Un.Wavering (Claimed Series Book 3) (22 page)

Clenching her teeth, she ran towards him. Her knee screamed and begged to give out, but she refused to give in. Not now. Each step was a searing pain she’d never forget. It tore at her resolve, but never once did it damper her spirits.

As soon as he was within arm’s length, she fisted the side of his cheek and leapt on top of him with her good leg. Keeping a hold of his face with her opposite arm, she rolled agilely across his shoulders, a sharp pop indicating she’d successfully snapped or dislocated his neck.

When Nicolas had executed this move, he ended up on his feet, flipping his enemy faultlessly to the ground. Hayden, on the other hand, went down with Julian, still clutching his turned cheek.

She laid on top her brother’s back, finally noticing the dead silence across the training arena. Her breathing came out in pained gasps and sweat soaked her clothes and dampened her hair. Julian’s pack was no longer as rambunctious as they’d been previously, but stunned into silence.

She rolled off Julian and shakily stood up, feeling it vital to end the challenge by standing on her feet. Bathing in the glow of victory, Hayden laughed flatly, pained and desperate for rest.

Nicolas appeared before her first. He swooped in front of her, shielding her from the others, and grabbed her jaw. Oddly enough, he was breathing just as heavily, though he hadn’t been the one who’d competed in a combative challenge.

“Hayden,” he crooned hoarsely, his pupils dilated and his hand tightening possessively across her jaw. “You did well.”

Her eyes became half-lidded as he nuzzled her cheek. The innocent gesture seemed far more erotic than it should have been.

As she pulled back, Nicolas changed before her eyes and morphed into Cole.

Hayden exhaled shakily, fretfully, feeling flushed and exhausted. She descended to the ground and Cole embraced her close, making her fall a gentle descent. 

“We need to fix your knee,” Cole instructed softly, his tender and secure voice somehow piercing through her foggy world. “It will heal by itself, but it’s best if we align it properly. It may hurt.”

Her eyes rolled up, spying Nicolas standing guard next to them. He met her stare, his face as cold and unreadable as usual. She frowned, wanting the earlier version of Nicolas as opposed to this closed-off doppelgänger.

“Your knee strategy backfired on me,” she muttered, her fever making her speech and actions slow, unclear.

Nicolas smirked, though it was gentle enough to be considered a smile. “Yet you finished off with another one of my techniques.” His eyes dropped to Cole before they focused once again on Hayden. “You’ve exceeded my expectations.”

And
that
was the customary response she’d grown accustomed to when it came to Nicolas. It suited him far better than her earlier delusion. A small smile crossed her lips, pleased at his approval.

As Cole snapped her knee back into place, her pleasure abruptly vanished. She inhaled sharply and slumped further into the ground. To make matters worse, over Cole’s head, she watched as Julian’s pack jumped over the gate and raced towards them.

Her world turned dark, foggy.

She distinctively remembered Cole and Nicolas taking position in front of her, to defend themselves and her. She desperately wanted to join them, but her exhaustion tugged her far from reality and deeper into unconsciousness.

The last thing she remembered was Julian stirring behind her and his beta, Marcus, roaring to life and stopping the wayward pack before they could attack.

I won.

It was the single, most predominate thought Hayden mulled over as she pulled herself from unconsciousness. She could hear the buzz surrounding her and feel the hard dirt beneath her. Judging from the onslaught of angry voices, Julian’s pack hadn’t tempered their rage over her unexpected victory.

She couldn’t have been unconscious for too long, yet the pain coursing through her body had dimmed substantially. Her knee still throbbed, but her werewolf had healed it enough to support some of her weight.

“Breaking his neck was a cheap shot!”

“You would have a vast change of opinion if it had been your Alpha that had broken
her
neck first.” The smooth, cultured voice of Nicolas resonated from somewhere in front of Hayden.

Her eyes blinked open against the dusty environment. Cole’s solid, unmoving form was the first thing she saw. He stood protectively in front of her, his brother standing only a few feet further.

Aside from the frantic members of Julian’s pack, what really surprised her was the man who took a proactive position between the angry werewolves and Hayden’s group. Julian’s beta, Marcus, had both his arms outstretched, creating a physical barrier to prevent the more furious members of his pack from charging forward. 

Not only was he using a physical barrier, but he also exuded a natural aura of authority. It wasn’t an Alpha’s oppressive influence, but a calmer, more levelheaded power. It reminded her of a more confident version of Fergus, of a dominant Omega.

“The terms were stated clearly for everyone to hear,” Marcus intervened, his voice carrying to everyone in the group without any effort on his part. “The match was fair and it was absolute. The girl won. We will not retaliate.”

Hayden slowly began to stand. At the same instant, the irate pack parted down the middle and Julian appeared. With his eyes half-lidded with slight disorientation, the man lazily rolled his neck side-to-side, trying to ease the stiffness.

