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- Herausgeber: NeoStory
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Sprache: Englisch
Claudia's parents die because of false accusations and Claudia became a slave to the pack. She only hoped that she could leave the pack when she became an adult. So when she found out that her mate was the son of the Alpha of the pack, she chose to reject her Alpha mate.
As the future Alpha of the pack, Isaac had been loved by everyone since he was born, with his handsome looks and good qualities of kindness and enthusiasm. When he found out that his mate was a slave of the pack, he was disappointed, but he couldn't help but pay attention to Claudia.
Until he was rejected by Claudia, he went completely crazy.
Claudia, who rejected her mate, discovered the secret of her birth, and as the daughter of a witch, she had powerful mind-reading ability and became the famous negotiator.
Two years later, the Moon Goddess gave her a second chance, but Claudia found that her mate was still Isaacc.
What else will happen between them? In the face of Isaac's strong personality change, will Claudia choose to redeem him or reject him again?
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
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Chapter 1
Claudia's POV
"Bitch! Slut!"
The heels crushed hard against my palms and I curled up on the floor. I've heard these insults so many times that they couldn't even divert my attention from the physical pain.
Fiona grabbed my hair and yanked me up off the floor so that I had to look up at her and her minions' gorgeous and arrogant faces. "You know very well why you're getting beaten." She looked at her friends.
The minions echoed Fiona with much more exaggerated expressions. "Of course, because you're the daughter of a traitor, bitch!"
"You don't deserve to live in a wolf pack, so go to hell."
With that, another slap came to my face and Fiona let go of my hair as my body slammed hard into the ground. I could still feel the sharp pain of Fiona's four-foot heels kicking me in the back during the flurry of punches and kicks.
"No..."
They obviously didn't expect my sudden outburst, and Fiona questioned, "What did you say?"
"I said, my parents are not traitors."
I tried to say it as firmly and forcefully as I could, but someone had just kicked me in the throat and the defense sounded very weak.
Even though I was beaten to the point of unconsciousness at this point, I could feel the anger in them. They were angry at my defense of my parents, and what made them angrier was the fact that a slave of low status had dared to defy them.
Actually, I would have been much less abused since childhood if I hadn't believed so strongly in my parents.
As loyalty was very important to the Crimson Shadow pack, they were angry with me, the daughter of a traitor. I would have died in the wild if it was not so cruel to exile an unsuspecting little girl. Crimson Shadow's Alpha allowed me to work in the pack house in exchange for staying alive until I left the pack at 18, but that didn't stop them from hazing me, just like today, and every day before.
In fact, I couldn't hold it up before they launched their first "attack". But if I passed out too soon, the she-wolves would continue their abuse when I woke up. After a short time, the sounds of their cursing grew distant, the pain in my body subsided, and the cold and darkness wrapped around me.
"I may die." With that thought, a faint "Stop!" reached my ears before I was completely plunged into darkness.
Whether to call it luck or misfortune, I awoke from the embrace of death. I braced myself to get up from the floor, only to realize that my right hand was broken, and I tried to see myself in the reflection of the stainless steel pan next to me.
The reflection in the stainless steel pan, there was a girl with bruises all over her thin and dry body. I didn' t know if it was because of malnutrition or my long dry hair that was dusty and gray covering half of my face. I suddenly remembered the reason I was still alive. Had I been hallucinating before I passed out? I heard that someone saved me. The voice sounded familiar, but would anyone in this pack house dare to contradict Fiona to save me? I couldn't help but scoff at the stupid idea.
I was about to leave the kitchen when I realized that the door was locked tightly. Without thinking I knew that it was a prank by Fiona and her friends and that I would have to wait until tomorrow morning. The temperature in the kitchen was getting colder as the night wore on, and I had to curl up into a ball as much as I could, but my teeth were still clinking together uncontrollably.
I often remembered my parents, the "traitor" parents who gave me a happy, warm home until I was six, who looked after me like a princess, just like Fiona, except I wasn' t as mean and vicious as Fiona.
Fiona had actually shown her dislike for me when I was a child and my father was a Beta of the Crimson Shadow wolf pack. I was still so naive to take her as a friend back then, until that thing happened. It was only when I became a slave and she became a Beta's daughter that she showed her true face.
In fact, most of the wolves in the pack were avoiding me like some kind of plague. But only Fiona often organized her friends and tried to torment me in every way possible.
My heart sank again at the thought of my parents. They were the most gentle people in the world, and memories of my mother's soft embrace and my father's broad palm made tears well up from my eyes. I sobbed and couldn't stop, and then I didn't know if it was the lack of oxygen or the pain in my body that made me pass out again.
The early morning sun woke me up. It was already time to make breakfast. If I delayed the meal, I would be beaten again. I looked at my right hand, which was swollen from the fracture. There was no choice but to use my left hand to prepare as best I could.
"Crack"
The door was suddenly opened and the person who came in was definitely in the top three of the "People I don't want to see" list. Isaac was Alpha Andre's son and he was not as vicious as Fiona when it came to bullying me, he's just casual. But as soon as his golden brown eyes saw me, I was going to suffer, just like I was now.
Isaac looked like he had just woken up from a nap. His messy long chestnut hair added a wildness to his deep, handsome face, and even if he wasn't the son of an Alpha, the girls surrounding him would continue to be infatuated with him because of his appearance.
He ordered me to make a bacon and scrambled egg, which I struggled to do with my left hand to serve to him. He looked at me with a disgusted look and reached over and knocked the plate out of my hand.
