Chained By The Alpha By Jessica Hall

“Watch your step,” one enforcer murmurs as a student darts in front of me, nearly colliding with my shoulder. My new guard 1s alert, vigilant, but I barely hear him over the internal monologue cursing my father’s punishment

My gaze flickers to the faces blending into the sea of students. Whispers tickle my ears, words woven with curiosity and a hint of fear. They see the enforcers, they see me, and their Imaginations spin wildly. I can already imagine the shit circulating around the place already

“About time.”

The voice cuts through the noise, sharp and unwelcome. Lydia leans against Maya’s dorm

room door, arms crossed, her smirk as taunting as the glint in her eye. She thrives on this, the power play, the show of superiority in the most public of areas, the bitch just loves trying to humiliate me

“Lydia,” I greet her, my tone flat, unwilling to give her the satisfaction of seeing me riled up

She pushes off the door and saunters towards me, her heels clicking loudly on the floor. The other students around us quickly move out of our way, giving us a wide berth

I take a deep breath and force myself to stay calm. I can’t let her get to me, not now. Not when I have so much at stake

“What are you doing here?” I ask, my voice steady

Lydia rolls her eyes and raises an eyebrow

“You know perfectly well why I’m here.”

I resist the urge to roll my own eyes at her predictable response. “Enlighten me then.”

“IT see your father finally realized his little princess isn’t safe roaming free, huh? About time he put you in your place.” she says, and I realize she is here to gloat about getting me in trouble with my father, why else?

The enforcers stiffen like statues on either side of me, their eyes scanning for potential threats at our audience to our brewing confrontation

Lydia’s smirk doesn’t waver, her gaze sharp and piercing

“I wouldn’t be under guard if you weren’t speaking shit, Lydia. What have I ever done to you?” My voice echoes slightly in the corridor,

and I feel a hot flush of anger color my cheeks

She leans in, close enough for me to catch the faint scent of her perfume an attempt

at intimidation that I refuse to acknowledge. “You should have thought about that before choosing Zayn over Deacon,” she says, her voice a low hiss

“I’m not choosing Zayn over Deacon,” I shoot back, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside me. “And what I do with Zayn is none of your business.”

Lydia’s eyes narrow, and I see the flash of her own frustration. She’s always been good at dishing it out, but taking 1t? Not so much. She steps closer, violating my personal space, a challenge in her stance. I know she is trying to provoke me, anything to make me look bad to my father

“Everything you do 1s my business when it affects the pack,” she counters, her words clipped and cold

“Then maybe you should spend more time worrying about your own actions rather than obsessing over mine!” Lydia huffs, glancing around. “And since when do you care for our pack when the only thing you’re good as is spending pack money.” I retort, leaning in until we’re almost nose to nose

My heart races, blood pounding in my ears

Lydia has always known how to push my buttons, and right now, she’s mashing them with the force of a sledgehammer

“Obsessing, I’m trying to stop you making a mistake with that mongrel, he did god only knows what with Deacon, and here you are defending him!” Lydia snarls

I press my lips together, feeling the familiar twist of frustration in my gut. My fingers itch to lash out, but I rein in the urge. “Not this again, Lydia. I don’t know where Deacon is, but wherever he is, he isn’t looking for me and clearly he ain’t looking for you either!” The words snap like a whip through the tense air

“Hey, let’s just take a breath here,” Maya interjects, her voice soft and soothing, trying to wedge herself between the storm brewing in Lydia’s eyes and my own flaring

temper

But Lydia doesn’t seem to care about the crowd we are drawing as she points an accusing finger at me

“You were the last one seen with him, and now you’re covering up for that bastard Alpha Zayn.” Her accusation pierces the hallway. “I know he did something to him; he

was seen following

Deacon out moments after you both left.”

“Bullshit. We checked the tapes. If you’re so worried about him, go look for Deacon

yourself

I’m done with the dramatics, Lydia.” I turn to leave, my patience worn thin, but her next words freeze me in place

“How dare you! You call me dramatic yet your actions have caused pack wars. You’re exactly like your whore mother, stirring up trouble!” Lydia spits venomously

I whirl around, my fists clenching at my sides as the last word slithers out of Lydia’s mouth. The venom in her tone, the acid dripping from each syllable, burns through any restraint I have left

My vision tints red, and the halls fade away until all I see 1s Lydia’s smug face. Her words slice through me, igniting a fire that rages

through my veins. With a feral snarl tearing from my throat, my hand shoots out, fingers tangling 1n her hair

I yank her closer and my hand tightens in her hair, pulling her so closer until our noses almost touch. Her eyes widen in shock, but I don’t care

All I see is red, all I feel is rage

“You do not get to talk about my mother like that,” I hiss through gritted teeth, my voice low and dangerous

Lydia tries to pull away, but I hold her firmly, my grip on her hair unrelenting and only

grows tighter

“Let go of me!” She screams, panic lacing her tone. My father’s enforcers stand frozen not knowing what to do, clearly not expecting me to grab her

“Cleo..” Maya urges clutching her mouth with both hands, but everything 1s moving

way too fast and I can’t seem to calm down. She shouldn’t have mentioned my

mother

“Ah!” Lydia’s scream pierces the air, high and shocked, but it’s like background noise to the inferno within me. My other hand balls into a fist, and then she’s flying forward, her face connecting with a sickening crunch against the brick wall