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Chapter Sixty-Five
Last Updated:
2025-05-07 01:06:51
Lorea AsheFINALLY! Daniel and Samantha have their first, honest moment! No update yesterday as I tried to get the tone of this chapter just right. let me know if I nailed it!
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Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • AUTHOR'S INTERMISSION
First of all, thank you so much to everyone who has been following along with the story! The journey so far has been filled with excitement, anxiety, partial loss of sanity, sleepless nights, and many, many pushes of the delete button 😂The story and characters are continuously developing, but please know that for right now, this is a first draft. I try to make it as perfect as I can to still post daily, but I know it is still full of mistakes.As the author, your feedback is extremely important to me. The good, the bad, and the ugly.I try to maintain continuity within the story and characters, which is quite a task considering I have elements spanning over almost twenty years, but if you catch anything that seems off (including other, basic mistakes), please let me know! My goal is to deliver a slow-burning, intriguing story with faster-paced action and subplots, hopefully, I'm able to do that! This is also my first published book, so thanks again as I navigate this learning curve!
Last Updated : 2025-05-07Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • • ONE • Clarity Through Stained Glass
She sat quietly, exhausted but tense, in the dark living room. The TV was off and the room was quiet, somber, and still to fit her mood. The small lamp beside her emitted a soft glow, but the subdued light did little to ease her increasingly painful headache that was beginning to throb. She glanced at the clock again, its thundering ticks matching the knocking in her head. Eleven thirty-two. She scolded herself for hoping he would be home by now. But why would today be any different? The past three months had gone the same way in one big blur of loneliness.Her glass of Malbec was just over halfway gone. The more she drank, the less patience she had. She tightened her fingers around the cool globe and opened her mouth, letting the warm liquid roll in, savoring the tannins coating her tongue before she swallowed it down.Come on, do your job, she prayed to the wine. She inhaled its earthy, plum aroma like incensed smoke at an altar. Hopefully, she’ll get some kind of sleep tonight. In
Last Updated : 2025-02-26Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • • TWO • Lucky, The Disney Version
Richard continued viciously pulling back, increasing the tension on her hair.“I provide for this house,” Richard ranted, spittle flying into her face. “Me. You have no right to question where I’ve been or what time I’m coming home. You will stop harassing me, you ungrateful bitch. You don't know how good you have it!” He yanked back harder, and tears flooded her eyes, and a small cry escaped her. Her heart hammered painfully in her chest, and her breath seized, and for the first time in her life, she was truly scared.He held her there for a few extra moments until she whimpered and tried to nod, then he pushed her away from him, and she collapsed onto the floor.“You know,” he said as he crossed back to the hallway and his face slipped back on a mask of civility as smoothly as he slipped his jacket on. “I can’t look at you or deal with your shit tonight.” He roughly grabbed his keys from the bowl without another word or glance back, and walked out the door.She expected to hear the d
Last Updated : 2025-02-26Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • • THREE • The Grimm Descent
After the wedding, Richard convinced her that he needed her with him for dinners and functions to socialize with current and prospective clients. It began to feel like their marriage was displayed as a model for financial success and happiness. The clients appreciated the stability a happily married couple exuded.Richard began having Samantha schedule, organize, and set up the meetings and events, and before long, brought her on as an Event Specialist for the company. It didn't exactly pertain to her degree, but it was similar and allowed her to express her creativity, so she didn't mind too much, even though she could have been making much more on her own. It left her with a decent salary, and it allowed her to tailor her schedule to fit around Richard’s, maximizing their time together. It seemed like the perfect arrangement.She doesn't know when the distance between them started. After the first three years of being so in sync and tuned to each other, a slow descent into a stale an
Last Updated : 2025-02-26Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • • FOUR • The Wolf in the Henhouse
"Daniel," the sandy-haired man called out as he entered the brightly lit office without knocking. He handed a few files to the dark-eyed man behind the massive, well-polished mahogany desk that left faint traces of citrus in the air."Lucas," Daniel acknowledged. "What are we looking at?""The top folder contains the files for the main agents," Lucas said as he took a seat and leaned back, crossing his legs and putting his hands behind his head. Daniel may be the big dog, but they had been friends since childhood. "The second is the list to let go."Daniel scanned each folder briefly, starting with the second one. Fifteen employees, most of them in secretarial or data entry positions. They wouldn't need this many with the new systems he was installing."These are fine. Pick the five strongest people, if they're worth a damn, they should be able to handle the workload of the whole fifteen. Make sure the ones being let go get a decent severance and a ninety-day stipend.""Ninety days?" L
Last Updated : 2025-02-26Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • • FIVE • A Taste of Indulgence
