Un.Requited (Claimed Series) (3 page)

Newborn?
Brother?
Hayden
furrowed her eyebrows.
“You have a brother that’s a
werewolf?”

Gregory inclined his head, not
noticing
Hayden
’s darkening mood. “Ye
s
, h
e was
bitten
when he was sixteen, ten years ago. His name is Blake, by the way.” He swallowed and leaned away from her
, t
he chains of his swings
clinking
together. “After I noticed your behavior at school today, I told him about you. And then Blake told
his Alpha, Cole Slayter
.”

“Cole Slayter is an Alpha,”
Hayden
repeated numbly.

She was having trouble wrapping her mind around all the information, all the
farfetched
information. From what little she knew, an Alpha was the dominant individual who had the highest
position in a
hierarchy. In a
wolf
sense, she figured the Alpha was the leader of a pack.
She wondered if humans, or in this case, werewolves lived in packs as well.

She blinked over at him.
“Cole is your brother’s Alpha? The same man you told Tracer I was under protection from?” Something wasn’t adding up, and she
noticed
the nervousness around Greg
seemed to grow
.

The boy laughed uneasily, almost if her presence set him off. “Many werewolves live in packs,
Hayden
. Each pack has an Alpha, the one in charge of the rest. Cole Slayter is a
notorious
Alpha and my brother was honored enough to get in his pack and—” Gregory was rambling and he cut himself off after realizing it. With a shake of
his
head, he continued. “Cole isn’t known for his lenience with humans or rogue werewolves. Especially newborn
s, or recently-turned
werewolves
,
that were bitten
by a rogue.”

Hayden
frowned deeply
. She was
trying to make sense of it, trying to piece
together what he wasn’t saying
. “Tracer, that man
just now
, he’s a rogu
e werewolf,” she stated more th
a
n asked.

Gregory nodded. “Tracer is a member of
Nicolas
’
pack, the man who
has an interest in… claiming you.
Nicolas
happens to be the Alpha of the majority of the rogues. He sends out his pack to turn as many humans as he can in order to build up his ‘
army’
. Naturally, he’s the enemy of Cole and
the
other Alpha
s
.” He gave a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Lucky you, you get the undivided attention of two notorious Alphas.”

They
lapsed into silence. The foundation of everything was that she was a werewolf, Tracer was a werewolf, and Gregory’s brother was a werewolf. It was like whiplash, trying to grasp all this.

Whatever relief
Hayden
might have felt at
getting
an answer to her unexplainable condition was now gone. A heavy burden seemed to weigh on her shoulders, rivaling the feeling of ominous gloom.

“In short, you’re basically saying that Cole is the good Alpha and
Nicolas
is the bad Alpha.”
She understood that much, but she was missing something vital.
As she thought back to Gregory’s explanations, she suddenly froze, her dread growing. “But you said that Cole doesn’t tolerate newborn werewolves who were
bitten
by a rogue.
I
was
bitten
by a rogue.” Amber eyes narrowed into slits as Greg shifted uncomfortably. “
Cole
doesn’t want to claim me,” she accused sharply. “I bet he doesn’t even want to protect me.” 

The boy all but giggled
hysterically
, twisting around on the swing and peering at the clouds. The action seemed rather childish in
Hayden
’s eyes.

“You
were
right in labeling Cole as the ‘good’ Alpha. Unfortunately, he makes things complicated. Once he found out you were a newborn, and most likely
bitten
by a rogue, Cole
ordered me to kill you.
” He mumbled something under his breath about stealth and the impossible task of getting away with
murder.

Hayden
’s teeth snapped together in a growl and her stomach tightened in fury. “Then why did you tell Tracer I was under Cole’s protection
, when in reality, he just wanted to kill me
?” It must have come out harsher th
a
n she wanted, for Gregory crossed himself.
Hayden
scoffed at the senseless act. Nonetheless, it seemed to tame her anger. “Why would Cole and the other Alphas want to kill newborns that were
bitten
by rogues?”

The boy
snorted
, sounding strangely like a wild boar. “He and the other Alphas try to eliminate as many rogues as possible to prevent them from
Siring
newborns. You see, Sires have a certain power over the werewolf they turn. You might have felt submissive with Tracer as he tried to order you around.”

He
occupied himself with tracing circles in the sand with
toe of his shoe. “Because of this
obedient
control
they have over you
, you are an easy tool the rogues can use for their pack. Cole wanted to eliminate the threat before it came to play.” He looked bashfully at
Hayden
. “Meaning, he wanted to kill you before you could contribute to
Nicolas
’
growing numbers.”

Staring
at her buried feet in the sandbox,
Hayden
struggled to understand Cole’s viewpoint. From his prospective, she would just be another enemy to him, one that followed her Sire’s
orders
without question.

On
the other hand, he didn’t even
know
her. He
hadn’t even extended
a helping hand. There were ways around killing instantly, wa
ys that might seem too troublesome
and time-consuming for a
notorious
Alpha like Cole.

