Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
“I’m guessing your mate disapproves of your plan.” Tristan remarked, his tone brittle and unsurprised.
He curled his lip at the wolves watching us, too far to hear our words but close enough to stop me if I tried to make a run for it. “Looks like you get to have your girl’s night after all.”
“This is our only chance.” I hissed quietly, clenching my fists at my side. “We know nothing, absolutely nothing about the witches doing this.”
Rowena’s words replayed themselves in my mind, so loud that if I closed my eyes and concentrated, I could’ve easily fooled myself into believing she were here.
Tristan lifted one of his pale eyebrows. Despite the dangers of going to the Vampire lair, he’d never pass up a chance to help me go against Nolan’s wishes. “You’ve got a plan forming in that devious head of yours, I can tell. What is it?”
I didn’t answer right away, but instead sent a certain blonde she-wolf a quick mind-link.
‘Hey, Cass. You busy?’ I called out, thankful for her speed when an instant jolt of awareness unfolded in my mind.
Her voice was accompanied by the sound of music and laughter. ‘Hey, Daisy! I mean, I’m not busy with anything important. I’m at this wedding Nolan’s mom put together, figured I’d feel safer around a bunch of wolves. Why, did something happen?’
‘Nothing happened, but I need your help with a plan. You game?’
Despite how shaken up she’d been, her voice held a kernel of excitement when she replied. ‘H**l yeah,
I’m game. Let me know where and when, and I’ll be there.’
‘Actually, stay where you are, and I’ll come to you.’ I told her, quickly snipping the connection once her reply reverberated in my head.
“Daisy?” Tristan’s voice sounded from a few feet away. As I turned away from the forest line and met the brunt of his worried stare, I felt a small throb from the mark he’d long ago put on my neck-the one I still needed to find a way to remove. “This plan of yours, what is it?”
“It’s not so much of an “it’ as it is a ‘who’.”
I snarled at the wolves currently watching us and stormed back into the house, stopping only when I reached the living room and Holly’s petite frame came into view. She was in the same position I’d left her in, bundled in blankets like a human burrito with an extra-large bowl of popcorn in her hands.
“I’ll help.” She sighed, speaking before I had the chance to even explain my plan. Her eyebrows were furrowed with a look of worry, and she held up a hand to silence me as I opened my mouth to speak. “If it involves me going out in public, I’d really rather not know the specifics until it’s too late to turn back.”
“Thank you, Holly.” I exhaled, my shoulders slumping with relief. With two sets of curious eyes on my face, I rounded out the last details of my plan and said, “Alright, we have a few stops to make. How do you guys feel about going to a wedding?”
~~~~~~~
“Well, I can’t say I saw this coming. It’s nice, in a way. I’ve always liked surprises, even if I am a bit anxious about going out in public. Never been to a wedding before…” Holly chattered softly, her hands two dark blurs in the rearview mirror as she moved them back and forth, gesturing at seemingly nothing.
A small whisper of a smile ghosted across my face as I listened to her ramble, watching as she talked with her hands. I found it both interesting and odd that the same amused expression drifted across
Tristan’s face, only to be wiped away once he caught me looking.
“This dress is nice, Daisy. I appreciate you loaning it to me, though I wish it were a bit longer.” Holly hummed. The sound of rustled lace came from the backseat as she shifted and tugged the hem down past her knees. “It certainly smells like you, that’s for sure.”
With Holly’s wispy voice floating in the background, I focused on the road and on sending my thoughts down the mate-bond to wherever Nolan currently was. He’d been radio silent all day, which wasn’t too concerning since I’d know if anything serious happened to him. Given that the house was surrounded by wolves, his silence made perfect sense.
Currently, those same wolves were tailing my car as I coasted around the curvy backroads that led into town, staying just inside the forest line to give me the illusion of privacy. I had no doubt that even if I demanded they back off, they wouldn’t listen. They’d protect me with their lives, no matter how much I protested.
‘Thanks for the personal brigade of wolves, but it’s really not necessary.’ I shot my snarky response down the mate-bond between Nolan and I, hurling it like a flaming projectile intent on destruction. ‘You can call them off now, or at least tell them to stop acting like I don’t know they’re following me.’
Nolan’s reply was instant. The second his calm and collected voice hit my ear drums, I wished he were here, but only so I could throttle him. ‘I understand you’re pissed, but I’m just trying to keep you safe.
This isn’t how I wanted to do things, but you haven’t given me much of a choice. When I get back, we can go to the Vampire lair together.’
