ADRIANA’S POVMy body felt worse than it did after one of my brothers vented their anger on me. I blinked a few times before I finally opened my eyes, a soft groan leaving my mouth. Even before I fully woke up, I felt the sensation of being watched. Goosebumps broke out across my skin when I looked around the unfamiliar room, the lights were dimmed and at first glance there was no one there. I didn’t feel safe.I paid no heed to my sore body and sprang up from the bed, my head felt heavy. Like I hit it somewhere, and I searched my blurry memories to be sure it didn’t happen. It didn’t, as far as my head was concerned.I remembered getting out of the window, after I felt a sensation similar to this and then choosing to try my luck and get out of this pack. The fact that I was back in a room meant that task wasn’t successful. I stretched, my back made a cracking sound as it released all the pent up tension. I could really use a hot bath right now.“You should be more mindful of your sur
ADRIANA’S POVThe tears kept rolling down my cheeks. I stood frozen, feeling Xander’s anger crackling in the air the longer I stayed not doing as he asked me to do. I just couldn’t bring myself to remove my clothes in front of him.“Xander, please.” I tried again, my voice shaking when I spoke and barely making it out. “Please don’t make me do that.”I didn’t care that I sounded pathetic, I would get on my knees and beg him if it meant it would make him change his mind. I wasn’t going to give up without trying. I haven’t fought many of the people in my father’s pack to lose my dignity so easily.The one time I knew I fought back when someone had hit me was when my father’s old gamma tried to take advantage of me when I was sixteen. He’d not been in his right senses and I was in the kitchen when he entered. He tried to force himself on me, he was much stronger than I was and he’d even gotten far enough to tear my gown down the front. When I saw what he wanted to do, I panicked and atta
ALPHA XANDER’S POVDonovan met me outside the house, he was standing with a cigarette to his lips as usual, though I haven’t seen him smoking in the past few days. He lifted his head in acknowledgment and moved out of the way while I started walking down the driveway. I was going to check how Jameson was doing, then see the people that got injured in today’s attack, from there I’ll probably spend the rest of the night in the dungeon. It’s just a little past dinner time but I needed to get my mind off Adriana and what almost happened.I couldn’t believe I fucking lost control. Just for a few minutes but those few minutes would have caused damage that I wouldn’t know how to fix.Though the situation helped me figure something out, the main reason I was going to check up on Jameson. On a normal basis I wouldn’t have cared what the hell the man was going through and how he was doing.Footsteps made me halt a few steps to the door, I waited for Donovan to catch up. He stopped beside me and
ALPHA XANDER’S POV“Sorry?” Dr. Harrison’s brows creased and he sat up in his chair, his back straightening.“You got your wolf, yes?” I ask again, saying each word slowly in case he had trouble understanding. He nodded, pursing his lips. “When? And what was it like?” if he found the questions strange and disrespectful, he didn’t show it. He was smarter than that.“At twenty five, alpha,” I nodded absently, then motioned for him to elaborate. “I don’t really know the words to use alpha, it was strange. I’d given up at that point but for a few weeks before I got him, a lot of things were…weird I guess.” There was a faraway look in his eyes as he spoke, like he was reminiscing about the time.“I wasn’t used to the hyper reactions and mobility, so I had a bit of trouble getting by,” he leaned back and chuckled a little. “I was a total mess in the hospital, I couldn’t perform any surgeries for a month. Because after I got him and all, I needed to learn how to control myself.” Lycans and wo
ALPHA XANDER’S POVAlpha Jameson was doing much better, according to the doctor. He said the reset surgery was easier than he expected and since he was an alpha, he wouldn’t have much trouble healing. I nodded, my face stoic. It wouldn’t have hurt anyone if he walked with a limp forever. I was just putting the option out there for whoever might try to make it work.Dr. Harrison left after he checked the man’s vitals and found they were normal, he said he had rounds to make or something like that. I didn’t say anything, only watching the man that I have heard so much about. He was reduced to nothing in that bed, his alpha title was stripped down and he was just a man in a hospital trying to get better. When I saw the cast around his leg, I wanted to feel something for him, pity even, but my mind was blank. All that came to my head was the conversation with Adriana before he left and well, that didn’t really make you feel anything but contempt for him.I’m not saying I’m a much better p
ALPHA XANDER’S POV“Sorry?” Alpha Jameson asks after more than two minutes of him looking at me like I just spoke in a weird language he has never heard of, and is waiting for a translator. He must have realized I’m not going to repeat myself because he tried sitting up. He groaned then laid back down, all the while I only watched with barely contained rage. If he knows what is good for him he would start talking, and soon.“You heard me,” I growled the words out. He meets my eyes for a split second, something akin to panic flashing behind his eyes.“No one important,” he said finally, the words coming out through gritted teeth“Who. Is. She?” I stress each word, standing up. I take a threatening step toward him and the heart monitor starts going crazy, I pause and stare at him, my eyebrows almost reaching my hairline in question. His face was getting red and sweat matted his forehead.What the hell was he hiding that just a simple question like this would make him react that way?“Al
ADRIANA’S POV“Are you sure you’ll be fine?” Daciana asked me for probably the millionth time since she came here.“Yes,” I told her, forcing a smile. She didn’t have to worry about me, right now, I was sure I didn’t care whatever happened to me. My last hope for leaving was gone, and now I was going to live here and probably die here too.Death sounded nice right about now.“You can stay in my room, the bed is big enough for the both of us.” she said, giving me a pointed look. I couldn’t help it, I laughed. It sounded shallow, it was a laugh nevertheless.“I know, I just need a bit of air right now.” I told her. I was being dumb and I should quit being stubborn. There was something that came with resolution, the freedom of not being worried about what would happen. It may be stupid and pathetic but it was better than constantly worrying about things I couldn’t change.“It’s quite late,” Daciana said after a few beats of silence. I hummed in reply, I loved how quiet it was. Most of th
ADRIANA’S POVI ended up convincing Daciana to go to bed. She was exhausted after the day’s activities, and she was also badly injured. She was stubborn of course and refused to agree with me but I noticed how she grimaced whenever she had to move her hand up. When I asked if she was okay, she said yes. I didn’t expect her to say otherwise.I felt guilty, knowing she must have gotten that when she went out. I’d been too focused on myself to even think of her, not that I would have been of much help.“Be safe, love. And if you change your mind, my door is always open. Literally this time.” I chuckled beside myself at her joke. She got up and left after that, I was happy she was finally going to let her body rest. I was weirdly protective of her, which was funny seeing how I couldn’t even protect myself. More pathetic than funny.I sat for more than thirty minutes, with nothing but my thoughts company. The renewed hope made me feel light, it made me happy. I knew if—when the time comes,
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