Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella – Chapter 52
Evan knew something was wrong the moment he walked in.
The subtle shift of light in his sharp eyes betrayed his wariness, and when he closed the door behind himself, it was far quieter than usual. It was as if he were tiptoeing, gently grazing the surface of the pond, waiting for the shadow underneath to rise and reveal itself.
Was I that shadow? Was I really something for him to be wary of? I was Claudia, half-breed werewolf, small and no threat at all. Most of my life, I’d been a slave. No one had ever been wary of me, ever.
instead of wrapping me up in a hug as he usually did whenever he returned home, whether it had been five minutes or two hours. I star
rue?”
true?”
the websites for the local news channels, but I’ve been learning to use social media a little lately.” I searched his face, pausing so he could interject. He didn’t. “I still get confused by all the hashtags and all of that so I was ready to just dismiss it as hearsay, since I know better than to believe everything on the internet. But then I real
“What are you getting at, Cl
ded. My face was hot. Evan was getting gruff when any other time, he wo
y knew.
e knew that I knew
g? Killing? I thought…”
someone had splashed ice water all over me. “You thought I was doing what I have to do? What I’ve been doing ever since I became Alpha? This is how I got here. This is how I’m keeping my power, the power I earned. And I’m going to get to the bottom of this whatever it takes.”
the floor, feet refusing to move.
it has nothing to do with us,” he said. “This is about getting revenge. I found out that the same people circulating these drugs are t
etter!”
uld have!”
? Seventeen? Or is it true you beat a fifteen year old boy unconscious? Jus
innocent? That he went around dealing drugs and learning how to shake down addicts from the older punks for a good reason? He’s a criminal. He’s part of their world. And he deserves what he got.”
e next one? The next kid who has names you want to know but can’t tell you? If he was part of that world because he had
e who’s guilty or innocent enough in your eyes. I will hurt and kill anyone in my way to get what I need.”
For a long moment, we stared at each other in silence, neither of us
’s not right.”
top tr
That black cloud that always clung to him when he was furious or sunk deep in misery, it had returned. I couldn’t feel Evan’s warmth past it anymore. That warmth we had worked so hard to find together, that love, that need to be with me and feel me and have me — it was hidden
?
ed for Evan when he was happy, when he was sad, when he was in pain or angry or had woken from a nightmare.
im. Myself.
anticize me all you want, but there’s no one better at it than I am.”
dn’t have saved me. I would have just become another body, Evan. But that’s not what happened. You took me away from Dark Moon and brought me here.
”
e us even.”
reets–“
for your mate. You could do that still, right now.”
sh of emotion shone in his eyes, hard and hurt. “I’m not. I won’t. Claudia, I haven’t looked for my mate since…”
t, and I took a small, tentative step toward Evan. I reached for him… slowly.
d he pulled me i
ll him all the other things buried in my chest that I hadn’t gotten a chance to say yet, but I was too, too tired. As his strong arms wrapped around me, I could only hug him back, sinking into his warmth.
ant you to know,” he muttered. “I didn’t… I just wanted answers, and I–“
know. As soon as I realized the articles were gone, I realiz
rder and dropped his forehead to rest on my crown. “I was so close. They knew… They knew something, and my parents…”
e truth, Evan. I promise.”
running his lips over my temple.
st to get what we want. We can do this right, so we can make your parents proud from wherever they’re watching. And to give you real peace, not more blood. Okay?” I looked up and leaned the side of my face on his shoulder. His eyes were closed, his brow furrowed. Pain… Sadness. So much of it. But the darkness wasn’t here to stay. I would lift it up as many times as I needed to, if that was what it took to save Evan.
you,” I wh
lips brushing my forehead.
ve you, too.”