ADRIANA’S POVXander has this way of gaining my attention even when my mind isn’t there. I look up in time to see Zara’s back straighten. Xander is standing less than a foot away from us now and I try to look at anywhere but him while I work on getting my breathing under control. I know for a fact the way my heart is beating isn’t just because of the exertion.“Alpha,” Zara bows her head in respect.“Can you give us a moment?” he asks, though his tone suggests it isn’t a question. Zara, who knows how he is, is already out of the room before I even have a chance to catch my bre
ALPHA XANDER’S POV“You smell like wolf,” I’m greeted with those words as I enter my office. I look at Donovan who has a glass tumbler at his lips, the sparkling amber liquid is almost empty.“What are you doing here?” I ask instead, glaring at his feet that are crossed at the ankles, ON MY DESK. “Get your legs down,” I growl and he does that immediately before sitting up.I don’t know why the fuck he spends all his time in my office when he has his, and all he does is annoy me and get on my nerves. Actually, this is the answer to my question.
ALPHA XANDER’S POVSanders is already shaking even before I do or say anything to him. Interesting.Donovan is standing behind him with his hands poised on both sides of Sanders' head. Okay, so maybe I do know why he seems so nervous. But that is what I’m looking for, a crack in his seemingly perfect exterior. I’ve already done a background check on him. He has been serving Daciana for a very long time, and she trusts him with her life.Except that is the main thing right now, I don’t. I don’t trust him with my mate’s life.
ADRIANA’S POV“Do you like this?” Daciana pulls out another short, skimpy and almost sheer dress from its hanger in her closet. I stare at it in wonder, trying to figure out where most of the parts are. A frown mars my lips and I look over what she is holding up to me to her expectant expression.“What is this?” I ask, genuinely confused. She throws her head back and laughs loudly.“A dress, Adriana. You know, what we wear to cover up.” she replies, her tone dripping with sarcasm.I roll my
ALPHA XANDER’S POVI give Daciana a look then turn to my mate, who has her eyes pinned to the floor. Even from here I can see how red her cheeks are. My eyebrows almost reach my hairline in question.What are they up to? My eyes do a quick sweep of the closet. Everything seems to be in place, I’ve been here a lot of time because Daciana likes sitting here for some reason and going through her clothes. Mostly as an excuse to go shopping. But she knows she can’t go out and there is no way in hell I’m letting either of them leave this pack until Khai is found.Aiden isn’t a threat, not yet at least. I&r
ADRIANA’S POV“What did you want to ask?” Daciana says, pulling me from my train of thoughts. I keep reading the book in my hand, to be honest, I’ve been repeating the same line, which I’m sure I’ve read before since I came out.Xander glances at me and I quickly avert my gaze, going back to my book and once again reading the same line.“The day you went out, for shopping,” he adds the last part with a pointed tone. I can see Daciana’s eyes roll from here, her brother doesn’t pay her much mind.
ALPHA XANDER’S POV I tell Adriana to stop mostly because I want to keep being in her presence more than anything else. And there Is something weird in the air, inside of me that I can only test when she is this close. I need to make sure the stress has not successfully made me lose my mind. There is no way I can explain to anybody what I’m feeling without sounding crazy. My heart is beating fast for some reason and I can feel the hairs on the back of my arms standing. I watch my sister, her face is passive, the blank look in her eyes giving nothing away. I know she is annoyed with me, I don’t think she has forgiven me for any of the things I have done to Adriana and while I hate myself sometimes when I think of the terrible way I treated her, I plan on making up for it now, in any way that I can. Daciana loves Adriana like her sister, their bond is one of a kind, something I can’t put into words. How fast they got close and how well they treat each other, it is like a match made in
ADRIANA’S POVMy heart stops for a moment before it resumes working at a faster pace. I don’t know how I guessed what Xander was about to say, but it made sense because my luck has always been terrible.The one person that can somehow tell us who my mother is, the actual truth of the story is the one that left. And I can’t help feeling guilty because the way Xander sounds suggests Aiden helped him. I doubt that though, I doubt Aiden even knows him.Not to mention, Adriana helped Aiden escape and I don’t think she will release any of her brother’s other prisoners for no reason. I heard from Zara that most of them did really terrible things. “Yes,” Xander voices his reply. I inhale a shaky breath and shut my eyes for the briefest of moments, when I open them, both Xander and Daciana are watching me closely. “Have you ever seen her picture? Anything would be of help right now.” he adds and I shake my head.The only thing I know about her is she had an affair with my father and then had
ALPHA XANDER’S POV “How do you know?” I’m not sure that is the right thing to ask but the question comes out either way. “I saw him,” he swallows. The tears fell this time, full of guilt. I know I’m a heartless monster but I still reach out and pat his shoulder in what I hope is a comforting touch. “I used to have trouble sleeping so I usually sneak into her room and sleep on her bed, she leaves the door open for me but he didn’t like that, he said I wasn’t man enough,” he frowns, his eyes hardening. He was just four, Jameson is a sick bastard and he deserves to die a slow and painful death. I vow to deliver that to him, in whatever hell he is hiding. “He had a pillow over her head and he didn’t stop until he was sure she was dead, I was too shocked to move. I ran to my room after, scared he would do the same to me and I never told anyone. I don’t know how he found out but he punished me and threatened to do the same to me if I said anything about it.” His throat bobs as he swallo
ALPHA XANDER’S POV“I know where he is,” Carlson says out of the blue. He has been quiet for about five minutes and I was reveling in it but that gives me a pause. I look up at him, his eyes are fixed on the ceiling like he is seeing a prophesy or some shit up there.“What?” I ask, because I can’t be sure what he said is right. If he knew where his father was all this while, why is he just telling me? I sit up and push the papers that are littered on my desk out of the way.“Jameson,
