Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
“Are you sure we should get on a flying metal box with a witch?” He cleared his throat, his eyes flickering towards Clara. “…no offense, plane crashes are a fear of mine.”
Nolan contemplated what he said and nodded, “he’s got a point.”
It was true, there was plenty room for concern since we had no clue what Clara could do. There was no point in asking Brandon, not when he was especially clueless about most things. It wouldn’t surprise me to hear he knew nothing about the girl he’d been sleeping with-other than her being a witch.
I had no gut feeling telling me she’d magically c***h the plane or send it freefalling mid- flight, but that brought little comfort. What I hadn’t expected was for Clara to defend herself. Her face held bravery, but there was no missing the flicker of intimidation when she met Nolan’s stare with one of her own.
“The witches that attacked us saw me with your girlfriend, the only reason I’m here and not running far from all of you is because I have no way to protect myself when they come searching for me. I wasn’t raised a snitch, but those witches won’t just k**l me and be done with it.” She huffed, trying to calm her shaky voice.
The way her hands trembled, and leg bounced, all of it told me she was telling the truth. This thing that was going on, she had wanted no part of it. It wasn’t just Brandon and I she’d been avoiding. All it took was one look shared between Nolan and I to know we were on the same page.
“Mate. Daisy is my mate, not my girlfriend.” Nolan said, both correcting and distracting her.
“What’s the difference?” She asked curiously, no longer bouncing her leg.
I tilted my head at her, “you’ve been hooking up with a werewolf and don’t know what mates are?”
When I turned my head to give Brandon a questioning look, he shrugged and said, “she’s adopted,” as though that explained everything.
“There’s a huge difference.” Nolan replied, “One is based off a crush, the other a bond that brings together who halves of the same soul. A bond like that leaves a mark.”
“I was raised by humans, and as long as Brandon was single, I had no reason to care about werewolf stuff-not until recently, anyway.” She explained. Her eyes homed in on the mark that stood out against
Nolan’s pale skin before they searched for mine. I knew what observation she had made before she said it, “you have two marks…is that normal?”
“No, it’s not normal at all.” I sighed; thankful I was spared from explaining further when the attendant popped her head in to let us know the plane was ready.
I’d never been on a plane before, much less a private jet that could easily double as an apartment if you ever found yourself without somewhere to live. I shuddered at the thought of being on a flight long enough to make use of the walk-in shower and king-
sized bed in the back of the plane.
The only positive things about this flight were the tiny bottles of liquor that chased away my gnawing worry, cuddling up to Nolan for the next hour, and the fact that there were no shadows forty thousand feet in the air. Everything else-down to the turbulence and the pitch-black sky, I absolutely hated.
“Nolan might be alright with waiting until this plane lands to ask what the h**l happened, but I’m not.
Give us the details, starting why you’re dressed like a movie star and this one… isn’t dressed.” Zeke leaned in; his hands clasped tightly together. I didn’t miss the way his eyebrows were creased, or the way the vein in his neck stuck out.
Nolan rolled his eyes, “you didn’t give me the chance to ask.”
“Sorry, but you were taking too long.” He replied, glancing around the plane with that same look of unease on his face. I found it curious that an Alpha would fear plane crashes, but I wasn’t going to tease him for it. We all feared something. “I need a distraction before I spend the rest of this hour tweaking.”
“I’m ‘not dressed’ because I’m a performer at a club-well, I was a performer…” Clara explained, giving me and Brandon long looks that let everyone know we were responsible for her sudden resignation.
She turned her attention to Nolan, “…until your mate decided to beat up two bouncers and storm the employees only area to hunt me down.”
“You should have seen the looks on their faces when she threw that pitcher of beer-” Brandon began, ready to shovel a handful of chips into his mouth when he paused. Nolan was glaring daggers at his brother, his eyes pitch black, and arm draped protectively over my shoulders. “Anyway, we would’ve been back sooner rather than later if it weren’t for the creepy sister witches.”
“Creepy sister witches?” Zeke repeated, just a flicker of fear in the Alphas eyes.
“Yup. One threw fireballs and the other made the ground crack open.” Brandon nodded, mimicking throwing a fireball only it was a sour cream and onion potato chip.
“So what you’re saying is not only did you put Daisy’s life at risk once by kidnapping her from the scene of an accident rather than taking her to the hospital, but you also put it at risk numerous times afterwards, and for what?” Nolan’s voice was as flat as the lack of color in his eyes, so dark that his pupils had vanished. He swiveled his eyes to Clara, who paled. ” What was your reason for taking Daisy this far away from pack boundaries, knowing there are people after her?”
