Dangerous Games

Walking home in shock at Kane’s dominance, I reflect on how different he is from Marcus. While Marcus used his inherited wealth to manipulate and betray, Kane earned his empire and wields power with calculated precision.

When I finally got home, I ran to my room to change out of my wet clothes.

Ryan turned to me as we were eating dinner, “So, Zara. Why did you pour coffee on Derek’s head?” A smirk appeared on his face.

My father snorted and nearly choked on his food as he shot me a shocked look. His face quickly turned red, and he began to chuckle.

“Zara, can’t you stay out of trouble?” He chuckled.

I shrugged, rolling my eyes at the two of them. “He was being a jerk.”

I didn't need to give more information; Ryan and my dad knew exactly what Derek was like.

"Should have done more." Ryan chuckled.

I shrugged, "The coffee was Nova's idea. I wanted to punch him in the throat." That comment sent my dad into fits of laughter.

After dinner, I quickly went to bed. I was glad to sleep before dinner with Sofia. I wanted to do something to raise my family's status. Which one of us is glad to sleep? I am.

I took off my clothes and threw them on the bed, then went to the shower. When I was done, I put on the same t-shirt and shorts.

I frowned at the pillow, noticing the folded piece of paper lying on it. I could have sworn it wasn't there when I took my clothes off. How could someone have smuggled it into my room without me noticing it? And more importantly, why didn't it smell?

I winced as I turned the paper over in my hand, my eyes widening at the photo that had fallen off. I could easily make out my figure in the photograph.

I stood in front of the forest, looking around as I made my way inside. It had been taken today, as I was heading to the secret swimming hole.

I placed the photo on the dresser and ran my eyes over the note.

You shouldn't be wandering around alone, Zara.

The strange note made me nervous, and I wondered who it could be. I couldn't imagine Alpha Kane doing this; he was already harassing me personally. The only other people I could think of were Marcus or Derek. There was no way Marcus would have gotten close enough to this pack to leave a note in my room, not when Alpha Kane was trying to kill himself.

Derek seemed like an unreliable suspect.

I rolled my eyes and shoved the note into the dresser. Without thinking, I climbed into bed and gave in to sleep.

I woke up screaming.

Someone was shaking me, and as soon as I opened my eyes, I noticed someone's face way too close to mine.

"Zara!" Sofia groaned, covering her ears with her hands, "You're going to burst my eardrum!"

"What the hell!" I breathed, sitting up in bed and glaring at her.

"Dude, it's almost 1 pm." She rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her narrow hips.

"And you couldn't wake me up like a normal person?" I raised an eyebrow at her, climbing out of bed.

She shrugged, a mischievous grin on her face. "That never crossed my mind."

"Oh, right." I rolled my eyes. I grabbed a thigh-length floral dress and put it on, adding a pair of black sneakers.

“Since when did you get muscular?” she asked, sitting on the couch in my room and brushing her hair.

I shrugged, “A whole year of training does that.”

“I have to go where you go.” She chuckled.

“After the fight with Alpha’s pack, my mom got a little bossy.” Sophia winced.

I frowned, “But I get it. My mom was a close friend of hers.”

We walked the few blocks to the cafe, not bothering to borrow her car. The weather was gorgeous, and I didn’t feel bad about wasting my time.

The cafe had changed quickly while I was gone. It used to be old-fashioned, but now it was completely modernized.

“I like it.” I nodded, looking around the decor approvingly.

Sophia nodded in agreement, “They updated the menu, too. The avocado burger is amazing.” She laughed, licking her lips.

We chatted over lunch, rekindling the strong friendship we once had.

The day flew by, and before I knew it, I was climbing into bed. Part of me dreaded going to work the next morning. The bruises were only just fading from my last encounter with Alpha Sterling.

Luckily, I remembered to set my alarm for work. I met Sophia outside, and together we walked into the Sterling Society House. We dropped our bags in the locker room and headed for the mats.

We stood and chatted for a few more minutes, only stopping when Alpha Kane walked in.

"Everyone," Alpha Kane's deep voice silenced the room. His very presence demanded everyone's attention. "Pair up and get started, Alexander and Jax will be on hand to help."

And with that, everyone dispersed. I reluctantly made my way over to Alpha Kane, dreading the next few hours.

"We have a new addition," Alpha told me, his honeyed gaze landing on mine. "You'll be his partner for the time being." A guy I'd previously I hadn't previously seen. He was cute, in a boyish way. He had blond hair and chocolate-colored eyes. He was muscular, but not as gigantic as Alpha and his men. The guy had a round, baby face, which made him even cuter, and a cheeky grin that made me smile.

I could feel Alpha's eyes on me as I turned to greet the new member.

"Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?" Nova chuckled, and I chuckled back.

"If you mean try to make Alpha jealous, then yeah, I am." I chuckled.

"I'm Jackson." He smiled at me, and I felt my lips lift in response. He was a lot taller than I, but then again, everyone is.

"Zara." I nodded at him.

He grinned stupidly, "Then I'll try to go easy on you, Zara."

I giggled mischievously, "Oh, don't worry, I can take care of myself." "We'll see about that, kiddo." He chuckled, and I followed him to the space. I held back a grin as I looked at the Alpha's face, the golden swirls visible in his eyes.

The second time Jackson tried to punch me, I realized he was trying to go easy on me. It irritated me, but I decided to have some fun with it.

He lunged forward, his arm outstretched to punch me in the face. He was slow, even by human standards. I smirked as his fist came toward my face. I pushed the red light out of my eyes and immobilized his arm when it was an inch away. I grabbed his fist with my hand and hooked my leg around his arm in a move Commander Stone had been teaching me for weeks.

I twisted my torso and threw my weight toward the ground, sending him tumbling forward. I rolled gracefully and quickly adjusted his arm, and he landed face down. He couldn't figure out what had happened to his arm.

His head popped up off the floor, his blond hair wild as he looked at me in surprise.

"I think you can take care of yourself." He gave me a wry smile.

I laughed at him, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

This time, the training ended on a good note. This time, I didn't feel any pain, and I had a good time.

Alexander and Jax helped me with my punches and kicks, and I realized that up close, they were much scarier. Attractive, but intimidating. What was even better was that I could feel Alpha's eyes on me the entire time.

***

I went inside and managed to spend a couple of hours in my free time, and had breakfast with my family. After taking a shower and putting on a black skirt and white down button top, I was almost ready to go.

I went to the Sterling Empire; it was a huge building, and every corner told us how rich the owner of this building was. The security guard did not stop me, and I went to the reception and introduced myself. After that, I was assigned a job, thank the moon goddess, Alpha was busy in a meeting.

As soon as I sat down at the table and checked the Alpha's meeting schedule, the phone rang and I answered it. On the other side, I was told that someone killed Katie in the woods.

While my blood was boiling from how boldly Alpha Sterling acted, the sensitive place between my legs was pulsating. I was torn between hate and love. Nova was silent this time, leaving me alone with my internal struggle.