Chapter 185
(1) +25 Prints.
The drive home was quiet, but it was a nice quiet. Isabella and Marco were fast asleep in the back seat. Their little heads were tilted to the side, and Marco was still clutching his “magic staff” stick.
I looked at Astor and he looked relaxed. The hard lines around his eyes were gone. He looked like the man I fell in love with years ago. Every once in a while, he would look over at m
wasn’t a fake smile. It was real.
“We are almost there,” he whispered, so he wouldn’t wake the kids.
nile. It
I looked out the window. We were entering the pack lands. The tall trees of the Eternal Pack were surrounding the car. Usually, this sight made me feel happy but today, it made my stomach do a nervous flip.
“The gamd starts now, right?” I asked softly.
Astor’s smile faded just a little bit. He squeezed my hand before letting go to focus on the road. “Yes. I have to go back to being… him.”
“I hate him,” I said, even though I knew why he was doing it. I know he hasn’t told me the full plan yet but I trust him enough to understand“I like you better when you’re you.”
“Me too, Faith,” he said. “But stay strong. Remember what we talked about. Don’t let Annabella get under your skin. Just let her think she is winning.”
We pulled into the driveway of our house. My heart sank. Standing on the front porch was Annabella. She was wearing a pretty white dress and had a sweater over her shoulders. She was holding a tray of cookies. She looked like she was waiting for us.
I felt my wolf growl deep in my chest. I want to bite her, my wolf thought.
Me too, I replied. But we have to be smart.
Astor took a deep breath. I watched his face change. It was like watching a curtain window. His eyes went flat. His jaw got tight. The warmth left his body. He looked like walking” again.
He got out of the car without looking at me.
ra
old man
“Oh, Astor! You’re back!” Annabella called out. Her voice was high and sweet, like sugar. It made my ears itch.
She ran down the porch steps. She didn’t even look at me. She went straight to Astor and put her hand on his arm.
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<Chapter 185
+25 Ponta
“I was so worried!” she said. “I didn’t know where you went. You just disappeared tilis morning.”
Astor didn’t pull away. He didn’t smile, but he didn’t push her hand off either.
“I took the kids out,” he said. His voice was like ice. It was so different from the voice he used on
the mountain. It made me flinch.
“That’s so sweet,” Annabella said. She finally looked at me, and her eyes were full
looked like she had won a prize. “Hi, Faith. Did you enjoy the walk? You look..
I looked down at my muddy boots and my messy hair. I looked like I had been hir
She looked like she was going to a tea party.
fumph. She
ery dirty.”
which I had.
“I had a great day with my family, Annabella,” I said. I kept my voice calm. I didn’t let her see that I was upset. “The kids loved it.”
I opened the back door of the car to wake up Isabella and Marco.
“We’re home, kiddos,” I said gently.
Marco blinked his eyes open. He saw Astor and reached out his arms. “Daddy? Carry me inside?”
Astor looked at Marco. For a split second, I saw a flash of love in his eyes. But then he looked at Annabella, who was still holding his arm.
“Go with your mother, Marco,” Astor said. His voice was hard. “I have things to discuss with Annabella about the pack’s supplies.”
Marco’s little face crumbled. He looked confused. Only three hours ago, his daddy was spinning him around and laughing. Now, his daddy wouldn’t even touch him.
“But Daddy-”
“Go,” Astor said, turning his back on us.
He walked up the porch steps with Annabella. She was leaning into him, whispering something in he house. his ear. She looked back at me and gave me a tiny, mean smirk before they went i
I felt like I was slapped in the gut. I knew it was a play. I knew it was a mask. But seeing him choose her over his own son in that moment was almost too much to bear.
“Mommy? Is Daddy mad at me?” Marco asked. His voice was trembling. He looked like he was
about to cry.
I scooped him up and hugged him tight. Isabella was out of the car now too, standing by my side. She was staring at the front door with a frown. My smart baby. She knew something was wrong. “No, honey,” I said, kissing Marco’s forehead. “Daddy isn’t mad. He is just… he has a lot of work to
Chapter 185
- do. He is very stressed.”
“He likes that lady more than us,” Isabella said. Her voice was flat, just like Astor’s.
“That’s not true, Bella,” I said. But it was hard to say the words when they felt like a lie.
+25 Poms
I led them into the house. We went through the back door so we wouldn’t have to see Astor d Annabella in the living room. I took the kids upstairs and gave them a warm bat!
the skipping stones and the “magic staff” to make them forget about the cold
ked about
e door.
After I tucked them into bed, I sat in the hallway for a long time. I could hear voices coming from downstairs. I heard Annabella laughing. I heard the low rumble of Astor’s voice.
I wanted to run down there. I wanted to use my White Wolf power to blast her out of the house. I wanted to demand that Astor stop this game right now.
But I stayed in the hallway, I took deep breaths.
He is doing this for a reason, I told myself. He said it is a game. He said he has a plan.
I went to our bedroom. It was empty. Astor wasn’t there. I lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. The house felt different now. On the mountain, the air was clear. Here, it felt thick and
heavy again.
I realized that being the Luna wasn’t just about fighting and being strong. Sometimes, it was about being quiet. It was about waiting.
But as I listened to Annabella’s voice through the floorboards, I made a promise to myself.
I will keep my deal with Astor and I will stay out of his plan. But if Annabella doesd one thing to hurt my children, or if she tried to take one more inch of my home, the deal was off.
The Alpha in me might be playing the game, but the White Wolf was losing her patience. And when a White Wolf loses her patience, everyone should be afraid.
I closed my eyes, but I didn’t sleep. I just waited for the sound of Astor’s footsteps would come back to me before the night was over.
The
”
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