Clara's pov

  The rain fell on my back like watery bullets soaking through my thin clothes, mixing with my tears but none of that was enough to provoke even the smallest amount of sympathy from my former chosen mate, Josh, who threw the last of my luggage into the overgrown lawn, it cracked open and the few clothes I had ever gotten spilled out and absorbed the mud outside.

  "What are you still waiting for?" He roared at me, "get out of my property before I call the cops!"

  I was trembling like a leaf outwardly, but internally burning inside. How could he call this house his property?

  "Josh, I bought this house with my own money! " I cried out through the sound of thunder, "you were all homeless when I met you. How can you do this to me now?" My voice rose even higher as I tried to salvage what was left of my belongings. It was already pretty few. Buying a new dress for myself was as rare as a blue moon, jewellery? Make up? Basically, it was non-existent for me.

  I remember intentionally dieting so that I could keep using the same clothes for years without having to purchase new ones, yet the moment Josh looked at one of his clothes funny I would immediately change his entire closet in the blink of an eye.

  Now that I think about it, out of breath and unintentionally swallowing rainwater at the corner of my mouth, my fingers deep in the mud, he never really thanked me for anything.

  Or least he had stopped thanking me for a long time, and I didn't notice, or maybe I just didn't care because of how much I loved him.

  I cared about him so much that buying a house in his name with my own blood sweat and tears meant nothing, as long as I got to see him smile; I was foolishly satisfied and–

  "Daddy, is she gone?" My heart's nearly stalked when I heard that soft little voice, and my head snapped towards the door.

  It was Henry, he was only a baby when I met his father and from the moment I laid eyes on him I promised to take him as my own and for the past 5 years I have never failed in that promise, not even once.

  I was his steady pillar in the face of a flaky father who taught that parenting was nothing but a hobby than anything else which he could dable in sometimes, and forget about, shoving it into the back burner when he got too tired.

  I looked at Henry with hope, and then he said the word starts shattered what was left of my heart.

  "Can't you pack faster?"

  My heart nearly stopped. This was the baby that i had cradled close to my chest, running around like a lunatic at night when he wailed endlessly.

  Now he looked at me like I was yesterday's trash that was yet to be picked up and thrown away.

  I was up with my soaked belongings, a cackle of thunder ran through the sky, and in that moment, the rain became three times more intense. I hugged myself. If I was to go out in this weather, then something terrible might happen to me.

  "Can I just sleep in the garage for tonight?" I asked, biting down on what was left on my pride. My wolf was whimpering within myself because of the intensity of the cold. it was beginning to get to us.

  With nowhere to go, braving this weather in the depth of the night wasn't a good idea.

  I looked at the two of them, the two people I had dedicated my life to for the past five years. Their faces drawn in disgust. Like I just asked for their kidneys.

  I blinked away the rain that tried to sneak into my eyes, my trembling had to become more erratic, and my heart was beating faster.

  Was this... where they the ones I had sacrificed so much for? I must be hallucinating, right? This has to be some kind of bad dream.

  "Honey, why haven't you come back in yet?" My sadness shifted back to rage pretty quick when I heard her voice. She appeared in the doorway behind Henry and interlocked her arm with Josh.

  "I couldn't ignore the screaming anymore," she said, speaking like a newly blossomed flower that might wither at the slightest lack of attention.

  I watched Josh's expression immediately soften up, and as for Henry, he turned around and hugged her by her legs.

  Both of them looked at her like she was the centre of the universe, a sharp contrast to how they looked at me. This woman had taken everything that I had worked years to build in just a few weeks.

  She was Josh's fated mate, but they had broken up years ago. She showed up at our doorstep with a broken arm and a plea for help. Josh wasn't too keen on helping her, but I was moved by her situation and told her that she could stay for the meantime.

  I trusted Josh, who already had an army of female friends that spawned around him. Josh wasn't bad looking, I trusted him, so I didn't think that living with one of them was going to be much of a big deal.

  I had to convince myself into thinking that Josh actually loved me, that he cared for me. Whatever they had was all in the past.

  But I guess the only person who didn't know what was going on was me.

  "Josh, why are you being so mean? If she wants to stay in the garage, then let her," Lilith said loud enough for me to hear, "at least she knows her place,"

  That was it, I couldn't throw away anymore of my dignity. I got up without saying a word, clutching on to what I could still call mine and left.

Clara's pov

  "I told you, you shouldn't have trusted him. See where you've gotten us now?" My wolf who had been prominently silent while I was being kicked out finally stirred into action.

