"The Alpha Who Terrified Me"

I woke up panting, gasping for air.

I noticed the sheets around me. I was confused. Silk sheets.

What?

The bed I was on was so soft and was three times bigger than my bed back home. Where am I?

“She’s awake.”

I sat up fast…..bad idea. Everything spun.

Four men stood around the bed. The Alphas.

“Easy.” Asher was closest.

His blonde hair was a bit messy, his blue eyes warm. I blushed as I noticed his half unbuttoned shirt which revealed his fair chest and throat. His chest was not huge, but solid.

Real.

“You fainted pretty hard.”

“What…..”

“The bonds.”

Rowan was leaning against the wall, red hair draped all over his broad sexy shoulders, arms crossed over his bare huge chest. No shirt , just jeans. I blushed and looked away, trying not to look at his abs, or the tatoo over his ribs and shoulders.

Red hair fell in his eyes. “Hit you like a truck, huh?”

The bonds. Right. Four golden threads connecting me to four strangers.

This was insane.

“Why me?” My voice cracked. “I don’t even have a wolf.”

“You do.” Kael stepped forward.

I opened my jaw. He was huge!

Black shirt that was tight ariund his body; probably didn’t find his size or something.

His shoulders were big enough to block the light. He had a sharp jaw, red eyes that glowed, black hair. A scar that ran through his eyebrow. His face was so handsome it looked unreal.

But I just couldn’t look past how big he was. Was the other thing huge as well….

“That thing you felt earlier,” he said, voice rough. “In your chest. That was your wolf trying to wake up.”

“The bonds triggered it.” Lucien moved beside him. Blue-black hair slicked back, ice-blue eyes, wearing some expensive silk shirt. Lean but muscled, everything precise. “You’re shifting. Finally.”

“I need to go home.”

“No.” Kael’s tone left no room for argument. “You’re staying here.”

“You can’t just…..”

“We can.” His hand touched my face. Just his thumb on my cheek, but heat shot through me so fast I gasped. “You’re ours now. Get used to it.”

-----

They dragged me to an emergency Council meeting the next morning.

The Council chamber was packed. Every important Alpha in the region, all staring at me like I was a freak show.

I stood there in a borrowed dress, wanting to disappear.

The four Alphas flanked me. A wall of muscle and threat.

“This is impossible,” someone said. “She doesn’t have a wolf.”

“The bonds don’t lie,” Elder Marcus replied.

“But…..Celeste…..she’s the Alpha bloodline…..”

“Fuck the bloodline.” Rowan’s voice cut through the noise. “The bonds chose. Deal with it.”

Celeste was in the crowd. She looked like she has been crying. As soon as her eyes fell on me a scary scowl came across her face. Pure hatred.

Morgana stood beside her, expression carefully neutral. Shocked but not shocked. Weird.

“Aria Winters is now bonded to four Alphas,” Elder Marcus announced. “She holds Luna status in their packs. This is law.”

“She’s worthless!” Celeste screamed. “She’s nothing! I should be…..”

“You lost.” Lucien’s cold voice shut her up. “Accept it.”

The Council voted. Made it official. I was a Luna now.

I still felt like nothing.

-----

“You’re coming home with me,” Kael said after.

Not asked. Told.

“What about…..”

“The bond needs proximity. You’ll stay at my house until your wolf stabilizes.”

Asher grinned. “Gonna be fun watching you two.”

“Shut up,” Kael growled.

“Make me, asshole.”

“Children,” Lucien muttered.

Rowan just laughed.

-----

Kael’s house was huge and cold. All modern lines, expensive furniture, staff who looked at me like I was dirt.

“Who’s she?”

“The worthless Winter girl.”

“This has to be a mistake.”

Kael heard them.

He said nothing. He just grabbed me and pulled me upstairs.

“S-slow down!”

His bedroom was bigger than my entire floor back home. Black everything. Windows overlooking dark forest.

“You’ll sleep here,” he said.

“With you?”

“The bond requires it.” His jaw was tight. “Don’t worry. I’m not interested.”

That stung more than it should have.

“Great. Me neither.”

“Good.” He opened a drawer, threw a credit card on the dresser. “Buy clothes. Whatever. My staff will take you.”

“I don’t need your money.”

“You’re not walking around in rags. Reflects badly on me.” He moved past me toward the door. “Dinner’s at eight. Don’t be late.”

Then he was gone.

I sat on his bed, holding his credit card, feeling like shit.

This was my mate? This asshole?

-----

His staff hated me.

They whispered constantly. About me being wolfless, unworthy, a mistake. But they took me shopping because Kael ordered it.

I came back with bags full of dresses I’d never dreamed of owning.

“Wear this one tonight,” Kael said, pointing to a black dress. Not asking. Ordering.

“Why?”

“Council dinner. You’re coming.”

The dress fit perfectly. Showed my shoulders, my collarbone. Made me look almost pretty.

Kael’s eyes went dark when he saw me. “That works.”

Not “you look beautiful.” Just “that works.”

But he held the car door for me. Put his hand on my back when we walked. Stayed close.

His words were ice. His actions were something else.

-----

“How’s living with Mr. Sunshine?” Asher asked a week later.

“Asher!” I cried, excited to see him.

He came to visit, and had brought me wildflowers. We sat in the garden, the wind carrying the smell of the flowers into our noses

“Hope you’re getting along with Kael?”

“He’s an asshole.”

Asher laughed.

“Yeah. But he looks at you like you’re the moon.”

“He looks at me like I’m a problem.”

“That’s just how he acts,” he said, tucking a flower behind my ear, his fingers brushing my jaw.

Warm. Gentle. I blushed, my heart fluttering.

“Give him time.”

“What if he never…..”

“Then screw him. The rest of us will treat you right.” His brown eyes were soft. “You deserve that, Aria.”

The bond between us felt warm. Safe.

Not like the cold, demanding thing with Kael.

-----

Two weeks in, I couldn’t take it anymore.

Kael barely spoke to me. Just orders and criticisms. But he bought me things. So many things!

Jewelry, books, dresses. He even gave me a black card to buy whatever I wanted. But he always just did it without a word.

His actions were kind. His words were knives.

It was driving me crazy.

And the bond. God, the bond was getting worse. Every day it pulled harder. Made me want to touch him, be near him, let him…..

No. Not happening.

But three weeks in, I was losing my mind.

He came back late from training, shirtless, covered in sweat. Muscles flexing as he moved. I tried not to stare.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked.

“No.”

“Bond?”

“Yeah.”

He sighed , running a finger through his hair. I blushed. Even that action felt seductive.

“We are going to have to mate soon.”

I frowned.

“I’m not doing that just because the bond says so.”

“Neither am I.” But his eyes said different. Red and glowing, locked on me. “But it’s getting hard to think around you.”

“Kael…..”

“I don’t do this,” he said, voice rough. “I don’t do feelings or mates or any of this shit. But the bond…..”

“The bond isn’t making you be an asshole to me.”

He flinched. Actually flinched. “You’re right.”

“What?”

“You’re right. I’ve been…..” He looked away. “This scares the hell out of me. You scare me. What I feel…..”

“Just say it.”

“I want you.” The words came out harsh. “Not just the bond. Me. And I hate that I can’t control it.”

Oh.

“Kael…..”

He crossed the room in two steps. His hand grabbed my jaw, not gentle. His eyes burned red. “Tell me to leave.”

I couldn’t. Because I wanted this too. Wanted him. Even though he was cold and cruel and impossible.

The bond screamed between us.

“Don’t leave,” I whispered.