Claimed Novel Novels & Stories

Fernando. Elena. The private room, the bed. From every angle. I couldn’t breathe. The screen burned my eyes, but I couldn’t look away. It was worse seeing it this way, magnified, undeniable, stripped of any room for doubt. Biggest scandal of the century: The Rogue King and the Valenti-Bride.

Yeah, some would have loved to be hybrids, but the largest part of the population believed in keeping bloodlines pure. “Wait a minute!” My eyes grew wide as I believed I just had the idea that could blow all of this wide open. “What if we let the information get out?” Sebastian frowned. “The reporter. What if we gave her the entire story to write on the condition that she kept you out of it? We can tell her that Eli is the hybrid and he tried to get the attention off himself by pointing her to you.”

The story broke at dawn. A carefully curated exposé published by an independent outlet, backed by documents, witness testimonies, and an emotionally charged foreword written by Nova under a pen name: The Daughter Who Remembered. Within hours, it had spread like wildfire. By noon, it was trending across every major news outlet. “BLACKTHORNE SCANDAL: Billionaire’s Mistress Institutionalized for Profit?” “Whispers From the Past: Leclerc Heiress Breaks Silence”

“Either way: leak.” A cold, familiar dread slid under Elowen’s skin. A leak was how it always started in the stories. Someone chatted to the wrong person. Someone was coerced. Someone sold a name for safety. *Rule One: Unclaimed means recoverable.* She’d lived most of her life trying to stay off lists. Now her name was burned onto everyone. A leak inside their circle was how Crowe made her unclaimed again in practice, no matter what Daire or a piece of paper said.

As a result, she soon became one of the top three richest individuals in the nation. She knew that something was off. So, she looked into it and discovered that her competitor was behind the faulty wiring incident. Apparently, the competitor knew that she was busy setting up the company's new project's funding. Therefore, they wanted to use this opportunity to ruin her hotel's reputation by creating an incident through damaged wiring. When Jenna knew the truth, she immediately mailed all the evidence to her lawyer. That competitor would find it hard to escape the jaws of the law. Jenna called out to me just as I was about to return to my room.

She looked at me incredulously before giving me a wide smile. "Of course not. This was just me being silly. Forget I said anything. It's just you were all over the school blog along with her, the kids all think you have something going on," she responded. I had also heard about everything. Nothing could be kept a secret for long in this school. A friend will tell a friend and that friend will in turn tell another friend. It was a vicious circle of lies that kept going on and on. It never seemed to end. She left the part about Nolan out. She knew it was a sour topic that definitely won't end well.

Hadley tilted her head, the diamond studs at her ears catching the light. “Relax, Cassian. We’re just talking.” She turned to Zara again. “You must find it… interesting, being so close to him all the time. Makes people wonder how far loyalty really goes.” Zara didn’t blink. “People wonder when they have too much free time.” Hadley’s smile sharpened. “Or when they’ve seen this story before. A woman gets too close to a Wolfe, and suddenly she’s…..” she paused, eyes glinting, “ she's gone. Just like Marco Renzo, the journalist who didn't stay away.”

“If you are insinuating that I’m a rebel spy, as you call them, I can tell you I am offended by the accusation.” I focus in, piecing through his thoughts until I find one that will do what I need. “Is that why you met with Tomson Murray, the known leader of the rebels, and promised to report back on this meeting?” I question. “Th-that’s hearsay. You have no proof,” Alpha Klave stutters. According to the thoughts bumbling about the room, only half the werewolves believe me. “My spies reported you wearing a green cloak with leaves embroidered in gold thread when you met with him two weeks ago.”

Rafael Moretti ~•~ I saw the headline at 8:09 a.m. I hadn’t even showered yet. I was still in my pajamas, holding a half cup of coffee as I scrolled through my phone. The coffee burned my throat when I swallowed too fast. I clicked the article. They’d dug up every blurry picture and video they could find of her and Nikolai, twisted the timeline, and slapped together theories that made Serena sound like a cheap opportunist. They implied that she traded one billionaire for the other.

"Are you suggesting I staged my son's kidnapping?" "I'm suggesting that everything about your return is suspiciously timed." I knew I should stop talking, knew I was revealing too much, but the words kept coming. "You show up claiming Zeke has a son he never knew about, right when Cameron's parentage is being questioned. You have this dramatic story about being pushed off a cliff and surviving against all odds. You need Zeke's resources and protection. It's all very convenient." "You're delusional." "Am I?" I laughed but it sounded unhinged even to my own ears. "Or am I the only one willing to say what everyone's thinking? That maybe, just maybe, you're not the tragic victim you're pretendin