ALPHA XANDER’S POVDonovan suggested we cremate Adriana’s body, the look I gave him made him never mention that again.It has been three weeks, five days, three hours, twenty-one minutes and five seconds since I watched Dreaya slit her throat, and like I have been doing since it happened, I replayed every part of it. Every excruciating second of it. I try to analyze all that has happened, think of what I could have done to make the end happen differently. Burning Dreaya’s body was very easy but I made sure I left a mark.In whatever dumpster her ashes remain,
ALPHA XANDER’S POVMy entire world stops when she pushes the dagger deeper, a small raspy sound leaves my mate’s throat. That is the only thing I can hear is the drip of Adriana’s blood, I can hear every single gurgle from her throat.I try to force my legs to move but it feels like I’m rooted to the spot. No! This can’t fucking happen!Unlike the first time, I feel our connection sever. It is like my heart is being ripped from my chest, painfully slow, every vein being cut at an extremely slow pace. This seriously can’t be!“No.” I go to scream but it comes out in a small moan.Dreaya stands back and twirls the bloody dagger in her hand, she holds it to her face then brings it to her lips and juts her tongue out. I don’t feel disgust at her licking her daughter’s blood right off it. I’m in too much shock to do anything except stand there and watch all of this crazy shit. A part of me is praying this is just some type of messed up hallucination and I will snap out of it.I will give e
ADRIANA’S POVI’ve thought I felt what an out of body experience is before, but what I’m feeling now, I realize, is exactly what it means to have an out of body experience. I’m here, I hear things, I see things but I feel absent. In my body. I know this isn’t just my wolf taking control and pushing me back, it is more than just that.“What did you want to say again?” Xander asks, sounding bored.The woman—my mother—it feels weird calling her that because I didn’t feel any of the things I thought I would feel if I saw her. No joy, not even disappointment or anger. I just feel numb, and she could as well be anyone at this point. She hasn’t turned or spared me a glance since she came and that is probably adding to how I feel about her presence.I’d known it was her the moment I caught sight of the long blond almost whitish hair, so much like mine, and her eyes, I have a feeling they are the same color. Even our statures are quite similar. It is like I got all my genes from her and not Ja
ALPHA XANDER’S POVThe hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention, I don’t turn immediately. Letting the shock wear off my face first.My first instinct had been to get my mate out of there, then on second thought I didn’t move, knowing she was playing a game I have no idea how to. If she gets an inkling of my affections towards her daughter, this will just be a million times worse. I already have a lot to lose as it is. Any more and I would be left with nothing.“Hello Xander,” her slightly raspy voice says. This time I spin and face her, my eyes flicker to the bed, where Adriana is sitting still like a sculpture or something inanimate. I make sure the look is as brief as humanly possible, a blink is slower than that.Beside the bed, standing in her full glory is the woman I had hoped I wouldn’t have to face since the last time we tried to kill each other, a century ago.I feel the darkness that has been hibernating in me all these months, probably even years, the main reason wh
ALPHA XANDER’S POVThe most unlikely place for me to think is when I’m in between Adriana’s legs, or on the verge of cumming from how good she was riding me. If I wasn’t so sure about her being innocent, I would have been worried about how she knew how to do that.Wolves and lycans know the natural instinct of mating and since she is more wolf than human now, it makes sense that she would want to mate, completing the mate bond on another different level. If I was thinking straight, I would have stopped her knowing what would come after this. She would want to mark me and it won’t stop that way, her wolf, now linked to me and feeling my lycan aura would want to shift. That would be disastrous seeing the state the manor is in. The first shift is always horrendous.I’m lost in the sweet world of ecstasy that only involves my mate and me, and the pleasure and high we’re chasing.Everything goes well and I try to soothe her while she transitions into her true self and submit to her natural
ADRIANA’S POVI can admit one thing, I’d thought of taking control from Xander just to see how he would react, and because I was thinking with the throbbing between my thighs and not my brain.What I can’t agree with is what I did after, or what my body did. I’m feeling more confused than ever now.Xander’s eyes are widened into slits as he looks up from beneath me, the fire in his eyes makes my insides burn and they travel down my body and finally settle where I need him most. I’m sitting right above his crotch and I feel his excitement, it takes a lot of effort for me to not further move down and just end this torture.“Fuck,” He groans throwing his head back, he closes his eyes for the briefest of seconds. “You look beautiful on top baby, that is where you belong, above everyone else.” He says in a deep sexy drawl, I feel the need to clench my thighs but it is impossible because of the way i’m sitting. Xander places his hands behind his head, making his muscles flex and. He adjusts
ALPHA XANDER’S POVI almost decline his offer, then I stop when something comes to my mind.“You can help with something, but first, I need to make sure I can trust you.” Telling him is not the best thing, but it is not like it is something we don’t know. He knows I don’t trust him, not even a little bit, and the feeling is mutual. I’ve just grown a little liking toward him after interacting with him.“What do you want?” he looks a bit cautious asking that, as he should.“For you to answer a few questions for me too.” I haul his words back at him. The sides of his lips tip up in an almost smile.“Do I have to sit through a lie detector test?” he asks, it sounds like a joke but there is a hint of seriousness to it.“I have more effective ways of getting the truth out of people.” I smirk and point to the door. “Feel free to make yourself at home. Ring a maid or something if you need anything.” I’m going to see Adriana and hopefully try to work through her wolf issues with her.“Yeah sur