The Lycan Kingpin's Captive: A Baby For The Beast novel Chapter 13

I’ve been curled up in my bed since yesterday, still shocked at the ultimatum Beta Maxim has given me. He knows I’m running away from Mikhail, he knows what I meant to that bastard, and yet he hasn’t told Alpha Nikolaos a thing.

Why is that, I wonder? Why is he keeping this a secret from a man who trusts him so much?

Alpha Nikolaos offered me my freedom by giving birth to his heir, now Beta Maxim is giving me another out. The only difference is that the latter feels more like a threat than a way out. If I don’t go with his choice, he’s going to tell the Alpha, then I might get sent back to Mikhail.

What am I going to do? I can’t raise a child on my own! Even if I did run away, I wouldn’t get far, anyway. This Alpha is one of the most influential in the country; there would be a bounty on my head for the rest of my life.

I need to get out of this room before I drive myself crazy.

Jumping from the bed, I grab my coat and run out of the room, startling Josef so much that he falls out of his chair. I stifle a smile.

“Miss Mia!” he exclaims and gets to his feet, then he frowns when he sees the look on my face. “Is everything okay?”

I nod and force a smile onto my face. “Yes, of course. I was just getting tired of being in that room for so long. Can we walk around the back for a while?”

A small smile crosses his face and he nods. “Of course; I was wondering when you’d start asking me,” he says, then gestures for me to walk with him.

As much as I like Josef, I know that I cannot trust him with what happened. He’ll go straight to Alpha Nikolaos with this, then everything is over; there’s an out either way, so perhaps I should go with the easiest.

“You are suspiciously quiet today,” Josef speaks up and nudges me while snapping me out of my thoughts. He’s wearing a cheeky grin with a raised eyebrow. “Well? Where is your endless list of questions?”

I chuckle and nudge him back. “Not today, Josef. I didn’t sleep well last night with all these nightmares plaguing me,” the lie comes out easier, and luckily for me, he believes it.

“Hmm, I’m sorry about that. I remember the Alpha and Dr. Lilah mentioning the people you ran away from were some of the worst. So it’s understandable that you’d still have nightmares,” he says.

I don’t have the heart to tell him that his Beta might be the same as those people I escaped, so I simply give him a tight smile and look in front of me again.

It’s bothering me to no end, not only because of how he’s threatened me but because Alpha Nikolaos is oblivious to the snake standing at his right side. There’s no way for me to prove that I’m right and he’s wrong, so what am I to do?

“Say, Josef,” I start and see the slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “What do you know about Beta Maxim?”

Josef stiffens at the sound of his Beta’s name, then he looks at me with concern. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, your reaction doesn’t set me at ease, so there’s that,” I say while narrowing my eyes at him. “You seem terrified of him.”

He puts his hands behind his back as we continue to walk, then he breathes out a sigh and shakes his head.

“Beta Maxim is Alpha Nikolaos’ cousin. There’s a sordid history; their fathers were brothers and bitter rivals. Beta Maxim’s father was set to take over as Alpha since he was the oldest, but after it was discovered that Beta Maxim’s father was not…ideal for the role, it went over to Alpha Nikolaos’ father.”

I am stunned by this, not only because of the news, but because Josef is actually telling me about it.

“He can’t have been happy about it,”

Josef shakes his head. “Beta Maxim managed to win the Alpha’s trust since they grew up together, but we all know that resentment still burns. You can see it in the way Beta Maxim looks at Alpha Nikolaos.”

Could this be the reason he wants me out of here, so the Alpha doesn’t get an heir?

A shiver runs up my spine. “I know now to steer clear of Beta Maxim, then,” I say and hug my coat closer to my body.

I was right about him; he’s the same as Mikhail. They’re power-hungry, greedy, and think the world owes them everything. I can’t allow him to bully me and I can’t allow him to win…so, I don’t think I’ll go through with it.

We round the corner to the gazebo and Josef freezes. “Uh, I think we should go the other-”

“Don’t you dare, Josef,” came that same weathered sing-song voice as before. “Bring her here, I would like to meet her.”

Josef’s shoulders sag and he pinches the bridge of his nose. “Very well, Kyría Ariadne, but I will ask the Alpha to have words with you when he has me cornered about this,” he says, but the old lady simply chuckles.

We walk towards the gazebo and I see she’s having her afternoon tea; complete with cakes and pastries. My stomach starts to grumble at the sight of them, and she chuckles while gesturing to the open seat in front of her.

“Please join me,” she says. “You, Josef, can wait over there for us to finish.”

With a pout, Josef walks off while grumbling about how he’s going to be in so much trouble for this. The lady rolls her eyes again, then when I take a seat, she proceeds to pour another cup for me.