"You look too dirty. How am I supposed to eat the food you make?"
He pointed to the food and broken plates on the floor, "Now you've made a mess of the floor too. Clean this place up before someone comes."
I had to put up with the Alpha son's nonsense and grabbed the mop in the corner, but my broken right hand and the pain in my body made it impossible to check the floor carefully, so I could only wipe it haphazardly with the mop. I propped myself up with the mop. However, it felt like walking on jelly on my weak feet, and in a trance, just as I was about to make close contact with the floor, a sudden force lifted me up.
Isaac lifted my entire body off the ground by the back collar of my shirt, making me shake subconsciously because of this difference in strength and size. Also, the collar of my shirt strangled me so much that I couldn't breathe. I begged Isaac to put me down, but he just let me hang in the air and turned my face towards him, and the next moment Isaac's statue-like face appeared right in front of me.
"Oh no," I thought to myself, rushing to cover my eyes.
There was some silence across the table, and even without looking I knew he was puzzled by my actions now, but it was the key to saving my life, and the next second Isaac did ask a question.
"What are you hiding? Don' t your eyes look worse than your body?" And he snickered after that.
I could only answer in silence, but that was clearly not the answer he wanted, and he impatiently tried to move my left hand away that was blocking my eyes, and I felt terrified that the color of my pupils that I had hidden for so long was just being discovered.
"What are you doing?!" A sharp question interrupted Isaac's movements.
Chapter 2
Claudia's POV
When Fiona rushed into the kitchen, she saw Isaac carrying me in his hands. It was not exaggerated that she did "rush" into the kitchen and not like the well-bred young lady she appeared to be, which I attributed to her possessiveness of Isaac.
In the Crimson Shadow pack, whoever had eyes knew that Fiona was paranoid about Isaac, almost to the level of a lioness who protected her cubs, and clearly saw herself as the next Luna.
This might be the first time I felt grateful to see Fiona. Isaac stopped moving his hands and threw me out casually like a broken rag doll. I fell to the ground and all I could do was make a painful huffing sound.
Isaac explained casually to Fiona, "Just bored."
Fiona was amused by Isaac's gesture and she looked in a good mood as she said to me, who was struggling to get up from the floor.
"Dirty puppy, I don't know why Alpha still keeps you. You don't even have a wolf."
She pressed her shiny nails against her pink lips and pretended to think.
"Well, but even if you had a wolf, then your wolf would look just like a dirty puppy like you!" she said, and left with her breakfast, saying goodbye to Isaac in a sweet voice.
Isaac's POV
Fiona often sought out this traitor's daughter for fun, and I used to bully this girl with Fiona when I was a child, as all the kids of our age did. But I was almost an adult now, and with the burden of being the next Alpha on me, I just didn't have time to toy with a slave Omega. And Fiona was getting awful now, she was always fussing and chattering, and I really hated noisy women.
But the girl in front of me intrigued me, she always shuddered at the sound of my voice, actually I had little interest in insulting and suppressing her. But as the next Alpha, everyone's eyes were always on me. This was all I could do in the face of a traitor's daughter.
But she was really doing these long hours of housework very well, and at least the breakfast she cooked was quite better than I'd ever had. I ate my breakfast as I watched that skinny body doing her business. I knew she could feel my gaze, and she cringed under it, which gave me a strange sense of satisfaction.
"It makes no sense to do that, you shouldn't bully a girl." Caesar, my wolf, spoke to me in my head.
"Really, a girl? She's the daughter of a traitor."
"You obviously saw it, the bruises on her body, which must have been done by Fiona."
"So what, that's what she deserves."
"Whatever." My wolf clearly didn't want to pay attention to me and hid deeper into my thoughts.
I could certainly see the bruises on her body, as large and small bruises of varying shades were all over her exposed tiny arms and legs. I was curious how long she was going to tough it out. Other maids always found every excuse to rest during work, but I never saw her resting. It seemed that her life consisted of nothing but working and being abused.
I deliberately threw the fork on the floor and she hurried over to pick it up. Then she replaced it with a clean fork and handed it to me with both hands, with bowed head. Her right hand was swollen like a croissant, either sprained or broken. Tut-tut, it was distracting to watch her.
"Get out."
I let her go and the swollen wrist felt like a slap in my face. The food in my mouth had also changed in taste, and I took two random chews intending to leave the kitchen. Before I left, I snuck the kitchen key back into the closet. As for why I did that, I didn't know. Let's just say my wolf was taking pity on her.
On the way to training, my wolf came out to talk to me again, and oddly enough, he always had good will for the girl.
He asked, "Why did you lock her in the kitchen after you saved her yesterday?"
"I don't know where she lives, and Fiona will beat her to death if I don't lock her up."
"Oh, you're like a little boy who accidentally picked up a stray cat."
"She's more like a puppy than a cat, I guess, the kind that has to whimper around you when she gets kicked."
"You're soft-hearted. So now that you've picked it up, keep it up." Caesar was definitely implying something to me.
"Keeping such a stray dog that will bite its owner is better dead on the streets."
I responded with vicious words. Being soft-hearted only because that would reflect badly on my family's reputation if she died here. Right, that's it. That's the reason.
Claudia's POV
Even for me, today was very unlucky. A bunch of boys and girls of my age came into the kitchen, most of whom were Fiona and Isaac advocates, so their attitudes towards me would be easy to guess.
