CHAPTER 7

ALPHA ANDREW:

"Good morning, sir," the middle-aged man greeted me, holding a lamp in his hand, as the power supply seemed to have gone off.

"What do you want?" I asked him coldly. My eyes fixated on his face, trying to see if he had come to spy on me. After all, humans couldn't be trusted.

"Nothing, sir. I just thought I'd bring this lamp to you, as the hotel's power supply and generator have gone off because of the heavy rainfall," he stated, his voice quivering as he trembled under my scrutiny.

"Leave. It's not needed," I dismissed him coldly, my voice chilling him as he turned on his heels.

"Alright, sir. But how do you like our hotel? You can help us by leaving a free review online to attract more customers," he paused to ask, and I knew he was up to something.

"Next time," I dismissed him, striding away. He called for my attention.

"Excuse me, sir? How about the lady who was with you last night? She's not one of our women. Did you pay her?" he asked, and I paused.

'This was why he was here. To spy on me and find out if I had paid the lady,' I reasoned.

I took a slow, menacing step towards the manager, who cowered backwards in fear.

"Sir, I was only asking to be sure that she's fine. We always check in to see that both patrons are okay," he stuttered as I stood before him.

"Yes." My response was calm. "Do you have a problem with me settling her?"

"No, no, sir. I just want to be sure that she's fine and not dead. Since you're leaving, you'll have to wait for me to check on her and see that she's fine," he spluttered, trembling before me.

"Fine. Come with me. I don't have much time to spare." I strode back to the door, my hand reaching for it as I swung it open.

The messy hotel room came into view. The pretty woman was lying on her side on the bed. If I hadn't returned to check on her, she would have landed on the hard ground, which would inevitably have jolted her awake.

The thought of her weak body lying on the cold ground until morning made me dart back into the room like a flash.

I didn't spare a glance at the manager, who stammered, "How do you run so swiftly like that?"

My hand reached for the sleeping figure on the bed. Carefully, I tucked her back under the bed quilt and covered her properly.

I made sure to safeguard her with two pillows on either side.

"Ugh! Why cover her like that? She's not a baby," Zion growled, clearly displeased with my actions of caring for the woman.

My heart couldn't bear the thought of her weak body lying in the cold. It made my chest tighten.

After covering her with the quilt and moving her to the middle of the bed, I turned to the manager, whose eyes were now wide open as he watched me.

"Done. You can see that she's safe and breathing. Do you need anything else?" I asked him coldly.

As I took long strides towards him, he backed away.

"Not at all. I can see that she's fine. I'll take my leave now. Thank you for lodging at Dennis Hotel," he said as I turned to leave.

"Alright. You can leave. I'll keep my eyes on you. If I find out you bullied the woman after I leave, you'll regret it." My eyes darkened as I met his brown eyes.

Shivering, he said, "I'll give her the best treatment here at our hotel. You have nothing to worry about."

"I'll hold you to your words. And if she asks about me, tell her I'm gone," I stated calmly, before striding off.

"Got it, sir." The manager's words came from behind, but I left the brothel to catch up with my men on the first floor. We had a four-hour trip to make to the Dark Mountain Pack.

First, we'd travel by taxi, and secondly, we'd sail across the water to the other side of the bustling city.

"Alpha, how did it go?" my Gamma, Carlos Connor, asked me. He was 26 years old, tall, dark-skinned and muscular like me.

"Fine. Let's go," I ordered calmly as we stepped out of the brothel to meet the rest of the five men who had accompanied us, just in case we came under attack or were outnumbered.

They were my trained warriors, more like bouncers.

As I stepped out of Dennis Hotel, the early morning wind greeted me. The city skyline glistened like diamonds across the sky, even though it wasn't yet morning.

The distant sound of bats howling in the dark caught my attention.

I could see in the dark as the moonlight bathed us and cast a silver glow around the vicinity.

The taxi Steven had ordered arrived and parked in front of us, and we hopped in. Carlos commented.

"Dennis Hotel has the most beautiful courtesans. I can't get enough of their bodies. Alpha, can we bring some of these women over to the pack?" Carlos asked, shifting his gaze to peer at my face as I sat at the back, going through my phone.

"No," I replied dismissively, not sparing a glance at Carlos.

"You know the rules governing all the packs," I added calmly. My eyes remained fixed on my phone as I checked the list of things I had to do.

"Alright. The next time we come to this city, I'd like to make another short trip to Dennis Hotel," Carlos murmured, but I didn't want to chime in.

'Would I like to visit here again? No. Was I hoping to cross paths with that woman again?'

My cọck hardened with a deep, throbbing desire to claim her. My fist clenched as my mind growled that word.

"Mate!"

"No!" Zion growled behind me.

"She cannot be ours. She's human. She cannot be your mate!" My wolf refused to accept her. The atmosphere in the car thickened because of my Alpha aura.

"Alpha. Are you alright?" Steven asked. He sat next to me, and even the driver was having a hard time breathing under the weight of my aura.

"Yes," I breathed out hotly, letting the car window down. My hand rested on the leather armrest.

"What happened, Alpha? Your mood got dark?" Steven asked, his tone laced with concern. His eyes were on me.

Looking over at Steven's face, I drew a deep breath. "Calm down, Zion. The human is not my mate!" I growled at my wolf, knowing that his mood affected mine. Couldn't we be in sync?

"It's nothing serious," I gritted out to Steven. "Did you get the present for Zoey?" I asked him, my eyes meeting his.

"Of course, Alpha. I selected a beautiful diamond-encrusted necklace and wristwatch for her. Do you want to see them?" Steven inquired, his tone gentle. "Though they're in the luggage."

"No need. When we get to the pack, hand them over to Zoey," I cut him off. I didn't want to be the one buying gifts for Zoey. If my mother hadn't insisted, I wouldn't even care.

"Alright, Alpha." Steven's response was calm, and a heavy silence hung in the car, save for the hum of the engine as it glided along the road, slicing through different landscapes and towering buildings until we arrived at the docking piers.