In a tale of secrets and deception, Peony finds herself hiding her triplets from Xander, the one person she fears the most. Desperate to keep her children safe, she goes to great lengths to keep their existence a secret. However, when Xander stumbles upon them by chance, Peony's worst nightmare becomes a reality as her triplets mysteriously vanish without a trace. Left with no other choice, Peony must turn to Xavier for help, hoping to convince him to assist in their rescue. But as they delve deeper into the tangled web of lies, the truth that has long been locked away begins to unravel. As Peony and Xavier race against time to find the missing triplets, they uncover shocking revelations about their own intertwined histories. The weight of the past threatens to consume them both, but they must set aside their differences and confront the truth together. Author: MEOONGPERSIAA Copyright: Ideaink Six Cats
Chapter 1. That Familiar Eyes
PEONY CRIMSON'S POV
Life on the run was hard, especially with my triplets. I didn't live a day without fear. Terrible secrets cloaked in beauty ready to pounce from the darkness. And my three daughters don't need to face any of that.
On that morning, I gave each of my beautiful six-year-old triplets-Rose, Jasmine, and Violet-a charm before they left for school. The charm contained some magic to cloud their aura. As a werewolf, it's the thing I did to keep my daughters hidden among the mortal.
The triplets didn't know this fact. I told them it was my secret way of making them feel special. The charms were made from wood and carved into the shape of flowers and butterflies. Each of them wore one on a silver chain around their neck.
"Don't lose your charms today," I said. "Promise me." I smiled at them with loving eyes.
"Yes, Mama!"
The girls nodded obediently and kissed me goodbye. Then they went off to school.
Our next-door neighbor Gloria, a mid-level witch who opened a tarot shop, saw their sweet farewell and waved at them.
"How long will you make me create those charms?" she asked curiously. "Their true identity... You can't always keep them under your hat, remember?"
"I know. Just do as long as possible until I'm ready to reveal everything. Right now, it's still too early, Gloria," I replied, smiling faintly. "No doubt that is the only way so I can keep us safe and sound. So, please do me a favor for years to come."
Gloria nodded. "Just don't tell anyone else."
I smiled again. "Absolutely not."
I closed the apartment door with a long sigh. Being a single parent was challenging, especially when I had to be extra careful not to let anyone suspect me and my triplets.
As a werewolf on the run, I knew better than anyone that people would want to hurt my family or kill them. That was why I could never tell any mortal about my other life.
I did my house duty extra quickly because I had to work. Before leaving the apartment, I glanced at the right side.
A photo frame of a man's face I'm not familiar with hung on the wall. The man was skinny, but his military uniform made him more defined. Yet Rose, Jasmine, and Violet know him as their father. He wasn't even my mate. It was another lie that I had kept all these years.
I sighed when I finally got to work. I hated my job working for a fast-food restaurant. My boss, Mr. Mathew, was a tyrant; he wanted everything done perfectly. Also, he would fire anyone without warning. He was also a kind of pervert.
"Get your fat ass up and do your damn job! The one over there hasn't been cleaned yet!" he shouted, pointing at the corner restaurant.
Every day I tried to keep as far away from him as possible. I don't want his dirty, fat hands on my butt as he did with the other female employees.
I pulled out a broom and began sweeping up the restaurant. Then I wiped the windows, ignoring the people passing by outside. The mortal with the same routine tended to rush to catch up on work without being concerned about the existence of immortals.
But all of sudden, my heart was racing. All the blood in my body flowed as hard as river water. A smooth wave as gentle as a feather swept over my skin. I lowered my hand from the window, then stared straight outside.
"Who's that?"
There was a man who was strangely taller than others. His specially styled black hair didn't move as he walked. He stopped in the middle of the crowd as if he wasn't disturbing the flow of pedestrians.
His blood-red irises were fixed on me as if they could pierce through the window glass. When my eyes met those beads, I felt skinned alive. But a second later, a sense of familiarity hit as if I could recognize the owner of those smoldering eyes. The air that arose made me shiver.
In that one quick second, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. I was startled, frozen in place. Once again, I ventured to look at the crowd of people walking outside. But that man disappeared.
Was it just a trick of the light?
Or perhaps something magical had happened as I stared blankly at the crowd.
There was no doubt in my mind that man wasn't a human.
A cold wave filled my chest. Yes, I think he was a werewolf. I took a moment to concentrate.
Oh, no. That was terrible news. I had to think of something. But then I stopped.
