THEODORE.My whole being knew him. Maximus was inside the car, sitting in the passenger seat. He only had one man with him. If they didn’t have any weapons, I could take my chance. There was no way I would let him go. I waited four decades for this moment, for the two of us to finally come face to face. I sprang as fast as I could, then leaped into the air as I shifted into my wolf, Vindictus, in midair.I might be too old to be a warrior or an Alpha, but the pain in my heart never got older. It stayed the same as if everything had just happened yesterday.With me on my paws, I ran faster than their car. When I knew I already had a great distance from them, I made a huge U-turn and rang along the lane that they were driving.In no time, I saw their car approaching, and if they or I didn’t stop, we would collide. That was what I was waiting for. In a blur of an eye, I leaped into the air as the sound of screeching tires echoed all around the forest, and my paws landed exactly on i
THEODORE.I moved away from him and turned around, ready to attack the newcomer, until I saw who it was. David. My brother found us. Our eyes met before he tilted his head to look at Maximus. “You’ve got him.”I didn’t say anything, and David continued to walk toward us. “I heard the growls, and I knew it was you.” He added. “You shouldn’t have come.” Maximus coughed before letting out a chuckle. “Because here comes, David. The happy-go-lucky, useless brother.”“Fuck you!” I roared one more time and swung my coiled fist onto his jaw. His body rolled over, but he didn’t stop laughing. “I pissed off the Alpha without a pack. But what I say is true. Because, like always, he’s still useless to you. His showing up here means I have a witness that I surrender.” His voice became firm at the last part before he raised his hands up in the air.My chest heaved, suppressing myself from letting out a growl because he was right. David could be ordered to tell the truth using an Alpha command,
XANDER.Everyone who came for Nadine did their best to keep the crowd from reaching her, and I couldn’t be more grateful. I only made a simple request in my note to Lady Catherine, asking her to ensure that the people would not be hurt. And they didn’t disappoint. They were holding them off without hurting or breaking their bones.They were too different from Maddox, who I was sure would be the first one away from harm, but these Alphas around here were protecting this crowd even if they were not their own people. They were exhibiting the maximum tolerance. I had no idea what to feel at the moment. My whole being was overwhelmed, and my adrenaline was pumping. Nadine had already sprung away. I needed to run after her. My eyes met with Anica. I nodded my head and turned around. I knew soon she would be behind me. I had no idea why Maddox’s command didn’t affect her, but that was the least of my worries. It was enough that we had one more on our side. I was already inside the fores
XANDER. Maddox took advantage of this and kneed her back, making her trample forward before pushing himself up from the ground.Soon, they were back in combat in human forms. Kicks, punches, and curses were flying, but I could tell Nadine was already ahead of the game. It appeared that Maddox’s wolf had deserted him at the mere mention of Catherine. Even if the rejection happened between the two, it seemed Thorn had not forgotten about her. I couldn’t count the number of times that Maddox stumbled to the ground. Nadine kicked and clawed at him. He tried to do the same, but at the moment, he was nothing compared to her. His only strength was his wolf, and he was crippled without him.I watched as they continued to fight each other until Maddox’s coiled fist landed on Nadine’s jaw. A growl was about to erupt from my throat, but I caught myself in time. Nadine didn’t even look fazed or hurt by it. She kept going—attacking and pivoting her body so she could land jabs and blows in plac
NADINE.My hand flew to my chest as pain struck. It was instantaneous, then gone. But it was still something. My eyes flew to Maddox, who was walking in front of me. He had the same reaction and tilted his head back to look at me.Our gazes met. I could hear the rumble coming off his chest, and my hunch on what it was was confirmed when Jace came and stood beside me. “Dad sent a mindlink. Maximus is dead.” He said in a whisper, but it felt like he shouted it for the whole world to hear.Maddox felt the death of a kin. A smile slowly crawled on my face as Maddox continued to stare at me with a deadly expression. His chest was heaving, and I could see veins popping on his neck.“I bet you felt it. Your only living relative is dead.” I told him. Maddox scoffed as he looked around before looking at me. “Xander is a Trevino. He knows how to suck ass until he gets what he wants.”“Xander will never be like you.”He scoffed. “Are you sure? Where is your mate, Nadine? Probably running fo
XANDER.My gaze met Alpha Jace’s, and I saw his eyes dilated as his forehead creased. His expression was deadly as he looked at me. It was then that I knew he saw the video.I had to do something. I needed to talk with him before he could tell Nadine he saw it. I dropped my gaze away from him, and my attention was immediately caught by Nadine calling Kenzo’s name.My heart was gripped with pain as she wrapped him into her arms. I knew she was grateful for all his help and was glad to see him alive, but a part of me was jealous of the affection she showed him in front of her whole family and friends. Of course, I am a Trevino.A disgrace.She would never be proud to have me around. Kenzo was a different case. They were the original lords of this land. Maybe they will be a perfect fit. The Montrells would never welcome me, even if we were fated mates.I had no idea why I was still here. As if I were waiting for the moment they would cuff my hands and let me stand beside Maddox. My ha
Author's Note: To those who haven't read THE BETA AND I - you might get lost in this chapter so if you get confused, please know that you didn't miss anything in this book. This is Maddox's connection to the book THE BETA AND I. Just continue reading. 💛💜-----THORN’S POV. (Maddox's wolf)Maddox and I had never seen eye to eye from the moment he got me when he was fifteen. He was reckless and arrogant, but I didn’t mind. I let him be what he wanted to be until we turned eighteen. He kept playing around and fucking every female he set his eyes on. But I only wanted our mate. Over the years, I consistently reminded him to change his behavior, or else she would not consider us worthy of her. But he never cared about mates. I couldn’t change his mind, so I just gave up. I also thought at this age, we would never find her. I became distant with him, abandoning him most of the time. I eventually lost interest in him and his actions. I became stagnant inside him. I only surfaced when I fe
BETA/LADY CATHERINE. The cars that would lead them to Maddox’s pack had left, and Tyler, my mate, was with them.I wanted to go, but he and my brother Jace insisted I should stay behind. I was pregnant, and it would be a great risk, especially since they had no idea what was waiting for them. I understood that. I was okay with that. I was left with Zoey and Andrew, the Betas of the Dark Crow Pack, the territory just 45 minutes away from Marddox’s. The same territory where I was taken after I ran away from Maddox when I rejected him. It had been over half a year since I was last there, and I was not sure I was ready to see the territory again. It would only remind me of all the horrible things I endured in the three days that I was there. But for some reason, I suddenly had the urge to be there. “Zoey… Can you drive me to the Dark Forest?” I asked. We were in the playroom, where Zoey and I played with Garrett, her son. “What? In your condition? Tyler will kill me, Catherine. His
TEN YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF XAVIER.XANDER.“Are you ready, Alpha?” Xavier asked, and once I nodded my head, he turned to his side and nodded at his seven-year-old brother, Nexus. Without any more words, they hurried off into the forest for my wolf, Orion, to track them. I always give them a fifteen-minute head start before I start looking for them.Fifteen minutes—enough time for myself to soak in all the things my eyes could see and think of all that happened in my life over the last ten years.Three years after we gave birth to Xavier, Nadine fell pregnant again. This time, she extended an offer to me for the Alpha position. Like she said, I’d been doing the Alpha work whenever she couldn’t attend to it due to the nature of her pregnancy. She was going through a difficult time with Nexus. There were days she couldn’t get up from our bed and would vomit from time to time. Although our son was healthy, Nadine would always end up drained of energy. I, of course, could continue doing
NADINE.Dad and Mom arrived just a couple of hours after I gave birth. Nadia called them right away when my waterbag broke, so they were already traveling while I was in labor. Xavier’s birth came early, yet we and the whole pack had always been ready for him.With the approval of the midwives who assisted me, we began our journey home at midnight. I couldn’t wait to introduce our son to his pack and welcome Jillian as our Gamma Female. We arrived by dawn, and I expected the packhouse to be quiet as everyone should be asleep, but the sight that welcomed us was indeed overwhelming to a mother’s heart.The house was bright with lights, and the packhouse ground was decorated with lanterns and banners—both for our son and our Gamma Female—as if they had days to prepare for this and not just hours. The whole area was alive, and even without hearing anything from the outside, I was sure there was music playing as there were people dancing.But the moment Kenzo’s door opened, the whole pl
NADINE.I had just finished fixing my hair and was ready to drive to the Midnight Pack for Jillian’s debut. I came out of our room and went downstairs to find Xander. He was ready many minutes ago, and I asked him to leave me alone in our room so I could continue preparing because he kept distracting me with hugs and kisses. I found him at the bar, drinking alone. I wasn’t sure if he noticed my presence as he remained standing by the large window, gazing outside while sipping his drink.He must be thinking about Carlotta and her pup, as this had been the only thing keeping him quiet lately. Xander was determined to find Maddox’s child and give it a good life. But Carlotta had been dodging us for almost a year.But today, we got more information. We finally had a name and gender. Maddox and Carlotta had a daughter, Maxine Charlotte Trevino. Carlotta named her after her father. But we were still clueless about where they were staying. All we knew was that the child had a fever, and C
