1 | When Someone Bangs The Door

Zayden groaned out of sheer frustration when the pounding on the door of his room refused to cease.

What the fuck was going on outside? He grunted to his wolf, who only rolled his sleepy golden eyes before letting them fall shut and sleep.

Zayden didn’t like the way his wolf treated him these days. Nothing pleased him. Nothing seemed to fetch his attention unless they were on a hunt or sprinting wildly through the woods, panting and wheezing out of breath. Other times, his wolf either snorted or ignored the man completely. As for now, his wolf seemed to be in ignoring mode, and that frustrated the male like anything.

Shaking his head, Zayden got to his feet and stretched his broad arms out. The mirror across the room reflected a fine specimen of a man: tall height, bulky shoulders, and firm muscles in all the right places. Among all the men in the pack, Alphas were known to be much more endowed and powerful. They were the epitome of strength, dominance, and command. Not to forget, they were ferociously good-looking. So much so that the supply of women to their beds never grew to a halt. Women practically dropped their panties at their sight. Jealous men blamed it on their supernatural genes, but that was hardly the truth.

OK. Maybe there was some truth. But it would be unfair to accuse the Alphas themselves. It wasn’t like they asked for it. Right?

When someone bashed the door again, Zayden almost lost it. An angry frown cut across his handsome features while those long fingers buckled into fists. His shoulders grew broader to show someone their rightful place as he charged for the door.

A lungful of breath later, he snapped the knob so hard it broke and bounced on the floor before rolling to some pathetic corner. Zayden barely even spared a glance before he bucked the door open and growled. “What?”

Zayden’s eyes were glowing with untamed fury when his gaze dropped to the girl who barely reached his chest. He half-expected Viraj, his beta, to be on the other side of the door, dropping by to keep him in the loop of the search for a healer.

Zayden was the Alpha of the Bloodmooon pack. He earned the position after the older Alpha declared his retirement. Although he had to fight his way up, especially with all the contenders lined up with their eyes on the throne, including the idiotic sons of the previous Alpha, to get where he was today. It was a bloody day; he remembered with a proud grin. But so much worth it.

After defeating three men in a single day, he sure made a name for himself. A name that women fantasized about squealing when he took them to his bed. But Zayden was anything but a player. He liked sex. Who in their right mind would not, right? However, it was different for him. He liked to fuck the girls he wouldn’t have to see again. The drama to handle their clingy whining was too much for him. Being the Alpha of the pack, who seemed to be constantly at war with their neighboring masses, he surely had more than enough on his plate to care about anything else.

However, that was the least of his concerns.

For now, all he could focus on was the dark-haired girl who stood in front of him. An endearing frown tugged on her beautiful plump lips, glaring up at him as if he stole her virginity.

Zayden’s frown scattered the second her intriguing scent hit his nostrils and pressed down on his chest. Soft but cloying. It felt like a claw made of sweet nails, squeezing his chest tightly in its fist, forcing it to burn in the lack of enough oxygen.

It was a feeling that threatened to break and sew his heart altogether.

It was a feeling that made his wolf not only perk his ears up but also gaze as if something interesting caught his eye.

“Are you deaf?” The girl growled, snapping her fingers in front of his generous face.

It was only then that Zayden realized the girl was talking to him. Wait, what did she say? He didn’t hear shit.

Shit!

He zoned out. Not good. Not good at all.

Leaning against the frame of the door, arms crossed over his sturdy chest, he muffled a yawn and blinked against the exhaustion.

“What do you want?”

Zayden didn’t think the girl even processed his question before she snapped again. “Nina!”

“Who?” Zayden cocked an eyebrow.

Who the hell was Nina?

Oh wait, maybe that’s her name. Made sense.

“Whatever you say.” He rolled his eyes, trying not to melt into her scent that had started to wrap him up in its warm cocoon. “What do you want, Nina? Are you room service?”

“What?” The girl looked taken aback for a second or two and Zayden took this opportunity to really look at the girl.

Donned in a pair of denim shorts and a plain white round-neck t-shirt, she definitely had nothing to do with the room service. Even her hair, so dark and so thick, was bunched up in a loose bun, letting only a few wild strings of hair droop and frame her pretty face. Her eyes were a touch darker than brown. Almost black, but not completely. And they seemed to shimmer against the lights of the empty hallway outside his room. But what really had his chest tightened with knots had to be her lips. A perfect shape that had his mouth run dry, and he craved a taste of hers to bring moisture to his own. His wolf seemed to like the idea, purring in approval, and that only encouraged his erotic imagination.

She said something again, and he failed to hear that as well.