What if it was my ex-mate? That is the only reason why I've been hiding for years. Someone I never wanted to go near my triplets. The one I hated the most.
Unwilling to dissolve into a panic attack, I took a deep breath.
Perhaps it was just my hallucination. The distance between the pack I came from was a thousand away and located at the end of this continent. With no family who would look after me, I took my chance and went this far that anyone couldn't ever find me.
This thought quickly sunk in as I was preoccupied with my work. Towards noon, when my shift was over, I boarded a bus and got off in front of an elementary school. My arrival always coincided with school dismissal time.
As I waited at the gate, my triplets emerged from the main entrance of the building. Their faces were indeed similar. Gloria said they're inheriting my beauty and gentleness. It was only the firmness of their expressions that made the difference.
The cheerful Rose waved first when she saw me. "Mama!"
They rushed into my arms. Seeing my three daughters healthy and safe, close in my heart, was the happiest time.
"Mama, Jasmine cried again today!" reported Violet, somewhat annoyed with her sister.
"Why?" I asked, immediately noticing my second daughter. Jasmine's pink cheeks were puffy and still wet with tears.
"I told her not to listen to what those brats said, Mama!" continued Violet.
I knelt, aligning my height with Jasmine's, and rubbed her tiny shoulders. Gently, I asked, "What did those children say, my bloom? Tell me."
"They said I was miserable because I didn't have a Papa." Jasmine looked somber again and added, "They also said that Violet is rude because she doesn't have a Papa to teach her manners!"
"So don't listen to them!" snapped Violet. As the eldest, she seemed to understand her responsibility to look after her sisters, even without being asked. But Violet was still a six-year-old girl.
Startled, I hugged the three little girls again while rubbing their heads. My chest ached every time the same case occurred. I was an orphan, too; I knew very well what it was like not to have a parent figure to look up to.
"Oh, my heart... I'm so sorry," I whispered soothingly while holding back tears. I don't have to show them my weak side.
"Papa!" Rose exclaimed.
"Yes, I'm sorry I couldn't bring you together with Papa," I repeated.
Rose broke away from my embrace and pointed behind her. "No, Mama. Over there! That's Papa!"
The three little girls looked in the same direction and spontaneously screamed.
"That's right. It's Papa!"
Spontaneous, they ran off. I was distraught and confused.
"What the–Rose! Jasmine! Violet!" I shouted, running after them, "Wait, don't run that way!"
The alley around there was more complicated than I had expected. I smelled my daughter's aroma and found them in one of the narrow alleys.
"Huwaaahh!!!"
"Huwaaahh!!!"
There, I saw them crying and the man in front of them putting his hands on his waist.
"Hey, what's wrong with you guys? Didn't you hear me? I'm not your Papa!" the man shouted with a voice that is not at all friendly to say to children.
I was surprised. The man's face was the same as in the photo on our apartment wall. It never occurred to me that the man was real. I downloaded a random soldier's image on the internet and prayed for him with my triplets every night without imagining that I would meet him.
"Papa!" Rose still tried to hug him while crying hard.
"I'm not!" The man became even angrier.
I ran and hid my triplets behind me.
"My darlings, please control yourself." I stood straight before the stranger, pleading, "Please forgive them. They're mistaken you as their late father."
"Mama, but he's our Papa! Look!" Violet insisted and pulled out a worn photo from her pocket.
"Violet, that's-"
The photo quickly changes into the man's hand. He was startled and snapped, "This photo... Are you a stalker?"
"No, I'm-"
"What's going on here?"
A gruff voice managed to turn the atmosphere into a tense one as if the mild temperature of spring had dropped a few degrees below zero. A gust of wind brought the familiar scent of vanilla and bergamot to my nostrils-the unforgettable one, as if I had smelled that last night. A mysterious yet intimidating aura made my hair stand on end. I couldn't help but freeze, realizing I had no time to run.
I turned my back.
Just five feet away, my ex-mate was staring straight at me with a piercing look in his red eyes. My heart felt like stop beating and fell into a void.
What I was hiding had brought to light.
At one point we were both abandoned in the woods. Our meeting started with distrust. His wounds were more than the gnashing scratches of the wilderness, it extended to trash his memories and kept him from truth more than once. Her wounds were more than the bruises of the poisonous wilderness, it extended to crush her security and increased her self doubt. It was an exile that led a prideful yet underestimated prince and an tortured daughter of a successful merchant. Our tale only began when we acknowledged our desires, yet the world around us conspired to thwart our every step. The both of us didn't want to doubt, yet, would our resilience and trust be enough to navigate through the jungle of doubts?
