Alpha's One Night Bride
Alpha’s One Night Bride – Chapter 25

Erick watched as Ronnie took off towards the woodlands. He had never seen anyone quite as beautiful as she. Her red hair fell messily around her shoulders and down her back reminding him of wildfire. Her skin was fair, but her features were naturally bold and bright. Her lips were tinted a cherry red, and her eyes were the color of a malachite stone.

However, as soon as he realized who she was and her age, he knew he had to take a step back. He was 18 years old, and she was 16, they couldn’t be together for another few years. He suddenly understood how Jonathan felt those years he had to stay clear from Arina.

Upon meeting Ronnie, he knew it was inevitable.

She was his mate.

“Seriously man?” Anderson said from his posting on the other side of the door. Ronnie had just taken off and Erick couldn’t keep his eyes off the direction she ran towards. “She’s Arina’s little sister.”

“Arina doesn’t even think of her as a sister,” Erick said in his defense. “They’re practically strangers.”

“She’s 16,” Anderson reminded him.

“You think I don’t know that?” Erick practically barked. “We can’t control who our mates are.” There was a beat of silence as Anderson processed what was just said.

“You think Ronnie is your mate?” He finally asked. Erick, who was still staring in the direction Ronnie had run towards, was resistant to answering. “Erick?”

“Yes,” he finally answered.

(Arina)

Rock snatched the contract from me as soon as I had finished signing it. He was happy because he finally got what he wanted. However, he never stated what happens once this baby was born. As soon as I give birth the contract will no longer be in place.

Jonathan seemed pleased with the rules that I’ve added to the contract. There was no way in hell I was going to be staying here and subjecting myself to Rock without some guidance and protection. Rock would be stupid if he thought for a second, I was giving him that much leverage over my life.

“And to prove that I am a man of my word,” Rock said as he reached into his back pocket, he pulled out a white envelope and slipped it across the table.

On the envelope, it read my name in my mother’s handwriting. I gasped as it sat in front of me.

The letter my mom wrote for me. It was real.

Telling from Jonathan’s face, he was also in shock that the letter existed.

“I’ve done a lot of wrong in my days,” Rock said, eyeing me as I opened the envelope. “But your mother wasn’t a saint either.”

What was that supposed to mean? Was he accusing my mother of something?

The letter:

My dearest Arina,

If you are reading this, it means I’m no longer here. I failed at the one thing a mother is never supposed to fail at; protect her young. The moment I gave birth to you, I fell in love with those beautiful green eyes and that head full of blonde hair. You had stolen my heart the first time I held you. I wanted to be the kind of mother that you could depend on. I wanted to be the kind of mother that could protect you regardless of the situation. You have become my reason for getting out of bed; my reason for wanting to carry on.

As time goes on, I realized how weak I’ve become. How tired I am and how I don’t have much more fight left in me. Rock has taken everything I had loved and turned it into something of a shame-filled pit. Living in his shadow, day after day, and being imprisoned in the home I’ve grown up in.

This isn’t the mom I want you to be raised by and this isn’t the role model I want you to have. I could never truly apologize for leaving you as I did. But I hope one day you’ll forgive me. I never stopped loving you. From the moment you were born until the last breath I take.

Emlin.

I must have read the letter at least 5 times before looking up at Rock. My eyes were misty. I bit onto my bottom l*p to keep myself from sobbing.

Taking the letter from my trembling fingers, Jonathan read it a couple of times as well. He looked more confused than anything.

“This was dated a couple of years after you were born,” Jonathan pointed out. “That makes no sense because she didn’t die until you were 7.”

“She was planning on leaving…” I said, barely audible. “She was planning on leaving me.”

“She was having an affair,” Rock explained, he sounded annoyed as he leaned back into the couch.

Telling from Melissa’s shocked expression, this was also news to her.

“No,” I whispered. That wasn’t something I was willing to believe. “She would never.”

“You’ll see for yourself once I give you her box of shit. It’s all in her journal. She was having an affair from before we were even married. She was going to run away to be with him, but the problem was he was already married, and he refused to leave his luna for your train wreck of a mother,” Rock explained further. “So, she decided to stay.”

“My mother loved me. She wouldn’t have left me,” I said between the tears that had escaped my eyes. I felt Jonathan’s closeness as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, protectively, and pulled me close to him.

“Well, she certainly tried,” Rock said, his eyes laced with humor.

At that moment, I wanted to knock him out. I wanted to rip up the obviously fake note, then tear up his pathetic contract, and tear him apart with my bare teeth. I wanted his b***d on my fingers.

“Believe me or not; what I tell you is the truth. I have no reasons to lie,” Rock said. “Besides, you could ask him yourself. One of my eyes and ears told me he was recently in town for an art showing at the studio you happen to work at.”

I felt my heart sinking into my stomach.

No.

That couldn’t be true.

“Boris Conway,” Rock said, confirming my thoughts.

“What?” I breathed, though my words got stuck in my throat.

“Enough of this,” Jonathan said, standing to his feet. He pulled me to my feet with him, keeping a tight grip on my hand to a point where it was almost painful. “I’m not going to sit here and allow for you to get into her head like this. She already signed the contract, what more do you need from her?”

Rock smirked.

“For her to hold up her end of the deal,” Rock said, maintaining his sitting position. “Once that baby is born, she will have all the evidence she needs.”

“And then you stay out of our lives?” Jonathan asked.

Rock put both of his hands up as if in defeat, but the smirk never left his face.

“Then I will let you continue your lives,” he said, keeping his eyes locked on Jonathan.

“That isn’t what I asked,” Jonathan said, between gritted teeth.

“That’s the best I can provide you at this time,” Rock answered.

Rock turned his attention to me.

“You’re young, Arina. This pregnancy could kill you. You’ll need as much help as possible and luckily for you, I know how to handle such situations and I know only the best doctors. If you want to live through this pregnancy and have your baby born strong and healthy, I wouldn’t resist my help.”

“I already signed the contract, Rock,” I told him. “Is there anything more you need from me tonight? Because I would like to get home and get some sleep.”

After a brief silence, he broke into a grin.

Motioning for the door he said, “By all means.”

Glancing back at Melissa, she had her head down. She was much quieter this evening than she has been most of the time that I see her. She typically always has an opinion and pokes her nose in where it doesn’t belong.

Rock must have gotten to her well before we arrived.

“We will be in touch,” Rock said as the door closed behind us.

The air felt a lot colder since we initially arrived. Fall was ending and winter was right around the corner. I didn’t mind the cold air. It was a lot easier to run in my wolf-form during the cold nights vs. the warm nights. Not that I could transform right now anyways. Pregnant werewolves can’t transform. They must leave it up to their mates to do the hunting and provide them with the nutrition that werewolves need to survive.

Erick and Anderson were standing by the doorway in their wolf forms as we left them. I was grateful they hadn’t left their positions. I knew Jessica and Jess were somewhere roaming the streets and searching for anything Rock could be hiding; I wondered if they had found anything.

“Everything okay?” Anderson asked; Erick and Anderson were now standing in their human forms.

“I just want to go home,” I told them; choking back my tear.

“You guys go ahead without me,” Erick said; he seemed a bit apprehensive.

I noticed Anderson giving him a strange look.

“I want to do some hunting,” Erick explained, running his fingers through his moppy golden-brown hair. He locked eyes with Anderson and gave him a sheepish grin. Anderson just rolled his eyes and started walking back in the direction of Jonathan’s car.

“Okay,” Jonathan said, staring amongst his friends suspiciously.

Something was obviously going on, but I was way too tired to care.