Chapter 3

NADINE.

“Damn, Nadine… I can smell your arousal…” He groaned as he pressed his bulging erection against my front. “Can you feel how much I want you?”

“Yes.. please…” I moaned. 

His hand moved and trailed along my thigh as our mouths fought for dominance. His fingers brushed on the tiny fabric covering my core before he slipped it to the side and began touching my folds. I could feel my pussy leaking.

He pulled away from my throat and pushed his body up, making me whimper in disappointment because I wanted his lips on my skin. 

“Aren’t you wet for me, mate?” He asked as he licked his lips. His eyes dilated while his finger continued to slide in between my folds. 

Instead of responding, I closed my eyes, wrapped my legs around his waist, and arched my body, wanting to make more contact with him. This caused my dress to slip, revealing the skin of my thighs to him.

I was still lost in the sensation, gently rubbing my core against his finger, when I realized he had stopped moving and that his body had become rigid. 

My eyes snapped open. I saw Xander as his expression turned into a scowl. I followed his line of sight, and his eyes were directed on my right thigh, where my big tattoo was — a rose with a snake coiled around it. 

I could tell from his expression that he didn’t like it. Was a tattoo a deal-breaker for him?

“Who are you?” He growled as he pulled his hand under my skirt.

“What?” I asked, confused. I propped my elbows on the mattress and pushed my body up.

His gaze met mine. His eyes dilated as he let go of my body completely and rose from the bed. 

“Who are you?” He repeated.

“Nadine…” I answered, but my heart was thudding too loudly as if it would jump out of my chest. 

“Why are you here?”

“I’m your mate.”

“Really? Are you here for me or for Tristan?” He was growling again.

My eyes widened at his words. How did he know about Tristan? I was sure Tristan had never told anyone about us. 

Tristan was my ex-boyfriend. The former Beta of this pack. He went missing, and the next thing I knew, news spread out that he had died of a rogue attack. Others might have believed that, but I didn’t. But I had no way to prove that my theory was right — that he was killed by Alpha Maddox and not by rogues.

But Tristan didn’t matter at all. I had never had this connection with him like I had with Xander, and it had not even been an hour since I’d been with him. 

“Fuck! Fuck!” He brushed his hands over his long hair as he kept growling.

“You’re scaring me!”

“"Don't lie to me! You’re here for Tristan! Too bad for you, you will never hear or find answers about him!" He said in a cold voice. 

I opened my mouth to speak. I wanted to defend myself, but he beat me to it.

“Do you love him?”

“He’s dead already!”

“Do you love him? Answer me!” 

“What is the sense of that question when he’s already dead?”

“Just fucking answer me!” I felt jealousy rise in his aura, and for some reason, I wanted to clear up any doubts he had.

I shook my head as I tried to reach for his hand. “I’m here for you.” 

“Stop with your lies. You’re not here for me.” He moved before I could touch him. He went to my luggage, harshly opening the zipper.

I rushed to him and tried to get him off my bags. “What are you doing?”

“Stay back there.”

“Those are my personal things. You have no right to inspect them as if I'm hiding illegal items."

“Don’t you?” He asked, his eyes dilating, before he pulled a pair of black leggings from the stack of my folded clothes. “Put this on.”

“No…” I shook my head as I inched backward from him. Was he throwing me away from this territory, and he wanted me to have more suitable clothes than this dress?

I didn’t want to cry. I already knew many things could go wrong today, but I didn’t expect my heart to get broken by how he treated me. I thought I could take everything, but the pain coming from his rejection was something I wasn’t prepared for. 

“Please… I have nowhere to go.” I kept moving backward. I didn’t notice the bed until I bumped into it, and my knees bent, making me fall back on it. 

Xander moved fast and, without warning, slipped the leggings onto my feet and into my legs. 

“Stop!” I tried to kick him off, but aside from his strong grip, the pain in my heart made me weak. 

“Don’t let anyone see this tattoo!” He said, his teeth gritting. He was holding my hands together while his other hand pulled the tights up on me. 

“Why?” I finally gave up fighting. 

“Just fucking trust me!” He successfully did it, and once he was done, he coiled an arm around my waist and pulled me off the bed, taking me along with him. The band holding my hair snapped, and my hair ended up almost covering my face, but I didn’t have the energy to fix it, even if it was blocking my sight. 

“How can I trust you when you never gave me a reason to trust you?” I asked in a painful voice.

Xander didn’t answer and proceeded to open the door. He looked along the corridor, and when he saw no one, he took me out of the room and locked the door. 

“Where are we going?” I asked. 

“Stay quiet.” He said in a hushed tone, and it was taking all of me not to freak out. He was holding me by my waist, almost half carrying and dragging me. It was painful, but I knew complaining would just lead me nowhere.

So I tried to numb myself. I had no idea what happened. One moment, we were into each other, and the next thing, he was throwing me out. 

We walked down the corridor and down the stairs, but instead of going to the ground floor, we proceeded to another staircase going down, which I believed was the basement of this packhouse. 

“Where are you taking me?”

“I said don’t make a noise.” He said coldly.

I wanted to scream and defy him, but I was too tired. It had not even been an hour since I came here, and I was already losing my focus and ability to stand up for myself. 

“What is this?” I asked when he opened a metal door after he punched in the code. 

“Get inside.” 

“No. No.” I pushed him off me, but he was faster. He grabbed my waist again and placed me in the secluded room. He dropped me on a single bed before walking away with a fast stride, closing the metal door without even looking at me.  

“No!” I screamed as anger surged through my whole body. He had put me in a bunker, and without a code, I knew I would never be able to get out. 

I pushed my body off the bed and went to the door, trying to punch all the possible codes I could think of, but it kept beeping. I kept trying until I got a warning.

One more wrong code and it would notify the Alpha directly. 

My body shook as I screamed. But I kept fighting to keep my tears from falling. As much as I wanted to get away from this bunker, I didn’t want to deal with Alpha Maddox, as I knew my heat would come soon. 

Females who met their mates and were not marked would go into a wild heat every full moon, releasing a scent that would attract every unmated male. The unmated males would go into a haze with only one goal: to fuck the source of the heat. 

And the last person I wanted to be around when I went into heat was Alpha Maddox. Given his reputation, I was sure he would take advantage of me.

I kept slamming my palms on the metal door before I rested my forehead against it as I murmured while my tears rolled down my cheeks. “I was wrong to even think you might be different from your brother. You are just as wicked as Maddox. I will make you pay, Xander Trevino! Mark my words!”