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CHAPTER 78: A LOYAL SERVANT'S REPORT
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2025-03-10 13:22:52
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CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 79: SHADOWS OF DOMINION
AZUREThe air in the lair pulsed with ancient energy that had existed long before this world knew light, and I sat upon my throne, carved from obsidian and etched with the runes of power, with my fingers drumming rhythmically on its armrest. I reminded myself that patience was necessary for all great victories, and mine would be the greatest of them all. As Thomas entered the room, his posture was rigid and submissive; he was loyal, yes, but flawed—like all mortals. His previous report about Marissa lingered in my mind, a mixture of annoyance hung in my head, a mix of annoyance and contentment. Alive yet unable to function. It was a calculated decision, but not one I would have taken. "My lord," Thomas said with a slight bow. I narrowed my eyes and waved him closer. "Talk, Thomas. What's new? He moved forward warily as if he were afraid of crossing some unseen line. "The pack continues to reel. Tensions among Hailey's allies are rising, and she is preoccupied with her pregnancy. My lo
Last Updated : 2025-03-10CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 80: VISIONS AND SACRIFICES
ISAIAH The only light in the tiny space was the warm glow of the fire, which crackled softly in the hearth. I was burdened by the weight of my visions, each of which represented a part of the future that I was still unable to piece together. The realms had always been both a blessing and a curse, a gift that ensnared me in a destiny from which I could never break free. But tonight, the visions were darker and heavier. The subtle shift in the air brought with it the subtle smell of earth and pine. I focused and grounded myself in the here and now by closing my eyes. I imagined I could hear the shadows dancing across the walls for a brief moment.The spirits' whispers were urgent and desperate. "Show me," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "What is to come?" The fire flickered, its light dimming as the room grew colder. I felt the pull, the familiar tug of the visions taking hold. My head swam, and the world around me faded into darkness. In the vision I stood on a battlefield, the
Last Updated : 2025-03-10CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 81: THE BIRTH OF TURTELA
HAILEYThe storm had been brewing all day. The prospect of rain weighed down the dark clouds that swept across the sky. In the distance, thunder roared, a low, menacing warning that made my skin crawl. As the first fat drops of rain splashed against the glass, I watched from the window of our packhouse chamber. I couldn't tell if the strain in the air was due to the storm or the child I was carrying. All day, I had been experiencing an uneasy stomach discomfort that came and went, hinting at something more serious. I tried to calm the restless energy inside my tummy by placing a hand on my very advanced pregnancy. Ryan came in. With a worried and frustrated look on his face, Ryan walked into the room. He said, "You should be lying down, Hailey," in a strong yet worried tone. A tiny smile tugged at my lips as I turned to face him. "I'm all right, Ryan. It's only a storm. As a result, the baby is restless. We had decided to be surprised at birth hence we never had a scan or let our wolv
Last Updated : 2025-03-11CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 82: END OF THOMAS
LOGANThe smell of pine and damp earth filled the forest, but underneath it was a more delectable aroma—Thomas. It pulled me deeper into the woods and was subtle but distinct, a mixture of rotting leaves and bitter smoke. My chest constricted with each step, anger seething just beneath the surface. Thomas had gone too far. His cowardice knew no bounds when he attacked Marissa, helpless and battered. This was a matter of justice, not vengeance. My wolf snarled in anger in my head in a gravelly voice. We'll get him to pay. Slowly. When I considered what Thomas had done to Marissa, my claws extended reflexively. She did have strength, but even strength could only go so far.Tonight, I would allow my anger to blaze like a wild fire.As the smell became more potent, I slowed, my senses becoming more acute. The moonlight struggled to penetrate the thick canopy overhead, casting shadows that crept across the forest floor. The stillness made me edgy, and it was very still. And that was when I
