Alpha's One Night Bride
Alpha’s One Night Bride – Chapter 18

“We need to talk.” Rocks voice sounded strained on the other side of the phone. I was clutching onto my cellphone; my knuckles were going white. I bit onto my bottom l*p, vigorously. I shouldn’t have even answered the phone but part of me wanted to know why the hell he was calling me.

My first instinct was to hang up almost immediately, but what he said next kept me from doing that.

“I have a letter from your mother,” he said, keeping his voice low.

Part of me didn’t believe him. Why would he be telling me this now? After all this time? All these years of her being gone and he was just bringing this up now. It didn’t make sense to me. But was it worth ignoring? What if he was telling me the truth and I never find out what was in that letter.

“What does it say?” I asked, my voice sounding unfamiliar.

“You need to return home to receive it,” he informed me.

I knew it was just a ploy to get me home. He kicked me out of Ironclaw and now that I’m married, he’s trying to get in with my newfound family. He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants, and he doesn’t care who he steps on to get it. He doesn’t care about me or Jonathan, and he certainly never cared about my mother. I would be stupid and naive to believe that his intentions were pure.

Especially since learning how he grew up poor. Jonathan told me how Rock grew up in Dawngaurd with parents that were never truly around. They abandoned Rock and his younger sister, Annika, when they were only children. They weren’t even old enough to transform into werewolves yet, so hunting wasn’t on the table for them.

Rock spent most of his days stealing food from the local markets to feed himself and his sister. As Rock got older, his need for money only grew more intense and he began turning against everyone, including Annika. She ended up having her daughter, Riya, with an unknown werewolf. Meanwhile, Rock met my mother Emlin and married into her family. He knew she came from money and found it to be a good opportunity.

He used my mother for what she was, the daughter of an Alpha. Because of that, my mother is dead.

Neither of us was ever real to him. We were just dollar signs, and it would be stupid to think he cared about me now.

I hung up the phone without saying another word. I had nothing more to say to him. I knew he was lying to me, but at the same time, what if the letter existed. What if he’s been keeping it from me this entire time and now, he’s using it to bate me.

“What’s wrong?” Jonathan asked. I noticed he was staring at me with a concerned look in his expression.

“Rock called,” I told him.

“What?” Jonathan asked, closing in the small gap between us. “What did he want? Are you okay?” He asked. Tears began to pour from my eyes.

“He says he has a letter from my mother. He won’t give it to me unless I go there to get it,” I told him.

“And you believe him?” He asked. I shook my head slowly.

“No,” I answered honestly. “I believe he’d stop at nothing to get me to return to Ironclaw.” I paused. “But what if the letter does exist?”

“Is it something you want to risk?” He asked, eyeing me carefully. I stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about his words.

“If my mother did write me a letter and Rock has been keeping it from me all these years…” My voice trailed off. “I need to know the truth.”

“Then we will find out the truth. Together.”

(Melissa)

Once again, Melissa sat alone in the home she’s come to love. It was a home she built for both her and her daughter, Ronnie, with her loving husband Rock. Yes, Rock had a temper, but that didn’t mean he didn’t love her in return. That didn’t mean he didn’t care about his family and would do anything he could to protect them.

Melissa trusted Rock; she loved him. She would do anything to be with him and she’s already proved herself of that.

She thought about all she had to do to get where she was, and she doesn’t regret it for a minute. It was easy getting rid of Emlin, who seemed to be the only thing standing in her way. It won’t be as easy getting rid of Arina, who seems to be taking all of Rock’s attention lately.

She remembered the night of Emlin’s death as if it happened yesterday. Emlin had just found out about Rock and Melissa’s affair. She also found out about Ronnie, their child. Ronnie was only 5 years old at the time, and up until that point, they were able to successfully hide her existence from Emlin.

“You never loved me!” Emlin cried to him.

At the time of the argument, she was hiding off in the kitchen. That’s where Rock and Emlin had begun the fight, but they gradually moved it into the living room.

Melissa stayed behind.

She had a secret.

She was in love with Rock. Up until that point, they were only lovers. She knew Rock was married, and for a long time tried to respect those boundaries. But at the same time, Rock seemed so unhappy in his marriage. She also saw him around town flirting with some younger werewolves. He was a handsome man and being the Alpha, most wolves would swoon over his very presence.

Melissa was one of them.

There was always something about him that she couldn’t resist. His dark features drew her in, and she wanted to get entangled in his arms. She wanted to feel his embrace and his k**s. She wanted to call herself his.

Not before long, she found herself mixed up in an affair with him. He would call her late at night and they would make love either in his bed or hers. Sometimes they would be close to getting caught, which excited them both. It was new, exciting, and fresh.

Rock would often vent to her about his marriage and how unhappy he was. Since the birth of their daughter, Arina, Emlin hasn’t been the same. She locks herself up in her room and hardly goes outside anymore. She won’t even sleep in their bed. She used to be so full of life and so free.

Melissa thought to herself that in a way, she was doing Emlin a favor by ending her miserable little life.

It was easy to obtain the wolfbane; she had a friend that lived in Onyxfang who was able to get it for her. Once she saw that Emlin left her, hardly touched, hot tea on the counter during her fight with Rock, she knew it was the perfect opportunity to spike her drink.

“You brought her into our home…” Emlin cried.

“My home,” Rock argued back.

“It was my father’s home,” Emlin shot back. Her words were cut short.

Melissa could hear the blow to her head. She winced knowing Rock had struck her. She knew rock had a temper; everybody knew he had a temper. But that didn’t matter to her; he would never raise his hands to Melissa. He had told her countless times before that he loved her and would stop at nothing to protect her. Once Ronnie was born, he expressed how he wanted to leave his wife and be with Melissa and Ronnie.

He wanted to form a family.

A new family.

But years have gone by and there’s been no progress of that. He continues to sneak around Emlin’s back. There have been no signs of him trying to leave her; only fighting. They fight so much and Emlin is so miserable. She never understood why Emlin never left him herself.

She’s heard that Emlin talks crap about Rock to others in the town whenever she goes out. That’s why Rock hates when she goes out in general. It always starts a fight whenever she leaves and returns. She’s trying to turn the pack against their Alpha. Of course, nobody buys into it. They know Rock and they trust Rock, just as Melissa did.

But now it no longer mattered. Melissa was putting herself in charge of the situation. She loved Rock and she wanted more than anything to be his luna. If he wasn’t going to leave Emlin, then there was only one other option.

She needed to get rid of Emlin.

Emlin returned to the kitchen; her features were ghost-white, and her eyes were misty from tears. She had a gash on her forehead with b***d trickling down the side of her face. She looked at Melissa with fog in her eyes, hardly comprehending what she was seeing in front of her.

“You’re not looking so good,” Melissa said to her softly. Trying to appear compassionate. Emlin didn’t say anything; she looked past Melissa and towards the stairway that led upstairs. “Female to female,” Melissa spoke again. “Arguing with your husband is the reason you’re in this mess, to begin with.” Emlin’s lips turned into a thin line as she glared at Melissa; the heat rising in Emlin’s face. “Why don’t you have the rest of your tea and head on up to your bed. I can do your wifely duties for your husband.”

Emlin stared at the tea glass Melissa was holding. The same tea glass she was drinking from not long before her fight with Rock. Without saying anything she grabbed the glass from Melissa and shoved passed her towards the stairs.

Melissa watched as she disappeared up the stairs.