ALEXAKIS I watched as Claire disappeared back to the end of the house, and I knew that she was indeed going to use the back door as she promised. A part of me wanted to go in with her to protect her, but I talked myself out of it. This was her daily time, and she needed to spend it with them without me interfering in her affairs. If I followed her in, it might agitate her family and they might turn on her. So, I was leaving her with the choice to let these people know whatever it was that she felt they should.To keep myself from failing in my quest to stay out here in the wood and wait for her, I got into the car and sped off to the den where I used to work. As I drove, my mind couldn't get over what it was that I would face at the place, especially since I disappeared like that without any record. Would Angelo especially forgive me for leaving in the middle of a job?Even more than the job was the rumors that were circulating that there was a mole among us. It just had to happen th
CLAIRE As I sat on the floor of the cave, my hands went to my eyes repeatedly to clean my eyes, and I had to sniff in to control the tears that were falling so rapidly. I didn't bother to wait for the verbal words that would tell me that my presence was not needed at the house, no. I figured that it would even be worse if Becky came out of her room and saw me in the house. The woman would never stop until I was humiliated until the end. So, to avoid that, I opened the main door and made my way out of the place.How could a father be so callous to his only daughter?Even if he was angry with me until death, he should have at least smiled at me a little to show that he appreciated the fact that I came home to check on him. Not just home, I had even gone as far as forgetting how he turned me out of his house just to satisfy his wife and stepdaughter. And to crown it all, he just blatantly showed me that even if I had been dead all these months, he didn't care about any of that. Not even
ALEXAKIS The moment I pulled up into the pack, Claire walked in looking very different from the spirited person who was eager to leave the pack this morning to visit her family. I winced as she dragged one foot after the other. I couldn't help but close my eyes to prevent myself from cursing her family. She strolled past Luna Lisa without as much as a single word. The action must have hurt the woman because she sighed."What is wrong with you?" I heard Luna Lisa ask the dull woman who still went on to ignore the woman. Luna Lisa wanted to go after her, but I rushed after the older woman and held her hand to signal to her that she didn't need to follow her. "But she is looking too dull to be left alone ro herself." She commented, looking very worried."Believe me when I say that it is that loneliness she needs right now. Let's leave her alone so she can get enough time to get over what happened and then become her usual jovial self," I told Luna Lisa. "Oh, okay." She said in an under
ALEXAKIS As I thought to do it, I asked Kieran to get the words across to the Elders that I would like an audience with them. The man got up and went to do as I instructed. Luna Lisa decided to leave me to my own devise as she felt that I was going to be busy. Busy it seemed to her, but I actually had nothing I was doing. The meeting I scheduled would not be immediate. It would take the Elders at least an hour to group in the meeting hall, so I still had some free time on my hands. I tried to tell her that, but she insisted that I used the time to get some rest.I knew I wouldn't be able to get that rest she insinuated, so I just got up from where I sat and dragged my feet toward Claire's room. I didn't know if enough time had passed for her to ignore what her father did or if she was still living in the rejection. But all I knew was that I needed to talk to her, especially since the decision I was about to make was one that could affect both of us in the future. So, before I would l
EVIE"What the hell was taking this man too long to get back to me?"It's been more than two weeks since I first met Nathaniel, the man who claimed to be Alex's brother. And he had even promised to assist me if I released the hunters to him, and I had agreed. But since then, I had been waiting for news from the man -news that never came. I didn't know if I should still be feeling relieved about the whole thing or if I should be worried. More than having to choose if I should be worried or if I should not be was the fact that I was so close to frustration. I felt so frustrated that I was sure that I was going to collapse if nothing was done to help my plight any time soon.Alex. My heart was yearning for the man. More than anyone or anything else in the world, he was the only one I wanted. I was so afraid that I would be late in getting to him and he would have already belonged to that woman called Claire. I couldn't afford to let that happen. Which was why I needed to see this Nathani
CLAIRE "Claire!" Someone shouted my name, startling me and almost making me drop the cup I was cleaning. I looked up and saw that it was one of our regular customers at the café. I smiled at him and watched as he smiled in return."Good morning," I said as a greeting. He waved the greeting away. I shrugged and continued with my cleaning. When the man refused to leave, I looked up again. "Is there something you need?" I asked him. He rolled his eyes at me."Why didn't you come to the cafe yesterday? I and some of the boys waited for you but we couldn't find you around." He lamented. I finished cleaning the cup I was holding and sighed. When the man said the boys, he wasn't talking about teenagers in this context. He was referring to his gang members, who were his hype men when it came to gossiping. They were all over 40, yet gossip was their middle name. They usually ask me about what was going on with Alex, his brother, the pack Elders, his mother, and the enthronement of the Alpha
ALEXAKIS I could sense it. It has only been one week, but I could feel it already. The woman who claimed that she would be fine with having nothing to do was already getting so bored with herself that she had already resorted to talking to herself whenever she was alone. Of course, she thought that no one knew about it all, but I did.That was the height of it all for me. If she could be so bored in just a week, how would she be able to cope with days of doing nothing? I was beginning to get worried for both her and her mental health especially. I wished there was a way I could help her get something to work for her. Maybe going over to the cafe to warn everyone off her. I would even tell them that if they wanted information so badly, they should come to me. I would be sure to tell them everything they wanted to hear. But then again. That would be disrespecting her wish. "Maybe I should help her get another job then?" I reasoned within myself. I shook my head again at that notion to
ALEXAKIS By the time I spent another two hours with these people, trying to figure out a way to clear this mess while making sure my pack didn't lose much and they also didn't lose out completely, I was spent. "Are we all good now?" I asked."Yes, Alpha." Everyone answered. It took all the will in me not to shout 'finally' with the way I was feeling so stressed out. Kieran, who was beside me, must have noticed how tired I was because he chuckled slightly when I sagged against the chair. I didn't want to waste any time before calling the meeting to an end -just in case they happened to think of another crisis for me to sort out. I got up from where I sat and watched as they all did the same. "In that case, thank you all for your time," I said. "This meeting has officially come to an end.""Yes, Alpha." They all bowed to me, and I sighed in relief. But just because the meeting was officially over didn't mean that I would be able to leave right away. I still had to mingle with the r
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