Last Updated : 2025-03-11CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 83: BOND UNVEILED
ADRIANThe forest around the packhouse was golden with tendrils of sunset light warming the trees. My mind swirled as did the mist rolling off the earth when I stood on the edge of the meadow. Hailey called me to tell me that tensions with Azure were growing. Despite so much fear all over, tonight's looming fight did not disturb me in any way. Turtela was the kid. Something impossibly awakened inside of me the second I laid eyes on her. I'd attributed it at first to my own instinct of caring for Hailey and her family. This was not, however, like the others. This was a pang, a tug, a connection that had nothing to do with reason. I shook my head and muttered to myself softly, "She's just a child." My footsteps clacked against the gleaming oak floors as I entered the packhouse. With a weary smile, Hailey welcomed me, her hand instinctively resting on her vast belly. "Adrian," she said warmly. "I'm glad you came." I nodded, maintaining a neutral face. "My queen, always. What's new?"The
Last Updated : 2025-03-12CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 84: SHADOWS OF FURY
AZURELike living beings, the shadows coiled around me, their whispers a never-ending symphony of promises and mayhem. I was standing in my fortress's great hall, a place built out of gloom and hopelessness. The flames lining the walls flickered with an unearthly green flame, and the air was thick with the stink of death. I had established my dominion here, a stronghold of power and terror. I was dreaded by both my allies and my adversaries. That was the situation. But I couldn't ignore the whispering in the shadows today. The chamber's doors flew open, and a person staggered in, his face and body shaking profusely and a pallid face. It was a wolf, one of my lower-level lieutenants, whose allegiance I had never doubted until now. He smelt of failure and panic, two things I hated. He knelt down and said, "My lord," his voice trembling. "I bring news." With icy, dark light shining in my eyes, I remained motionless on my throne. "Speak," I said, my voice piercing the atmosphere like a ra
Last Updated : 2025-03-12CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 85: LYNA'S RESILIENCE
LYNANerves frazzled, I paced back and forth in our little clearing while the sunshine seeped through the forest's dense canopy. Even the beauty of nature couldn't calm the storm that was building inside of me, even though the air was filled with the fresh smell of earth and pine. Hours had passed since Aaron left, and even though I trusted his judgement and strength, my chest constricted with anxiety. Aurora, our baby, was curled up in my arms, her small face a serene counterpoint to my own chaos. Being a vampire, I had thought I was immune to the dread of this magnitude, but motherhood had changed me. I was transformed by Aurora. I had never had a relationship like the one I had with her; it was stronger than blood and went beyond the immortal. "Why do you always pace when you're anxious?" My thoughts were interrupted by Aaron's words, and I looked back to see him enter the clearing with his dark hair blown slightly. I hurried over to him, feeling a wave of relief. I said, "You took
Last Updated : 2025-03-13CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 86: ISAIAH'S VISION
ISAIAH There was a heavy quiet to the night, the kind that filled your lungs with uneasiness and pressed against your chest. I was standing in the tiny space I had made my own in the packhouse, with the walls covered in antiquated manuscripts and artefacts I had brought with me throughout my many years of wandering. Though it was always there, the weight of my history felt particularly heavy tonight. Each vision had been more urgent than the last, and they had begun occurring more regularly. The flashes of a future so unclear that it felt like attempting to capture smoke with bare hands were pieces. The air was different tonight, though. I sensed that it was building like a storm that was about to hit. As I concentrated on my breathing, I sat cross-legged on the floor with my hands on my knees. Except for the slight crackle of the fire on the hearth, the room was quiet. I let my eyes close and allowed the earth's energies to ground me. It was like a tidal surge of vision. The planet
Last Updated : 2025-03-13
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CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 200: AFTERMATH
