ALEXAKIS It has been a few days since I gifted Claire her laptop back. It wasn't easy to get the item back from her friend's house as I had to stalk the house and wait for the woman to leave for her job. After she left, the brother stayed around and was almost acting like he wouldn't leave in a million years anymore. Of course, I could have gotten her a new one, but I felt like she might have some pretty important things stored on her former one. From the way she reacted when she found the laptop, I could tell that it was more appreciated than a new one would ever be. From the moment she booted the thing and saw it was what she needed, she had stayed stuck with the laptop. While I was happy that the woman was finally having something nice to do, I was also sad that I barely saw her anymore. Again, it pleased my heart that she didn't have to sit around, idle all day long because she couldn't figure out a way to kill boredom. A small part of me was sad that she didn't have my time an
CLAIRE If there was one thing I regretted from my clash with my family and my friend, it would be the fact that they both made me lose my learning courses. Even though I tried not to show it, I was always sad each time I remembered that. But now, I could look back and not be sad anymore. Why? Because I was finally getting what I wanted back. Thanks to Alex.I didn't know how he did it. I didn't know how it was that he had even gone ahead and given it a huge thought, but he did. I couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it must have been for him to be able to get the laptop back from my ex-friend's house. However it was that he did it, I was grateful for everything and how he thought to put a smile on my face.Over the past few days since I got the laptop back, I had immersed myself in getting back into the world of learning. However, it was a huge task for me. Given how long it had been since I last studied or even did a review of what I learned or even practiced it, it was hard for
ALEXAKIS What the fuck was that? No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop myself from asking that one question. What the fuck was wrong with Claire and the odd attitude she just projected at me?I tried to move but my feet wouldn't do what I bid them to do. I didn't know if it was because I was confused about her attitude or if it was because I was embarrassed to move in the presence of the people she had yelled at me. I looked up and saw them all looking at me with different kinds of expressions. I looked down, not wanting to bother with them. Even though I was supposed to react one way or the other, I found that I couldn't.My mind was only set on the woman and wanting to see if she was okay. That was the thing, I knew the kind of person she was. So I could tell that something was either bothering her or she had acted that way because she was cranky the past few days after she didn't bother to leave her room for days. Either way, I knew that she was that way because something wa
ALEXAKIS I heard double sighs of relief from Luna Lisa, and I couldn't help but mirror her act. It was such a relief to know that Nathaniel was alive and well, just ignoring the house on purpose."Where is he? Where can we meet him?" Luna Lisa asked the private investigator. The man moved his head from left to right as if to relieve the tension he was feeling in them. When he was done with that, he held a hand over the back of his neck and rubbed over the place repeatedly. My senses became high alert as I couldn't help but sense that something was wrong with Nathaniel that the man was not yet telling us. Could it be that the man had an accident and was lying in a comma? Or did he beat someone up while he was drunk and got arrested by the police? If so, he has probably been in the cell for days, waiting for us to find him and bail him out of the mess he was in."What happened to him?" I asked the man."I'm afraid that you both wouldn't like to hear the gist of it." The man said to me
CLAIRE I was just about to close my laptop for the day when an email popped into my inbox. My first reaction was to ignore it because I wasn't expecting any important mail. But a part of me, one that felt like I should see what was going on, insisted that I open the mail. Before I could talk myself out of it, I did just that. I was shocked when I saw that the mail was from my stepmother, Becky. I closed the app, not willing to read any form of negativity with how bad I was already feeling. Almost immediately after I closed the mail app, I opened it again and began to read the content. If it was all curses and abuses as usual, I would use that as leverage to justify all the anger that was mounting up within me for no reason.*Dear Claire. How are you? How have you been doing? Your father let me know that you came by the house the other day. Why didn't you stop by my room and say hello? Never mind how harsh your father acted towards you. You should know by now that the man is always li
ALEXAKIS The light from the window burned into my eyes, making me toss around to save my face from being scorched. A knock sounded at the door, irritating me just from hearing it. I placed a pillow over my head to prevent the sleep from penetrating my ears, but no such luck."Who the fuck is that?!" I yelled at the annoying person. I was cranky, even though I identified that fact, but there was nothing I could do about it.All the events that went down with me the previous day weighed in on me after I dropped onto my bed to rest. No matter how much I tried to get the odd behavior of Claire and Luna Lisa out of my head, the hurt I felt from being hurt by the two of them wouldn't leave me. In the end, I had to resort to drinking all by myself to get the thoughts away. The drink worked because I fell asleep after taking about three bottles.Worst decision I had made in a while, seeing as my head kept banging, along with the knocks that were still going on at the other side of the door.
