Chained By The Alpha By Jessica Hall

“Why aren’t you answering my texts?” Zayn’s voice is harsh and demanding, his words hitting me like a punch in the gut. The door slams shut with a loud thud, the sound echoing in the small room

The scent of Zayn’s cologne, a mixture of musk and sandalwood, fills the room as he enters, but the overwhelming smell of anger and tension quickly overpowers it

“Do you have any fucking idea how panicked I have been about you? I thought I was going to have to storm your father’s pack looking for you!” he snaps at me before grabbing me. He crushes me against his chest

“Why are you here? Haven’t you done enough?” I demand. He sighs, and I try not to breathe in his scent, knowing I will want to melt into him

Stupid sire bond

“What do you mean?” he asks, pulling away from me. I stare at him. What does he mean? What do I mean? He started a war, not even one war, but two! My father’s text messages flit through my head while I try to figure out how to break our nothing off

“Zayn, you declared war on my father. You can’t Just come here.”

“Well, I did. Pretty easily, actually, the front gates were open, they really should lock those,” he tells me, and I pinch my brow in frustration, what isn’t he understanding?

I go to tell him he needs to leave when he

speaks again. “Have you eaten?” he asks, and instead of me answering, my stomach does

“Good, neither have I. Let’s go,” He tells me, grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door before I can even protest. Great, I’m supposed to be dumping him, the man I’m not even dating

Instead, I’m being dragged off to dinner with him. Dragged may be an over exaggeration, but I am blaming it on being hungry

My father is going to lose his damn mind if he hears about this. “I can’t believe this!” I snap at him as he drags me out the door

“Believe what?” he questions

“You. You started a war with my father, and now you’re expecting me to have dinner with you?”

I can’t believe he’s doing this, just casually taking me out for dinner like nothing has happened between us

I try to pull my hand away from him, but he tightens his grip. “What are you doing, Zayn?” I demand, trying to keep my voice steady

“T told you, taking you to dinner.” I huff, that was not what I meant, and he knows it

Zayn glances down at me, a look of frustration crossing his face. “Look, I didn’t start this war

Your father did, and I’m just trying to protect my own interests.”

Trolled my eyes. “Interests? Like what?”

“Like you! Why else Cleo? Besides, Alpha Dane never should have put fucking hands on you!” he tells me

“You can’t just go starting fights. It’s none of your business anyway, and I never should have told you, I… Just don’t worry about it. It’s already done. Now I gotta deal with the consequences,” I tell him as he leads me down the corridor toward the open courtyard. Zayn growls, his hand gripping mine tightening, but he doesn’t add anything to my words

Zayn leads me through the corridors while I nervously glance around, praying no one spots us. As we make our way through the dimly lit corridors, Zayn’s grip on my hand tightens, and I can’t help but feel a strange mixture of apprehension and excitement. I try to shake off the sire bond’s influence, but it’s as if its tendrils have already begun to weave themselves deep into my very being

“Where are you taking me?” I ask nervously, and he drapes his arm across my shoulders

“Nowhere public. I know you’re worried about your father catching you,” he answers when I hear voices coming toward us, and I stop; my heart skips a beat. This 1s the last thing I need, just great!

“What is it?” he asks, stopping when he feels me stop. I glance down the corridor, and Zayn growls, his aura rushing out abruptly

“Your father has been 1n your ear already, hasn’t he?” he states. “What did he say?” Zayn demands, but my eyes are down the corridor, hearing whoever it is getting closer. His growl is angry, and if his aura doesn’t drop soon, they’ll feel it long before they spot us. Zayn realizing this, shoves me into the courtyard quadrangle, pinning me behind the pillar. Their voices draw nearer

“Your aura,” I squeak out in panic

“Bit hard for me to rein that in right now; tell me what your father said to you. Did he threaten you? ”

“What… No… he um,” My heart hammers in my chest when I hear their footsteps on the stairs and the bats in the fruit trees in the small courtyard area take off, picking up

on his energy

“Cleo?” Zayn asks, his aura pressing down on me

“If he threatened you, tell me, I will sort it out.”

“Like you did earlier with Alpha Dane,” I retort my own minimal aura slipping out and challenging his. The voices draw closer, and I look around in panic, knowing my own barely there aura challenging him; he definitely felt it, even if it was a nudge

Panicking, Zayn presses closer, his eyes holding mine when I hear the voices halt abruptly recognizing a threat near, I stand on my tippy toes and kiss him. He freezes, shocked, but his aura drops instantly as my actions take him by surprise

Zayn’s eyes widen in shock as my lips press against his. I can feel his surprise and hesitation, but I’m too desperate to think about the consequences right now. All I know is that we need to play it cool until whoever is approaching leaves

I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss