LAUREL'S POV If triumph was a person, well that would be me actually. The moment I had walked in for breakfast that morning, I could tell the effect I had on all my audience. Actually, I had woken up a lot earlier and gotten ready but I needed to make the grand entry so I would have all eyes on me. Sincerely, I had no idea I would be having all eyes and soul on me but come on, that was part of my goals. I heard Nicolette's voice and I knew it was my cue to come inside. The way she had glared at me and how I had dressed made it obvious that I was winning but even more was the fact that Xander was flustered. The poor guy was being tortured and he could say nothing of it. I resisted the further urge to stop by and kiss him on the cheek. Time would definitely come for that soon enough. But for now, let's play the hot second fiddle. I sat down for breakfast directly opposite her and I could feel her pain. The poor darling, she certainly had spent some time working on her look that
NICOLETTE'S POV I had no idea that so much time had passed already and it was nearly lunch time. I panicked as I thought that my actions might begin to seem to Xander like I was slacking off my duties. Not like he had forced me to keep up with my duties but to think of it now, I already proclaimed that I would be making lunch. I looked into the mirror and stared back at the nightmare I had made of myself before deciding that I would freshen up a little before I go outside and accustom my new found nemesis. I took a little while brushing my hair but so as not to seem like a copycat, I had pulled it back behind me and held it in place with a ribbon. Sincerely, I was tempted to dress similar to her now that it seems like my husband prefers that sort of dressing but the reminder that ours was a marriage of convenience screamed through my mind. I had questions now for myself and for Xander which I knew I would never ask a soul. I needed to know if there was any possibility th
XANDER'S POV A lot was going on between the women right from breakfast time and I could tell there was a lot of bad blood between them both. Clearly, there was hate and strife between which I could not understand as I had made it clear to them where I stood. But then, if I was being honest with myself then I would have to admit to the fact that I had a series of conflicting thoughts in my head when I saw Laurel come out for breakfast. Clearly, Nicolette had noted my reaction which explained the reason why she had suddenly left the breakfast table. I had nothing to say but to ask her to go get some rest in good faith. I never had taken Laurel and her antics seriously when she suddenly put her feet against my groin area underneath the table. She had not noticed but my food got caught up in my chest that I had to take up my glass and drink from it. I could feel the internal male heat within me burn brightly as my erection became clear. She had noticed clearly that I was strug
NICOLETTE'S POV I turned my head to look at him and then back at her. I had no idea what I was going to say or perhaps I did but the thing is, I could not find the right way to express myself to him especially now that his mate was here without sounding like the jealous housewife. This lady certainly was driving me overboard and it was no longer fun to me. While I thought of what to say, it turned out that she had it all sorted out in her head, what she was going to say in her defense. "Oh Xander, thank goodness you are here." She started playing a victim. I was confused and lost as I looked around knowing well enough that no one here would be standing up for me. But wait, nothing actually happened right. I did not make any quarrel or drama with her that would bring about her dramatic display. I was fuming by now and I could tell well enough that I was fuming now and readjusted my face. I had to see where all this drama would be ending and even more importantly was what m
LAUREL'S POVI glared at the door and then it dawned on me that it would not have gotten this far had the pesky maid not interrupted. Now, it seemed to Xander that I was victimizing Nicolette. It did not sound fair at all, the way he had spoken to me and of course led her away by hand. The little wench, she let him take her hand readily and made a good show of my sadness by saying thank you to me. I had hoped really that when Xander had heard what was happening, he would have led me with him instead but here I was stuck in the kitchen like a little maid.My frown deepened when I turned to the maid."And who asked you to defend me?" I demanded."I'm really sorry,.my lady. I actually wanted to..." she began.I was infuriated."You wanted to what? Do you have any idea what you have done?" I demanded angrily."My lady, I only..." she was about to continue when she saw my glare.It was clear that I wanted to hear no more of her excuses. She went silent and I could feel the other ladies loo
XANDER'S POVI still could not really understand this woman and why she wanted us to keep being distant with ourselves. I had initially held her but it would come to seem like she was picking offense with that. I had to walk away because I could no longer bear the tension coming from the want for desire. It was really something. At least, I had lived up to my own end of the bargain and had protected her from Laurel. I could tell that Laurel had been playing games on her and somewhat, Nicolette had not the slightest of ideas who she was dealing with.Lunch eventually happened and we all sat down to eat together, what Laurel had prepared. Little wonder how her cooking had suddenly improved to be this good. Well, I knew Laurel and before she had left me and traveled away, she never had been one to be considered a great cook or this good. Eventually we all ate what she had prepared with no drama which was the best thing for me. I had not the strength to play judge or try to defend myself
