He’s My Alpha by Cassandra M (Jake & Clair)
Chapter 71
Clair.
I was cursing him under my breath as I made my way back to my room, and of course, someone was following behind me.
As I reached the hallway to my room, my brow hiked up at the sight in front of my bedroom door. The pack Beta stood there with his back leaning against the wall, and based on his position, he was surely waiting for me.
Now that I had a chance to look at him, I realized he was younger than my uncle — way younger, probably around 25 to 27 years old. He had a tall build of around 611 inches, a slender figure, and blonde hair. If he wasn’t Alpha Noah’s Beta, I would probably say he was good-looking. But then I hated his Alpha, so everyone around him looked unappealing to me.
“Anything you need, Beta?” I asked as soon as I reached the door.
He opened the door of my room and made way for me. But I hesitated. There was no way I’d go into my room with him.
“Step in. We’ll talk inside,” he said in a low voice, looking at the two men behind me.
“No. We can talk here.” I stayed in my place, crossing my arms against my chest.
“Inside, Lady Clair. Or don’t let me use force to put you in there.” He signaled to the men behind me.
One of them grabbed my arm and was about to pull me inside, but I shrugged his hand away and glared at him before stepping inside the room. The Beta followed and closed the door behind us.
“What do you need?” I faced him, keeping a distance between us.
He smiled at me warmly, flashing his deep dimples, before he started to talk. “I know we didn’t start on a good note, so I’m here to introduce myself. I’m Melvin, and I was hoping we could get to know each other better.” He stepped closer and tried to hold my hand.
I stepped back and glared at him. “I’m not interested in getting to know you. You can leave.”
He did not attempt to conceal his smirk as he stepped closer again. “I can help you out of here, you know. Just say it, and I will help you.”
“In exchange for what?” My chest was heaving. I knew where this was leading.
“Just one night with me, and as soon as tomorrow, I can drop you outside of the border and order a cab to take you anywhere you want. No one will know, and you’ll be free to go.”
I swallowed hard. The offer was tempting, but there was no way I was going to let this pig touch me. I raised my brow and flashed him a smug grin. “In your dreams. Now, get the f*uc*k away from here. Or I ’ll tell my uncle about your tempting offer.” I warned him.
He laughed, and in a swift motion, he had me pinned to the wall, his hands holding my wrists above my head as his tall figure hovered over me.
Everything else tuned out, and the only thing I could hear was the hard beating of my own heart and the fear coursing through my veins as he leaned his head down to my level.
Rain growled in my head, taunting me to wriggle my way out of his hold.
All of a sudden, he pressed his lips to mine. He was kissing me brutally hard. It was revolting and repulsing — my mouth and my wolf felt violated.
I took a deep breath before opening my mouth just enough and biting his lip hard until I tasted blood on it while my mind sent a message to Alpha Noah, and hoped that his mind wasn’t blocked off and that he would do something about this.
The Beta winced in pain from my bite and let go of me, wiping the blood on his lips with his arm while his mouth tugged into a c*oc*ky grin.
“You just turned me on more, Clair!” His eyes started to turn obsidian black, with lust flitting from them.
I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my sweater and shouted at him. “Get out! My uncle was already informed! And I’m sure…”
I was not able to finish my threat because, at that exact moment, the door blew open with Alpha Noah behind it. Both of our heads snapped toward the broken door.
Alpha Noah was glaring at his Beta as low growls vibrated from his chest. But he didn’t say a word.
The Beta dropped his gaze from his Alpha and turned his attention to me. He narrowed his eyes, anger flitting on them before he walked out of my room.
Jake.
I was in my office, still drafting the proposal I needed to present to Noah so he would accept my invitation to visit his territory for pack business when the pain hit my chest and marks started to appear on my wrists.
My world collapsed. I closed my eyes and took all the pain with closed fists. I anticipated the pain would worsen but hoped it would end soon. And it did — it faded after just a few seconds. My chest heaved, and the only thing I could hear was the loud thudding of my own heart and the growl Echo let out in my head.
My feet had a mind of their own and sprang forward, walking out of my office to make their way to the gym in the basement. I needed to hit something. Destroy something. Anything.
The gym was empty since most people had gone home. With a heavy heart, I went to the nearest punching bag and started attacking it relentlessly. Rage filled me as I a*s*saulted the bag.
