Dreams have a way of sneaking in and revealing what we are afraid to admit we feel. Were we really surprised of Claire's feelings toward Mal? :D I wonder what surprises he has in store for the Taylor gang.
After a night of karaoke, eggnog, peppermint schnapps, and non-stop laughter, everyone was eager for Christmas morning when they went to bed. Rolling over, Claire’s arms hit a warm body, hindering her stretch. Squinting her eyes to see who was there, she sighed. “Quinn. How did you end up in my bed?” Claire groggily croaked. When Quinn didn’t move, Claire tickled her side to wake her up. She lazily opened one eye to glare at her best friend. “That’s not a nice way to wake someone. That guest bed suuuuuucks. Aaaaaaaand you’re a great cuddler. Sorry, not sorry.” She curled her body up against Claire. Amused, Claire wrapped her arms around her before she whispered in Quinn’s ear. “You know we get to open presents now, right?” Both girls scrambled out of the bed and rushed down the stairs; taking the steps two at a time, giggling the entire way. Claire lost her footing thanks to her fuzzy socks on the hardwood floors and slid into the arm of the couch in the living room, and tumble
“Lockwoods! Left side of the room! Taylors, right! Smiths and Millers, down the middle!” Jack separated the four Guardian families for training in the massive training facility on the Miller’s property. “I have a bit of a surprise for y’all.” Jack motioned to a laptop aimed at the group. “Members of The Council are here to observe y’all train, along with a few other leaders. So don’t make me look bad.” One by one, the different leaders clicked on the screens to watch how the younger generation of Guardians were turning out. Claire mentally groaned as she gulped her water and put on her game face. Needing to pump herself up, she shook her shoulders and thought to herself, “Show no fear. Fuck anyone who doesn’t think you deserve to be here.” This was not the idea of a fun Spring Break Claire had planned. She was confident she was finally going to be a normal teenager and go to a beach with her friends. Boy, was she wrong! They had only been training for the last two days, but it
“How did the new trainees do today?” Alexander sat a small glass of blood down on the desk in front of Malachy. “I heard...one of them really made an impression…” The dark man sat on the sofa across the room and took a drink from his own glass, waiting for a reaction from his brooding boss with amusement in his eyes. Taking a calming breath, Malachy looked up at his second, “she did...so much in fact that one of Alpha Miller’s sons took an interest. Damn pup…” He smoothed a hand over his face in frustration. “Claire has surpassed all expectations of the Council and is still as feisty as ever. She took down an Alpha’s son and barely broke a sweat. She was stunning, to say the least.” A small smile graced his face. Something that Alexander noticed happened every time he talked about this tiny human. "Stunning, huh? Last year, she defeated three fully prepared vampires by herself, even though she wasn't prepared for a fight." Alexander crossed one leg over the other and relaxed deeper
It’s been a few days...I wonder if he got the pics...Did he not like them? OH GAWD!! HE DIDN’T LIKE THEM....SHIIIIIT! Claire’s head hung in her hands as she contemplated the events of the other night. Did she move too fast? Did she read the whole situation wrong? All these thoughts raced through her head as she tried and failed to eat her breakfast. No one was paying her any attention as her inner turmoil slowly destroyed her brain. “Hey Cupcake. This seat taken?” Sean didn’t wait for a response as he plopped in the seat beside her. “You look like something is buggin’ ya. What’s up?” He eagerly shoved a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth. Claire just turned her head to glare at him. “You have NO idea. Can you just leave me alone? I’m kinda going through something right now and I’d rather sulk alone while my idiot brain betrays me even more.” Sean turned his head up to the ceiling and put a finger to his chin, acting as if he was deep in thought, “NOPE! And the best way to get
Claire’s good mood instantly evaporated. She ran up to Jack, eyes pleading, “let me out there, Pops. You know I can handle myself and you need all the hands you’ve got.” Jack’s stern face turned gentle as he placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “No. You aren’t far enough along in your training to be out in the field like this. You’ve gotten lucky a few times, sweetie, but please. Don’t fight me on this one. Just help the others get the pack into the shelters.” He turned to walk away, but Claire wasn’t giving up. She grasped at his elbow and spun him around to face her, but he didn’t budge. “So why have you been training me if you won’t let me prove myself?” Her temper flared to life. “I can help! You’ve seen so yourself over the last few days! I’ve…” Jack turned on a dime. “ENOUGH!” The room turned silent as everyone watched Jack and Claire glare at one another, each with their arms crossed over their rapidly rising and falling chests. “You don’t think I c
Jack’s heart dropped at the mention of Claire. But his temper soon got the best of him as a low growl erupted from his throat. The rogue’s head turned to the side as he eyed the first line of defense and his eyebrows raised, “so you know of this little human? Good. You can bring her to us, and we will leave without bloodshed.” Zach stepped forward, placing himself in front of Jack, effectively holding the other vampire back. “You should think again, mutt.” Distaste for the rogues plain on his tongue. “What makes you think we won’t just kill you for threatening a member of our coven?” With a sly grin, the leader calmly spoke in a sing-song voice. “Because if you kill all of us, you’ll never know who sent us or why they want her." He nonchalantly looked at his fingernails before continuing, "the choice is yours, really. But I do have a deadline to make, so tick tock, puppers.” The rogue tapped his empty wrist, then turned on his heels to head back to the small band he arrived with.
Malachy stepped into the dimly lit room as the other two men spun around to face him. He wasted no time in going to Miller's Packlands when he heard there was an attack coming. Knowing the Taylors, including Claire, were there to train with the other families, he didn’t want to take the chance that something would happen to her. He made it there in record time, considering he was hours away. He drove like a madman. Speed limits didn’t matter at that point. A rogue Mythical attack was one thing, but two within the last few months AND each involved Claire was not a coincidence. Malachy walked further into the room to shake hands with the other two men. Relief filled his chest, knowing his friends were unharmed, which meant Claire was as well. “I wish I could say it was good to see you, Malachy, but anytime you come around, it’s never really for a good reason.” Alpha Miller joked, finishing his beer before they headed over to the prison cells. The darkness of the stairwell would hav
Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Unaware they had an audience, let alone one that consisted of her father, the Alpha, and Mal, Claire mentally groaned at the whole situation. She really wasn’t expecting to see Malachy at this particular moment, and she had no clue how to react. She hadn’t heard from him after their picture “exchange” and she was still unsure of where their relationship stood. Whatever their relationship was, but seeing another guy’s lips on hers probably didn’t help matters any. She did the only thing she could think of: she squared her shoulders, turned on her heels, and walked back to her room, avoiding looking back at the group of Mythicals. Jeez...Just my fucking luck. Claire ran straight to her bathroom to splash cold water on her face as her head hung low over the sink. Her fingers gripped the edge of the basin so hard they turned white. “What in the actual fuck is happening?” her voice echoed in the tiled room. The only other sound in the tiny space was the