"WOW, look at her, you'd think she just crawled out of the fireplace."
I remembered the guy, Alex, who was Fiona's suitor, and he used to throw me off the second floor in front of Fiona to "show his manhood".
"That's right. She's so dirty. My family's slaves are ten times cleaner than her."
I tried to flee the kitchen on unsteady feet and Alex immediately grabbed my right hand to block my way. I let out a cry of pain as he just caught me where I had broken my bone.
"Oh, you're hurt." He exaggerated, "I'm sorry about that." and pushed me back into the crowd.
"Serve you right, traitor's daughter."
"Keep her away from me. She has the filthiest blood on her."
Alex casually picked up a croissant from the table and dangled it in front of my eyes. "I suppose you've never had one of those."
Indeed, even just a piece of croissant was a luxury for me. Every time I made a croissant, its scent could make my mouth watery.
"I'll give you a treat if you bark like a dog." They gathered their eyes on me as if I could bring them so much joy by barking.
My silence made what they said harder and harder. "Bark, puppy. Say 'I'm a traitor's daughter, I'm a bitch. " Alex mimicked me in a thin voice.
"You see she doesn't even react. No less than a witch's child. She's a monster without a heart."
"Witches are dirty bitches."
My mother's face flashed through my mind, and I didn't know where I got the courage or if it was from a moment of anger. I looked at the man who had insulted my mother and spat at him.
"You son of bitch, my parents aren't traitors!"
He kicked me in the stomach, which made me vomit even though I didn't eat. I was kicked to the ground and one of them grabbed me by the neck, "How dare you! Your traitor parents were executed by Alpha."
"Go ahead. Admit that your parents are traitors." The others chimed in.
I gritted my teeth and tried not to make any sound until I felt a strong blood smell in my mouth.
"That's enough! "
A commanding female voice came from Luna. The children's "play" had obviously affected her mood for dining. The crowd surrounding me finally dispersed and I got up from the floor, bowed to Luna and left the kitchen. Luna hadn't even looked at me all that time. I was like air to her.
Now I felt like the basement I lived in was heaven compared to the kitchen. A place that was damp and dark, yet undisturbed by anyone.
I made a simple splint out of twigs and rags to wrap my broken hand. Then I took out the herbs I had hidden in the cupboard, crushed them and put them on the wound, as taught by my mother. Witches always kept their habit of seeking out the right herbs to treat injuries. It was a good thing that my mother taught me these when I was a child, or I would have died long ago. After all, no doctor would treat the daughter of a traitor.
Tending to the wound, I pulled a well-worn picture book from under the floor tiles. By the faint light of the candle, I looked intently at the world in the picture book. It was a completely different world than mine, a warm and soft world.
Looking at the calendar hanging on the wall with the days I had circled with crayons. In three months, I would be an adult. The thought of leaving this hell soon gave me hope in my heart again.
Chapter 3
Claudia's POV
When I woke up, it was noon.
Since yesterday's injury was still very visible, I decided not to go to school today because teachers never cared about me.
And I couldn't have the energy to deal with stuff like book bags thrown down the stairs, tables and chairs collapsed in the hallway and how to get out of a locked locker.
Yesterday's clothes still had dust and grease stains on them, which might cause me to get beaten up again when someone saw that.
Of course, I didn't have any clothes that I could change into, so I had to go to the river in my pajamas to get my clothes cleaned.
The weather was getting colder. There were few people on the river at this time of year, so I hoped no one would see me.
Then I saw a familiar face.
God, couldn't I have this one little wish? What's Isaac doing here!
He should be getting ready for his Coming-of-age Ceremony，not taking a walk by the cold river!
Please, didn't let him see me!
I prayed silently in my mind, hoping I'd run away before he saw me.
But the next moment he turned toward me, staring at me with that familiar scrutinizing look, and I was as fixed in place as a deer caught in the light, afraid to move a step.
Isaac walked over slowly and scanned me up and down. It occurred to me that I was wearing pajamas, which were probably a rag in his eyes. Although the clothes I usually wore were rags for him too, maybe much worse than that.
"What's in your hand?" He was asking about the basin and dirty clothes in my hands.
For a moment, I felt so ashamed to say this simple answer when it was clear that he had seen me in a wretched state so many times.
Isaac suddenly raised his hand and I thought he was going to hit me, so I hurriedly lowered my head. I didn't expect his hand to go in the direction of the basin, and he yanked it towards him. I subconsciously clutched the basin tightly and fought with Isaac. But the disparity in strength allowed Isaac to snatch the basin away and I lost my balance and fell to the ground.
This heavy fall made me feel like I was going to break my tailbone, and there were sharp little rocks on the ground cutting into the hands that were supporting me. I looked up at Isaac and the basin he was holding. A sudden gust of wind blew and Isaac looked down at me with a slightly dull look. It occurred to me then that he had seen my eyes. My secret had been seen by him and a great sense of fear crept up my spine and I couldn't stop trembling in front of him again.
I wanted to escape the scene in a hurry and was about to get up from the floor when Isaac suddenly crouched down. I was still sitting on the floor, and he had his arm on my left side and his leg half-kneeling on my right side, holding me in his arms. The gesture was like a "Don't run" warning. I could only helplessly shield my eyes with my hands, which he removed with a gentle but irresistible force. Then he ruffled my hair in what could be called a "gentle" manner.
