CLAIR
"Thank you, Alpha." I turned around and grabbed the door handle again.
I stopped for a moment when I felt my neck burn. I know he’s watching me. I contemplated if I should look back, but decided against it and turned the knob to open the door. I hurriedly exited his office, and as soon as I closed the door, a loud smashed sound of glass against the wall was heard.
I stood frozen in shock for a couple of seconds before I was able to compose myself and walk away completely from his office, shaking my head in disbelief.
'What a prick!' I told myself.
'I heard you, princess. You forgot to turn off the mind link.' I stopped on my track and felt the hair at the back of my neck stand up when I heard his voice in my mind. And did he just chuckle?
'Shit! How can I turn this off?'I asked myself but I was well aware that he heard that too.
'Find it out yourself.'
'F**k!'
'Your mouth, princess.'
'F**k! F**k! F**k! Can you still hear me?' I closed my eyes and my hands rolled into fists.
'Yes.'
'Aarrgh!!! Help me! Or cut it off!' I snapped at him through mindlink.
'It’s actually fascinating to hear your thoughts, so why should I?' He replied, and I could imagine him smirking, which irritated me more.
'It’s not funny, Jake! I swear you’ll be annoyed the whole night if you don’t cut it off!'
'Really? What thoughts will you share with me tonight then?' He seemed to enjoy this.
'Have you got nothing else to do Alpha? You should keep yourself busy with work rather than annoy your pack members!' I spat out angrily as I stomped my way outside the pack house towards Aaron’s car.
"Hey, you’re back, finally!" Aaron greeted me. "Everything turned out well?"
"Yeah. All is good. Can we go home now?" I asked him, as I tried to hide the anger building up inside me.
'Liar. I thought you were a little pissed. Maybe share it with your brother as to why instead of lying.'
'F**k off.' I closed my eyes as soon as I sat down in the passenger seat beside Aaron.
'Yeah, I might as well do that, maybe in my room.' I blushed at his words and the picture my crazy mind put into my head.
"Clair?" I flipped my eyes open to see my brother looking at me with a worried look on his face. "Did you hear me? Are you okay?"
"What?" I looked at him, trying not to think of Jake.
"I said put your belt on so we can drive home now."
"Ah okay," I replied as I stumbled to put on my seatbelt. "Aaron, how does mindlink work? How can you turn it off?"
"Just turn it off. Can you mindlink now?"
"No, not yet. Just curious." I answered too quickly as he started the car’s engine. I wondered why I didn’t just tell him that I could mindlink now.
'Lies. Lies again, princess.'
I was so annoyed that I snapped back at Aaron. I asked a little louder this time. "But how do you turn it off? Should I just say turn?"
"Calm down, Clairy. We can practice at home. No need to be so riled up! Okay?" He chuckled as he started to maneuver the wheel.
I closed my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest, and pressed my mind hard to cut off the mindlink.
'Still there?' I asked, hoping he would not reply.
'Always here.'
That was it! I was so pissed off that I unbuckled my belt and ordered Aaron to stop the car and jumped out of it before he could ask me anything. With large steps and my nose flaring, I walked towards the Alpha’s office and barged in without knocking.
"Cut it off, Jake! It’s not funny anymore!" My voice was full of desperation and anger.
"What? Maybe try to ask a little nicer and you won’t have to deal with this." He chuckled. If I was not pissed off, I would have appreciated it if he finally showed me a different emotion rather than the stoic face he had earlier.
"I’m running out of patience!" I huffed while folding my arms across my chest, still standing in front of his desk.
He glanced at me for a while before returning his attention to the papers in front of him. "And so I am little one. Leave Clair. I´m busy!"
I walked closer and rested my palms on his desk, glaring at him. "Don’t you get it? I don’t want you in my head!"
He continued to work on his papers and kept his answers short, which irritated me more. "It will get easier."
"What? Don’t you know how to keep a conversation going? How come you’re an Alpha? It feels like I’m talking to a robot! Oh, Goddess, you are one hell of a frustrating man!"
