Clautime of roaned as she slowly opened her eyes, the throbbing pain in her head was unbearable. She reached for her phone on the nightstand, only to realize that she had missed her alarm and was already an hour late for her test. "Shit!" she cursed, jumping out of bed in a panic.She rushed to the bathroom to take a quick shower, hoping that the cold water would help alleviate the headache. As she got dressed, she grabbed any book she could find and hurried out the door, running to school as fast as she could.The hallways were empty and silent, just like it was meant to be during exam time. Claude rushed to her classroom, her heart pounding in her chest as she realized that the door had been locked and the exam had already begun.She waved her hand, trying to grab the attention of her teacher, but she was too busy watching the other students. Claude's eyes darted around the room in desperation, hoping for a way to get inside and salvage what was left of her test.Denver noticed Clau
AUTHOR'S POVClaude walked away from Denver and Tasha this was what she wanted.As she turned a corner, she bumped into Eric, one of her classmates. He smiled at her and asked how her test went. His cheerful demeanor managed to dissolve her gloomy mood, and she found herself smiling back at him."I don't think I did very well," she admitted, "but thanks for asking."Eric nodded sympathetically. "Don't worry, Claude. I'm sure you did better than you think. You've been studying so hard for this."They fell into an easy conversation as they walked towards the pack house. They talked about their other classes, their plans for the weekend, and everything in between. Claude was grateful for the distraction, and Eric's easygoing personality made it easy for her to forget about her exam for a little while.As they reached the pack house, they said their goodbyes. Claude watched as Eric walked away. She walked up to her room, hoping to find her witches' book so she could study for her next ex
Claude hurriedly gathered her belongings and stood up from her desk, letting out a sigh of relief as she finished her test. She had been studying for weeks for this exam, and she was grateful that it was over. As she packed up her things, she couldn't help but feel a sense of anxiety building inside her. She needed to find her missing book, and she knew just where to look.Even if it was just a dream, she had learned to always follow her instincts some times it didn't go well but she had no idea why this time she was so certain Tasha was involved.Without hesitation, she headed down the hallway and turned the corner towards Tasha's locker. She had a feeling that Tasha had taken her book, and she was determined to get it back. Claude tried a few combinations, but none of them worked. She began to feel frustrated and hopeless, but she refused to give up. She took a deep breath and tried one more time. This time, the lock clicked open, and she breathed a sigh of relief.Claude swung open
Claude arrived home with her mind preoccupied with the strange events that had occurred at school. The thought of Tasha being a witch in Riley's body had taken over her mind, and she couldn't shake it off. She couldn't stop wondering if Riley was still alive or if Tasha had killed her to get into her body. She felt responsible for Riley since her vision, the moon goddess had given her that gift for a reason and it broke her heart to see Riley's loved ones pick the pieces of their life since she died.As she walked into the house, her mother's voice interrupted her thoughts."Claude! I've been calling you, are you okay?" Claude blinked and then saw her mom in the kitchen."Yes I am, sorry about that" Claude apologized heading towards her."Claude, what's wrong? You seem lost in thought," her mom asked, concerned."Oh, it's nothing, Mom," Claude replied, not wanting to burden her mother with her worries."Are you sure?" her mother asked, still worried."Yeah, school is just stressful,
Claude woke up early in the morning, feeling anxious and excited at the same time. Today was the day she had been waiting for - the day she had to submit her script, the final assignment of her college life. Soon enough, graduation would hold, and she would no longer be a student. She couldn't believe how fast time had flown by.She quickly got out of bed and started preparing for the day. She brushed her teeth, took a quick shower, and got dressed. As she was getting ready, her mind raced with thoughts about her paper. She had worked tirelessly on it for the past few weeks, and she was confident that it was her best work yet. She grabbed her backpack and headed out the door, eager to get to school and submit her paper.As she walked through the hallways, she noticed that there was a buzz of excitement among the students. It was the last day of exams, and everyone was looking forward to the summer break. Suddenly, the speaker came to life, and a voice boomed throughout the school, ann
Denver, Tasha, Victoria, and Eric made their way to the bustling cafeteria, scanning the room for a vacant table. They finally spotted one with Claude and Nuella sitting at it, chatting animatedly and munching on fries."Hey guys!" Eric greeted Claude, giving her a warm hug before gesturing to the empty seat beside her. "Mind if we join you?"Claude smiled, shifting to make space for Eric to sit. "Of course not. It's always more fun with you guys around."Not Victoria and Tasha she continued inwardly giving them a look.As Eric settled into his seat, Victoria took it upon herself to hold Denver's hand, interlacing their fingers. Denver looked at her, a surprised expression on his face, but he didn't pull away.Nuella noticed the display of affection and grinned, nudging Claude playfully. "Looks like we're in the presence of some lovebirds," she teased, winking at Victoria and Denver.Nuella was not aware that Denver and Claude were mates and Claude didn't want her to know so she flowe
