NADINE. We bumped into four Omegas, including Mindy. My hands curled into fists, but I did my best to stop my chest from heaving. “Good morning, Beta Xander.” One of them greeted him. “Good morning.” Xander stopped walking, making me stop, too. His arm went around my waist as he pulled me closer to him. “This is Lady Nadine, my mate. Future Beta Female of this Pack.”I saw shock registered on their faces, except for Mindy, who smiled at me. But it also didn’t slip my eyes the way the other Omegas tried to look at her discreetly. They were probably checking her reaction to Xander’s introduction.“Welcome to the Dark Forest Pack, Beta Nadine.” Mindy greeted me, tilting her head to bow down. The rest of the Omegas followed her and said the same thing before they bowed in respect. I wanted to cry and walk away, but I kept my head high while doing my best not to sound sarcastic. “Thank you,” I replied. And then I saw it. Mindy’s eyes flecked white, and I slowly tilted my head to look a
XANDER.Before Nadine showed up at the border, I had asked Maddox to give me a day or two off to find my mate. I told him I had no plans to claim her — that I didn’t want her. But I needed to find her for the rejection. That was a lie. I wanted Nadine. My whole being craved the female I smelled two weeks ago at the Claiming Ball, but I knew I had nothing to offer her, not with Maddox around. In the two months I was here, I had seen females that my brother fancied, and I was terrified his attention would fall on her. My mate’s beauty was exquisite. She might be innocent-looking, but there was a fire in her eyes — something that my brother would surely take notice of, and the last thing I wanted was for him to add her to his conquest.Some of Maddox’s conquests were willing females who would open their legs and let him have his way with them, but others were victims of his games. Mindy belonged to the latter. I had to let my brother think I wanted Mindy so he would leave her alone.
XANDER.So here we were, heading to the Security Building so I could explain things better.I had never had to explain my actions to anyone, and I was at a loss for every question Nadine would throw my way. I had no idea how to make her believe my intentions were real — that I wanted her, not anyone else.Seeing the desire in Maddox’s eyes for my mate woke up all my senses. I didn’t care anymore if Nadine was still in love with Tristan or if she was an accomplice to him. All I knew was that I wanted to protect her, and I wanted to claim her. But earning her trust would be hard after everything I did to her in the last twenty-four hours. “What are we doing here?” She asked as we stopped in front of the door where SECURITY was written. I didn’t answer. Instead, I opened the door wide and let her in. There were four men inside, including Gamma Kenzo. “Good morning, Beta Xander.” The rest of the men greeted me, while Kenzo just nodded his head toward me. “Good morning. This is Nadine.
NADINE. I wasn’t sure if I should trust him about Mindy. If I just based it on how he looked at the moment, he appeared to be telling the truth. But trusting someone who belonged to the clan I hated the most was not easy, especially when lying was also the game I was playing. So, I guess I will still have to watch them and let time reveal everything. “Why are you here, Nadine? Maybe it’s time for you to tell me your story.” Xander spoke in a soft way, and with his hands on my skin, I was losing my defenses and my senses. I almost blurted out that I was here to take my pack back, but I was able to get hold of myself in time. Instead of telling him about how I wanted him, like I had practiced multiple times before coming here, I began telling him about Tristan. I had no idea why, but maybe, despite my deception, I wanted Tristan out of the way between us, like I wanted Mindy out of his life. I wanted him not to think Tristan was someone important to me. “I met Tristan three months
NADINE.“Are you okay?” Xander asked as he tucked strayed hair behind my ears.I nodded before I asked. “Who was it?”“Kenzo.” He replied before grabbing my hand and clasping it in his. Sparks ignited again, and I just let out a sigh. This was bad. Xander could really make me lose my concentration. He opened the door, and I was baffled that no one was there. We were already walking along the corridor when I asked him. “Where are they?”“I asked them to come back after three minutes.”“Thank Goddess, or it’ll be embarrassing to face them,” I mumbled softly, and he chuckled. But if I thought I was already able to get away from the embarrassment, I was wrong because we met Gamma Kenzo and his men in the middle of the stairs. They didn’t say anything, but Kenzo gave Xander a salute, and I could see the teasing in his eyes, which my mate ignored. He just nodded his head in response to the greetings of the others as we passed them. We then hurried down the stairs and out of the building.
NADINE.“Is that a cemetery?” I asked as my attention was drawn to the vast land surrounded by iron gates. In the middle of it stood an old, beautiful chapel with stained-glass windows casting rainbow hues on the ground. “Yes.”“Can we stop? Or are we even allowed to go inside?”“Yes, it’s a public cemetery? But why?” He asked, his forehead creasing. I gulped before I flashed him a smile. “I have a fascination with this kind of place. It’s eerie, but I don’t know. I’m sorry, I’m weird.”He chuckled as he maneuvered his car to a designated parking lot. “I like your weirdness. I’ll take that.”I smiled at him, silently hoping I could take him, too. Because, as much as I was trying to deny it, in just twenty-four hours, I think I was already falling for my mate. Xander helped me out of the car, and even though I was capable of doing it, I didn’t stop him. I liked that his attention was all on me. The green scenery and the smell of fresh and decayed flowers swirled around us while we w
NADINE.I was grateful that Xander gave me space around the cemetery.I didn’t stay at my grandparents' grave, but I did talk to them while I walked around. I told them about Dad and Uncle David, and how they found their mates. I told them Mom was human but thriving well in the shifters’ world. I also told them about Nadia, my eldest half-sister, and how she had a wonderful life with her Alpha mate. I let them know who her mother was, because I was sure they knew her, as she was from this pack. I told them about the life we had and where we lived. I spoke with pride, telling Grandpa that I was as skilled in combat as he was, just as Dad had told me.I told them I wished I met them, but even if I didn’t get to, I had loved them from how Dad and Uncle David spoke of them. I was sure they knew everything, but I had fun telling them all about us. I also promised them that one of these days I would visit and bring them flowers. And before I left, I told Grandpa that I would take back h
XANDER. I wrapped my arms around her, and before she could say more, I had already crashed my lips against her. It was taking all of my restraint not to kiss Nadine. I didn’t want her to think I was taking advantage, but having her this close to me made me forget whatever control I was trying to have.A soft moan escaped her throat as her grip on my shirt tightened, and she kissed me back with the same intensity that I was giving. The moment her lips parted, I plunged my tongue inside her, devouring the whole of her mouth.I forgot we were in public—in a small family restaurant where there were families with pups eating breakfast. I only snapped back to reality when I heard a soft gasp, making me open my eyes and see our server with a tray of food in her hands, turning around. She probably didn’t want to disturb us. I gently pulled away from Nadine, and she didn’t like it. Her hands tightened on my clothes, pulling me back, but I shook my head and connected with her head. ‘The serv
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