He approached slowly, his pack falling silent in his wake.

Without even acknowledging Cole or Nicolas, Julian slipped past them and continued on towards Hayden. As a response to his intimidating impassiveness, she straightened her posture and kept her face just as blank.

Stopping just inches before her, Julian stared, his eyes assessing and focused. He didn’t say anything, didn’t show a sliver of emotion for quite some time.

Finally, he broke the silence. “I don’t know what Xavier Slayter and my father were experimenting with. All I know was that Slayter financed the majority of the work.”

Extreme hopelessness and desperation weighed Hayden down before anger took its place. “You
said
you were going to tell us what happened if I won the challenge!”

“And you were going to keep your end of the deal if
I
won?” Julian countered calmly. “You and your… bodyguards were going to ditch out after you were defeated. Why should I comply with our agreement if you had no intentions of doing so yourself?”

“You don’t know that,” Hayden croaked.

“I do,” he whispered, clearly not backing down. “Now get off my property.”

She stared wide-eyed as Julian turned his back, abandoning his honor and choosing to nurture his ego instead. Cole made an advancing step towards Hayden, as if sensing exactly what she planned to say next.

“Hayden—”

“You’re a coward,” she hissed fervently at Julian’s turned back, ducking underneath Cole’s reaching hand. “You must have gotten that from our father.”

Julian stopped short and grabbed a pair of keys from a nearby werewolf. He turned around and stalked angrily towards Hayden. “What you’re looking for is not
there
,” he emphasized passionately. “You will not find a secret that is useful enough to take down Celeste. She has already won and will not go down with ghosts she’d buried long ago. You’ve abandoned your pack long enough for
nothing
.”

He threw the pair of keys at her and she caught them instinctively.

“I wanted to pull you along, to toy with you. In truth, there was never anything to tell you about my mother. Our father mistreated her before she decided to eliminate him. She truly is a misguided illusionist who will stop at nothing for total domination.”

Baring his teeth, he appeared absolutely frenzied. “Damn
you,
damn everyone
if they do not join her or become her toy soldier. No one will stand long enough to pose as a significant threat. She is more powerful than you think.”

Eyes dilated, he looked between Cole and Hayden.

“I am giving you a truck. You can leave now and get back to your pack as soon as possible. They are not as well hidden as they believe.” Unnaturally tense and anxious, he roared at their immobility. “Get off my territory!
Now
!”

Hayden stumbled backward, unnerved at his near insanity. Cole’s hand around her neck startled her enough to move away from Julian’s silently raging figure.

She glanced at the young man one last time from over her shoulder, acknowledging she’d probably never see him again. He viewed her with contempt, but she was only curious. He’d known about her his whole life, Hayden only just learned of him.

As dire as the situation was, as confusing as it was, she felt a strange pull towards this bitter, spiteful young man.

Hayden broke eye contact and followed Cole and Nicolas out of the arena. Dead silence followed their wake as Julian’s pack members stared after them, standing down per request of their Alpha and beta.

Hitting the unlock button on the car keys, Hayden approached the large pickup truck Julian
graciously
offered along with his cryptic warning.

“It was all for nothing,” Hayden protested.

Plucking the keys from Hayden’s fingers, Nicolas swept past her and chose not to comment on her petulance. Cole was equally as silent, returning the knives she’d left in his possession. She took them without complaint and fastened the holster across her chest.

Ignoring the dull throbbing in her knee, Hayden followed the two males, contemplating their turned backs. It was quite surprising they’d accepted the truck from Julian. Maybe they were just as tired as Hayden was of traveling by foot. Or maybe they were as equally as frustrated with all the dead ends.

If they were disappointed, they did an incredible job of veiling it.

At least until they piled into the truck.

Hayden squeezed herself into the back, feeling the heavy, unmistakable displeasure coming off from the two brothers.  She knew she wasn’t too far behind them, though her displeasure was joined with confusion, disappointment, and sadness.

How was someone supposed to feel after learning about their father’s double life? When she was younger, she had adored and admired her father before he’d abandoned his family. After that, she tried to detest him and the very mention of his name.

However, his abandonment begged the question as to whether Celeste had been responsible for his absence, or if he’d left on his own accord. According to the werewolf community, Logan Crow died two years ago, around the same time as Marie and Xavier Slayter.

Who was truly behind his death? Celeste? Or… the same man responsible for Marie and Xavier’s death?

She locked gazes with Nicolas through the rearview mirror. He was Celeste’s right-hand man during her rise to power. It was to protect his brother, he’d say. But he had also destroyed many people to achieve the status as rogue Alpha and to gain Celeste’s confidence.

The Alpha male started the truck and threw it into reverse.

