Walking into my husband's study and meeting him leaning over Aria- one of our twin daughters, with a knife in his hand which suddenly paused in the air just as our eyes locked— was the last thing I expected to see after returning from my trip today. The trip was about a series of meetings I went to represent my mate as Luna of Auravas pack. On the way home, I stopped to get my husband a present for his birthday, and I tried hard to return home earlier than usual in order to surprise him.
I blinked repeatedly, but the image didn't change. My eyes jumped from the startled expression on Aaron's face, to his second hand pinning Aria's shoulder to the desk, to the completely relaxed expression on my daughter's face.
I blinked again, eyes zeroing in on the sharp, jagged edges of the glistening knife, and my heart leaping into my throat. What had been about to happen moments before I stepped in here was beyond obvious.
My husband and mate had been about to kill our daughter.
I stumbled back in shock, colliding with the opened door, and the wrapped present I got him tumbled to the ground with a sickening sound.
Aria, our five year old daughter, suddenly opened her eyes at the noise, and at once, her eyes filled with so much happiness before she practically leaped from the desk she was once laying on, right into my arms with an excited cry.
"Mommy! You're finally back! Alia and I missed you so much!!!" She cried excitedly and I clutched her tightly against me with shaking limbs while my heart rapidly hammered against my ribs and my brain struggled to wrap around what was actually happening.
Aaron slowly straightened and let out a sigh before he finally averted his gaze and finally pulled out a drawer and flung the knife into it, making me flinch as the drawer slammed shut.
I crouched before Aria, holding her hands as I spoke. "What was going on here, baby?" I asked softly, my voice thankfully strong.
Aria grinned and pointed at her daddy.
"Dad and I were playing a game!" She exclaimed excitedly before glancing over at Aaron, nose scrunched up.
"We aren't playing anymore?" She asked her father who let out a chuckle that clearly sounded strained as he responded.
"Not anymore, darling."
Aria whined and stomped her feet. "But it's fun! And I played well, didn't I? I laid still and kept my eyes closed throughout. I didn't peek at all! And remember, you promised me Ice Cream." She grumbled, and my hackles rose even more while Aaron clearly grew tenser.
By her response, it was clear Aaron had lied about this being a game to her. But I knew what I saw when I came in here.
He had been about to stab her. His own daughter.
What the fuck?
When I glanced up at Aaron next, hot anger filled every inch of my lungs and I swallowed emptily before glancing back at Aria and asking her to go hang out with her twin while I spoke to her father about something important.
After she left and the door slammed close, I scrubbed my hand over my face before throwing my hands into the air.
"You aren't gonna say anything?? You tried to kill Aria, Aaron!" I cried out, feeling frantic and panicked. Aaron's eyes widened a little as he rushed towards me.
"Keep your voice down!" He whispered- yelled but that only made me get even louder.
"So you aren't even gonna deny it? You were really gonna kill her??!" I yelled, shoving at his chest in fury.
"She's your fucking daughter, Aaron! Have you forgotten? Why would you want to kill her? You don't love her anymore?? That's not even an excuse to want to murder a- your freaking child!" I cried out sharply, every emotion rising inside of me mid sentence because now that I was saying the words, it was fully dawning on me that I'd have lost one of my two daughters if I had been a little late.
In the next moment, my husband was shoving me against the door and muffling my next words with his palm. His eyes were wild and burning as he bit out.
"Quiet for a freaking second and let me explain, damnit."
As he spoke, I struggled to shove him away, but it was pointless because he didn't budge. He inhaled deeply and exhaled before speaking.
"You were making too much noise, that's why I had to do this. No other reason, so you don't have to start panicking." He began, but those words didn't help a bit. I was still very panicked and scared for my life, because I was starting to wonder if I knew this man who I've been mated to for the past five years.
"Look. You're right, I really was trying to kill Aria. But wait, it's for both our benefits. The kids have huge pools of magic inside of them. Enough to make the both of us as powerful as gods. We only need to sacrifice one, and we'll become extremely powerful together. We'll still have a daughter left, so it's all gonna be fine. Doesn't that sound good?" As he spoke, my eyes widened with bewilderment and I shook my head frantically while dread crawled up my lungs. I suddenly felt creeped out by how close he was to me, wanting to be far away from him right now.
My husband was a fucking psycho and I never realized it.
He was still speaking, but I didn't want to hear anything more, which prompted me into biting his fingers hard till he swore and wrenched his hand away from my mouth.