ALEXAKIS To be sure that I didn't read the wrong things from the file, I went through it again. Everything in there kept returning to me in solid solidness, affirming to me that whatever it was that I read before was right and I was not the one with the wild imagination. Nathaniel? If it was just the case of getting some of the Elders behind my back to try and get them to instigate the others against supporting me, I would have seen nothing wrong in that. After all, life was a competition that only the force could survive. If the man wanted to win the Alpha seat playing dirty games, I was all for it. Even if he was meeting all the Elders, I still wouldn't blink an eye at the act.But killing people everywhere he went? That was the one thing that wrought a frown from me. True, I might not know the younger man much and we might not have communicated once ever since I got to the pack, but I didn't feel like he was such a person that was capable of trying to brutally murder anyone. He
ALEXAKIS I was almost dozing off when a knock sounded on my door. I hissed as I opened my eyes due to the annoying sound. What was it with people and always banging on my doors each time I tried to take a rest? The knock came again and I knew that whosoever was at the door was not ready to let go of the insistent knock. I grumbled and got up from the bed to open the door. I saw Luna Lisa standing there, her brows furrowed into a frown."I was just beginning to think that you didn't want to open the door because you somehow found out I was the one knocking." She said.After she said her harsh words the previous day, I didn't bother to reflect on them for long because I didn't want the hurt I knew I was sure to get from it to sip deep into me. I had ignored the turmoil of emotions that hit me all at once because I didn't want to hate the woman. But as she stood in front of me now, I knew that there was no way I had the anger controlled within me. No, it just came back, or should I say
Epilogue. Claire's POV A full year had passed since Alex proposed to me, and I gladly accepted to be his woman. Today, we were taking the final step and getting married.My hand went to my neck where the mating mark was. After I accepted his proposal, he carried me to our room and gave me the mark after a hot, intense sex session. He had wanted the wedding to be carried out two weeks after his proposal, but I told him I wanted to wait. I wanted the pack to accept me as a human. To gain that approval, I learned how to fight with swords and how to shoot arrows, to show them that even if I was a human, I would always be there to fight by their sides if the need ever came. Then, I went ahead to start my own restaurant at the pack.At first, I barely got any customer as they were all weary of me. But little by little, people began to troop in. Now, I had two other branches out in the human world. This helped to show the people that if we ever had the need for cash - which was very unlik
Claire's POV A week passed after the ordeal we had in defeating the man who tried to claim the lives of so many people. I sighed, praying to the God in heaven that Scott's soul would find relief wherever he was now. He deserved that much for all the trouble he went through in his life."What are you doing, Claire? Wheel me well." Luna Lisa complained, drawing me back to the present."Sorry," I apologized. I moved the wheelchair a little bit faster than the pace I was keeping before. We were on our way out of the mansion to get some fresh air in the garden. Luna Lisa had to use the wheelchair as her legs were still healing. The doctor had, however, assured us that she would be fine and it was taking long to heal because it was a demon's bite."Claire." I heard someone call my name and I turned back, only to see Evie standing behind me, her suitcase already packed and with her."Are you going to somewhere?" I asked her. After the incident, we had gotten somehow closer as we had to comf
ALEXAKIS As soon as Kieran told me through the mind-link that my mate and her sister were safely back in the pack, I felt relief wash over me. I turned to look at Scott, her ex-boyfriend, all the anger in my heart targeted at him.He had endangered the life of the woman I loved, and I was going to make sure that he paid for it. No matter what anyone said about it, I was going to make sure that he paid heavily for his action.It was with that anger that I gave him an uppercut on his chin. While he bent over at the shock, I gave him a jab at his side, making sure I went all in to ensure I broke almost all his rib bones, if not all."You..." The man growled at me. He stood upright and gave me an evil smile. I knew he was up to something and that helped me stay alert. He began to morph into something hideous in front of me. Within seconds, there was no longer a man where Scott should have been. Instead, there was a tall dark beast, with two horns on his forehead, red eyes glowing brightl
