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Fourteen: Clara

Author: Shanika Rana
last update Last Updated: 2024-11-10 10:12:30

Twenty years ago…

I didn’t know if he was coming today but I sure hoped he would. The barely-there smile was the only contact I’d had with Samuel the whole day and not knowing if has found his mate or not makes me nauseous. I know I prayed to the moon goddess to let him be my mate but sometimes, prayers hardly lead anywhere and the anticipation of everything was killing me. Granted, if he had found his mate and declared so publicly, the pack would be in an uproar, celebrating for their future Luna but I would like to hear from him, in simple words how his birthday went and if he succeeded in finding his mate.

If the alpha found out I had been running around after sundown, against his express command to stay indoors because of the threat of rogues, I’d be skinned alive. I knew that he favored me, and treated me like his own daughter but he wouldn’t take kindly to my breaking one of his rules. Aware as I was of the consequences, I couldn’t sleep and instead of tossing and turning inside
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  • Never too late   Sixteen: Clara

    I lay in bed, my thoughts zooming around in my head with the speed of light. Everything that had happened yesterday left me feeling so confused, that I couldn’t face anyone from the pack and hid in my assigned bedroom. My wolf had started recognizing this pack as a long-lost home and had stopped feeling antsy over crossing and staying in new territory. I had no idea how Kyle was faring, though because he was still angry with me, and with all the drama going on, I barely had time to talk to him. I hoped a part of his wolf recognized this pack as his own; at least, that way he would be less grumpy. The twins, on the other hand, were too small to listen to the voices of their wolves. So, the only way they were uncomfortable was because they missed home. I couldn’t face Samuel again but I had asked Aaron for permission to let my babies sleep with me, and he had given it to me without hesitation.Even if your world is breaking down and you have all sorts of things on your mind, life goes o

  • Never too late   Seventeen: Kyle

    My eyes keep drifting to Noah driving beside me. I’m not surprised when he takes a right turn, different from the one we would have taken if we had been going to school. At least, I know something good will come out of this trip we are taking, I’m going to miss a whole day of school, a place I don’t want to be. My thoughts drift to my mate, whose name I still don’t know. Not going to school also means that I will be missing out on the opportunity to see her and be close to her. If my gut clenches in pain at the thought, I don’t think about it much.My mind is going back and forth over every word that has passed between Noah and me. I can’t help but think twice about every snide comment and sarcastic moment, just like I did last night. I’m anxious about where Noah is taking me; not because I’m worried for my safety. If there had been any danger, my wolf would have warned me before I got into this car with him. I’m anxious about what I’m going to find at the end of this journey we are t

  • Never too late   Eighteen: Clara

    Twenty years ago…The two months after Samuel’s birthday was the only time in my life when I had my mate all to myself. To this day, I remember them as utterly sweet where Samuel felt like the closest thing I had to a confidante and best friend. And I hope I was one to him too, for that very short time.Many times, we never even spoke to each other; we just lounged around the lake, basking in each other’s company, and taking comfort from each other. I listened to him when he told me how disappointed he was that he hadn’t found his mate yet and I always pointed out that it had only been a couple of weeks since he even became eligible to sense his mate. I asked him to have some patience, even though I was sick of it too. There was this feeling in my gut that told me again and again that Samuel and I were mates and my birthday couldn’t come soon enough. I didn’t dare to voice my opinions to him though. I wouldn’t have been able to live if he had scoffed and made fun of me for having a ch

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  • Never too late   Twenty: Clara

    Twenty years ago…I eye the line I’ve tried to read again and again for the past fifteen minutes. If anyone would pay slight attention to me, they would know I’m not concentrating on my homework. All my attention is focused on Samuel, who is perched on the other end of the kitchen counter and I’m having a very hard time trying to keep my eyes off of him.Normally, he wouldn’t be here, in the kitchen of the pack house, but it’s an important day. Today’s the day my mom makes her favorite cranberry pies and Samuel is addicted to them. He needs to have a piece of them fresh out of the oven and the very last piece to know how the pie reacts to being stored with time. I call bullshit because the whole pack knows that the one thing, he is crazy about are, are those pies and I don’t blame him. My mom’s pies are the very best.This is my routine; every day I come back from school, sit at the kitchen island, watch my mom make the best available on the planet, and do my homework. I watch as my m

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  • Never too late   Twenty Two: Clara

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  • Never too late   Sixty Four: Clara

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  • Never too late   Sixty Two: Clara

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  • 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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