Chapter 12

Neil's POV

It looked like Fiona was crazy that she had been looking for trouble with people for the past two days. I heard a talkative maid say that she saw Fiona being kicked out of Isaac's room only wrapped in a blanket. I could probably guess what happened, even though Fiona grew up with us, Isaac always had a bottom line that no one could touch. Isaac never showed a hint of liking her, and Fiona really had it coming. But my brother was always ruthless and stern. Fiona should never dare act out of character again.

Words couldn't even describe how I felt when I thought of my big brother. When we were very young, I was relatively mild-mannered and out of place in the wolf pack that revered strength. Because I was Alpha's child, many people didn't dare to bully me on the surface, only daring to taunt me behind my back. In the face of these insults, I could only pretend not to hear them. But Isaac would punish those who talked too much about me, and there were many who were beaten so much that they couldn't open their mouths for days. It wasn't until puberty when I got my wolf that the backbiting slowly died down.

Isaac's cold personality had a lot to do with our parents, who were very hard on Isaac, sometimes to the point where I couldn't even bear it. But my mother said, "This is what the Alpha should take." Indeed, Isaac was God's favored child, handsome and powerful, and everyone saw him as the next Alpha.

I, on the other hand, was loved by my parents. But when people talked about me, they always said "that kid who is not as good as his brother in every way". Even on the training field, it turned out to be the same. My coach always told me, "You're good enough, though not as good as your brother." After having my own wolf, I tried very hard to catch up with Isaac, but God was partial and I beat everyone except my brother, who was better than me in every way.

"You piece of shit without a wolf!" Fiona's scream came from behind me. I turned to look as she slapped the skinny girl hard. Bite someone when she's in a bad mood? I went up to stop her from raising her hand again. "Fiona, what did she do and you have to hit her like that?"

Fiona drew back her hand, she was more restrained in front of me. "She's standing there in my way. It's disgusting to see her." I looked over to the girl who kept her head down. No wonder, she's the daughter of a traitor. The girl had been bullied by everyone since she was little, and no one liked her, even the servants casually bullied her. The girl looked so pitiful that she easily reminded me of my own tough days of being bullied.

I got in front of the girl and said to Fiona, "You're so ugly acting like this, no wonder Isaac doesn't want to talk to you." The words hit a sore spot with Fiona and she couldn't hold her tongue, her face turning purple with anger.

I stifled a laugh and continued, "Are you going to be embarrassed here with all these people watching?"

Fiona glared at the girl and turned to leave. I looked down at the girl and said in a soft tone because I was afraid of scaring her, "Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"

The girl didn't say a word, just shook her head and said in a barely audible voice, "Thank you." My wolf smelled the faint smell of blood, she must have been hurt but didn't dare to say anything. I crouched down and saw that there was a cut under her ear. It must be the wound that Fiona deliberately hit with the sharp jewel. I tried to take the girl to the infirmary, but she refused. So I had to buy medicine and simply help her treat the wound.

"I'm going to disinfect the wound now. Bear with it!" The girl cringed as I rubbed alcohol across her wound. She was strong, though. The girl sat obediently and remained silent as I followed up on the wound. It was probably that kind of personality that made Fiona love to bully her more and more.

Before I left, I told the girl to be careful of Fiona and to stay as far away from her as possible. Instead, the girl let out a short laugh, and she thanked me then ran away immediately. What a strange girl. I had rarely noticed her before. She seemed to be harboring a lot of secrets inside, which made me curious about this traitor's daughter.

Claudia's POV

If I had a wolf, I would have been the first to smell Fiona's strong perfume and run far away. But I didn't, and Fiona had come all this way to scold me, so she must have made a fool of herself somewhere and come to me to vent her anger.

Fiona wasn't just content to slap me now. The sharp ring on her finger glinted in the sun's rays. One slap came down and I felt a sharp pain in my face. Just as I endured it, the expected second slap didn't land on my face. A tall figure caught Fiona's hand, and I subconsciously thought it was Isaac, but when the boy spoke up, it turned to Neil, another son of Alpha. I spat at my imagination earlier. Isaac had made his words clear. How could he come to rescue me again?

Neil was also one of the few people who could frustrate Fiona. He wasn't as popular as Isaac, but he also had the best bloodlines. Unlike Isaac, he had inherited his father's blue-gray eyes. There were many people who had been taken care of by him, and his soft gentlemanly nature had always rated him well with the girls. I had always been grateful to Neil as he never bullied me. Even though he probably just never noticed me, I still had a soft spot for his kindness.

Neil gently treated my wounds, and the tone of his voice when he applied medicine to me made me think of a parent coaxing a child to take it. Neil was going to take me to the infirmary, but the staff wouldn't give me a good look. So I rejected it.

Before I left, he reminded me to stay away from Fiona. I was careful enough to avoid Fiona, but she must have had her wolf track me down. No matter where I hid, I would be dragged out and beaten by her. Fiona could practically be a detection dog, I imagined the image. I must have failed to hold back my laughter, and Neil looked at me suspiciously. I hurriedly apologized to him and fled.

Isaac's POV

Caesar smelled that my mate was hurt and I rushed to Claudia's side. But instead, I saw Neil and Claudia behaving intimately, and I almost couldn't help myself from rushing up and taking Claudia back to me. But I knew Neil's character, he and Claudia had nothing to do with each other, so he probably took pity on Claudia and helped her.

But I couldn't control my possessiveness as I watched Neil gently hold Claudia's face and wipe Claudia's wounds with alcohol swabs. It was too close! He just applied medicine to her. Why did they have to be so close?

Late at night, I slipped into Claudia's basement with medication for traumatism. Claudia appeared to be asleep, her chest rising and falling steadily. I sat carefully on the edge of her bed, and the medical tape Neil had applied made me feel very unpleasant.

I silently removed the tape and reapplied the wound. I was careful to breathe during the re-dressing process, for fear of waking Claudia, who was sleeping, and the cut on her face looked very serious. I swore, if I found out who caused it, he or she would regret hurting Claudia for the rest of his or her life.

"But right now you can only watch from here. Let alone find that bastard, you can't even take care of her." Caesar's words were all about blaming me.

"I know, but I can't let anyone else know that Claudia is my mate and she'll be in danger." I helped Claudia put the light quilt back on.

After a while, Caesar asked me tentatively, "Wouldn't it have been easier for you to agree to dissolve the mate relationship?"

"I just... don't want to dissolve it."

"Why? I'm your wolf, don't try to lie to me."

I gently stroked Claudia's face, trying to etch her sleeping face into my mind. "Maybe...I'm falling in love with her."