This zoning-out thing was really getting out of hand.

“Ugh-fine!” without so much as a warning, she shoved his chest with both her hands.

Zayden lurched backward, stunned for a second and curious on the other. Even though it was the surprise that made him back off and not her measly human strength, he found himself amused and riled up at the same time.

What did she think of herself?

Oddly enough, his wolf bared his teeth at him, growling and seething his glittering golden eyes as if preparing to bite him in the ass.

As the girl plodded inside, scanning the hotel room almost frantically, his wolf nudged him to move closer. He demanded her scent again. Almost on the verge of whining to beg for her attention. He wanted her eyes on him like anything. He wanted her small fingers to drift through his fur and make him the happiest wolf alive.

Zayden almost gave in to the tantrums of his wolf until the girl spun on her heels and fixed him with an annoyed look.

“Where is she?” she asked with a frown, kneeling on the floor and checking underneath the bed. Putting a view of her perfect, thick ass for him.

Zayden groaned, frustrated. His wolf panting and drooling after the girl. Honestly, who is this girl? He thought. And why was his wolf acting so weird in her presence? This was so unlike him. After giving him a terrible time for almost a month, now his wolf seemed eager for everything. Everything that included this girl, her fucking crazy scent, and those deep brown eyes.

Could it be possible that she was his mate? The thought made him stop dead in his tracks.

No, that was impossible. He shook off the thought. If she were his mate, he would have sniffed her from miles away. To even let that thought slide into his mind, he wanted to tear these walls apart.

But then again, there was something about the girl. Something was lifting the hair at the back of his neck, tugging at the loose strings of his heart, and tempting his wolf to pounce and lick her everywhere.

Perhaps Viraj was right. He truly needed to get laid.

Alright, he had enough of her weird acts. It was time he put his foot down.

“You know, if you were so desperate to get into my bed, you could have just asked,” he drawled, his wolf giving him a pat on the back for making her shift uneasily on her feet and for that sweet blush that crept up her neck and blossomed across her cheeks.

Fuck. His wolf sank nails into his flesh at the sight, making Zayden wince so hard that he almost cracked his jaw.

The girl, whose name he assumed to be Nina, scowled harder. “Sex!” she snapped.

Zayden cocked a brow. O-kay?

“That’s all you men think about, don’t you?” she accused, shaking her head as if she had had enough of men and their lustful ways. “You don’t care about anything else but yourself. All you want is a woman, sprawled wide in front of you, so you can gratify your inner monsters and boast among men about your absurd adventures,” she sighed. “You know what? No one cares about your adventures. No one gives a shit. And honestly, I don’t even know why I am even bothering myself with you. Just tell me where my sister is and I’ll be gone out of your hair.”

Zayden chewed the inside of his lip, rubbing his jaw and a little scruff that had grown. “What makes you think your sister is here?” he demanded, unsure why she was confident he had a girl underneath his bed. Who the fuck did she think he was? A weirdo? If he had to fuck someone, he would fuck them with the door wife open. Shame was the last thing that bothered him.

“Don’t be over-smart,” she threatened, lifting a finger at him. “I know she is here. Is she in the bathroom?”

“What?”

“Closet?”

“Are you serious?”

“Wait, I think I got it.” She mused, dropping her hand. “She is on the balcony, isn’t she?”

“Honestly, what stuff are you on?”

“Fine. I’ll see that for myself.”

As she headed over to the sliding glass door that led to a spacious balcony with couches and sofa chairs, Zayden grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to him. Their chests collided. She gasped. Before a deeper frown graced her face. Her brown eyes met his hazel ones, and that was all his wolf needed to drop his sanity and flaunt his tail. Excited.

“What are you doing?” she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. But the more she tried, the stronger his grip grew. “Let me go, you perv!”

Zayden couldn’t help but rumble out a laugh. “I’ve been nothing but a gentleman since you walked in,” he sneered, baring his white teeth and fighting the dizziness induced by her delicious scent. So strong now, it drew him to her. He leaned his head forward, thinking he only wished to intimidate her more. Though it was hard to ignore, the flesh of his palm practically seared against her fragile skin. He drew in a sharp breath. Watching her pretty face from this close had his lungs combust with something hot and sweet. She turned her head away to escape his proximity. But that turned out to be a mistake. On her part. Of course. Why? Because the small action exposed her neck to him and he couldn’t turn down the invitation. He fought the urge. He really did, but his wolf practically shoved his face into the crook of her neck and sucked in a deep breath.

“Mine!” His wolf growled after a few bold seconds, causing the girl to grow stiff in his arms. “All of you is mine.”