Chapter 53

Claire’s POV

Things were going to be much harder than I thought. Just like my birth mother and I, Alpha Kelvin was a spitting image of his father. Again, the only difference between them was the colour of their eyes.

While Kelvin’s were grey, his father’s were a very dark shade of brown.

It took every ounce of self-control in me not to tear that particular picture into shreds.

How dare he smile like that with his hand flung over my father’s shoulder like he wasn't plotting to destroy him?

I felt my aunt’s hand gently squeeze my shoulder.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“I don't think that I am ever going to be alright,” I replied, not taking my eyes off the picture of the man who destroyed my life. A man who looked so much like my mate.

Now more than ever, I felt the need to reject him. It was going to be a lot easier to get my revenge if we weren't mates.

Something suddenly occurred to me and I turned to look at my aunt.

“Don’t you think that you shouldn't be anywhere near the Castle when he returns?”

Her brows furrowed in puzzlement.

“Surely he knows that you are family to the ones he betrayed. Your presence at the Castle as a servant is only going to make him suspicious.”

Understanding dawned in her gaze. “Do not worry about that. I know how to make myself invisible. I am excellent at avoiding being seen. Antonio is never even going to get a glimpse of my shadow until the day we are going to end him.”

“If you say so,” I murmured, returning my gaze to the picture. He was certainly going to become an obsession of mine until I blotted him out of existence.

“When we return to the palace, you must try as much as possible not to let the others know what you are. It's only going to make things more complicated,” she said.

“How are you even sure that they do not already know?” I queried. “The Nurse was there, remember?”

“I'm sure the Alpha would have commanded her not to breathe a word about it. Besides, Melissa is too wise to start blabbing about the presence of another Alpha in the Pack.”

“Alright,” I murmured.

Slowly, she closed the photo album and took both of my hands in hers.

“I know that what I am about to ask of you might be really difficult, but please, try not to attack the Luna when she bullies you. I do not trust her at all to keep her mouth shut about your sudden strength.”

I suddenly remembered the conversation I had overheard her having with Gavin over the phone and said, “Apart from the fact that Sophie is a bitch, do you think that she is capable of betraying the Alpha?”

“Well, I have learnt from experience that even your best friends can hurt you. Why do you ask?” she replied.

After I had related to her the conversation between Sophie and Gavin, her forehead creased in worry.

“She is certainly up to no good and I am going to find out what exactly those two are plotting. This makes me feel almost sorry for the Alpha.”

“You don’t even have to feel sorry for him. It's not like he is that good of a person.”

Zoe, my wolf, bristled in irritation at that. I knew she thought he was the best thing to ever happen to her but I couldn't bring myself to feel that way. At least, not at that moment.

“You should go to bed now,” Aunt Lora said, rising to her feet. “You are certainly going to have a long day tomorrow. Being overworked and bullied as a slave is one thing, but having to hide your emotions is another. You are going to need all the strength that you can get.”

I nodded and gave her a small smile. “You should get some rest as well. I'm sure that it has not been easy for you all this while.”

Her lips curled into a smile and she gave me a nod before turning to leave.

A couple of seconds after she left, I started to get up from the ground, gathering the photo album into my arms as I straightened, when a picture fell out of the book.

With a slight frown, I bent to pick it up and my eyes widened in disbelief when I got a proper look at it.

Why on earth would my aunt leave out this part of the story?

She and Kelvin’s father were the ones in the picture and I could tell that they used to be an item with the way his hands were on her butt and she was gazing longingly into his eyes.

For Aunt Lora, his betrayal had to be a lot more personal and I could only imagine just how much she must hate the bastard.

But wasn't he supposed to have already been married to Alpha Kelvin’s mother at that time?

By my calculations, Kelvin must have been about six years old when I was born so his mother must have been in the picture.

And there wouldn't be a photo if he had been cheating on his wife with my aunt.

A groan slipped from my lips as another thought occurred to me.

What if she had mistakenly put the picture inside of the book and I wasn't meant to see it all? It wasn't attached to the album like the others.

“Aunt Lora you are really going to be doing a serious explanation tomorrow,” I murmured to myself, slipping the photo back into the album.

Sleep didn't come easily for me after that. I tossed and turned in my bed for hours, my head filled with all of the things I had learnt from my aunt.

I tried to imagine how different life would have been if my parents were still alive and ended up bursting into tears.

What Antonio took from me was something I was never going to be able to get back– my parents and the kind of life that I would have led.

“I'm going to make you wish you were never born,” I said to the darkness and hoped that wherever he was at that moment, he was going to feel my hatred like a knife.

It wasn't until it was nearly dawn that I eventually fell asleep.

Thankfully, my aunt didn't come to wake me up until it was almost noon.

“You need to hurry,” she said without bothering with a greeting, pulling the covers off my body. “He expects you to be back in the castle before his lunchtime.”

“Then why didn't you wake me up earlier,” I grumbled.

She grinned. “Do you think that I didn't try? If not that you were breathing and your pulse was strong and steady, I would have thought you were dead. It was impossible to wake you up. I figured you really needed the rest. Coming out of a spell consumes a lot of energy.”

“Oh,” I murmured.

“Now, get your ass into the bathroom and think of a believable story we can give to the Alpha while you are at it.”