It was the first time I'd seen Isaac's face so close and suddenly I understood why so many girls broke their hearts for him. His brown eyes looked like melted caramel in the sunlight, his nose was high and straight, and his thin lips were pursed together as he looked at me intently. As Isaac got closer and closer, the smell mixed with ebony and cedar on him lingered on my nose.
I could only lean back as far as I could, but I could still feel the warmth emanating from his thick chest. He began to trace my face with his fingers and I subconsciously held my breath. I could clearly hear my heart pounding violently until he brushed my lips. "That's too close!" The alarm bell went off inside me and I could feel his warm and moist breath. So I started to struggle and Isaac came back to his consciousness like he was waking up.
It was like he took my warmth with him when he got up and he tossed the basin next to me. "You treat the trash like a treasure." And then he looked at my pajamas. "Don't ever go out with that crap again. No one wants to see your dried-up body."
I was relieved to hear him say that, but the shame came flooding back. I'd barely had a few normal meals, and skinny as I was, I was a little girl in front of the sexy Fiona. And not to mention Isaac, who was definitely the tallest and strongest one in the pack. He wore his shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing off his thick and strong forearms, which was obviously proof that he had trained very hard.
In a panic, I picked up the basin and fled from the scene. Now I just hoped that Isaac hadn't even noticed my eyes, or that he didn't talk to anyone about what happened today. If word got out about my eyes among the wolf pack, the consequences would be more than I could imagine.
Isaac's POV
Riverside was a secret base for me. Because every time I was at the training ground I could always hear people talking about me, and some of them would spread the word about my training to everyone, especially the girls, led by Fiona. I was very glad that none of them were my mate. Training by the river could prevent me from being bothered until I saw a skinny figure.
I had always seen this traitor's daughter lately, and she didn't seem to see me yet, keeping her head down as she walked. I shifted my eyes to the river until she could see me. It was all too apparent to me that she took a violent step backwards the moment she saw me. She must be thinking of hurrying up and slipping away now while I was not looking, and I stifled the laughter inside me as I stared at her with a deadly stare.
"Childish." Caesar, my wolf, taunted me in my head.
"But it's funny, look at the look on her face, like a deer caught in a high beam."
"I thought you'd be an adult soon, but it looks like it's still early." Caesar sighed.
I approached the frozen fawn and that's when I could see what she was wearing. It was a rag, a rag she had put on her body. Her old clothes looked dirty as well, but this rag showed off her thin arms and legs completely.
Rarely, she smelled very nervous, more nervous than any time she'd seen me before. My eyes went to the basin she was clutching in her arms. Was there something that made her nervous? The fawn was hiding some kind of treasure, which made the basin arise my great curiosity and I decided to snatch it up and take a look.
Surprisingly, she completely grabbed the basin and didn't let go, which made me even more curious. I grabbed the basin out of her hand, I was probably using too much force, and she fell to the ground at once. I looked at her funny face and was about to laugh at her when a gust of wind blew away the long hair that was covering her face.
For that short moment, I was caught in those green eyes that were like an emerald glowing in the moonlight, which I had never seen before. Those eyes were so beautiful to give a strange sense of demon, like Siren, which made me sink deep into that crystalline turquoise.
But a powerful emotion in those green eyes affected me, and it told me that the fawn was very fearful. I snapped back to my senses then, and the fawn put her head back down. She struggled to get up and I could smell a faint scent of blood, and it must be because she had just fallen.
As if compelled by those green eyes, I crouched down to be level with her, bracing my arm on the left side of her body, enveloping her in the shadow of my body, and lifted her chin. She saw me crouch down and immediately shielded her eyes with her hands. I removed her hand gently and then ruffled her long hair that had been covering those eyes.
It was so beautiful, and I examined the face carefully. I had never looked at her seriously because she had grown up with her hair covering half of her face and everyone thought she was ugly. Unconsciously, my hand traced the outline of her face, the eyebrows, the eyes, the bridge of her nose, finally, my fingers slowly brushed over her lips, which looked kissable. It wasn't until she struggled up in my hands that I realized that I was lost in thought because of her.
"Did you just try to kiss her?" Caesar said with a flirtatious tone in my head.
"No, not at all...I am just...trying to get a little closer to see how ugly her face is."
"Sure." Hell knows why Caesar was so smug.
To make up for my earlier faux pas, I looked at the basin I had just grabbed from her. Well, I wanted to roll my eyes at her, for inside the basin was another rag. I tossed the basin at her, taunting her mercilessly about her rags and her figure. She looked less scared than she did a moment ago. What a freak.
Then the fawn rushed off and I didn't react to stop her. I was still caught in a trance because of those green eyes. My instincts told me that there must be a secret in those green eyes that she was trying to hide so hard.
Chapter 4
Claudia's POV
I ran all the way back to the basement, my heart still pounding hard. Those green eyes that I inherited from my grandmother were the most striking thing about me, so I have had to cover them with my long hair since I was young.
I used to talk back to my mother about it when I was a kid, "Why do all the other little girls get to show their eyes and pretty foreheads and I have to show up with half my face covered?"
My mother always stonewalled me then, saying that she would tell me all the reasons when I became an adult. Until she and my father were executed, she didn't tell me why I couldn't show my eyes, but just admonished me, "Always hide your eyes."
Since I became a slave, I had been more afraid to show my eyes. To the uninformed common eye, those eyes were also too beautiful, and a beautiful slave would suffer more miserable treatment.
