He’s My Alpha by Cassandra M (Jake & Clair)
Chapter 73: The Claiming Ball
Clair
“Tell me again why I’m here inside this room instead of the Ballroom? I thought I was supposed to attend the Ball? Why am I being locked up?” I snapped and glared at the man in front of me, my hands on my hips and my foot tapped at the floor in annoyance.
“Again, Lady Clair I’m only doing what I was told to do.” He answered coldly. He had answered the same thing for the hundredth time and it started to piss me off.
“But what if I say I’m hungry? I want to eat. Don’t you want to eat? Come with me and let’s eat!” I sighed, doing my best to control the anger boiling in me. I wasn’t expecting to be locked up, I thought I could at least mingle with other people at the Ball and maybe bump on someone who knew my Alpha and could reach out to him.
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“I will have someone bring you food then. Give me a minute.” He was about to turn around when I called his attention.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Arthur.” He answered curtly.
“Arthur, I want to talk with my uncle, Alpha Noah. Call him.”
He let out a loud sigh, I could see he was controlling his nose from flaring. He must’ve been so pissed off at my nagging since we got here, but the hell I cared.
He took his phone from his pocket and sent a message to someone. After a while, it pinged. He read the response and shook his head at me. “No. Your uncle said he’s in a meeting right now and can’ t answer your call.”
I looked at the clock overhead and glared back at him. “At 730 in the evening? Who has a meeting at night? Give me your phone or at least call him!” My voice raised, brows hiked up with my arms crossed across my chest as I waited for him to sprang into action.
With another sigh, he dialed my uncle’s number and put the phone on speaker mode. Unfortunately, after 2 rings, my evil uncle rejected the call.
“F*uc*k!” I muttered under my breath and walked away from Arthur and slumped myself on the soft couch at the other end of the room, not minding if my dress was starting to have creased on it from my abrupt movement.
I was taken away from my uncle’s territory 2 nights ago and was placed in a hotel in the nearby city. I didn’t even have enough time to come up with a plan, the only thing I was able to do was to show Luisa the picture I took from my uncle’s office and tell her who was my Alpha.
I was under the impression that Jake’s visit must have happened yesterday and that I would be driven back to the territory before the Claiming but instead, I stayed in that shitty hotel until it was time to head off to this Ball.
All my hopes of being saved were down the drain now.
All I knew was I needed to save myself. And I was going to do it, by hook or by crook.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, thinking of ways to get away from here.
When I opened my eyes, I scanned the long dress I was wearing.
I had a white long vintage style chiffon dress with a plunging neckline and flowing long sleeves on me. My hazel brown hair was let loose and curled at the bottom, they didn’t put any makeup and just let me have a red lipstick to top it up, too red for my comfort.
Not that I cared how I looked, but I looked too beautiful like a pure maiden ready to seduce my Alpha. I snorted at my thought. Ready to kill maybe.
But secretly I wished Jake would come and take me away from here, but being locked up in this room was making it impossible. I only have a couple of hours left before the Ball was over and the Claiming begins.
“Arthur, do you know what happens inside the Arena? I forgot to ask my uncle.” I asked in a soft voice, hoping he won’t deny my question.
He cleared his throat and angled his body to face me, he was standing by the door since we got here.
“The Alpha Females would enter the Arena first, after the females were in, they would let all the Alphas and the Betas listed to enter the Arena after. “ He began to explain.
“So if one is not listed, he cannot enter there? Let say this Alpha just saw me tonight at the Ball and took interest, he cannot enter the Arena?”
“He needs to be listed before the Arena opens, that’ s the reason a Ball was held to give free rein for any challenger.”
“But why am I here? I should be mingling with them then.” Of course, I knew the answer, my evil uncle would not want another challenger for me or worst, my mate to see me like what happened with Mom and Dad.
“I’m only following orders, Lady Clair.” He answered coldly.
“I know. Sorry…” I offered him a warm smile to which he reciprocated just for a mere second before his face turned emotionless again.
“But once inside the arena, how long should I wait? What if no Alpha would come for me, can I just exit? I mean it’s embarra*s*sing to just wait there and then someone will come and tell me, hey you need to get out now. Nobody wants you!” I giggled exaggeratedly. “That would be bad right?” I was doing my best to get answers.
“Once the Alpha Female exits the Arena, and walks on the stage, the Claiming ends. If she walked with her Alpha then it means she was claimed, otherwise, if she goes there alone then it meant the opposite.”
