I was getting ready to go swimming when I heard a knock at my room. "Yeah, come in."

Mom and Dad entered the room. Dad cleared his throat to get my attention. "I have sent our Beta along with soldiers to deliver Derek a message of Parlay. He cannot dismiss this; it is the only way to confront him about his decades-old sin."

I turned around and nodded. "Who will go in parlay with you?"

Dad looked at mom. "Of course, my Luna and Beta are going to accompany me."

I asked. "Can I come with you?"

Dad asked. "Why? Don't you trust your dad?"

I shook my head. "No, of course not. It's not like that. I just wanted to come so that I could roam around and maybe find a loophole to get to the babies."

Dad shook his head. "Nobody will share anything with the daughter of another alpha."

I nodded. "Alright, I will stay at home. But could you please share what you have in mind to talk to Derek?"

Dad sat down and also asked me to sit down as well. "Yeah, I'm not going to beat around the bush, so I'll tell Derek that I knew about the crime he committed and that I have Gavin and Aria's living twins to show that Raven did not kill their parents. It was always Derek who masterminded this web of lies."

I asked. "And do you think he would take this statement politely?"

My dad laughed. "Oh no, he won't take this politely. He'll make threats or something, but don't worry—I'll be fine because he won't hurt me in parlay. If he makes this mistake, it will be a crime."

I asked. "Don't you think it would be good if you had a backup plan?"

My dad kept his hand around my shoulders. "Valerie, I don't trust Derek either, that's why I sent him a message for Parlay. After hearing about the crime, he committed decades ago, Parlay was the best way to get him to talk because he would have to follow the rules."

Before I asked anything, someone knocked at the door. I stood up and opened the door; it was midnight's beta. Tim was standing there. Dad asked him to come inside. Tim looked at my father. "Derek invited us outside of our and his territory for parlay tonight."

My dad stood up. "Alright, we have two hours to get ready."

I also went to the river to try to relieve my anxieties. I didn't go to meet Raven because I didn't want to get too close to him at my parents' house, and I'd already told my dad that it's complicated between us. My body wanted Raven all over me when my mother walked in, just as we were about to kiss. I'm not sure how long Roselie's spells would take to break our bond, but it's becoming more challenging for me to ignore Raven's unambiguous signals to accept the bond. This time, I am not willing to face any insults or disgrace. I headed back home after about two hours.

When I arrived, I noticed Mom and Dad had left, leaving only Raven and me. I had no idea what had gotten into me. On my way to his room, I detached my bra and flung it on the floor, and when I got to the stairs, I looked in the mirror and noticed that my pebbles were quite noticeable over my frock. I knocked on his door, but he didn't respond. I entered a room and closed the door behind me.

I sighed and walked up to his bed; He was lying facing the wall. I kept my hand over his shoulder and bent down while turning him to face me so he could see my cleavage clearly. His eyes were widened open to see the view I pretended and I shot up my shoulders. "What happened?"

He didn't say anything but shook his head. I moved up with a heavy heart and was about to turn around to go out of his room. He grabbed my hand and pushed me down. I actually lost my balance and fell on him. He tucked the lock of my hair behind my ears. "How could you show me your beautiful globes and expect me not to kiss you?" and then he claimed my mouth like he had been thirsty for centuries and I was the first glass of water he grabbed.

Our lips separated when we were both breathless. I sat up and tried to get off him. "We can't do this here."

He kept my legs apart and clasped them so I could stay on him. He slipped his hand under my frock and started brushing his fingers on the edges of my thong. I swallowed my saliva and told him in a shaky voice. "Raven, this is my parents house..." and he undid the straps of my thong and continued rubbing his fingers over the slit of my core.

I closed my eyes and kept my hands on his chest. "Stopppp."

Raven whispered. "You should have thought about it before coming into my room without a bra."

And he slipped his hand inside. I arched my back and he asked. "Remember where your hands should be when you are on me?"

My hands moved up to my breasts and I started cupping them. Raven never refrained from instructing me. "Ride on my finger, Val."

And I started riding, but it wasn't giving me pleasure, so I grumbled, and he sensed. "My little dirty wolf." He then inserted another finger inside me, and I began bouncing my ass against his fingers, feeling thrilled each time his fingers plunged into me. He kept calling my name in a seductive way and encouraged me to ride more and more. I was soaked in sweat and soon I reached the crescendo, let out my pent-up desire on his fingers, and slumped back onto his folded legs. He took out his finger and licked every drop of the hot stream. It feels like nothing in the world could be more intimate than watching Raven lick my dripping desire from his fingers.

When I caught my breath back to normal, I heard someone banging at the door relentlessly. I opened my eyes and got the feeling that something was not right. We both climbed out of bed. I immediately put on my bra and slipped into my frock but Raven rushed to the door first and he opened it. Tim was standing there, bruised and battered.

I asked. "What happened to you? Where are mom and dad?"

Raven helped Tim sit down. I fetched him a glass of water. He drank and started telling what happened.

When we arrived at the agreed-upon location for the Parlay, we had no idea that Derek would go to such extremes. Everything was fine until Alpha Samuel threw the truth on his face in front of everyone in the parlay. Whispers started to emerge, and when Alpha Samuel finally made his intentions clear about the replacement of Derek with Raven, he lost his temper and asked, How dare Alpha Samuel threaten him like this?


Alpha Samuel finally told him that he had Gavin's and Aria's kids to show evidence that Raven never killed anyone; it was him behind everything. Derek stood up and ordered his people to kill us and he specifically mentioned his beta to give us miserable deaths and make it feel like an accident.

When Derek left, his beta secretly released me and instructed me to spread the word in my pack and come back with backup soldiers to counter-attack. His beta doesn't want to follow Derek anymore due to his vicious and monstrous decisions.