Samantha examined her face in the mirror. Her left eye was bruised, and her face was swollen. She covered it the best she could with makeup and then, unsatisfied and exasperated, snagged the largest pair of sunglasses she owned. She eyed a scarf hanging on the wall, then dismissed it, afraid that in the effort of trying not to draw attention to herself, she would inadvertently draw even more.Richard never came back home last night. No call, no text, no apology, just silence. A pit had settled in her stomach from his absence, but she was also relieved because she didn't want to see him right now. She was afraid to ask him to leave, unsure how he would react.It left her feeling restless and fighting the need to get out of here against the urge to curl into a miserable ball and disappear. Thoughts of going to sleep and never waking up teased the peripheral of her consciousness, but she refused to let them settle.Unsure where to go, after driving aimlessly for almost an hour, she found
Last Updated : 2025-02-26Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • • SIX • We See You, the Demon Corrected
Daniel's nostrils flared. He had felt something tickling his consciousness, off and on. It was the feeling he had when he was being watched, a feeling that hinted at danger, but each time it came today, it was brief.This feeling was frustratingly normal any time he came to a large city such as this one, which was one of the main reasons he hated to do it. It left him feeling exposed and always on alert, never able to relax or let down his guard.He had a brief meeting over lunch with Lucas and Thomas, his CFO. Thomas was just as thrilled as Lucas about the ninety-day stipend for terminated employees, but Daniel had already factored it into the cost of acquiring Elevated Financials. He showed them where he negotiated it into the price of the acquisition. He expected to lose more people initially, so as for right now, they were still in the black of projected expenses.He understood numbers and math, but they bored him. He knew Lucas was the same way, but Lucas didn't wholly approve of
Last Updated : 2025-02-27Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • • SEVEN • Penchant for Protection
You need to go to her right now, the demon urged.No, Daniel argued patiently. That will scare her.Yes. It insisted. She is already scared and hurt. Let me kill whoever did it.That's not how it works, Daniel groaned. You know this. I thought we tempered your bloodlust a long time ago.YOU tempered the bloodlust. Daniel had an image of jaws snapping, running red with blood, flashing through his mind, followed by a wolfish grin. I didn't necessarily agree to it.Daniel began to sweat with the effort of sitting in his chair and quarreling with the demon. He picked up his phone and pretended to scroll so he wouldn't be confused with a madman, muttering to himself while he stared at nothing.Enough! Daniel ordered sternly and heard a protesting growl in response. She is timid, and I'm going to bet it was a man, probably her husband, that did that to her. Didn’t you see the ring? It means she already has a mate, and she's not going to appreciate some strange, random man walking up to her.
Last Updated : 2025-03-11
Latest chapter
Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • AUTHOR'S INTERMISSION
First of all, thank you so much to everyone who has been following along with the story! The journey so far has been filled with excitement, anxiety, partial loss of sanity, sleepless nights, and many, many pushes of the delete button 😂The story and characters are continuously developing, but please know that for right now, this is a first draft. I try to make it as perfect as I can to still post daily, but I know it is still full of mistakes.As the author, your feedback is extremely important to me. The good, the bad, and the ugly.I try to maintain continuity within the story and characters, which is quite a task considering I have elements spanning over almost twenty years, but if you catch anything that seems off (including other, basic mistakes), please let me know! My goal is to deliver a slow-burning, intriguing story with faster-paced action and subplots, hopefully, I'm able to do that! This is also my first published book, so thanks again as I navigate this learning curve!
Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • Chapter Sixty-Five
By Tuesday morning, Samantha was able to cover up her eye with minimal effort. She received a text from Daniel yesterday morning, asking if they were still good to meet at 230 today.Absolutely! Let me send you the address of the coffee shop.She looked it up, then sent him the link. After he responded with ‘Looking forward to seeing you’, a knot settled in her stomach. That ball of feelings was complicated. She was excited. She kept telling herself it was because, even after their brief interaction, he was the first person who felt like a friend in a long time. She ignored the little voice that taunted her with how attractive and sexy she found him, because adding butterflies to the growing knot was a terrible mix. On the other hand, especially after her fight with Richard on Saturday night, she felt guilty.She was going behind his back, and she knew it. But he would never approve and never understand, even though this was a professional meeting in a casual setting. She was hiring
Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • Chapter Sixty-Four
Long, polished, manicured fingernails tapped the granite counter in sequence, from pinky to forefinger. The clicking noise was grating on his nerves, but he knew better than to say anything to her.Her displeasure was already apparent, and Riordan knew better than to piss off a dragon.“You were careless,” she said contemptuously. Fucking dragons, thinking they were so much better than anyone else. But still, they were better than werewolves.Riordan felt his inner animal’s hate at the thought of those unnatural abominations here, in his city. The reason his grandmother raised him here was that there were no werewolves here. Pack-oriented shifters were condescending enough, but werewolves were the worst, and shouldn’t even exist. They were anathema. “I was only having a bit of fun in the park,” he explained. “I wasn’t going to hurt her.”“You’re a scavenging breed, gnoll,” she waved him off. “If the Clearfork Alpha hadn’t intervened, would you have just left it at the park? Your pref
Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • Chapter Sixty-Three
Paige didn’t have long to wait before she saw the four Clearfork wolves come into view. First was Judd’s brindled colored wolf. He had a striking pattern of tightly woven coffee and caramel colored stripes. His wolf was big and stocky, heavy in the shoulders, much like his human form.And like his human form, he ran silently, but was intimidating with his serious focus. His eyes flicked up to her on the rock, and she crouched lower. She saw that he was aware of her presence and was glad he chose to ignore her.Daniel’s wolf was next. She was surprised his wolf wasn’t dark gray or black. He had the most traditional wolf coloring, with his grays blending from silver to a darker nickel and white markings. Just a few steps behind him was Thomas with his reddish coat.Bringing up the rear was her
Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • Chapter Sixty-Two
Daniel was up early, feeling refreshed on Friday morning. He put on a pot of coffee for everyone, then slipped out and grabbed some bagels before they woke up.Thomas came out of his room while Daniel was setting the bagels out. “Alpha,” he greeted Daniel. Daniel nodded good morning while he bit into a bagel. Paige came out, looking half asleep still, and following her nose to the coffee.“Oh, good,” she crooned as she wrapped her hands around her mug and sipped the hot beverage before adding sugar and creamers to it. After a few more sips, she peeked up at Daniel with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Thanks, Mr. Covington. Did you sleep well last night?”“I slept very well, Paige,” he said carefully, wondering what she was up to. “And you?” It was almost like a switch had been flipped since yesterday. She seemed comfortable around him this morning.“Well, we were up late last night,” she told him. “But I think we narrowed it down to three for your approval.”“I trust the two of you,”
Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • Chapter Sixty-One
The rest of the dinner and evening with Edward and Mauricio went smoothly, if not necessarily comfortably. Samantha saw Richard was noticing her now, but the looks he kept casting her way were dark and thoughtful. They were making her nervous, but she tried not to show it as she resumed her practiced smile and commented politely when it seemed appropriate.After what felt like forever, dessert was served and cleared. She helped Mauricio with a quick cleanup in the kitchen, then it was time for Samantha and Richard to leave. Mauricio kissed the air next to her cheek, just like when he greeted her, looking for a promise from her to come back and see the horses, and Edward squeezed her hand, letting her know he would be in touch with her soon.Richard opened the car door for Samantha, and she felt he slammed it with more force than necessary. He didn’t look at her
Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • Chapter Sixty
Samantha caught Edward’s comment about being here twice this week. She wondered when and why he was over here, but then realized she didn’t know anything about his whereabouts or motivations anymore.She was anxious to get out of the room and out from under Edward’s scrutiny, so after polite greetings, she retired to the kitchen. She found Mauricio putting some final touches on a charcuterie board. He looked up and smiled widely, holding his hands up in the air.“Ah! Sobrina hermosa!” He exclaimed as he came around the island. He held her shoulders and gave her dos besos, or two kisses, one in the air next to each cheek.“Mauricio,” Samantha greeted him warmly. Maricio always seemed a little more reserved around Richard, but around her, he blossomed like a flower. He claimed she reminded him of his nieces back home, and he was a breath of fresh air after her emotionally tense day.In his presence, she could forget Richard’s oppressive cloud that had been hanging over her. Mauricio was
Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • Chapter Fifty-Nine
Richard roused when he felt Mari slip away from him. She seemed off and quieter than usual, and he got dressed while she sorted through her thoughts. By the time they finished dressing, an awkward silence had descended upon them.“I’m checking out of the room,” he told her. “Join me for lunch downstairs?” He saw her contemplating his request before she nodded.They were seated at a table in the hotel restaurant when Richard’s phone rang. A quick look told him he needed to answer it.“Uncle Edward,” Richard answered the call matter-of-factly.“Richard,” Edward greeted back with slightly more gusto. “Mauricio is hoping to get together this weekend. He’s been wanting to cook paella, which would be the perfect time for you and Samantha to join us! Please have her call me so
Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure • Chapter Fifty-Eight
Richard was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to pay much attention to Samantha’s quiet distance. He spent the majority of his day in his study, with no interest in focusing on anything he set out to do, which was catching up on his week away from work.He was on automatic pilot as he showered and was getting ready for Uncle Edward’s dinner tonight. He placed the wine Samantha had set aside in a chilled tote and put it in the car. He came back inside and called up to her. She came down the stairs in a peach dress and white cotton wrap, and even though she looked beautiful, the effect was mostly lost on him.On the ride to Uncle Eddie’s, his jaw tensed as he thought about yesterday. He didn’t go back to work; he’d gone back to his room in the hotel, intending to check out, but a knock on the door shortly after he arrived r
