Chapter 9

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.