aplish. And besides¡­ keeping Moana cooped up would only make her more likely to be in

    danger.

    ¡°Daddy?¡±

    I was suddenly snapped out of my deep thought by the sound of E¡¯s voice. I didn¡¯t realize it, but I

    must have been staring out the window for quite some time while I was stuck in my deep train of

    thought.

    ¡°Yes, Princess?¡± I asked, turning to face her. She had a book in her hands, and she held it out to me.

    Her hair was messed up and she was a bit out of breath, like she had just run inside after ying out

    on thewn.

    ¡°Will you read me a story?¡±

    Smiling, I took the book out of her hands. The cover was old and worn, with no text or design on it; I

    honestly had no recollection of ever seeing a book like it before and wondered where she found it, but I

    figured that children often had mysterious ways of exploring shelves and finding random things, so

    maybe it was just tucked away in a ce where I forgot about it.

    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. It looked like it would rain soon, so I didn¡¯t mind. Maybe by the time I finished reading to

    E, Moana would have returned from her walk and we could do something together as a family.

    E grinned and grabbed my hand, leading me over to the armchair by the window. I sat down and let

    her crawl up into myp, then wrapped my arm around her and cracked the old book open.

    The inside was just as dusty as the outside.

    ¡°Are you sure you want this one, E?¡± I asked, making a face at all of the dust. ¡°We have lots of

    books.¡±

    E shook her head. ¡°I want this one,¡± she insisted, pushing her lower lip out in an irresistible pout.

    ¡°Please? Pretty please?¡±

    I sighed and finally relented, although my fingers were already ck from handling this seemingly

    ancient book. I flipped to the next page, where the story immediately began. There was no cover page,

    and no title to be seen anywhere.

    ¡°Once upon a time,¡± I read, deciding that it wasn¡¯t worth arguing about and that I could make something

    up if the story got strange, ¡°there was an old man who lived all by himself.¡±

    A strange premise for a kids¡¯ book, I thought to myself, but kept reading.

    ¡°The old man didn¡¯t have any friends, and he didn¡¯t have any family. He never got married, and he

    never had children of his own. In fact, the children in the little vige that he lived in were afraid of him,

    as they saw his worn-out old house at the end of the street as being a cursed ce¡­ Are you sure you

    want me to read this, E? Won¡¯t you have nightmares?¡±

    E shook her head. ¡°Keep reading, daddy.¡±

    ¡°Alright¡­ The old man didn¡¯t mind being all alone, though, because he was working on something. You

    see, the old man was a skilled craftsman, and he was visited one night by a guardian spirit who told

    him that he had to make something very special: a golden knife¡­ with a wolf¡¯s head on the handle¡­¡±

    As I read the story, I felt my hands start to shake and my eyes widened. I nearly dropped the book as a

    lump grew in my throat.

    That knife was the knife that Moana had dreamed of¡­ The knife that would kill the Golden Wolf.

    ¡°Daddy?¡± E asked, tilting her head back to look up at me with her big eyes. ¡°Why did you stop

    reading?¡±

    I shook my head to snap out of it. It was just a story, and it was a somewhatmon one. It was only a

    coincidence that E found it in our extensive library here at the mansion.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll keep reading¡­ The old man worked hard every day to make the knife. He didn¡¯t

    know why he was tasked with making it or what it would be used for, only that it was extremely

    important¡­¡±

    Suddenly, I had a thought. ¡°E?¡± I asked. ¡°Where did you find this book?¡±

    E paused for a moment, then tilted her head back again and looked up at me.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t find it,¡± she said matter-of-factly.

    I furrowed my brow. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°You didn¡¯t find it in the library here?¡±

    E shook her head. ¡°No.¡±

    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.

    Now, I just felt confused. Surely this had to be a game that she was ying. ¡°Where did you get it,

    then?¡± I asked quietly.

    E simply shrugged. ¡°Grandpa gave it to me.¡±

    Suddenly, I snapped the book shut as my throat felt as though it would close up. ¡°When did he give this

    book to you?¡± I asked. I didn¡¯t recall my father giving E any gifts recently. He never gave her anything

    for her birthday or Christmas.

    E seemed hesitant, but I urged her again, and she finally admitted the truth. ¡°Just now, while I was

    ying outside. He was behind a tree. But he told me not to tell you, so promise that you won¡¯t tell him

    that I didn¡¯t listen.¡±

    All of a sudden, I felt my heart leap out of my chest. My father was here? How? Our patrol was

    airtight¡­ There was no way that he could have gotten through without being seen. I thought that surely

    E was ying a joke on me.

    Without thinking, I suddenly threw the book to the floor and stood, setting E down on the ground. I

    grabbed her firmly by both shoulders and looked deep into her frightened eyes.

    I didn¡¯t see any hint of a joke or a prank behind her eyes. Just fear and confusion.

    I knew, then, that this was all real. This book¡­ It wasn¡¯t just a coincidence.

    It was a taunt.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, daddy,¡± E whimpered, her lower lip quivering. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell grandpa that I didn¡¯t keep

    my promise¡ª¡±

    ¡°E, I¡¯m so d that you didn¡¯t listen to him and you did a good job,¡± I said, feeling my voice shake.

    ¡°Did you see where he went after that?¡±

    E nodded slowly. What she did next horrified me to my core.

    She pointed out toward the forest with her small finger, where Ist saw Kat and Moana walking¡­

    And when I painstakingly followed her finger and looked out into the pouring rain, my mate and her

    bodyguard were no longer anywhere to be seen.

 Chapter 233

    Chapter 233

    #Chapter 233: The Cliff

    Moana

    ¡°Kat?¡± I called out.

    My bodyguard was nowhere to be found. One minute she was right beside me, and the next she was

    just¡­ gone. She just took off running and didn¡¯t look back.

    Maybe she found the valerian roots, I thought to myself, although I think I knew deep down that it

    wasn¡¯t the case. She had left me; although I didn¡¯t know why.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    I started to jog in the direction that she ran off to. Over my head, the wind began howling more

    aggressively and the sky darkened as a horrible thunderstorm began to form in the sky. No matter

    which way I turned, I couldn¡¯t see the mansion anywhere.

    And we had taken so many turns that I didn¡¯t even know where I should go to find it now.

    ¡°Okay¡­¡± I stopped and shut my eyes for a moment, thinking. We hadn¡¯t been walking for that long¡­

    Maybe if I just got my bearings, I could find my way back to the mansion. When I opened my eyes

    again, I resolved to start off by heading upwards, since I remembered walking down a gradual slope.

    But from here, I couldn¡¯t even see where the slope began. The only marker I had nearby was the

    stream that we crossed, but I didn¡¯t know where to go from there. If only I had been paying attention to

    all of the winding twists and turns that Kat took me on.

    Suddenly, I heard a soft voice calling over the wind.

    ¡°Moana!¡± it called.

    It was Kat.

    I let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Kat?! Where are you?!¡± I shouted, cupping my hands around my mouth in

    order to be heard better over the sound of the whistling wind.

    There was a silence, and then the little voice rang out again.

    ¡°This way! Follow my voice!¡±

    I felt immensely relieved as I began to jog in the direction of Kat¡¯s voice. I guessed that she really did

    find the valerian roots, or maybe she got a little lost herself when she ran off. I trusted Kat, and Edrick

    did a thorough background check on her; it was silly of me to think that she would just leave me in the

    woods like that.

    ¡°Kat?!¡± I called out again, still jogging. ¡°Say something!¡±

    Another silence.

    ¡°This way!¡±

    I froze. Her voice wasing from the opposite direction now. Did I somehow run past her? I whirled

    around and strained my eyes to see in that direction, but I couldn¡¯t see anything through the thick mist

    that was beginning to settle in the forest around me.

    ¡°Shit¡­¡± I whispered to myself. ¡°Kat?! I can¡¯t see anything!¡±

    I waited again for a few moments, but heard nothing except for the sound of the wind. More rain began

    to fall, even harder than before, and I shivered in my thin coat as I started to get soaked.

    ¡°I have a bad feeling,¡± Mina suddenly said, her voice echoing in my mind. ¡°I think we should just try to

    get home without her.¡±

    I nodded to myself. Even if Kat wasn¡¯t intentionally leading me on a wild goose chase, I needed to

    prioritize my baby¡¯s safety. If I stayed out here for too long, anything could happen in this weather.

    Sighing, I pulled my hood up and began to trudge forward.

    But I only made it a few steps before I realized that I didn¡¯t know where I was. I cursed again under my

    breath as I looked around, but everything looked the same.

    ¡°Okay¡­ I have to just decide on a direction,¡± I whispered, half to myself and half to my wolf. ¡°At the

    very least, I¡¯ll wind up on a road and maybe someone driving past will find me.¡±

    I swallowed and decided to go with my gut. I began walking, keeping my arms folded across my chest

    to hold my jacket tight against me. It was already almost entirely soaked through, though. At least I had

    the trees to cover me a bit, but the rain was so heavy that the trees weren¡¯t able to help much.

    ¡°Mina, can you pick up a scent to get us home?¡± I asked out loud.

    My wolf fell silent for a few moments. I could sense that she was trying to pick up a trail to get home,

    but it wasn¡¯t working. Finally, she seemed to give up.

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Moana. The rain is dampening my sense of smell, and since I

    haven¡¯t shifted yet it wasn¡¯t very strong to begin with.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± I sighed, louder this time, and kept going.

    I didn¡¯t know how long I was walking for, but eventually the trees seemed to be thinning out a bit, which

    was promising. Maybe I was reaching the edge of the forest. The mist was too heavy to see the

    mansion, but I figured that maybe it was lying ahead of me and I just couldn¡¯t see it until I got closer.

    The trees thinned out a little more.

    ¡°Edrick?!¡± I called into the mist as loud as I could, just hoping that he was nearby and could hear me.

    But there was no answer.

    I stopped then, and turned around in a full circle as I strained my eyes to see through the mist. I didn¡¯t

    see the mansion anywhere.

    In fact¡­

    Suddenly, I pped my hand over my mouth and let out a terrified shriek as I realized where I was.

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen this ce!¡± I cried out loud, turning around more frantically now. The wind blew some of the

    mist away, revealing exactly what I feared.

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    A sheer drop below a cliff, just a few feet away from where I stood. If I hadn¡¯t stopped instinctively, I

    might have walked right over the edge.

    This was the cliff from my dreams.

    ¡°How?¡± I whispered, my voice and my hands shaking. How did this happen? Kat was supposed to be

    my bodyguard; she was supposed to protect me, and yet for some reason, she led me straight to the

    spot where I died over and over again in my visions.

    I didn¡¯t know what to do. ¡°Edrick?!¡± I called out again, but my voice was drowned out by the wind. No

    matter how many times I screamed his name, even until my throat became hoarse, there was no

    answer.

    And there wouldn¡¯t be any answer, because somehow I knew that no one was nearby. I was all alone.

    ¡°Mina, we have to do something,¡± I said, whirling around frantically as I expected the horrifying visage

    of Michael toe floating out of the mist with that goddamn golden knife in his hand. ¡°Isn¡¯t there

    anything you can do?!¡±

    ¡°I can release my scent,¡± Mina replied, sounding just as panicked as I felt. ¡°But I¡¯ll need to use some of

    the baby¡¯s strength. Are you willing to take that risk?¡±

    At my wolf¡¯s words, I felt my heart drop into the pits of my stomach. But I had no choice; it was either

    allow Mina to release her scent and potentially hurt the baby, or don¡¯t let her release her scent and

    potentially kill both of us.

    Finally, I nodded.

    ¡°The baby¡¯s strength has proven to be incredible before,¡± I finally said, clenching my fists tightly next to

    my sides. ¡°Try it now.¡±

 Chapter 234

    Chapter 234

    #Chapter 234: The Hunt

    Edrick

    E slowly pointed her little finger in the direction where Ist saw Moana and Kat walking over by the

    edge of the forest.

    Only now, no one was there.

    I felt my heart drop as I quickly scanned the treeline. I couldn¡¯t see a sh of red hair anywhere I

    looked, no matter how hard I strained my eyes through the light drizzle of rain and the darkening sky.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    Maybe she came back in without me realizing, I thought to myself.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, daddy?¡± E asked, c*****g her head.

    I shook my head and stood, forcing a weak smile so as not to cause E to panic. ¡°Nothing, baby. Why

    don¡¯t you go up to your room and y? Ask one of the maids to stay with you.¡±

    E gave me a puzzled look, but didn¡¯t protest. I watched in horror as she ran off to y, and then I

    bolted into the kitchen to look for Selina.

    ¡°Have you seen Moana?¡± I asked once I found Selina bent over the sink, washing dishes. She made a

    face and shook her head as she wiped her hands off on her apron.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen her since she went on her walk with her bodyguard,¡± she said, turning to face me with a

    frown on her face. ¡°Why? Is everything alright?¡±

    I felt as though I would be sick. ¡°Call the security guards,¡± I demanded as I grabbed my coat off of the

    hook. ¡°I¡¯m going to look for her. Tell them that¡­ my father was seen on the grounds.¡±

    Selina¡¯s eyes went wide, but I didn¡¯t have time to exin. Like a sh, I took off through the door and

    burst outside. It had begun to rain a bit by now, and the sky was rapidly darkening while howling wind

    roared overhead. Even if my father didn¡¯t get to Moana before I did, I still had to worry about her getting

    lost or hurt in the storm.

    As I ran up to the edge of the forest, I felt as though my heart was falling into the very depths of my

    stomach. Moana was still nowhere in sight.

    ¡°Moana?!¡± I called into the dark forest, peering in and using my night vision to look around. ¡°Are you

    there?!¡±

    There was no answer. I cursed under my breath as I pushed forward into the woods, hoping that I could

    at least pick up some sort of trail. The rain and wind already wiped away any traces of footprints in the

    dirt, though, which only made it more difficult.

    God dammit, I thought to myself as I hurriedly walked further into the forest, keeping my head on a

    constant swivel in case Moana ¡ª or someone else ¡ª suddenly appeared. I never should have let her

    go on that walk.

    Suddenly, my wolf spoke up for the first time in a while

    ¡°Something is wrong,¡± he said. ¡°I can sense it.¡±

    I stopped in my tracks. My heart was racing a mile a minute. ¡°What do you sense, exactly?¡± I asked out

    loud. ¡°Tell me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, exactly,¡± Eddy replied. ¡°But I can tell that she¡¯s alive, and she¡¯s afraid. Maybe she got lost,

    or¡­¡±

    My wolf stopped speaking. I knew what he was going to suggest: that something even worse happened

    to her than simply getting lost. Of course I already knew that that would be a risk. The moment that E

    said that the book she had came from my father, I knew that Moana might have been in danger.

    But at the very least, if Eddy could sense her fear, then at least we knew that she was alive.

    Now, I just had to get to her first, before my dad got to her.

    I quickened my pace, and started to run further into the forest. Up ahead, I scanned the forest with my

    night vision and smelled the air for anything; any scent, any broken twig, any footprint in the dirt.

    Suddenly, something caught my eye: a fallen tree with moss growing on top of it. Some of the moss

    was broken on one spot, and it looked fresh, like someone stepped over it and tripped on it just a little

    bit. It was faint, but as I ran up to it and looked more closely, I could tell that it was exactly that.

    ¡°She¡¯s been this way,¡± I said out loud, jumping over the log. I ran further past the log, cursing her

    bodyguard under my breath.

    Where was Kat? I gave her strict orders not to let Moana out of her sight. Unless something happened

    to Kat, there would be no reason for her to let Moana wander and get lost or hurt. I hated to think that

    something else may have happened¡­ What if Kat wasn¡¯t as good as we thought? What if she was up

    to something?

    ¡°No,¡± I said to myself, thinking deeply as I continued to run. ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­¡±

    I ran for a little while longer, and finally caught something else in the path: a faint footprint in the dirt. I

    ran up to it and came to a skidding halt, then crouched down and touched the outline of it in the soil. It

    was a small footprint¡­ It was definitely from either Moana¡¯s or Kat¡¯s boot.

    I stood, feeling as though I was getting closer. ¡°Moana!¡± I called out as I continued to run again, this

    time faster. ¡°Kat!¡±

    My voice was nearly drowned out by the sound of the wind and the rain, but I just kept yelling more and

    more in the hopes that they would be around somewhere. By now, the forest was almost pitch ck

    from the darkening sky. Even though it was still onlyte morning, the storm was casting such dark

    clouds ahead that it didn¡¯t even feel like daytime.

