99 Times for Alpha’s Bestie novel Chapter 120

Yes! I absolutely hated Breanne-hated her filth and shamelessness. Breanne Telder has a knack for taking things that aren’t hers without consideration of others, and people like that are stains in the world.

But hatred was one thing. I had never thought of stooping to such vicious methods for revenge.

Lucien was doing this for me. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to accept it on my conscience.

“Are you sure that you want me to stop?” Lucien said, “Last night, she had someone slip something into your drink. If it hadn’t been me, you’d already be ruined. That is twice now, Claire. Breanne Telder will not stop trying to ruin your reputation.”

My fingertips trembled.

Halfway through the dinner yesterday, a waiter had quietly switched out my glass. At the time, everyone’s glasses had been replaced, so I hadn’t suspected a thing.

So it had been Breanne again. I had a feeling it was, but for it to be confirmed hurt.

I dazed for a moment before lifting my head to meet Lucien’s gaze.

“Lucien, even if there’s revenge to be taken, it should be in the way I wish it to be.” I paused, “We can seek vengeance, but we can’t let ourselves sink into the darkness. That’s not who you are-”

At my words, Lucien’s eyes darkened sharply.

He stared at me, as though my words had pierced something raw inside him.

“And what kind of person do you think I am?”

His stare made my breath hitch, but I didn’t back down.

“You may be ruthless in your methods, but at your core-you’re more clear-headed than anyone. And there is no one else in this world that I would trust more than you.” I drew in a deep breath. “These poisonous, underhanded ways-they don’t suit you.”

The air froze between us.

After a long silence, Lucien gave a low, hoarse laugh. “Claire, you’re too soft-hearted and naïve.”

He raised his hand, the pad of his finger brushing lightly across my cheek, his tone almost like a sigh. “How do you think I survived all these years?”

The words fell weightless, yet landed on my heart like a mountain.

Back then, after his mother’s incident, thirteen-year-old Lucien had run away from home, unable to accept that our Luna was gone, and he vanished without a trace.

He had been smuggled into Colombia, but escaped his captors midway, fleeing into a dense, perilous rainforest of the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. It is literally the most dangerous place in the world, and as a boy without his wolf, it was a miracle he survived.

To evade the hunters tracking him, he hid alone inside a cave reeking of decay for months on end. Narrowly surviving the predators hunting within the area, becoming one with them by adapting and taking on their merciless tactics for survival and dominance.

Later, he drifted into a chaotic city in Panama. To survive, he joined a gang, starting at the very bottom.

In that world of blood and violence, he endured one brutal turf war after another.

Once, while shielding his boss, he had been riddled with bullets. In a cold hospital ward, without a single family member by his side, he had survived the agonizing recovery alone. He had gotten the wolf only days before that shooting, thankfully healing him.

When the Crown of Thornes pack finally found him at eighteen, Lucien was no longer the warm, sunlit boy he had once been. His body bore scars, his heart bearing deeper ones still.

He was defiant, reckless-a soul devoured by darkness.

Keeping Grizzly bears caged at the estate, raising wild beasts and venomous snakes deep in the mountains-eccentric as it seemed, it was only an outlet for the darkness caged inside him.

For some reason, a crushing weight settled on my chest.

“Lucien, I understand. We both grew up in the dark. Your world was survival and vengeance-wasn’t mine the same?”

“You? The ever-softhearted Claire, seeking vengeance?”

Tears welled in my eyes, but I nodded firmly.

“My father’s climbing accident wasn’t an accident. It was murder. And everything the Reese family once owned is still in my enemy’s hands. You think you’ve suffered more, but the darkness in my heart is no less than yours; we just suffered in different ways. Those hardest five years of yours-weren’t they also mine?”

My tears slid down my cheeks as I spoke.

Those five years had been years of humiliation and bullying.

Following my mother into the Thorne packhouse, the servants who fawned before Emeric treated me with contempt behind his back, abusing me at every turn on Matthew’s orders.

At school, baseless rumours drenched me like buckets of filth. Classmates bullied me and mocked me. Even teachers eyed me with prejudice.

Every day I lived as if walking through fire, every moment under crushing pressure.

But I hadn’t cowered, nor did I break.

I studied design software and mastered multiple languages, honing myself with one goal-to one day reclaim the Reese Group and make my parents proud.

Riding, painting, drawing, archery, even racing-whenever I had the chance, I pushed myself to excel. To fight until I had nothing left.

Even during the three years I was mated to Liam, I had secretly taken countless online courses. I always push myself to strive for more.

I had never once forgotten my mission. But a single person’s desperate sprint was sometimes too weak, too small.

I didn’t know how long I would have to grope through the darkness before I could stand at the same height as my enemy.

But suddenly, as if jolted by some memory, Lucien gave a cold laugh.

“Pulling the emotional card again, Claire? You think I’ll believe you?”

I had been ready for this. I only smiled faintly, “Believe it or not, it’s still the truth, and you will not rewrite my truth!”

Just then, a piercing scream burst from the screen, yanking us both out of our heavy thoughts.

A venomous snake had sunk its fangs deep into Breanne’s foot.

I couldn’t bear it any longer. I cried out to Lucien again.

“Lucien, stop this now! Enough-it can’t come to bloodshed-”

“What’s wrong, Claire? Are you afraid of what the world would think if you sought the vengeance owed?”

Lucien sneered.

“I’m not afraid. I just don’t want more blood on your hands. I want you, like me, to live toward the light.” My voice was steady, my eyes full of hope.