I tried to put myself to work, but that feeling of anxiety and fear was still haunting my mind. What if my secret was found out? One time I overheard my mother talking to my father when I was a child and they mentioned my eyes. Unable to sleep late at night, I tried to seek my mother's company, and I walked to the door of my parent's room to find the sound of arguing coming from inside.
My dad said, "She's just a child, and she deserves to have a child's life, not spend it hiding. And sooner or later this will be discovered."
My mom's reaction was intense, "It's because she's still a child, she's not capable of defending herself yet. Think of my mother. Claudia inherited her eyes and you know how tragic my mother's end was."
I was so young at the time that I couldn't understand a thing they were talking about back there. And my father's wolf sensed me right away and father asked me what I was doing, hiding outside the door. I said, "I was just looking for my mother to come to bed with me, and I heard you two arguing." My father stroked my head dotingly and said he would never argue with my mother, they were just discussing things. Then he told my mother to carry me to my room and that was the end of it.
With my dirty clothes still crumpled up in the basin, I never dared to go to the river again. My stomach churned uncomfortably at the thought of the river experience. And Isaac's inexplicable behavior. Was he trying to poke fun at me? Or... I couldn't believe I was blushing just thinking about it.
God, I was thinking of something inexplicable, he was the next Alpha and Fiona would rip apart any woman who dared to compete with her for Luna. I shook my head, trying to put all the strange thoughts behind me.
It was suddenly raining heavily outside, which was just my chance. I snuck out of the basement with my clothes, then found an unoccupied corner and washed my clothes as cleanly as I could in the rain. It seemed that the downpour wasn't going to stop very soon, so I just had to hang the clothes out in the basement and hope they would get dried out soon. If I went to work the next day in wet clothes, I was sure I would catch a cold. And without a doctor to prescribe me, I would probably die.
The next day, I woke up from my dream and my clothes were really not dry. The basement was dark and damp, and I had to go to work in half-dried clothes. It was nothing really, and my biggest fear was Isaac spreading my secret around. If anyone knew the secret, they would banish me from the pack. Or worse, they would have me executed. God knew what my grandmother's tragic end would have been, but it must be painful.
I walked towards the kitchen with dread, keeping my ears open to hear what was being discussed from the mouths of all the people who passed me by. Luckily, they treated me like they always did, just bullying and hazing as usual. I walked into the kitchen and the maids left all the work to me as they all went off to chat and have breakfast. Luckily, Isaac wasn't one for gossip, or maybe he didn't know the secret of the eyes either. I could only guess in a good direction.
After making everyone's breakfast and cleaning up the dirty dishes left by the maids, I felt dizzy, my eyes were going out of focus and I had to brace myself against the table until I slowly eased up. This was actually an old problem of mine, as I hadn't had many normal meals, and malnutrition brought more than just a thin body, but also came with chronic anemia and hypoglycemia. The scene in front of me slowly returned to normal, while the next moment I saw the last person I wanted to see.
"I saw you slacking off as soon as I walked in, no shame in being a bitch." Fiona walked up to me with her loud voice.
"Dare you not work hard?" She raised her hand and punched me in the face.
Having just woken up from a brief coma, I really didn't have the strength to retort, or dodge her slap. I had to say this fierce she-wolf was really strong. And I got a solid slap to the face from her. Then I lost my balance and the moment I fell I saw the corner of the table in front of me.
Oh no, my head was definitely going to get bumped. But the expected pain hadn't come yet, and instead I was pulled into a warm embrace. The smell of this embrace was familiar to me, which was a mix of ebony and cedar, deep and cold.
Why him? Isaac held me so tightly in his arms that all I could do was lean on his chest. Apparently, I wasn't the only one shocked. Fiona's pretty face was contorted with jealousy when she saw Isaac holding me in his arms.
She questioned Isaac, "Why are you helping her?"
Isaac pushed me away and I was surprised that I lost thought because of his action. He told Fiona, "Caesar has a keen sense of smell and he hates the smell of women's blood."
Fiona wasn't quite convinced by Isaac's explanation, still, she wrapped her arms around him like she was showing off. To say "wrapped around" might be a bit of an understatement, as she pressed her breasts against Isaac's arm and whispered petulantly in Isaac's ear. "Let's go watch the game." Then Fiona dragged Isaac out of the way.
Isaac's POV
I could hear Fiona shouting from a distance on my way to the kitchen. The funny thing was that she always looked meek in my presence. I knew exactly what kind of person she was as we grew up together, but all those years of friendship made me always indulge her. Listening to the noise in the room, it must have been Fiona abusing the maid.
I was so surprised to panic when I saw the traitor girl's head was about to hit the corner of the table. Due to panic, my mind went blank and my body reacted subconsciously. I took the girl in my arms as soon as I could, and my hanging heart dropped when I felt the weight in my arms. Her whole body was leaning on my arms, and it was only then that I clearly felt that she was so thin and weak. Clearly, she was just a slave, a traitor's daughter. Why did I feel pity for her?
Fiona's questioning snapped me out of my thoughts. I hurriedly pushed her away, to be seen with the son of an Alpha hugging the traitor's daughter. The majesty of my father and I would be nonexistent. Besides, I looked at Fiona in front of me, and she was so angry. It was as if the veins on her forehead were bursting out. All the girls who had pursued me from before had been cleaned up badly by her. All I could do was cajole Fiona into trying to make less trouble for the traitor's daughter. But my wordplay caused Caesar's displeasure.