    I couldn¡¯t help but imagine Moanaying motionless at the bottom of a hill, having hit her head on a

    rock or something after falling in this darkness. She didn¡¯t have night vision like me¡­

    I had to stop imagining such dark things. I pushed myself harder, running even faster through the

    woods until I came to a small stream running across the path. I stopped there, inspecting the rocks for

    any signs of the stream being crossed¡­

    But then, all of a sudden as I crouched down by the stream, I picked up a scent.

    It was faint¡­ but I recognized that sweet scent immediately. In an instant, I was transported back to

    that day at the maze, when I was searching for Moana with my blindfold on. The first time that I

    experienced that sweet, tantalizing scent, I didn¡¯t think much of it¡­ but now, it was a lifeline.

    ¡°Moana,¡± I whispered. As I stood, I felt my eyes begin to glow in the darkness, and her faint scent

    outlined a path for me that led straight to her.

    Without a second thought, I let Eddy take over and I shifted. I leaped across the stream and began to

    follow the trail, not thinking about anything else except for one thing.

    I had to get to Moana now, before my father did. And if I found him with her, especially if he did

    anything to hurt her or our baby¡­

    I was going to kill him without a second thought.

 Chapter 235

    Chapter 235

    #Chapter 235: All Alone on the Cliff

    Moana

    ¡°The baby¡¯s strength has proven to be incredible before,¡± I finally said, clenching my fists tightly next to

    my sides. ¡°Try it now.¡±

    After a moment of waiting, I felt my wolf¡¯s power surge ever so slightly as she released arge amount

    of her scent.

    ¡°There,¡± she said, sounding somewhat satisfied with herself. ¡°I released a lot of scent. Even more than

    before, when you were in the Rogue district. If Edrick is anywhere nearby, he¡¯ll certainly smell you.¡±

    I felt a bit relieved, but notpletely. There was still the threat of Michaeling out of that mist, just

    like in my dreams. And now the rain and the wind were only getting even more intense as time went on.

    ¡°Kat?!¡± I called out into the mist, hoping for a response. ¡°Edrick?!¡±

    There was no answer. My quivering, scared voice was almostpletely drowned out by the sound of

    the wind and the rain anyway.

    I felt so stupid for following Kat into the woods. I should have stayed up at the mansion, where it was

    safe. If Michael was somehow out there, at least I could be close to Edrick and the other security

    guards; now, I didn¡¯t even know where I was because of the thick mist that was settling around me.

    And yet, at the same time, all of this almost felt like fate. Like it was all some sort of grand n to get

    me out here where Michael could kill me.

    Was this my fate as the Golden Wolf? To die at the hands of an evil man? Was this what happened to

    all of the Golden Wolves that came before me?

    I shivered, feeling the cold of the rain starting to seep through my clothes. My hair and my face were

    soaked, and I protectively rubbed my protruding belly, just hoping that if nothing else bad happened,

    that this cold wouldn¡¯t harm the baby.

    Tears started to well up in my eyes as I stared at the mist. Thankfully, not far off to the side, there was a

    tree standing all alone next to the cliff. I shakily made my way over to it, taking care not to slip or lose

    my footing, and sat down beneath the tree where the leaves at least kept me somewhat protected from

    the elements.

    As I sat there, shivering in the cold and the rain and the wind, I thought back on my vision from the

    night before with Dr. Rhodes. My vision wasn¡¯t particrly any different from the others, but there was

    something new that I sensed.

    I sensed someone else in the mist, as though they were working alongside Michael.

    Was that Kat that I sensed? All along, was she secretly working with Michael? Was drawing me away

    from the mansion and lying to me, and thus getting me lost in the woods, all part of her n?

    Even just thinking about it made me sick. To think that I had trusted her¡­ And now thest image I had

    of her shing through my mind was the eerie smile she gave me before she bolted off into the woods

    without a trace, leaving me alone and scared.

    I didn¡¯t know exactly how long I waited there beneath the tree, but it felt like a long time. The wind and

    the rain whipped at my hair and my clothes, and I shivered violently as I pulled my light jacket closer

    around my shoulders and drew my knees up to my chest.

    All the while, I felt as though I couldn¡¯t tear my eyes away from the mist.

    At any moment, I expected one of three people toe out of the mist: Kat, Edrick, or Michael. I hoped

    that it was Edrick, but if my visions were telling me the truth about what was to happen here, then it

    would likely be Michael. And I had no way to protect myself, nowhere to go, and no one could hear my

    screams.

    ¡°Can you sense him yet?¡± I asked my wolf.

    ¡°No.¡± She sounded grim. ¡°The rain is dampening my senses too much. It¡¯s the perfect storm.¡±

    My wolf¡¯s words made me feel even more sick to my stomach than I already was. The perfect storm¡­

    Kat had to have lured me out here on purpose. This was their n all along ¡ª to get me isted in a

    dangerous ce with no way to get help or to help myself.

    And now, I was probably just ying into their n by releasing my scent so that I could be easily

    found.

    I opened my mouth to tell my wolf to retract my scent out of fear that it would draw Michael to me.

    ¡°Mina, I think we should¡ª¡± I began, but my voice faltered as I suddenly saw a dark figure materializing

    in the mist.

    My heart practically leaped out of my chest. I scrambled to my feet, holding onto the tree with one hand

    to steady myself as I strained my eyes to see into the mist.

    ¡°Edrick¡­?¡± I whispered. Oh, how I hoped that it was Edrick.

    The figure inched a little closer, like they were testing their own footing. As the figure came closer, I

    could see that it was a man. My spirits raised a little; it had to be Edrick. The figure¡¯s frame looked too

    simr to Edrick, and the way that the figure was walking so carefully made me think that it couldn¡¯t be

    Michael.

    ¡°Edrick!¡± I shouted, waving my arm. ¡°Over here!¡±

    ¡°Moana, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea¡­¡± My wolf started to get agitated, and bristled as the figure

    continued to approach.

    The figure froze as my voice carried across the mist. I felt my heart stop, caught in my throat. Time

    seemed to stand still as my fight or flight kicked in, quickly followed by the feeling of dread caused by

    knowing that I couldn¡¯t fight or flee, and I had just made a grave mistake.

    The figure, after standing there for a moment, finally started to approach once again. I saw the figure¡¯s

    body be more solid, and I pped my hand over my mouth in terror, my eyes widening as I

    realized that it wasn¡¯t Edrick at all.

    It was Michael.

    ¡°Hello, Moana.¡± His voice echoed in my mind, grating against my ears as it rang too loudly in my skull. I

    felt myself wince, and I started to get dizzy. All I could do was continue to clutch the tree as my eyes

    scanned the mist behind Michael¡¯s figure in the hopes that Edrick would be behind him, waiting to

    attack him and rescue me.

    Michael fully stepped out of the mist and stopped just a few yards in front of me. There was that same

    cold, twisted smile on his face from my nightmares.

    The way that his hair clung to his forehead from the rain¡­ The way that his glowing eyes stared at me

    unblinkingly¡­

    It was all exactly like my visions.

    As my breath shook and my heart pounded out of my chest, my eyes slowly made their way down

    Michael¡¯s arm, down to his hand that hung at his side.

    And it wasn¡¯t empty; something gold glinted in the light, held tightly in his hand.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    He had the Golden Knife.

 Chapter 236

    Chapter 236

    #Chapter 236: The Evil Father

    Moana

    ¡°Hello, Moana.¡± Michael¡¯s harsh voice rang so loudly in my skull that I winced and staggered

    backwards a little.

    My eyes widened as I looked down and saw what he was holding so tightly in his hand: the Golden

    Knife. The knife that was going to kill me. The knife that I felt plunge into my chest over and over again

    in my visions.

    ¡°M-Michael,¡± I said, taking another step back, ¡°what are you doing? W-Why do you have that knife?¡±

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    Michael slowly took another step toward me. I could see the droplets of rain sliding down the de of

    the golden knife in Michael¡¯s hand and the droplets falling off of the sharp, curved tip.

    ¡°M-Michael?¡± I repeated as he continued to approach. My eyes searched wildly for a way to escape,

    but there was no way around him ¡ª not without being able to see more than a few feet in front of me. I

    didn¡¯t know if anyone else was with him, or what would happen to me if I ran into the mist blindly.

    Michael sighed. He lifted the knife up and inspected it in the light, turning it this way and that. I could

    see how the golden de glinted, how it sparkled from the rain falling on it. Everything from the wolf

    head on the handle to the way that the de curved slightly was exactly the way it looked in my

    visions.

    ¡°I don¡¯t particrly want to kill you, you know,¡± Michael said, wiping the water off of the de with his

    sleeve.

    I shook my head. ¡°You don¡¯t have to,¡± I whimpered. ¡°We can both walk away from here. If you want me

    to leave your family alone, then I will. I¡¯ll do whatever you want, so long as my baby is safe.¡±

    For a few long moments, Michael just stared at me with his glowing eyes that pierced through the rain

    and the mist between us. I pleaded with him with my own eyes to just let me go, and all the while I

    begged my wolf to do something¡­ Anything.

    ¡°If Edrick isn¡¯ting, then we need to shift,¡± I thought to my wolf.

    ¡°I¡¯m trying as hard as I can, Moana,¡± she replied, sounding just as panicked as I felt. ¡°But it¡¯s too hard. I

    feel¡­ Stuck.¡±

    ¡°Keep trying!¡±

    Michael took another step toward me, and I felt my heart get caught in my throat. I took another step

    backwards, but when I nced over my shoulder I could see the edge of the cliff now as the wind blew

    the mist around, and I could see that I was dangerously close to the edge.

    If there was no other way out¡­ I wondered if I should just jump. Take my death into my own hands,

    and at least rob Michael of the satisfaction of killing me himself.

    ¡°I don¡¯t give a damn about your baby,¡± Michael growled. ¡°I have to kill you, just like I killed your parents.

    I should have killed you first, before they had the chance to hide you.¡±

    My eyes widened. ¡°M-My parents?¡± I whispered. All this time¡­ They left me on the doorstep of the

    orphanage because they were trying to save me; not because they were ashamed of me. They knew

    about my true nature, so they did their best by hiding me amongst humans.

    Michael chuckled. ¡°What, you still didn¡¯t figure it out?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯ll admit, I didn¡¯t realize who you were

    the first couple of times we met. I thought you were just a human toy of my son¡¯s, another woman who

    trapped him with the bastard child in your belly so that you could get rich quick. But I was wrong.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°But why?¡± I asked. ¡°Why is it so important to you to kill the Golden Wolf? You would

    have killed me as a baby to achieve your goal? You willingly left a child as an orphan? And now you¡¯re

    going to kill a pregnant woman? Why?¡±

    For a long time, Michael didn¡¯t answer. I felt my entire body start to shake as I became filled with an

    inexplicable rage. ¡°Why?!¡± I demanded. My voice screamed out like a banshee, echoing across the cliff

    andnding on Michael. He almost looked taken aback by my rage.

    But he onlyughed.

    ¡°You would never understand,¡± he said. ¡°Some of us actually have a lot to lose. A good-for-nothing

    moron such as yourself would never understand the implications behind the Golden Wolf¡¯s existence.

    Besides¡­ By you and your baby dying now, you¡¯ll be saving generations of pain. The Golden Wolf will

    always be hunted, and the gene for it is in your blood. If I cut off the bloodline now¡­¡±

    I felt sick, sicker than I felt before. My lip quivered as I spoke. ¡°You¡¯re disgusting and vile,¡± I growled,

    feeling myself gain strength and confidence. If I was going to die now, then I would go with dignity.

    ¡°What sort of a monster wipes out the entire bloodline of a creature that only exists to bring peace?¡±

    Once again, Edrick¡¯s evil fatherughed and took another step toward me. ¡°You know nothing about

    peace,¡± he said, his voice so low I could hardly hear it over the sound of the wind and the rain.

    I felt my stomach lurch. ¡°Edrick!!¡± I screamed again, hoping beyond hope that he would be close

    enough to hear me, and he would know that I needed him now. I continued to push Mina to shift, but

    her progress was pretty much stagnant by now.

    ¡°My son can¡¯t hear you, you dumb w***e,¡± Michael chided.

    I shook my head and scowled. I took one more step back and felt the unmistakable feeling of the rocks

    on the edge of the cliff crunching under my feet. I felt something give way, and heard the sound of a

    few small rocks tumbling down into the abyss.

    ¡°He¡¯ll know that it was you,¡± I snarled. ¡°He¡¯lle for you, and when he does, you¡¯ll wish that you were

    dead.¡±

    Michael simply shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t know my son like I do. Above all else, he loves nothing but the

    money, the luxuries that our status has afforded him. I can guarantee that he¡¯ll take it any day over a

    single woman such as yourself.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong,¡± I growled. ¡°You don¡¯t know him at all.¡±

    ¡°Besides¡­¡± Michael went on undisturbed, as though he didn¡¯t even hear what I said. ¡°No one will ever

    know that I was even here. When ¡ª or rather, if ¡ª they find your body someday at the bottom of this

    mountain, they¡¯ll think that you fell. Hell, maybe they¡¯ll think that you jumped. It doesn¡¯t matter to me.

    No one would ever trace it back to me.¡±

    ¡°Just like how they didn¡¯t trace the death of Ethan¡¯s mother back to you?¡± I asked.

    Michael¡¯s eyes widened ever so slightly. It was only a split second, but during that split second I knew

    that I struck a chord with him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak on things you know nothing about.¡±

    Michael took another step forward. There was nothing I could do at this point¡­ I didn¡¯t know where

    Edrick was, or if he even knew that I was missing yet. I had nowhere to run, no way to fight back or

    protect myself.

    All I could do was shut my eyes and pray for my wolf to finally shift.

    And if she couldn¡¯t do it¡­ Then I would have to jump.

 Chapter 237

    Chapter 237

    #Chapter 237: The Golden Light

    Moana

    I thought for sure that I was going to die.

    ¡°Please,¡± I begged my wolf, ¡°I need to shift. It¡¯s the only way to save my baby.¡±

    The strong wind whipped against my hair and my clothes, and the rain had soaked all the way down to

    my skin by now. Behind me, I had nowhere to go but down. My heels already stood on the edge of the

    cliff, and I was just a small push from falling to my death.

    And yet, even then, as Michael slowly stalked toward me I knew that I would rather jump to my death

    than give him the satisfaction of killing me himself.

    But I did still have a chance; maybe, if I could distract him and stall for just a little bit longer, I would be

    able to get help. I was certain that Edrick was on his way to rescue me. I could feel it. I just needed to

    give him the time to find me, and hope that he would be able to pick up my scent by now.

    I pointed at the knife, trying my best to hide the violent shaking in my hand.

    ¡°That knife,¡± I said, noticing how Michael¡¯s eyes followed my finger down to the golden knife in his

    hand, ¡°why use that to kill me? You could just push me.¡±

    Michael was silent for a moment. His eyes stared down at the knife during that moment, and I decided

    to take it as an opportunity to start inching to the left. Maybe I could get around him. I could run into the

    mist, although I didn¡¯t know what the mist held in store for me. It was better than just standing here and

    letting him murder me.

    Ethan was smart and cunning, and yet my stalling tactics worked on him that night in the warehouse.

    But there was a difference between Michael and Ethan: Ethan secretly loved me, and he didn¡¯t want to

    kill me. Michael, on the other hand, didn¡¯t care about my life. He only saw me as an infestation on the

    earth that he needed to wipe out.

    And along with that, Michael was even smarter than Ethan.

    Before I could move two inches to the right, Michael stepped into my way.

    ¡°Do you take me for a fool, w***e?¡± he snarled, taking another step in my direction. ¡°You can¡¯t stall for

    time or pull the wool over my eyes. Who do you think I am?¡±

    I tried to swallow, but I couldn¡¯t. My tongue felt too thick and hard in my mouth, like I had swallowed a

    brick.

    Next, I decided to try to bargain my way out.

    ¡°The Golden Wolf may be a harbinger of peace, but only if it chooses to do so,¡± I said, my voice

    trembling as I nervously clenched my fists at my sides. ¡°If I promise not to get in the way of any of your

    ns, whatever they may be¡ª¡±

    ¡°Oh, shut up!¡± Michael growled. He took another step toward me. I felt myself teeter backwards a bit,

    making my stomach drop. I managed to right myself.

    Michael took another step. Suddenly, I clenched my eyes shut and conveyed all of my fear, my pain,

    and my urgency to my wolf.

    ¡°Mina, we need to shift. NOW.¡±

    Suddenly, I felt a surge of power. It was different from all of the times that I felt it before. It was stronger,

    more potent. I felt it course through my body as though a drug had been injected directly into my veins.

    It was somehow sickening and enlightening, all at the same time.

