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Forty Two: Clara

Aвтор: Shanika Rana
last update Последнее обновление: 2024-11-10 10:46:18

I was never destined to be a hero. I have never had any romantic notions about wars, fighting, or bringing glory to one’s pack by decimating rogues or any such idea. Nor do I understand people glorifying battles and wanting to fight in one, and enjoying the killing part. That being said, I’m not stupid. I know how important and prevalent wars are, especially in the werewolf world, where every wolf is territorial, crazy, and incensed by little slights.

I know how important war is for a possessive species for us. So, even if I didn’t exactly agree with the whole idea, I had to follow the same safety protocols as everyone else. I was sleeping when the alarms sounded. The alarm has always been my worst nightmare because you can never know how badly things can escalate from there. You don’t know how bad the situation is going to be. You can just pray everything ends up all right in the end.

I scrambled out of bed, my mind half awake, trying to focus on what needed to be done in this state
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  • Never too late   Forty Three: Kyle

    Werewolves have an excellent sense of smell and hearing. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if some warriors knew I was hiding out some distance away from the pack border, where I could see tensions were rising and everyone was just getting ready. But for whatever reason, my hiding place hadn’t been discovered and hadn’t been reported to Samuel so I was going to stay put exactly where I was right now.I wasn’t stupid. I knew I had no fighting experience and I wasn’t going to do something irrational just so I could be a hero. I’m sure Samuel and this pack don’t deserve my death on their hands. I could barely make out what was happening at the front lines. Having a mind link with these werewolves would have surely helped my cause of spying but since beggars can’t be choosers, I would have to satisfy with trusting my instincts.The pack siren had gone silent a while ago and I just hoped everyone had made it inside safely. I didn’t want to think about how scared the twins must have been, or how

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  • Never too late   Forty Four: Clara

    I looked around the pack house for any kind of support but found it immensely lacking. None of their children were outside the safe house while there was a fucking battle with rogues going on. They couldn’t seem to understand how important it was to me to be outside and make sure my son was alright. And no one clearly understood what someone like me would do if I were to encounter some danger, given I was such a poor fighter. We were at an impasse with no way to compromise.“We can’t let you go, Clara,” someone said. “We understand you’re worried for your son but we can’t let you go outside when you could endanger the whole pack by opening these sealed doors. There’s a reason these doors are supposed to be kept closed after an invasion. I’m sure I don’t need to explain those reasons to you!”“Also, what about you children who are here? Who’s going to look after them?” Anita rears up her head and then gives a pointed look towards Ben and Ariel as if to remind me of their existence. I b

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  • Never too late   Forty Five: Kyle

    I can feel my lungs slowly wheezing. It is incredibly hard to breathe which leads me to think that the horrible impact must have broken a few of my ribs. Thanks to quick werewolf healing, I can already feel them slowly stitch back together. A few seconds ago, my vision was flickering with dark spots dominating my periphery. Now, my vision was clearing and I was able to see a few feet in front of me.With my vision clearing up, I could see a dark brown wolf walking up menacingly toward me. He was a couple of feet away from me and not even werewolf healing was going to make me ready to face him on all four of my paws. I felt panic creeping into my subconsciousness because I knew I was in a very tight bind and there was no way for me to get out if it. If I had been a pack member, maybe I could have mind-linked someone about my situation and they would have come to help me. But right now, it seems like I was on my own.My body ached but I gathered enough courage to stand up on my paws. If

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  • Never too late   Forty Six: Clara

    Twenty years ago…The mate bond, I feel, has unraveled something between me and Samuel. Something between us feels alive, tangible, different, and with a mind of its own because everywhere I go, it feels like I’m somehow being pulled together with Samuel. Everywhere I go, he’s there. Everywhere I look, he’s there. Every time I breathe, I can catch a whiff of his scent. I would have loved to experience this special Samuel treatment before, but now it’s downright cruel to me. And it hurts so much that I can’t possibly describe it in words.It feels like a cruel twist of fate to me. My wolf has decided to go into mourning because she can’t face the fact that our mate wants nothing to do with us. Granted, he hasn’t formally said the words that would lead to a formal rejection but it feels like that nonetheless. My heart aches all the time because all I want to do is touch my mate, breathe in his scent, and hold his hand as we walk down the school hallways.Instead, I get to see my mate wa

