Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
We had just pulled into the parking space when I asked, “I nearly forgothow’s Clara been doing?”
He didn’t answer and up until I turned car off, I could see his scowl lingering within the outskirts of my vision. While Nolan kept a continuous rotation of guys on guard duty, it was Mason they said Clara would ask for. From what I heard, he had caved in sometime yesterday, but that was the extent of the whispered rumor.
“Annoying as ever, which is the only reason she keeps asking for me.” His lips flattened into a thin line.
A flash of warm-blonde hair had me dropping the subject. Cassidy trotted up to the side of the car and leaned against the hood as Mason and I got out. The wavy strands of her hair were pulled into a high-
pony tail and the work-out shorts she wore were low on her hips.
“Ah, this is so exciting!” She squealed, her eyes brightening like an oasis caught beneath the sun’s rays. “Can you tell none of my friends like training? I’m all alone here!”
“If they don’t train, what do they do?” Mason asked.
“Mostly party.” She giggled like it were obvious and toyed with the baby-pink water bottle in her hands.
“Catch them in a fight and all they’ll do is pull your hair out. I’d much rather learn to kick some a*s.”
As Cassidy and Mason struck up a conversation about the different fighting styles we were covering in class, I scoured the parking lot for Breyona. There was no sign of the slate grey sedan Nolan had loaned to her and Giovanni, and as the minutes passed I found my prior excitement dwindle into worry.
“Hey, it’s about time to go in. Is everything alright with Breyona? She’s still coming, isn’t she?”
Cassidy’s giddy tone faltered as she took in my expression.
Slipping into Breyona’s head was a little easier since the two of us had little in the way of boundaries.
Our friendship was all or nothing, not that either of us minded. The things we had both gone through, they were bound to link us together.
‘Hey, you’re still coming to training, right?’ Her reaction rocked through my head like the aftershock of an earthquake. There was no horrified shriek, even though I did feel her startle a bit.
‘Whew, you scared me. Gotta knock first or something…’ Her thoughts were like little shreds of paper tossed into the air, each one falling at its own pace. They were jumbled and smushed together without any sort of organization, which I thought fit my best-friend perfectly. “Training, right. I’m on my way now, just running late. Needed another cup of coffee to get myself out of bed.’
An image flashed in my head; one Breyona clearly meant to keep to herself. While there wasn’t a single drop of coffee involved, I did get a colorful image of Breyona and Giovanni, who was the real cause for her tardiness.
‘Coffee…right.’ I held back my snicker. ‘You better hurry, we’re about to head inside now. Cassidy says you still have another ten minutes to get here.’
‘Don’t worry, the GPS says I’ll be there in five!’ Even her thoughts were loud, throwing themselves at me as though she were shouting. When the deafening sound of some pop song roared in my head, I severed the link.
The capital’s training hall was rumored to be one of the best in the country, and from looks alone it lived up to its reputation. A bronze statuette of a wolf sat out front. The great beast was perched on the edge of a cliff, howling its pain and agony into the air. The piece was a memorial dedicated to the wolves whose names were etched onto the cliffs surface.
It reminded everyone who passed through these doors that the life of a warrior was hard-earned, fought for with every breath and beat.
An undertone of sweat and blood hung in the air, familiar as it dredged up memories of Chris, and how we’d spend hours beneath the blistering sun, fighting until dehydration brought me to my knees.
The scent grew stronger as Cassidy and I headed inside, leaving Mason to chat with a group of guys in his class.
Minutes ticked by, each one thinning my patience until every other second I found myself glancing at the door, tempted to peek through the rectangular window that looked out into the hall.
In the back of my head I could hear the instructor assigning us our partners for the season. Even
Cassidy’s excited voice, telling me we’d been paired together, couldn’t pull my eyes away from the door or my thoughts away from Breyona.
“She’s not answering me.” I tried to sigh, but it was hard to do in my current position.
Cassidy’s pouty frown and furrowed eyebrows flipped upside down as she bent forward and brought her head in between her legs. As I did the same, her expression was flipped right side up. Each of us were in the same pose, stretching our hamstrings as we mixed our own routine with the recommendations of our trainer.
Emilia carried an air of intimidation as she walked into the room, but it melted away the moment her tan lips lifted into a welcoming smile. Her voice was a steady soprano that provided instruction end endless encouragement, despite her height and broad shoulders. It was unsurprising that she towered over me, but she had almost every male in the room beat as well.