He looked up at me again, and I thought I saw a flash of hurt across his eyes before they turned passive again. "Go home. I already turned it off. Next time you show me disrespect in any form, I will not hesitate to punish you." He stated firmly before returning his attention to his work again.
I stood there in silence. I was pissed off earlier, but the hurt I saw in his eyes earlier pained me as well. Me and my big mouth!
"Uhm, Jake..." I stuttered, my voice caught in my throat.
"Hmmm.." He didn’t even bother to look at me.
"I’m sorry... It’s just that... I don’t know. You were..." I actually have no idea what I wanted to tell him when a knock came out of the door.
"Come in," He answered, and Aaron stepped in, confusion written on his face.
"Alpha, Clair. I was just wondering if everything is okay?" His gaze shifted from me to Jake.
"Nothing big, man. I’m just confirming her training schedule starting tomorrow. You can take her home. I’ll see you both tomorrow." He answered him and dismissed us without even looking at us and just continued looking over the document in his hand.
"Yes, Alpha." Aaron motioned with his hand for me to follow him. "Clair, come now."
I took one last glance at Jake before turning around to follow Aaron. I would have wanted to apologize to him for raising my voice, but I didn’t know how to open my mindlink again, and even if I could, I didn’t want the risk of opening my mind to him and not being able to shut it down myself. So I just shrugged my shoulders and left with Aaron. If anything, he was the one who started teasing me, so I shouldn’t feel too guilty about it.
CLAIR The last three days went by fast. After the awkward first meeting with Dad after many years, we all tried to move on and be a family. It wasn’t easy, and I wanted to be a rebel and let him know how badly he treated me for sending me away. But I couldn’t. As much as I hated him for sending me away, I loved my father. And I longed for him just as much as I longed for Mom. I knew it would take time before all the wounds of being abandoned would heal. But I wanted to make us a family again, even just for a short time before I moved on and became an adult on my own. So I was trying just as he was. Dad was the manager of the town’s public library in nearby town. He’d been bringing home additional books for me to read since I arrived. He was aware of my love of books, but Aaron had taunted him that it appeared he just wanted me to be cooped up in the house with books and with no social life. But, to be honest, I haven’t had time for myself or for all the books Dad has given me sin
JAKE I watched as she sprinted away from us and let out the breath I’d been holding for a while. She's a real grown-up now. Far from the little Clair with messy hair and pigtails who followed me and my friends around all the time. And she’s so fucking sexy that my mind was still reeling from the image of her full ass as she sped away. I shook my head, trying to let go of any thoughts about her, knowing that having my member on full erect while talking to my Gamma would be disastrous. "What was that, Jake? Not Clair, please. No messing up with pack members, remember? Especially not my sister." Aaron broke the silence between us as we both looked in the direction where Clair was headed. I could hear the disappointment in his tone, and I couldn’t blame him. He was simply protecting his sister from me. "I don’t know what you’re thinking, man. I just hugged Clair. It s not like I’m fucking her." A low growl reverberated from his chest, and I knew right then that I made a wrong move by
AARON After the meeting ended, the elders, together with the former Beta and Gamma and their mates, left the meeting room, leaving me alone with Alpha Jake and Beta Gavin. Beta Gavin and I just looked at each other, waiting for the Alpha to break the silence. We dared not voice our opinion when it was not requested since we both knew this was a sour topic for the Alpha. After a long silence, the Alpha cleared his throat and lifted his gaze, shifting it back and forth between me and his Beta. "I honestly have nothing to say." He scowled. "Can you fucking find your mates now so I don’t have to deal with this Luna game?" My lips pursed into a thin line, trying to gauge the weight of his statement before the whole room erupted into a spring of laughter. Alpha Jake was shaking his head while laughing. After a while, Gavin joined in, and in seconds I found myself laughing with them. Relief coursed through me that the Alpha was taking this lightly compared to what I expected. "You got m