Claire's POV After waiting for what felt like an eternity, even thinking that the man I was waiting for would no longer come, I was shocked when I saw him finally make an appearance. The tears that stopped flowing before came again, afresh. My heart wrenched within me, and I struggled to breathe well. Why? Why would he come here? Why did he risk his life like that?Our eyes met, and the man smiled at me. I shook my head at him as he started walking to where I was. When he got to me, he sighed."I am here now." He consoled me. It was clear that he thought I was crying because I was happy I saw him. I shook my head at him to show him that he was wrong about his insinuation. Still, he didn't get what I was trying to say."Alex, you need to run!" I finally let out amid my tears. I looked left and right to see if Scott and his men had gotten a whiff about Alex's appearance and were now on their way in here. When I didn't see them rushed in, I sighed, a little bit relieved about that. "L
Claire's POV "Scott, I am begging you," I pleaded again. I didn't care how pathetic my voice was. All I knew was that there was no way I was going to let the man kill Alex just because of a mistake that my father made."Why do you think–" his phone rang, cutting him off. "Really? Good." He said. Then, he cut off the phone. The kind of look he gave me made me cold all of a sudden."What is it?" I asked, feeling scared already."Guess who is coming over soon?" His voice held the malicious excitement he felt. "Alex! He is going to come here soon, and I will have so much fun killing him." He let out.My eyes widened in shock, and my breath became hitched."Do you want to know how he is going to die soon?"I shook my head to stop him. He ignored me and continued anyway."I plan to corner him and hit him when he least expected it." He said with a small evil laughter."You..." My voice trailed off as I realized that the man was gone already, leaving me alone."All of you, leave the building
Claire's POV It felt like forever since I got trapped in this basement where the light was never in and made it hard to tell when it was either night or day. The horror of not knowing how long it had been since I was in this hellhole made my heartbeat pound even faster. There was also the awareness that I no longer have a father to reach out to. Even though the bridge between us was rough, my heart sank now that I was aware that it had been burned forever. What made it worse? Knowing that the man and I were not on good terms before he died. How was I supposed to live on now knowing that my father hated me?I wanted to get angry with Evie over the death of my only family and how she played a part in it, but she lost Becky also, and I knew how much hurt she was going through for that. Besides, she was my family also no matter how hard we fought with each other."Claire, we need to escape." She said to me frantically again. I shook my head at her since the bandage was still covering m
Claire's POV Scott!" There was no doubt in my heart that I was relieved to see a familiar face even if it was that of the jerk who cheated on me with my sister.After I left the car and went in, I was surprised to see the door open. I thought it was so because they - Father, Becky, and Evie - were all home. I stepped inside, but it was empty. I went to Father's study but he was not there. After I searched all the places that I could, I swallowed my nervousness and went to Becky's room to see if she was there, but then she was not in the room either. A quick visit to Evie's room revealed the same ordeal.The house felt bizarre at that point, and I had a bad feeling flushed over me. I ran out of the house to see if I would see them, but nothing of such happened. I was about to move to the woodshed to see if they were there taking care of the games they hunted the night before when I saw Scott standing in front of me."Scott!" I called again. Even though the man and I never exchanged wo
ALEXAKIS I wasn't sure what exactly was making my heart feel like it had been shattered into two. Was it how Claire left me after I thought that she was going to stop and think about the love between us? Or was it because the house now seemed empty without her?I wanted her close to me - that was a fact. If I hadn't stepped into the position of the Alpha already, I would have damned every other thing and asked her to leave with me to a faraway place where we would be happy together, without anyone judging us.But I was already one, and she felt out of place.I knew it was necessary for her to take the break as she truly needed it, but I was against her going over to her parent's house. Still, that was the only safe place I knew would work for now. That didn't make my worry lessen any bit, though.Apart from her family treating her like trash, I was worried that Nathaniel might make a move for her now that she was no longer under my protection."We are here, Alpha."I looked up and sa
Claire's POV After contemplating my decision for a while, I finally came to a conclusion. It would be better for me to leave Alex and the pack, even if it was only for a while. Maybe when I would return, the animosity these people had toward me would be gone."Alex, can I have a word with you?" I asked. We were seated in the living room. He was busy with some files while I had my laptop in front of me, but I couldn't concentrate on anything I was learning on the screen. The man looked up from his work and gave me a gentle smile."I'm all ears, love." He said, the smile still plastered across his face."I want to leave," I let out quickly. I was afraid that if I hesitated, I would never be able to say it to him. I winced as he dropped the files in his hand on the floor and rushed over to where I was, holding my hands."Why? What is it?" He asked in a very gentle tone. "I just... I need a break," I told him."I know. I've been feeling the way you keep pulling away from me recently. I