LOGINSEBASTIAN POV I had been standing in the shadow by her door for twenty minutes, telling myself to leave. Telling myself that walking away was still keeping her safe. But it was all a lie. It always was when it came to her. I saw her approach, stepping into the hall barefoot, her hair damp probably from the washroom, and her eyes were down like she thought if she did not look up the world would stop existing. She made the final steps towards me before I moved. “Clair.” Her shoulders stiffened. But she did not turn. “You should go to bed, Clair,” I said. My voice was rougher than I meant it to be. But she froze. For a second I thought she would run. Since she had every reason to. But instead she turned, slowly, like she was bracing herself for a blow. “Alpha,” she said. Quietly, completely distant.I hated it when she called me that. It was like a wall she built between us with one word. “You are avoiding me,” I said. And her lips pressed together. “You are bu
CLAIR POV His voice always found me, even when I told my feet not to stop, not to listen. But it did anyway. “Sebastian.” The way Caro said his name was different from the way I thought it in my head. Hers had hope in it. Mine had everything I was not allowed to even feel.I kept my eyes down and moved faster, the tray steady in my hands even though my fingers shook. If I did not look, maybe it would not hurt. If I did not look, I could pretend I was just a maid again. That the night in his room never happened. And that his mark did not burn under my skin every time I was near him.But it did not work. His scent hit me anyway. Clean and dangerous, undercut with something raw like hibiscus that made my chest ache. I passed him like he was air. Like if I gave him a glance, I would shatter right there in the hallway. Coward. That is what I called myself the second I was out of sight. Because he was right. I could not dare look at him without breaking. And breaking was not
SEBASTIAN POV Her scent hit me before I saw her. It always did. Like a thread was tied around my ribs, pulling tight the second she was near. Shampoo and soap and something else that was uniquely hers. It cut clean through the thick, scented perfume Alexa drowned herself in, and for a second the hall felt real again. She moved past me like I was a statue in the corridor. Eyes down. The tray was steady in her hands. Not a single glance, no pause, and not even a flicker of recognition. And it gutted me in a way nothing else could. Her hate now seemed like something I could handle. If it meant I still mattered enough to be felt in her world. But her indifference was worse. It meant I was nothing to her. I told myself it was better this way. That every time I let her walk past without pulling her back, I was keeping her safe. Safe from me. Safe from the pack. Safe from the war that would erupt the moment they realized what she really meant to me. But telling myself that did n
CLAIR POV My knees hit the kitchen tile before I decided to let them. The cold bit through my uniform, but it was nothing compared to the ache clawing up my throat. I did not even try to stop the sound that came out. It was ugly, and I let the tears fall.I thought I would be free. I thought that giving myself a night to be claimed meant I mattered to him, and that it would be enough to hold me together. But I was wrong. Now I was on the floor of a house that I did not belong in, sobbing like the girl I promised I would not be again. I wiped my face with the sleeve of my uniform, urging myself to stop. Stop being a crybaby and take full responsibility for my stupidity.Sebastian King did not get to live in my head anymore. Nor did he get to live in my chest either. I was a maid, a debtor. That was why I was here. And that was all I was allowed to be. I forced myself up. My legs wobbled like there was no life left in them, and I straightened my spine. Duty should come first
SEBASTIAN POV The words hit me low in my gut. “I want you Sebastian, I really do.” Her voice was tight, broken, like she was tearing something out of herself just to say it. Her hands were already moving, trembling as they mapped the line of my jaw, down to my throat, and over the hard line of my chest. She touched me like I was something sacred and something she’d been starved for. God, how I wanted to tear the room apart. But I saw it in her eyes, fear. Certainly not of me. But of what I made her feel, of losing herself completely to this, to wha we had going on.“I know you don’t trust me,” I said, my voice rougher than I meant it to be. My forehead rested against hers. But how could she? I have hurt and ruin her times without numbers.“But say it. Say you’ll be mine after this. No more running. No more half measures.” She swallowed hard. Her fingers dug into my shoulders, like a last warning to herself. “I never want to belong to anyone else but you,” she whispered.
CLAIR POV I don’t want to cry even though it’s overwhelming, but my heart won’t listen, it beats so hard I thought I was going to die. "You dare mess around with the Alpha” The deep, mocking tone rang. The head maid, I have gotten so familiar with that authoritative voice laced with superiority and experience. But I only stare, angry beyond words to dare open my mouth and speak, of the pain of wanting something that’s so abominable yet so pleasing. “Don’t be fooled by the Alpha gentleness, he’s only after your blood” And that I almost agreed, and only if I was so bold, I would scream at the top of my voice and tell her she is right after all. “Crazy human” She groans in annoyance and left the room, her irritation was so evident, I could swear I felt trapped but somehow, I was at peace, and maybe, just maybe it has to do with his presence. “Get yourself together Clair, we have to prepare the elders banquet” The head maid said aloud, but this time her voice was so gentle and
Clair’s POV I was hurt, but I knew I had to run. The pain was so severe, spreading dangerously through my body, and I forced myself forward, my escape fueled by pure panic and the raw instinct to escape him.I remembered that dark eye that had been on me earlier. He was obv
Sebastian POV"Make sure she gets home safely,” I said as Nuel stepped out of the Bentley and into a waiting Mercedes Benz. The engine roared, and he sped off, tires screeching against the road.Pain, I had seen it etched across Clair’s face earlier. Pain that crawled bene
Clair’s POV I can’t deny the fact that I miss LA so much, and no matter how badly I want to hate my stepmom and Abigail, I just can’t. And Hana? She’s carved all over my heart. “Are you sure you can do this job?” The soft tone matched the soft smile spreading across the woman’s lips. I glance
Sebastian POV "Go get her.” I muttered to Nuel, who stared in pure astonishment as my fist reddened and my wolf threatened to unleash, ready to take what is rightfully his, her. “Okay, Alpha.” He said and disappeared. I stared blankly into Sylvester’s eyes. He groaned in pain, falling back







