Claimed by Chapter 61

Posted by admind, ? Views, Released on December 10, 2024

Chapter 61

Mason

With King and Niko gone for the meeting with the fron Serpents, and Zuri finally asleep upstairs, Alyssa and I are alone.

She’s watching “Enchanted” for what has to be the millionth time. I’ve never actually watched the damn movie. That’s usually something she does with Niko, but I swear I could recise it word for word if someone held a gun to my head.

I should be reading the book in my hands, but I find myself reading the same lines over and over again, the words refusing to stick. Instead, my focus keeps drifting to Alyssa–the way she smiles at the cheesy parts of the movie, how she curls her legs up on the couch, hugging herself. She looks like she wants to be held, and I want to be the one to hold her, but I’m still too much of a fucking coward.

I’ve been sleeping in what used to be her mom for the past week. Close enough to feel like I’m in her orbit, but never close enough to actually touch her. Never close eisough to be more than just a shadow.

I know Niko told me to tell her. To just get it off my chest. But I can’t. There’s no space for a third guy in this situation. I refuse to have any hope that she would ever go for that. But the jealousy continues to eat away at me when I watch King and Niko with her, and I’m tired of pretending like it isn’t.

e. “What’s wrong?” I ask quietly, glancing up from my book.

Suddenly, I notice her watching me.

She giggles, a soft sound that spreads warmth across my chest. “I think I should he asking you the same thing. Every time I look at you, I find you already looking at me.”

1 glance away, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips. “Can’t h

help You’re beautifL

Her cheeks Bush a rosy pink, and she tugs at her hoodie, pulling it tighter around herself like my compliment has made her feel too exposed. Fuck.

After a long moment, she asks, hesitantly. “Mace, you’re not bored hanging out with me, right?”

1 shake my head, swallowing hard. “Never.”

“Really?” She sounds so surprised, like she truly can’t believe fl enjoy her company. “I thought maybe you were forcing yourself to stay down here to keep me company. I didn’t think you actually enjoyed it.”

I nod, but inside. I’m mentally beating myself up, How can I be this close to her and still make her feel like I don’t want to be here? I suck at this. If I can’t make it clear that 1 like spending time with her, how the hell am I ever supposed to tell her how I feel

She turns her full attention towards me, her eyes more serious than they were before. “Is there something you want to talk about? I know something must be on your mind if you’re too distracted to read.”

Thesitare, my fingers tightening around the edges of the book. I guess I just want us to get to know each other better.”

Her brows furrow slightly, but she stays quiet, waiting for me to say more. I’ve never been one to open up, not to anyone, really, But for some reason, I want her to know. The real me. Not just the version of me that others know, the one who’s always nonchalant, always has his guard up. want her to know what I keep hidden from everyone else.

1

Alyssa bites her lip “Well, you already know everything there is about me, but I don’t really like asking you guys anything about your pasts. I know it was rough, and well, I don’t want to make you relive that”

She’s talking like her childhood was all sunshine and roses. But maybe that’s all she remembers, all Gray has allowed her to know unfortunately, it’s not my place to tell her. Neither is it King’s or Niko’s or they would’ve done it by now.

You’re not much different than us. I marmur, keeping my voice soft. “Both of your parents are gone as well.”

“That’s true.” She sounds legitimately surprised, like she never thought of it that way.

I take a deep breath. This is it. The moment I either back out or dive into the deep end. “Do you want to know what happened to mine?”

She stares back at me, her head nodding slowly with hesitation. “Only if you’re comfortable talking about it.”

Only King. Niko. Gray…and the Moonshadow Creek Police Department know exactly what happened. But I want to tell her. Even if it makes her look at me differently,

No. She wouldn’t do that,

She accepts King’s past, why wouldn’t she accept mine?

1/2

9:10 AM

Chapter 61

1 stand up and settle beside her, the soft fabric of the couch pressing against me. Her sweet, floral scent envelops me, calming my thundering heart and anchoring me to this moment. Her eyes never leave mine as I spill my dark past. “My dad was a monster. He…he did things to me and my twin sister when my mom wasn’t around. And since he couldn’t keep a job. She worked nights as a nurse, and he couldn’t keep a job due to his excessive drinking, so…

Alyssa’s eyes go wide, horror flashing across her face, but she doesn’t speak

When we were fourteen, my sister killed herself. After that, he started taking it out on my morn. It got worse every day until one day I came home from school and found him standing over her bloody naked body. He forced me to bury her in the backyard, but I finally snapped. I grabbed the shovel and hit him with it over and over again until he was unrecognizable.”

“Mace.” Alyssa’s voice trembles, tears gathering in her eyes.

I was arrested. I continue, my v voice rough “Somehow your father!

Esther found our, and agreed to make the charges disappear on one condition that I joined the Crimson Reapers.

Her lip trembles, and she reaches out, hesitating, “Can I just…hug you! Please!”

I nod, and the next thing I know, she’s wrapped around me, her bee buried in my chest. She’s so soft, so goddamn warm. Like hugging sunshine. I close my eyes, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair. I wish this moment could last forever. But I know better than to wish for that

She pulls away slightly, her eyes gearching mine, and I see her glance down at my lips. My hand lifts to her check before I even register what I’m doing, the warmth of her skin seeping into my palm. A shiver runs through me

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “You and your sister, you deserved so much better”

I’ve heard those words before, but this time, they mean something. Because they’re coming from her. I want to kiss her so badly. right time. Not like this, after I’ve unloaded all this dark, heavy shit on her.