    ¡°Ahh! No!¡± I heard Michael groan. I cracked my eyes open, and they widened when I saw Michael

    staggering backwards, holding his arm up over his eyes to protect himself from the blinding golden light

    that was emanating from me.

    Then, I felt the power surge once more. A gust of wind blew, although I was certain that it came from

    me and not from the storm. It knocked Michael backwards a little more, and he crouched down, trying

    to push against it to get close to me.

    At that moment, I felt my feet lift off of the ground. I had no wings, and yet some sort of ethereal force

    was lifting me up, holding me higher and higher above the ground until I stood above Michael¡¯s head.

    Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.

    Suddenly, it felt as though a thousand lifetimes of knowledge were shoved into my head, all the way

    from the first Golden Wolf to my parents. It was as though all of my ancestors who died before me

    stood around me, filling me with their light.

    I saw my parents standing in front of me. I had never seen them before, and yet I knew that they were

    my parents. My mom¡¯s red hair was just like mine¡­ My dad had my smile as he looked at me. I felt

    tearse to my eyes as I saw their hands intertwined, and their memories floated through my mind,

    filling me with all of the love that they had for me before they were brutally murdered.

    I saw my mom and my dad dancing together in the living room of our little house on the night that I was

    born. My mom¡¯s belly was swollen, and her water hadn¡¯t broken yet. They danced along andughed

    with each other while music yed on the radio.

    When my mom¡¯s water finally broke, my dad rushed her to the hospital. Just a few hourster, I was

    born. My mom held me in her arms and kissed my forehead.

    ¡°You came so easily, you little thing,¡± she whispered, touching my nose with her finger and making me

    smile. My dad stood over her, his cheek pressed against her head as he looked lovingly down at both

    of us. There were tears in his eyes, and he reached down to touch me.

    I wrapped my tiny little finger around his and squeezed so tight that my dad yelped and shook his hand

    away, and they bothughed.

    After that, I saw my mom sobbing, carrying the little bundle that was me as a baby up to the front door

    of the orphanage. She set me down on the steps and touched my face, then kissed my forehead. I

    wouldn¡¯t let go of her hand; my tiny little fingers were wrapped too tightly around her index finger.

    She reached into her pocket and pulled something out ¡ª the tooth ¡ª and with a final sob, she yanked

    her finger away and put the tooth in its ce.

    I gripped the tooth so tightly and bawled as my mom ran off into the night.

    I saw all of this and more during just the few milliseconds that I floated there. I didn¡¯t realize that my

    eyes were closed until I opened them, tears streaming down my cheeks.

    Michael stood now in front of me, his grin widening as I lowered back toward the ground. I still hadn¡¯t

    shifted.

    But it didn¡¯t matter¡­

    Because Edrick was creeping up behind Michael, in his wolf form.

    My mate hade to save me after all, and he was poised to attack.

 Chapter 238

    Chapter 238

    #Chapter 238: Buying Time

    Edrick

    I ran for a long time to try to find Moana.

    Because of the fierce wind and the rain, her scent got a bit jumbled and my own wolf¡¯s tracking abilities

    were slightly dulled. Not only that, but because of the rain there were multiple small mudslides in the

    forest, and more than once I found myself slipping and sliding and getting turned around on my path.

    I could sense that something was wrong, though. I sensed someone else¡­ And it wasn¡¯t Kat or any of

    the other bodyguards.

    Moana seemed to be in distress, beyond what was reasonable for someone who got lost in the rain.

    And after what E told me about my father, I could imagine what was happening.

    I just hoped that I would get to her in time.

    Finally, her scent became stronger. Before, it was faint and I was even beginning to think that I was

    going to lose it entirely and that I would never find her. It became a lot stronger all of a sudden, in fact.

    My senses were suddenly ovee by her scent, and I felt myself being drawn straight to her.

    Feeling myself filled with a new sense of hope, I shot forward through the forest in the direction that

    Moana¡¯s scent was emanating from.

    ¡°I¡¯ming,¡± I thought, pushing myself to run faster than I ever had. ¡°I¡¯ming, Moana.¡±

    Suddenly, I burst out from the treeline into a thick mist that had settled on the cliffside. I could hardly

    see in front of me, so I slowed down and stalked forward, keeping my head low as I sniffed the ground.

    Up ahead, something finally came into view: a bright golden light. I felt my heart pump faster as I

    picked up my pace again and followed it.

    When the mist separated enough so that I could see up ahead, I saw her. It was Moana; she was safe.

    At least, it seemed like it. I had little exnation for what else was happening.

    A bright, golden light was emanating out from her body. She was levitating seven or eight feet into the

    air, with her head tilted back and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her palms were

    outstretched at her sides, and she just floated there, emanating this blinding light.

    But she wasn¡¯t alone; my father was with her.

    He was standing in front of her, holding up his arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light, and he had

    the Golden Knife in his other hand as he tried to push forward to get closer to her.

    I knew what was happening now: she was about to shift, which would mean that the Golden Knife

    would be useless once it finally happened. All I needed to do was hold my father off until she did shift.

    I was still in my wolf form, but I used my mindlink with my father to call out to him.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked, stalking a little closer.

    My father froze. He was crouching slightly as he struggled against the invisible force that surrounded

    Moana, but he stood when he heard my voice. I froze, too, and watched as his head slowly turned to

    look at me over his shoulder.

    There was a dark, twisted grin on his face.

    Behind him, a bolt of lightning shed and lit up the dark sky and half of his face. That sudden sh

    only made him look even more evil.

    ¡°Stay out of this, son,¡± he replied, using our mindlink to speak without moving his lips. ¡°You can¡¯t get in

    the way of this now.¡±

    I felt a low growl start to rumble in the back of my throat. ¡°I won¡¯t let you kill her.¡±

    ¡°Oh, look at you,¡± my father said, speaking out loud now. ¡°Now, you choose to y the part of the hero?

    What happened to the Edrick that I knew all that time ago, who agreed that the Golden Wolf should be

    killed so that we can keep making our money? Hm?¡±

    I took another step closer. ¡°I¡¯ve changed. I don¡¯t want that now¡­ Screw the money.¡±

    My fatherughed. ¡°Young people are so fickle. I was like that once, too, you know. I thought that the

    world could be a better ce. But as it turns out, it¡¯s impossible. Humans are evil, stupid, vile little

    creatures¡­ I know that now. I don¡¯t care if they suffer, so long as we get to keep living our life the way

    it is, unchanged.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but scoff as I stared at my dad. Moana still floated above us, out of reach. She seemed

    to be in some sort of trance; maybe she was having more visions. I hoped that she would stay up there

    until she shifted fully, and it would be hrious to watch my dad have to deal with the fact that she

    shifted right in front of him, just out of his reach.

    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± I asked. ¡°And what changed your mind about that, hm? It wasn¡¯t a human woman who you

    knocked up, was it?¡±

    My dad¡¯s eyes widened. Of course I knew the truth behind what happened with Ethan¡¯s mother; I¡¯d

    known for years.

    I knew that Ethan¡¯s mother was a human. Ethan was a half-blood, although he was lucky enough to

    have a wolf and pass as a werewolf. But when his mother tried to take Ethan away from my father, he

    killed her and passed it off as a suicide.

    Why my dad was so interested in keeping that kid for himself, I didn¡¯t know. Maybe it was because my

    mother wouldn¡¯t touch him again after he cheated on her, and he wanted another heir in case I didn¡¯t

    work out.

    ¡°Perhaps it was because of that,¡± my dad said with a smirk. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. Oh, look¡­ The

    Golden Wolf ising back down to earth after all.¡±

    I looked up then to see that Moana was beginning to float back down. Her eyes opened, and it was

    then that I noticed that there were tears streaming down her cheeks. Her eyes were filled with a sense

    of mncholy, but when they locked on mine, they filled with hope.

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    I just needed to keep my dad busy until she shifted¡­ It was bound to happen any moment now.

    Another growl rumbled in my throat, and I pushed forward. My father stood unwaveringly in front of me.

    He was a fool if he thought that I loved our money so much that I would let him kill Moana right before

    my very own eyes.

    ¡°Look away, Edrick,¡± my dad said, chuckling in a monstrous manner with that same sick grin on his face

    as he twirled the Golden Knife in his hand. Just looking at him made me sick to my stomach and filled

    me with a rage that I had never felt before, not even for Ethan on the night that he tried to kill Moana

    and E in the warehouse. ¡°This won¡¯t be pretty¡­ But I promise that it will be quick for her, if that

    makes you feel any better. Just one stab, and then she¡¯ll fall from this mountain and the Golden Wolf¡¯s

    bloodline will be over.¡±

    The growl that was rumbling in my throat grew.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be so quick for you,¡± I said.

 Chapter 239

    Chapter 239

    #Chapter 239: Down to Earth

    Moana

    I opened my eyes, and started to panic as I felt myself starting toe back down. The shifting

    process wasn¡¯tplete, and although I could feel myself shifting a little more with each moment, I

    was worried that Michael would kill me before I could shift fully.

    However, my eyes widened as I saw Edrick standing in the mist behind Michael.

    ¡°Edrick!¡± I called, feeling my heart lift at the sight of him. He came for me after all¡­

    His glowing silver eyes met mine for the briefest of moments.

    ¡°Hold on,¡± he said, his voice reverberating in my skull. ¡°I¡¯ll buy you some time.¡±

    Suddenly, as I came back down, Michael lurched forward with the knife in his hand. I shrieked as I was

    practically touching the ground now, and held my hands up in self defense. But Edrick was too fast, and

    dashed forward.

    I watched in horror as Edrick grabbed Michael by the back of his shirt cor and threw him backwards,

    putting himself between us. He growled and raised his hackles as he stalked closer to Michael, who

    was scrambling to his feet.

    Michael shifted next into arge, gray wolf with a menacing appearance. I gasped at the sight of him;

    he was even bigger than Edrick, somehow.

    ¡°Edrick, no¡ª¡± I said, reaching out to touch Edrick¡¯s fur. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous. Let¡¯s just run away.¡±

    But Edrick didn¡¯t seem to be listening. I could tell that his sights were set on taking down his father.

    The two wolves faced each other, snarling and pacing around in a circle. I wondered if they were

    saying something to each other telepathically, but I couldn¡¯t be sure.

    Suddenly, a sharp pain overtook my head. I yelped and fell to my knees, clutching the side of my head

    where the pain rang out. I was starting to shift; I could feel it. The sensation of my bones and my atoms

    shifting and changing made me almost sick, and I felt as though I could retch right there on the spot.

    While I was on the ground, I heard the snarling intensify. Edrick leaped forward and collided with

    Michael mid-air, and all I could do was watch as they fought viciously in a flurry of teeth and ws and

    blood.

    This was so much more vicious than the fight with Ethan. Michael wanted to kill me so badly that he

    was willing to kill his own son.

    Michael¡¯srge paw made contact with Edrick¡¯s neck, sending Edrick skidding off to the side. Michael

    started to run at me, and I shrieked again.

    ¡°Edrick!¡± I screamed. I tried to scramble to my feet, but it was no use. The pain was traveling down my

    neck, over my shoulders and my arms, and it was slowly working its way down my spine.

    The pain seared through my body. I clutched at the dirt with my hands while I shook violently from the

    ache in my bones, and could only watch in a state of abject horror while Michael charged at me.

    Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    But then, all of a sudden, Edrick scrambled back to his feet and mmed into Michael again. The two

    of them went rolling off toward the edge of the cliff, and I gasped again as they rolled dangerously

    close.

    I could see rocks breaking and falling off of the cliff and into the misty abyss below. All it would take

    was one shove or one wrong turn, and one or both of them would go flying off of the cliff.

    I had to shift.

    ¡°Hurry, Mina,¡± I begged my wolf. ¡°We have to do this.¡±

    She didn¡¯t respond, but I knew that she could hear my pleas. I felt another surge of power course

    through me, and I screamed again as another sh of pain took over my body. It was so intense that it

    felt as though the world was spinning around me, and I thought for sure that I would vomit.

    ¡°Come on¡­¡± I gritted my teeth against the pain and held the vomit down in my stomach.

    I heard a loud yelp, followed by a thud. I whipped my head around to see that Edrick had thrown

    Michael backwards once more, and now they were fighting further away from the cliff¡¯s edge. Edrick

    seemed to have the upper hand over Michael, which gave me some peace of mind.

    But Edrick¡¯s upper hand over Michael didn¡¯tst for long. I could only watch, still in agony on the

    ground, as Michael wed at Edrick¡¯s throat and belly. Blood spewed out across the wet ground and

    mixed in with the mud.

    Edrick yelped and howled agonizingly, and fell to the ground.

    ¡°Edrick!¡± I yelled. I managed to climb to my feet and, clutching my pregnant belly, I started to hobble

    toward him. His fur was caked in mud, and his eyelids were fluttering.

    Suddenly, I saw Michael shift back into his human form. I felt another surge of excruciating pain as I

    saw him pick up the Golden Knife, and I could only fall to my knees beside Edrick. I dug my fingers into

    Edrick¡¯s fur and held him there as I watched Michael sprinting at a full clip toward me with the knife

    clutched tightly in his hand.

    ¡°It¡¯s over now, Moana,¡± Michael said, raising the knife above my head. ¡°Just ept it.¡±

    But I knew that I didn¡¯t need to ¡ª because I was shifting. I closed my eyes and pictured my parents

    there, holding my hands, and then¡­

    I felt myself shift fully. My wolf¡¯s immense power surged through me.

    A blinding light emanated out of me, even more blinding than the one from before. At the same time,

    however, I felt a searing pain in my belly. An excruciating scream escaped my lips, and I doubled over,

    clutching at my stomach.

    ¡°Please, no,¡± I whispered, pulling one hand away to see red, sticky blood coating my fingers. ¡°My

    baby¡­¡±

    No¡­ This couldn¡¯t be real.

    I felt another surge of power. The light became even brighter, and I was on the ground now, and my

    eyelids were fluttering shut¡­

    ¡°No!¡± I heard Edrick shout. His voice sounded so far away, like it was being carried off by the wind.

    I¡¯d been stabbed. Michael got what he wanted.

    But something strange happened then.

    The golden light burst outward like an atomic bomb. The air felt like static electricity, and there was a

    loud boom like thunder, followed by silence. A silent wind whooshed all around me, tangling itself in my

    fur and beating against my face.

    The power was too much. I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the ground.

    Edrick was no longer beside me, and nor was Michael.

    Everything was silent, as though the world was frozen. My eyes opened fully, but they weren¡¯t my

    human eyes anymore; everything was so bright and clear, as though the mist had never even been

    there to begin with.

    ¡°E-Edrick?¡± I called out. But my voice only echoed in my head. I looked around a little, but all I could

    see was the golden light.

    Was I alive? Did I shift in time and stop Michael from using the knife?

    Or was I¡­ dead?

 Chapter 240

    Chapter 240

    #Chapter 240: Shifted

    Moana

    ¡°Edrick?¡± I called out.

    My voice was only met with nothing but an echo. The world around me was silent¡­ In fact, as my eyes

    slowly opened, I realized that I was no longer on the cliff. The only thing that I could see around me

    was a soft, golden light that was somehow blinding yet calming at the same time.

    Was this what it was like to be dead?

    Thest thing I could remember was the blood on my fingers. Michael must have stabbed me and

    finally got his way, and now I was dead.

    I quickly looked down at my hands. There was no blood. No pain¡­ In fact, I didn¡¯t feel anything at all. I

    could hardly tell where my skin ended and the golden light began. My body felt weightless and free, like

    my entire existence was just a feeling and not a physical mass.

    But it was strange. When I was in mya, everything was just a ck void. But now, it was all golden

    and peaceful.

    ¡°No.¡±

    I jumped when I heard my wolf¡¯s voice call out from the golden light.

    ¡°Mina?¡± I asked, looking around wildly. ¡°Is that you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡± Her voice seemed to be echoing all around me at first, but then it started to coagte

    into one ce. Finally I could pinpoint where her voice wasing from, and I spun around in that

    direction.

    My eyes widened when I finally saw her standing there for the first time¡­ In the flesh.

    ¡°Mina,¡± I whispered, reaching out my hands as she slowly approached me. ¡°You¡¯re so¡­ beautiful.¡±

    She was everything that I imagined, and more. Her fur was a beautiful, vibrant golden color, like the

    color of the sun. She had a little white swirl on her forehead that came down her muzzle in a thin line.

    That same white patch was on the front of her chest.

    When I tangled my fingers into her fur, it was so silky and soft. It felt as though I was touching feathers,

    or nothing at all.

    I gasped when I saw her tail. It wasn¡¯t just one tail, but three. She was unlike any wolf I had ever seen

    before.

    ¡°Like it?¡± she asked, twitching her three tails back and forth.

