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

Beta's Runaway Bride: 13 - Maxim

A weight bears heavily on my shoulders because I am torn between what I want and what I think

Xiomara wants. The way she kissed me now shows me that she wants this just as bad as I do, so why

the fuck aren’t we giving in to this?

Gods, I want this woman.

The way she fits me so perfectly, it’s almost as if the Goddess made her just for me. There’s no way

this could be wrong, not with the way she makes my dead heart beat with purpose. She feels the same

way about me, so why was she hiding it?

Why feel ashamed for wanting something that feels so right?

But then I finally heard Niko’s voice over the mind link and every bit of happiness I felt crumbled at my

feet. Xiomara’s father has come to take her away - it’s too late for us.

She moves from my lap and gets to her feet as quickly as she can, then she walks to the closet where I

can hear her heart beating as fast as a hummingbird. That kiss was supposed to be a goodbye, not a

welcome home.

With a groan, I stand up and breathe out a sigh that makes me wince. I fucking hate being weak like

this, I’m glad those cunts are dead or I’ll be tempted to kill them again.

When Xiomara walks out, she’s wearing a pair of trainers and a hoodie but I notice she’s not carrying

anything else. Then again, everything here is what I’ve bought her, right? She looks at me, her lips a

thin line as she nods.

“I’m ready,” she says, and her voice cracks. Her eyes and body language give nothing away, but her

voice betrays her emotions. “Let’s go.”

“Xiomara-”

“No,” she says, shaking her head. “It’s too late now.”

I sigh again and bite back the pain, then I walk towards her and gesture for her to go first. Seeing her Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

leave will be the hardest thing for me, but it will be a reminder that I let something beautiful slip through

my fingers.

I’m a fucking idiot. Niko gave me an ultimatum this morning and now I'll be doing something I don't

want to do.

/“We’re at the front gate and he’s not a happy fucker,”/ Niko tells me over the mind link. /“Hurry up so

he can leave before I kill him.”/

Niko’s words from earlier echo in my head, but I know that I am too late to reconsider what's waiting.

This Alpha and his territories are important to Niko’s plans, so I can’t give him any more reason to hate

our pack.

Xiomara and I are quiet as we walk through the forest toward the mansion, and I notice she doesn’t

even make eye contact with me. The closer we get to the mansion, the more something tells me I

should say something and put an end to this.

“We can stop this,” I finally say, but she shakes her head and continues walking. “Xiomara, listen to me!

I’ve had enough of this. I am done!”

She eventually stops and hangs her head in her hands, murmuring something in Spanish; as if she’s

trying to convince herself that this won’t be good for either of us.

But I’ll knock that doubt out of her head because this woman is mine. “I can go there and tell your

father you’ll still be my bride; just say the words and I will do it. Tell me you'll be mine and we can stop

this foolishness!”

She turns around to face me, and true to her Bambi nickname, her eyes are wide and shining with

unshed tears. Her shoulders shake lightly as if she’s trying not to sob. “Xiomara, please say

something,” I beg.

A tear slips down her cheek, and she takes a few tentative steps toward me. “How can we work?” she

murmurs, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. “You want someone who will be obedient

and submissive, someone who won’t challenge your authority to no end. Not someone like me who will

question your will!”

I scoff and close the distance between us, drawing my hand to the back of her neck and pulling her

close. “You’ve just described everything I love about you, everything that drives me crazy and gets my

cock hard at the same time,” I say as I wrap my arms around her waist.

“You’ve been this constant thought in the back of my mind that I can’t get rid of, and now that I’ve had a

taste, I don’t want to get fucking rid of it. You've branded yourself onto my very fucking soul, Xiomara,

no matter what I do, I cannot let go of you.”

She sniffs and chuckles sadly. “Are you sure? I’m not… I’m not easy, Maxim-”

I cup her face with both my hands and feel my eyes shift to Beta gold. “I don’t fucking want easy; I just

want you. No shame, no regrets - just you.”

Why the fuck was that so hard to admit? Why couldn’t we just be honest about how we felt before

everything led to this point? I’m an idiot; a real fucking idiot for allowing it to spiral out of control.

“I…” she trails off, sniffing. “I want you too; I want this with you.”

No other words could ever sound sweeter than this, and I draw my mouth to hers, sealing our need

with a kiss. If we were anyplace else but outside in the cold woods, I would claim here and now. But

she’s not just a quick fuck.