Someone was pushing himself on my mate, and I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even defend her. I knew she would not kiss anyone, because if she had wanted to I would have felt more pain. She had resisted him, and for now, she was safe. But for how long?
Until when can she protect herself on her own?
Tears started to trickle down my face as I continued to punch the bag with my bloody knuckles, not minding my own pain. I wanted to feel more.
My heart was bleeding. I would gladly take all the pain in the world if it meant that I could keep her safe. But I f*uc*king couldn’t!
Clair.
I woke up with a heavy head and a heavy heart. I don ’t know what time I fell asleep or if I did fall asleep. Maybe I was awake all along, just numb from everything.
All I knew was that I had cried the whole night.
I don’t know if I cried more because the Beta had hara*s*sed me or because of the Claiming, or because my mate was touching another female intimately.
I finally found the strength to force myself up from the bed and make my way to the bathroom. I stood by the sink and just looked at the mirror above it. My eyes were puffy and swollen, and the bags under them were dark and very visible. This look was very familiar, I’d seen it a few months back when I left after finding out he was my mate.
I looked terrible.
I smiled sarcastically despite myself. I wondered if someone would still claim me if I showed up like this at the Claiming. I shook my head at my own thoughts before the tears started pouring down my face again.
Why me? What did I do wrong? Don’t I deserve to be happy?
All I wished for since I was young was to be with my mate and have a family of my own. Have someone who will look at me the same way Dad looked at Mom. I just wanted to have my own love story.
I knew I had gone astray and wished for Jake instead of my mate, but it shouldn’t matter, right? Because he ended up being the man I loved and the man I was fated to be with. But why was everything still complicated?
It felt like all my dreams were slipping away.
I laid down the picture I’d stolen from Alpha Noah’s office on the sink counter and leaned my palms on it for support. My shoulders started to shake as more tears trickled down my face.
Please, Goddess, help me.
I went inside the shower area and opened the water without taking my clothes off. I leaned my back against the wall, slowly lowered my body to the floor, and just let the water pour over me as I cried my heart out.
I felt alone. Just me and Rain. We didn’t have anyone anymore.
For the first time, I felt hopeless.
I didn’t hear the bathroom door open, but I saw Luisa come in. Shock registered on her face as she saw my body slumped down with my clothes soaking wet under the shower. She immediately sprang forward toward me but halted when she saw my expression.
I shook my head at her, my eyes pleading for her not to come near me as I wrapped my hands over my body. “Don’t. Please. Just let me stay here,” I said, almost in a garble because of the water and because I was sobbing pathetically.
She looked at me with understanding in her eyes, and sat on the floor in front of the shower, in front of me. I could see that she was keeping her own tears at bay, but she kept a straight face, giving me her strength. We stayed in the same position for a long time. I don’t know how long. No one talked. Nothing could be heard but the cascading water, the despair of my heart, and the pleading of my cries.
Jake.
Somebody nudged my arm, forcing my eyes to snap open. The brightness of the room caused my eyes to squint as I rose from lying down. Looking around, I realized I was still in the gym, slumped down on the cold floor with my Beta standing in front of me. “I thought you went out for a run and was waiting for you at the office when Castor told me you were asleep here,” he said calmly before throwing a glance at the number of broken bags around. “You okay?”
I shook my head and threw my head down, clasping my hands together. “No. Somebody kissed… or touched Clair last night,” I said in a croaked voice.
I heard my Beta hiss.
“It was five to ten seconds and…”
He cut me off and talked, his nose flaring. “Don’t you f*uc*king think she did it on purpose!”
I shook my head and raised my face to look at him. “No. Never. That’s why it f*uc*king hurt, man.” I swallowed hard as the tears welled in my eyes. I thought of my little mate and how vulnerable she was.
“How long can she protect herself, Gavin? How long until someone… someone totally forced himself on her?” My voice cracked, and my body started to shake as I sobbed quietly. “She’s my mate, and I can’t f*uc*king protect her!”
It finally broke me.
I couldn’t suppress the pain anymore, and I just finally let out all the pent-up emotions I had tried to hide.
My Beta stayed silent. He just let me.
When my breathing turned back to normal, I felt his hand on my shoulder.
“Get up and fix yourself. We have things to do. Your mate needs you. We’re going to find her and do everything to bring her home.” There was a conviction in his voice, and as much as I wanted to believe him it didn’t help to ease the pain inside.