I nodded, my cheeks burned from luring him into my lies. “It’s must be embarra*s*sing to walk out there without an Alpha, right? I wished he won’t abandon me.” He might have mistaken me blushed with embarra*s*sment because his eyes turned soft. “I don’t think he will abandon you, Lady Clair. I believed this Alpha has a big interest in you. But even if you walk out alone, don’t feel bad. It means this Alpha doesn’t have balls to claim you.”
“Thank you. That’s sweet of you. But how long should I wait? I mean 30 minutes, 1 hour?”
“You shouldn’t really be worrying about that. But just to explain the logic of the Claiming, once you come in you can get out at the other end right away – alone or with your Alpha or Beta.”
“Oh, so the exit is not the same place as the entrance? I thought I’ll just wait where I entered.” I stifled a laugh and tapped my thigh with my palm for another exaggerated movement.
He laughed lightly. “No. Not like that. You enter the entrance and you’ll be led to a forest, you need to find the exit there. After the forest is the arena, where most of the challenges take place. 200-meter arena, and at the other end is the exit.”
“200-meter arena? 200 meters in between the forest and the stage? Wow!”
He nodded. “If there’s a challenger, they need space for the duel, and most of the time, they need to shift on their wolves form.”
“Wow! All this for an Alpha Female?”
“Yes. That’s how rare you are. So don’t think no one will come for you.”
“Do you know who will claim me?” I asked, my eyes fluttered slowly.
“I’m sorry. I can’t tell.” He avoided my gaze this time.
“You need to help me. Is he bald? Old? No teeth? Can you imagine if he turned out so ugly? Can I run away from him?”
My eyes grew wider as Arthur started laughing. “I suggest if he turned out to be that bad, outrun him to the end of the arena. I’m sure if he’s too old he can’t run after you.11
“Then I’m free from him? I don’t want to be married to an old man…” I gave him a puppy sad eye, sighing deeply for a more emotional outcome. “It rarely happened. But I saw one where the female got tired of waiting for her Alpha, so she walked out there. The Alpha got lost in the forest and didn’t find her. In the end, he didn’t claim her because she walked out alone. They need to come back for the next Claiming.”
I faked a laugh, putting my palm on my chest. “That ‘s funny!” But a plan already formulated in my head.
I saw Arthur wanted to add more but there was a knock on the door.
He opened it and took the trolley of food that was given. After he closed the door, he carefully rolled the trolley towards me.
“Is that mine? About time. Need all energy for all the running I’m going to do later if my Alpha ended up bald and toothless.” I stifled a laugh but I saw Arthur stiffened in his place. He might have sensed the gravity of what he just revealed to me.
I couldn’t care less.
I needed to get out this Claiming. Alone. Mateless. By hook or by crook.
AEON
I’ve only set foot at the Ball 10 minutes ago and here I was, being summoned by my father at one of the rooms in this Ballroom.
I followed after one of our men and closed the door behind me as soon as I stepped in at the room that was a*s*signed for our pack.
“Where have you been?” My father asked right away. I tilted my head in his direction and caught his eyes, they were dilating into full black.
“I told you to stay here until the Claiming. We can’t risk anybody seeing you.” He added.
I looked up at the ceiling and blew air out from my mouth to keep me from snapping at him. “I just wanted to see Clair. And why do I need to hide? Do you want it to be a surprise that I’ll be challenging whoever it is that wanted to claim her?”
“Just do as I told. You will see her at the Arena.”
“Are you even sure she’s even here?” My forehead creased as I slumped on the available chair nearby. “She’s here. And that’s all that matters. Now get your act together and stay here until its time.” “You want me to stay here? For what reason? 3 hours Father, and I have to spend 3 f*uc*king hours looking at these dead-colored walls?”
“You wanted to know why? I wanted to retire,
Aeon! And I can’t do that when my only heir can’t think enough straight to find ways to get his Luna. I have to use my power and my connection to get you that Luna you wanted.” He snapped back at me. “What did you do, Father?” My brows furrowed with a confused look written on my face.
“I did what’s best for you son. Just do what I ask you to do! If it means staying still for 3 hours in this damn room, then do it!” His voice was cold, his eyes glared at me.
“I want Clair Montrell to be your Luna. If you can’t claim her tonight, then say goodbye to your Alpha dream.” He placed his hand into my shoulder and pressed it hard, which reminded me that my future was still in his hand.