For all of his stubborn over-bearing ways, I loved the man, but I refused to repeat myself a second time.
‘You’ve made me a prisoner in my own pack, Nolan. I won’t be forgetting that anytime soon, and more than anything, I promise to make you regret it.’ I replied, cutting the link between us before he could formulate a response. The longer I kept him in my head, the more of a chance he had at figuring out my plan.
“Has he figured it out yet?” Tristan asked, his eyes sliding across the forest line to where I sat behind the wheel.
I made a face, something in-between a grimace and a smirk.
“You’ll know once he has. The entire pack will be after us when that happens.”
Judging from the small building the wedding was being held at, it was initially meant to be an intimate event. As grandma mentioned earlier, the couple in question had high hopes that a wedding was just what people needed to lift spirits. As it turns out, they were right.
There were cars spilling out of the little parking lot, parked alongside curbs and even up on the flat, grassy areas. Dainty paper lanterns suspended on thin fishing wire were what led guests to the front doors, though many just walked around the building to where the party was overflowing into the grass.
A hastily thrown together dance floor had been constructed out back, along with a dozen or so tiki torches and streamers in various shades of violet.
The sign out front read, ‘Chatham Recreational Center.’ The music pouring from within was loud and upbeat, matching the laughter that drifted throughout the air. Children darted in and out, weaving between adults who were either drinking, eating, or dancing.
There was no order to any of it, but the chaos gave it a homey feel that reminded me more of a family reunion rather than a wedding.
“So many children…” Holly said thoughtfully, nervously fidgeting with the hem of the dress I loaned her.
She twisted the lace around her fingers only to release it and repeat the motion.
She was lodged in between Tristan and I, sticking close to our shoulders as we maneuvered throughout the crowd. I noted the way her eyes scanned everything with both hesitation and a budding sense of curiosity. It seemed to shake her whenever someone would look her way for too long. They’d hold her gaze until they noticed me standing at her side, then their attention would flit between the two of us until the similarities between Holly and I answered their unvoiced questions.
“I’m not entirely sure I like weddings.” She said quietly, lowering herself so she could speak the words in my ear. As two children zoomed by, one covered from head to navel in bright splotches of sugary frosting, her look of discomfort faltered. Her lips twitched and eyes followed the children until they were lost from sight. “I do like children, though.”
We approached the back doors, both of which were propped wide open so that people could run in and out, in search of Cassidy. Further inside I spotted my grandma, who was chatting with Claire and a woman in a sparkling white dress. The veil she wore was thrown back and dotted with little diamonds that twinkled like newborn stars. All three looked relaxed and joyful, laughing like old friends would.
Before grandma could spot me standing there and inevitably uncover my plans, I made a beeline for where Cassidy said she’d be.
She wasn’t alone when I approached with Holly and Tristan but was giggling and very clearly flirting with a guy almost three times her size. The guy, whose grey eyes were bright in contrast to his dark skin, grinned and devoured every second of the attention.
“Oh, Kendrick! This is the one and only, Luna Daisy.” Cassidy said smoothly, tossing her blonde mane of curls over her shoulder. She sauntered over to me and looped her arm through my own, paying no attention to Tristan or Holly in the process. “Daisy has been such a friend lately. She came right to my aid the other night and kicked some serious-“
“Really, it was nothing. You would’ve done the same for me, I’m sure.” I interrupted her, not wanting to relay the details of what it was I did that night. I was still figuring it out myself, and the last thing I needed was for everyone else to make up their own interpretations.
“Oh, of course! I owe you one, seriously.” Cassidy nodded exuberantly, her sparkly eyeshadow shimmering as it caught the torchlight. She lowered her voice as the thunderous pop music melted into something soft and slow. “This is the guy I’ve been telling you about. He wanted to meet the Luna, like every other wolf I know.”
Her voice took on a teasing note as she winked at Kendrick and cozied up to his side. There was a small part of me that wanted to bring up Lars considering she’d been more than interested in him up until the events of last night. Emilia’s warning came to mind, and rather than get on Cassidy’s bad side,
I said a warm welcome to Kendrick and continued to push things along.
Once he ventured off in search of food, I managed to give Cassidy a quick run-down of tonight’s plan. I hadn’t been sure of how she’d react when telling her why I had to come up with a plan in the first place.
She’d been Nolan’s best-friend since childhood, and I wasn’t sure if pissing him off were something she’d feel comfortable doing. Turns out, Cassidy had no qualms over angering my mate. That fact made me like her even more.
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?