Chapter 24 Untitled Chapter
Chapter 24 Untitled Chapter
CLAIRE
Swallowing nervously while looking at him, I wondered how much of our conversation he had heard. From the corner of my eyes, I caught a glimpse of Killian, as he pushed the girl behind him.
Following Hunter’s eyes movement, I noticed he was staring at my hands. Realizing my claws were still out, I retracted them and straightened up. Seeing the tension between us, and to add to my anger, Killian led the girl out of the room.
Left alone with Hunter, I waited for him to recover from the shock and ask me questions. I could possibly deny it, agree with Trisha that Heather was messing with my mind. Except that I was tired of pretending to care about a lot of things, where he was concerned.
“I hate that you had to find out this way.” I started, breaking the silence as he pushed away from the door, stepping further into the room.
He stared at me, like he couldn’t see if it was truly me. “How long…?”
It took me a few seconds to figure out what he was referring to. “How long I have known there’s nothing wrong with my connection? Or how long since I remembered everything that happened to me at the institution? All along.” I responded, keeping eye contact.
He chuckled, catching me off guard. Out of all the reactions I expected from him, laughing wasn’t one of them. This was something I didn’t predict whenever I thought of him finding out the truth. A sudden gasp slipped out from my lungs when he grabbed my shoulders, using it to pull me closer.
“You’ve been making a fool of me all this while? I trusted you Claire! Why would you do that!” He demanded, a low, liberal growl erupting from his chest.
“To get what I want.” I simply replied, because why else would I be deceiving him? “It was fun to watch you all come up with theories about what could be wrong with me. Heather couldn’t mess with my head, they did try but c’m on… I’m Flaire after all.”
He lets go of me, his golden eyes narrowing at me. “Make me understand.” He begged, sounding more hurt than angry.
“Understand what? That I used our bond as a source of strength?” I tsked, circling him. “What did people tell us when we got mated? They said we would get sick of each other in a few years, that’s basically what’s happening. Trust me, I’m surprised we lasted this far.”
He shut his eyes for a second, when he opened them, they were glistening with unshed tears. “I’m not sick of you Claire, I will never be sick of you. You’re my mate, my best friend, my first love… you could have talked to me!”
Like a switch, it was gone, leaving nothing but blind rage behind. I wanted to kiss him badly at that moment, to draw the rage out of him. The only thing stopping me was, I didn’t think he would appreciate it at that moment.
“So what have you been doing since we rescued you? Playing us for a fool? Using my emotions as a strength of strength?” He sneered, stalking toward me. “You know, I felt it. But I’d rather doubt myself than question your loyalty Claire… Flaire or whatever the fuck you go by.”
“Trust me Hunter… Opps.” I snickered, covering my mouth. “It’s nothing personal really, I want Gianna and Heather dead. When I succeed in killing them, then I’m going after the council. Unlike Jet I’m not going to wait until their next attack or before they send another assassin after me…”
“I’m tired of living in fear, I have lost so much to these people and I’m not standing back to watch them take more from me. So yes Hunter, I will do whatever it takes to see my plan through.”
“Even if it means betraying us?” He questioned, shaking his head. “I should have seen this all along, there’s nothing wrong with you other than your desire for vengeance. Do you have any idea of what you are doing? You think you could defeat the council alone? You don’t even know what they are or look like. That’s sucided!”
“So what then? I should be like Jet? An Alpha who has gone soft all because he’s mated to a dysfunctional human? Or should I be like you? A pathetic werewolf that’s blinded by love, family, and the power of friendship? Or Kale, who never takes anything serious? Perhaps Trisha, a witch with no ability to do any spells?”
“Is that how you see us? Me?” He chuckled, a gilt I’ve never seen before, appearing in his eyes. “You think my love for my mate makes me weak? My loyalty toward my family makes me pathetic?”
“Yes Hunter, I played in your face for weeks! You couldn’t even tell because you’re blinded by your pathetic feelings for me. I must say, it was adorable at first but then it just got annoying and suffocating.”
“I was never blinded by my emotions Claire. I choose to be that way for you Claire! You still think of me as that mute defenceless boy you have to rescue every time and I let you believe that for so long. This shows that you really do not know me Claire, or what I’m capable of doing…”
“You think I randomly became Jet’s Beta? You think Jet would have claimed me as his Beta if I was as pathetic as you think.” He reached out to stroke my hair, nothing affectionate about it.
“Very well then.” He let his hand drop. “I believe you haven’t rejected our bond yet because you need me, I believe?”
My heart raced as he brought up the subject of rejection. “Yes, I can’t afford to be in a vulnerable position while I set out on a sucide mission like you claimed. But don’t worry, when all this is said and done, our bond will be rejected by me.”
“You are telling me this because you believe I cannot reject our bond?” He snickered, catching a glimpse of my rattled expression.
Only for a second because I denied him further satisfaction. “Yes.”
“I will…” his voice dropped, his tone turning dangerously low.
“That’s adorable Hunter, we both know you’re too in love with me. But I will humor you for a few minutes, let’s say you reject our bond. What are you going to tell the others? Morgana already betrayed them, do you think they can handle another betrayal from me? Are you going to put Jet in the position of choosing between Freya or me? Here’s a fun one…” I clapped my hands, my smile widening.
“Which side are you going to be on then Hunter? Your Alpha or your mate? Let me tell you what happens, if you choose Jet side, I will be seen as a betrayal. The council, and the pack will likely pressure Jet to banish me. I will become a rogue, could you handle that dear mate? Knowing you are responsible for ruining whatever that’s left of my relationship with Jet?”
“Here‘s a second scenario, choose to be on my side and then what? You automatically lose your status as the Beta. The bond between Alpha-Beta will be broken and Jet will know you have betrayed him. You could get banished then that leaves me here, with nothing to stop me from reaching my goals. As you can see, you have no choice Hunter, you cannot reject me or our bond!”
By the time I concluded my sentence, his eyes had gotten so bright that I thought he would shoot out lasers from his eyes. While his normal eye colour was golden, it got bright whenever his wolf was pushing to the surface.
“Did I make you mad enough to want to wolf out on me mate?” I mocked, recalling a time where he had been insecure about it. “Also while we are at it, you’re going to help me, you know why? Because you have no choice.” Reaching to pat his cheek, he stopped my hand mid-air.
“Gianna is who you have a justified vendetta toward, leave her sister alone. The fact that the poor girl is a refugee here shows that she was the same victim of what you are trying to stop.”
I snatched my hand back from him, glaring at me. “Do I look like I care what happened to the humans? I don’t care if the council turned them into testing lab rats. I want them out of our territory and I will do whatever it takes to achieve that! As for the girl, she’s mine until I get my claws on Gianna!”
“I won’t let you do that, I will not allow you torture an innocent person in the name of revenge! Where is your humanity?”
“Died in that lab while I was being tested on.”
“You know what? You’re right, I may not have a choice, but you need me. Oh Claire, you fucking need me. The first mistake you made is admitting that to me because…”
His fingers crawled around the back of my neck, pulling me a foot closer as he glared at me. “I will make every single moment you spent being shackled to me make you miserable. So miserable that you will have no choice but to reject our bond.”
He vowed, and before I could react, he closed his mouth over mine. There was nothing gentle, or affectionate about the kiss, it was punishing. He took his anger out on my lips, I fought him back, clamping my teeth into his lower lip.
I expected him to flinch, instead he bit my upper lip. When we broke apart, blood trailed down the corner of his mouth as it did for my upper lip. We glared at each other, with blood on our mouth and eyes full of hate!