CLAIR I spent the whole day locked up in my room trying to decide whether I should stay or just go away from here and move on with my life. Before I came back here, I already had everything planned out. Come back - shift - leave. But I didn’t expect Jake to consume my mind since I got here. And that hug we shared yesterday had me hoping for something. I actually decided to stay longer to get to know him again. However, the news Aaron brought me last night bothered me so much that I was not able to sleep at all. I spent the whole night turning and tossing. I was confused, and for the first time since I got here, the feeling of being unwanted crept in again. After a constant battle with myself, I finally got the courage to gather all the clothes and things I came home with and tossed them in my duffel bag, not even bothering to fold them. Flashes of my conversation with Aaron last night kept playing in my head. Jake will have a Luna soon and I didn’t want to be here when it happen
CLAIR I kept the pain at bay while panting, waiting for the wolf to emerge from the bushes. It didn’t take long before a big black wolf stepped out of the bushes and towered over me. "Jake..." Relief coursed through me at the sight of his wolf. I didn’t know how I knew it. I haven’t seen his wolf since I was twelve. But I knew it was him when I saw the wolf’s eyes - the darkest shade of blue. If I was not in pain, I would have marveled at the wonderful creature towering over me. Instead, I just let out a weak smile, letting him know I appreciated his presence. After a mere second, screeching pains started to build up again in multiple places - my shoulders, stomach, spine, limbs, knees, elbows, everywhere, and I have no idea which part pained me the most. I just wanted it to end, so I let out another torturous scream like it would help. My entire body was on fire until a cold hand reached out and gently rubbed my back, a thumb wiping sweat from my brow. I looked up and saw Jake a
AARON I paced back and forth at the entrance of the packhouse, waiting for the Alpha and my sister. I was beating myself for not coming home earlier to stop Clair from running away. I almost went mad when I saw all the things she came with gone from her dresser, together with her duffel bag, and her truck was nowhere in sight. I called my dad and he confirmed that they had a fight. He raised his voice at her, but he never thought she would go today because she mentioned she would be leaving tomorrow. I tried reaching her through mindlink, but I couldn’t get through her mind. I blamed myself again for why I didn’t bother to teach her about it. Left with no choice, I alerted the Alpha, and he directed me to send people to look out for her. And I did, reminding everyone that she would be shifting tonight. I was hell-bent on trying to scent her when I received a mindlink from Jake saying that he had found Clair and that she had shifted. I felt relieved for her safety but felt guilty kn
CLAIR "Are you okay, princess?" He stopped at the foot of my bed. The worry in his eyes was gone now and replaced by confusion. On the way he rushed in, he probably wasn’t expecting a grinning female in the bed. "I’m sorry I didn’t knock. I thought I heard you scream, and I got worried. Are you okay?" I just looked at him. My eyes were probably sparkling with happiness. "Yes! I shifted!" I said excitedly, more to myself than to him. "Yes! And you did well." He said before he let out a rare smile and my heart just skipped a beat. "How do you feel now? Muscle pain? Headache? Hungry?" "Yeah, a bit of everything you said. Especially the last one." I giggled softly before I looked around the room. "Where are we?" "Packhouse. You said you didn’t want to go home." He sat on the end of the bed, making it dip against his weight. He sat with his back facing me. It gave me the chance to take a closer look at him, even on just his backside. And I took my time to indulge in his features -
CLAIR It has been two days since I last saw Jake. I missed him, and I knew that I could just as easily go to the pack house and pretend I needed something there to catch a glimpse of him, but I restrained myself. I didn’t want to go that way. So I went with another strategy that I thought would not be too obvious. I went to the afternoon training sessions for two consecutive days, despite attending the sessions in the morning just so I could see him if he was there. But luck wasn’t on my side. I sighed and closed my eyes as I leaned against the walls of the pavilion where I was sitting. Jenny was beside me, lying down on her stomach while reading a book. We decided to chill in one of the pavillions surrounding the territory after the afternoon training session just to pass the time. "That was deep. Something bothering you?" She dropped the book in her hand and pulled herself up to sit beside me. I shook my head and forced a smile. "Nothing. Just bored." "You missed him?" She ask