GAMMA KENZO.I unclasped her bra and tossed it aside before pulling away from kissing her, letting my eyes savor the perfect breasts that were made for me. Jillian had a petite frame, but her breasts were bigger than her size, and burying my head in between them was a fantasy I wanted to fulfill. She bit her bottom lip before her hands cupped the sides of her breasts and gently kneaded them; all the while, her eyes were swirling with lust. “Do you like them?”My eyes were surely twinkling as I nodded my head, like a boy on Christmas Day. “I fucking love them!”I didn’t need an invite as I bent over and captured one of her breasts, and a grunt filled my throat as I savored her bosom, one after the other, letting my tongue and hand play with them and her nipples while my sultry mate was fumbling with my shirt and my pants, helping in taking them off my body. After I had my fill, my lips pressed against her firm stomach. I trailed my mouth down to her inner thigh where my hand was, par
FUTURE GAMMA FEMALE JILLIAN.“Have you played hide-and-seek?” I asked him in a soft voice after he sent a message to Beta Xander. First, he asked them if Alpha Nadine had given birth and told them to call him anytime. He also informed him that “he got the girl and that he was blessed tenfold tonight.” Even though it was just a text message, I could see the pride in him as he puffed his chest while he was typing those words. Kenzo, even without him knowing, really knew how to melt my heart.“Hmmm... what are you planning to do?” He asked, his forehead creasing. We were already in the hotel lobby where I was staying. The party was already over, but my family was still there to make sure all the guests were sent off nicely and out of the border, but they let us leave ahead. I stood in front of Kenzo, walking backward as he walked forward at my pace. I placed my hand on his chest, a playful grin etched on my face. “Catch me if you can, lover boy.”I pushed him playfully before running
FUTURE GAMMA FEMALE JILLIAN.I watched in awe as my father, Alpha Lucas, took the center stage together with my mother, Luna Katarina. Unlike other parents, Dad and Mom were actually happy that I found out who my mate was as soon as I turned eighteen. Dad was glad he turned out to be the same man I was in love with. He didn’t want me to have any doubts about the man I would be in a relationship with, knowing that my mate was just out there somewhere. Although he was sad I had to leave them sooner, he knew I would be in good hands.“We would like to thank everyone for gracing us with your presence for our daughter’s coming-of-age celebration.” My father began, and the crowd gave him a round of applause. I couldn’t help but smile and playfully roll my eyes upon seeing my mother looking at him as if he held the whole universe in his hands. But then I realized it must be the same way I looked at Kenzo whenever he wasn’t looking at me, and I got to study his features. Dad looked at Mom
GAMMA KENZO.I had never driven so fast as I did tonight. Good thing that I only needed to drive along the forest road, so there were no cameras and traffic police lurking around. If I had my way, I would have run on my paws so I’d be faster, but I needed to look presentable, and I couldn’t just rip my clothes off. I was stopped at their border, and it seemed the one in there had no idea who I was. He denied me entry because I didn’t have the invitation with me. In my rush to get help for the Alpha, I might have dropped it somewhere in the packhouse. Only when I instructed him to reach out to Alpha Ledger and we conversed over the phone did I receive permission to enter.The drive to the hotel where her party was ongoing was plain torture. I was happy that I was here, but the thought of missing her dance and her not being my fated mate kept seeping into my mind. “Judgment time.” I reminded myself of this as I picked up the bouquet of red roses from the backseat of my car and made m
LADY JILLIAN.“Mine!!” The growl was so loud it vibrated through my whole body. I shoved Wes’ hand off me and abruptly turned my body around to face the direction of the voice.And my heart stopped as I stared at the man at the far end of the corridor. My eyes locked with Alonso, Alpha Aeon’s son, the next Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack. My mouth parted as a shriek passed my lips, something I was not able to control. “No!”Until I realized something.I was older than Alonso. Even with him having a wolf, it was impossible that I scented him. He was not eighteen yet. —----------------------GAMMA KENZO.I ran my comb through my hair one more time, perfecting my hairstyle before pointing at myself through my reflection in the mirror. To say that I was excited was an understatement. I was beyond ecstatic.Tonight, whatever fate had in store for me and Jillian, we would finally take our relationship to the next level. I could officially claim her as my girlfriend, and we would take it fro
A YEAR AFTER MADDOX’S DEATH. LADY JILLIAN of the Midnight Pack. I couldn’t erase the smile off my face as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was tied up tightly in a bun, and I was dressed in a swan-like ballerina dress. The only jewelry I had was one pair of crescent moon earrings that I had never taken off. Finally eighteen. My family was throwing a grand ball for me, and I would start the night with a ballet dance that I’d been practicing for many months. The dance was about a female coming of age and spreading her wings. I was excited, not only because I would be turning eighteen and would finally be able to do many things, but because I could officially say YES to Kenzo as my boyfriend. We could make it official. Kenzo and I started dating after he was re-inducted as the Gamma of the Dark Forest Pack. He asked me if he could court me, and I said he could, or he could come back once I turned eighteen, as I was not allowed to have a boyfriend until then. Not that