Claudia's grief is something poking at the edges of my mind like a thorn in the side. She's drowning in it—even as her heart bleeds for a man who isn't here anymore. Jesse Cooper, that rich bastard—he had everything handed to him, yet he still treated life like it was a game. I couldn't stand him. Not when I could see every glance he threw at Claudia. And now he's gone, and I can't shake the feeling that I should have... that I could have protected her better from him. But I didn't. I was weak, and my jealousy did nothing but isolate her when she needed someone. But now, what does it matter? Jesse's death is on the wind, and Claudia finds herself lost somewhere in the aftermath. He's gone, but the wounds he left linger, deep and festering.
What did she expect from me? To open the wounds I've tried so damn hard to bury? In a flash of anger, I struck out—a punch fueled by years of rage and hurt, hurling it at the one person I cared for more than I wanted to admit. The worst part is that I didn't want to hurt her. It was a moment of weakness, allowing the demons within me to win. My fist connected, and the shock on her face pierced through the chaos of our argument.
I feared for her safety in battle, but to my shock, she became something else entirely. The woman I knew shattered, replaced by a fierce warrior. She moved through them like a wild storm, fierce and unrelenting. The way she struck, with both precision and passion, took my breath away. I saw a strength in her, a visceral fire igniting the air around her. For those moments, she transformed, attacking as if she was eviscerating her own guilt with every blow against them O'Driscolls
And then, just like that, she became the Claudia I had come to admire. Quick to anger, yes, but also fiercely capable. Afterward, she strolled back toward camp, drenched in adrenaline and triumph, as if she had risen anew from the ashes of her grief. She greeted me with a strange familiarity, her eyes glinting with a ferocious defiance that made it clear she was alive and unbroken. How could she find solace in the madness? Did she truly believe that violence could cast away her sorrow?
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No Time To Die- ARTHURMORGAN x O/C
Fanfiction'You are not afraid of new love, you are afraid of old pain' Love is a strange word, if you love someone wouldn't you not betray them? Claudia Jenkins is on the run from the pinkertons and many bounty hunters. She finds herself in trouble, bumping...