ALEXIAI woke up with a metallic taste in my mouth and the smell of blood thick in the air. My lungs hurt with each breath, but I didn't dare move. Something pressed on my chest—not physically, but emotionally. A weight I couldn't get rid of.Hailey.My last memory had been of her scream, of the way her power burst forth like a star. It engulfed everything—the Legion's commander, most of his men, even the battlefield itself. I remembered the fear in his eyes when Draco dived. Then nothing. Just darkness."She hasn't woken up."I recognized Turtela's voice. It was rough with worry, but there was determination in it too."We have to do something," Marissa said. "She's the Queen. She can't stay like this."My eyes fluttered open, and the brightness of the infirmary nearly blinded me. White walls. The scent of herbs and steel. I turned my head slowly, my every muscle protesting, to see them all gathered around another bed.Hailey.I sat up, ignoring the tearing pain down my ribs. Lynn was
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 199: NEVER TOUCH ONE OF MINE
AUDACUSThe realm seem disturbed tonight.Even the stars—those arrogant little heaven's candles—were afraid to shine too brightly above me. They knew. Even the universe knew what I was about to do.I stood at the edge of the cliff, my cloak of darkness swirling in the harsh wind. Below, the ravine shuddered, its depths seething with hissing smoke and runes carved by long-forgotten gods. I had set up this summoning circle a hundred years ago—just in case. And now… now the time was here."Come," I whispered, raising my hands as old incantations flamed on my lips. "Come, Legion.The ground creaked. Split. Groaned in agony like a dying beast. From below, out of the darkness, a scream ripped the silence. One. Then a hundred. Then hundreds of thousands—rising as one.The Legion.Three hundred thousand demons, bred for anarchy. Some had been angels once. Some had never been more than formless until my darkness gave them form. And now they surged like bubbling tar rising up from the bowels of
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 198: THE PLAN
AUDACUSFire spat and spat in the fire before me, shadows curling around the walls of stone like hungry snakes. I reclined in the chair of dark, high-backed obsidian in the center of my war room, robes of smoke and midnight folded around me in loops of fate. My hands tapped a slow, calculated beat on the bent armrest, lethal.Lilith sat motionless in the adjacent room.Her breath—if one could even call it that anymore—was shallow. Barely there. Her fall into the coma had been abrupt, unforetold, un-theatrical. Just. silent. A silence so deep that it vibrated through the realm.And I hated it.She alone had ever spat venom right back at me and still made me crave the taste of her defiance. Her anger. Her fury. But now? Glass. Shattered. Cold. And worse—silent.No more filthy words.No more threats that she'd rip out my heart if I ever sinned against her daughter.Now, all I had was time.But Ryan… oh, Ryan didn't have time at all.Ideal.A knock echoed on the door—sharp, brief. My gene
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 197: LOOMING WAR
RAYThe night was mine. The odor of war clung heavy to the atmosphere, and the promise of approaching chaos made my skin crawl, bones moving just below as I stretched through all my shapes. Tonight the game was set, and I, Ray, his most trusted one, had the honor of delivering the king's new scheme.Audacus loomed over us, demonically serene, every inch of him a vision of lethal refinement. That voice, so smooth but colder than winter's cold, was a force no sane man would want to challenge. "Keep them busy," he instructed us, fingers lazily spinning a glass of dark wine as if this plan wasn't going to break the world. "Isolate Hailey and Ryan at all costs. The two of them together are trouble. Alone, they fall apart."A vicious grin crept gradually across my lips. Simple in appearance. Deadly in purpose."What about the others?" I asked, masking my enthusiasm with polite calmness.Audacus's golden eyes flashed to mine, as cutting as a knife. "The triplets are strong, but unripe. Diver
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 196: INFILTRATION
AUDACUS The moment I stepped through the massive glass doors of Kings Enterprises, the atmosphere shifted. Clean, polished, professional—exactly how humans liked to present their tiny empires. It was nearly funny. The whole building reeked of ambition, desperation, and carefully hidden fear. It smelled like opportunity.I adjusted the mortal guise I was wearing: well-pressed suit, comfortable leather loafers, and a pair of glasses perched low on the bridge of my nose. The perfect image of a struggling investor who'd at last been able to scrounge up sufficient capital to swim with the sharks. Beneath, I smiled. They had no idea.The receptionist greeted me with that rehearsed corporate warmth. "Welcome to Kings Enterprises, Mr.?""Addison," I supplied the alias with ease. "Jon Addison. I'm here to see your investment representative. I'm interested in purchasing direct stock."Her fingers flew across the keyboard, and within a second she nodded. "Right this way, Mr. Addison."It all pr