LAUREL'S POVCertainly, you did not think I was going to let it rest now, do you?We had sat down to lunch and trust me, it was really great hearing the compliments from Xander's. I just hoped he truly meant them because I was so proud of myself. You know that exalted feeling you get when you did not stress about something and instead had someone else do your dirty job, only for all the praise to be directed to you, well that was just about it for me. I felt on top of the world as we ate. The maids sure as hell had done a really great job with it.I had decided not to freshen up and sat for lunch directly from the kitchen. I would rather it does not seem like I was making a sport or competing with Nicolette. That would certainly be too cheesy a thing to be accused of. She was in no way close to me by every standard, not even in the wicked competition I was cooking up. I was the leader and the head of it all and certainly, the sooner she gets to understand and appreciate that fact, the
ETHAN'S POVI smiled to myself when I ended the call with Laurel. Clever girl she believed she was actually. She thought she had it all figured out with her plans but then, I was way ahead of her in this game to understand what sort of a woman she was. All Laurel wanted was a name for herself and sincerely speaking, there was no way I could give her what she craved for. She was worse than a gold digger. I loved to refer to her kind of person as a leech. All these years, I had condoned her excesses and would provide all she wanted. Whenever I realized she was getting clingy towards me, I had tendencies to go away from her.I am a businessman. So you do not think I was letting myself be used because I wanted to play a game with a woman. That was totally out of option because I would never let anyone around me that had nothing much to contribute to me. I did not harbor Laurel all these years because I loved her or perhaps cared one inch about her emotions. That was totally out of it. The
XANDER'S POV I could not believe I had missed all of that in my rush. To think that Zibelle had been so aloof should have told me all I needed to know about what was actually happening. We arrived at the place she was hosting her show and then found the luxury cars that were scattered around outside the premises. It was clear the attendees were no persons of ordinary caliber. I turned to my men coming down from their car behind mine. "Smoke the area to make certain there are no other wolves. If she has taken Nicolette, then she's not in this alone." I said to them, "What about me, Alpha?" The werewolf who had driven me to the place turned to ask. "You're coming with me as backup. Where's the gamma?" I asked, noticing Adriana was nowhere to be found. "None can tell, Alpha. She's been missing since the proclamation of Allen's banishment." He said. I nodded my head knowingly. That could be understood knowing how much she actually cared about Allen. She probably was out there weepin
XANDER'S POV"Don't do this, Xander. You know I'm innocent." Allen said to me as he stood before me in the dark woods.I had already declared him a criminal and he was to be banished. The more I looked at him now, all I could think of was the fact that he had probably won Nicolette's heart."Tell me then, where is she?" I asked him."Buddy, I swear this to you. I have no idea where she is but together I know we can find her." He said to me,My face grimaced. He still had the nerve to lie to me after all this while. What was so hard about the truth."I actually thought you were my friend but apparently, you're a cheap liar. These are the borders, go and don't return." I said to him avoiding his eyes."Xander, please." He said to me,His voice was shaky and I knew he was probably crying at this point. "The next time I lay eyes on you,.it shall be your death. I'll give you the grace and time to get these fixed. Return my wife to me or I shall hunt you for the rest of your miserable life
NICOLETTE'S POVI could not go the way out as there was no telling how many men had been left out there to tame me. The only way I could think of was the high scaled window and what I needed now was a really big leap. One mistake and I would certainly be caught again. I thought of the baby, breathing within me and all I had endured all along. Nothing would have to go wrong, right? No way was I going to lose my child for my friend that so easily had backstabbed me.I looked right at the concoction that had been given to me. Who's to say it is not actually poison?Either way, I took a deep breath right now as I made the biggest leap yet of my life. It was a lot for me to take in as I jumped really high until I hit myself against the window pane. It suddenly burnt and I nearly let go and lost control as I had not been prepared to find that it was made out of pure silver. My feet had lost their footing and it took me a while to balance up. I started to climb over the window, burns and a
