CLAIRE.I was stumbling through the woods, racing home like something is after me. What I saw shouldn't have frightened me because I've seen a lot of fights in my whole life, but the brutality with which wolf man -who I now realized was called Alex- had delivered the blows, punch after hard punch cause the blood to drain out of my face, so much so that I became dizzy just rethinking about what had happened. I'd never wanted a fight to end like the way I needed that particular one to. At first, I'd been worried for him because his opponent wasn't easy on him and had won the first round. But then, Alex had switched up and shown the man who really owned the fight. I shivered and pulled my sweater tighter around me, speed walking through the path. The lights at home were still on and it told me that the time wasn't as late as I'd thought. I quietly pushed open the door, wincing when it squeaked a little. I was just about to climb the stairs when Becky stepped into the hallway, her gaze
CLAIRE.Becky turned to me in exasperation. "Like your mother. She couldn't be controlled, didn't want any form of discipline. Look where that got her." She spread her arms wide and my eyes shifted down to my father at her movement, waiting for him to say something. When he didn't, his eyes fixed on his hands, I scoffed, turning around in disbelief. Father had never been quiet about how much my mother meant to him, even after he'd married Becky. Once, Becky had asked if my mother didn't teach me manners, this was during her early days, and father had gotten so mad, he'd almost hit her. So to see him here, quiet as Becky bad mouthed my mother, shocked me. "See what I'm saying, zero manners. Dirty habits you'd picked up from your mom but they were never beaten out of you. My husband has tried so much to love you the way you demand, but you're never grateful. You go around the house sulking like everyone here hates you, but you don't even care about my husband or any of us. If you did,
CLAIRE.I was still screaming when the figure stepped forward. I scrambled back, edging further into the cave and realizing my mistake when the person followed. I was about to die. I looked to the side of the person where he stood at the mouth of the cave, trying to determine my best bet at escaping my soon to be gruesome murder. I'd barely thought up anything when the figure lumbered forward, hands outstretched. I screamed and tried to dash around him, only to be pulled by my hands and jerked into the hard chest of the person. Before I could scream again, his hand came up and sealed my mouth shut, the smell of sweat strong. I struggled against the hold as my assailant moved me back into the cave, pressing me into the walls. I looked up at him, ready to plead for my life, to promise anything when I finally made out the features of the man. Alex. I relaxed a bit, until I remembered what I'd seen him do in the fighting den and that spurred my need for escape. I knew now that he was d
ALEXAKIS.Her throat bobbed as she tried to swallow. Her head turned to my right and then my left as she tried to come up with what I knew would be a lie. I moved further away from her incase I couldn't control my urges to pull her into my arms once more. The feeling of her in my arms earlier was like nothing I've ever encountered and although I was still getting used to human emotion, I was pretty sure wolves shared the emotion I felt with her just then -Peace. Strange that a human girl would elicit such a strong emotion from me. I frowned at her, deep in thought. She probably took this the wrong way because her hands came to her front and she squeezed her fingers tight. "I saw you fight." I squinted my eyes at her, wondering if she thought I didn't know that. She cleared her throat when she saw that I had actually been referring to that when I'd asked why she was there -there being the Den. My eyebrows caved down when I realized that Angelo would be pissed that I'd left and had n
ALEXAKIS. I watched her till she stepped into her house, a room at the top of the house being illuminated a short while after, which told me that her room was situated up there, far away from the rest of her family. I stayed for another while, not really knowing what I was staying for or doing really, but it wasn't until the sun came up that I trotted wearily back to my motel room, glad that Angelo didn't require for his employees to be at the till afternoon. The human body was weak and although I still retained some of my wolf's abilities, things like going without sleep for a while wasn't second nature to me anymore and I found that I had to get a good rest or I'd be unproductive all day. And I can't have that. I immediately went to sleep once my head hit the bed and woke up to the sun streaming in from my open window and directly hitting me in the eyes. Ah yes, humans also had a very poor sight and although I could still see things from great distances, it was not like how my sig
ALEXAKIS.I think I'd figured out what Angelo had wanted me to use this device for. But what I didn't understand was how he knew I'd been searching for information. Did he have knowledge on my problem? Did he know someone who did? Did this Google of a person I was chatting with really have all the information it claimed to have? My brows were scrunched together as I read through what Google had said and then Motty came to sit next to me, his eyes going to my phone and peering closer. He did a double take, shifting closer to me till his chest was pressed into my side and his head directly in front of my screen. Irritated, I pulled it away from him and closer to myself. "Sorry. I couldn't help myself. I'm always so interested in myths and legends. The stories are so amazing. I'd just never seen that one before, the one you were looking at. About wolves that are cursed to remain as humans. That's like... A twisted version of the werewolf story." He kept rambling on, telling the story o
CLAIRE.I hurried down the hallway, heading to the Janitor's closet. It was the third period and Scott had sent me a text that he needed to see me. Urgently. With three exclamation marks. The urgency couldn't be stressed and so, I'd taken a pass from my Woodwork teacher and was half sprinting, half walking to the closet. The door was closed tight and I paused when I got to it, wondering if the janitor was in there. I glanced down at my phone, wondering if I should call Scott because he hadn't said anything about getting into the closet. He might've meant that we'd meet in front of it. I'd just pulled up his contact and was about to dial his number when the Janitor's closet's door pulled open. I jumped away from the door and whirled round, relaxing when I saw that it was Scott. With my hand on my chest, I smacked his arm hard with my free hand. "Jesus, don't do that, Scott. You scared me." My pulse was erratic and I didn't know why I was as scared as I was but I guess I thought it had
ALEXAKIS.Angelo had been acting strangely around me. Around everyone really because I wasn't the only one who commented on it. He came into the den early this morning, warily watching everyone as he strolled into his office. Marcus had stepped on after him and they'd been in there for hours, till Angelo had stepped out, a gun gripped tightly in his hand. A couple of guys gave each other a lot and turned to Marcus who nodded at them. And then they were on their way after him, taking off their gloves and unwrapping their hands. I'd watched silently, sitting beside Motty as we stared at the entourage. Or I stared rather, Motty barely glanced at them. They came back in less than an hour's time, looking dishevelled and tired. It was Angelo who caught my eyes because he was splattered with blood and it seemed that he didn't even notice, or he didn't care. I stood slowly, feeling Motty's gaze on me as I stared at Angelo's approach. He'd gotten to his door now and took the wet towel Marcus
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