First
First 42

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Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Taturn is taken back. That wasn’t the version of the story he was told but he doesn’t doubt Leila, not even a little bit, he has known her since they were little and she has never lied to him, not once.

She is not the type to seck vainglory either, she must feel really bad that Carmela is getting her praise for her to even voice it. He must do right by her, the pack must know the truth of what really happened.

“Don’t get used to it. I’ll tell the pack what really happened and make sure you get your accolades,” he replies in a calm tone but it’s like his words only add salt to Leila’s injury and she scowls at him, her eyes filled with rage.

“For fuck’s sake Tatum, I don’t care about any stupid accolades! Honestly, at this point, I don’t care about you, Carmela or any of your pack members. Just leave me the fuck alone,” Leila replies coldly.

Tatum’s heart squeezes with a nasty pain.

He never thought hearing her say she doesn’t care about him will hurt so much but it does, it really hurts.

Why is she so angry?

He already said he will rectify the issue.

Why can’t she just let it go?

This is not the Leila he knows, she doesn’t know how to hold a grudge, even when she’s wronged, she apologises first so everything is harmonious.

Who is this woman in front of him?

He just hates this anger in her voice, this hatred in her eyes. It is so foreign to him, so foreign and fearful, she is even transferring her aggression to the pack members?

“Leila…calm down…..they are not my pack members, they are ours, you are their Luna, their mother,” Tatum’s voice drops an octave lower.

“Their mother?” Leila chuckles dryly, a laughter full of pain.

“Have you seen the way they look at me? The way they talk about me, the way they talk to me? They hate me Tatum, They hate me for something I didn’t even do. My only crime is surviving and marrying their alpha while their phoenix luna went missing and now that she’s back, I mean nothing to them. If anyone is their mother, it’s her.”

Leila’s voice is low, cold and full of pain.

When you hear the truth, you’ll know it and when Tatum hears those words from Leila, he knows she’s telling the truth.

Because back then after the incident, it was bad, so bad that her house was set on fire but as Luna, he thought all of that ended.

Are they really still antagonistic towards her? Why has she never mentioned it to him until now?

How much more things has she been keeping to herself?

How much more pent up anger does she have inside her?

Chapter 42

Has he failed to protect her as he promised?

Has he been a bad husband and a good Alpha?

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“Leila, I’ll talk to them, no one will dare disrespect you ever again, I promise and the ones who have messed with you, they’ll pay for it,” Tatum says in an assertive tone, the type that used to give Leila so much assurance that if he asked her to run through a brick wall, she would do it without thinking twice.

But he has failed her so much, she cannot trust his words anymore….his words sound so heavy leaving his mouth but getting to her ears, they are just…..empty.

“What about your mom, are you going to make her pay too? She called me a bitch Tatum, in front of you, what did you do? She called me a wolfless mutt, a mutt…….”

Tatum hears the pain in her voice as much as he sees it in her eyes and it breaks his heart.

His mother has always been like that with her words and he thought Leila understood. He thought since she never complained to him about it that she has grown immune to them and they had no effect on her. How wrong he has been… they do have an effect, he can see it so clearly now. “I’ll talk to mom, she won’t bother you anymore,” Tatum replies in a sullen voice. He can’t believe how much pain she must have been going through alone.

“This is not about them, it’s about you,” Leila’s reply is straight, accusatory even.

“When it’s just the two of us, I’m your Luna, but in front of others, I’m just another woman,” Leila scoffs, shaking her head in self pity. “Your attitude allows them to treat me as they like. You never show love and respect to me in front of them as your rightful luna, so why should they?”

“I know…I know I’m just her substitute but you make it so obvious!” Her tone raises. “Goddess! You show so much care to Carmi every chance you get but wouldn’t blink an eye when it comes to me and that’s why Tatum, that’s why your mom bullies me at will, that’s why the pack members dare call her Luna to my face!‘