NADINE.The kissing led to sex and before I knew it, Xander was unstoppable. I had no idea how many times we did it before we both fell asleep.I woke up in the middle of the night with his arms around me, and as much as I wanted to just sink into his embrace, I had things to do. At two in the morning, I was sneaking out of our room and walking casually along the corridor. I was hoping the Alpha was already asleep as he was the only other person in this house aside from Xander and me. I had no idea if Kenzo stayed here for the night, as he rarely does.But I hope he didn’t come back to grab his power bank. I walked carefully down the stairs and along the hallway, and I almost jumped in excitement when I saw what I was looking for. It was still there in the same position as I saw it earlier. I dashed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of cold water before swiping the power bank on my way back and inserting it in my robe’s pocket. I then doubled my steps up while listening carefully
NADINE.After a quick shower, I left my room to check my phone when I noticed that the guestroom where I was last night had its door open.My heart thundered, but I peeked inside and saw an Omega cleaning the room. “Hi.” I greeted her with a wide smile on my face. “You’re cleaning here, do we have a guest coming?”“I’m not aware of any guests, Lady Nadine. But the Alpha requested to have this room cleaned up.”“Oh, did he say why?” I asked.“No.” She answered while shaking her head.“Okay. I took some books from the shelves, so if you’re looking for them, they’re just in my room.”“No problem, Lady Nadine. I didn’t even notice.” She smiled warmly at me.I winked at her before saying goodbye. I was sure she would never see the phone, even if she vacuumed under the bed, as I slipped it on the bottom of the bed frame. But it still made me worried. Why did Maddox order it to be cleaned? Was he searching for something?I made my way down to the ground floor and just thought of going back
XANDER.She’s a Montrell. Theodore Montrell’s daughter. Maddox’s words kept running through my head. I had no idea what happened or how Maddox knew until some words slipped from his tongue while he was whipping me. Beta Julian recognized her and told Alpha Gray that he was sure he saw Nadine at the Claiming with Clair Galhart, Catherine’s mother and granddaughter of Carlos Montrell. Gray checked all the photos taken during the Claiming, and they found her in the gold dress. The same dress that she had when I met her. It didn’t take long before they were able to check the old database for all the packs, and they found Theodore Montrell at the Silver Moon Pack, and under his name was a Nadine Benjamin Montrell. Maddox already had an inkling that something was off with Nadine before this, but he had no idea where to start until Julian’s information came. He then made a call to Crimson Pack, the pack Nadine claimed was her previous pack, to verify if a Nadine Benjamin existed there an
TRIGGER WARNING: Some scenes (physical assault, NO rape) might be triggering to some. I will try to be subtle, so proceed with caution. -------------NADINE.Every part of my body was so painful that I couldn’t move, as if someone had tried to crack my bones. It took a while before I was able to flip my eyes open and see a rough, stained wall in front of me. And everything came flooding into my head about how I ended up on this cold, dingy floor. Someone injected me with wolfsbane. It was the only reason I couldn’t move, and Star was nowhere in my head. I had expected this. I knew this could happen, and I thought I was prepared for it. I had administered wolfsbane into my body three times using the syringes that Tristan gave me, but the effect didn’t make me lose consciousness. So, I assumed a high dosage was given to me this time. I closed my eyes and internally cursed. Maddox was such a coward that he had to use wolfsbane on a female. I wanted to scoff at his cowardice, but I h
NADINE.I was so ready to spit saliva on Xander like I did on Maddox after he slammed me against the wall, but his Alpha command caught me off guard. He wanted me to lie to Maddox in order to save myself. My mind went into a daze. I was exhausted, and I was not sure if I was hallucinating. The Alpha command was a clear indication he wanted me to survive, but it definitely did not mean he wanted anything to do with me anymore. He was just being Xander. The man who would lie to save everyone. “Give me that.” His voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and my head tilted to look at them. He grabbed the marker and harshly pulled me away from the wall. He bent forward and began scribbling on the front of my shirt, not caring how harshly he was gripping and holding me to keep me from moving.“I’m a traitor,” Maddox said, reading the words on my shirt. “Nah, give me that.”’Xander handed him the pen, and he stood before me, taking Xander’s place. He crossed out the word traitor and wrote do
XANDER. How do you stand still and show no emotions when the only female you love is being verbally abused and physically assaulted?I had told so many lies in my life to protect other people, but none of them crushed my whole being as they did today. Nadine looked helpless and lost.It made me wish I was a better shifter. It made me wish I hadn’t refused when my grandfather asked if I wanted to live with them to learn the ways of the wolves. Maybe if I did, I would have the power to challenge Maddox and save her. But I had nothing. And I had no one.The only ally I thought I had also betrayed me, and yet I was still here trying to protect her. My wolf was suffering inside me. He couldn’t understand why I was not doing anything. I wish I could, but with Maddox and the people with him, I am powerless. So, I played my part well. I had nothing to lose. I knew Nadine would never end up being mine, but I didn’t want her to die either.If this pack was what she wanted, then she could ha
NADINE. I had no idea how I was able to stand still and face all the egging without flinching or screaming for every hit. It wasn’t easy, especially if the crowd before me was more than hundreds. Aside from the sticky, icky feeling, I knew I had cuts on my forehead as I smelled and tasted blood. But no matter how I tried not to cry, I couldn’t stop the tears. I had always envisioned much further torture than this if Maddox were to find out about me, so this was nothing. The tears streaming down my cheeks were not for me, but for the agony I saw in the eyes of every mother standing in front of me. While their kids were having fun throwing eggs at me, their mothers were obviously distraught. I was sure Maddox had used his Alpha command again, as no one dared touch me at the beginning except for Carlotta.‘Use it as much as you want, coward. One day, it will be the main reason you’ll fall.’ I mumbled to myself as I kept my head high. I had to. I had to remind myself that I am a Montre
NADINE.“What happened?” Mindy’s face showed concern as she crouched in front of me. I pulled on the chains that held me in order to make some sound. I was not even sure if it could be heard in the corridor because the water was also making a lot of noise. But I wanted to mask our voices more. “I’m a Montrell, Mindy,” I said in a low voice. I kept my eyes on her, not wanting to miss any reaction. Up to this moment, I was not sure how Mindy took our last encounter. But if there was any doubt in my heart that she hated me, it went away the moment her face softened and tears welled in her eyes. Without letting go of the high-pressure hose in one hand, she wrapped her free arm around my neck and hugged me. Her warmth enveloped my whole body, just what I needed at the moment.“You’re crazy for coming here!” She mumbled, but she began peppering me with kisses on the side of my head. “But I’m glad to meet you.”She pulled away from hugging me, and a wide smile was plastered on her face. “
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