Victoria and Tasha stood in the corner of the crowded party, watching as Claude laughed and chatted with a group of friends. Victoria couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as she watched Claude's eyes light up when he spoke with someone else. She turned to Tasha, who had been unusually quiet all night."You've been awfully quiet tonight," Victoria said, her voice dripping with accusation.Tasha shrugged. "I'm just not in the mood for a party, I guess."Victoria raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's all it is?"Tasha shifted uncomfortably. "What do you mean?""I mean, you've been acting strange lately. Like there's something on your mind," Victoria said, studying Tasha's face for any hint of a reaction.Tasha sighed. "Fine, you got me. It's just that Claude knows I'm a witch."Victoria's eyes widened. "What? How does she know?""I don't know, I must have slipped up or something," Tasha said, her voice tinged with frustration.Tasha's mind drifted back to when Shawn had died and
Claude sat cross-legged on her bed, surrounded by piles of clothes, toiletries, and other travel essentials. She had been preparing for the graduation all day, mostly doing it slowly to keep her mind occupied.The thought of spending a week in the wilderness had initially filled her with dread. She had never been much of an outdoors person and the idea of living without modern amenities seemed like a nightmare. But the promise of extra marks on her certificate had been too tempting to pass up.As she sorted through her clothes, Claude tried to focus on the positives. She had heard that the facilities at the campsite were top-notch, with all the necessary safety measures in place. And while she didn't know much about living in the wild, she was sure that she would pick up some survival skills along the way.But despite her attempts to stay positive, Claude couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that had settled in the pit of her stomach. What if something went wrong? What if she got
“Oh come on, you only give them so many gifts 'cause they don’t see you in person as much as they do me.” She laughed and Claude’s mom rolled her eyes.“The question is which grandparent gives them the most gifts Kristy.” She shrugged, proud that she had won in that category.“You’re too smug for your own good.” Denver’s mom complained just as her mate came in, twins latched unto him. Claude and Denver’s son Ricky was resting quietly on his chest while Krystal their little girl was more interested in pulling her grandfather’s hair until she got a reaction.“Someone should take her, please. My scalp is burning.” He complained and the two women giggled. He had loosened up a bit since officially handing over the Alpha position to Denver yet anyone who saw the way he played with his grandkids would still be shocked out of their minds. “I think she’s going to try to get you back all the days of your life for wanting to pick favorites between her brother and her.” Claude’s mom laughed.“Yea
“Oh goddess, Denver! Why didn’t you take her to the hospital?” His mom ran in looking very anxious with the pack doctor coming in after her. He had called Claude’s parents as well but he knew that they’ll come a bit later due to distance. Denver thought he was going to faint with how anxious he was. He had read all the books about babies but he never thought he’d need to have any basic knowledge of the whole labor process because his mate would be in labor for thirty minutes with no professional at all and only frightened old him. Claude was in so much pain, it was tearing him apart.“I didn’t think we’d make it in time.” He said, raking his fingers through his hair. “Her water had broken and she suddenly started having contractions. I was scared she might start crowning in the car.” He paced as he spoke and his mom went to place a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it.“Breathe my boy.” She said softly but it only seemed to break him because he practically collapsed on her while she wra
Telling everyone ended up being as big a task as Denver anticipated. His mom was glad obviously and she had to have been the easiest to break the news to. She had cried as she hugged him saying that they didn’t know how much joy it brought her. He remembered the way he had treated her when he was under Tasha’s spell and the guilt was about to do him over when Claude placed her hand on his back and rubbed gently as though she could immediately feel the damp in his mood.It was the little things like that that made him swear all over that he’d sooner put a bullet in his head than hurt her again. He was already struggling to tell himself that he deserved her as it was. She was the stronger one out of them, he decided. Even when her parents had taken the news not as well as she would hoped, with her dad vehemently against it and refusing to give his blessing and her mom worried that he’d hurt her again, she had been the strong one. Telling him that they should give it time and that even t