    I nodded, then looked up with wide eyes to meet her gaze. Her eyes were different colors; one was

    bright blue, like the color of the sky on a sunny day, and the other was green, the exact same shade as

    my own eyes.

    But although I was so fascinated by her beauty, I still felt sad.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked.

    I shook my head and stared down at my feet. ¡°I¡¯m sorry we couldn¡¯t shift in time. I feel like I failed you.

    Like I failed the world by allowing thest generation of the Golden Wolf to be destroyed.¡±

    Mina gave me a puzzled look. ¡°I said no, though,¡± she said, chuckling a bit.

    I furrowed my brow. ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I said ¡®no¡¯. Earlier, you were thinking to yourself that you were dead, but you¡¯re not. You¡¯re just

    shifting.¡±

    ¡°I am?¡± I asked. ¡°How? Where am I?¡±

    Mina chuckled again. ¡°Time feels frozen right now, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    I nodded slowly, then bit my lip. ¡°It feels nonexistent, actually.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Mina flicked her tail and looked around. ¡°This is what it¡¯s been like for me for the past three

    months. I guess you¡¯re getting to experience it now. Most people never get to visit the ce in their

    mind where their wolf lives, but I guess you and I are special.¡±

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    I had tough. ¡°I guess so,¡± I said. ¡°But how do I get out? I need to make sure that Edrick is okay. And

    the baby¡­¡± I suddenly looked down at my belly. Even in this strange nonexistent ce, it was still

    protruding with the little life inside of it. I ran my hand across it, and found that there was no wound.

    ¡°The baby is fine,¡± Mina said. ¡°The knife shattered, and you healed almost instantly since you had

    already shifted. But Edrick¡­¡±

    My eyes widened. ¡°Is he okay?¡±

    Mina paused for a moment before answering. ¡°Are you sure you want to go back?¡±

    I felt my stomach drop. ¡°Why? What do you mean?¡± I asked, storming closer to Mina and staring up at

    her. ¡°Is he alive? What happened?¡±

    Mina simply shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But he was incredibly close to you during your shifting

    process, and the knife shattered right next to him when he was already injured. There is a chance¡­

    Are you sure you would want to go back if your fated mate might not make it?¡±

    Suddenly, I felt sick. Tears welled up in my eyes and I mped my hand over my mouth to stifle my

    sob. ¡°You¡¯re joking,¡± I whispered. ¡°He¡¯ll be okay. He has to be okay.¡±

    Mina just stared at me and said nothing.

    An uncontroble, vile scream of pain erupted from my mouth. My throat felt as though it was closing

    up, and everything started to blur around me. My chest caved in, and it felt as though my heart was

    plunging into the depths of my stomach.

    I couldn¡¯t imagine a life without Edrick.

    But E¡­ And my baby¡­

    ¡°I can¡¯t just stay here,¡± I said once I was able to speak. ¡°Even if he¡¯s gone, staying here would mean

    that all of it would be in vain.¡±

    Mina was silent for a moment. ¡°I could take over for you,¡± she said. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be in vain, but you

    would lose your human form. But you would never have to live in a world without him.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re suggesting I just¡­ stay here?¡± I asked.

    Mina nodded slowly. ¡°Only if you want to. Only the Golden Wolf is capable of something like that¡­ If

    the bearer of the Golden Wolf doesn¡¯t want to bear the burden, they can live here, in paradise.

    Everything else will melt away, and you¡¯ll have nothing but eternal peace.¡±

    ¡°But it wouldn¡¯t be living,¡± I said, shaking my head and taking a step back. I touched my belly

    instinctively, and thought of the little life inside. ¡°I would be robbing not only myself of a real life, but also

    my baby. And E would never understand.¡±

    ¡°So you want to go?¡± Mina asked. ¡°Do you want to return to the real world now, even if your fated mate

    is dead?¡±

    Without hesitation, I nodded vigorously and held my head high. ¡°I want to do everything I can,¡± I said,

    blinking back my tears. ¡°

    Mina simply nodded.

    ¡°Very well, then.¡±

    Suddenly, I opened my eyes. The golden light was gone¡­ I was lying on the ground now, in the grass.

    I jerked my head up and looked around; I was still on the cliff, but it was no longer raining. In fact, it was

    beautiful and sunny.

    ¡°Edrick?¡± I called out. I instinctively spoke telepathically, and felt puzzled for a moment, until I realized

    that I had shifted after all. I was not in my human form.

    I was the Golden Wolf now.

    But somehow, that didn¡¯t matter to me. All that mattered was finding Edrick. I looked around wildly until

    I spotted two human figures lying on the ground in the distance.

    They were both motionless.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    My dear readers, Thank you for stopping by and reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it. I¡¯m trying my

    best to update assp. I¡¯ll appreciate it if you explore my other stories as well. Please follow my f******k

    page Eve above story and group eves alphas if you wanna chat or keep updated on my writing

    schedule.

    Yours, Eve above story

 Chapter 241

    Chapter 241

    #Chapter 241: The Shattered Knife

    Moana

    Suddenly, the golden void that I was stuck inside returned to the cliff. Only now, instead of a raging

    thunderstorm, it was sunny and beautiful. The birds sang overhead, and the air felt warm and fresh and

    a little damp from the rain.

    But I didn¡¯t care about any of that. I didn¡¯t even care that I was no longer in my human form, either. I

    only cared about Edrick.

    I jerked my head up and looked around.

    No, I thought to myself as I saw the two motionless figures lying in the grass.

    I scrambled to my feet and ran over to them. It felt a bit strange running on four legs instead of two, but

    I didn¡¯t have time to think about it right now. All I could think about was finding Edrick and making sure

    that he was okay.

    As the figures came into view, I felt my heart sink. I didn¡¯t want anyone to die ¡ª not even Michael,

    despite the fact that he was trying to kill me. But when I saw the golden shards of the shattered knife

    lying next to him, and the cuts that traveled up his arms, I knew that he didn¡¯t make it.

    The knife must have shattered in his hand, and sliced up his arm. Blood was pooled around him, and

    he didn¡¯t seem to be breathing.

    But right now, I was more concerned about Edrick. He wasn¡¯t lying too far away, and I could see his

    chest moving slightly as I ran up to him.

    Like the knife, my heart shattered into a million pieces as I saw Edrick lying there. His body was

    covered in blood and gashes from the fight. Without thinking, I shifted back into my human form and fell

    to my knees beside him.

    ¡°Edrick?¡± I whispered, tapping on the side of his face as I felt my throat choke up. ¡°Edrick, say

    something.¡±

    His chest was moving slightly. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but I swore that I saw his eyelids

    flutter.

    He wasn¡¯t dead yet¡­ I was sure of it.

    ¡°I can heal him,¡± I said to Mina, whose presence was stronger than ever now. ¡°Please. I need your

    help.¡±

    Mina¡¯s presence strengthened a little more. Before, I felt as though she was an enigma lingering at the

    back of my mind, but now that I had finally shifted for the first time, it felt oddly as though she was an

    entirely second being existing inside of me. Like we were two whole beings shoved into one shell.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    Something felt different about her, too. She felt wiser, more mature. I felt the same way; it felt as if

    bing the Golden Wolf filled me with a new knowledge that I had never felt before, nor had I ever

    expected it.

    ¡°Okay,¡± she said. ¡°I think you know what to do. I¡¯ll give you the strength, and you just need to focus your

    energy.¡±

    I nodded. A tear snuck out of my eye and rolled down my cheek as I looked down at Edrick. I put my

    hands on him, wincing as I felt his warm blood beneath my fingers, and did exactly what Mina

    instructed me to do.

    I focused all of my energy on healing him. In my mind, I pictured him being healthy and safe, without

    any injuries or pain. I pictured him waking up and smiling at me, and that everything would be okay.

    Just as Mina promised, I felt her power and strength surge through me. I felt a tingling sensation cover

    my arms and my hands, and I felt that energy flow out through my fingertips.

    ¡°Come on¡­¡± I whispered, focusing even harder.

    Suddenly, Edrick¡¯s eyelids moved again. This time, they cracked open.

    ¡°Moana¡­¡± he murmured. His voice sounded hoarse and strained, but I only felt an ecstatic energy flow

    through me.

    ¡°Keep your hands on him,¡± Mina instructed. ¡°Don¡¯t lose focus, and don¡¯t let go.¡±

    I nodded again and continued focusing my energy on healing Edrick. As I did, I could feel his chest

    rising and falling more naturally now, and a joyfulugh caught in my throat.

    ¡°Moana¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here, Edrick,¡± I said, straining still to focus my energy on healing him. ¡°Just don¡¯t move. I¡¯m healing

    you.¡±

    But Edrick shook his head. Suddenly, he grabbed my hands and pulled them away from his body. I felt

    the energy in my arms and fingers fizzle out, as though someone had snuffed out a candle inside of

    me.

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± I shrieked. I struggled against him and tried to put my hands back on him, but

    he wouldn¡¯t let me.

    ¡°The baby,¡± he said, his voice barely more than a strained croak. ¡°You¡¯ll hurt the baby¡­ Just go. Go to

    E¡­¡±

    I shook my head, my eyes filling up with tears. ¡°No,¡± I said, wrenching my hands free. ¡°I can heal you.

    The baby will be okay. Just¡­ Just hold still.¡±

    Edrick groaned. I pulled my hands out of his weakening grip and cursed under my breath as I saw the

    unmistakable red flowers of blood blossoming out beneath his white shirt, staining the fabric a deep

    scarlet color.

    I ced my hands back on him and began to focus my energy again¡­

    But I couldn¡¯t feel Mina¡¯s power surging.

    ¡°Mina!¡± I cried out loud, not caring if Edrick heard me. ¡°Help me! What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Look at him,¡± Mina replied in a calm tone of voice that made me sick. ¡°He¡¯s not going to make it now

    that the healing process has been broken, and besides¡­ Neither of us knows if this much energy will

    hurt the baby. The baby has already been through so much today¡ª¡±

    A sob caught in my throat, and I shook my head. My red hair, which was caked to my forehead and the

    sides of my face by the rain, fell into my eyes as I continued pressing my hands into Edrick¡¯s wounds.

    ¡°Just help me!¡± I demanded. ¡°Please, Mina! He¡¯ll die!¡±

    Mina didn¡¯t respond at first. I pressed my hands harder into Edrick¡¯s wounds. His blood and flesh

    squelched beneath my touch, and I grimaced.

    Finally, a small surge of energy burst forth. The tingling sensation returned to my arms and hands, and

    I focused my strength once more on healing Edrick¡¯s wounds.

    ¡°Moana¡­¡± His voice was just a whisper now. ¡°I love you and our baby. Tell E¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up,¡± I demanded as my vision becamepletely clouded with tears. ¡°Shut up and let me heal

    you.¡±

    Edrick just shook his head and touched my hand. His fingers felt cold and weak, and his hand shook. I

    looked down at his shaking hand and felt my chest heave.

    ¡°Moana, please,¡± he muttered, his voice fading quickly as his breathing became rattled and strained.

    ¡°Just tell me you love me¡­¡±

    Edrick¡¯s icy gray eyes looked up at me. They were clouded over, just moments away from death. I felt

    my strength fade, and I fell back onto my butt on the wet grass and sobbed.

    ¡°Moana¡­¡± His hand fell down to the ground.

    There was nothing I could do. I grabbed his cold hand and held it up to my face, pressing my cheek

    into his palm.

    ¡°I do love you, Edrick,¡± I whispered between my sobs. ¡°I love you.¡±

    A soft smile came across Edrick¡¯s face. And then, his hand fell limp.

 Chapter 242

    Chapter 242

    #Chapter 242: The Tears of a Lover

    Moana

    Edrick¡¯s hand suddenly fell limp. The smile on his face faded as his eyelids fluttered shut, and at that

    exact moment, I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces.

    ¡°No¡­¡± I whispered, my throat closing up already. ¡°Edrick?¡±

    He didn¡¯t answer. I felt a sob catch in my throat.

    Without thinking, I pressed my hands into his wounds. I heard the flesh and the blood squelch beneath

    my touch as my vision became clouded with tears.

    ¡°Come on,¡± I said, my voice shaking violently as I pressed harder and tried to focus my energy.

    ¡°It¡¯s no use, Moana,¡± Mina said, sounding full of regret. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. His wounds were too deep.¡±

    I shook my head in disbelief and just pushed harder on Edrick¡¯s wounds. His body shifted beneath my

    touch, filling me with a false sense of hope that he was still alive. But he wasn¡¯t ¡ª he was dead. When

    I felt his neck, there was no pulse.

    There was no containing my grief anymore. As a keening wail started to rumble in my throat, I felt the

    tears spill out of my eyes and pour down my cheeks.

    ¡°Edrick¡­¡± I cried. I threw my arms around him and fell onto him, sobbing hysterically and not caring if I

    got myself covered in his blood.

    My fated mate was dead. There was no greater pain than this.

    ¡°I want to go back!¡± I cried out to Mina. ¡°Let me go back! I don¡¯t want to be here anymore!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Mina replied. ¡°You already made the choice to stay in the real world. There¡¯s no way for you to

    switch with me now.¡±

    Another wail escaped my lips and carried across the wind. The birds, which had just been singing as

    the end of the storm came, now fell silent. Or maybe I just drowned them out with my sobs.

    But then, something happened while I cried onto Edrick¡¯s limp body. I thought it was just in my head at

    first, but when I suddenly froze and felt it for a second time, I sat up abruptly and wiped my tears away.

    I felt Edrick¡¯s heart start to beat in his chest.

    ¡°E-Edrick?¡± I stammered, looking down earnestly at his pale face. ¡°A-Are you alive?¡±

    He didn¡¯t answer. Shakily, I leaned back down and ced my ear on his chest.

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    Nothing happened for a moment. I started to lose hope; maybe I really was just imagining it, or maybe

    it was a muscle spasm.

    ¡°Moana, I don¡¯t¡ª¡±

    ¡°Shh!¡± I shushed my wolf and pressed my ear harder into Edrick¡¯s chest. My eyes widened.

    There it was: another heartbeat. Edrick was alive.

    I suddenly sat up again, and pressed my hands into his chest once more. This time, I focused my

    healing energy with even more passion and squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the tingling sensation take

    over my arms, hands, and fingers again.

    I focused my energy with all I had left. With my eyes shut, I pictured everything that I loved about

    Edrick¡­ Everything that I wanted to see again. His smile, hisugh, the feeling of his warm arms

    around me. His face, red with embarrassment when the kids teased his artwork. The way that his chest

    rose and fell as Iid my head on it at night.

    Suddenly, I felt my power surge. I almost felt sick from it, but I kept focusing.

    ¡°M-Moana¡­¡±

    Edrick¡¯s low voice startled me. My eyes shot open, red with tears. He still looked asleep, but I could see

    it now; I could see the color returning to his face. I could see his eyes moving slightly beneath his

    eyelids.

    But healing him still was too much. I needed to get him to a point where I could transport him, and then

    I would need to get him back to the mansion.

    Gritting my teeth through the weakness and nausea that took over me from using this much energy to

    heal him, I pushed a little harder. I could see Edrick¡¯s wounds closing slightly. Fresh blood stopped

    oozing out and it filled me with hope.

    I couldn¡¯t heal him anymore though. I feared that it would hurt the baby.

    ¡°Edrick, if you can hear me,¡± I said, leaning down to him and cupping his face in my hands, ¡°I¡¯m going

    to take you back to the mansion on my back, in my wolf form. Can you hold on?¡±

    Edrick slowly and painfully nodded his head. I couldn¡¯t help butugh out loud at this miracle that just

    happened before my eyes, and I leaned down and kissed him deeply on the lips. I felt his lips twitch

    beneath mine.

    I stood then and began to shift. Unlike the first time, it already felt more natural. Despite my dizziness

    from healing Edrick, I allowed Mina to take over, and within mere moments I was standing on four legs

    with my golden fur billowing in the breeze.

    Crouching down next to Edrick, I nuzzled his hand to get his attention and nearly leaped for joy when I

    felt his fingers close around a chunk of my fur. I then nudged myrge muzzle underneath his back,

    and helped him roll over and put his leg over me.

    ¡°Hold on,¡± I said. In my wolf form, no physical words came out, but I knew he could hear me because of

    the way that his grip tightened on me.

    Slowly, I stood. His body managed to stay on my back, although I could feel him growing more limp by

    the moment, and I knew that I would need to hurry.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be home in a few minutes,¡± I said, taking my first few steps forward. ¡°Just hold on until then. We¡¯ll

    get you some help.¡±

    I felt Edrick¡¯s body move a bit, and felt his fingers tangle through my fur. Filled now with a sense of

    relief, I started walking toward the mansion.

