Beta's Runaway Bride: 3 - Xiomara

The sunlight seems harsher than before as my eyelids flutter open, and my head feels like I drank

four bottles of dirt-cheap wine. What happened to me last night? Am I coming down with a cold or

something?

Must be; I'm smelling sandalwood when I should be smelling mold.

Well, something is making this motel's bed and sheets feel extra soft, and I groan while stretching.

Only when I inhale deeply and open my eyes, do I realize that I am, in fact, not back at my shitty

motel.

{Qué m****3?

I'm in an expensive-looking bedroom; a four-poster bed including lush velvet draping, warm

browns, soft reds, and decadent creams. This would be how I'd decorate my room if my Papa didn't

want everything in sterile black and white.

But that awe soon gets replaced with terror, because I don't know where the hell I am.

I jump from the bed, throwing off something heavy and gasping when I look down at my ripped t-

shirt. Damn it, I don't remember what happened last night! Did someone...was I raped?

I lift up my shirt and when I catch a faint whiff of wolfsbane, my memories slowly return. Three guys

surrounded me, ripping my clothes off, taking my money - but why would they bring me here

afterward? jDios mio! Are they keeping me as a sex slave?!

Panic rises in my throat and I pull the shirt from my body, including the damaged bra, before I start

pacing the floor. But on my second walk in front of the bed, something black catches my eye.

Frowning, I slowly bend over to pick it up, only for the sandalwood scent to hit me again.

When we're done, he pushes his plate away and laces his fingers together underneath his chin

before eyeing me with that look in his eyes again. It sends a shiver through my spine and I mentally

chastise myself because it wasn't a cringy shiver at all.

“I'm going to guess you don't know who I am,” he says, smirking and I roll my eyes.

“If 1 did, would I be this wary of you? I woke up in an unknown house with a stranger serving me

breakfast-"

"And yet, you ate it and put on the clothing he laid out for you. What happened to your survival

instincts, Vixen?” he says in a tone that has me thinking he knows something I don't know, and for

some reason, I blush.

I never blush. Ever. Who is this guy?

Growling, I grab the knife from my plate and hold it in front of me. “I'm going to ask again, who the

hell are you and why am I here?” I say, but that smirk turns into an amused smile and I am

immediately pissed off. “Tell me!”

"Or what, hmm?” Are you going to poke me with that little knife and see how far you get?” he

teases. “I do love a challenge.”

I'm about to lunge at him with the knife in my hand, but when I look again, I'm face down on the

counter, with one hand behind me and the other holding the knife above my head. I didn't even feel

myself getting slammed against the marble.

Then my eyes widened, and it hit me - he was never rough at all. He overpowered me within three

seconds without hurting me.

"Get off!” I exclaim, trying to get out of his grasp as every self-defense maneuver escapes me. “Let

me go!”

His heavy body leans over me and I feel his hot breath at my ear. “I love how you think you can boss

me around. I mean, you might be my intended bride, but that's only a title you'll possess and

nothing more.”

I can feel every inch of his solid body against me, then he steps back from me and I slowly turn

around to look at him again. This is the man I've been running from for days, and now he has me

right where I was promised I'd be.

"Maxim..." I trail off as his words wash over me - cold and unfeeling, just like they said he would be.

I take a step back from him while my heart is a hummingbird in my chest and I try to keep it level

while failing.

When my father said he'll be giving me away to a Beta, I didn’t want to know who he was or what

he looked like. To me, he would just be a man who claimed another trophy as the Alpha“s most

trusted.

That look in Maxim's eyes tells me I'm not far off, that he has every intention of making me submit

to him. But he’s got it wrong if he thinks I'm someone who can be easily tamed; I'm going down

fighting, even if it ends in my death.

He will soon learn I am no one's trophy.