Welcome to Hell Week, Lovelies! Buckle up and enjoy the ride. 💛 I know some of you will want to wait until Hell Week is over before reading, and I totally understand that💛 however, if you don't mind me requesting that you still open the chapters as I upload them to help my books in the system's algorithm so it will still top the charts and be promoted by the a p p. I would appreciate this very much. But if you decide to dive into hell with me, don't worry, we are all in this together. #NoOneGetsLeftBehind And there's always a silver lining somewhere out there. 💛
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. “
XANDER. We left Nadine at the central plaza and headed back to the packhouse. I didn’t want to leave her, but I had to play my part. I knew she was safer with Maddox’s men around her than if he were there.They would not kill or hurt her without him, as my evil brother wanted to see Nadine suffer. I was just buying time and trying to think of the best approach. I didn’t want to make hasty decisions because one wrong move could cost Nadine’s life. So even if I had to swallow my pride and act like a puppet to my brother, even if it meant the people who liked Nadine might end up hating me, I had to do it. Nadine above all. Maddox asked me to eat a late lunch with him, which I did. After that, he went directly to his office and locked himself there. And I hurried upstairs to the guest room, where I found Nadine on the phone. I was still grieving, knowing she was in love with someone else, but I had decided to let it go for now. I needed to save her. When I was sure no one was on the s
XANDER.It had been more than a week, and I was not able to get near Nadine anymore.If there was any consolation, no one had touched or tortured her after the first day. I had no idea what Maddox had in mind, but he had Gray here most of the time, and they would lock themselves in his office. I was his Beta, but I no longer felt like his second in command, except when it was about the usual pack concerns—not anything relating to Nadine and whatever he was conniving with Gray. Kenzo felt the same way. He had asked Maddox to let him and his men take charge of Nadine, but Maddox had dismissed the request right away. He told him to concentrate on his work and leave Nadine to himself.Kenzo was still treating me coldly. He was not in agreement with how I had just abandoned Nadine, but I had no choice but to shut my mouth. I was also concerned about him, as I could see him becoming agitated whenever the topic shifted to her. Maddox had already slipped, and he told me he was watching him.