Chained By The Alpha By Jessica Hall

Inside, Zayn takes off his jacket and offers me a glass of water. I watch as he moves around his living room, his muscles flexing under his shirt

I lean heavily on the counter, resting my head on my arms

“Here drink this, it will help,” Zayn says, and I lift my head staring at him. I take the glass and sip the water, not realizing how thirsty I am. I watch Zayn over the glass

“You’re not gonna be sick on me, are you?” he asks, and I shake my head

“Good you’ve puked on me once, let’s not go for another round,” he laughs again. My face heats when my mind goes back to Alpha Dane words

and him suggesting my virtue be checked

“Alpha Dane said I have to prove my virtue is intact,” I tell him, and Alpha Zayn’s eyes darken

“His pack is religious, it’s seen as a bad omen to take an “Unpure” mate,” Zayn explains. I pull a face when a revelation hits me

“So if I am not a virgin, it’s a bad Omen to the pack and Boyd can’t marry me?” I ask him. Zayn seems to think for a second. He shrugs

“I guess,” he tells me, taking my empty glass, he sets it in the dishwasher

“But you’ll find a way out of this. Don’t let it bother you,” Zayn tells me. But I think I just did find a way out of it? I wonder

Zayn closes the dishwasher and turns around

“Are you okay, Cleo?” he asks when he notices me staring at him. I shake the thought away,

reminding myself I have a boyfriend and I can’t use Zayn just to make sure I am not married off

“Yep, just tired,” I tell him and he sighs

“Come on, then,” he says, pulling me from the stool at the counter. He leads me upstairs to his room before wandering into his closet, while my heart races at the thought of spreading my legs to some stranger while they test my slick. Just the thought is horrifying, and I blink back tears

Zayn returns in a pair of Gray sweats hanging low on his hips and his chest bare. My eyes roam over his tattooed, muscular body, desire pooling in my stomach when he clears his throat

“Here, you can wear this,” he tells me, eyeing me worriedly. He cups my cheek with his hand

gently. “We’ll figure it out, just sleep. You’re safe here,” Zayn murmurs, and I nod

“Im going to make sure the house it locked, I’ll be back,” he tells me, leaving the room. Yet now alone in his room, I strip my clothes off and pick up the shirt when I hear my phone notification going off

Picking up my phone off the bed, I see another threatening message from my father. I toss my phone on the couch and pick up the shirt, my eyes going to Zayn’s bed. I stare at the shirt in my hand and bite my lip

“Come on Cleo, he kissed you, you could just be another notch in his belt, rip the band-aid off or rip the virginity away and no alliance, simple,” I tell myself

I suck in a breath, glancing at the door when my

thoughts go to Deacon. He’d be furious, but fuck him he ditched me while drunk, and is now refusing to answer my calls. With my anger slowly simmering hotter and my thoughts growing more panicked, I toss the shirt on the couch and shut the light off before slipping under the covers naked

“You can do this! He’s not that big, he’d be..

what’s the word. Experienced, beats losing it in the back of a car, right?” I give myself a mental pep talk when I hear his footsteps, and the rhythm of my heart falls in beat with his steps

Zayn taps on the door. “Are you decent?” he calls out. “Cleo?” he calls out again

Oh goddess, what am I doing?

I say nothing and after a few minutes, he opens the door, flicks the light on, and I pretend to be

asleep. I hear him moving around the room before the lights go out, and he climbs into bed next to me and I remain frozen, stiff as a board, paralyzed by my own humiliation and panic

“Cleo? Are you okay? Your heart is beating so fast,” he comments and sits up and slightly rolling me toward him

“Hey, are you okay?” he asks, shaking my shoulder, and I open my eyes, peeking out at him. He lets out a breath of relief

“T called out to you, you said nothing. I can sleep on the couch if you want?” he offers,

but I shake my head. His brows furrow and I know he’s about to ask me what’s wrong, but before he can, I kiss him. Unlike at the club, he freezes at the action, caught off guard and I move to straddle him, his hands grip my hips only for his hands to rip away like I burned him. He pulls

his face away

“What are you doing, Cleo?” he growls. I kiss him again, but he doesn’t respond, instead freezing beneath when his hands grip my shoulders. “Have you got clothes on?” he snarls, moving, and my eyes are suddenly assaulted by light as he flicks the lamp on. His eyes roam over my naked body, and I suddenly feel very exposed under his gaze

“Cleo, what the fuck?” he growls as his eyes take me in straddling him naked. His eyes flicker as they roam down my body, but his rejection hits me loud and clear. My face burns and my eyes prickle with warmth. I scramble to climb off him

“Fuck Cleo. Wait, it’s not like that,” he growls, grabbing my hips before I can climb off him. He rolls, and I suddenly find myself pinned beneath

him on the bed