Chained By The Alpha By Jessica Hall

~Zayn~

I glare at the thrashing bodies on the dance floor, my heart pounding with frustration. After handling the fight, I headed upstairs to watch those dancing below and to keep an eye on Cleo. However, when Cleo rises from her seat, I instantly know something 1s wrong as she stumbles to the bar, and my stomach twists with unease, feeling the flickering of my bond to her

Zarek nervously presses beneath my skin, urging me to go to her, but she has no idea who I am to her. Cleo, vulnerable and unaware of our bond, struggles to maintain her balance at the bar. Her light blue eyes are unfocused, and her blond hair clings to her flushed cheeks

“Hey!” I mindlink Clara, the barmaid. “Don’t serve her. She’s already drunk.” My finger jabs in Cleo’s direction, and Clara’s concerned gaze follows

“Alpha Zayn,” Clara’s mind links back a moment later, “she wants water, not liquor.”

“Where the hell is Deacon?” I growl inside my head, my body tense. He should be taking care of her, but he’s nowhere to be found

My wolf, Zarek, presses restlessly beneath my skin, urging me to intervene, but I resist. It’s not our place not yet

“Boss?” Clara’s voice penetrates my thoughts again

“Stay with her,” I order through the mindlink, my eyes fixed on Cleo. I can’t shake the feeling

that something is wrong, which eats away at me

“Boss?” Clara mindlinks, drawing my attention back to the bar. “I don’t think she is drunk. She

can barely talk. Is she on something?”

I peer down at her to see her sway, and Clara reaches over the bar, grabbing her arm to steady her. “No, she’s only been drinking,” I reassure her

“She’s only had two drinks all night, and I don’t know, boss, something 1s off with her though she seems really out of it.”

I see Cleo shake Clara’s arm off and stumble into the fray of people grinding on each other

“TI handle it,” I mindlink back, moving toward the stairs when another fight breaks out. This time between two men when one glasses the

other one. I am shoved backward and turn, grabbing the man who shoved me. Recognizing me, he freezes and places his hands in the air

“Sorry, Alpha Zayn,” he stammers

“Get out of my club,” I snarl back before shoving him. He nods, and I see one of the bouncers coming up the stairs. Meeting him halfway down, I pause. “Handle them for me.” The bouncer nods, and I continue down the stairs looking for Cleo, yet she isn’t on the dance floor or at the bar. Moving towards the bathrooms, I bang on the ladies twice before pushing the door slightly open

“Cover up!” I order before hearing shrieks

Stepping in, I walk around

“Any of you seen a girl wearing a black leather jacket and a blue cami and black leggings?”

The women shake their heads, some looking concerned, others irritated by my intrusion. I keep my gaze focused, not allowing myself to be distracted by their scantily clad bodies

“Damn it,” I mutter under my breath, feeling desperation claw at my insides. Leaving the restroom, I try to think of where Cleo could have gone. My wolf, Zarek, is growing increasingly restless beneath my skin, picking up on my own mounting anxiety

I move to the men’s toilet when I remember her phone. Pulling mine out, I find hers, which I linked to mine to keep tabs on her. It takes me a few seconds to realize she 1s outside somewhere but hasn’t left the parking lot

I walk to the front, bumping into people as I am too busy watching my screen when I walk out the front. Zarek 1s suddenly frantic, pressing

against my skin, and my blood boils when her fear hits me, battering against me. A second later, I am hit with her fear

“Where are you, Cleo?” I growl to myself, storming through the crowded parking lot until I spot her car. My heart races as I move toward it, only to hear a whimper from the car beside it, and something flashes in the back

Moving around her car I get to the car beside it and find Deacon texting when I spot her. Her leggings are pulled off and discarded, her shirt torn open, and I can see claws marks down her left breast when I notice she hasn’t got any underwear on

Her legs are pulled apart, her knees held flat against the carpet of the trunk by his knees, her stitches torn wide open, and blood cascades down her leg onto the carpet. But that is not the

most disturbing part, it’s the glazed-over look on her face, and I realize he was taking pictures of her in such a vulnerable state

She whimpers when he leans down to fondle her breast. And she tries to speak, but her words are garbled. Looking back at Deacon, he pockets his phone and shoves his pants down his legs. I rip the back hatch open, and he jumps, startled

Deacon shrieks. “What the fuck, man,” he snarls

“She said no!” I roar, grabbing the back of his shirt and ripping him from the car

“Whoa, calm down, man! You can have a go after me,” Deacon retorts. A whimper escapes her lips, and I want to comfort her, but first I need to deal with this prick

My fist connects with his face as I fight my wolf from shifting. If Zarek takes hold, this kid will be dead, no doubt. He drops to his knees when I grab the hatch, slamming it down on his head repeatedly until he crumples to the ground

Bending down I fetch his phone from where it fell on the ground. I go through it,

deleting the pictures only for a message to come through from Lydia. I glance at Cleo, her step sister is the only person I know with that name which makes me curious. I open the text message and see Deacon had sent the photos to her. My stomach sinks, and I try to unsend the images but can’t since she already opened them