GAMMA KENZO“Help me save, Nadine. You’re my only hope.” Xander spoke, and I could hear the pain in his voice.My hands froze before I lowered them to the ground.“You can talk now.” He said, but his hand remained around my throat.“Why would I believe you?” I asked.“I’ve been helping people around here since I got here and have not asked for anything in return.”“She’s a Montrell.”“Luna Catherine is a Montrell too. Who do you think allowed her to cross the border so she could leave the territory? Who do you think spearheaded the manhunt to track her down and come home empty-handed? I saved a Montrell from Maddox’s hands—someone who has nothing to do with me. Why would I not save my own mate?”I didn’t say anything. “You can choose what to believe in. But if you only need to believe one thing, believe that I love Nadine. I don’t care if she’s a Montrell. I love her, and I will do everything to take her out of that cell. I will make sure she won’t suffer the same fate my mother suffe
XANDER.“Come back for us,” I told Kenzo as I hugged him. I was giving him all the blessings and faith I had left of me. He was my only hope. I could feel my wolf getting stronger, but Maddox’s devious ways made me a no-match for him. After I left Nadine’s cell to follow them outside when they dragged Kenzo out of the building, he told Rico he couldn’t wait to have his own people kill him. Maddox was obsessed with his Alpha command and what he could do with it. I knew he must be planning to use it against Nadine or me—order his own people to attack—in case I turned out to be on his bad side.And I couldn’t counter that. I knew he was about to give the order when nobody from his personal security volunteered to kill Kenzo. Although I was already planning to implement my plan, it wasn’t easy. I must admit that I was terrified that he would order the people to attack Kenzo, even if I had already told him I would do it. So I was really pissed off when I asked Kenzo to run, and he didn
MINDY.I didn’t know how to tell her about Kenzo’s death and how it was Xander who killed him. I had lost my faith in him, but Nadine had never said anything bad about him through all of this. But then I remember the dagger. I had to secure it first. Nadine watched me as I took it out of my pants and moved away from her, slipping it inside the pile of dirty clothes at the side of her cell before facing her again. “Mindy…” Her eyes were pleading.“They killed him…” I said in a cold voice. I had to, or I would break down and cry.Her hand flew to her mouth as she stifled the cry that came out of her. “No! No!” “And Xander didn’t do anything to save him?”It was then that my tears fell. “Xander killed him.”Her mouth hung open as she kept shaking her head. “No. Don’t say that.”My teeth chattered as my lips quivered. I didn’t want to cry, but I didn’t know where to channel the pain. Kenzo and I knew the stakes when we decided to help Nadine, but it was only tonight that everything sta
ALPHA JACE. It was already late, but my work was far from over. I had to finish all my tasks because, in less than a week, it would be the Council Election. My father, Alpha Jacob, ran as Council Head. We were hoping he’d win, and along with that win was the goal to take down the Claiming and make Maddox pay for all the things he did to my sister, Catherine.It was not that we intended to abuse the Council's power, but with Dad as the head, we knew Maddox wouldn’t have any advantage or upper hand in the case we would file against him, something he had when Alpha Grant was the head. I also wanted to finish all of my deliverables before that day so I could relax before the actual election. Our Alpha friends and families will be here a day or two before, not to party or celebrate, but more to support and protect my old man. On Election Day, we plan to do a convoy from here to the Council territory. We didn’t want to take any risk, and even if Grant and his allies were not showing any
NADINE. “Good to hear. By the way, Arlo called...” Jace began talking.I saw Maddox’s ears perk up, and so did Xander. I saw curiosity in Maddox, but I couldn’t read Xander’s expression, but his forehead creased.“Tell Arlo I’m okay. I will call you again as soon as I can. I hear someone coming.” I cut him off immediately before he could say something about Mindy, and all the while, I was doing my best not to sound nervous. I didn’t want Maddox to have even a slight doubt about me and endanger Chelsea. Better me than her. I dropped the call and walked toward the table, placing the phone on his desk. “Let her go,” I said in a firm voice. “Who’s Arlo?” Maddox said as his hand brushed the girl’s hair. “Isn’t he the Beta of your pack?”He knew. And if I say Arlo knew I was here, he might assume my whole pack knew as well.“He’s my boyfriend,” I said, meeting Maddox’s eyes. I didn’t want to look at Xander.“So he knows you’re here.”“No. If he knew, he wouldn’t have allowed me to come
XANDER.I didn’t expect she would spit on me. Yet she did.It wasn’t many, just spittles, and if this was not a serious and dangerous situation, I would have laughed. “The fuck!” I growled as I wiped my face with my forearm.“If it were me, I would hit her. She did it to Maddox, too, and she got away. Hit her so she wouldn’t do it again.” Carter said as our eyes met in the rearview mirror.My chest was heaving, but I was glad the car stopped. I didn’t say anything and pushed the door open before dragging her out of the car and into the building. I was grateful the quadrangle was empty, as the last thing I wanted was for any of our people to see me doing this to her. We were almost by the stairs when Ron, one of Kenzo’s men, ran down the stairs from the security floor. He looked at me and Nadine, before he opened his mouth. “We need to talk.”“Later!” I snapped at him before dragging Nadine to step on the stairs going down the basement and locking the gates so no one could follow us.
XANDER.“Maybe it means the Alpha will visit her alone tonight.” He chuckled as he gave me a salute before turning around to follow Carter.I kept my face devoid of any emotion, but his words kept ringing in my head.What if he was right? Maddox had never ordered anyone to leave Nadine alone. It was not the full moon yet, but was he planning something?I turned around and jogged up the stairs to the security office. I needed to check the security camera and see if I could connect it to my phone. I knew the camera here was different from the bunker cameras and might not allow me to do what I did for the bunker cameras. But I had to try. I knocked once before I heard the lock click. They already saw me coming up. The door opened, and there were three men inside, including Ron. “Leave us,” I ordered the two, and they went out without any questions.As soon as they were out and the door was locked, Ron pulled out a cigarette pack from the drawer and handed one to me, cocking his head to
NADINE. I didn’t have dinner. I usually never get any fully loaded meals, but Mindy has been consistent in providing me with one at every mealtime. But nothing for tonight.I had skipped meals several times and was trained without food, so this should be nothing, but without sun for many weeks and just a little amount of water, I kept getting weaker. Feeding off Xander’s blood earlier had renewed my energy. Star was recharged, too. It seemed I could survive with just sex and blood from Xander. I smiled at my own thoughts before I closed my eyes. I was lying on top of the clothes I had in this cell because the floor was colder tonight. My body coiled in a fetal position as I hugged myself. Despite the crazy things that happened today, I had many things to be grateful for: Kenzo was alive, and Xander still loved me.My smile was suddenly wiped off my face when I heard the sound of the gate being opened. My eyes snapped open, and my body jolted. I sat up abruptly and sniffed the air,