    In my wolf form, and with the mist dissipated, I knew how to find my way back easily. Taking care so as

    not to drop Edrick or hurt him, I carefully trotted into the woods and let my wolf guide me home.

    I kept telling myself that it was over now. Edrick would be okay¡­ Michael was dead, but at least the

    knife was destroyed and the legacy of the Golden Wolf could continue. Now, I just needed to get Edrick

    home so that the others could help me heal him the rest of the way.

    I felt weak, though, from the whole ordeal. Somehow, I could sense that the baby inside of me was

    running out of strength. I picked up my pace, praying that the baby would be okay after all of this.

    Edrick groaned as I jostled him while leaping over a fallen tree, but he held on tight. Soon enough, I

    was already reaching the edge of the woods where Kat and I were walking together. Kat, of course,

    was nowhere to be found; she had likely made a run for it after her little n came to fruition.

    But none of that mattered now, because the mansion finally came into view. I saw the faces of Selina,

    the maids, and the bodyguards as they ran out of the back door, and I knew that Edrick would be

    saved.

 Chapter 243

    Chapter 243

    #Chapter 243: Daddy¡¯s Home

    Moana

    As I ran across the backwn to the mansion, I could see Selina, the maids, and several security

    guardse running outside with scared looks on their faces.

    All of them froze, their mouths hanging open, as I approached.

    ¡°Moana¡­?¡± Selina said quietly as she took a tentative step toward me. I nodded and slowed my pace.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Moana is the Golden Wolf!¡± Amy yelled out loud, cupping her face excitedly. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be damned¡­¡± One of the security guards, Darren, slowly walked up to me with his eyes wide. ¡°I

    never thought the Golden Wolf was anything but a fairy tale for kids.

    I wished that I had time to let them process this, but I could feel Edrick weakening on my back. I felt a

    warm liquid trickle into my fur, and I could tell instantly from the metallic smell that assaulted my new

    wolf senses that it was blood.

    Suddenly, Edrick groaned and fellpletely limp. He lost his grip and started to slide off of my back,

    causing everyone to gasp. I quickly shifted back into my human form and caught him in my arms just in

    time before he hit the ground.

    ¡°Hurry,¡± I said, watching in horror as I saw fresh blood starting to create red blossoms on his shirt. ¡°I

    couldn¡¯t heal him fully by myself.¡±

    In a flurry of activity, everyone suddenly crowded around me. The bodyguards hoisted Edrick¡¯s limp

    body up and began carrying him back to the house, while Selina and the maids checked on me.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Selina asked with worry in her eyes. ¡°What happened? All we knew was that Edrick

    said Michael was here, and then he ran off. The security guards have been running around like

    chickens with their heads cut off.¡±

    I shook my head and swallowed. My throat felt hoarse from screaming, and now that we had returned

    to the house, I suddenly realized just how achingly sore my body was. Selina and the maids helped me

    to my feet, and I held my belly as we began to walk back to the mansion.

    ¡°He tried to kill me,¡± I said. ¡°Michael. He had a knife¡­ I shifted just in time, but¡­ Michael didn¡¯t make it.

    Edrick got horribly wounded, too. I tried to heal him but I¡¯m running out of energy, and his wounds are

    deep.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, dear.¡± Selina wrapped her arms around me. ¡°We¡¯ll heal him up. You need to rest for both

    yourself and the baby. Did you get hurt?¡±

    Once again, I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m dizzy, but I¡¯m alright,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯m just worried about Edrick¡­¡±

    As I thought back on Edrick¡¯s limp body, I felt tearse to my eyes again. If I lost him again, I

    wouldn¡¯t know what to do with myself. I knew the pain of losing a fated mate now¡­ I never wanted to

    experience that ever again.

    ¡°Here.¡± Selina guided me in through the door. A sob instantly escaped my lips as I saw Edrickying on

    the dining room table with the security guards circled around him. They had shoved everything off of

    the table andid him there so they could work on healing him.

    Before Selina could stop me, I wrenched myself away from her grip and ran over to Edrick. His eyes

    were still closed, and he seemed even less responsive now.

    ¡°Edrick!¡± I cried, cupping his face. ¡°Are you there?¡±

    ¡°Miss, can you please step back?¡± one of the guards asked, gently trying to guide me away. ¡°We need

    to heal him¡ª¡±

    ¡°No!¡± I shouted. I yanked my arm away from the baffled security guard and practically glued myself to

    Edrick¡¯s side. ¡°I¡¯ll help heal him! I refuse to just stand here!¡±

    ¡°Moana¡­¡± Selina reached out to touch my shoulder with a shaking hand. ¡°The guards are well trained.

    They can heal him.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I shook my head and pressed my hands into Edrick¡¯s chest, just like I did on the cliffside. I still felt

    woozy from everything, but I was determined not to just stand by idly and hope that they could heal him

    on their own. ¡°I¡¯m the Golden Wolf and his mate!¡±

    Everyone fell silent. I started to focus my energy, but suddenly stopped when I realized that they didn¡¯t

    fall silent because of me, but because of something else. There was a creak on the stairs, and I jerked

    my head up to see E standing there with wide eyes.

    ¡°E, honey, go upstairs,¡± Selina said, rushing over to the bottom of the stairs. ¡°Go y in your room.

    Here¡ª Lily, go with her.¡±

    Lily rushed over and tried to guide E up the stairs, but E wasn¡¯t having it. In one swift movement,

    she ducked under Lily¡¯s arm and ran down the stairs, dodging past Selina and the security guards, and

    ran over to the table where Edrick was lying.

    I couldn¡¯t move or speak. I was frozen, horrified at the fact that E had to see her father like this. I

    suddenly felt ovee with guilt as I realized that she likely wouldn¡¯t havee downstairs and seen

    all of this mess if I hadn¡¯t started wailing and shouting like a madwoman.

    ¡°Moana?¡± E asked, looking up at me as her little hands gripped her father. ¡°What happened to

    daddy? Why is he bleeding?¡±

    ¡°H-He¡¯s¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. My voice faltered, and I kept opening and closing my mouth as

    though something would eventuallye out, but nothing ever did.

    ¡°Is my daddy dead?¡± E¡¯s eyes started to fill with tears, and her face turned red.

    I shook my head and pulled my bloody hands away from him, then rushed around the table and

    crouched in front of E. ¡°No, sweetie,¡± I said gently, taking both of her shoulders in my hands. ¡°He just

    got hurt, but he¡¯s still alive. The security guards and I are going to heal him and he¡¯ll be alright.¡±

    E didn¡¯t seem to believe me as her big eyes searched my face. Her hand was still gripping her

    father¡¯s arm so tightly that her knuckles were white, which stood in stark contrast to the redness in her

    face.

    ¡°What happened?¡± she whispered.

    I swallowed and nced up at Selina, who was shaking her head. She didn¡¯t want me to tell E the

    truth¡­ But I couldn¡¯t lie to her. Not after Edrick had just promised that we would always tell her the truth

    about everything.

    ¡°He¡­ Your grandpa¡­ He attacked me,¡± I said, feeling my lower lip quiver. ¡°Your daddy saved me, but

    he got hurt. Can you trust me to take care of him?¡±

    E started to sob. Suddenly, however, I felt as though I knew what to do. Somehow, I knew that I had

    always known how to do this. Even before my wolf ever emerged, it was a special ability of mine. I

    always thought that I was just good with kids, but now I knew differently.

    Pulling the little girl into my arms, I hummed gently. Within moments, her crying ceased. Selina, the

    maids, and the security guards looked on in shock as E took a step back and wiped her teary eyes.

    ¡°Okay,¡± E whimpered. ¡°I trust you. Please take good care of my daddy.¡±

 Chapter 244

    Chapter 244

    #Chapter 244: Healing Touch

    Moana

    ¡°Can you trust me to take care of him?¡± I asked.

    E began to sob, but I somehow knew exactly what to do. It all felt so natural now¡­ I didn¡¯t even

    really need to think about it. I just knew to wrap my arms around E andfort her, although whether

    it was my abilities or simply my nurturing instincts, I couldn¡¯t be entirely sure.

    Suddenly, E stopped crying.

    ¡°Okay,¡± she whimpered after a moment, stepping back and wiping her tears out of her eyes. ¡°I trust

    you. Please take good care of my daddy.¡±

    I managed a weak smile and nodded at E, taking her little hands in mine. ¡°I will take good care of

    him,¡± I whispered as I looked into her eyes, still using my pacifying ability to keep her calm. ¡°Don¡¯t you

    worry.¡±

    E nodded and stepped away, allowing the security guards and me to get back to work on taking care

    of Edrick. My ability to pacify children was always strong even before my wolf emerged, but it was even

    stronger now. I felt as though I couldmand E to do somersaults if I wanted to, although I knew

    that I would never abuse my powers.

    With a collective deep breath, the security guards and I gathered around the table again while E ran

    over to the maids and the rest of them looked on in horror.

    ¡°Moana, are you sure about this?¡± Selina called, her voice shaking a bit from nervousness.

    I looked up to see the elderly housekeeper standing off to the side and wringing her hands nervously. I

    smiled at her, just as I did at E, and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± I said. Even though I felt like I would pass

    out, it was a risk that I was willing to take.

    The security guards and I circled around Edrick. Each of us held our hands out and pressed them on

    Edrick¡¯s limp body, then began to work at healing him.

    I closed my eyes and focused my energy, feeling the power surge through my body again, traveling

    down my arms and into my hands and my fingers with that strange tingling sensation. I started to feel a

    little more lightheaded but I pushed through it and just focused on healing Edrick.

    However, something was wrong. I opened my eyes to see that Edrick¡¯s wounds didn¡¯t seem to be

    healing very well. Every so often they would start to close up, but then they would reopen. I didn¡¯t know

    if it was just that his wounds were deep or if it was because the Golden Knife had created some of his

    wounds. Either way, it was worrisome.

    Noticing our struggle, Selina rushed over and rolled up her sleeves. I watched in awe as she put her

    hands on him and squeezed her eyes shut, focusing intensely on him.

    But it still wasn¡¯t working. Edrick would start to stir, but then he would quickly lose conscious again as

    his wounds began to reopen.

    ¡°It will take the Golden Wolf¡¯s healing powers to heal any wounds created by the Golden Knife,¡± Mina

    said. ¡°But you¡¯re getting weaker. You¡¯re running out of energy, and so am I. I¡¯m not sure if we can do it.¡±

    I cursed under my breath and focused harder. ¡°Just try,¡± I said to Mina in my head. ¡°We can do it. I

    made a promise to E. We have to do it.¡±

    I felt Mina¡¯s power surge a bit, but not for long.

    ¡°It¡¯s not working,¡± one of the security guards said. ¡°We need more power.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I need more power. It has to be the Golden Wolf who heals him because it was the

    Golden Knife that injured him. But I just don¡¯t have the strength¡­¡±

    Suddenly, I felt a tiny hand on my arm. I looked down to see E standing beside me. She was looking

    intensely at her father, but then tilted her head back to look up at me.

    ¡°I¡¯m here, mom,¡± she said quietly.

    I felt my heart skip. At the same time, I felt my wolf¡¯s power surge greatly. Suddenly, all of the aching

    and nausea that I felt melted away as though it had never even been there, and I blinked back tears as

    I nodded and returned my gaze toward Edrick.

    I closed my eyes, and let my wolf¡¯s power surge through me.

    Just a little more¡­

    I practically leaped for joy as I felt Edrick¡¯s body twitch slightly beneath my touch. His breathing, which

    had just been strained and hoarse, seemed to be returning to normal. I squeezed my eyes shut even

    harder and focused even more energy on healing him as I felt E¡¯s little hand grip my arm.

    All of a sudden, I felt a huge amount of movement that nearly knocked me back. But before I could

    stumble backwards or even open my eyes, I suddenly felt warm lips pressed against mine, and I felt

    two warm hands cup either side of my face.

    My body felt so light that I was certain that I would fly away. I smiled against Edrick¡¯s lips and threw my

    arms around his neck, hearing the sound of everyone around me letting out a collective sigh of relief.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± E shouted.

    Edrick and I pulled away. Iughed as I wiped the tears out of my eyes.

    ¡°Hey, Princess,¡± Edrick cooed, scooping E up into his arms.

    E giggled. ¡°You¡¯re alright! See? I knew mom would take good care of you!¡±

    I was speechless as I watched Edrick hug E tightly, and so was everyone else. With a grin, he held

    his free arm out and pulled me in as well, and the three of us held each other. I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted

    tough or cry. My dizziness returned almost immediately, but I didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Oh, thank goodness,¡± I heard Selina say. ¡°Thank you, Moana.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me,¡± I said. ¡°Thank E for lending me her strength.¡±

    E, however, just giggled. ¡°I didn¡¯t use any of my powers,¡± she said with augh.

    My eyes widened. Was it possible, then, that E simply calling me ¡®mom¡¯ was enough to give me

    strength?

    ¡°You¡¯re both superheroes,¡± Edrick said. His voice was still slightly hoarse, but there was color in his

    face and a wide smile spread across his lips as he sat on the edge of the dining table. He looked

    around then, and especially looked me up and down for a long few moments.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± he whispered. ¡°Are you hurt?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just a little tired.¡±

    ¡°Come on.¡± Edrick stood, still holding E. ¡°Let¡¯s get you two some rest. We¡¯re all safe now¡­¡±

    Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.

    I started to follow Edrick over to the stairs. But just as we reached the stairwell, my ears suddenly

    picked up a strange sound. All of us stopped and looked at each other in confusion; even Selina, the

    maids, and the security guards seemed baffled at the strange shuffling and groaning noisesing

    from the back patio.

    My eyes widened, and so did Edrick¡¯s eyes as we stared at each other in disbelief.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­¡± I whispered.

    Edrick just stared at me with a wide-eyed gaze, and clenched his jaw as the groaning noises continued

    to grow closer.

 Chapter 245

    Chapter 245

    #Chapter 245: Return

    Moana

    Everyone froze and stared at each other with wide eyes as the sound of the groaning and shuffling

    came closer.

    ¡°Daddy?¡± E whimpered. ¡°Who is there?¡±

    Edrick slowly sat E down, then walked toward the door. He gestured to the security guards, but

    before anything could be done, thest person we expected walked into the doorway.

    ¡°Thought you could kill me, huh?¡±

    Michael stood in the doorway with an evil smirk on his face. Selina, the maids and I all let out a

    collective gasp. Selina suddenly grabbed E by the arm and shoved her behind us to keep her

    protected.

    ¡°Michael,¡± I said, taking a step forward, ¡°you were dead.¡±

    Michael justughed. ¡°I was indeed,¡± he said. ¡°But not for long. I guess you didn¡¯t realize that I was

    waking up thanks to your healing abilities by the time you took off with Edrick and just left me there.

    I shook my head. ¡°I never healed you¡ª¡±

    ¡°Oh, but you did.¡± Michael took a step forward. The security guards moved to stop him, but Edrick held

    his hand up to make them wait. ¡°Because you¡¯re an untrained i***t who has no right having werewolf

    abilities, you didn¡¯t just heal Edrick. You healed me alongside him, because I was within close vicinity.

    Convenient, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    My eyes widened. I looked up at Edrick, but his eyes were fixed on Michael.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Edrick asked angrily. ¡°How did you even get here? Why are you so hell bent on

    killing the Golden Wolf that you would try to kill a pregnant woman and your own son?¡±

    Unsurprisingly, Michael simply shrugged. ¡°I suppose you wouldn¡¯t understand,¡± he snarled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,

    Edrick. But if you just step out of the way and let me finally finish the job, I won¡¯t bother you from now

    on. WereCorp is yours.¡±

    Edrick stared disbelievingly at Michael for a long time, and held his arm out to keep me behind him.

    ¡°You¡¯re a monster,¡± Edrick said. ¡°I¡¯d never let you kill Moana. You could promise me all of the wealth in

    the world and I still wouldn¡¯t let you anywhere near her.¡±

    Michael justughed. Hisugh was low and grating, and as heughed, he coughed slightly. I watched

    as a bit of blood trickled out of his mouth, and he wiped it away. The gashes on his arms were still there

    from when the Golden Knife shattered, although they weren¡¯t bleeding so much now. However, he still

    looked weak.

    And he didn¡¯t have the knife, but I wasn¡¯t going to say anything just yet. I was curious to see where this

    would go now that he had no real way to kill the Golden Wolf.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you locked up.¡± Edrick took another step toward Michael. Suddenly, my hand shot out and I

    grabbed Edrick¡¯s arm, causing him to stop and look at me over his shoulder. I just slowly shook my

    head and then walked in front of him. He didn¡¯t seem to want to let me do it, but we both knew that

    there was no stopping me now.