"You psycho! You sound mad! Are you mad?" I yelled frantically as I pressed harder against the door, the taste of metal in my mouth.
Aaron cradled his bleeding fingers and shot me a sharp look.
"It doesn't have to be a big deal. I'm sure one of our kids would willingly offer to be sacrificed for our benefit. We'll attain immense power together. The kid is just five, I'll make the death quick." He continued earnestly, like he really believed I'd actually considered the crap he was spewing.
"I'm wolfless, Aaron. And you're a normal alpha. How the fuck do they have magic in them??" I hurled at him.
"But they do. I had them checked out a long time ago. This is clear proof that the moon goddess blessed them with those magic for our sake." He reasoned, sounding completely deranged to me. He started saying something else, but I was already pulling the door open and fleeing before he could move, ignoring sharp calls of my name.
~~~
I couldn't sit by knowing my husband almost killed my daughter nor could I remain in the palace one more night, which was why I grabbed what I could and fled with the kids to my best friend's house. She lived in this same pack and she was the first and only friend I made since I arrived to this pack.
As expected, she welcomed me with opened arms and promised me we could stay till whenever. I knew I wasn't exactly safe here, but there was nowhere else I could go tonight. Going to my parents pack was out of the question since I literally fled their pack to be with Aaron, thinking he was the perfect man for me- but I've clearly been blind.
Kira sympathized with me after I explained everything to her, long after kids ate and slept, and she promised me we'd figure something out together and that she'll help me protect my children. That calmed me a little and after eating a little, I also fell asleep.
However when we all woke up, we discovered that Aria was gone.
The person behind it was very obvious. It was my husband, Aaron. There were no two ways about it.
Kira's door was torn off its hinges, and Aria got stolen in the night, right from underneath our noses. I couldn't believe I slept through that, because I was a very light sleeper.
Kira consoled me as I broke down and cried while hoping that Aria was safe and unharmed. But I was inconsolable.
I was burning with anger, rage and immense betrayal and that was how I stormed back to the palace with Alia and Kira in tow.
Aaron was in his office when I saw him and I slapped him hard before gripping his shirt and screaming at him to provide my daughter for me, with tears streaming down my face but I didn't care about that.
Kira had to leave the room with a crying Alia, and once alone, Aaron laughed in my face and shrugged before responding.
"I should ask you instead. Didn't you leave this palace with her last night, and so many witnesses saw you leave. So, where's our beloved daughter?" He crooned and it took a few moments for realization to dawn on me. He was gonna spin this whole thing around, and blame me for Aria's disappearance.
"You fucking sicko!" I screamed as I shoved him but he only laughed and continued.
"Think about what people would say. You left last night when I was away on a trip, and you sold one of our daughters off to someone for blood money. How cruel and heartless of a mother!" He snickered and I fell to my knees, a ringing sound in my ear as I sobbed hard.
"Please, Aaron. Don't hurt her, I beg you." I cried out desperately, clutching his legs.
"It's too late." He sneered and I almost fainted before breaking down all over again.
He crouched before me and grasped my hair hard.
"You're just too stupid, Amanda. Of all places you could run off to, it was Kira's? That made it so fucking smooth, you moron." He guffawed and I asked what he meant.
"Can't you figure it out already?" He demanded before leaning closer.
"She knows about this whole thing." He revealed and my heart fell to my feet.
"She's such a sweetheart as usual. She helped knock you and the kids out by slipping a pill into your tea and the kids' food, so I easily slipped in and took Aria. Then my guards broke off her door to make it appear real. Am I not a fucking genius?" He grinned at the end of his sentence but my mind was reeling fast as I struggled to assimilate all he said.
"What??! You're lying! Why would Kira do that? My best friend who- who fucking loves my kids!"
Aaron laughed again and got to his feet.
"You really are gullible, Amanda. You asked why she'd help me? Well, perhaps because we've been secretly together for years and she's also currently pregnant for me." He revealed and my ears began to ring again as I gaped at him.
He rolled his eyes at my expression.
"What? Don't tell me you never suspected a thing. You really are not smart, Amanda. She doesn't even like you. Whenever I make you travel and fill in for me at functions, I fuck her all over our bedroom. Everything has been an act this whole time and I planned to make her my new Luna after discarding you. I planned to kill your two daughters as well before you arrived early and ruined everything. But you righted the boat by going to Kira's place so it's all good."
A gasp echoed through the room and I glanced sideways to see Kira standing in the doorway, a guilty expression across her face.