“You sure you still don’t want to see the baby?” The doctor asked. “I know you want the gender to be a surprise but we can keep that part hidden.Claude thought for a second, “Hmm.” Then she turned to Denver, acknowledging him for the first time since he came in, “What do you think, Denver?”Caught unawares, his eyes widened and he sat up straight, restraining himself from looking back to check if there was perhaps some other guy named Denver behind him that she was speaking to. He cleared his throat, “Whatever you decide is alright.” He said quickly.“I want you to decide though.” She pressed and Denver felt his heart rate quicken. Was this some sort of trick question?“Well, sure.” He finally said, “I’m sure it’ll be alright to see the baby as long as yo keep the gender hidden.”The doctor nodded once before turning to Claude who nodded back. The once dark screen was suddenly turned on and Claude gasped. It wasn’t picture clear but you could see the child moving inside her.“There’s
Immediately the curfew was dissolved, Nuella was shifting and running through the woods from her pack to her best friend’s. A curfew had been called the morning after the attack and had only been pulled once the woods and entire area around the two two packs and even the other neighbouring packs had been combed thoroughly for any lingering rogues.Once that was done, Claude’s father had demanded that his family and other pack members be brought back to complete their treatment in their pack. That night of the attack, when he was finally able to and had gone back to his house, he nearly fainted when he found it splattered with blood and dead bodies and his mate and daughter were nowhere to be found. Luckily, his Beta came in right on time to inform him that they were safe.It was the first time Claude would see her father cry. He had bent over her bed, holding her hand and his mate’s who sat beside him and wept. He cried for how close he had come to losing them, he cried for the loss o
She was still contemplating whether to go straight or drive around and go back to the front of the house when she saw a large black wolf charging in her direction. She felt her wolf begin to grow restless and when her baby kicked in her belly, she gasped.“Denver.” She whispered to herself but he ran past her and her heart sank when she realized who was behind her until she saw him pounce on Tasha through the rear view mirror and without hesitating, he sank his teeth into her jugular. Her blood sprayed out and Denver spat out a chunk of her flesh. Claude immediately averted her eyes, and bringing the car to a stop, she opened the door and bent over before throwing up her entire dinner from the night before and still retching painfully after she had emptied her belly.Sidestepping her vomit, she came down from the car. Now that she was sure that Tasha was dead, she wanted to get back home and make sure her mother was alright. Her father had asked them both to stay safe. She wouldn’t be
When Claude woke up it was obvious that it wasn't morning yet and it was also obvious that something was very wrong. She soon heard her father racing frantically down the stairs and her mother calling after him. If she wasn't fully awake before, her eyes were definitely wide open now. She jumped out of bed and threw her door open just when her dad was saying that their pack was under attack. She froze as she saw her mother’s face crumple as she pressed her hand to her mouth knowing that her mate had to go and fight and possibly not come back. Her father must’ve noticed too because he came back and gave her a tight hug before whispering something in her ears and pecking her on the forehead. Sighting Claude at the top of the stairs, he sprinted up and did the same before calling out that they should lock all the doors and stay safe and he’d send someone to them soon.Claude’s heart began to beat madly against her ribcage as she feared the worst. It was like dejavu, she thought remember
When her mom opened the door that day only for Denver’s parents to walk in, Claude went through a lot of emotions at once. There was surprise and then joy and relief for the fact that the Alpha had finally woken from his coma, then came self-consciousness, fear and lastly sadness because he reminded her too much of Denver.But when he sighted her and beamed for a man who didn’t smile much, she pushed all the other emotions aside and focused on the joy and relief first and when he stretched out his arms, she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat before going in for the hug.“Forgive me child.” He whispered before ending the brief hug. Although brief, she found that it really meant a lot. He didn’t seem like a big hugger but she had felt so calm and loved in those few seconds that hug had lasted and when he called her child something in her told her that she had a bigger support system than she realized and it gave her some kind of strength. And when Denver’s mom pulled her in fo
A long silence ensued after that before Claude broke it, her voice shaky and her breath even shakier, “They know I’m pregnant?” Her head immediately began to swirl with thoughts of people laughing at her just like in her dreams where there were three set of people. The ones that laughed, the ones that shook their heads in pity when she walked by and then there was Denver, a set on his own. The one that was indifferent about it all.From the look on her face, Eric was quick to ease her concerns, immediately getting the hint that she didn’t want them to know, “No, of course not. I only found out, when I got here. All I got from my few days there was that the entire pack was practically against him for his choices.”Claude bit her lip and Nuella threaded her fingers with hers, hoping it would calm her down a bit. “Oh.” She said.“Denver is a real dick for this.” Eric said, his jaw clenched. He felt like going back over there and throwing a punch right at his face but for Claude’s sake he