Chapter 133

Claire POV

The candidates were forming up near the steps that led onto the stage that faced the wider arena on the other side of the curtain. The air began to buzz with their last minute nerves.

And then the host, Iron Claw’s respected Luna, began to call the candidates onto the stage one by one.

The audience in the arena erupted into applause for each one.

Tonight marked the end of all the weeks and months of campaigning for these candidates. They each spent that time gathering as much support as they could.

And every single one of them had their own devoted supporters out there in the crowd, cheering them on.

But when Nathan’s name was called, the noise of the crowd, already loud, became thunderous.

And it wasn’t just my imagination.

Nathan was a clear favorite even among this small group of admired and respected Alphas.

He was clearly the front runner for the Alpha President position.

It made my heart swell with pride.

No matter how complicated and difficult our relationship had begun, I knew Nathan was a strong, fair leader.

He was going to make an excellent Alpha President.

But while I knew I should be taking my own place on that stage, taking my seat to the side with the current Alpha President and other high-ranking officials of the realm, there was something I had to take care of first.

Something I hadn’t believed even though I’d seen it.

I needed to find out who that woman was, the one Nathan had just stood next to so intimately.

The one he’d leaned down and kissed, lingering over the moment.

Breathing in her scent.

I could barely think over the noise of the crowd, the clapping and cheers, the shouts and whistles.

Over the jealousy that had twisted in my chest when I saw him with her.

I was determined to find out what was going on.

So I pushed my way through the swirl of people still hanging out backstage, almost breathless from the heat of the gathered people, the stage lights, the swell of the crowd on the other side of the curtain.

The Betas and security personnel, the administrative staff and assistants, all made way for me when they saw who was trying to get through. But it still took time, and I struggled with impatience.

But at last I worked my way across the room, pushing until I was standing behind the woman Nathan had just been with.

She stood staring up the steps onto the side of the stage, watching the candidates begin to each take their turns at the podium.

As the speeches began, I put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a slight tug to get her to turn around.

“Just who do you think you are - ?!” I began.

Just to stop, stunned as the woman turned around to face me.

“Catherine??”

My cousin whirled around to face me, a look I’d never seen before on her face.

It took me a moment to realize what that expression was:

It was disgust.

I drew my hand away from her, fighting the urge to step back from the force of her glare.

“You - you told me you were going to be out of town, but I didn’t know…”

I took a breath, trying to regain my footing.

Seeing her here, realizing she was the one Nathan had just kissed, was so confusing.

“What are you doing here?” I said finally.

Catherine gave me one last cool sneer, then turned her head away, looking back toward the stage again.

Toward Nathan.

“I told you I was interviewing for a job. Nathan needed a campaign manager, and offered me the position.

“Somebody had to help him win this presidency. Did you think it was going to be you?”

Her cool and dismissive tone was so strange after the heat of her first glance.

I noted that she called him Nathan, not Alpha.

Between those two things, my confusion only deepened.

Then I thought of our confrontation back at the palace, when she burst into my room and started talking about Nathan and asking how I could allow myself to be courted by both him and Gavin.

And my confusion began to turn to suspicion.

I moved closer to stand next to my cousin, keeping my voice low so it wouldn’t carry up the stairs and onto the stage.

“What’s really going on here, Catering? Why have you been so distant and cool lately?”

I had been sad when she told me she was leaving the palace to interview for a job. More, I’d been hurt by the distance in her eyes, the coolness of her tone.

Somehow, for some reason, my beloved cousin had become almost like a stranger.

And it broke my heart.

I put my hand on her shoulder once more, hoping she’d finally look back at me.

“I thought we were friends,” I said.

Catherine did indeed look at me, shrugging my hand away from her and turning to face me with so much anger in her eyes that I nearly gasped.

“Friends?? Ha! Claire, you don’t know how to have friends.

“Just like you don’t know how to have a mate.”

I blinked in surprise, both at her tone and at her words.

I didn’t know how to have a mate??

“Wh-what do you mean?” I stammered, utterly confused.

She made a sound of frustration, as if I was being stupid.

“I loved you once, Claire, but the more I saw how badly you treat Nathan…

“Well, the more I knew I had to do something about it. I had to help him, since you so obviously wouldn’t.”

“Help him?” I said, frowning. “Like, with his campaign?”

Claire gave a sharp, humorless laugh. “To start with, yes. But it’s more than that, and we both know it.”

I shook my head. No matter what she thought she was talking about, I certainly didn’t know what she meant.

“Don’t worry,” she said, her eyes going back to the stage.

To Nathan.

“I’ll take good care of him, you certainly don’t have to worry about that. Or that he’ll get in the way of your courtship with Alpha Gavin.

“And once Nathan is mine, he’ll never think about you again.”

If I was confused by the anger rolling off Catherine toward me, I was completely dumbstruck by her last words.

Once Nathan was hers??

And she’d said it with such smugness, as if her being with Nathan was already something that was guaranteed.

I grabbed her arm, trying to turn her around.

“Catherine, look at me! Tell me what you mean by all of this.

“I don’t understand!!”

But Catherine just shook me off, giving me a strong push that knocked me back a few steps.

Then she walked halfway up the stairs to the stage, completely ignoring me.

Recovering myself, I started to march right up those steps after her.

We weren’t finished, not by a long shot.

But then a sharp, echoing noise broke overhead, interrupting the speeches, the calls from the crowd, and my own thoughts.

That’s when the first gun shots began to rip through the air.