"Will you stop using me as an excuse when it's obvious you don't want to see the girl get hurt?"
"It's none of my business if she's hurt or not, I'm just born an athlete and subconsciously pick up people who were about to fall."
"I didn't see you pick up Alex when he broke his leg in front of you earlier."
"That's what he deserved." Alex had always been so stupid, and he'd broken his leg only after jumping from a tree to please Fiona.
"So this girl still means a lot to you."
"See, it's like when you see a cup that's about to roll off the table and onto the floor, you're going to catch it too, right?" Caesar looked like he was used to it and wasn't going to continue arguing with me.
I was arguing with my wolf in my head so much that I completely ignored Fiona, who was too immersed in her own world, hugging my hand and complaining about the minutiae of her life all the time. Fiona was considered the most beautiful girl in the pack and it seemed everyone wanted me to marry Fiona just because her father was our Beta. For the stability of the pack, there was indeed a real possibility that I would marry Fiona, so every time she got close to me, I prayed to the Moon Goddess for me to meet my mate as soon as possible.
Claudia's POV
Everything just happened so fast and it was so shocking to me. Not until Fiona had pulled Isaac away did I realize what Isaac had just helped me, which I could call a "hug". Since I was a slave at the age of six, I'd never been hugged by anyone, and the hug that was offered by the first one would help me, namely Isaac.
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to get a little warmth back from the hug I'd just received. Isaac's embrace had a feeling unique to me, not like the comforting feeling of my mother holding me when I was a child. Instead, it was a warm and secure feeling.
Help! I couldn't believe I was craving the warmth of Isaac's arms. Did I forget that he's the Alpha's son? And he used to bully me all the time. Warmth was the last thing someone like me could expect. I woke myself from my daydreams.
Every time I washed my hair I would avoid everyone's eyes and sneak off to a small lake at the edge of the territory. Here, I could enjoy a moment of peace and quiet. Watching my hair float amid the clear water, I would put it all on the back of my head, slowly wait for it to dry before covering my eyes again, and then return to the wolf pack, as I usually always did.
But today I saw a woman by the lake, and she was in a coma. Even with her eyes tightly closed, it could be seen how beautiful she was with her long dark hair scattered behind her like the feathers of a raven. Although her face was pale from the loss of blood, she was still beautiful without a single flaw.
Considering that she was already so badly injured, even if she was a bad person, she couldn't attack the wolf pack, so I picked some herbs around the area to bring her back. It didn't take long for the woman to wake up.
Chapter 5
Claudia's POV
The woman who woke up from the coma opened her eyes. To my surprise, she had a very rare pair of eyes, with purple pupils that emitted a faint shimmer. She looked at me in a very strange way, which was a mixture of shock and confusion.
The woman stared straight at me and didn't say a word. I was a little scared, this beautiful and strange woman was not a werewolf at first glance. What was she doing at the edge of the pack? The woman suddenly spoke at that moment and startled me.
"I can tell you're a witch's child. Don't be afraid, I'm a witch too."
Usually, witches didn't reveal their identities to others, because there were many people who caved their power and many who feared them. Usually, only if they trusted you very much would they tell you their true identity.
Hearing her say that made me drop my guard at once. A lot of my trust in witches came from my mother, who used to be hated by lots of people when she was in the pack. But my father had always protected her, and my mother had been nice to everyone, at least everyone outwardly respected my mother.
Seeing no reaction from me, she then said, "Anyway, thank you for saving me. Is there anything you want? Within my power, I can help you get it."
The moment I heard those words, "Leave the Crimson Shadow Pack!" Those words came to my mind. However, I looked at the witch and she was still badly injured, so it wasn't realistic to ask her to take me away. And she was such a powerful witch, yet she was badly injured and fled here, so maybe she was still in danger, and I was just a small slave who couldn't do much to help her. The words that almost came out of my mouth were swallowed back.
The witch saw through my thoughts, "I should have taken you with me, in every sense of the word. But I'm in a state of being hunted, and it's too dangerous for you to follow me. But when I escape the danger, if you're still willing to come with me, I'll be sure to come back for you."
I nodded lightly. The witch in front of me was soft and tender, and she felt like a mother to me. Then she offered to give me another gift and urged me to accept it. Seeing how determined she was, I had no choice but to accept her kind offer. The witch placed her hand over my eyes, while hiding my eyes over the years had formed a habit in me.
I hurriedly lowered my head to avoid her hand, and she gently cupped my face and said to me gently, "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."
I closed my eyes and the witch put her hand on them, her voice seemed so close, yet it also felt so far away somewhat.
"I give you a key that will unlock the hidden door in your bloodline."
After she said that, it was as if I was in a warm ocean, where my body was sinking under the warm water wrapping around me, and only my eyes were glowing faintly. It wasn't until my senses returned to normal levels that I opened my eyes and the witch was gone.
What had just happened was like a dream, no trace of it was left behind, and I didn't notice any change in myself.
As I returned to the wolf pack, I heard the jeers from those who walked past me again. And those who brushed past me, deliberately bumping into my shoulder and leaving a "Bitch."
I just wanted to escape into my basement immediately, and I walked quickly with my head down only to bump into someone in the doorway. "Don't you have any eyes?" I thought that I was done, and my heart tightened at the tone of voice, as the girl I bumped into was one of Fiona's friends, and she often bullied me along with Fiona.
The girl nudged me. "I'm asking you a question, little dummy."
