The Lycan Kingpin's Captive: A Baby For The Beast

Beta's Runaway Bride: 9 - Xiomara

Maxim left sometime during the night and didn’t even bother to say goodbye to me. I don’t know what I

was thinking anyway, after we fucked last night, I ran to my bedroom and left him standing there.

I know it was stupid! But I couldn’t face him after what we did, knowing I willingly gave myself to him

like that made me feel cheap. We hate-fucked, it’s the worst kind but also the kind that sticks with you.

What's even worse than this is that I won't be seeing Maxim for a while; I’ll probably be gone by the

time he comes back. There will be no time for us to talk about this; but do I honestly want us to talk

about it?

Argh, this is going to drive me crazy. Perhaps I should speak to the Alpha about not sending me away

until Maxim gets back; but would he listen to me, though?

Before I can wallow more, my bedroom door bursts open and I nearly scream… only to see the

Gamma’s brides and Luna Mia streaming in and jumping onto my bed.

“Wha-”

“We’re hijacking you for the day,” Eden says as she gets under the blankets with me and Alessia joins

her on the other side.

“We have a full day planned, so you better get your ass out of bed!” she says as she blocks me from

actually getting out of bed and I scoff incredulously.

“Wha… Maxim won’t be happy that so many people are in his house!” is the only thing I can think of

saying and they all look at each other before laughing like they know something I don’t.

“Don’t worry about that, Maxim gave us permission to keep you company here,” Luna Mia says and

sees my uneasiness, so she gestures for the other ladies to get off the bed. “Let’s give Xiomara her

space while she gets ready, girls.”

They follow Luna Mia towards the door and when they’re all gone; she turns around to face me. “Put on

something comfortable; we’re here to be your friends and try to help where we can, even if it doesn’t

feel that way,” she says before closing the door and giving me privacy.

Great. I wanted to spend the day wallowing and now I have to spend it entertaining women I can’t allow

myself to get close to. I’m leaving soon, Luna Mia knows this, so why doesn’t she just leave me be?

Sighing, I drag myself out of bed to the shower and afterward I throw on something comfortable before

heading downstairs. They came out here for me, so I might as well play nice, too.

I find all congregating in the kitchen, unpacking brown bags of groceries and chatting amongst

themselves. There’s not just normal food but chocolates and all sorts of unhealthy snacks and bottles

of wine and champagne.

They’re all dressed like me: sweats, tank tops, and walking barefoot. I think I might just like this.

“Did I miss some sort of invitation to this party?” I say, amused, as I walk towards the kitchen island.

Luna Mia chuckles. “We’re attempting to do a mezze, but the girls don’t seem to be into something so

basic-”

“I said we should do a chocolate charcuterie, but obviously I was shot down,” Eden quips with a roll of

her eyes. “So I need you to convince them to do one, Xiomara!”

Gianna groans. “That would just mean we have to spend more hours in the gym burning that chocolate

off! And I love chocolate more than anyone, but I hate the gym more,” she protests before turning back

to the platter in front of her

“A chocolate charcuterie? You mean, just with chocolates?” I ask, secretly loving the idea and when

she nods, I can feel my mouth water. “Hmm, that sounds like heaven!”

Eden squeals and turns to Luna Mia with a hand on her hip. “See?! Someone agrees!”

Luna Mia pinches the bridge of her nose and gestures between me and Eden. “Then you two create

the platter while we do the others. Goddess, we’re going to leave here filled up with rubbish and I’ll be

to blame!” she exclaims and a chorus of giggles follow.

My heart clenches at how easy this is with them. I’ve never had friends in the past, and never got too

close to anyone but being around these women makes me want to get to know them better. How can I

be mourning something I never had?

When we’re done with the platters, we take everything through to the covered deck at the back of the

house. It’s a bit chilly out, but I see someone has already lit the fireplace so the space is nice and

warm.

After setting the low table, we sat down with me taking up a corner space and Gianna sitting down next

to me and Eden next to her. As everyone falls into easy conversation, Gianna turns to me.

“Divan and Romano left with Maxim this morning,” she says, offering me a smile. “So the three of us

will be without them for a while, I think.”

A while - that could be between a few days and a few months. Either way, I doubt I’ll see Maxim again

and that sort of brings me down more. I shouldn’t have run away last night; but then again, I didn’t

know I’d be feeling like this today.

I breathe out a sigh and Eden’s gaze snaps toward me. “They do this often, don’t worry! Romano

usually sneaks back in the middle of the night after he’s been away, then it all goes back to normal,”

she says, reaching over to pat my hand, but I shake my head.

“It’s not… It’s not that. Maxim and I… last night we - well, something happened.” I say, looking up, I see

their wide eyes and bite my bottom lip. “We argued, had sex, and then I ran away from him.”

Gods, that sounds even worse when I say it out loud.

