ClaireThere were not many people at the shop. I guessed everyone just cooked up whatever they wanted at home and had no time to walk or drive all the way here to eat or get coffee, or maybe it was just not yet their rush hour. I walked into the building and went to drop my bags in the locker room and also change my shirt to the company's.Judith walked in to meet me. She had been on the counter earlier but I was absent-minded."Hey girl, what's up?" She asked, leaning on one of the lockers and a folded arm and gum in her mouth, as usual."Good morning, Judith. I'm fine." I placed my bag in the locker and walked towards the door in her direction, heading out. "I'm sorry I didn't see you there when I was walking in, just so many things in my head.""That's fine, what's your name though?""It's Claire, just Claire.""Claire, just Claire, nice to meet you." She laughed and I giggled. She seemed nice and I was hoping it wasn't all a front."So, where's everyone, Judith? I thought this pla
ClaireWork had ended in a very low mood. The rush of customers we got had reduced and everyone was getting exhausted by the hour. I was counting down to the last 30 minutes I had to spend there. This was not a job I enjoyed doing, I just needed the money to fuel my dreams as most people do.Growing up, I always had the idea that 9-5 pm should not be the ideal job for anyone. They can do what I'm doing now but should only be seasonal. I felt people that gave 9-5 jobs should be arrested because it was a lot of hours for the peanuts that they were going to pay their workers at the end of the day. They were selfish, superior and demanding people, except for the ones that had coffee shops like this and were just trying to make an honest living. There was a TV set in the shop and anyone was allowed to operate it, so I took advantage of that. I liked watching cartoons and music videos, so that was what I did. Customers that came in when I was watching cartoons always wondered who the child
EVIE.I put my head outside the window of the car, taking in the lively breeze as it danced in sync with the waves in my hair. It was a bright and sunny day, a day to prepare for my upcoming graduation.I overheard about a shop in my hometown where all the latest designer gowns were and I wanted to see it for myself, but I couldn't because I didn't go home for a break like the others and now had to go shopping in the less than stellar boutiques inside campus. I was currently walking out of a shop, disappointed once again when none of their wares met my taste. A guy walked past me, staring weirdly, and I could tell that my frustration was evident on my face. I looked down the road, realizing that I had gone through most of the shops lining the street. Letting out an irritated huff, I took out my phone, swiped a notification of a missed call away and pulled open my Uber app, quickly ordering for a ride that'll take me to Main street. I quickly typed a message to my Mom, letting her kn
ClaireEvie had returned home and nothing was exciting about that. I wished degrees lasted longer. I had so many more chores to do just because she was around, and I had to cook more when she was around and make snacks too for when her friends came visiting which was a regular occasion. Whenever her friends came around, they would use me to do their errands and make jokes at me too just to make me feel miserable. The only escape I had was my job, just a few hours of being away from that house which was worth it. "Are you okay, Claire?" Judith asked me. My hands were on my face as I leaned on the counter staring into space for so long."Huh…? Yea, I'm good," I said, taking back control of my reality and standing up straight."You've been looking so gloomy and stressed these past few days. Are you sure all is well?""Yea, it's just a lot of family stress. A lot has been going on with my sister being back in town and I guess it's telling on me.""Yep, it's so evident." She demonstrated
AlexakisI woke up with a very strange feeling like there was a force acting on me; it was surreal. I stood up and walked about my room, seeing if that would make me feel any better but it wasn't working. I felt the force pulling me to the cave, but my body was still in my apartment.I decided to dress up and head for the cave. It was still so early in the morning and people were barely up. The atmosphere was so cool, and I loved it out here. I kept feeling pulled until I got to the cave.Claire was already there and I wondered what she was doing here so early. She looked at me in confusion like she didn't expect to see me there either but I ignored the look because I saw a figure in the bushes. I thought the figure must have followed her there, intending to harm her but stopped when it saw me.I couldn't think of the right thing to do at the moment because I was caught in between thoughts. I wanted to stay with Claire and speak with her as that might have been what pulled me to the c
Alexakis"Can I take you home?" The person asked as his head popped out from the side window, it was Marcus."What the fuck!" I exclaimed with all the strength I could muster, and Marcus started laughing. "Calm down, little Missus. I'm just... just playing around." He choked on his words a bit, and stepped out from the car; Angelo's car, putting out his arm over my shoulder and walking with me side by side."The boss is angry," I whispered."Oh yea, he lost some shipments some days ago and he's been very angry since then, putting pressure on everyone because of how much money he lost. It's been very tough and you wouldn't want to be around him now tho."I sighed. That was crazy to hear. No wonder he was so pissed, and this wasn't even the first time it was happening."Angelo thinks there's a spy within us, maybe someone was watching us, all his activities and is the one spoiling our affairs."Immediately he said that, I thought about the person that had been following me and how that
Claire."Claire! Table 12 needs a coffee!" Judith shouted for the second time. My head had been spinning round and round in circles and I couldn't think straight. I quickly poured the coffee into a mug and placed it in a saucer. I started walking towards the table but my legs still felt heavy and the pants I had put on weren't making it any easier. It was so tight, and I remembered wearing it because I thought it would have a big role to play in sucking up my emotions and making me feel good somehow so I could focus on work, but I guess I was wrong. I missed my step as I almost approached the table and the coffee spilt from my hand, pouring onto the person's cloth. I wished I had disappeared after that happened, but my body was still there. The manager was around observing all this while, and I was guessing the last days at my job were drawing closer by the minute."Shit" The woman exclaimed. She was a very pretty lady and she looked English, so it baffled me when she cursed because
ClaireI didn't realize that I had slept for so long as I turned on my bed to look outside the window and saw how dark it was. I stretched my hands towards the drawer at the top right of my bed and checked the time on the watch, sitting pretty on it. The time was 6:45 pm. Evie and Scott had stopped making noise, and it was quiet in the house. Their sound had almost driven me mad and I didn't know when the sleep crawled in. I planned to avoid father at all costs."Claire!!!" Father called. I guess my plan was short-lived. What was this call about? Father had never had to call me like this in a long time. The last time this happened was when he wanted to announce to me that he planned on remarrying and he had gotten a bride already. That was the next worst news I received since my mother passed. Had I not done the chores? Or was it the cooking? Nah, that was Becky's job. I took off my bed cover and went downstairs to the living room to meet dad. He had gone to his office, so I went th
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