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  • Never too late   Forty Seven: Kyle

    It took another twenty minutes for the pack warriors to take control of this uncontrolled pack of rogues. The pack warriors were disciplined, ruthless, and focused and I was extremely impressed by how even the least experienced fighter seemed totally in control of his faculties, without displaying any anxiety or fear in front of the rogues. I bet the rogues lost half the battle facing these pack warriors because they were fearless and dare I say, the best I have ever seen. I have a lot of issues with Alpha Samuel but I had to give it to him, he had produced a ruthless team of warriors who would give their lives for their pack's safety without hesitating.I slowly walk towards the pack boundary when the sounds of the battle cease echoing through the woods. A strange peace descends over the earth after this blood bath and the pack warriors start running to and fro to count the dead and take tolls. As I come closer to the pack boundary, I can smell the heavy metallic tang in the air and

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  • Never too late   Forty Eight: Clara

    “What were you two thinking?” Samuel roared at us and I flinched at the raw anger in his voice. I and Kyle were summoned to the alpha’s office like two disgruntled teenagers who had broken curfew and were now going to be grounded. I was allowed to see Kyle after a few hours of the battle getting over. I was told Kyle was safe, he was volunteering at the pack boundary to get an approximate head count of the dead rogues and wounded pack warriors. While I had been instructed to return to the safe house and look after the twins. I had gotten them settled down, made sure they were completely unafraid, and made them sleep in their assigned room in the pack house. As soon as I was done with all this, I was informed by a pack member that Samuel had asked me to come to his office. When I asked about where Kyle was, they told me he would be waiting here for me. I just had a quick chance to look him over, check for any injuries, and hug him. Seeing him standing safe and sound, without a single s

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  • Never too late   Forty Nine: Kyle

    We exit the office and Samuel walks away from us, eager to get to the dungeons, hoping to get some creditable information from the captured rogues. As soon as he turns the corner, Mom and I are left alone in the corridor. She launches herself at me and hugs me tight to her chest. I hug her close to me, my arms enveloping her smaller body and pull her still closer to me. I can feel her body shaking, sobs wracking through her body, and her tears soaking through my t-shirt.“Shh, it’s ok,” I rock her a little bit, trying to soothe her nerves, “I’m ok. I’m here.”Violent sobs wrack her body for a few minutes. She seems so fragile right now, that I can’t help but feel her anguish. I’m happy Samuel didn’t explain how close to dying at the hands of a rogue I was, because that would have made Mom ground me for a lifetime. After she cried rivers. I stroke her back, wanting to placate her in any way. I haven’t seen her cry like this since Brad died, and that’s saying something. He was practical

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  • Never too late   Fifty: Clara

    “Sitting here is kind of therapeutic, isn’t it?” I look up at the sound of Samuel’s voice and watch him come closer to me. He sits down next to me, careful about putting enough distance between the two of us. I shouldn’t be surprised at seeing here, given that this used to be our place. I had come to the lake banks after meeting Lea. I needed to sort out my thoughts and I thought the best place to do that was here, where I had spent countless nights in my youth, contemplating and moaning about my life. That time seemed so long ago, and sitting here with Samuel felt as if two very different times of my life were merging into one.“Yes, it is,” I replied because there was no way I could deny what he said. It was indeed therapeutic to sit here on the lake bank and watch it shimmer in the moonlight. The water glimmered and made it seem like some fairy tale realm where all the magical creatures came to drink and rejuvenate themselves. It felt and looked like something out of a dream. Sitti

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Latest chapter

  • Never too late   Sixty Five: Epilogue

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    I had witnessed pack initiation ceremonies a few times in this pack and back home. They were rare because it was unusual for an alpha to induct a wolf into their already blooming pack. Often, these ceremonies were held after an extensive background search and interviews, and all for a very good reason. Alpha has to make sure that they’re not introducing a sneaky snake in the pack that could harm them or the pack in the future. But this ceremony was an exception because not only Kyle was Samue’s blood, but Samuel was sure of Kyle’s heritage and I’m sure he is excited about having Kyle in the pack because it means that he will have his son in the pack and a legitimate future alpha.I had gone through the pack initiation ceremony myself when I had chosen Brad as my mate. I was as unprepared for it as Kyle was for his ceremony. I would have told him about what was supposed to happen but werewolf law states that the person is supposed to be initiated is supposed to go with as little knowle