She was wolfless. All her life, Holly Ambrose had been longing for her family to reciprocate the love she had been working hard to get from her father and her sister, Irina. Unfortunately, they only saw her as an embarrassment to the pack and used her instead so that Irina could refuse to marry Alpha Evander Edgerton: the ruthless and cold-blooded Alpha of the Blackwood Pack. Thinking that it was the only way to escape them, Holly accepted the proposal. Alpha Alec, her former mate and her sister’s fiance begged her not to. He confessed he still had feelings for her and wanted her back as his mate. Too late because there was no stopping her from having her freedom. But would Holly be truly free if Irina had no intention to stop destroying her life after Alec left Irina to claim Holly back? Would she stay with Alpha Evander even after she found out that his former mate came back and was pregnant with his child?
His body collapses into mine as my back slams on the wall. “You were touching yourself because of me weren't you” his musky scent suffocating me. My core immediately picks up a heart beat with our proximity as he pins my hands above me on the wall. My bare nipples harden at his touch. I can only think of two words at this moment. Touch me. ***************************************************** Never in Ivy Carter's life did she ever think that she'd fall for a man she couldn't have,especially when the man was not only her professor but also her new step brother. Caden's heart has always been where his pack is, gilded by the pack's legacy but the minute he lays eyes on Ivy Carter his walls come crashing down. But he can't have her even though she's his mate. Their worlds collide with an irresistible force and it's only a matter of time till they cross the line, breaking all restraints with an unholy attraction.
Audrina, a powerless omega, becomes entangled in a web of deception created by her own flesh and blood. Her crafty stepsister sends her into the arms of MistyMoon Pack's Alpha, James, where she meets a guy whose icy demeanor conceals his powerful and fair character. With chiseled features and a stare that could melt steel, James is both hot and gorgeous. Their one-night affair suddenly blossoms into a lifetime commitment with the news of a kid on the way, leaving them divided between desire and danger. But behind the surface of their undeniable mate bond, there lies a hidden identity and buried truths that could ruin the spark that was just beginning to ignite.
Aurora Everley has always been the overlooked daughter, the one that gets shadowed by her sister Margot. She thought that once she turns eighteen and meets her mate, she would have someone whose attention would just be on her. But she is wrong. Because her mate happens to be the one her sister brings home, introduced as her boyfriend and Alpha Heir, Mason Chase. Now, she has to sacrifice herself again. She has to sever their mate bond, even when her heart screams not to do it. But what happens if someone else is waiting at the sidelines for her? Someone who's been watching her every move, desiring her in ways no one ever did before?
Leaving everything Lily had behind, she moved to a far countryside Pack and made sure no one would be able to find her anymore. Her perfect life back then turned upside down raising twin children with her under a small Pack a kind-hearted stranger brings them into. She was determined to live her life being tied and stuck to her poor situation when out of nowhere her ex-boyfriend, Wade, whom she left hanging years ago when she ran away came to visit the Pack she's currently residing in. The worst part is that he will spend his stay under the same roof with her. Would their interrupted love rejoin this time around? Or the bitterness of the past will prevail.
When Corynn mustered up the courage to tell Elliot about her pregnancy, she unexpectedly found him gallantly helping another woman from his car. Her heart sank as three years of effort to secure his love crumbled before her eyes, compelling her to leave him behind. Three years later, life had taken Corynn down a new path with someone else, while Elliot was left grappling with regret. Seizing a moment of vulnerability, he pleaded, "Corynn, let's get married." Shaking her head with a faint smile, Corynn gently replied, "Sorry, I'm already engaged."
I'm a Luna. After three years of marriage to Alpha Nathaniel Blackwood, I'm finally pregnant with his pup. But he's unclaimed me for his first love. I'm leaving the pack with this secret, praying he never finds out. Nathaniel Blackwood is a handsome, powerful Alpha. In a world where humans and werewolves coexist, he has it all: a billion-dollar empire, untold power, a massive pack, and, most importantly, the perfect Luna. But the return of his first love shattered our marriage. When he finds out the secret I've been hiding, will he regret rejecting me? Will I ever be able to forgive him? Dive into this gripping serialized novel to find out more-Enjoy the ride!
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