Page 39 of Claim Her
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My eyelids flutter as I stir from my deep slumber, noticing the faint glow outside our floor-to-ceiling windows. Blinking away the last remnants of sleep, I see a figure standing motionless before the glass panes. It takes a few seconds for my groggy mind to register the silhouette as Alec, his open laptop glowing in one corner.
His shoulders are tense, hands clenched on his sides, as if he’s bracing himself against an unseen force.
What’s going on? Is it Jackson? Did something happen while I was asleep? Did his nightmares come back?
I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and walk to him, my footsteps muffled by the thick carpet.
His gaze is fixed outside, too lost in his own thoughts, and he doesn’t notice my approach.
I reach out, my tentative fingers grazing his arm. He goes rigid as a board before realizing it’s just me.
“Alec?” My voice is barely above a whisper.
He twists at the waist to face me. This close, his expression is a mixture of triumph and something else.
“Come back to bed, Alec.”
“I found him,” he murmurs. It’s so low that I almost don’t catch it. “I found him.”
“Found wh… Jackson?” I stand beside him, reaching for his hand. My heart lurches in my chest, chills all over my arms. “Have you told them yet?”
“I will in a few minutes.”
It’s really happening, and I’ll be there to witness it. That doesn’t mean I’m not terrified of facing the monster.
Alec picks up on it and pulls me to him, his strong arms wrapping around me. My pulse starts to calm down.
“Are you ready?” I ask him.
“I’m not sure. I thought so for the past few years. Now that we’re this close, I’m…”
“Afraid? Feeling the old fear creep into you?”
There’s a moment of silence before he buries his nose into the crook of my neck. “Yes.”
Something about the crack in his voice tells me that I can’t be scared when he is. We’ll draw strength from each other. “I’m here, Alec. We’ll get through it together. We’ll face those monsters from our past and our personal demons together.”
His arms hug me tighter. “We will.”
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
ALEC
“He doesn’t look like it now, but Alec will always be our baby brother … especially back when I was still taller than him. Ah, good times.”
The sound of laughter from the guests ripple through the tent.
Jasper stands at the podium, a glass of champagne in one hand and a mic in the other. It makes me smile how much he loves the attention. He lives off it.
The fact is, Jameson was supposed to give the speech, but Jasper volunteered. Volunteered. That should’ve been the first red flag.
The second red flag was when he instructed the DJ how to operate the projector because he prepared a PowerPoint presentation.
I should’ve known this wasn’t going to be a regular speech. Jasper likes to do things over the top, but I thought he’d forgo his usual antics for my wedding reception.
Apparently not.