  I was taking one laborious step after the other. The rain had toned down, but the storm in my heart intensified. The few passerbys I saw had umbrellas over their heads and passed by me without second glances.

  Within my heart, I sighed, and those people probably had a home to go back to... a family waiting for them.

  I never did.

  I was abandoned at an orphanage at birth, tossed around through the system until I turned 18, and came to Twilight City; the land of opportunity and power. There wasn't a single day that I wasn't busting my a** off.

  Who could have thought that after everything, I'd end up right back at square one; being homeless with a backpack slang over my shoulder, holding only the most basic of necessities?

  "I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO TURN OUT LIKE THIS FROM DAY ONE!" Veil screamed within my subconscious, "HE WAS ALWAYS SUCH A FREAKING DEADBEAT BUT YOU FELL FOR HIM JUST BECAUSE HE HAD A SUGARY TONGUE EVEN WHEN I TOLD YOU NOT TO CHOOSE HIM AS MATE!"

  "Veil, please not now–" I tried to reason with my wolf, but she was determined to tear me a new one.

  "It has to be now, b*tch! I told you a million times over that there was something off about that guy, but you dismissed me every single time! Now look where it's gotten us we've–"

  I was so engrossed in the arguments happening in my subconscious that I didn't even realize when my footsteps had derailed right into the road, neither did Veil.

  Then suddenly, headlights poured all over my body, and a horn was blaring high above the rumble of thunder. In that split second, I didn't run my feet, remained still like they were glued to the asphalt.

  I simply shut my eyes and held up my hands in front of my face, waiting for my impending fate. Tires screeched, and my body clenched up for an impact that never came.

  After a second or two, I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was completely unharmed. The car that almost hit me must have swerved at the last minute and then accidentally crashed into the nearby pole.

  My feet wobbled like jelly.

  I had already become dirt poor overnight.

  What if the person inside that car was seriously wounded?

  I would have to take care of the hospital bills, I... who didn't even know when my next meal was coming around would have to handle hospital bills?

  Subconsciously, I moved closer to the car, recognizing it to be a rare model that only three people owned in the country. This person must be loaded! But without realization came another crippling thought. If I took this person to the hospital, wouldn't they sue the life out of me? And since I don't have money to pay, I would probably spend the rest of my life rotting in prison.

  The weight of my leg shifted between doing the right thing and saving my own skin.

  After all, where had all these years of selflessness gotten me in the end? Drenched in the rain, cold and alone.. but. If I leave here now, will I ever be able to forgive myself for doing this very thing?

  Veil was troubled, probably feeling guilty and scared.

  Before I could make a decision, the car reversed from the pole.

  The weight on my chest immediately lifted. Whoever was inside must be okay–right?

  My thoughts came to a hault when someone stepped out of the car. He was built, with a fine muscular body outlined through his white shirt that had gotten sticky and translucent because of the rain. He approached me with a coat in arm and held it over my head.

  "Are you okay?"

  To think that those three simple words were the last straw for me, I crumbled every defence mechanism, my heart crashing down in flames. I just couldn't be strong anymore, didn't know how to.

  But as I was melting away, he picked me up, and His touch felt oddly warm while we were surrounded by the cold, Veil seemed relieved.

  I didn't ask the stranger any questions. He carried me to his car like I weighed less than feather. Then he opened the backseat door, holding me with just one arm, dropped me slowly into the seat, and got in after me.

  By this time, I had already been in the rain for too long, and I was shaking hard. Seeing the luxury of the interior of his car made me stand out like a sore thumb, to say the least.

  This man should be disgusted, I was a mess of rainwater, mud, sweat, and tears, yet he carried me in when he had no obligation to.

  I was going to get pneumonia and die if I remained in my wet clothes, but I didn't want to seem like a pervert.

  "I need to take this off," my breathless tone from crying and cold made it sound sultry, and I blushed but waited for his response.

  He nodded at me, and his blue eyes turned away. I struggled with the buttons until I realized that I might just die of cold before I even get halfway with this.

  "Please..." I gasped out, holding his collar and tugging it for his attention, "... help..." I said, pointing at the buttons with my free hand.

  His eyes slowly reeled over to me, shifting from a deep hypnotizing blue to an overwhelming golden hue. His wolf must be coming out, my ample chest was already fairly exposed when he reached for the first button, and I gasped when the pad of his finger grazed my skin.

  Instantly, his burning golden gaze met me. I started burning up. This was getting a little bit complicated.

Clara's pov

  I don't think he noticed the tip of his finger touch my cleavage, but I doubt he missed my breathy gasps.

  "You must be really cold," He said, and I gave him a nod.

  The glow in his eyes finally dies down, he hands over the coat in his hand, and I put it on. The coat covered my body, all the way down to my knees. I mumbled out a thank you before finally passing out. When I woke up, I was in a bare yet cosy bedroom, it hard minimal furniture but a welcoming atmosphere.

  That stranger must have brought me to his house, I concluded, scanning the room with my eyes before sitting up.

  "I thought you were going to be asleep for quite a while, but this is preferable," My heart jumped up to my throat when I found him seated by the side of the bed.

  "I don't think I've gotten the chance to introduce myself to you yet..." He said unbothered by my shock, "I'm Killian Stone, and you?"

  My jaw hit the floor with a thud, "Killian stone? Do you mean THE Killian stone?"

  "You've heard of me?" He asked with doubt, still evident in his voice.

  I wanted to scream and slam my head against the wall. How was he speaking of himself as if he were some random joe when he was the freaking Alpha King!

  Then again, maybe he wasn't the Alpha King? Yeah... Perhaps I just happened to run into someone with the exact name and–

  "Girl, stop lying to yourself, I'm 99% sure that's him..." Veil said in frustration, my heart pounded hard against my rib cage. Was I really in the presence of the Alpha King?

  Should I ask directly? Would I look stupid if I do so?

  "Probably," Veil said, not helping. "At least thank him first. We would have probably died because of pneumonia if it wasn't for him,"

  Veil was right. We could have died, but before I could even open my mouth, he stretched an envelope and placed it in my fingers.

  "Take this as compensation. It's still late, so you can leave in the morning,"

  I looked at the envelope stupefied for a second or more before I finally found my voice.

  "C-compensation?" I stuttered out, shaking down to my toes, "What happened between the two of us?Did we -"

  He suddenly sucked in a breath, "No, by goddess! I'm talking about how I almost ran you over because I was drunk driving," He confessed a wave of shame in his voice as he buried his face in his palms.

  "I nearly killed you by accident, so check. If the amount isn't good enough, then..." He took a deep breath, "... I'll add more to it. How does that sound?"

  I stared down at the envelope. It was thick and weighed heavily in my hold.

  This might be enough to get me by for a while, but then I'll find myself in a tight spot again in the blink of an eye.

  I need to think about this strategically.

  "Maybe you can compensate me in another way,"

  He looked at me with cautious curiosity.

  "What way?"

  ------------------

  He was the Alpha King.

  "Told you!" Veil echoched with confidence.

  But I was sinking with embarrassment. I can't believe someone like him saw me at my lowest. He must have thought I was pathetic .....

Or maybe not.

  His face was usually a taunt, blank mask that I could never get a read on.

  Looks like he only helped me out the first time because he felt guilty about his drinking and driving.

  I'm curious: What made the Alpha King get so drunk? especially since he was so stoic most of the time.

  Whatever it was, I decided to focus on other things, like my new job as his personal maid.

  The head maid, Martha, a plump, pretty middle-aged woman, drilled me about my responsibilities. I had a one week training period, during that time I stayed in the servant quarters, but I was informed that I would be moved to another room, a personal one that was close to the Alpha King so I'd be able to tend to him without delay.

  The first thing I had to do was bring him his morning tea. He liked his tea extra bitter with no sugar at all. I couldn't relate. That was his preference, not mine.

  I knocked on his door, heart thumping with tension. I was starting from the very bottom now, but even if I was set back, I wasn't going to give up, I'll forget all about Josh's betrayal and move on with my life.

  "Come in," he called in from inside. My heart was still racing as I made my way in, and I told myself to be courageous.

  I had to reclaim everything that was taken away from me, one step at the time.

  But no amount of mental fortification would have prepared me for what I saw when I stepped into the alpha Kings bedroom.

  My heart literally skipped a beat, and my wolf howled within me. It took all the self-control scrapped from every crevice inside of me to stop myself from dropping the tray and tea in my hand.

  He was only wearing pyjama pants. Everything from his waist upward was free to view. His abs were chiselled, his muscles defined, and his broad chests looked like they would make the best firm pillows.

  "My eyes are actually all the way up here, clara," he spoke up, gesturing with two of his fingers.

  I blushed, flustered, and stretched the faux silver tray towards his direction.

  "My deepest apologies, Alpha Killian I–"

  "I don't need an apology, I just need you to be more discreet. You'll see me more often, dressed like this more than you would see me in a suit and tie"

  He took the mug, took a sip, and said without warning, "I did a background check on you,"