The scream had startled them but knowing that it could be their classmate and that she might be in danger, they all ran in the direction in which they heard it. They decided to split up since they didn’t see anything immediately but were soon running back to one direction when they heard one of them scream.Claude saw Nuella standing one feet from what looked like a body and facing the opposite way. She looked pale and her hands were even shaking. “Nuella, what’s wrong?” Claude asked worriedly while the rest hurried to the body.“What the fuck!?”“Shit!”“How do I unsee that?”“What is that?”Claude gave Nuella one last glance before jogging to where the others stood and when she did, to say she was repulsed was an understatement. No wonder Nuella screamed and looked visibly shaken. It was a body alright but one that looked like it had been dead for days if the discolored skin and the maggots crawling through the eye and other openings were anything to go about.Claude glanced at Denv
The next day, they had school which Claude found ironic considering the fact that they had just had a graduation trip. Like, shouldn’t they be done with everything already? She thought with a groan as she prepared for school that morning.She made sure to go down in time for breakfast though, helping herself to two times what she would normally eat. Yesterday, after Shawn’s image disappeared, she had spent goddess knows how long sobbing before finally picking herself up and making her way back to the pack house. Even in death Shawn still cared for her (if she wasn’t hallucinating the entire thing, that is).When she got back it was 7:35pm and she had successfully missed breakfast. Going to bed hungry had not been a fun experience at all. She would have snuck down to the kitchen to snag one or two from the fridge but she had been caught once and since then, she had been too scared to attempt it again.Claude groaned when she passed by a couple of boys and caught a whiff of a mix of int
When Claude heard that it was Eric that scored the winning goal she ran into the field in her excitement and went to hug him. He happily returned the hug but as they pulled apart, his hand grazed the book which was still in her hands and what felt like a jolt of electricity went through her. They jumped apart and she nearly even dropped the book. One glance at Eric told her that he had felt him look and he raised his brow in confusion. Claude shrugged, “I don’t know what the hell that was.” She said before turning away and speedwalking out of there. The book was still pulsing in her hands and Claude knew that something was definitely up with it. Escaping to the girls’ bathroom, she found a stall and flipped open the book. Although Claude was the one opening the book, it was almost like the book was opening itself as the pages fluttered until a page was left in front of her and Claude gasped at the sight of actual words on the book for the first time. Placing her finger on the page t
Claude and Nuella were dancing wildly to the beat of the music, lost in the moment. Claude was leading the dance and twirling Nuella around the floor. They were having so much fun, they didn't notice the man standing in the shadows watching them.As they danced, Claude glanced over Nuella's shoulder and saw him. Vladimir. The man who had been trying to kill her for while. Claude froze, her eyes locked on the man in the shadows.Suddenly, she grabbed Nuella's hand and dragged her off the dance floor. Nuella stumbled behind her, confused and disoriented. They ran through the crowd, dodging people left and right, as Claude tried to get away from Vladimir.Nuella yelled at Claude to stop, asking why she was in such a rush all of a sudden. Claude turned around and pointed behind her, seeing Vladimir step out of the shadows and smile at her. Nuella looked behind her but saw nothing. She turned back to Claude, puzzled."What exactly is scaring you?" Nuella asked.Claude replied, "Him. Vladim
Claude had not thought about it before but once she did she couldn’t stop worrying that Nuella’s mom would call her mom to confirm if they were really at her place. She hadn’t really looked too convinced back there and she had really hated lying to her.Well a lie was the only way to go about it right now and on that thought she brought out her phone and texted her mom that she and Nuella would stay at the pack house for a bit more. The book was at her room back at home since she didn’t think it was safe enough to keep it at the pack house.Not like all that really mattered now anyway, since she had to give it to Vladimir to save her friend now. Her phone dinged and she saw that it was her mom replying her text with a ‘Okay, you girls stay safe’. Now, the only way to go to her house was to sneak in through her window considering that her mom already thought she was at the pack house. She wasn’t much of the sneaky type so she didn’t have much experience with sneaking in or out even he
“I’ll get you out of here. I promise.” I said to Nuella who just shook her head.“How do you know him Claude? Why do you know someone that wants to kill you?” “I don’t-”“This is the second witch that wants to kill you, Claude. Most people don’t even know they exist!”“I know how it looks Nuella but I swear, I did nothing! Look, I’m sorry okay? I will get you out of here and…” Her voice cracked, “I know you don’t deserve the things you go through because of me.” She burst out placing her face in her hands as she burst into tears again.“Oh come on, Claude. Don’t cry! Look, I’m just confused. There has to be a reason and knowing what that reason is might help us out of this. We need to know what makes you so special to them.” She explained. Claude nodded, wiping her face deciding that she needed to get over herself and think. Getting emotional over nothing won’t get them out of this place, or at least get Nuella out of this place. A plan was what they needed.“I can’t believe I’m the
For the second time that day Claude was rousing from a blackout. Or at least, she thought it was that same day. Her senses awoke before her body and her nose was assaulted by an intense incense smell. She couldn’t quite place it but if there was any thing that was going to make her open her tired eyes, it was that. It was quite intrusive.Immediately her eyes fell open, she was immediately flanked by her sides. Her eyes had not even had enough time to take in her environment and when the blurriness finally cleared she finds out that it’s Denver and her mom. Denver was on one side and her mom at the other. Her dad was in the room as well, perched at the wall with his arms folded.Denver lifted her hand and placed a kiss to the back of it, “I’ve been so worried Claude. We’ve all been so worried.”“Yes.” Her dad concurred, his voice low and Claude thought he even sounded a bit angry, “We’ve all been so worried.”“H-how is Nuella?” Claude asked the first thing that came to mind, her throa
On her dad’s request, Claude spent the next hour on the balcony with her dad, relating the entire ordeal to him. This time her mom didn’t protest because they all knew it was necessary. Her father’s men were out there looking for the dangerous criminal that was Vladimir and anything she had to say may prove useful. Claude reached for another piece of the amazing butter cookies her mom had baked. “Dad, I think you guys should just stop looking for Vladimir.” He frowned and narrowed his eyes, “What? Why? What do you mean?” She sighed, “Dad, Vladimir stood behind me when Denver came into my room in the pack house and Denver did not know. Why? He had turned himself invisible! And now that I think about it, there probably is a spell to mask scent as well because that should’ve given him a way when he carried me and basically walked passed the entire of Denver’s pack members and nobody could sense a thing.” The alpha was massaging his temples before he knew it, “He turned you invisible.”
“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