    Michael almost killed my mate and my baby, and he put E in danger. Even if I wasn¡¯t the Golden

    Wolf, I was still a mother. And Michael unleashed my rage.

    ¡°If you want to kill me so badly, then do it now,¡± I said, walking toward him with my arms outstretched. I

    stopped a few paces in front of him and stared down my nose at him. The cruel Alpha who once

    towered over me seemed so small now. ¡°Go ahead. Kill me.¡±

    ¡°Moana¡ª¡± Selina began, but I just held my hand up for her to stop and she fell silent immediately.

    Michaelughed again. A little more blood trickled out of his mouth, and he swayed slightly as he

    gripped the doorframe.

    ¡°Maybe I will,¡± he murmured. ¡°I won¡¯t let you and your agenda get in the way of my business. I built my

    empire off of the backs of lowly humans. Don¡¯t think that you can ruin that for me.¡±

    Now, I was the one whoughed. ¡°You can kill the Golden Wolf as many times as you want,¡± I replied.

    ¡°But it won¡¯t stop change from happening. The Golden Wolf is a feeling, an idea. It¡¯s not a physical

    entity. You can¡¯t kill it. The seeds of a revolution have already been sown by the very people who you

    abused to build your so-called ¡®empire¡¯.¡±

    Michael¡¯s face darkened. ¡°You know nothing, w***e,¡± he whispered, taking a staggering step toward

    me. ¡°All you know is how to trap a man with a bastard child¡ª¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak about our baby like that!¡± Edrick shouted, his voice rumbling like a growl.

    ¡°Oh, so now you care how I refer to your child?¡± Michael chortled. ¡°You never cared when I called E

    the same thing. She doesn¡¯t even know, does she? E, do you know that your father is a worthless¡ª¡±

    ¡°Shut up, grandpa!¡± E suddenly shrieked in a shrill tone of voice, causing everyone to whip around in

    surprise and stare at her. She shoved past Selina and stood there with her hands balled up into fists at

    her sides. ¡°You¡¯re nothing but a big meanie! No one likes you!¡±

    Suddenly, while my back was turned, I felt movement behind me. I whirled around just in time to see

    Michael lunging toward me.

    But I only smirked.

    I held my hand up with my palm facing outward. As I did, that same blinding golden light shot out, only

    this time I knew how to control it. It beamed out toward Michael and collided with his body like a

    physical force that sent him flying backwards. He flew out the door and onto the grass on his back,

    groaning.

    ¡°Moana!¡± Edrick called.

    I stormed out the door and walked over to Michael, whoy writhing on the grass in pain. The wind got

    knocked out of him during his fall, and he couldn¡¯t even speak now.

    ¡°You can¡¯t kill me, Michael,¡± I said, bending down to look him straight in the eyes. ¡°I know you can¡¯t. You

    act like you¡¯re tough, like you¡¯re smarter and somehow better than everyone else. But the fact of the

    matter is, you¡¯re just scared. You¡¯re scared of a woman and a child.¡±

    Michael swallowed, having regained the strength to talk. ¡°Iughed when I slit your w***e mother¡¯s

    throat,¡± he whispered.

    Suddenly, I reached down and grabbed a fistful of Michael¡¯s shirt with more strength than I thought I

    had. As I did, I could see fear sh through Michael¡¯s gray eyes. By now, I could hear everyone running

    out onto thewn where we were. Their footsteps echoed through the air as they ran toward us.

    ¡°Say more,¡± I replied. ¡°Tell me about all of the people you¡¯ve killed. Tell me why you¡¯re not on that list.¡±

    Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.

    Michael¡¯s eyes widened slightly.

    ¡°Moana! Get away from him!¡± I heard Edrick shout from behind me. ¡°He¡¯s dangerous!¡±

    With a sneer, I let go of Michael¡¯s shirt and let him fall back to the grass. I stepped away and shook my

    head as the security guards swarmed around Michael.

    ¡°He¡¯s no threat,¡± I said, turning and walking back to Edrick. ¡°The knife is gone. He¡¯s just an angry old

    man now and nothing more.¡±

 Chapter 246

    Chapter 246

    #Chapter 246: The Patriarch¡¯s End

    Edrick

    I hated to say it, but Moana looked more beautiful than ever as she practically assaulted my evil father

    on the backwn.

    ¡°He¡¯s no threat,¡± she said as she released her grip on his shirt and let him fall back to the ground, then

    turned and walked back to meet me. ¡°The knife is gone. He¡¯s just an angry old man now and nothing

    more.¡±

    Moana was right; the knife was indeed gone. It shattered when Michael tried to stab her with it.

    During those moments when the knife was plunged into her belly, it felt as though my heart stopped. I

    watched in horror as the knife disappeared into her belly. When my father pulled it out, it was covered

    in blood and he had a maniacal grin on his face.

    But something happened then. She became enveloped in that golden light again, only this time it was

    even brighter and more blinding than before. I thought she was dying, but it turned out that she healed

    instantly. If my father had stabbed her just milliseconds earlier, he certainly would have killed her.

    She was already shifting by the time he stabbed her. Although the knife pierced her skin, the wound

    closed immediately on its own. I remembered seeing the golden light grow. The knife burst into a

    million pieces. Shards of it went flying through the air and rained down on my father and me like a

    hailstorm.

    I didn¡¯t remember anything after that other than my consciousness fading in and out of existence as

    Moana tried to heal me.

    I thought for sure that I would die. And I did die, for a short time. But not for long. Moana persevered,

    just like she always did. When I woke up, she was standing over me as Iid on the dining table, and

    all I wanted to do was kiss her.

    She was like my guardian angel.

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    In an odd way, I was d that she identally healed my father. I didn¡¯t want him to die. I wanted him

    to suffer throughout the remainder of his miserable little existence, locked away in a cell somewhere to

    rot.

    ¡°You w***e!¡± Michael screeched, shaking me out of my deep train of thought. ¡°I would have killed you

    anyway, regardless of whether you were the Golden Wolf or not! All you¡¯ve ever done is ruin my family

    and taint my bloodline!¡±

    Moana opened her mouth to retaliate, but I grabbed her arm and shook my head. The security guards

    were already dragging Michael to his feet. I gave Moana a squeeze before I walked over to face him.

    His face was beet red and covered in his own sweat, blood, and dirt from the ground. He growled and

    snarled like a rabid animal, practically foaming at the mouth as he struggled against the security

    guards.

    ¡°Go on and humiliate yourself, Michael,¡± I said, not even wanting to refer to this monster as my own

    father anymore. ¡°You¡¯re not escaping now. Do you have anyst words before I send you off to prison,

    where you belong?¡±

    Michael let out a low, angry growl. ¡°You¡¯ve betrayed your family, Edrick,¡± he whispered, spittle flying out

    of his mouth as his body shook. ¡°You¡¯ve chosen that¡­ that scum over your own flesh and blood. You

    will rue the day that you made that mistake. Mark my words.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°You¡¯re so wildly misguided that it¡¯s almost pathetic,¡± I said, pushing my

    sleeves up to my elbows. ¡°I¡¯m not the one who ruined this family, and neither is Moana. You have no

    one to me but yourself.¡±

    Michael¡¯s face darkened and his eyes went wide. ¡°What?¡± he said. ¡°Have you gone mad?¡±

    I shook my head and took a step back, preparing myself to do what I should have done years

    beforehand as I curled my fingers into a fist and pulled my arm back.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t,¡± I replied, tilting my chin down while the security guards continued to hold Michael in ce

    by either arm, leaving his face free and clear for me. They knew what I was nning on doing to him.

    ¡°But you have if you think that you didn¡¯t already ruin this family over twenty years ago when you

    decided to cheat on my mother.¡±

    Michael¡¯s eyes widened. He opened his lips to speak, but before anything could evene out, I

    pulled my arm back a little more as though I was drawing an arrow. I then let my fist go, and watched

    with satisfaction as it flew straight into my evil father¡¯s jaw.

    His head reeled backwards, and blood instantly began pouring out of his nose. All of a sudden, I felt a

    hand on my arm and looked down to see Selina standing there with a stern look on her face.

    I thought that she was going to scold me for hitting my father, but she didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Here.¡± She pulled her handkerchief out of her pocket and gave it to me. ¡°To wipe the blood off of your

    fist.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh. The old housekeeper then turned to face Michael, and stormed up to him

    while he was still groaning over his broken nose. I watched in awe as she reached out and grabbed a

    handful of his shirt, pulled him down to her level, and then spat in his eye.

    ¡°I¡¯ve always hated you,¡± she growled. ¡°And just so you know, there has never been a single time in

    which I didn¡¯t spit in your tea when you came to visit.¡±

    With that, Selina stomped on my father¡¯s foot, causing him to yowl in even more pain while her spit

    dripped down his cheek, then picked up her skirt and stormed back off to the house. The security

    guards and I howled inughter.

    Finally, I turned around to see Moana standing behind me. She was holding E, and was carrying her

    back to the house. I watched them leave, and couldn¡¯t help but smile at the image of Moana¡¯s red hair

    billowing in the wind as she walked back to the house.

    ¡°What should we do with him?¡± one of the security guards asked over my dad¡¯s howls of pain.

    I simply shrugged as I wiped the blood off of my knuckles.

    ¡°Take him to the police,¡± I said. ¡°Tell them everything.¡±

    ¡°Y-You¡¯ll regret this.¡± My father¡¯s voice was hoarse and choked, and yet he was still bbering on. ¡°I¡¯ll

    give it a week, and then you¡¯ll see how you wish that b***h was dead.¡±

    I just shook my head. ¡°You¡¯re wrong, Michael,¡± I said, stuffing the bloody handkerchief that I used to

    clean my knuckles in his shirt pocket. ¡°In fact, you¡¯ve never been more wrong in your life. I¡¯ll give it a

    week, and then you¡¯ll wish that you were dead.¡±

    My dad just scowled at me. I waved my hand dismissively, then turned to join my family back at the

    house.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about being gentle with him,¡± I said to the guards over my shoulder. ¡°Be as rough as you

    want. In fact, I¡¯ll give a raise to whoever is the roughest.¡±

    Behind me, I heard the sounds of my father being roughed up by the security guards. But I wasn¡¯t

    concerned about that, as all I saw when I looked up was Moana¡¯s beautiful face looking out at me from

    the doorway, and her hand on her belly.

 Chapter 247

    Chapter 247

    #Chapter 247: Superheroes

    Moana

    A little whileter, Edrick and I were standing in the front doorway of the mansion and looking out at the

    scene before us.

    The security guards were leading Michael, who was cuffed, over to the car. His nose was still clotted

    with blood from Edrick¡¯s punch, but something about it was satisfying to see. I enjoyed seeing Michael

    finally face some consequences for his actions, and I especially enjoyed watching Selina scold him like

    a child.

    What was even more satisfying, though, was seeing him being shoved into the back of the car to be

    driven down to the police station.

    Kat was found by the guards, too. Not long after Edrick punched Michael in the face, Kat was found

    hiding in the woods. As it turned out, Michael paid her a pretty penny to get close to me and lead me off

    into the forest to get lost so that he could kill me. She looked ashamed as the guards cuffed her, and

    wouldn¡¯t even lift her gaze to look at me.

    Edrick had already called the police and told them what happened. They were waiting for Michael and

    Kat now, and I couldn¡¯t wait to see them both behind bars after everything that they did along with Kelly

    and Ethan.

    As we watched the security guards drive away with Michael in the back of the car, Edrick slipped his

    arm around me and let out a sigh. I couldn¡¯t help but tear up as I gazed up at him; just an hour ago, I

    thought that I had lost him forever. And now, he was standing beside me without a scratch on him.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Edrick said, guiding me away from the door. ¡°You should rest. Are you feeling alright?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I feel great, actually. Maybe we should follow the security guards so we can give our

    statements to the police¡ª¡±

    Suddenly, Edrick threw his head back andughed. It was a loud and heartyugh, much like the way

    that heughed when we went to theedy show together. Hearing it after thinking that I would never

    get to experience hisughter again made me smile and made my heart feel full.

    ¡°You¡¯re always onto the next thing, aren¡¯t you?¡± Edrick asked, giving my shoulder a squeeze. ¡°Always

    so focused on your goals. A little hard-headed, too, if you don¡¯t mind me saying.¡±

    I felt myself blush. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right,¡± I said with augh. ¡°I guess I should have stayed here instead

    of going on that walk, huh?¡±

    Much to my surprise, Edrick shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± he replied. ¡°All of this would have

    happened one way or another. Those dreams that you had were visions of the future ¡ª you have the

    power of Foresight. There would have been no way to get out of what happened on that cliff.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but furrow my brow in confusion. ¡°But my visions were wrong,¡± I said. ¡°I always saw

    Michael killing me and pushing me off the cliff¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll never understand it,¡± Edrick said. ¡°Foresight is a powerful gift, but it¡¯s often misunderstood.

    Someday, maybe you¡¯ll learn how to harness it a bit better. For now, though, let¡¯s just be d that your

    visions prepared you for what was toe. I think that without those visions warning you about

    Michael¡¯s n, he would have been able to kill you.¡±

    I stared down at the floor for a few moments, processing. If only the Mother Witch was still alive and

    could help me figure these things out. Now, I was alone in this. It was going to be a massive learning

    curve to teach myself how to be the Golden Wolf. Where would I even start?

    But I supposed that I wasn¡¯t really alone. I had a family now. At least we could learn together and be

    there to support each other through it all.

    Finally, I felt Edrick¡¯s hand under my chin. He tilted my face up and for the first time that day, I was able

    to gaze into his blue eyes deeply without any pain or worry. There was nothing steely or icy about them

    anymore. They were even more blue than the sky.

    With a smile, Edrick slowly bent down to kiss me deeply on the lips.

    I rxed into his kiss and wrapped my arms around his neck, standing up on my tiptoes to kiss him. As

    I did, I felt a deep and rxed sigh release from his chest. He pressed himself up against me, and for a

    moment I felt our hearts beating against each other.

    ¡°Eww!¡±

    E¡¯s tiny voice rang out through the hallway, causing both Edrick and I to pull apart from each other

    andugh. With a giggle, E ran up to us. Edrick scooped her up in his arms and held her on his hip.

    ¡°Are you doing okay after everything, E?¡± he asked. He had a bit of worry drawn across his face.

    E paused for a few moments, thinking as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. Finally, she nodded. ¡°I

    have the best mom and dad in the entire world,¡± she said, grinning. ¡°You guys are like superheroes. I

    couldn¡¯t be better!¡±

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    E¡¯s words made my heart flutter and instinctively, I reached down and touched my belly.

    For the first time, I finally felt like we were a real family. Nothing was keeping us apart now, and I

    couldn¡¯t wait to see our little family grow. I imagined that E would be an amazing and loving big sister,

    and I could only picture how happy Edrick would be to hold his second child in his arms.

    Edrick chuckled at E¡¯s words and pulled both of us close. For a long time, the three of us just held

    each other in the hallway as though we would never see each other again. I looked up to see E

    smiling down at me, and I reached up to pinch her little cheek. Her tiny giggles sounded like music to

    my ears.

    Everything else that happened leading up to this moment almost seemed to melt away. Nothing else

    mattered. During these moments, there was only us, and I vowed then and there to keep it that way.

    When Edrick set E down, though, he nodded to himself and then gave me a mncholy look.

    ¡°Maybe we should head out,¡± he said, ncing out the door that still stood ajar behind us. ¡°Not to visit

    the police station, though.¡±

    I c****d my head to the side. ¡°Where, then? Do you want to go back to the penthouse now?¡±

    Edrick shook his head. ¡°No,¡± he replied. ¡°We need to check on my mother. I hope that my dad didn¡¯t

    hurt her in any way.¡±

    My eyes widened. Verona¡­ I had forgotten about her. It seemed as though the brief sense of peace

    that I felt earlier would have to be put on hold until we checked on her, and I was okay with that.

    Just like Edrick, I also hoped that she was safe and that Michael didn¡¯t hurt her. After all, I wanted her

    there to meet her second grandchild.

 Chapter 248

    Chapter 248

    #Chapter 248: The Matriarch

    Edrick

    Within an hour, Moana and I were nervously walking up the front steps to my parents¡¯ mansion.

    We left E with Selina just in case we walked in on anything sinister. The house was mostly dark,

    which was out of the ordinary. As I slowly opened the front door, I felt my heart catch in my throat.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I called out, holding Moana¡¯s hand as I stepped into therge foyer. ¡°Mom?¡±

    There was no answer. Moana and I exchanged nervous nces and walked in a little further.

