ALEXAKIS "By the moon goddess!""Jesus Christ!"With the two sounds came the realization that the two stubborn women in my life had done the complete opposite of what I asked them to do. They had successfully gone ahead to defy my order of going to their respective rooms where there were enough guards to protect them, and instead came over to my study to make alarming sounds.That was exactly what I was trying to avoid when I had the guard pick them up instead of doing so myself. I knew they would make a mole out of the mountain hill once they saw what was going on. I didn't bother to hide the injury since I knew that they must have seen the blood that was flowing from it. I winced as they both rushed into the study, flagging me at the side each."What happened?" Luna Lisa cried."Why is there a lot of blood?!" Claire cried next."Gosh!" I let out a frustrated groan. I looked at the guard I left in charge of taking care of them, and he gave me an apologetic bow. "It was just a graze,
Claire's POV The moment I got back to the room, I collapsed on the bed from being tired. After all my attempts to put Alex to sleep, I was glad when he finally began to snore lightly. I left him there so as not to disturb him. Now that I was alone, where no eyes could see me, I felt like slapping myself multiple times for even daring to believe Nathaniel and his lies one single bit. I should have known that all he was after when he began to lie about not remembering or knowing anything was because he was planning something as evil as what happened today."Why are you such a fool, Claire?" I berated myself. If only I didn't feel sympathetic toward the man and thought that he might not have lied about not remembering anything, then I might have been able to pick up his lies and maybe pick up his plans of escaping also. But no, I allowed my kind heart to lead me astray again. Because of that, I almost lost Alex today.I changed my position on the bed, swapping from right to left, then f
Claire's POV After I managed to calm Alex down, we both returned to the mansion. By then, the guards who were meant to watch over me were already going around, looking for me everywhere. They had gotten so worried when they didn't see either me or Alex that they had done ahead to inform Luna Lisa about our disappearance.Now, as we walked inside, the first person we met face to face with was the older woman who was already looking like she was going to faint at any moment if no result came in. The moment she saw us, she rushed over to Alex."Where did you go?" She asked, her worry echoing in her voice. Then she gave me a weird look. "You said that you were going to make him rest, but you went ahead to drag him out instead?" Her voice was accusatory."I'm sorry," I said simply. The woman went on to ignore me like I didn't even exist and merely just hugged her son like he went to the pit of hell and just barely returned in one piece. I chose to leave both mother and son so that they ca
Evie's POV Finally!After two weeks of the hunters deliberately amongst themselves what their answers should be and who it was that they should give their loyalties, they finally came up with an answer. Malkholm, who led the hunters, had called for a meeting that morning, involving every hunter that there was.Now, we were all sitting in the living room. My heart was beating fast in my chest as I didn't know what the answer would be from these people and if they were going to accept me as the leader or if they were going to completely disregard me. In that aspect, they had all kept their lips tight and refrained from saying anything to me. They all kept insisting that I would know what was to be my fate when they announced it at the meeting.I knew, without a doubt, that Malkholm was the one who asked them not to tell me anything. With the amount of secrecy that was going on with these people, I wouldn't be so shocked to hear that I was no longer even the heir to the leadership posit
ALEXAKIS "Didn't you say that you saw him around here?! How many days has it been now?!" I yelled into the phone. I had been searching the vicinity where the informant allegedly claimed that he last saw Nathaniel. After hours of endless and fruitless searching, I was not so sure that the person had not played any trick on me."Yes, he was last spotted there before he went under the radar." The informant told me.I was pissed off by the fact that he kept repeating the same thing no matter how many times I asked. But then again, I couldn't entirely claim that he was lying, seeing as my brother was one man who was clever. If he somehow managed to find a way of breaking free from the dungeon despite the protective wolfsbane bars that were supposed to keep him in place, then hiding away would not be a hard task for him."Forget it," I muttered to the man. "Good job." That said, I clicked the phone off. I slowly made my way back to the house. I met Claire sitting on the sofa, waiting for
Claire's POV "Claire! Claire!"I paused and turned around as I heard somebody call my name. When I saw that it was Luna Lisa, I backtracked and went over to meet her."Luna Lisa," I called when I got to where she was. With the determined posture that she aimed for, I knew that she was about to say something that I readily wouldn't agree to - something that she had been doing on a steady these past few days."I want to talk to you about something, Claire." She said to me. The way she was hesitating to say whatever she wanted to say was only succeeding in convincing me that I was going to be spellbound when she finally let it out. I gestured for her to go on. Still, she paused for close to a minute before she continued."Can you convince Alex to let us push forward with the coronation?" She let out when she gained her confidence. I sighed, seeing that I was right when I thought that whatever she wanted to say was something I would not readily agree with. What was it with her and rushi
Scott's POV After carefully looking from my right to my left to my back, I made my way down to the deserted building in the neighborhood of the hunters. It was currently my hiding spot, which I wasn't ready to disclose to anyone just yet. I walked carefully along the dark and lonely trail that led to the building. Even though there was not a single soul in sight, I still tread carefully. As I said earlier, I was not ready to disclose the hideout to anyone - no matter who they were.As soon as I made it into the building without any preamble, I went to the basement where my newest secret was kept hidden."Who are you?" A voice asked. The tiredness and confusion in the voice could be heard. There was even a hint of fear holding a percentage of the tone used."Hello, Nathaniel," I greeted in a mocking voice as I took the final step down. I gave him a cynical smile as I stood in front of him.Yes, that was right! I was the one who launched the attack on Alex and the pack members. Not per
Evie's POV Even days after that encounter with Scott happened, I couldn't believe that he nearly strangled me to death. If the pain in my neck weren't so persistent, giving me the harsh reminder, I would have thought that I definitely dreamt it. How else was I supposed to account for the madness the man displayed? What the hell did it even seem like both Nathaniel and Scott loved nothing more than to threaten my life?This time, I actually thought that it was the end for me. At the last minute, when I was already saying my last prayers, the man had stopped on his own, with no one pleading for him to let me go."Don't make me kill you." His warning still rang in my ears even when I was alone."Evie!" I jumped as the voice rang into my ears, slowly drowning that of Scott's. When I looked up, I saw my mother staring at me like I was a lost soul. Perhaps I was since my attention was not focused on my environment one tiny bit. I sighed in relief when I regained my composure. My relief w
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