I looked at the girl through the slit that covered my hair, hoping she wasn't the one who was strong. I ended up feeling a strong wave of emotion the moment my eyes met hers.
That great disgust and hatred filled my heart. "Fuck, my new dress is all ruined by this bitch!" echoed in my ears. But the girl in front of me didn't open her mouth. Did she know ventriloquism?
I looked at the girl next to her again, and the same disgusted, even more disdainful voice rang in my ears. "The traitor's daughter is screwed, it's Jessica's new dress, how should she be punished?" But again, she didn't open her mouth. This wasn't right. They were all just staring at me and waiting for my response. It was like no one but me heard what they said.
Then the witch's voice rang in my head, "Every witch is born with a gift, and your power has been hidden. Now I give you the key to unlock your gift, you can use your powers from now on."
Receiving too many negative emotions made my head spin and my stomach flip up. I covered my mouth and fled the scene, still hearing the sounds of the girl and her friend cursing behind me.
Running back to the basement, I laid on my bed and shrunk myself into a ball. The hatred was so strong that it was as if their minds were living in my ears. I thought back to what had happened. I had felt such strong emotions just by looking at the girl and hearing what was going through her mind.
So, my inherited witch's ability was the ability to read people's inner thoughts? Gosh, I had only ever heard of this ability to read minds in legends. And what could I do if I really got this ability? I tried to calm myself down and thought. This ability seemed to have a trigger condition. I came back from the lake and ran into a lot of people along the way, but only 2 girls' voices were read to me. Maybe it was because I looked into their eyes? It's supposed to be like that.
To prove my suspicions, I walked upstairs and made a point of looking at a lot of people. Again, intense disgust flooded into my ears. I heard that adults walking down the road seeing me "Ah, the traitor's daughter, she's filthy, I'd have thrown her out in the wild if I were Alpha", and the children were led by adults, "This slave is the daughter of the traitor whom Dad mentioned. No one would scold me if I hit her with a rock". Finally, it was proved that almost everyone in the wolf pack thought of me in the same way.
I always knew people in the pack didn't like me, but this was the only place I could call "home". Until today, when I heard what they were really thinking, it hurt so much. When I turned an adult, I would never spend another second in this pack.
I took the ring which my parents gave me before they left from the basement floor tiles. My mother told me it was her family heirloom. I knew that it was tied to witch power. The moment I held it in my hand, I drew the witch's power from that ring, and I would need that power when the day came for me to leave the pack.
Chapter 6
Isaac's POV
"Watch your balance!" My father shouted at me from outside the training ground.
My body leaned back to avoid the right fist that Alex was swinging at me. Before he could return to a defensive stance, I found a weakness under his ribcage and struck back hard.
"Ow!" Alex fell to the ground in response.
It was so easy, I hadn't lost a single handful of matches on the training ground since my awakening. They were never my match, in terms of strength or reaction time. Then I walked over to my father outside the field and he just frowned at me.
"What do you have to be proud of? Just winning a little game."
"No, I'm just..." I was happy not because I had won the race, but because my father had been nice enough to come and watch me train for once.
"Well, get on with it." He said, turning his head and heading towards Neil's training field.
Seriously, nothing I did growing up ever really pleased him. When I got my first A+ in school as a kid, my father's face didn't change when he looked at the report card, like I was holding a scrap of paper. Then he said to me, "It doesn't prove anything, come back one day when you get first place in the training ground and show off." Looking at my father's back as he left, I reassured myself that it was nothing to win A+. My father was right, a werewolf's ability was never reflected by his academic performance. Then I made up my mind and won my first race on the training ground. But...
"Well done!" Father's praise came from the next training field, interrupting my memories.
Neil was my younger brother and he had a very meek personality, compared to me. Although as the son of Alpha, no one would dare to bully him. Werewolves were a kind that upheld strength and wildness, but Neil grew up with a "gentlemanly" demeanor, which made many people talk about him behind his back.
Then I, as the older brother, would try to "teach" these disrespectful people a lesson. That's why Neil and I were so close as kids. My only complaint was the huge difference in how my father treated me and Neil.
Neil, in the next field, also won his race and my father looked over at him with a big smile on his face. I didn't even remember if my father smiled at me once, and if he did, it must have been a mocking smile, I thought.
"Come on father, it's just a training exercise."
"My son should be like you, humble and good."
Ha, "My son," he's never called me that before. For as long as I could remember, my father had called me by my name. "Isaac, you're making too much noise!", "Isaac, mind your manners." Not to mention the intimate gestures. It seemed that even my breathing was bothering my father in front of him.
I would always remember that day, the first match I won at the training ground. Neil and I defeated the rest of the pack and we had our final duel. Neil had his wolf and his strength was only slowly showing, and my father was very excited about it, even though I was the youngest person in the pack who owned a wolf.
When I awakened, everyone in the pack could sense Caesar's power, and when my father found out, he just said that I should mind my own wolf. The duel didn't need to be thought out to know what the outcome would be. But Neil was very perverse that day, he probably wanted to win me once in front of everyone.
So his wolf went on a rampage. Neil's eyes were red and his claws went straight for my carotid as he tried to kill me. To stop Neil, I had to bite through his shoulder. In pain, Neil finally came to his senses and covered his shoulder and conceded defeat to me. Then the whole training ground cheered for my victory and my father rushed towards me and Neil.
