Claire's POV The next day, I was forced to eat breakfast on my own as none of the family members were available to be seen in the dining room. I understood their plight each, except for Nathaniel, though. Or maybe I didn't understand the plight of either of them except Alex, whom I was sure was hurting from the actions of his people, especially his mother. How could the woman force her son into a corner like that? Was she not supposed to be neutral when it came to her two sons? She was not supposed to show one affection while ignoring the other! No matter what her excuses were, she shouldn't have forgotten that it was the two of them who were facing hard times during this season. So, how could she pick a side?Just thinking about the incident the previous day brought my anger again, making me boil. It was so much that I was sure that I would murder somebody if I laid my eyes on them. That somebody was notorious Nathaniel. Maybe get angry at Luna Lisa also for her reckless behaviour.
Claire's POV The hand I had on the button I was trying to loosen up collapsed and fell to my sides. I turned to look at Luna Lisa and saw the sadness on her face."Something is wrong with Nathaniel." She repeated.I was dumbfounded and didn't even know what to say as a reply to her words. I couldn't help but wonder what she saw that made her say such a word to me. And if she knew that something was going on with her son, why did she support him last night when the issue between him and Alex happened?"I'm scared." The woman said to me, shaking slightly as she said those words. "So, I need someone to talk to." Her eyes were pleading at me to please understand her plight.I bit my lower lip, realizing that she must have caught on to something despite Alex not wanting her to find out about the man Nathaniel had turned into. Speaking of which, wouldn't it be better to get Alex to be a part of this discussion? If there was any explaining to d
Nathaniel/Scott's POV Never what I expected when I took the body of this weakling. How dare him be so weak like this? If not for his weakness, I would have gotten a scar or two to his mother's body to show her that I really meant what I said when I told her not to let the secrets I spilled out of anger out to anyone.No one was allowed to know what my plan was.But what did this woman do? She went ahead to go and talked to Evie? I snarled as I saw her walking out of the room I forbade her from entering. I knew she didn't go there to talk to Alex since the man was still at the living room, but I saw Claire when she came in, so I knew Luna Lisa went there to spill the secret to her. I should make her pay for disobeying me.I hissed as I saw her walking out of the room from the corner where I hid. I waited for her to get to the corner before dragging her into the dark by her arm. She opened her mouth to scream, but I had already anticipate
Claire's POV I woke up to the sound of Alex's voice, urgent and insistent. "Claire, wake up." He said. I opened my eyes and saw him placing a finger on his mouth. "You have to be quiet." He added.My heart raced as I sat up in bed, trying to make sense of what was happening. Alex ushered me out of the room and down the hallway, toward a room that I knew was called the panic room. It was where people were safeguarded during a war to help protect their lives. When we got there, Alex opened the door and we both got in. I saw that Luna Lisa was already inside, asleep."What's going on?" I asked, my voice trembling. Alex dripped a finger on his lips again, signaling for me to hush. I looked around and saw that everywhere was peaceful, so there was really nothing to get me scared. Still, my mind wasn't at peace. If something awful wasn't happening, Alex wouldn't be acting in this kind of way at all. His action was only making my heart pound over and over in my chest."Is something the matt
ALEXAKIS Finally!Everything that had happened all these while boiled down to this day. It was all finally going to end now that it seemed that everything was set. All I was in need of now was to look for a way to draw that man in.Or maybe I wouldn't need to do that. As long as I remained in the room, I should be sure that he was going to come on his own. His quest for revenge or whatever he thought that he was doing would ensure that also.Even before I finished the thought, a shadow fell over me. I looked up to see Nathaniel staring at me like I was the worst person he could ever come across."Glad to see you are still alive, brother." He said to me. Then, he chuckled slowly, almost as if he wanted to taunt me with a fake smile. "Although I can't tell for how long that would be from now." He added."Oh, yeah?" I tsked as I focused on him completely." I never thought that I would be happy to see someone as I am seeing you right now.""Do you want to die?!" He yelled at me when it w
Scott's POV There was nothing more pissing than knowing that the one person you imagined to be incompetent was one who was very wise. How else was I supposed to account for the man comprehending that the wolfsbane was enough to keep my power as a demon in shock? If I was the one alone, the thing would not have worked on me, but I was borrowing the body of a man who was a werewolf. I was automatically bound to some of his limitations, even if it was only monetarily.It was in that moment of weakness that I had gotten captured and thrown into this godforsaken prison. My eyes cut across to the other cells and the idiots who called themselves the Elders that were in support of crowning me the Alpha. The bunch of idiots had allowed themselves to be cornered by Alex. Some of them had died during the battle, while those who surrendered had been bundled into the cell like I was."What was the essence of keeping you all alive?" I hissed at them. I could see the fear in their eyes as I said th
176ALEXAKISIt felt so good to finally be over - all the fights, the sleepless nights from worrying too much, and the times of finding a lasting solution to all the matters of trying to tame my vicious brother. It was so good now that I didn't have to worry about any of those.The only area of concern now was Luna Lisa, but I was not overly worried anymore. After rushing her to her room and getting the pack's doctor to come and check on her, I was very afraid as the doctor kept looking worried even as he began the treatment. It was so relaxing after three hours or thereabout when he announced that the woman should be fine as long as he continue treating her under close priority.All the events of the day had weakened both Claire and me so much. As soon as it was sure that Luna Lisa was going to be fine, and all the dead and injured people had been taken care of, we retired to bed. But all through the night, neither of us could sleep as the scenes kept replaying in our heads like a mo
Scott's POV If furious were to be defined as a person, that would be me right now. I couldn't believe that all my plans, all my revenge, all of it had fallen through all because of that Alex. Damn! But it was my fault for underestimating him. But then again, he just succeeded in adding himself and his family to the list of people I must do away with in my act of revenge.But still, how could a careful plan like that just go to waste?"It was all because of the incompetent body I took control over!" I hissed into the air as I walked aimlessly about, trying to decide what to do now that my plan had fallen through. I needed a new plan, but it was hard coming up with one. If I was going to return for my revenge, then I needed people who would fight the battle for me, not people like those useless Elders. I needed people who were already used to war. People like..."Evie!" I brightened up as I remembered that I still had one more card up my sleeve. The card was such that if I played it
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