ADRIANA’S POVThe tears kept rolling down my cheeks. I stood frozen, feeling Xander’s anger crackling in the air the longer I stayed not doing as he asked me to do. I just couldn’t bring myself to remove my clothes in front of him.“Xander, please.” I tried again, my voice shaking when I spoke and barely making it out. “Please don’t make me do that.”I didn’t care that I sounded pathetic, I would get on my knees and beg him if it meant it would make him change his mind. I wasn’t going to give up without trying. I haven’t fought many of the people in my father’s pack to lose my dignity so easily.The one time I knew I fought back when someone had hit me was when my father’s old gamma tried to take advantage of me when I was sixteen. He’d not been in his right senses and I was in the kitchen when he entered. He tried to force himself on me, he was much stronger than I was and he’d even gotten far enough to tear my gown down the front. When I saw what he wanted to do, I panicked and atta

ALPHA XANDER’S POV“Sorry?” Dr. Harrison’s brows creased and he sat up in his chair, his back straightening.“You got your wolf, yes?” I ask again, saying each word slowly in case he had trouble understanding. He nodded, pursing his lips. “When? And what was it like?” if he found the questions strange and disrespectful, he didn’t show it. He was smarter than that.“At twenty five, alpha,” I nodded absently, then motioned for him to elaborate. “I don’t really know the words to use alpha, it was strange. I’d given up at that point but for a few weeks before I got him, a lot of things were…weird I guess.” There was a faraway look in his eyes as he spoke, like he was reminiscing about the time.“I wasn’t used to the hyper reactions and mobility, so I had a bit of trouble getting by,” he leaned back and chuckled a little. “I was a total mess in the hospital, I couldn’t perform any surgeries for a month. Because after I got him and all, I needed to learn how to control myself.” Lycans and wo

ALPHA XANDER’S POV“Sorry?” Alpha Jameson asks after more than two minutes of him looking at me like I just spoke in a weird language he has never heard of, and is waiting for a translator. He must have realized I’m not going to repeat myself because he tried sitting up. He groaned then laid back down, all the while I only watched with barely contained rage. If he knows what is good for him he would start talking, and soon.“You heard me,” I growled the words out. He meets my eyes for a split second, something akin to panic flashing behind his eyes.“No one important,” he said finally, the words coming out through gritted teeth“Who. Is. She?” I stress each word, standing up. I take a threatening step toward him and the heart monitor starts going crazy, I pause and stare at him, my eyebrows almost reaching my hairline in question. His face was getting red and sweat matted his forehead.What the hell was he hiding that just a simple question like this would make him react that way?“Al

ADRIANA’S POVI ended up convincing Daciana to go to bed. She was exhausted after the day’s activities, and she was also badly injured. She was stubborn of course and refused to agree with me but I noticed how she grimaced whenever she had to move her hand up. When I asked if she was okay, she said yes. I didn’t expect her to say otherwise.I felt guilty, knowing she must have gotten that when she went out. I’d been too focused on myself to even think of her, not that I would have been of much help.“Be safe, love. And if you change your mind, my door is always open. Literally this time.” I chuckled beside myself at her joke. She got up and left after that, I was happy she was finally going to let her body rest. I was weirdly protective of her, which was funny seeing how I couldn’t even protect myself. More pathetic than funny.I sat for more than thirty minutes, with nothing but my thoughts company. The renewed hope made me feel light, it made me happy. I knew if—when the time comes,

ADRIANA’S POVI was everything that explained scared right now. It was like Xander turned into a monster right before my eyes. I knew he wasn’t a saint before and he said the most atrocious things sometimes, like when he said he wanted my fear. The fear I had felt then didn’t hold a candle to what I was feeling now.My tear ducts have dried out, I was stuck in a desert with no water and the scorching sun, my eyes were burning with the need to shed tears, to cry and scream. But I couldn’t do any of that, fighting my way out of his hold was even more impossible than me trying to force myself to form tears.“Xander please,” I didn’t know what I was begging him for, or wait, I did know. He said he was going to punish me for trying to run. The last time I did something he didn’t agree with, he locked me up and I almost died.I didn’t want to be closed in again, it only reminds me of the last time and my chest grows tight, my lungs close in around me until I’m gasping for air. Seeing I was