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 195: LOOMING WAR
RAY The night was mine. The odor of war clung heavy to the atmosphere, and the promise of approaching chaos made my skin crawl, bones moving just below as I stretched through all my shapes. Tonight the game was set, and I, Ray, his most trusted one, had the honor of delivering the king's new scheme. Audacus loomed over us, demonically serene, every inch of him a vision of lethal refinement. That voice, so smooth but colder than winter's cold, was a force no sane man would want to challenge. "Keep them busy," he instructed us, fingers lazily spinning a glass of dark wine as if this plan wasn't going to break the world. "Isolate Hailey and Ryan at all costs. The two of them together are trouble. Alone, they fall apart." A vicious grin crept gradually across my lips. Simple in appearance. Deadly in purpose. "What about the others?" I asked, masking my enthusiasm with polite calmness. Audacus's golden eyes flashed to mine, as cutting as a knife. "The triplets are strong, but unripe. D
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 194: CHAOS
AUDACUS The council chamber stank of old magic and old pride. It clung to the stones, bleeding into the mortar like the blood of all fools who'd ever sat upon high thrones and imagined that they were invulnerable. I was in the center, hands clasped behind my back, the gravity of a century measured in the loose bend of my shoulders. Ten wizard elders stood around me, faces etched with lines made of centuries, eyes filmed over by complacency. The robes flowed over the marble floor as they shifted to stand nearer, as if attitude itself might distort fate in their direction. "Audacus," the oldest, Master Callum, said, his voice husky with a challenge never breached in all his years. "Your arrogance does not belong here. You are not welcome." A smile flared at the edge of my lips. "Arrogance is the right of the already triumphant. You just haven't quite caught up with reality." Whispers circulated around the circle, soft, trembling shivers from tired old gods in mortal flesh. I could
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 193: AUDACUS
AUDACUS Been out again in the mortal world feels so surreal but good, it's been so long, too long really but the night tasted sweet. Sweeter than a vow. More bitter than deceit. I stood beneath the crooked arm of a dying oak, one hand leather-gloved, the other bare, tracing my finger along the cold curve of my ring. The dark stone pulsed softly beneath my fingers, full of the quiet, slow hunger I always kept just beneath my skin. The world was still tonight. Even the wind had enough sense to whisper not when I heard it. I could sense the earth beneath my feet, the shift of shadow as it crawled towards me, drawn like a moth battering itself around its own funeral place. The shifter was late. It was always so with beasts bound by fear and not by love. Still, I was impressed by its cunning. Its guile. The art of slinking in and out of hides like leaves from a book. Finally, the beast emerged out of the woods. A distorted shape, wrapped in the stolen form of a man — the fifth, I thi
CLAIMING HAILEY CHAPTER 192: HE'S COMING
LOGAN The air reeked of blood, pungent enough to slice through bone-deep exhaustion. I arrived too late for the battle, but just in time for the cleanup. Marissa stood with her arm raised over the shape-shifter's deformed body, which collapsed at her feet like a crumpled flower. Its body shook as if even death would not claim it cleanly. Her sword dripped with black, noxious ichor. I'd wanted to feel proud — darn it, I was proud — but my wolf howled inside my chest walls, screaming for vengeance. "Are you alright?" I pressed forward, ready to catch her if her legs gave out under her. Marissa cleaned the knife on her hand, jutting chin as if the fighter I knew her to be was finally free of that cage she'd been holding herself in. "It won't be the last." That solitary stark truth weighed between us like a boulder. "Not if I have any say in it," I growled. And I meant every damn word. ISAIAH The scent of smoke still hung in the air, seeping into the stone walls like an unwelcom
