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CHAPTER 26: THE BARGAIN
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2025-02-21 17:29:23
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CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 27: SHADOWS FROM THE PAST
ISAIAHNight fell over the grove, dark and dense. The stillness was so absolute it felt unnatural—like the world was holding its breath waiting for something to occur. I sat on the edge of the pack's sacred grove, the crescent moon casting silver streams of light in the clearing. Most would be reassured by this stillness, but not me. Peace was a stranger, and it came to me with its own sort of pain. My sight, this damn "blessing," was to protect and guide the pack. But tonight, the visions abandoned the future, dragging me into the past.Her face flashed before my mind, as it always did when the world grew too quiet. Selene.Her name came into my head like a chant, silky and sugary but weighted with grief. A blessing, a curse, and whatever you want. I shut my eyes and the recollections came spilling forward.It was a summer evening, one of those idyllic instances when day lingers around for a minute longer as if the sun is reluctant to let go. That is when I first laid eyes on her—sta
Last Updated : 2025-02-21CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 28: WEB OF SHADOWS
SELENEThe darkened room was quiet, save for the crackle of the fire in the hearth. The shadows danced on the walls of stone, their shapes shifting and distorting like the specters of my past. I stared into the flames, my mind far from their heat. Tonight's burdens weighed more heavily upon me than at any point in years.I ought to be celebrating. My strength had multiplied ten times over the past twenty years, and my name was mentioned in awe and terror across the supernatural planes. But tonight, those triumphs were bitter-tasting.She filled my mind.Hailey Quinn, the Luna Queen who was meant to bring together all kingdoms, had become something I could no longer avoid. She wasn't simply pregnant with Ryan's children—she was pregnant with a new era. The prophecy of her and the triplets sent shivers down my spine. If she won, my well-laid plans would be destroyed, and all I'd accomplished would amount to nothing.But my thoughts were interrupted by a voice that caused me to shiver ev
Last Updated : 2025-02-22CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 29: OBSESSION
AARONThe city's pulse pulsed at my feet, its unconquerable beat stoking mine. I stood in my penthouse, looking out over the sweeping skyline that sparkled under the light of midnight. Down there, the world was frantic, discordant, and irrelevant. I ruled it all from where I stood—the fashion empire I had built as a cover, the intricate traps I wove, the lives I controlled at will.And none of it counted. Not really.She did.Hailey Quinn.Her name was a chant that went on in my mind, a hymn that increased its urgency with each day. I had seen her first in the reports of my spies, a shadow figure wrapped in secrets and unleashed might. And then I saw her close up. All else fell into nothingness when I looked upon her for the first time. She was not just beautiful; she was goddess-like. Potent. Destined for greatness. And she would belong to me.I padded barefoot back from the window, walking across the marble floor of my penthouse suite. The inside was a reflection of the duality of m
Last Updated : 2025-02-22CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 30: THE WEIGHT OF SECRETS
LOGANThe wind bit at my skin as I stood on the ridge that overlooked the training ground. Warriors were sparring there, their oaths and the clashing of steel background to the wind that had been as much a part of my own heartbeat as anything else to me. And yet, what I saw then was not normal for me—fierce and unyielding and loyal—normally filled me with pride. But pride today was like a shadow creeping into a room filled with light.Something was wrong.I'd felt it in the wind, in Isaiah's avoidance of my gaze, in the hesitant strides that stumbled whenever the King or I approached. Isaiah was a seer, a man whose visions had guided this pack to triumph and disaster. But something was wrong with him lately, something that had replaced his calm equanimity with an unbecoming expression of fear.Fear was not a weakness; it was an illness. And in a pack like ours, it could spread faster than fire.The feeling had begun festering weeks ago, growing stronger by the day. I had tried to brus
Last Updated : 2025-02-22CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 31: THE FLAMES OF REJECTION
MARISSA It was a stuffy night, weighing on me like an invisible, unshakable burden I couldn't shake. That once-safe room, so full of people, now felt foreign and unwelcoming. Whispers accompanied me everywhere I moved, with furtive glances. It was like everyone knew something I didn't, and that thing gnawed at my stomach.The tension had been building for weeks, the threads of my relationship with Thomas unravelling before my eyes. I had convinced myself that it was temporary, that I just needed to remind him of the way things were. But part of me knew that I was clinging to an illusion that no longer existed.The thin whisper of laughter coming from upstairs cut into my thoughts, soft and intimate in a way that sent shivers down my spine. It was Thomas. I would recognize his rich, deep laugh anywhere. But he was with someone else, a light and musical voice overlaid with a husky vibration that grated on my nerves.LUCYMy heart constricted agonizingly as I stood frozen in the corrido
Last Updated : 2025-02-23CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 32: THE FLAME BETWEEN US