“Oh! Wow, we haven’t… progressed that far with the Gammas, but this is good!” Gianna says, taking

my hand. “It means you’re getting closer and that there are underlying feelings between you.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing, Gianna,” I sigh, shaking my head, and when I look at Luna Mia,

she’s wearing a sympathetic expression.

Eden scoffs. “Of course, it’s a good thing! It means-”

I look at Gianna’s petite hand in mine and wish things were different. “I’m leaving soon. Maxim found

another bride more submissive and I’ll be sent away. So no… this isn’t a good thing.”

There’s no way I’m looking up at them because the looks of pity would just kill me. After a few weeks

with Maxim and things became bearable, only for him to decide to send me back home. Yes, I know I

asked for it but I didn’t exactly expect this, did I?

“I’ll speak with Niko,” my head whips up when I hear Luna Mia’s voice and see the emotion in her eyes.

“I’ll tell him to call off the negotiation with the other pack.”

“No! You can’t do that, this is what Maxim wants!” I exclaim, shaking my head. “He wants another bride,

not me. This is the decision he made, so I can’t go against it!”

Gods, why does it hurt so much? I cannot believe we grew so close these past few weeks; so close

that he’s embedded himself in my heart somehow! Perhaps it’s Captor Syndrome or something…

Noelle chuckles and shakes her head. “You think this is what Maxim wants? No offense, Xiomara, but

you must be blind,” she says and I see both Alessia and Demi nodding.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask them with narrowed eyes.

Blind? Stupid, maybe, for feeling this way. But what does she mean by me being blind?

Gianna tilts her head to the side as a warm smile slips onto her lips. “We all saw the way Maxim looked

at you when you came to meet us, not to mention how he managed to calm you down before you came

over to the table,” she says, giving my hand a squeeze. “Maxim doesn’t want to get rid of you, Xiomara,

there’s something else going on with him.”

“Beta Maxim always has a vacant look in his eyes, but when he looks at you, possessiveness burns

there. Don’t let his nonchalance fool you, whatever happened between you two was because you both

wanted it,” Demi says.

Luna Mia beams at Demi’s words, then she slowly nods in agreement. “I must admit that I saw the way

he looked at you as well. You’ve slowly started to thaw his heart, but I’m guessing he made this

decision because he knew it was what you originally wanted.”

Yeah, I was the one who told him to send me back home. I was the one who wanted my freedom and Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

he did as I asked. I was the one who pushed him to ask for another bride; it’s all on me.

A giggle sounds next to me and I see Gianna’s blue eyes light up. “This sort of gives me hope for Divan

and me,” she says with a huge smile on her face. “If Beta Maxim’s ruthless heart can be swayed, then

so can the hearts of our Gammas!”

Gianna’s words send a ripple through the group and I watch as hope inches into their eyes as well.

“Was Maxim really that bad?” I gasp, placing a hand on my chest and Luna Mia nods.

“Maxim is the one Niko sends out if he’s unable to deal with the more…dangerous things in his territory.

Both he and Niko trained the Gammas, that should be saying a lot already,” she says, her lips a thin

line. “It’s only been a few months since his torture at the hands of Mikhail and his men, and it hardened

him even more.”

“Torture?!” I exclaim, my eyes growing wide and my heart clenching.

This should be expected since he’s a second in command, but the thought of Maxim being hurt sends a

sick shiver down my spine.

“Men tend to hide their emotions better than we do, don’t forget that. But yes, he was taken and

tortured a few months ago,” Luna Mia says. “The Gammas and Niko went to rescue him. That was

actually the first time I met the Gammas.”

After Luna Mia says the above, her brows furrow as if she’s just recalled something, then she gets to

her feet. “I’ll be back momentarily,” she says, then leaves the room while we all look confused.

“Okay, as much as I am dying to pick Xiomara’s brain, let’s all eat and get her drunk so she can spill

her secrets,” Eden says and hops up, bounding towards the champagne. “Maybe we can get some tips

on how to seduce the Gammas.”

The girls chuckle at Eden’s words and follow her, but Gianna looks at me and sighs. “Do you like

Maxim?” she asks with a tilt of her head.

Like him? I think what I feel is past the ‘like’ stage.

“I don’t know… it doesn’t matter anyway, he wants to send me away and another bride will be taking

my place when I leave. What I feel won’t make a difference to what Maxim has decided,” I say, the

words tasting bitter in my mouth.

Maxim is the kind of man who wants things his way, and I am defiant to a fault. I challenge him when I

know he prefers them subservient… I am not his type at all.

“If you’re uncertain about things, you could always go speak with Alpha Nikolaos. He may look scary,

but he actually listens to the troubles of his pack,” she says, patting my hand and standing up. “Who

knows, perhaps he knows something about his Beta you’re not privy to.”

More cryptic words and I honestly feel like I’m about to pull out my hair, but I take a deep breath and

join them at the table. These are women who are desperately trying to gain the affection of their

husbands, might as well humor them.