Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
Cassidy went so still that the shadows encasing her twitched with unease. Much like a vicious snake coiling in the grass, she attempted to lunge at Ember, all hints of innocence obliterated from her face.
“You fucking bitch! You pathetic, worthless traitor! I’ll kill you for this! Freya will kill you! You ruined years of work for nothing. Nothing! We’re going to kill you-all of you!” Cassidy screamed and snarled, switching between manic laughter and fury so potent a chill skittered down my spine.
Ember, still holding onto Brandon even though there was no need, craned her head over his shoulder to where Nolan gaped at his childhood best-friend.
“Don’t blame Tessa for this, please. She didn’t know.” Ember begged.
From the look on Nolan’s face, I could tell he wasn’t listening. The sting of betrayal hurt that much more coming from him, radiating down the bond as it added his emotions to my own. If I could, I would’ve taken that pain tenfold if it meant keeping it out of his grasp.
Cassidy looked at Nolan with a mixture of bitter regret and disappointment. If it weren’t for my brother’s warning against dark magic, I might’ve ended her here and now. She ceased her thrashing long enough to speak. “I was going to let you live, Nolan.
You and Brandon. An Alpha’s blood has power. I convinced my mother to let me keep you both, but you’ve ruined it.”
Brandon snapped out of his stupor to gape at Cassidy. “Your mother?”
Pride lit her eyes brighter than any magic could. Her heart-shaped lips peeled upwards in a triumphant grin. “Yes, Brandon. My mother. The Blood Witch.”
In the midst of all the chaos, not one of us noticed the patio door sliding open. Only when Tristan’s face came into view, was my attention snared. It wasn’t on my first-in- command, though. Rather, the girl clinging to his side.
Holly’s eyes widened with a slew of emotions, so many that it would take me hours to dissect them all.
Her jaw dropped, plummeting to the ground where it rolled down the stairs and into the grass. Holly’s betrayal didn’t anger me nearly as much as Cassidy’s, but it was still a truth I planned on bringing to light. 3
If I’d been paying closer attention, I might’ve noticed the slight ripple in the air- a sign that Angelica was no longer hiding us with her magic.
“You-“
I never got the chance to say anything more. That presence I’d felt hovering over my shoulder, the one
I’d forgotten about during the chaos, chose this moment to descend. It happened so quickly that nothing could’ve prepared me.
My lips refused to listen. No matter how much I screamed, they remained frozen in place. The only voice I heard was the one in my head, but even that was short lived.
I wasn’t sure when the chanting began. Perhaps, it started back in the forest, too quiet for me to hear.
All I know, is that once it began, a presence filled the empty spaces of my body-the ones my brain no longer had access to.
“…it’s time…’ I swore I heard something whisper.
Time skipped a beat and the next thing I knew Nolan stood in front of me. I cried out in relief, but the sound was reserved only for my thoughts. Nolan would fix this; he’d find a way. I could feel his hands on my shoulders, his thumbs rubbing soothing circles on my bare skin, but no matter how hard I pushed, my body would not listen.
Even though my head refused to turn in Ember’s direction, I didn’t miss the way she gasped. Her hand trembled as she placed it over her mouth and whispered, “Oh, no. It’s begun.”
The familiar tingle of magic skated along my skin, and while I recognized it as my own, it wasn’t my command that it followed. I shouted a warning that never made it past my lips and watched in horror as a wave of magic exploded from my chest.
It came out in single blast that made the air around me ripple and hit Nolan at a devastatingly close range. The bittersweet look of shock on his face was the last thing I saw before my mate was thrown backwards. He hurled through the air so violently that even the side of the house couldn’t slow him down. The wall exploded as he hit it, crumbling beneath him as a plume of drywall dust billowed into the air.
Without my command to hold them in place, the shadows imprisoning Cassidy slithered away into the darkness.
She wasted no time, throwing back her head to howl her laughter into the night sky, before turning and attacking the people I loved most.
Desperately, more than anything in this world, I wanted to help. Unfathomable power sat right at my fingertips, but it no longer listened to my voice. No matter how much I cried out and begged for its help, it remained just out of reach.
The chanting in my head grew louder, and as it did, I was able to make out a number of overlapping voices.
“…come to me…’
Only Angelica, with her golden pigtails and round eyes, noticed me slip away.
One moment I was there, and the next I was gone.
The Shadows melted around my body with ease, filling the gaps of moonlight that shone through with impenetrable darkness. I couldn’t see a thing, couldn’t navigate my surroundings even though I’d been through this forest a hundred times before.
My body was no longer my own, stolen by an invisible force that tied its web-like threads around my wrists and ankles, stringing me along the way a marionette manipulates its puppet.
The only thing that remained my own was my thoughts. As panicked as they were, the only thing I could think about was Nolan and my friends. Were they alive? Were they fighting Cassidy? Had they killed her already and rushed off to my rescue?
Each one went unanswered.
When the tendrils of darkness slithered away, no longer clouding my vision, I stood somewhere new. At the very back of the field was a rectangular brick building, dimly lit by the streetlamps that seemed so far away.
I recognized the building as the town’s high school. While I never walked the halls myself, I often found myself in town when the parade of yellow busses emerged onto the street, carrying groups of rowdy kids ready for an afternoon away from dusty textbooks and drawn-out lectures.
The school quickly faded from view when my legs began to move, propelling me forward, towards a mass of darkness at the center of the field.
With each step the tendrils slithered further away, dragging their leech-like bodies across the ground with a quickness that made me wonder if they knew something was horribly wrong.
There, at the center of the field, was the one person I wanted dead the most.
If there was one thing I’d learned these last two years, it was that evil always appeared beautiful on the outside. Despite the rot that was my father’s soul, his outward appearance had been handsome-
stunning, almost. It was the same with Freya, the most powerful Blood Witch the world has ever know, mother to not only Holly, but also Cassidy.
I hadn’t seen that coming one bit. 3
A sultry and downright joyous smile was pasted on Freya’s face. She could’ve batted her eyelashes and giggled like a schoolgirl.
Nothing would’ve erased the underlying sense of danger that oozed from her every pore.
It didn’t matter how strong her magic was, nothing could smooth out the sharp angles that created her face. From her slender chin to the regal slope of her nose and the deep grooves of her cupids bow, every single feature of hers was crafted to hide the evil within.
Freya wasn’t alone. Standing around her in a large circle were other’s-more witches.
The snarl of absolute frustration I let out vibrated my skull. Even my eyes refused to respond to my will.
No matter how hard I pushed or pulled, they would not stray from Freya.
“And here she is, ladies. Our guest of honor.” Freya said loudly, her voice warm and full of joy that felt woefully misplaced.
She swept her arm out to the witches that surrounded her, the long sleeves of her gown billowing in the air like blood-red streamers. Her hair, which was the exact same shade as Cassidy’s hung down her slender back in waves of rust and crimson.