Hayden broke eye contact and looked one last time towards the arena. Julian stood in the open doorway of the arena, watching them go. Behind him, near his shoulder, stood his beta. Marcus appeared frustrated as he spoke to his Alpha’s turned back, even motioning once or twice towards the retreating pickup.

Something he said must have frustrated Julian, for the blond-haired Alpha angrily shrugged off Marcus’ hand and sauntered to the pack house. He never once looked back, though he must have felt Hayden’s unrelenting gaze.

She frowned, chewing the inside of her cheek. A dark feeling settled in her stomach the further they drove away from Julian’s property.

“If you know anything, now is the time to share it,” Cole said abruptly, his voice cutting through the thick atmosphere of the truck.

She glanced at Nicolas, noticing the man’s tight jawline.

“I thought you didn’t trust my word enough to hear the stories of our parents.” Aversion coated his words. “Hence why I intended to
show
you our father’s past deeds. Physical evidence. It’s the whole reason behind this—”

“I don’t even think you know the whole truth,” Cole interrupted fiercely. “You know Xavier committed a terrible act, but you don’t know the details. For all your power you had with Celeste, for all the
trust
she supposedly gave you, she still kept you in the dark, didn’t she? You knew nothing of great importance. You were simply her assassin.”

Hayden grimaced, feeling the tension coil and tighten. “I think we should calm down,” she attempted softly, yet her words didn’t seem to reach the two males.

“I’ve been saying that all along,” Nicolas whispered icily. “That’s exactly why she’s unstoppable. She trusts no one. Why do you think it is nearly impossible to find what we’re looking for? Because no one had the power to betray her secrets. They are either all dead or they know nothing.”

Hayden clutched the leather seat beneath her as they sped across the dirt road. The truck’s headlights reflected off the wickedly twisted trees, casting sinister and ugly shadows across their path.

“Is that why you chose to betray her?” Cole inquired cruelly. “It had nothing to do with your protection for me, but everything to do with your pride. Even after all those sacrifices for Celeste, and that bootlicking loyalty, she still wouldn’t indulge you with her secrets. So you left. And you spun a tale so endearing, you’d pull sympathy from those you’d wronged.

“It was always about your pride!” Cole snarled, his anger piqued.  “Even when our father named me his successor, you left to avoid humiliation.”

“Are we revisiting this issue again?” Nicolas laughed. “Father wanted me to start my own, adjourning Slayter pack. I was thirty years your senior. He didn’t think you were ready, hence why he named you second-in-command to instruct you closely.”

Cole growled low in his throat, becoming truly angry. Dark hair grew on the back of his hands, mere proof of his lack of control. No matter how well he constructed his façade, Hayden realized Celeste’s venom was still prevailing.

“You excel well at your lies.”

Hayden saw Nicolas’ distraction over Cole’s teetering temper. She also saw the figure dart from the surrounding trees and into the middle of the road.

“
Stop!
” she cried, reaching for the steering wheel.

Nicolas slapped her hands away, and instead, placed a solid, unmoving hand on her chest to stop her body from flying out the windshield as he slammed on the breaks. Cole extended his own arm out, both their instincts to protect her despite their earlier quarrel.

She exhaled sharply as they stopped just inches in front of a familiar-looking man. Julian’s beta stood alone, tall and confident that they’d stop just in time.

Nicolas turned around, his blue eyes alight with anger. “I don’t want to spend time piecing you back together. Next time, put on your seatbelt.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t been driving so quickly—”

“Stay in the car, Hayden,” Nicolas ordered sharply, effectively putting a stop to her smart remark.

Naturally, as the men escaped the truck, so did she. Cole held the door open for her, knowing it was futile to order her to stay back. With his temper back under control, Cole curled a protective arm around her shoulders and escorted her towards the foolish man.

“Marcus,” Nicolas drawled in greeting, yet no one was dismissive enough to miss the sinister undertone. “What are you doing?”

Warily, Marcus watched Nicolas’ menacing approach before he looked to Hayden. “I don’t think it was fair the way Julian sent you off, especially after years of expressing an interest in meeting you. Since branching off from his mother, he’s tried to stand on his own and escape her influence. Sadly, I still see him under her thumb.”

Hayden grimaced. Apparently, that was a common theme amongst people in close contact with Celeste. Then again, she could only speak for herself. Hayden had been just as enamored with the green-eyed seductress as the woman’s other victims.

If not more so.

She wondered how her father could have been immune. Clearly, if he’d run off several times with other women, and even invented a second identity, he couldn’t have found Celeste quite so captivating.

Her attention sharpened to the present as Marcus took a step towards her. As a result of his bold move, both Cole and Nicolas moved in tune, pressing their shoulders together in front of her and blocking her view of Marcus entirely.