99 Times for Alpha’s Bestie novel Chapter 17

Breanne quickly crouched to pick it up, cradling it like a baby and gently rocking it before the stunned crowd.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, little baby! Mommy didn’t mean to hurt you,” she cooed to the doll, her voice sickeningly sweet. “Don’t worry, tiny baby, your auntie’s got you.”

Breanne’s bizarre performance only confirmed my worst fears. Many people were confused about why Breanne was treating the doll like a baby, but no one questioned it. They could feel something coming.

“Breanne Telder!” I spat, the name laced with razor–sharp hatred, each syllable grinding out between clenched teeth.

I could feel the tether within me snapping. A line was crossed, and I wasn’t sure I could pull myself back.

And I didn’t fight the urge pulsating, demanding retribution for our pain.

Without hesitation, I lunged, my hand flying towards Breanne’s face.

But the slap never connected.

Liam effortlessly caught my wrist, his grip vice–like, “Claire! Have you lost your damn mind? How dare you lunge at Breanne! She brings you a gift, and this is how you thank her?”

He shielded Breanne completely behind him.

Breanne clung tightly to his arm, blinking rapidly as if fighting tears, though two still escaped, spilling down her cheeks.

“Liam, please. I didn’t mean to anger Claire. I knew how badly Claire wanted a baby, and even made a rumour of one. So, I had a friend get this doll specially from Thailand. A monk even blessed it. I wanted to bring blessings to Claire, so that you may have a baby soon.” Her voice hitched dramatically, “But Claire still only sees her hatred for me to receive my blessing gift.”

“That’s not a blessing gift.” I heard someone whisper to their mate’s ear, too low for most to catch it.

But I did.

I knew if Liam wasn’t tuned in to his wrath, he would have heard it as well.

But he wasn’t listening to anyone but Breanne at the moment.

Liam’s eyes darkened, his whole body rigid. I could feel his wolf pacing, conflicted on who to support in this matter.

I was past caring what he thought of me, however. I wasn’t looking at him. My stare was fixed on the grotesque doll in Breanne’s hands.

A Kuman Thong.

My heart turned to stone. I knew of the legend surrounding these dolls.

They were created from the body of a stillborn baby, which was roasted, lacquered, and then adorned with gold leaves. Some believed it was to protect the baby’s soul from harm, but I knew Breanne did it as a shot to my heart.

Could Breanne have used my baby’s body-?

My eyes widened in horror.

All of the suppressed rage and grief from my years bound to Liam surged forward, demanding consequence, a searing pain with every breath.

“Breanne! A cursed doll?” my voice raw. Like a woman possessed, I grabbed Breanne’s collar.

“It’s… It’s just for blessings! Claire, I only wanted to help!” Breanne feigned terror, eyes wide like a startled deer.

“LIES! I roared with a force unknown within me.

I lifted Breanne by the neck, slamming her hard to the floor and started hitting her, my whole body trembling with impossible fury and pain.

“Claire! Stop! That’s enough!” Liam roared, but I was deaf to him. He was nothing to me now. This was our end. That doll was a line, and he supported my enemy with it.

Despicable.

My hands locked around Breanne’s throat. I would end her poison now. She and her games never to hurt anyone else again.

No force in this room could pry me off i shook Liam and his Beta off. I wanted Breanne dead. If my punishment in this were death, I would spend my eternity haunting them both for their crimes.

Breanne shrieked with each blow Blood bloomed on her hospital gown, her face turning ashen. Liam continued to pry me off, it felt as though his wolf might not have been sure who was in the wrong

Did his wolf scent the remains of his pup within the doll?

Four burly pack warriors rushed in, finally prying me off Breanne.

“Claire, you’re out of your mind! If anything happens to Breanne because of this…” he growled. His face was grey as he scooped up the barely conscious Breanne.

“Why don’t you ask why I hit her?” A wave of exhaustion hit me. I fought the ache in my chest and met his gaze with a cold laugh.

Liam shot me a look of pure, frigid contempt. He didn’t care. His eyes were only for the woman in his arms.

The crowd scattered quickly. Even Beta Cole seemed to think I had gone too far. He patted my shoulder, looking like he wanted to speak, but just shook his head helplessly and walked away.

A bitter smile touched my lips. The flowers, the balloons–it was all a grotesque joke. I lowered her head, blowing on my bleeding knuckles. A metallic taste filled my mouth, and I spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor.

Buried memories, bloody and sharp, flooded back.

I had never been Liam’s docile “good little girl“. Not since I was six, when my father, Sean Reese, one of Alberta’s wealthiest men, died in a hiking accident in the Jasper Mountains. I was left defenceless with only my mother, Helen Thomas.

My uncle’s family seized the Reese Group. My aunt’s family slandered us relentlessly, stealing every shop, every office my father left behind to support us.

I had started fighting at six with my cousins. I always lost. It was always hopeless. But I never backed down. Like a furious, tiny Chihuahua, I had bared my teeth at anyone who hurt me or my mother.

After mating with Liam, I had smothered that fire, forcing myself into the mould of his gentle mate. I thought mating meant safety, an end to fighting for survival..

Yet here I was, driven to defend the tattered remains of my dignity with my fists once more. And the architect of this desperation was the man I had once walked through fire for.

‘So tired… Why is life just layer after layer of despair?‘ I felt like wandering through an endless, suffocating fog, never finding the way out.

But a fierce voice inside me rang clear. ‘Claire, be strong. Stand up. Make something out of yourself. The day will come when you won’t need fists. You’ll crush them all with your strength. Make every single one pay.‘

I didn’t know if it was my father’s voice from beyond or my mother’s final hope. But I knew it would happen.

Exhausted, I collapsed onto the floor amidst the wreckage. I was bleeding too. Breanne’s sharp claws had raked my arms, face, and body. I was covered in blood, like a rose shattered by a storm. No one cared that I, the wolfless mate to Liam, was fighting against a Beta female with her claws out. Not even my own mate.

Just nineteen more days.

The countdown echoed in my mind. I couldn’t wait to escape this marital prison. I will never be anyone’s “good little girl” again.

I wanted freedom. To soar. To rise. To break my chains. To stand tall like my father, above them all. Never again to live this humiliated, passive existence.

I didn’t know how long I had been lying there before heavy footsteps approached. I looked towards the entrance of the banquet hall. Several stern–faced warriors in black stood there.

“Take her,” the lead one ordered coldly.