    ¡°Verona?¡± Moana called, cupping her hands around her mouth to make her voice travel further. ¡°Are

    you there?!¡±

    Still no answer. We decided to head into the sitting room, where my mother often liked to be during her

    free time, but it was dark and empty. At this point, I was starting to get even more nervous.

    ¡°I swear, if that bastard did anything to her¡­¡± I growled, ¡°I¡¯ll¡ª¡±

    Moana gasped. ¡°Look!¡± she said, pointing behind me. I followed her finger to see what looked like a

    small fire outside.

    The two of us quickly ran out the patio door toward the fire, then across the garden. As we ran, we saw

    a lone figure standing by the fire.

    It was my mother. She was standing by the fire pit, in her dressing gown, and was tossing what looked

    like pieces of paper into the mes.

    ¡°Mom!¡± I eximed, running up to her. ¡°You¡¯re alright!¡±

    ¡°Oh, darling!¡± my mother replied. She grabbed my face and kissed my cheeks, then did the same to

    Moana. ¡°I was so worried about you¡­¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked. ¡°And what are you doing?¡± I nced down at the papers in her hand, only

    to see that they weren¡¯t papers at all. She was holding photographs. I snatched the stack out of her

    hand and flipped through them. They were all pictures of my dad.

    My mother simply shrugged and poked the fire with a long rod. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to do that for ages,

    darling,¡± she said, shing a vibrant smile as she watched the photos burn. ¡°It feels good to do it.¡±

    I let out a sigh and tossed one of the photographs into the fire myself. It did actually feel good to see

    my father¡¯s face burn to a crisp.

    ¡°Did he hurt you?¡± Moana asked, taking a step forward with concern written across her face.

    My mother shook her head. ¡°No. Although he did threaten to hurt you two, as well as E. He tossed

    my phone right in the fountain, if you¡¯ll believe it! And then he just took the car and drove off without a

    word!¡±

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    My eyes widened. ¡°So when I called you¡ª¡±

    ¡°He heard me,¡± she replied with a nod. ¡°That was when he took my phone. Said that I should learn to

    mind my own business for once. Hah! As if I¡¯d ever do that.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile at seeing my mom still being as witty as ever despite what had happened. She

    tossed the rest of the photographs into the fire all at once, and the three of us watched in silence as the

    mes jumped up into the sky, devouring the paper within seconds.

    ¡°Well then¡­¡± My mother turned to face the two of us. ¡°Tea?¡±

    Moana and I followed my mother inside, where she put the kettle on the stove. ¡°Where are the

    servants?¡± I asked.

    My mother simply shrugged. ¡°Your father sent them away not too long ago. It was a shame, really. I

    don¡¯t know exactly what he was up to, although I think I have a pretty good idea.¡± She paused and

    looked over at Moana with nothing but sympathy in her eyes. ¡°Once I can get my phone and my things

    in order, I¡¯ll call them back and give them all raises for the trouble. It has been nice having the ce to

    myself, though, I must say.¡±

    While the kettle started to heat up, the three of us sat around the kitchen counter. Finally, I started to

    exin everything to my mother¡­ From the very beginning.

    ¡­

    When I was finished with both my story and my tea, my mother stared down at the leaves in her cup

    without a word.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Verona,¡± Moana said quietly. ¡°This is my fau¡ª¡±

    My mother suddenly jerked her head up with a wild look on her face and gripped Moana¡¯s hand tightly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare finish that sentence. None of this is your fault. If it wasn¡¯t you, then it would have been

    someone else. He already took that prostitute¡¯s life all those years ago¡­ He has a penchant for

    causing destruction.¡±

    There was a silence, filled only by the sound of the crickets chirping through the open window.

    Finally, I licked my lips and spoke. ¡°He¡¯s going to prison, mom,¡± I said. ¡°Will you be okay?¡±

    My mother nodded vigorously. ¡°Of course I¡¯ll be alright, dear. Mywyer and I have both been waiting

    for this day. And trust me when I say that I¡¯ll certainly be getting the fortune and the house in the

    divorce. A man behind bars for crimes like that doesn¡¯t deserve a penny.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle a bit. ¡°You¡¯re never one to pity yourself,¡± I said, patting her hand. ¡°Moana

    and I are here if you need anything.¡±

    My mother simply nodded, then finished off the rest of her tea. Suddenly, I heard her voice ring out in

    my head.

    ¡°You¡¯ll marry her?¡±

    I tried to hide the fact that my eyes wanted to widen, and coughed slightly. ¡°Y-Yes¡­ I think so. Do I

    have your blessing?¡±

    ¡°Moana,¡± my mother said, turning to face her with a smile, ¡°could you do an old woman a favor?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Moana replied. ¡°What is it?¡±

    My mother smiled. ¡°Could you go up to my bedroom and get my pocketbook for me?¡±

    Moana nodded and disappeared with a smile, without a moment of hesitation. A few moments after she

    left, my mother turned to face me and took both of my hands firmly in hers.

    ¡°Of course you have my blessing,¡± she whispered, giving my hands a squeeze. ¡°I¡¯ve been hoping for

    this moment. I¡¯ve always liked her, even when she was still a human.¡±

    I felt my face go a bit red, and I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Thanks, mom,¡± I said. ¡°That means a lot.¡±

    My mother¡¯s grin widened. ¡°I¡¯m giving you my mother¡¯s ring,¡± she said. ¡°I think Moana will love it. My

    mother was a lovely woman¡­ She would want you and your bride to have it.¡±

    Suddenly, I felt ovee with emotion. Without a word, I stood and walked around the counter to meet

    my mom. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly.

    Moana returned a few momentster while we were still hugging, slightly out of breath from rushing

    through the massive house. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Verona, but I couldn¡¯t find it,¡± she said. ¡°You said it was in your

    room?¡±

    My mother just smiled and shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s alright, dear. I don¡¯t need it.¡±

    A little whileter, Moana and I stood at the door to head home for the night. In a few days, we nned

    to return to the penthouse. But for now, we just wanted to enjoy the mountain estate without any fear

    for once.

    Just before we left, my mother sneakily slipped the little velvet bag containing my grandmother¡¯s ring

    into my hand. She curled my fingers around it and patted my hand, gazing up at me with a smile that

    only a mother could have for her child.

    Even with my father and Ethan both in prison, I knew that this was just a new beginning for all of us.

    And I couldn¡¯t have been more excited.

 Chapter 249

    Chapter 249

    #Chapter 249: Purpose Over Profit

    Moana

    The months in between Michael going to prison and Daisy¡¯s birth were a whirlwind of emotions and

    unexpected turns. After the incident with Michael, where he was sentenced to prison for his attempt on

    my life, my world took another astonishing twist.

    The news outlets revealed a shocking revtion: Moana, the seemingly ordinary girl who was raised in

    an orphanage, was, in fact, the legendary Golden Wolf.

    I never imagined my life could be so entangled in a web of fame and attention.

    Suddenly, everyone wanted a piece of me. All sorts of brands and non-governmental organizations

    bombarded me with invitations and tempting mary offers. It was overwhelming, to say the least. My

    inbox was flooded with messages from high-profilepanies and influential figures, all hoping to

    capitalize on my newfound fame.

    It felt like the world had changed overnight, and I struggled toprehend the weight of it all.

    As the news continued to report on the outrageous offers I was receiving, doubt crept into the minds of

    many. People began questioning whether the Golden Wolf, the protector of nature and advocate for

    equality, would truly stay true to her purpose or sumb to the allure of money.

    These doubts lingered in my mind as well, threatening to pull me away from the path I had set for

    myself.

    In the midst of this chaos, I almost fell victim to apany that was particrly skilled in branding.

    They had apelling narrative and seemed genuinely interested in making a positive impact on the

    world. At first, it was love at first sight. I was thrilled to have the chance to be involved with such a high

    profilepany.

    However, as I delved deeper into their motives, it became evident that they were driven solely by profit.

    Their true intentions were masked by a cleverly crafted facade, and it took the guidance of my trusted

    companion, Edrick, to see through their deception.

    Edrick, ever the wise and discerning soul, helped me navigate through the sea of offers.

    Together, we carefully scrutinized each proposition, seeking the genuine ones from those that were

    merely seeking to exploit my fame. We rejected all those with insincere intentions, determined to stay

    true to our mission of making the world a more equitable ce.

    It was a lot of work for a while, and a lot ofte nights were spent sifting through mountains of proposal

    letters and applications.

    However, amidst all of the chaos, we discovered a small organization that aligned perfectly with our

    values.

    ¡°Look,¡± I saidte one night as Edrick and I sat up and worked through the sea of paperwork. It was just

    a couple of months before Daisy was set to be born, and my belly was practically bursting as I leaned

    forward to hand Edrick the piece of paper that caught my attention. ¡°Look at this organization I just

    found.¡±

    Edrick furrowed his brow as he took the letter from me. ¡°Humanity¡¯s Reach Initiative,¡± he said under his

    breath.

    ¡°They¡¯re not offering any money,¡± I said, feeling my chest swell a bit with excitement. ¡°All they want is

    someone who is really dedicated to helping the world.¡±

    Edrick looked a little skeptical. ¡°We can give them a call if you¡¯d like,¡± he said, supportive as always.

    ¡°We¡¯ll call tomorrow.¡±

    Indeed, the next day we called Humanity¡¯s Reach Initiative. Within a few weeks, I was signing my first

    contract.

    They may not have had the grandeur or financial prowess of the other offers, but their dedication and

    commitment to their cause shone through. Their passion for creating a better world was undeniable,

    and I knew deep in my heart that they were the right choice.

    Rather than merely epting their invitation, Edrick went a step further. He decided to invest in this

    organization, recognizing the immense potential they held to effect real change. It was a gesture that

    truly touched my soul.

    Together, we wanted to nurture and uplift those who shared our vision, knowing that every small step

    towards progress mattered.

    When we made our decision, the runner of the organization expressed her immense gratitude. Her

    name was Jolene, and we had been working closely with her for a few months. Countless press

    conferences, public events, and charity gster, Jolene wrote a heartfelt letter, publicly thanking both

    Edrick and me for believing in their cause:

    To Moana and Edrick Morgan:

    I hope this letter finds you both in the best of spirits, for it carries with it an abundance of gratitude and

    appreciation. It is with utmost sincerity and admiration that I reach out to express my heartfelt thanks

    for your unwavering support and belief in our organization, Humanity''s Reach Initiative.

    Words alone cannot capture the depth of gratitude that fills my heart as I reflect upon the momentous

    decision you both made. Your selection of our small organization, despite the limited financial

    resources we possess, has reaffirmed our unwavering dedication to creating a more equal and just

    world. It is through the genuine intentions and unwaveringmitment of individuals like yourselves

    that our vision cane to fruition.

    Your rejection of the enticing mary offers from other brands and NGOs speaks volumes about your

    character and the values you hold dear. In a world driven by profit and self-interest, you have remained

    steadfast in your pursuit of genuine change. The trust you have ced in us is both humbling and

    inspiring, and it fuels our resolve to make a meaningful impact in the lives of those who need it most.

    Edrick''s decision to invest in our organization goes beyond mere financial support. It represents a

    partnership built on shared values and a mutual understanding of the potential we possess to create

    lasting change. Your investment is not just in our organization, but in the countless lives we aim to uplift

    and empower.

    Please ept my heartfelt thanks for recognizing the true essence of our work, which extends far

    beyond financial gain. Your belief in our mission to foster equality and justice serves as a guiding light,

    propelling us forward in our endeavors. Your support provides us with the means to continue

    advocating for those who have been marginalized and forgotten.

    In light of your generous support, we pledge to remain transparent, ountable, and focused on our

    shared goals. Your trust empowers us to dream bigger, to reach further, and to touch the lives of

    countless individuals who yearn for a better future.

    On behalf of the entire Humanity''s Reach Initiative, I extend my deepest gratitude to both of you. Your

    decision to choose purpose over profit has reinvigorated our spirits and solidified ourmitment to

    the cause we hold so dear. We are honored to have you as partners in our journey, and we look

    forward to forging a future of meaningful impact, together.

    With immense appreciation and warmest regards,

    Jolene

    Leader, Humanity''s Reach Initiative

    Reading that letter, which was published in the local newspaper, made tearse to my eyes. But

    beyond that, it was humbling.

    It was a humbling experience to witness the impact we could have on someone''s life by extending a

    helping hand. Their gratitude reassured me that we had made the right choice amidst all the chaos.

    In the days that followed, as news of our coboration spread, I realized the true power thaty within

    me.

    It was not just the power of being the Golden Wolf, but the power to choose, to discern, and to inspire

    change. I understood that the path I had been thrust upon was not just about protecting nature but also

    about using my influence to create a more just andpassionate world.

    This is from N?velDrama.Org.

    The overwhelming offers and temptations had momentarily veered me off course, but with Edrick''s

    guidance, I found my way back.

    Together, we rejected the falsehoods and embraced the genuine opportunities. We were determined to

    remain steadfast in our purpose, never allowing ourselves to be swayed by materialistic desires.

    With so much change underway, the world really did feel like my oyster.

    And I was prepared to weather the tides of the ocean as the Golden Wolf, so long as I had my

    newfound family by my side.

 Chapter 250

    Chapter 250

    #Chapter 250: Six Months Later

    Moana

    The time between Michael going to prison and Daisy¡¯s birth were such a whirlwind of activity that the

    months practically flew by.

    Ethan and Kelly wound up being transferred to a mental health facility. I think that was better for them

    in the long run, as the things that they did were ultimately the result of Michael¡¯s brainwashing. I didn¡¯t

    hold any grudges against them; in fact, Edrick and I visited them on a monthly basis, and the

    medication and therapy that they went through seemed to be helping a bit.

    Of course, Kelly could never get over her obsession with Edrick. Nor could Ethan get over his

    obsession with me. It was very likely that they would spend years in that ce, but at least we could

    have somewhat normal conversations with them when we went to visit.

    Michael, however, had no visitors and I didn¡¯t feel the least bit bad about it. Verona eventually finalized

    her divorce with him, and she got most of his money as well as the house. She became the matriarch

    of the Morgan family, and over the next six months we went to countless wonderful parties hosted by

    Verona where there was no drama or fighting. It felt good to finally have a chance to enjoy attending

    those sorts of parties without judgment or hatred.

    My status as the Golden Wolf was quickly discovered by the public. There were, of course, some fringe

    groups who wanted me dead, but they had no way of killing the Golden Wolf now that the knife was

    gone. Thanks to what happened at the cliff, the future generations of the Golden Wolf would be allowed

    to live and continue to create peace in the world.

    I continued teaching at the school, and split my time with the orphanage and the Humanity¡¯s Reach

    Initiative as well. I was on track to be the next headmistress at the school someday, but I still

    didn¡¯t know if that was what I wanted. Countless humanitarian organizations were still begging me to

    work for them, and the prospect of trying something new was exciting to me.

    Since I continued teaching, I only volunteered for these organizations instead. On more than one

    asion, Edrick used me of doing too much and not getting enough rest. I justughed at him

    because I knew that the baby and I could handle it. We had been through so much before, and the

    volunteering that I was doing was making the world a better ce.

    Edrick continued being the WereCorp CEO, but he was much different after the events at the mountain

    estate. He became more fair toward his human employees, and even went so far as to purchase

    Sophia¡¯s orphanage. He donated money to other local orphanages, and the two of us quickly became

    known as the biggest phnthropists in the city.

    On Christmas, we even threw a massive charity g that beat a record for the most amount of money

    raised toward humanitarian organizations. It was of course run by the Humanity¡¯s Reach Initiative,

    which had grown immensely since we joined and put in our efforts.

    The two of us were happy together. We didn¡¯t have to hide our rtionship from anyone ¡ª not even

    ourselves. In the penthouse, we were a little family. We didn¡¯t get engaged, though, but that was okay

    with me. I was just excited to meet our daughter.

    I was lying on the couch after a long day of teaching and going to public events when I felt it. Selina

    had just given me a good scolding for overexerting myself so close to my due date, and now I was

    reading a book with a sandwich and a cup of tea sitting on the coffee table.

    Suddenly, I felt something strange.

    ¡°Um¡­ Selina?!¡± I called out. I dropped my book and stood, my eyes widening at therge wet spot left

    behind on the couch.

    Selina came running, and her eyes widened as well.

    ¡°Did your¡­¡± Her voice faded and she mped her hand over her mouth.

    I nodded slowly, both excited and terrified out of my mind. ¡°My water broke. Daisy is on the way.¡±

    Edrick and I decided to name the baby Daisy. Daisy Anne Morgan¡­ Someday, I would tell her how her

    big sister picked that name out, and it was the prettiest and most special name I had ever heard.

