Claimed by the Vengeful Alpha

Chapter 79: At Dawn

"Alaina," Claude’s voice called from the corner. "I thought I heard something."

Alaina let go of her hair and turned quickly, acting as though nothing was amiss. She placed herself in front of the doorway, hiding Maya from view.

"Alpha Claude. Did she wake you up? I apologize. I was trying to—"

The rest of her words were cut off as Maya shut the door. She was grateful for his presence, but she didn’t like that he was starting to appear everywhere when she needed help. Claude was not the sort of person she wanted to owe.

"You see, this is exactly how she is," Alaina was saying. "Impossible to reason with. She is just really good at playing the victim."

"What’s going on?" Claude asked with a dark look in his eyes.

He knew exactly what was going on. Alaina had not exactly been quiet; her voice was loud enough to wake the whole house.

He had heard her footsteps go past his room and had followed her. She had been so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t notice him. Her actions intrigued him. She seemed more vengeful than even Keenan, whom Maya had supposedly hurt.

"I’d rather not bother you, Alpha Claude. I will take care of this later," she said with a smile and walked past him.

Claude narrowed his eyes as he watched her go. It was most unfortunate; he might not have all the cards before the meeting.

He glanced at Maya’s door and walked toward it. He wanted to knock, but she was wary of him. He didn’t want her to distrust him more, so he turned away and walked back to his room.

Maya didn’t go back to sleep, and when the time for breakfast came, she groggily stood up. Her eyes felt heavy from lack of sleep, but the heaviness in her heart was worse.

The walk to the dining room felt longer than it should, and each time she kept looking over her shoulder, hoping she wouldn’t run into Claude.

Alaina was already seated by Theo’s side when she walked in. Maya didn’t even try to brace herself. She was exhausted, both emotionally and physically.

"You!" Alaina stated accusingly.

Maya stared at her impassively. It was commendable how Alaina kept at this. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

"When are you going to leave? Surely, you have no reason to be here anymore."

"Alaina," Winnie muttered, shaking her head slightly.

Maya blinked, a little surprised that she would go against her sister so easily.

Alaina narrowed her eyes at her. "I am only speaking what you want to say. However, your pretend moral high ground wouldn’t let you."

"That’s not true," Winnie blurted but her voice didn’t have the same confidence.

"Really?" She asked and folded her arms, as though daring Winnie to say more.

Guilt clouded her features and she pulled back. There seemed to be something Alaina held over Winnie, and Maya had a feeling it wasn’t just because she was her elder sister.

"As I was saying—"

Her words were interrupted as the doors opened and the Alphas walked in. Keenan kept some distance away from Claude, as though he was avoiding him.

Maya watched him from the corner of her eye until he sat down. She frowned and adjusted in her seat. His eyes were bloodshot, and it didn’t look like he had gotten much sleep.

"You look like a ghost," Claude commented as he took in Keenan’s appearance. "Trouble sleeping?" A smirk lingered on his lips.

Keenan glared at him as he began to eat. "And you have better things to do than to care about my appearance."

Claude smirk widened. "I worry for my host. I wouldn’t want you to fall over and die. Who will care for me?"

Keenan narrowed his eyes and was about to speak when Alaina joined in. "Alpha Keenan, are you ill?" She asked softly, her voice filled with concern.

"No," he replied coldly.

"Then is it the chicken soup you ate last night? I told you there was something wrong with it." Alaina sent a glare in Maya’s direction. freeweɓnøvel.com

Claude’s brows furrowed for a moment, and he glanced at Maya. She tried not to react to his stare, but by the look on his face as he turned away, she had given something away.

"Maya!" Keenan called from the other side of the table. His voice was louder than it needed to be.

She was so stunned that she couldn’t react, and it took her more than a moment to look away from Claude to him.

There was a dark look in his eyes as she met his gaze. His bloodshot eyes made him look scary. She realized that fear wasn’t what she felt—rather, it was concern. Did he have trouble sleeping, as Claude said?

"Yes," she mumbled, her voice steady.

"We leave for the capital at dawn."

"We?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Tomorrow?" Claude’s question overshadowed hers. "The meeting isn’t until the day after."

"You can stay behind."

"Rude, leaving without your guest."

Keanan didn’t respond to this as he continued eating. He didn’t look in her direction or elaborate on what he just told her.

"I don’t have appropriate clothes," she blurted.

The entire table stopped and turned to look at her. She didn’t flinch but it felt like ants were crawling up her back as they stared. However, it was already torture having to deal with Claude dressed like this; if she had to deal with other Alphas or her father in this manner, she would actually break.

"What makes you think you can make demands?!" Alaina yelled.

Keenan didn’t speak; rather, his eyes showed a brief flash of surprise before his jaw tightened. It wasn’t hard to read his expression, she had come to learn that she didn’t need to do much to anger him. She doubted he had ever stopped being angry at her.

She held her chin up and didn’t look away. She wasn’t going to retract what she had asked for. She wouldn’t step a foot from here if she weren’t at least given a proper dress.

"Perhaps you want Vilhelm to take his daughter back?" Claude asked with a soft chuckle.

"He couldn’t," Keenan said confidently while looking right at her. "You can have your dress."

She felt all the energy deflate from her body. She had not realized how much effort it had taken to make such a demand.

"Alpha, this is exactly what she wants!" Alaina snapped. "First, she feigned unconsciousness at the wedding then made you take her to your room. Now, she demands better clothes. She has no right to receive anything other than what she has on. They didn’t offer you even that decency. Could you have chosen your clothes if you wanted to while locked up and tortured by her? She deserves to strut around in these clothes in front of the Alphas, just like they humiliated you. A taste of her own medicine is exactly what she deserves! Never forget she is only playing at being meek, Alpha. She is nothing but the evil daughter of the Alpha who ruined Verlassen. I seem to be the only one who remembers that!"