Chained By The Alpha By Jessica Hall

When he returns, he gestures for me to lift my leg. I do so reluctantly, realizing that relieving the pain 1s worth sacrificing my pride. He examines the wound on my thigh. His touch is surprisingly gentle as he cleans the wound and applies a bandage

“There,” he says when he’s finished. “See, you’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” I say in a small voice, feeling extremely awkward

“Now, what brings you here?” Alpha Zayn asks, taking a seat next to me. His eyes are intense as they lock onto mine, sending shivers down my spine

I take a deep breath. “I know you hate my father,” I start, and he raises an eyebrow at

me

“But my father is making decisions that are hurting our pack, and he won’t listen to anyone.”

“I don’t get what this has to do with me?” he asks. Zayn watches me carefully before sighing

“This is about your border patrols, isn’t it?” he says, and I chew my lip. “Your father refused my men on his borders. There isn’t much I can do,” he tells me

“He’s angry, please. You can’t remove your men; we’ll be sitting ducks out there, and my father is too stubborn to listen,” I admit

“T have no alliance with your father. My hands are tied; the last thing I need right now 1s the human factions getting involved if a war breaks out because your father attacks one of my men,”

he tells me

“Please, I know you don’t have an alliance with my father, but my father has one with Samuel

Can’t you find a workaround?”

Zayn runs his fingers through his perfectly-styled hair in frustration. “It doesn’t work like that. There needs to be contracts 1n place, and I was only filling in for Samuel; that was what the meeting was for: to build alliances. Your father shot every offer down,” he states

“My father’s pack has been attacked by rogue wolves twice now,” I protest, but he only watches me with those intense gray eyes. “Can’t I make an agreement with you?” I ask him, and he tilts his head to the side

“You’re not the Alpha. Your father is.”

“Only for now, until I get my wolf. I want to make an agreement with you to keep your men along our borders to prevent any more attacks.”

Alpha Zayn’s gaze narrows, and he leans back on the couch. “And what would I get out of this agreement?” he asks

Ugh, I groan internally. I was hoping he wouldn’t ask this.

“What do you want?” I ask nervously, and his eyes flicker to his wolf fleetingly. “I’m not fucking you if that is what you are thinking!” I snap at him

He scoffs. “I have no intention of forcing you to fuck me,” he snarls

“Then what do you want?”

“Nothing you can give me, clearly. Do you even have a job?” he asks, and my heats

face

“No, I am still in college.” I defend myself

He pauses for a second. “Nightshade City College?” he asks, and I nod. “I’ll think it over; I will get back to you. What 1s your house number?”

I shake my head. “You can’t ring home, and if my father finds out I am here, he will kill me.”

“And exactly how do you intend to explain my scent in his car or your whereabouts this morning?” he asks. I sigh because I know already that I am so busted

“Fine!” he says abruptly, getting to his feet and over to the hall stand in the foyer. He retrieves something before coming back to me. He holds

it out to me

“Use this until you get another one,” he says, holding out his phone to me

“I can’t take your phone,” I tell him

“Cleo, take it. How else am I supposed to get in contact with you if I can’t ring your house phone?”

I shake my head

“So damn stubborn, you get that from him, you know that! How are we supposed to make a deal if you stay this stubborn!” he growls before moving toward the door.

“Stay here, I’ll be back soon.”

“Wait, where are you going?”

“To get you a phone,” he says, leaving before I can protest

Laying back on the couch, I try to think of an excuse to give my father for his scent being in the car. Yet, I come up with absolutely nothing

Feeling defeated, I know I will be in trouble once I get home and lie down on the couch

Wow, I really really should’ve thought this through a bit more. Maybe I can blame it on the pain meds? My entire body is aching like I’ve run a marathon. I tug at my top, feeling it sticking to the sweat covering every inch of my

body

At some point, I must doze off though because I wake to a hand touching my forehead. In turn, I lurch awake, coming face to face with Zayn

“Take these,” he growls, handing me some pills

I look at him

“I am not taking those. What even are they?” I ask him

He tosses me a box, and I find they are antibiotics. “They should help rid any infection

for your leg, and if they don’t, you might need to see your pack doctor. Rogue bites are full of poisonous bacteria,” he informs me like I don’t already know that. Reluctantly, I take them when he passes me a phone

“Seriously, I can’t accept that. When you said phone, I thought it was a cheapo one,

not..

this!” I stare at the brand new iPhone. He shakes his head, looking annoyed

“Just take it and shut up about it,” he says, refusing to take it when I try to hand it back

“I can just ring you in a couple of days,” I tell him, setting the phone down

“You are unbelievable, it’s a phone. Not a house,” he snaps

“An expensive phone that’s newer than the one I had,” I tell him. What doesn’t he get?

Also my father would definitely ask questions about how I got it

“Do you want my help or not?” he asks, folding his arms across his chest, which makes

him seem even taller

“Yes, but…”

He turns away from me before I can finish grabbing his keys and mine

“Now, are you right to drive home, or am I taking you?” he asks. I jump to my feet

“Tm fine,” I tell him as a wave of vertigo from

Yoncaly

“I’m driving you,” he states. I go to protest when he grabs me