Page 77 of Claimed By the Alpha
Proudness swelled inside me, one that quickly changed when Laila came inside with a knife pressed against her belly. “William, stop!”
Laila edged closer, tears streaming down her face as blood dripped from the knife at her belly. “Give up, William.”
The pain and fear in her eyes were something she had never shown before, and Logan winced inside me, flashes of how Joanne looked when she was with William. Moments of my dead Luna and pup in my arms followed.
The shield Laila had put around her was to protect herself, fearing if someone saw how William treated her, it would mean her death.
“Laila, don’t,” William warned, moving toward her while his expression softened.
“You have to stop!” Sobs left her lips, and her grip on the blade wavered.
She could give birth any day now. I actually thought she was due a few days ago, but maybe because of all the stress, she was late.
Joanne stood by me, blood trickling down her body, watching what was happening between William and Laila.
-Joanne-
My body buzzed, my hands hurting as my claws wouldn’t retreat. My skin breaking from the fire and healing at the same time.
William was mine to kill, mine to rip apart. But now, as I watched him pressing his hand on Laila’s belly, my hatred softened.
It was only for a moment because when his other hand collared her throat, my panic rose.
“Why would I care about you?” he sneered, and the snap of her neck followed.
“NO!” I screamed, running toward Laila, but Isaac held me back. Fearing what might happen.
I thrashed in his grip as Laila’s lifeless body slumped to the ground. Her eyes wide open and the horror in them made me gulp.
Fire leaked to the floor, and my breath turned ragged, paired with menacing grows. My bones realigned, and pain surged through my body, a pain I welcomed to show me I was still alive and this wasn’t a nightmare happening in front of my eyes. My body numbed as my rage took over.
My sight changed, and I broke free from Isaac and my human form. Storming toward William, canines bare, I jumped when my paws hit the ground.
He caught me mid-air, and my canines tore in his shoulder. A sharp pain emerged in my sides, his claws piercing my thick skin. Fire lashed out, a burn he quickly put out with his icy smoke, but I wouldn’t stop.
He could slash me apart, but I would take him with me. I would take him with me to the other side.
Screams and roars echoed around me. But my focus wouldn’t weaken. I had one goal, one sight, and that was William. I needed his blood and death to claim back what he took. Punish him for all he did. I had to do this for my parents. I had to do this for Laila. He didn’t deserve forgiveness.
Seeing only one way out, I shifted back, his claws leaving me, and I quickly cupped his face. My thumbs pressed into his eye sockets, my claws destroying his eyes as he cried under me.
Blood squirted out, covering my naked body, but I pushed through until I heard his skull break under my strength.
Curling my fingers, I strengthened my grip. A bright white light shone from the fracture as it grew and grew until his head parted.
His entire body went limp as I held onto his skull, panting, trembling. Shock washed over me, and I remained frozen on the spot.
Until I heard the cries. The cries of a newborn.
Chapter twenty-nine
Peace
Ididn’tdaretoclose my eyes, too focused on the tiny human lying between Isaac and me. This little creature was alive and thriving. Her birth was something I wanted to scrub from my memory, the same as I tried to erase the one where I held William’s skull in my hand.
However, the second I saw this little girl in Isaac’s arms, I knew in the core of my being she was ours.
We would love her as our own, cherish her and give her all she deserved and more.
