ClaireThe day had barely begun and there were already people in the house. I hated it because I would have to be in the kitchen and living room a lot, making sure everyone was served. I rolled on my bed as I already expected someone to shout my name from where they were to come to do my work. My ego was still bruised from the words of my obnoxious sister and showing my face downstairs was too disgraceful for me. I wished I could wear someone else's face for the rest of the day, just so I won't be recognized by dad's guests.I got up from the bed and walked slowly down the stairs. It seemed like the number of people I thought were here in my head was not the same number I could see. They were multiplied. I recognized one of the men as dad's hunter and so, the rest of them had to be hunters too. I greeted one of them and all I got as a response was a fake nod. Did they all hate me? Had dad poisoned their minds towards me already? Today must be the day they were announcing Evie as the
AlexakisI walked down the street, trying not to be spotted by the man in front of me. Something felt suspicious about the whole thing. Angelo had told me to tail the man for no reason and I didn't know what I was supposed to do after doing this, I was tailing him for no reason. Back at the den, while Angelo told me about this errand, my wolf sense told me something was wrong but I couldn't place a finger on it. I decided to go for it after much persuasion. Marcus didn't go with me this time for some reason I couldn't phantom which was weird. Tailing this man was like filling a basket with water, there was no point because it felt like he had me going in circles and circles with no actual destination. I stopped for a bit and looked around. I had never been to this part of town and it seemed shady, I didn't want to get lost. I focused on my target and saw he wasn't there anymore, somehow he had bypassed my wolf sense and I couldn't feel him around. Something was going on and I neede
ClaireI didn't wake up on a good note today and I needed to shake it off, so I washed my face, put on my boots and stepped out. I didn't go to work today because of Evie's ceremony that was to take place soon, and I needed to prepare everything that was required. I needed some bit of fun to lighten up the mood at least, so I took a walk and hoped I would see any park that would be open. I had a terrible dream the previous night about Alex dying and I woke up crying. The dream wasn't exactly vivid so I couldn't tell who was behind the bow that struck him down. Maybe it was a sign for me to reach out to him, but I was unwilling. If he had wanted to see me, he would have come around at least, like he used to do. I was up in bed for a while before I got up, so stores had opened and it was getting quite busy out here. I stopped at my cafe and greeted Judith, thankfully the manager wasn't around. "Hey Claire, it's been a very long while since I saw you. When are you coming back? I've mi
CLAIRE. It was a disappointing thing to experience - having your younger sister taking a position that was meant to be yours, being the older sibling. I watched as Becky and Evie became sickeningly nice to me, like I was no longer a concern because it was now obvious that father favoured her over me - a major issue they had needed clarity on. I had always known all these while but I hadn't expected it to come down to this. Truthfully speaking, I didn't think I could actually hunt down another living creature and kill it. It was just the notion that he hadn't even considered me or asked, just giving it directly to Evie. If he had asked, I would have made the careful choice, knowing that I couldn't actually carry out that act. And then I would have handed it over to Evie, since my Father's side had to carry on with the post as the head of the Midnight Hunters. Father had called Evie into his study to have a lengthy discussion with her, and I knew he was telling her secrets about the M
EVIE.I tossed and turned on my bed in worry, all the things I had said to Claire were just words of mouth and I couldn't do the things dad asked me of. I liked being the villain in the story and putting up fences to prove I was better but on the inside, I felt like a scared little crow. I plugged in my headphones and started listening to some r&b music, hoping that would give me some kind of comfort as it always did but I wasn't getting any. I felt a tug at my leg like a force was pulling me down the bed and I sprang up in fear, waiting to see who it was. Mother looked at me sternly and started laughing, I sighed."That's what you get for blocking your ears so early in the morning." She stated."I was so scared, I thought something supernatural was about to happen to me like I was being called into the underworld or something." Mother laughed so hard. "Not funny, mother," I said, sitting up properly and embracing my pillow."Why won't you think that when you watch so many movies now
EVIE.Seeing us walk to the woods scared me so much, I felt like I threw up in my mouth. I had never been in an atmosphere so tense because I always liked being in control. Claire was ahead of me, carrying my gear. It was a whole lot and seemed too heavy for her. The gear contained a bow and series of arrows, boomerangs, a shotgun, a butcher's knife and a taser with a very high voltage. All of these were to make sure the animals were subdued. I didn't know why my father required I carried all of those when I could barely use any. I had just a little or no training in using a bow, talkless of the rest.I felt cringed at the sound of that. It was weird saying all of those like I was now an official hunter, well not yet anyway, just some moments away. "Why can't she carry her gear? Is she that weak? If she can't do that to warm herself up, how can she kill an animal?" I heard them whisper, bothered if I could hear them or not. I felt ashamed that mother made me go through this, she woul
CLAIRE.My fingers had become sore as a result of the weight of Evie's gear, but I couldn't complain since that was my reason for being there. The other hunters made fun of me as I carried the gear and I was sure it was out of how they witnessed Evie try to take the bag from me and father's reaction, showing that it was my job. Evie had screwed up my day and image once again and I was helpless.There was an ocean of anger boiling inside of me towards the hunters. I wished I could possess one of Alex's powers and go rogue on them, tearing their brains into tiny bits. I was the first child and all these responsibilities falling on Evie were supposed to fall on me! But the reverse had been the case, actually worse; I wasn't just made the younger sister but had also become the slaved younger sister, how ironic!The path we walked on had pebbles of stones, so smooth that it looked like the pathway to a stream. It was dusty but it seemed like a place you would want to spread a mat on and en
ALEXAKIS.I stopped what I was doing when the same urge came to me again. I had been having this pressing feeling to transform, to shift back into my old form and it grew more intense as the hours went by today. I was currently doing squats in a ring. It was still very early in the morning and the guys were yet to come in. I had woken up earlier than normal, when the sky was still very dark, hours before the sun had risen and couldn't go back to sleep. Like all the guys, Angelo had given me the passcode to the den - a trust that I wouldn't take lightly, and I had decided to come in early. I had done a little warm up, eaten a club sandwich and then jogged down to the den, the coolness of the street doing little to calm the surge in my bloodstream. Angelo was in the den when I came in, in his office and although he hadn't come down to see who entered into the den, I knew he knew that I was in here with him. I went down to the underground training ground, needing to be in my space alone
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