Claire tossed restlessly on her bed, her mind consumed with a lot of thoughts, her wolf in the same turmoil with her.
She kept on wondering if rejecting her mate and waiting for Derek to recognise her was worth it. Her wolf thought that she was foolish for doing so, for rejecting her mate and waiting on someone else, and she was beginning to think so too. But her mother..
“Quit worrying about your mother and think for yourself. What do you want? Is your life pledged to your mother? The moon goddess has given me to you to serve you, not become your mother’s play toy. What do you want? Try removing your mother out of the equation.” Her wolf cited, grovelling in uncomfortability.
The latter had become so cranky since Emma had thrown her right across the pack hall without blinking, without mercy.
Claire still wondered how Emma had managed to do it.
It was clear that the latter wasn’t a plain human. Something was at play.
She had also overheard what had been going on whenever her twin and the others talked, but most of the times when her brother would be speaking or muttering to himself, something that was his signature action. She had heard him wonder too and speculate that perhaps Emma could be a werewolf like them or another supernatural.
Even If she had doubts before, the scent which Emma had emitted on one of her last days in school, a scent which was reserved for hybrids, was enough to tell her that the latter wasn’t a human. Something had happened, and something was up with her.
But she had been so used to her mother controlling her steps, that she had ignored all these signs.
What did she want? She wanted to live happily. She wanted her own mate. She wanted the joy that comes with staying with your own mate. But then, she also didn’t want some ordinary mate. She wanted an Alpha, and that was what Derek was. She wanted him. She wanted power so that people wouldn’t be able to tell her what to do.
“I told you to remove your mother from the picture!” her wolf sighed tiredly, and Claire shrugged, sitting up on the bed.
If she had to admit, she has become whatever her mother had shaped her into, and she didn’t altogether hate it. She just wished her mother would be more flexible in her methods of wanting her to be happy.
“You don’t even know who our mate is. From his scent, he isn’t from our pack.” her wolf pointed out, and she bit her lips.
That was even worse. She thought. Her mate could be from the enemy’s pack. This thought strengthened her resolve. She had to wait for Derek to come to her, after all, he couldn’t wait for Emma forever. She felt her wolf hiss out in anger, but she didn’t care; rather she created a fire by snapping her fingers and decided to play with it.
This was another secret between her mother. No one knew about her magic, except her mother. The pack members might oust her if they ever found out that she was somehow part witch.
Although her mother hadn’t told her how that was possible, she still watched out for her twin to know if he possessed any of these powers. But so far, Clem had not shown any magic promise.
She got out of her bed and stalked to the door, the fire still dancing on the tips of her fingernails. Opening the door, she walked into the passageway, moving silently so as not to alert anyone of her movements.
As she walked, her thoughts returned to her mate whom she knew had helped her when Emma had blown her across the room.
She had been in pain, and had been so dizzy that she hadn’t seen his face. She only heard his deep sexy voice, allowing herself to sink in the sweetness of his scent.
“You want him. Admit it.” her wolf said, and Claire shrugged again.
Yes, she wanted him, but her quest and want for power was on a higher octave.
She believed that she was meant for so much more than being just a mere mate to a plain wolf. No, she was meant to be a luna like her mother had said. And with a power as hers, she would make sure of that.
And that was why she had listened to Maya’s father and had spread the negative rumours about Emma being a whore and all that. She would have loved to believe that Alpha Arnod had her best interest in heart, but she knew that it was not so.
There was something else at play here, something that still evolved around Emma, that she had no idea about.
Must everything revolve around her? Claire thought, gritting her teeth, not bothered a bit as she walked out of their house, out to the streets.
The full moon was out, and in some way she thought that it strengthened her magic nature as the flame on her hand burned the more. She had no qualms about using her magic outside, since it was definitely impossible that someone should be awake by this time.
With that confidence installed, she strolled to the garden, located by the side of the Alpha’s house, wanting to be alone and perhaps practice some of the magic spells she had been learning since the invasion of the shadow warriors the first time, the day that had marked Emma’s disappearance.
She believed that the shadow warriors had come for Emma, and probably they had come for her the second time, and might have decided to attack the lesser werewolves when they had discovered that she was missing. The vampires also wanted her. She thought, remembering the history professor and his colleagues.
Who was Emma? She asked herself, settling down on the base of one of the trees, her mind reeling in discomfort.
Somehow, she was feeling that Emma wouldn’t be an easy opponent to defeat both physically, and from Derek’s heart.
After all, Emma was his real mate. How would he abandon her and marry her naturally?