HAILEYThe warmth of the lights from the studio still clung to my body as we got back to the penthouse. The photo session had been energizing, reminding me of who I used to be before royalty, prophecy, and power overtook my world.Today, however, was different.The lingering gaze of my male co-model, when his hands brushed against mine during the posed shots, had been harmless enough, but Ryan hadn't taken it that way. His blackened face and clamped jaw had told their own story yet there was nothing to be done, the shots were being rushed for a firm he'd been trying to work with for an incredibly long timeThe moment we stepped into our suite, tension radiated off him. His silence spoke more than any words ever could have."Either you're going to keep mooning around and get it out of your system, or tell me what you're thinking about," I mocked, removing my heels and lowering myself onto the soft couch.Ryan's yellow eyes snapped to mine, wolf riding just beneath the surface of his ca
Last Updated : 2025-02-23CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 33: WELCOME TO THE WORLD
HAILEYRyan launched himself upright in bed, his gold eyes blazing with panic as the sound of my scream tore through the room. "Hailey?" he said, his voice sharp with worry, already moving toward me. In an instant, he was at my side, his hands steadying me as I clutched my swollen belly."My water just broke," I gasped, trembling as another contraction ripped through me—sharp, unrelenting, and nothing like I'd imagined.His expression shifted from alarm to resolve in a heartbeat. “It’s time,” he said, his voice calm but commanding, even as the storm of emotions flickered behind his eyes. “We’ve got this.”He pulled me to my feet with surprising gentleness, his arm firm around my waist as I tried to breathe through the pain. "The medical team is on standby. I'll call them now," he said, fumbling for his phone but never loosening his grip on me."Ryan," I whispered, clinging to his arm as another contraction gripped me, stealing the air from my lungs. "It's happening so fast."You're st
Last Updated : 2025-02-23CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 34: INNOCENCE LOST
MARISSAAnd so I felt it, Hailey has birthed the triplets Alphas, Aside from her power, she gets to have those tiny creatures but I still can't understand what's happening to me, after finding Thomas and Lucy together a part of me suddenly shuts down and for the first time I don't feel any hatred towards Hailey, rather I feel a little admiration for her, her fàted match rejected her, we made her ĺife hell but she somehow survived it all.Several years ago, I was more innocent than she is right now, I was a spoilt princess who had been spoilt her whole life but I had innocence on my side, my parents were billionaires and treated everywhere as royalties but there was a little crack, my father wanted a son, not a female, by the time I graduated high school, I had returned home my dad and mom were in a heated argument "Hola Mama" Ì greeted by placing an open-mouthed kiss on her cheek and as I moved towards my dad, he raised his hand to stop meMy dad points for me to sit and so I do "Mar
Last Updated : 2025-02-23
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CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 125: EXHAUSTION
TURTELAThe second I entered my chambers, the weight of it all came crashing upon me.I had held on in that room, standing before my family, as I watched the breaking of a man I had known my entire life. Logan—the hard-as-nails warrior, the father figure who had always stridden so fearlessly—became something raw and broken.And David…That smug, condescending grin. The ring of his laughter echoing, taunting us after his devastation.I clung to the doorframe, shaking hand. I was gasping for breath, constricted chest, scorched throat. I had fought so hard to have some kind of strength in that room, not to break down. But now, here in the privacy of my own chambers, I could finally release it all.A sob of shuddering tore from my throat as I dropped to knees.It was too much.The lying and the betrayal and the war roiling outside our walls. Feeling powerless gnawed at me like a sickness. I was always the bright one, the warm one, the one with the smile that could find humor even in dire
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 124: FRACTURED VISION
ISAIAHThe air was thick with heaviness. Magic clung like a heavy fog, the stench of incense and old shadows poisoning every breath I took. My flesh itched as the remnant of David's black magic clung to the packhouse walls, a harbinger of what was to come.All of that was nothing compared to the devastation in Logan's eyes before he shifted and vanished into the shadows.I had seen so much sorrow, could foresee so many losses to come. And yet even my gift—the visions the divine had given me—the visions could not prepare me for the bare, suffocating despair that consumed Logan.Flora had been his everything. His salvation for a lifetime of pain. And to discover that she was never his to begin with? That their bond was an illusion of magic?It shattered something inside him that might never heal.Hailey was where Logan had just left, her jaw set, her fists clenched. Her words echoed in my mind."We have to kill him."And she was right.David had grown beyond what I had foreseen. He had
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 123: SHATTERED
MARISSAThe packhouse was eerily silent, as if the walls themselves grappled with making sense of what had happened. Smoke and the bitter taste of burned magic clung in the air, mingling with the raw emotion that radiated from all assembled. My own heart pounded in every beat as I took in the scene before me.Logan—our Logan—kneeling on the ground, broken.I had never witnessed him so broken. Never. This resilient man had never been so broken. Yet even I had no idea how to process all of these new information. Flora had been so devoted and loving to her mate and child so this revelation is simply too astounding. The man who had been a rock of fortitude, who had battled and fought and led wars and defended his daughter with a ferocity that shook the world—cried.Hailey sat next to him, her presence in itself a soothing balm of reassurance, but even she could not repair this. Some wounds cut too deep. Some truths dismantled everything. Flora was her best friend yet she seemed so lost r
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 122: HEART STOPPER
