ALEXAKIS.Okay, so maybe I'd been a bit forward and my actions now bordered on inappropriate. But in hindsight, this plan had sounded sensible to me when it first came to me and I'd rushed down here with everything I needed to get started. Now, with my girl staring at me in confusion, I wasn't so sure if it was a good idea. I'd first thought that making a door for the cave as a form of protection for her whenever she came here was smart. After all, she was always down here, whether it rained heavily or the ground was dry. She'd stay for a few minutes, sometimes reading and then she'd be on her way. I didn't like the fact that she had to sit outside in a place that surely brought her comfort. I didn't also like the thoughts in my head, hence the construction of the door. I'd been obsessed with the possibility of her being in danger in the cave when I'm not around. She needed to be able to take cover and protect herself and a door can be kicked down as it doesn't do much, but still. I
ALEXAKIS.I was late to work the next day, having overslept in the cave the previous night. The den was bustling with regulars - at least they were the same faces I'd seen every day since I started coming here. Liam, one of the bartenders, gave me a cursory glance, before going back to cleaning down his space. I sighed as I ambled slowly through the bodies, heading straight for the locker room. Angelo had put up a 'No smoking' right outside the door but that made it the smoking joint for the punks that frequented the fighting den - even though the locker rooms were technically meant for the workers. Only. My hand pressed into the sign as I pushed the door open, stepping into a cloud of smoke from someone's cigarette. I struggled to hold my breath as I stopped further into the room, throwing my bag on a bench beside my locker. One of the other fighters walked up to me, wrapping bandages around his hands. Timothy, although all the guys call him Motty, had been fighting here since he w
ALEXAKIS."Just the man I was looking for." I looked up to see Angelo staring down at me, a huge grin on his face. One thing I'd learned about the man standing in front of me was that looks could be deceiving and that most times, the sunniest smiles held the darkest minds, because not only was Angelo this charming and handsome man, he was also the head of a fight club. Or a men's club.I couldn't remember what Motty had shakily whispered to me one evening when we'd heard shouts coming from Angelo's closed office. We'd both watched -not just us because the screams had brought the whole den to stand in front of his office- as Angelo pulled open the door, wiping what I was sure was blood on a silk napkin, a sly smile on his face. I felt shivers run through Motty's frame and he'd skittered away when Angelo looked up at us. Now, I could see Motty and a friend of his, not a fighter though as his thin build won't win him any match no matter how hard he practiced, slither away as Angelo ben
CLAIRE.Evie told the whole school that I was addled with some sort of disease and my life had gone worse from then on. I'd been mocked, laughed at, insulted. The only good thing in my life currently was Scott who had been the most supportive boyfriend ever. Infact, he'd started withdrawing from Evie and I could tell that she'd noticed and it angered her because her childish cruelty at home had increased, so much so that I barely ever went to sleep completely, lest she came into my room to do something diabolical. The last time she'd come into my room this week, I'd forgotten to turn the lock, she'd trashed my hidden library. I knew she didn't work alone because Becky was the only one that knew where I had hidden them. I still got angry when I thought about it and I was steaming with anger even before I got to my class. Our English Teacher, Ms. Wells looked up from the book she was reading and I smiled at her, walking past and heading straight for my desk. Just as I stepped past her,
ALEXAKIS.Marcus stood before me, gripping the package tight in his hands. We'd arrived at the hotel a few minutes ago and despite our best efforts to coerce the personnels at the front desk to let us go up and meet with this 'important client,' we were told to wait till they got confirmation from said client before we went up. And we're yet to get anything back from him, even though they'd called his suite ten minutes ago -a maid of his picked up the call. Currently, a security guard stationed in the lobby had been staring at Marcus and it was making the big guy here very fidgety. I thought that we'd never looked more guilty with the way he was squeezing the package. Marcus saw me looking down at his hands and looked down as well, immediately releasing his grip lest he bursted the package. I looked away from him and around the lobby, frowning when I saw two men step out from the private elevator that one of the ladies at the front desk told us led up to the client's suite. I turned
CLAIRE.I pushed into the house, having passed through the backdoors because Becky had some friends over and although she was cruel, she didn't want her friends to see her that way. She wanted to be seen as this nice, caring stepmother who overlooked all the flaws her stepdaughter had. I wasn't in the mood to act nice to Becky or to even see her, and I know she'd try to act worried that I'd been sent from school. Sighing, I gently pulled the door close and walked quietly up to my room. A floorboard creaked and I heard Becky and her friends pause, listening closely -even though Becky definitely knew I was around. She resumed talking after a while, telling them that I must've brought in a stray cat again. As if. Disgusted with her and myself and my entire life, I shut the door to my room and lay on the bed, silently fuming at how unfair today had been. Evie and Becky had no right to play with my schooling and the sad thing is that Father wouldn't blink twice at such an act, he'd simpl
Claire.Strolling down to school was almost no fun for me. Sometimes, I wished I had friends I could walk with, talk about boys with, make memories with or hell; something that would make my dad see me. But that didn't seem like my life. I never believed in such a fairytale. My life had no clue what a bed of roses meant. Evie does want my boyfriend, not because she likes him but because she wants everything I have. And now, making out with him? That was more hurtful than watching those animals, pierced by my dad's arrows because this was something of mine; oh yes my dad, very ruthless with that. Sometimes, I tried to put myself in the shoes of these wolves; what if I was one? This was how I would be hunted? Must be no fun at all. But it sure has its perks, you know. I wouldn't mind running naked in the woods, not caring about a thing, enjoying the cool wind mixed with the dew and smell of fresh, flourishing trees filling my lungs and blasting my hairy skin, making every strand of it
Claire.I was in no mood for small talk. I walked down the street, drowning in my thoughts about what played out a few hours ago. It's been ten years since mum left us and all he could say was, leave the past in the past? The audacity! Did he not love mum? Was it all fake? Is that how love works? Becky must have enjoyed the show; sitting in the corner with that wicked grin of hers. I just needed somewhere I could unwind. My cave seemed befitting. So, here's what happened; I woke up this morning, reminiscing mum's memories, how she always took care of dad and me. We were a lovely family, there was no hate like there is now. I wished I could turn back time just to be under her arms again on the couch as she stroked my forehead or maybe I would have gone with her. That'll save me from all the trouble I was facing. I went down the stairs, hoping that I would be free of some chores as it was a special day for me but I met dad in the living room, laughing and talking with his wife, Becky
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