“Thank you,”
Hayden
whispered, “
f
or disobeying Cole and saving me.”

Even in the dusk, his reddening cheeks we
re noticeable.
His mouth twisted in
to
a smile and he kicked the sand under his feet. “I couldn’t kill you, not when I knew how well you resisted attacking the students today. I know you were confused over what was happening to you, yet you still controlled yourself.” He glanced
shyly
at
Hayden
from the corner of his eye.
“It was worth it, even if
I
get skewered from Cole and my brother.”

Hayden
rem
ained silent
, wondering if Gregory had a plan in mind.
Nicolas
wanted to claim her because she was a female
and
because
she would contribute mindlessly to his pack.
Cole just wanted her dead.
Neither opti
on sounded remotely appealing.

“I’ll try to talk with my brother. Maybe he can convince Cole to find you a pack to live with.” He faltered when he saw the obvious rejection on
Hayden
’s face. “You didn’t think you could live in New York forever, did you? You wouldn’t be able to control yourself around all the
humans. And the full moon…” Gregory broke off, glancing at the crescent moon. “Your first moon will be painful. You’ll need an Alpha there to guide you through
the
transformation.”

She refused to think more on it, n
ot when she had a sinking suspicion that Cole would have no t
olerance for a newborn like her. He
wouldn’t feel compelled to put her with a pack
, and in
the meantime,
Hayden
could stay her
e and practice her self-control. Her family’s safety was
all that mattered anyway.

Flashing Gregory a look,
Hayden
offered a bitter grin. “Just like the legend, huh? We only turn into wolves during the full moon.”

Fortunately, werewolves weren’t like the half-transformed men in legends. Tracer had appeared like a normal
wolf,
only
a fraction larger and far more majestic.

“Actually,” Gregory started
, “a
fter the first full moon you can transform whenever you want, as long as you have control over your wolf. But it’s always mandatory to morph on the full moon.” He suddenly perked up. “Do you want to know more about werewolves? Blake has kept me updated. Did you know that
you’re
immortal now, young forever? And you can heal faster and your speed—”

“I think that’s good enough for tonight, Gregory,”
Hayden
rasped
as she felt a wave of dizziness.

Giving
a sheepish shrug, he stood up, eyeing her tentatively. It must have taken a lot of courage to reach out and offer his hand to
Hayden
.
“If you can’t take my hand, you can’t trust yourself around your family,
Hayden
.”

In
response
to his challenge
, she
flattened
her scarf across her n
ose and grabbed his hand. She
tried not to think of him as prey, but as a friendly classmate who had saved her life
.
Though
, a
lmost instantly, she felt her fingers tighten without permission. His hand was so feeble in her grasp. It would be so easy to take it and—

“
Hayden
,” Gregory warned. “You’re hurting me.”

She dropped his hand, disgusted at what she had become.
Without his help, Hayden stood from the swing, feeling oddly
despondent
.
“Will I always be like this?”
Hayden
asked uncertainly
as she put
a respectable distance between herself and the boy.

Gregory glanced in
Hayden
’s direction as they
walked
out of the park. “It’s
hard
to say. My brother, even after ten years, still finds it difficult to control himself. On the other hand, there are other werewolves who find it relatively easy to be around us.”

They lapsed into silence for a good remainder of the way home. While it was a relief to discover the answers to her current problems, it also brought with it a weighty worry and
a
lingering
melancholy.

The things that once made her human were no longer present. Instead, her enhanced senses and strong desire to attack only set her apart from everyone. It made her feel e
xtremely alone. Not to mention
how her family would react if they found out she was an animal.
Hayden
didn’t feel like the same person she used to be. She felt confined and entirely at the mercy of this
thing
inside her. They wouldn’t understand that. They would reassure her that she was the same daughter they knew, the same daughter they loved.

“You said we were immortal,” she
said
as soon as they stopped
in front of her apartment. “But can things kill us? There has to be something we’re vulnerable to
, l
ike silve
r.
”
The poisonous metal-like smell coming from Gregory’s gun was silver
, something that had set her on edge even when she hadn’t known what it was.

He
came to a stop
near the stairs, studying
Hayden
hesitantly
. “Silver can kill werewolves, yes, among other things.” Sighing, he took off his stocking cap and ran a hand through his untidy hair. “Listen
Hayden
, hang in there. I’m calling Bl
ake as soon as I get home.” He surveyed her carefully.
“Don’t do something stupid. I’ll see you at school.”

After
stressing his expectance of seeing her tomorrow,
Gregory
began walking away.
Hayden watched him
leave
,
only
entering the
apartment
building
until she could no longer see him.
It was remarkable how her life could change with just one bite.
N
ot just change,
but also
turn entirely upside down. She felt disorientated, unsettled. It didn’t help matters that she was a threat to her family’s safety as well.