Semua Bab Till The End of The World : Bab 11 - Bab 20

CLARA Then Sophie slowly sets her samples down, her fingers smoothing once over the glossy color card before stilling completely. And the expression on her face makes my stomach tighten immediately. Tiny change, barely there, but she has always been terrifyingly easy for me to read. Perks of growing up together, I guess. “What?” I ask immediately. Emily looks up from beside me, still aggressively flipping through nail samples she has no intention of choosing normally. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” she asks. Sophie hesitates for exactly one second too long. “There may actually be someone who can help.” “An Alpha?” Maddy asks quietly from the armchair, finally looking up from her coffee. Sophie nods sideways before she speaks again. “Stefan came back.” What? Stefan? Absolutely not. My entire body stills. Beside me, Emily stops moving completely too, the nail samples nearly slipping from her hands. “…What?” she says. Apparently we share one co

CLARA A long silence follows my threat. Then the gates begin sliding open. The asshole still cares. A tiny amount of relief settles somewhere inside my chest before I immediately crush it out of principle. Behind me, Evan stiffens slightly. “You’re not staying,” he says immediately. God, he really starts talking the second something’s out of the rules. I turn toward him while walking back toward the car barefoot, my heels still abandoned somewhere in the gravel. “I need peace of mind,” I tell him while opening the passenger door. “And for that to happen, I need you to do something very easy.” His eyes narrow slightly.“What?” “Be yourself. Silent.” His jaw tightens faintly before he shuts the driver’s side door harder than necessary. Touchy. The car rolls slowly through the gates while familiar roads stretch ahead. Tall trees line both sides of the driveway, rainwater still dripping softly from the branches overhead while the massive estate slowly emerges throu

CLARA “Take those bags and come find me,” I say the second the car halts, already pushing the door open before Evan can finish whatever deeply protective sentence was loading in his brain. “You—” Too late. I hurry up the packhouse steps and straight through the massive entrance doors while the staff immediately straighten around me. God, this place really does operate like a kingdom with modern settings. One of the maids nearly drops the tray in her hands when she sees me storming inside barefoot in Stefan’s slippers. Honestly understandable. Very ugly, comfy slippers. “Where’s Alaric?” I ask immediately. “The Alpha King…is in his office fir—” I’m already halfway up the staircase before she finishes. The first floor hallway stretches long and quiet beneath golden lights while my heartbeat keeps doing strange things inside my chest. Which is ridiculous. I literally just cried for an hour and reunited with my emotionally constipated brother. My nervous system sh

CLARA His mouth is still on mine when my fingers finally find the buttons of his shirt. The fabric is expensive, crisp beneath my fingertips, and entirely too distracting when his hands are already everywhere else. One button slips open. Then another. His breath catches faintly against my mouth when my nails drag lightly down the newly exposed skin beneath the black shirt, and the sound that leaves him is low enough to send heat straight through me. His hand tightens at my waist instantly, pulling me flush against him while his mouth moves against mine slow and deep, like he has all the time in the world to ruin me properly, and my brain has officially stopped functioning. The third button comes undone beneath my fingers before his hand catches my wrist suddenly, not to stop me, just to hold it there against his chest while he kisses me harder. I can feel the warmth of his skin beneath my palm now, solid muscle beneath expensive cologne and steady breaths, warm and dange

CLARA Breakfast with Alaric and Emma feels exactly like sitting between a husband and wife, only I’m the one wedging myself between them while the side chick somehow ends up as the main character here. Yeah, nothing new. It’s the only meal Alaric eats at the palace. The only time he consistently sits down with both of us before disappearing into meetings, councils, murders, probably tax fraud, and whatever else he does for fun. But honestly, who cares? I’m in a very, very good mood, and I’m not ruining it for anything. Not for the shitface in front of me trying to look all pleasant, and definitely not for the human tower standing behind me. “You can start working with Emma today,” Alaric says, finally wiping his mouth and standing from his chair. Been waiting for this! “Sure.” I beam at him as he adjusts the cuffs of his black shirt while the guards immediately straighten around him. It’s almost irritating how natural authority looks on him. A born control freak. “I’ll retur