“Woah, woah. Technically, I saved her life twice-three times actually.” Brandon retorted. “First, I pulled her from that wreck and made sure she had a blood-bag. Then I let her nearly bleed me dry for a pack of demonic leeches, and I didn’t take off with the stolen car when she wanted to follow the creepy sister witches. Three times, brother. And I’m not even asking for a thank you.”
“You called on the shadows and followed the witches?” Nolan frowned, not with anger but worry. He knew I’d always feel guilty for what happened to Mason’s mate and Breyona, and that I’d never again use them lightly.
“There was no other option. Those witches said someone was doing a tracking spell on me. They would’ve caught up to us eventually, then who knows where I’d be.” I shuddered, remembering all too well what it felt like to be imprisoned by my father, to have my every breath and move watched. “The shadows made us invisible, so they couldn’t see or hear me. One of the witches was on the phone, she said that the witch doing the tracking spell lost us. The other was pissed, started going off about how they’re locked up and never get to see any action, and how this mysterious leader of theirs sent out other witches instead of them…”
“Sent out?” Zeke repeated, “What does that mean?”
“It means there’s witches in our pack…hiding, blending in for goddess knows how long.”‘ I looked up at
Nolan, seeing the same hurricane of emotions in his eyes that raged within my own. “They said that these witches blend in better, that they’ll have everything set up for when “she’s” ready to slip past our boarders, and that once I realize she’s here, it’ll be too late for us all.”
“Oh-I knew they were planning something… I just didn’t know it was this big…” Clara swallowed, still nervous even though I alone kept Nolan rooted in place. “…they must’ve been planning this for some time.”
“Explain.” Just that single word charged the small space between us with Clara’s fear and hesitation.
Not once had I ever felt a shred of fear towards Nolan, but I knew the affect he had on those around him.
Clara must’ve truly been desperate, because the found the strength to ask a question in return.
“How do I know you won’t k**l me as soon I tell you what I know?” She asked, doing a remarkable job at hiding the tremble in her voice.
“You don’t, but we don’t make it a habit just k*****g people.” I replied before Nolan could. I wasn’t the most sensitive, but Nolan had the bedside manner of a rogue. “So long as you’re not trying to harm our people or anyone we care about, there’s no reason to k**l you. You said you wanted protection; we can arrange that if you help us in return.”
“I…I don’t have much information. It is enough for them to k**l me over, though.” She murmured, fearful even as she talked about them. “It started a month or so ago…whispers in the witch community, talking about some big event going on. I remember wanting to go, but I was busy at the time. A performer friend of mine went, came back…different. Told me how things were finally changing for us witches, and that when the time came, all of us needed to be on board. A week later, she gave me an official invitation to one of their gatherings. There’s no address to give you-I never went. The whole thing felt…
off to me. Kiersten was always one of those happy-go- lucky people, and after that meeting…she turned hateful, especially towards non- witches. She tried one last time, came to my house with another witch. They told me about the glory days for witches, when our power put us at the top of the food chain, even above werewolves. They told me how we could have that again, there was just one obstacle in our way…”
Her eyes settled on me, and a chill worked its way down my spine, turning my nerve endings cold.
“A tribrid with the power to achieve that vision. They made you out to be this…monster, said that you sided with the werewolves and were even working to enslave vampires. When they mentioned taking over werewolf packs, I knew something was wrong.” She continued, “I threw the invitation away…and
Kiersten, she stopped talking to me. For days she just watched me…until she didn’t show up for work.
Turns out she quit, and I haven’t seen her since. All I know is there’s been new people coming to the club, which is strange since you can’t come here without being invited by a regular. These new people would always come to watch me dance…only me.”
“You think they were sent to watch you?” Mason asked.
Clara nodded, “I think Keirsten vouched for me, and promised this woman I’d be on board, but I wasn’t.
My magic isn’t the kind that fights in wars.”
“You mentioned before you have to get up close to use your magic.” I recalled, thinking back to when I had her pinned against the wall. That whisper soft touch at the back of my head, it had been her magic.
I was now sure of it. “If I remember correctly, you and I were pretty close back at the club. What exactly can you do?”
“You felt that?” She chuckled nervously, tucking a few ringlets behind her ear. “My gift stems from spirit magic…it just works a bit differently. I can slip into someone’s mind, sort of like what vampires do. It’s not for very long, but there’s a lot I can do while I’m in there. I’ve never used it to seriously hurt someone…but I have used it to stun some of the handsy customers. I-I’m a novice at potions, more likely to singe my eyebrows off than actually make anything successful. I’ve also tried some small spells that have worked… well, all except for the love spell.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?