"Slap." The slap wasn't heavy, but the whole training ground fell silent because of it. After my father slapped me, he rushed to confirm Neil's injuries. I didn't remember much of what happened next, and my mind was also full of blanks at the time. Neil was obviously stunned by the slap as well, and in his panic he made father leave the scene with him. I didn't explain the reason for biting Neil, because my father wouldn't listen.
I looked at my father who was joking with Neil not far away. He had never spoken to me with that expression, and that kind tone of voice.
"Apparently you're the heir, while Neil isn't. Andre expects more from you, that's why he's so strict." Caesar sensed the discontent in my heart and used a gentle tone for the rare occasion.
"I can't believe it can force you to comfort me, doesn't that explain something?"
In the distance, my father took Neil's shoulder affectionately. I took everything in and my heart welled up with emotions which I didn't know whether it was anger or jealousy. Enough, I didn't want to be here to watch them play father-son love. I turned around and left. Neil called my name behind me.
But father said to him, "He can leave if he wants to. Why do you care about him?"
Good. I even laughed at myself for just stopping in my tracks. He had better never care about me and just let me alone forever.
Leaving the training ground, Kevin told me to go to school. Kevin was a friend of mine. Aside from being a jerk to girls, he was actually a nice guy. I could even guess that he must have called me because of another boring little thing like looking at some girl and asking me to be a helper when hitting on girls. But it was better than watching my father and Neil talking and laughing. Just then, however, I saw a thin figure.
The moment I saw the traitor girl, the aggression and resentment in my heart swelled up to my whole chest. She didn't seem to see me, just looking down at her tattered book. My anger was instantly transferred from my father to the broken book. I snatched the book from the girl's hand and then tore it to pieces in front of her.
The girl looked stunned, "What are you doing?! Don't tear it!"
She pulled at my hand to get me to leave her book alone, but her strength was too small to stop me. I needed her book to vent the resentment I had received at my father's, and it didn't take long for the girl's book to be torn to shreds.
The girl looked up at me, her green crystal-like eyes slowly overflowing with tears. The girl knelt down and picked up the torn pages of the book on the floor with trembling hands. Then she hugged herself and buried her head in her knees and stifled her sobs.
I was struck by the green eyes that fell into tears, and the annoyance in my heart transformed into guilt as I looked at the torn pieces of paper all over the floor and the girl crouched on the ground crying. The girl had buried her head so low that it was not quite possible to hear her sobs. But her shoulders kept shaking and I could tell how sad she was. Feelings of pity suddenly took over and for a moment I wanted to pull her into my arms and comfort her.
"Look how pathetic this girl is, hurry up and apologize to her." Caesar sensed my inner self and he hurriedly urged me.
"No, I'm not going to apologize to a slave." Looking at the girl on the ground, I was surprised that I didn't know what to do. Apologizing to a slave? If the rumor went out among the pack, I wouldn't be able to be the next Alpha. So I could only leave the crying girl where she was and leave by myself.
Claudia's POV
It's still overcast and cold, but that gave me a chance to read properly, and no one wanted to come out in the cold and bully me. Usually, they wouldn't let me stay in the classroom to read, so I had to find a bench in the corner of the school. I studied hard in my free time outside of work so that I could continue my life in society after I left the wolf pack. But apparently, Isaac didn't give me that opportunity.
I was engrossed in my book when a long and strong hand snatched it right out of my hand. Isaac looked angry, and I didn't know what I had done to piss him off again. It wasn't until he started tearing my book that I reacted and begged him to let go. But Isaac was like crazy and I tried to grab my book back from him, but he was too strong. It was like he didn't even hear my pleas, he just tore my book into pieces and scattered them all over the floor.
Why must he do this to me? I had clearly avoided everyone. The aggression which I held back for a long time made my nose start to sour and tears slowly filled my eyes. I knelt down to pick up the torn books, but my eyes became a blur from the tears. It was all I could do to keep my head down as much as possible so Isaac wouldn't hear me crying, lest he get angry again.
But Isaac still stopped moving because of my crying, he didn't say anything, he just stood still, probably watching me as a joke. The thought of Isaac aggravated me even more, he had pulled me into a warm embrace when I was about to get hurt, right in front of Fiona.
At the time, I thought that he had more than just the same feelings for me as he did for a common slave, that he had special feelings for me. But with the way he was acting now, what was the difference between him and Fiona? I had no dignity in their eyes, and they all treated me like a toy ready to be taken for fun.
Isaac left without saying a word. What was I expecting? He was still the mighty Alpha's son, while I was just a slave. Straightening up, I gathered up all the shredded paper and took it back to the basement.
I tried to glue the pages together with paste, but it was so torn up that I couldn't make it work. Until late at night, I kept trying to fix my book. If I even had no book, my teacher would be more reluctant to let me study in the classroom. Just as I was worrying about my book, there was a knock on the basement door.
I was taken aback. Usually, the only people who knocked on this door were the maids, who usually only came to me when they asked me to do some menial work in their place. Besides, I couldn't think of anyone else who could come to me. I was still torn between opening the door or not when there was no more ringing outside. I had to open the door carefully and look out towards it. There was no one outside the door, just a lone box on the floor. I took the box back into my room, and inside was a brand new book and a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
I probably knew who had sent the stuff, and who else but Isaac knew that my book had been torn. Obviously, he wouldn't let go of the book when it was torn, no matter how much I pleaded. And now he's sending me new books. What the hell was he thinking? I really didn't want to accept anything from him and threw the book on my bed casually.
