Semua Bab CLAIMING HAILEY : Bab 41 - Bab 50

SELENE I entered the darkened chamber, feeling the tension palpable in the air. The dancing flame of one candle projected the upheaval in my thoughts as elongated, jagged shadows on the walls. Thomas and Lucy were tardy, and I was becoming agitated. Despite their promises of power and retribution, they had brought me only uncertainty and rumors of betrayal after pulling me into their intricate web of intrigues. Lucy went in first, her frozen smile cutting keener than any knife as the creaking door opened. Followed by Thomas, his blank face contradicted by eyes that shone with a mix of sarcasm and contempt. He'd been Marissa's friend and most ardent defender, yet now the ties are broken—we must seek either to win her back to our side or to destroy her. He used to be her best friend, her confidant, but the friendship is no more—a casualty of his unbridled ambition and his affair with Lucy. Lucy purred, "Selene," in a voice as smooth as silk. "I hope you've been able to use yourself." I

HAILEYThe chamber was shadowed, long shuddering arms spread out before it by the light of the hearthfire. I rested my elbows at the head of the oak table, trying to focus on the recent news of our border scouts, but my thoughts continually circled back over the past couple of days since Marissa had come and totally flipped everything about—her abilities, her disobedience, and her unmistakable connection to Alexia. I knew the balance would shatter any second, and therefore I had been walking on this thin edge. Ryan had stepped in in the blink of an eye as he pushed open the creaky door. Ryan walked in, as tight as he could stand, his face unrecognizable. To another man, Ryan might have been able to pass himself off as a king—untitled and inflexible—but to me, there was simmering beneath his tranquil exterior, a cyclone forming. He growled, "We need to talk," beneath his breath with a pointed snarl that placed me immediately on high alert. I nodded and motioned him to sit, putting the

RYAN Even though the morning air had a keen bite to it, it didn't make me any less annoyed. After a long night of strategy talks, my partner, Hailey, the queen of all species, slept peacefully and caught a few winks. I intended to leave her alone and let her continue to sleep. The seer Isaiah had dealt me a blow with his vision and naturally, when a convoy of cars neared the pack house and the rumble of motors became louder, that strategy was blown. It resembled chalkboard fingernails. As the first automobile rolled to a stop, I stood with my arms folded across my chest at the top of the steps to the pack house. A scout showed up, then Logan my Beta, showed up beside me, his eyes alert and suspicious. "Who the hell are they?" I grumbled as I looked at the cars. Logan took a whiff of the air. "Wolves. But this is organized—not rogues. "Like I told the scout who informed me the first time, welcome them, but if they come for trouble, you make sure they never leave this place alive". The

AARON The streets were alive with their usual buzz of traffic and the usual hum of cars, but I was barely aware of it all tonight. The crushing weight of Selene's ambitions and the secrets she kept made me uneasy because she insisted on moulding me into her destiny rather than mine as if she were preparing me for something bigger, but I wanted something or someone more. Hailey, I became obsessed with her the moment I saw her, but I have no intention of stopping, no matter the level of opposition involved, she must be mine.I hid at a tiny café with a bookshop on the more sedate side of town. I grabbed a seat beside the window in one corner, and the air smelt like freshly brewed coffee and old paper. No one knows me as the fashion house billionaire; titles do not matter here, so I find peace and calmness of thought every time I come by this place. However, I went here for a little respite from Selene's oppressive rule, not for the books or the coffee. Even though the bell above the e

THOMASSwirling the amber-colored liquid in my glass, candlelight danced over the smooth wood of my study desk. Betrayals had surfaced and friendships had changed through the crazy last weeks. Still, my thoughts continued to focus on Hailey all along. She was a queen in all ways, and she was everything. Authoritative, elegant, and beautiful, she was Ryan's and beyond reach. The hot light didn't quite ease the ache within, so I had some of the bourbon. Years ago, I would never have imagined making the concessions and compromises that I had made. But as the facts gradually emerged, it became glaringly obvious that Lucy had lied to me. Lucy. Saying her name made me feel contemptuous. She had infiltrated my life, playing tricks on my free will and offering promises. She was my friend and equal. But no-she was an enchantress who used magic to make me hers to command. And I only discovered it by chance. A random encounter with an old renegade healer shocked me into wakefulness. We were disc