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    Ever since the pack announcement, everything in the pack has been a whirlwind. Everyone has been running around to organise the pack initiation ceremony as if it’s the most important even to happen in their lives. Decorations are being torn apart and hung again, menus are decided and then discarded, everyone is striving to make the even perfect. And it is all making me antsy. Surely, it is not that big of a deal, getting initiated into a pack. Even people’s attitudes toward me have changed, they somehow stand straighter whenever I enter a room, their heads bowing to me in deference, their voices going quieter and their smiles becoming brighter. I don’t understand what the big deal about all of this is because I have been living in this pack for the last couple of weeks and I’m still the same person. I’m still me but the way I’m being treated is completely different and disconcerting.I’m being treated like an alpha son, exactly how Ryder was used to being treated back home. I feel a l

  • Never too late   Sixty: Clara

    Twenty years ago…After I talked to Samuel, I made my way home, tears blurring my every step. I felt like the world was crashing around me. I couldn’t breathe, I felt the air around me had been sucked out and I was stuck in a vacuum. How had this happened to me? I couldn’t for the life of me figure this mystery out. All my life I’d just wanted to have a mate, love him as truly and honestly as I can, and be there for him in every aspect. Now, here I was, practically rejected by a mate who had a pregnant girlfriend that he was planning to propose to. On top of everything, he had the gall to reject my child, choosing to stay with his girlfriend rather than his mate.Tears were already leaking out of my eyes when I reached my home, but as soon as the door closed behind me, I started bawling. I had expected my parents to be there, I wanted their support at the moment, I wanted their love. I also hoped selfishly that when I told them Samuel was my mate and that I was pregnant with his chil

  • Never too late   Fifty Nine: Kyle

    I’d thought Lea’s father was in bad shape but I hadn’t expected it to be this bad. I could see an endless number of tubes going in and out of him, several machines beeping continuously, and he was sedated with such a high dose that I was sure he wouldn’t wake up if someone set him up on fire. His face looked black and blue his whole body is mottled with bruises and it’s crystal clear that he had been brutally beaten by the rogues before being left to die at the pack border for us to find.Lea had gone ghostly white after seeing her father in that condition and I couldn’t blame her. The scene reminded me of the time Brad was stuck in the hospital during the last couple of weeks of his life, how emaciated and weak and sickly he had started to look. It took me back to the time when Mom used to worry about him leaving us behind all the time, how the twins realized that he would leave and never come back. I’m sure these thoughts must be running in Lea’s head too, and I wanted to take her a

  • Never too late   Fifty Eight: Clara

    I’m once again in Samuel’s office. Surprise, surprise. In the short time we’ve been here, I have been here more than is normal for any pack member. I may as well set up my chopping block in this office because I’m summoned to be here so often. I think Kyle has also done everything possible to make sure we’re called again back to this office. Every time I’m here I’m brought back to the past when I and Aaron had been asked by Samuel’s dad to not see each other since we weren’t fated mates. My life has moved so far away from that trajectory, that it feels like a fictional tale someone uninvolved with my life is reciting to me. I can’t say my current life feels familiar to me because, for the first time in forever, Kyle hasn’t done anything remotely wrong. We’re here because of Lea and her father, and I’m a bit relieved that at least, we’re not the bad guys right now, always seemingly disrupting the pack peace, rules and regulations.For once, I wished we were called here for a good reaso

  • Never too late   Fifty Seven: Kyle

    Samuel only summoned Lea to his office but Aaron didn’t raise an eyebrow when I volunteered to accompany her. I didn’t know how many people knew about Lea and I being mates but I’m guessing since Aaron didn’t stop me, he knows or Samuel must have hinted to let me come. If it had been any other situation, I wouldn’t have felt the need to be with Lea but since the issue is so sensitive, concerning the rogue attack on the pack and possibly, her father’s involvement in it.The idea hit me when I was running from the dungeons towards the pack house to talk to Lea. I didn’t believe she had anything to do with the rogue attack. I know she’s loyal and holds real regard for Samuel because he accepted her and her brother in his pack and gave them home without any prejudice. It would also be rare for a pack member to have any connections with a rogue and leak pack information for a planned attack. The only thing that made sense was for her father to be the mole. He is only an honorary pack membe

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