    The contractions began soon after my water broke.

    Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.

    Selina was on the phone with Edrick and was telling him to get home when I felt the first one. I let out a

    loud groan and practically doubled over from the pain as I gripped the back of the couch with white

    knuckles.

    ¡°Mom?¡± E asked, tugging on my skirt. ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    I nodded and swallowed, feeling myself already beginning to sweat from the pain. ¡°Yes, love. It¡¯s called

    a contraction.¡±

    E c****d her head to the side. ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    I gritted my teeth through the pain and managed a smile. ¡°It means that your little sister is trying to get

    out,¡± I said, pinching E¡¯s cheek. I was overtaken then by another wave of pain, and Selina came

    scurrying out of the kitchen with a worried look on her face.

    ¡°Edrick is on his way. I¡¯ll take you to the hospital now if you want¡ª¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I shook my head firmly. ¡°I want to wait for Edrick.¡±

    Selina opened her mouth to protest at first, but then quickly shut it again. I could tell that she knew that

    there was no changing my mind now, and so she and E both stayed with me while I paced back and

    forth around the living room, clutching my belly as waves of contractions came over me.

    Finally, Edrick burst out of the elevator with a wild look on his face. His tie was loosened, his shirt was

    half untucked, and his hair was a mess. He looked like he practically flew here.

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh.

    ¡°You look ridiculous,¡± I teased.

    ¡°Mom peed on the couch!¡± E shouted.

    Selina hushed E. ¡°Don¡¯t be rude!¡± she scolded. ¡°It¡¯s not urine! It¡¯s called amniotic fluid.¡±

    E furrowed her brow, still clutching my skirt. ¡°Well, it looks like pee.¡±

    Edrick and I both burst outughing. E never ceased to lighten the mood, even when she didn¡¯t

    mean to.

    Within minutes, Edrick and I were on the way to the hospital. E threw a royal fit when she found out

    that she couldn¡¯te untilter, but I knew that it would likely be hours spent in the hospital and that it

    would be worse if she came now.

    As Edrick drove, he clutched my hand and kept looking over at me nervously, as though I would

    explode or even just disappear into thin air.

    ¡°I love you,¡± Edrick said as he took a turn.

    Through the pain of the contractions, I could hardly speak. I could only smile back at him, and I

    squeezed his hand three times. Over the past six months, we had developed a secret code to say I

    love you without having to speak¡­ And at that moment, I needed to use that secret code more than

    ever.

    Edrick grinned and squeezed back. Soon enough, the hospital came into view. Despite the pain, I

    couldn¡¯t stop smiling.

    I was so excited to finally meet our daughter.

 Chapter 251

    Chapter 251

    #Chapter 251: Daisy

    Moana

    After ten hours of intense and gruelingbor, little Daisy was born.

    ¡°She¡¯s so tiny,¡± I whispered as I held the little crying bundle in my arms. The doctor weighed her at just

    six pounds and twelve ounces, but she was as healthy as an ox.

    Edrick, who hadn¡¯t left my side throughout the entire delivery, leaned over my shoulder with a wide grin

    on his face and held his hand out to touch her cheek. Almost instantly, Daisy¡¯s little hand shot out and

    gripped his index finger with a relentless force for such a little thing.

    Her eyes were squeezed shut, and yet she still had an instinct to keep her father¡¯s finger in a vice grip.

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh, but I also wanted to cry.

    When I was on the cliff with Michael, I saw my parents at my birth. I did the same thing to my father,

    and I also wouldn¡¯t let go of my mom¡¯s finger when she had to leave me at the orphanage.

    But now, little Daisy wouldn¡¯t need to ever let go of us if she didn¡¯t want to. I wouldn¡¯t let anything

    happen to her or us. We were a family now, and we were protected.

    When I looked up at Edrick, the look in his eyes was priceless. I had never seen anyone look at

    someone with so much intense love, and seeing it made me tear up.

    ¡°Here,¡± I said, taking his hand and cing it beneath Daisy¡¯s back. ¡°You can hold her.¡±

    Edrick¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he gingerly took our baby out of my hands and held her close to his

    chest. I watched, unable to contain both my smile and my tears, as he started to gently bounce her and

    whisper to her.

    Just then, there was a knock on the door and the nurse poked her head in.

    ¡°Sorry to interrupt,¡± the nurse said in a soft tone of voice, ¡°but you have some visitors. Are you ready to

    see them?¡±

    Edrick and I both nodded. A few momentster, E rushed in and ran up to Edrick. Selina and Verona

    walked in behind her.

    ¡°Is that Daisy?¡± E asked, standing up on her tiptoes to see.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    Edrick nodded and sat down on the chair next to my bed to let E meet her little sister. E gazed

    down at her in shock for a few moments before turning to me.

    ¡°Why does she look all¡­ squished and purple, like a grape?¡± E asked.

    I had tough, and so did everyone else; even Selina. ¡°Newborns look like that,¡± I replied, tucking a

    strand of hair behind E¡¯s ear. ¡°She¡¯ll be okay. She¡¯ll look normal soon enough.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± E scrunched up her nose. ¡°I¡¯m still happy, though. When can I y with her?¡±

    While Edrick dealt with E¡¯s onught of curious questions, Selina and Verona crowded around me.

    ¡°How was the delivery, darling?¡± Verona asked.

    ¡°Are you thirsty?¡± Selina asked, touching the side of my face with the back of her hand. ¡°Let me get you

    some ice chips.¡±

    ¡°Did the doctors treat you well?¡± Verona asked next.

    I felt dazed by all of the questions, and didn¡¯t know which one to answer first. Thankfully, Edrick came

    to my rescue and distracted them with Daisy so that I could rest.

    ¡­

    It was dark in the hospital roomter that night.

    Daisy was asleep in her little bass. Edrick and I could hardly take our eyes off of her for more than

    five minutes at a time.

    ¡°She has your green eyes,¡± Edrick said softly as a gentle smile yed on his lips. ¡°I bet she¡¯ll have your

    red hair, too.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Well, she has your nose and your lips,¡± I whispered.

    Edrick chuckled. ¡°Poor kid.¡±

    Iughed and punched his arm. He feigned surprise and rubbed the spot where I hit him, but the smile

    never left his lips. He looked at me for a moment before leaning over and nting a kiss on my

    forehead.

    ¡°Moana,¡± he said, taking my hand in his, ¡°I have to ask you something.¡±

    Instinctively, my eyebrows raised. ¡°What is it?¡±

    Edrick was silent for a few moments. Finally, he licked his lips and met my gaze. His eyes were soft

    and full of love. ¡°Where would you like our rtionship to go from here?¡±

    My eyes widened a little. Somehow, I knew what he was getting at, and I felt my face turn red. ¡°I

    mean¡­ I¡¯m just happy that Daisy and E can both grow up in a loving home,¡± I replied. ¡°Why?¡±

    Edrick gave me a mischievous look. He knew that I knew what he was trying to ask. My mouth hung

    open slightly as I felt my heart start to race, and I felt my breath catch in my throat as I watched him

    reach into his pocket and pull something out.

    It was a small ck box. Without a word, he handed it to me.

    ¡°I know it¡¯s not the most romantic time to be asking this,¡± he said, ¡°but I can¡¯t wait any longer.¡±

    ¡°Are you proposing to me?¡± I asked, holding the little velvet box firmly in my shaking hands.

    Edrick shrugged and smirked. ¡°Open it first.¡±

    I swallowed hard as I stared at Edrick in disbelief. His eyes showed nothing but love and affection, but

    for some reason I was terrified. Finally, I managed to tear my gaze away from him and look down at the

    little box.

    When I opened it, a gasp escaped my lips.

    ¡°Well?¡± he asked. ¡°Do you like it?¡±

    I took the delicate diamond ring out of the box. There was nothing gaudy or over-the-top about it. It was

    just a simple diamond ring.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­. Perfect,¡± I whispered.

    Edrick grinned. ¡°So is the answer yes?¡±

    ¡°Yes to what?¡±

    ¡°Yes to marrying me?¡±

    My eyes were so wide that I thought they might pop out of my head. The little diamond glinted in the

    dim light of the hospital room, and behind it, just out of focus, I could see Daisy sleeping in her

    bass.

    Edrick chuckled and gingerly took the ring out of my hand, then took my shaking left hand and slipped it

    onto my ring finger. It fit like a glove.

    ¡°There,¡± he whispered. ¡°I made the decision for you.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh. Somehow, I entirely expected this and yet it still took me by surprise

    nheless. As tears came to my eyes, I could only stare back and forth between the ring and our

    daughter.

    ¡°Moana?¡± Edrick asked.

    Suddenly, I threw my arms around Edrick¡¯s neck and pulled him down onto the hospital bed where Iy.

    He fell onto me with a grunt and a chuckle as I kissed him all over his face, and when he tried to pull

    away, I wouldn¡¯t let go.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said in between kisses. ¡°Of course I¡¯ll marry you.¡±

    A softugh rumbled in Edrick¡¯s throat, which only made me want to kiss him even more. He gently

    cupped my face and pressed his soft lips against mine as his sweet scent overtook me, and I felt

    everything else seem to slip away.

    We only snapped out of our stupor when Daisy woke up and began to cry for milk.

 Chatper 252

    Chatper 252

    Chapter 252: Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

    Moana

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh as I thought back on the beginning of our rtionship.

    To think that, just a year prior, I was just Edrick¡¯s one night stand who also became his nanny¡­ And

    now, here I was, standing in front of the mirror in my wedding dress.

    The dress that I picked out was beautiful. We nned to have ate summer wedding to

    commemorate our meeting, six months after little Daisy was born. My dress was a blush pink color. It

    was soft and flowy with a beautiful floral embroidered pattern, and sleeves that fluttered in the breeze.

    It hugged my waist in all of the right ces and made me feel more beautiful than ever.

    Daisy was six months old now, and E often mentioned how she no longer looked like a squished little

    grape. E had just turned nine, and thought that she was a grown-up, although she still liked to hold

    Edrick¡¯s and my hands as we walked her to school. I treasured those moments and would never forget

    them when she eventually got too old to hold her mommy and daddy¡¯s hands.

    Our wedding was to be held at Verona¡¯s mansion, in one of the sprawling gardens. I got dressed in one

    of the spare rooms with Sophia as my maid of honor and Mia, who had be a good friend to me

    over the past year, as my bridesmaid.

    ¡°You look stunning,¡± Sophia said with tears in her eyes as she finished cing my veil on my head.

    ¡°The prettiest bride I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just ttering me,¡± I teased, to which Sophia responded by pinching my arm.

    Mia came up behind me and fixed my hair a bit. ¡°Are you ready?¡± she asked. ¡°You know, you can still

    run away from Edrick.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°Trust me, I¡¯ve thought about it,¡± I replied jokingly with a smirk. ¡°He¡¯d just find

    me and make mee back.¡±

    Mia and Sophia led me downstairs shortly after, and took me to therge double doors that led out to

    the garden where the ceremony would be held. In the banquet hall, I could hear the moring sounds

    of the reception being prepared.

    E, who was wearing a little blue dress with bows and ruffles ¡ª she picked it out herself ¡ª had a

    basket full of flower petals in her hand and a wide-eyed look on her face.

    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m nervous,¡± she whispered as she tugged on my dress. ¡°Can I hold your hand?¡±

    I chuckled as I crouched down and pinched her cheek. ¡°I¡¯ll be right behind you,¡± I said. ¡°Plus, Mia will

    be holding your hand. It¡¯ll be okay.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡± E looked a bit unsure, but held her chin high.

    The double doors opened. I felt my heart leap as I heard the music begin to y, and then Mia, E,

    Sophia, and Jolene filed out ahead of me. I watched from around the corner, where the guests couldn¡¯t

    see me, as E began to march proudly down the aisle with her basket of petals.

    She made it about halfway before she suddenly saw her father, stopped throwing her petals, dropped

    the basket on the ground and ran up to him.

    I stifled augh as she was scooped up by Edrick. The wedding goers chuckled at E¡¯s

    embarrassment, and it was then that I came out and began to walk up the aisle.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes were on me. I felt both nervous and excited as I slowly walked up the aisle with my

    bouquet of sunflowers in my hand. Up ahead, Edrick held E, and Verona was sitting off to the side

    with Daisy in her arms. In my eyes, everyone else faded away. It was just them now; my little family.

    It was a beautiful ceremony, but it went by all too quickly. Before I knew it, Edrick and I were putting the

    rings on each other¡¯s fingers and saying ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°I now pronounce you husband and wife,¡± the priest said. ¡°You may kiss the bride.¡±

    With a cheeky grin, Edrick pulled me close and kissed me more deeply than ever before.

    ¡­

    ¡°She¡¯s so precious,¡± Sophia said, pinching Daisy¡¯s chubby little cheek. ¡°She looks just like you when

    you were a baby.¡±

    The reception was raucous and full of life and music. Surprisingly, Daisy was cheerful and smiling

    throughout the entire thing, and didn¡¯t cry once.

    I smiled as Sophia doted on her. It seemed as though everyone was doting on her, but I didn¡¯t mind. It

    made me happy to sit with my husband and show off our baby, even if it took up the entire night. It was,

    after all, the first time that most of them met her.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait for Daisy to get big so she can y with me,¡± E said as she stood between Edrick and I

    and proudly held her little sister¡¯s tiny hand. ¡°But mom says that she¡¯s too little now to y cops and

    robbers.¡±

    Sophiaughed. ¡°Well, the other kids from the orphanage want to y with you,¡± she said, pointing at

    the gaggle of children that were ying on thewn.

    E looked over at me curiously. I nodded, and watched with a smile as she ran off to join her friends.

    ¡°Well?¡± Jolene asked as she came up to us with a ss of champagne in her hand. ¡°What do you

    think? Best wedding ever?¡±

    Jolene, a spirited and kind older woman, had be a fast friend since I joined her foundation.

    And, Jolene was the one who went to all the trouble to n our wedding.

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing,¡± I replied dreamily, bouncing Daisy in myp while she gurgled happily and yed with

    my ne. ¡°Really, Jolene. We can¡¯t thank you enough.¡±

    Jolene chuckled and leaned forward, pinching Daisy¡¯s cheek. I was convinced that Daisy would have a

    permanent red spot on her little cheek from everyone pinching it, but she didn¡¯t seem to mind.

    ¡°All any of us want is for you both to be happy,¡± she said, ncing over at Sophia, who nodded in

    agreement. I had to blink back tears of joy as they both hugged me.

    Between Jolene, Sophia, Mia, and even Selina, I finally felt as though I had a group of real friends;

    people who genuinely cared for me, and I cared for them.

    I felt Edrick¡¯s arm slip around me as Sophia and Jolene walked away. He leaned over and kissed my

    temple. His sweet scent filled my nostrils and made my body rx. As fun as our wedding was, I

    couldn¡¯t wait to get home and spend some alone time with Edrick.

    We nned to spend our honeymoon in Europe for a week with just the two of us. It terrified me to

    leave E and Daisy behind, but I knew that Selina and the maids would take excellent care of them.

    For the first time, it would just be Edrick and I together without any distractions.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I looked down at Daisy and smelled her sweet baby scent. ¡°When should we have another?¡±

    Edrick blushed. ¡°Give it time,¡± he teased. ¡°Although¡­ Maybe soon.¡±

    I chuckled.

    ¡°I meant what I said earlier, during my vows,¡± Edrick said, leaning close so that I could hear him over

    the music. ¡°When I said that I always knew it was you.¡±

    I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Did you really?¡± I asked, c*****g my head a bit as I bounced Daisy in myp and

    listened to her happy gurgles.

    Edrick nodded. ¡°Of course. That day at the maze, I picked up your scent. I knew that it had to belong to

    my mate¡­ I guess it took a little time for me to stop being such a jerk and admit it, but I always knew.¡±

    A smile came across my lips as I leaned my head on Edrick¡¯s shoulder.

    Just then, the orchestra began ying a different song. It was soft and slower than thest one, and I

    found myself humming along to it.

    Edrick suddenly stood and held out his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s dance,¡± he said with a smile.

    ¡°But Daisy¡ª¡±

    ¡°Bring her, too.¡±

    I smiled as I followed Edrick out onto the dance floor. We held Daisy between us as we came close

    together and began to sway along to the music.

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    It wasn¡¯t very long before E¡¯s little body suddenly pressed itself between our legs. She held her arms

    up for her father, and with a grin he picked her up with one arm while still keeping his other arm around

    me.

    Together, the four of us moved to the music.

    We were a little family atst, and I was the happiest woman on the.

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