Chapter 43

(Juliette's POV)

Where is this?

I looked around at the surroundings that were so unfamiliar to me when I woke up. My head still felt dizzy and throbbing. I was shocked when I realized my hands and feet were tied so tightly.

My eyes widened in alarm.

The last thing I remember is that I wanted to meet Sam in the middle of the forest because he was going to help me escape Damian. But suddenly I met an Alpha from another pack and I tried to escape from him. Until I couldn't go anywhere anymore because in front of me was a chasm.

If only I wasn't pregnant, I might have jumped into the ravine and let me die, and ended everything at once.

I had to try to escape or I needed to know who had kidnapped me. But I was sure he was one of Damian's enemies who was trying to destroy him.

"Ugh," I tried to release the memories in my hands, but it was so hard.

"There's no need to insist on running away."

I gasped in surprise as I heard a voice from the doorway and saw the same Alpha I met that night smiling at me. His leisurely pace, intimidating aura, and piercing gaze towards me. I felt like he was a threat to me and I needed to run away immediately.

But I tried to remain calm and not show my fear in front of him.

"Who are you?" I asked. I kept my voice from shaking.

"Me?" he pointed at himself.

"Yes, you! Why did you kidnap me? What do you want?" I asked again and again.

He just chuckled as he walked closer to me. When he crouched down in front of me, I knew he was the Alpha I should avoid.

"Xander Williams," he informed me.

"Xander?" I'd never heard that name before. But just hearing the name made me shiver with a feeling of dread that I couldn't explain.

"I know you don't know me."

"Then why did you kidnap me?" I demanded curtly. I looked at him sharply.

He laughed. "Kidnapping? Didn't you come here to escape from your Mate?"

"Wh-What?" I widened my eyes in surprise. How did he know I had come there to escape Damian?

"Surprised?"

"How did you know?" I asked in a trembling voice. I swallowed my saliva with difficulty, feeling intimidated as he continued to stare at me with his knife-sharp eyes.

"You wonder how I know?" he asked me back.

And suddenly I had a name in my head.

"No way... Sam?" I asked. I felt my chest tighten with betrayal. "Don't tell me that you guys did it on purpose? So that I could escape from Damian and you could get your revenge on him?"

I kept looking at him and he just smiled as if confirming everything I said. I felt stabbed in the back once again by someone I trusted. I thought Sam was sincere in helping me to start my new life. But I didn't expect that behind his kindness, there was a cunning plan he had prepared for me.

"Why? Do you feel this is unfair?" he asked casually. "Blame your Alpha. He has done so much wrong that he has many enemies who seek to destroy him."

I swallowed hard. What he said was true, but it was wrong for him to take it out on an innocent person.

"Are you going to kill me?" I asked, frightened. I was only thinking about the baby I was carrying. I didn't care about my life, but my baby wolf.

He laughed and shook his head. "I don't like killing pregnant women," he said.

"W-What?" I gaped in disbelief. Fear attacked me many times over.

"I know you're pregnant. And I will use that to destroy Damian," he said, openly declaring war in front of me.

"Wh-What do you mean? If you want revenge on Damian, then just hurt me. Don't ever bother my baby wolf!" I screamed in terror.

"Hey, hey. I told you that I won't hurt you. Didn't you understand what I said?" he asked. He wiped away my tears and I immediately looked away to the side.

"Then what do you want? Can't you just let me go? I just want a quiet life with my baby," I said in a trembling voice.

"Unfortunately, I can't do that," he says, "you are the only key for me to destroy Damian. To get revenge for all the things he has done to me."

I continued to stare at him warily. I didn't know what he was thinking and what plans he had prepared, but what I knew for sure was that he wasn't going to kill me or my baby.

Suddenly I was untied at my feet and hands. I groaned in pain at his rough manner and felt the pain on my injured wrists and legs.

"What are you doing?!" I shouted hysterically as I saw him suddenly carrying me princes-style.

"Moving you to a better place," he said with a grin. "Pregnant women can't stay on the floor for long." He walked casually up the stairs and left the basement.

I kept an eye on him who said nothing and didn't look at me at all. He led me into a very large house. We climbed the stairs to the second floor and he led me into a room with an old-fashioned feel.

I wondered why he was so calm towards me. While I was already thinking of a terrible scenario when he kidnapped me. I thought I would be tortured and made sure I suffered so that Damian would feel what I felt.

As Damian's enemy seeks to destroy him, I'm sure Xander knows we're tied. That Damian could die if I died too. But why did he take me to a big room and be gentle?

"What do you really want?" I asked, looking at him suspiciously as he lowered me onto the bed. He stared at me for a long time. Then approached me and bent down with our faces so close.

He grinned. "Simple. I want to take you from Damian so I can watch him suffer as his mate is taken by another Alpha."