NICOLETTE'S POVI was locked in this room in the cabin. The cabin was divided into two parts and I could not help but notice how it was being built to have just a single entrance. My prison room had a window that seemed really high for me but I knew I needed to figure out a way to escape.As commanded, Maxwell's men did not attempt to lay hands on me for now because there was actually no telling what would become of me when the evil duo decided to come for me. They were working together crying out loud!Who knows right now what Zibelle has been up to acting selling me out cheaply. It was a little wonder as to what Laurel must have promised her and right now, I was beginning to question our entire friendship that seemed to be based on a lie.Was there a possibility that all these years together had meant nothing or had she been spying on me from the very beginning? I was confused at this point that I could not even begin to think about it. I sat down there, recounting and wondering if
MAXWELL'S POVSeeing Nicolette after all this while was really something and I suddenly felt this tinge of elation towards her. She seemed not so happy to see me and I could have sworn that there was fear in her eyes when she looked at me. Was she by any chance thinking that I would hurt her or something? I would never...I guessed I spoke too soon as suddenly I heard it. The faint beating of that steady heart that he had implanted in her womb. It made me feel a surge of anger swim through me as I watched her steadily."You're indeed pregnant." I said to her,"Let me go." She said to me,"Go? You're free to go, Nicolette. That's the way." I said pointing out where she had just come from.She looked rather confused as she stared back at me. It would come to seem as though I have begun playing games on her.A couple of seconds and she turned back to find that there was no one on her path. Not even Laurel stood there as they all cleared a way for her in the middle.Nicolette was skeptica
XANDER'S POVI suddenly felt restless after I had left the witch who apparently had been shot. She probably died on the way but something seemed to be bugging as suddenly, I felt a heart wrenching pain on my chest."Nicolette..." My wolf cried out weakly. "Trouble."I had to hastily return to my car and start the ignition immediately. Whatever this was, I would be needing to get to the root of it immediately. I tried to start the car again but the damned pain returned again, this time more searing and I knew she was in trouble.I quickly decided to dial Allen. He had probably gotten to her or something. The guy took the phone immediately on the second ring and then I asked if he had seen Nicolette today."Not really but I received a call from the pack house security. She's gone missing and is not taking her calls." He said to me,"Why didn't you call me immediately?" I yelled at him, putting the car in motion."Because they said you would react badly. We were hoping to find her before
NICOLETTE'S POVI could not believe that this was happening as I tried to take a quick glance at Zibelle who apparently averted her eyes. She was clearly not going to look at me after her sore betrayal.Laurel walked over to me and right then I saw some persons with torches go over to the entrance and block it off with the caution sign. That way, no vehicle would pass this way again."How could you do this to me?" I asked Zibelle who kept looking away as she came off from the vehicle."Oh, so sad but you should know that Zibelle and I have always been best buddies right from our school days. We love and care about each other. Hence, it should not come as a surprise that you have been sold out." Laurel said as she opened my side of the car. "Out."I hesitated but reckoned that she would deal with me even as I noticed eyes glowing in the dark. There were other werewolves here but certainly, not from our pack. They reeked and I knew being pregnant and outnumbered was not the time to fig
ZIBELLE'S POV"Just act naturally and lead her to us. We'll take it from there." Those were her words on the phone when she called me on this day that the plan had been set up.It was only a couple of days to Nicolette's birthday party which we all could tell now that in anticipation, Xander was making bigger plans. I have been keeping up tabs with her and playing the caring friend and anticipating godmother to Nicolette.I had a thing tomorrow also. My fashion show and hopefully, should things go as planned today then I would be a free woman and minding both my business and my show.Clearly, I had been lacking good sleep as all my thoughts were filled with the fear of being found out or betrayed by Laurel who had always been known to be up to no good.I got out of bed sluggishly dressing up and eventually got prepared. I decided that I would call Nicolette just so we could do some shopping."Zibs, what's up?" An excited Nicolette said to me over the phone.The happiness and innocenc
DELA'S POVI found out.To think that I had been smart and careful all along only to let down my guard upon my very first encounter with Xander was really something. It had been years since I stayed in the background, secretly watching Nicolette and seeking the best ways possible to get closer.We had separated at some point when I felt she would be able to stand on her own two feet as I went into seclusion which was a thing with us witches. It used to be the best time when we could gather up the potency of our powers and also return stronger.Mine had taken me years as my times out of practice when playing nanny to the child had been something else. I reckoned how young she had been when I fled away from her with a promise that I would always be watching her. It had been long years in the dark cave where I lost track of time.I returned to find my dear child as that was what I saw her as, married to someone dangerous. Xander was never supposed to happen and the more I dug into his fa