LOGANThe grounds groaned beneath me, the motor growled, but I hardly heard it. I was not unconscious of the cold, stinging night air whipping by. I was still unable to understand their words. "Flora was his mother." "His father was Azure." In my imagination, these phrases sounded like battle drums. Flora. My friend, my mate, the mother of my daughter and the angelic human I had loved with every fibre of my being is presently being linked to the one who almost destroyed us all? How is this even possible?. I tried to calm my beating heart, which had suddenly become unsteady, perspirations across my forehead as my knuckles repeatedly shook and the words I had heard settled and dawned on me. Years had passed since she died—gone from me, leaving only memories and an empty spot that I had never occupied. And now, suddenly, the truth was revealed. She had another living child. The son of Azure. I grind my teeth. It was an unpleasant betrayal. This information had dealt me a sudden blow, and
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 121: SHADOWS DEEPEN
JACKSONI felt like the wind had been punched out of my lungs.David was Alexia's half-brother?That wasn't some irrelevant piece of information we had overlooked—that changed everything.I turned to Jermaine, my fists tightening. "Are you sure?"Jermaine's expression was serious. He tapped the parchment again. "This record is old, Jackson. There's no mistake. Azure and Alexia's mother had a child before ever meeting Alexia's father. That child was David."I ran a hand through my hair, trying to get my head around it. "So that means." My jaw clenched. "That means he's been lying to Jaden the entire time."Jermaine nodded. "Not just Jaden. All of us."I sucked in a sharp breath. "We have to tell Hailey."Jermaine hesitated. "We have to be careful how we do that. Jaden is already wound up. If we push him too hard, he'll think we're trying to manipulate him."I growled. "I don't care if he gets mad at me. This doesn't involve Jaden anymore. Alexia's involved. And if David is anything lik
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 120: SHADOW GAMES
DAVIDI could feel the change in the air.Jaden was stepping back.Not sudden—not a drastic move. But I knew him too well. He lingered a little longer. His eyes lingered a little longer, searching for something he wasn't sure that he wanted to see.I had seen it before. Doubt. It was a powerful thing. A weapon.And I was a master at wielding it.I had to act quickly.I came across him near the training grounds, looking up into the branches of the trees as if in deep thought. Perfect."Deep in thought about something serious?" I joked, my tone light and cheerful.Jaden shifted restlessly, then shook his head once more. "A lot on my mind."I rested against the stone wall beside him. "Jackson and Jermaine, then?"His head whirled around. "How did you—I smiled. "Come on, Jaden. We've been friends for years. You think I don't know when something's wrong with you?"His shoulders relaxed a bit. He wanted to believe me.Good."Let me guess," I continued, looking at him. "They think I'm a thr
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 119: CRACKS IN THE SHADOWS
JADENI ran through the castle halls, my brothers' words ringing in my ears."David is not safe. You have to wake up, Jaden.""There's something not right with him. I don't trust him.""And you shouldn't either."It wasn't what they told me that unsettled me—it was the certainty in their voices. Jermaine was usually reserved, the sort who would weigh everything before he spoke, and Jackson, despite his arrogance at times, possessed a keen eye for spotting lies. But they were both wrong this time.David was okay.He had always been okay.Hadn't he?I suppressed the idea.Blending around the cutting corner, I bumped my shoulder into the chilly stone wall but barely registered.I needed air.Sliding the doors of the courtyard wide open, I entered the biting night. The sky stretched out endlessly overhead, and stars shone like lanterns in the distance. The stillness was a welcome change.Until I saw him.Waiting beside the far archway, David stood in the shadows. He wasn't pacing. He wasn
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 118: THE BROTHERS' WARNING
JACKSONThe minute I stepped into the castle, I knew something was off. The atmosphere here wasn't just charged—it was polluted. You could smell the hidden odour around here of great trouble brewing. It was silent, a tick below normal, but I'd been a part of the human world long enough not to miss the scent of deceptions when they hung thick in the air.Jermaine was already in the grand hall, arms folded, his face as sharp as ever."Do you feel it too?" he asked as I walked in.I nodded. "David?"Something was not right with him.It's not a suspicion, just intuition. A powerful, nagging feeling that twisted in my gut whenever I looked at him. He was too smooth, too controlled. Men like him couldn't be trusted.I'd run across my fair share of lying people in the human world—corporate vipers who grinned as they orchestrated your downfall, politicians who had spun deception into poetry. And David? The same vibe. The kind of person who took the long way around, who got you to believe him
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 117: AFTERMATH
MARISSAThe castle was more subdued than normal tonight. There was an unnatural quiet that clung to the air, like the quiet before a storm. Everywhere felt tense and electrifying; pack members were scared out of their minds, and the stench of fear radiated.And I didn't appreciate it.The torches' flickering made long shadows on the floor as I approached Hailey's room, my boots softly echoing on the stone floor.Turtela walked alongside me, her strides light and smooth. She wasn't as taut as I was, but I knew she sensed it, too—the change in atmosphere, the insidious feeling of discomfort. David. The new bone of contention in the house. We can all feel how dangerous he is, but not Jaden; he trusts him explicitly even despite all warnings given.Ryan had spoken to me about him, his suspicions dark and ominous. Hailey had agreed, which wasn't typical. She was protective, but she wasn't one to judge.That alone rang alarms. Hailey would never condemn anyone without all facts in place; i