A jolt of excitement danced in my stomach when she pulled the oversized t-shirt she wore over her head, and I saw the muscle that coated her body. Any decent warrior could see her commitment and perseverance through the definition of her muscles. It was clear Emilia had the strength and poise of a warrior, which made me even more excited to see her skill. I wondered if a k****r lurked behind her soft jawline and large hazel eyes.
We were both sprawled out on the floor, reaching forwards to touch our toes when Cassidy whispered,
“…hey, mind-link me real quick.”
Her eyes darted to Emilia, who had her attention on the students she was helping. Her hand gestured to various parts of the body as she explained various warm-up stretches. Her ear was in our direction, but there was no telling if she was listening or not.
‘Everything alright?’ I lifted an eyebrow at her.
Cassidy’s head was a luxury walk-in closet filled to the brim with every article of clothing, and accessory a she-wolf could want. Instead of jewelry there were glittering dreams plucked from her subconscious, and razor-sharp nightmares took the place of expensive stilettos. Becoming Luna is what led to this development, but it wasn’t one wildly talked about. There wasn’t anything particularly useful about seeing the well-oiled or crumbling structure of a pack members psyche.
‘Just a bit of gossip really…’ She trailed off, and mischievousness lightened the cerulean tones in her eyes until they reminded me of a clear oasis.
‘With all the dirt you have on everyone, why hasn’t Nolan made you into some kind of super spy?’ I teased, crossing an arm over my chest to stretch my triceps. The muscles groaned from not being used in so long.
‘Oh, because I’m useless at sneaking around. Even a s**t -faced Brandon would make a better spy.’
Her laughter was like a twinkling bell, which was cut short when a flash of guilt crossed her face. She brushed the wispy strands of her bangs back from her face, ‘I’m not telling you this to dredge anything up, but I feel like you still know so little about some of the people in town, people Nolan and I grew up alongside.’
There were times where Cassidy reminded me of my ex-best friend Chelsea-well, she was never really a best friend, but that wasn’t important. Both were blonde, though Cassidy’s looked to be natural while
Chelsea’s came from the snooty salon down the street, and both had that sun-kissed, family vacation at our beach house’ vibe.
It was their personalities that really set them apart.
Chelsea couldn’t spell sincerity, let alone successfully paint it across her face. I’d seen Cassidy display an array of emotions, and each one seemed just as true as the next. Even now, the honesty on her face was evident in the worried line her lips created and the indecision burning in her eyes.
‘Oh, just tell me. You look like you’re about to explode.’ I kept my voice playful even though she did have me curious.
Gossiping was one of the many things Chelsea and I didn’t have in common, but in this situation I figured the more information I collected, the better.
‘I do, don’t I? I’ve always been c**p at keeping things in, but I am an excellent secret keeper in case you ever need to make use of me.’ She winked, then quickly got down to business. Her eyes narrowed into little slits, and I could feel her thoughts flitting a million miles per minute. ‘So way back when, Emilia had a thing for Nolan. Like, big time. I’m talking more than just ‘A & E’ in a notebook type of thing. She used to hang around us a lot, but one day she just stopped. If you want my take on things, I think he shot her down and she got upset.’
A flare of jealousy roared to life inside of Maya, but even she wasn’t rash enough to brazenly maul a random she-wolf. I couldn’t help but turn my head and look at Emilia, at her bun of her russet-colored curls when I shifted my eyes down an inch and found her staring at me.
The last thing I expected was a surprised but warm smile to tug at the corners of her lips. Even her eyes crinkled, and the sight was so genuine that I couldn’t help but return the gesture. It was the way that friendliness vanished when her eyes slid to Cassidy that had me feeling a bit confused.
‘She doesn’t seem too torn up about him anymore.’ I said in Emilia’s defense, who was now back to helping other students, her full attention on coaching them through warm-up.
‘Oh, I can’t imagine she would be. The lucky b***h found her mate last spring, and of course they’re adorable together.’ She huffed and blew a strand of hair from her face. With a dramatic swipe of her hand, her pout vanished and was replaced with a teasing grin. I’m only stating facts since bitterness creates wrinkles.’
Our conversation collapsed as Emilia took the head of the class and began speaking loudly. She did a quick run through of the muscles in the body and followed with stretches for each.
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?