Chapter 124
Third Person
+25 BONUS
Chloe enters the large restaurant, a designer bag hanging from the crook of her elbow, her hair, swinging back- and–forth with every single step that she takes, traveling deeper inside of the restaurant. Her eyes scan the area and she quickly finds her parents. She heads to the table and sits down, putting a smile on her face as she takes her spot beside them.
Her parents do not speak or utter word to her. They simply stare with neutral and slightly annoyed looks, their eyes relaying more information than the muscles below their skin do. Philip, Chloe’s stepfather, leans back in his chair and remain silent as his wife, Hannah, takes charge of the conversation for him.
“So,” Hannah speaks to the table, her eyes focused on Chloe who sits in front of her. Her voice remains as low as possible, not wanting to draw attention from any of the other tables where prominent members of the werewolf society sit. “Do you have any updates for us regarding your…situation?”
Chloe feels a wave of smugness take over her body. She places the napkin in front of her onto her lap, folding her hands on top of the white tablecloth. She smiles at her mother and tilt her chin upward, radiating an aura of prestige and pride.
“I found a way in,” Chloe’s voice is bold and dominating, “the way into his heart was easier than I expected it to be. I was so blind before!”
Chloe lets out a loud laugh, placing her hand over her mouth as the attention from nearby people land on her. She waves at them apologetically, feigning slight embarrassment before turning her attention back to her parents. Chloe lives for the attention, the way people automatically look at her.
“You should have been able to do this a long time ago,” Hannah speaks through gritted teeth. Chloe simply tosses her hair over her shoulder.
“Yeah, well I did it now! Emily will never know what’s coming for her! That is what matters in that little plan of ours-”
Chloe’s words are immediately cut off by a searing pain in her wrist. She closes her eyes, holding back the tears that form as her mother digs her fingernails into the flesh of her wrist. She opens up her eyes, vision slightly blurry, and stairs at the woman who has attached herself to her daughter.
“Be quiet,” Hannah’s voice goes low and dangerous, “do you really want to expose us like this in the middle of a restaurant? You need to learn how to be humble, Chloe, if you’re going to truly be successful in this plan of ours.”
“Yes, Mom,” Chloe nods her head, “I promise I will be better about it.”
Chloe lets out a soft gasp once her mother removes her fingernails from her wrist. She looks down at her skin, immediately noticing the crescent moon shaped imprints in her skin. Her skin is red and irritated, the flesh almost having been ripped apart from the force her mother put into her grip.
She wipes away a tear with the back of her hand, refusing to let it fall or ruin her makeup. She stares at the white plate that sits in front of her, the restaurant’s menu staring back at her. She dissociates, listening to the quiet hum of her parents‘ voices as time passes her by, her confidence shattered in just a matter of seconds.
Before she knows it, Chloe is sitting inside of a new restaurant. Well, it is a run down bar, but she did not have much of a choice in the matter. She is here to catch up with her ally, Reid, and receive any updates from him that
she can.
She watches him from a booth in the bar, a cocktail sitting in front of her. She wears a bandaid on her wrist, hiding the marks her mother forged into her skin. She keeps it away from the light, watching as Reid staggers over to the
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Chapter 134
+25 BONUS
table with a drunk scowl, his eyes half open and focused on her.
“Chloe,” he greets her with slurred words, “it is always so wonderful to see you.”
“Stop with the sarcasm, Reid,” a bitterness forms over Chloe’s tongue. She crosses her arms over her chest, watching as Reid slips into the other side of the booth, sitting across from her with a glass of whiskey in his hand. “Do you remember our deal?”
“You mean blackmail,” Reid’s drunken boldness is truly starting to get on Chloe’s nerves, her patience slowly withering away. “You know that you are ruining my life right now, right?”
Chloe bites back a comment, rolling her eyes at the drunken man in front of her. It’s his fault, really, that he is in this mess. If he never had drank from the cup meant for Logan, he never would have made the mistake of letting Chloe in, to wake up in bed beside her instead of his own beloved.
“I need an update on Logan,” Chloe says, crossing her arms over her chest once again. “How is he doing? Did he find the information that I gave him useful?”
Reid laughs. It sends chills down Chloe’s spine. She raises an eyebrow at him as his laughter grows louder and louder, more maniacal with every second that passes. The drunken man leans back in his seat, clapping his hands together, his eyes closed.
The site alone is enough to make Chloe feel uneasy in the plan that she has created. In order for her plan to work, she had to place a lot of her trust in Logan and the sweet words that he spoke to her not so long ago. So seeing Reid react in such a visceral way, his laughter echoing across the darkened bar, makes Chloe feel unnerved and unsteady.
“What is it?” Chloe asks, leaning forward. She drops her guard, vulnerability slightly seeping out from her slowly eroding composure. “Why are you laughing like that?”
Is there something that Reid knows that Chloe doesn’t? Is there something that Logan is holding back from her and their secret in blossoming relationship with one another? She will need to get back into contact with Logan. soon to ensure that everything is still okay between them, that the information that she gave to him is proof that she is in it for the long run with him.
“Stop that, Reid!” Chloe speaks in a hushed whisper, reaching forward and snatching his wrist in her hand.
The man begins to calm himself down, coming back from the high of laughter and giggles from Chloe’s clear delusion. He shakes his head at her and brings the glass cup up to his lips, taking a big swig from the alcohol, feeling it burn down his throat.
Chloe releases his wrist and crosses her arms over her chest huffing and puffing to no one but herself.
“Why am I even listening to you? I am the one who is earning Logan’s trust here by giving him exactly what he needs, not you. No matter what you do, you won’t be able to earn that trust back with him!” Chloe says, purposefully trying to hurt Reid in the process to assert her own form of sick dominance over him.
“Ob, Chloe, you idiot,” Reid says, a hint of a chuckle passing through his lips once again. “You gave him everything he needs to use you.”
Chapter 125