With her words alone, she’s bound me to her. No longer just someone given to me for the sake of an

arrangement, but mine - fucking mine.

I break off the kiss and draw my forehead to hers, breathing out a strained, painful sigh that fails to hide

my happiness. “Why did it take us so long to fucking admit this?”

She giggles at my question and wraps her arms around my waist. “Because we’re both idiots and

nearly lost what we could have had because of our stubbornness,” she says, admitting that she’s

stubborn as well.

Ah, that’s a first.

I kiss the top of her head and my smile just grows wider. “Let’s go tell them to fuck off so I can spend

some time with my woman,” I say, lacing my fingers with hers and catching the breathtaking smile

curving on her lips.

Gods, I always want to see this smile. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep that smile on her face from now

on. No more shame, no more doubts or overthinking. I need to be more open with her, since now I

realize she needs affirmation from me first.

I’ll show her every day and every night how much I want her, if that’s what it takes. We can only grow

from here, and from what I can tell, this will only grow more. I never wanted a bride, instead, I might

have just received a soulmate.

We walk out of the forest and I can hear loud voices coming from the front of the pack house. Niko is

standing in front of a tall man with salt and pepper hair wearing a suit and flanked by two other men. I

can immediately tell that this is Xiomara’s father, especially when he turns his head our way.

His face goes red, and he rushes over to us. Then he does something that has put him on my shit list

until the day he dies; he rips Xiomara out of my arms and lands a hard slap across her face.

“Pappa-!”

“¡Eres una desgracia!” he hollers, pulling her towards him and attempting to drag her away. “You’re

going back to your mother’s homeland! I am done with you and your rebellious ways!”

I snap out of my shock and see red. This man just put his hands on my woman; I don’t give a fuck if

he’s her father. No one touches her and lives.

Rushing after them, I pull her out of his grasp, rear back a fist, and slam it right against his nose. The

sounds of his bones cracking under my fist sends a shiver up my spine and I gear up to land another

one when I feel a pair of small hands on my biceps.

Xiomara looks up at me and shakes her head. “Let him go, it’s okay. It’s just a misunderstanding-”

“He fucking touched you!” I growl, looking at the whimpering man in front of me. “No one gets to hurt

you and live.”

“He’s my father, Maxim!” she exclaims. I see her red cheek and it makes my blood boil. “He’s angry

with me and worked up, but this can all be settled with a few words, okay? Let’s speak with him about

our decision and go from there.”

I let go of his lapel, and he falls to the floor, holding his nose. How the fuck is she expecting me to be

calm right now? From a happy fucking revelation in the woods to this. I shouldn’t give in so easily, I

should be beating him to a pulp for touching what’s mine, but the look in her eyes reels my anger back.

“Fine,” I say, gently grabbing the back of her neck and pulling her to my side before glaring at her

father. “If you had waited just a few fucking seconds before touching her, you would have known that

my betrothal to your daughter is still in effect. She’s mine.”

The fucker at least has the decency to look scared as he takes a step back, looking from his daughter

to me. “S-still in effect? You are going to marry her?”

I nod. “I am and you just hurt my bride; for that, you shouldn't be spared, but she’s just saved your life

by vouching for you,” he pales at my words, and I can’t help but smirk. “The marriage is still in place

and so are the arrangements between you and Niko.”

Niko walks towards us and places a hand on my shoulder. “I have the papers up in my office. If you will,

Alpha Aldo, we can do this right now.”

This is what Niko spoke to me about earlier; he has the marriage papers, and it's just for us to sign

them. I turn to Xiomara and see the shock on her face, because if her father says yes, then we’re

getting married right fucking now.

Her father flounders, but nods anyway. “Certainly!” he exclaims, then he turns to me. “I apologize for

my rash behavior, Beta Maxim. I hope you can forgive me. And you, Zara, I am sorry for striking you.”

Xiomara nods. “The first and the last time, Pappa,” she says, then actually walks towards him and

embraces him. They whisper something to each other and her father nods, actually looking apologetic

for once.

She joins me at my side again and then glances up at me. “You knew about the papers, didn’t you?”

she asks, but obviously already knows the answer.

I lean forward to kiss the side of her head, attempting to hide my smile but failing. “Let’s just say I was

informed, and knew I had to take action to keep you by my side,” I say. It’s not exactly the full truth, but

it’ll do.

As long as I have her now, as long as she willingly says yes to being mine, it will all be worth it.