Caught

Mara

The second heads snapped toward the door, my body chose for me.

I didn’t wait to see if the knob turned. I didn’t wait to confirm whether the calm, dangerous voice belonged to the only man in the room who looked like he could break bones without getting his heart rate up. I just moved.

I backed off the wall, quiet for one half-beat, then pivoted and ran.

The service hallway narrowed as I sprinted, shoulders grazing stacked beer cases, my boots slipping on tile that smelled like bleach and old grease. Behind me, I heard the backroom door slam open. A sharp shout followed—Coat Guy, panicked—and then the heavy, controlled footfall of someone who didn’t have to rush to catch prey.

The music from the bar hit me as I burst through the kitchen entrance—bass, laughter, the clatter of dishes—like normal life was trying to pretend I wasn’t about to get murdered behind a building.

I shoved past a cook who swore at me. I didn’t stop. I cut left, looked to see if the men chasing me were still in the back. No? Clear. I ducked through the back exit, and the cold slapped me hard enough to steal my breath.

Parking lot. My car was thirty feet away, under a busted light that blinked like it was laughing.

Keys. Find the key. My fingers were shaking so badly I fumbled the fob twice.

I forced my hand steady, thumbed the unlock button, and yanked the driver’s door open. I slid in, slammed it, and reached for the ignition—

A shadow moved past my window.

Not a person walking. Too fast. Too silent.

My stomach dropped. I threw the lock down with my thumb and grabbed my phone from my pocket.

No signal.

In the rearview mirror, the bar’s neon bled across my windshield. I could hear someone singing off-key inside, like the world refused to notice me unraveling tonight.

Of course. Back lot, dead zone, because the universe has a sense of humor.

The handle on my door didn’t even rattle. The window didn’t shatter. There was just a tap on the glass, light and polite, like someone asking if I had a minute to talk about my car’s extended warranty.

I turned my head slowly.

He stood inches from my door, eyes caught by the flickering security light. Gold. Not a trick of reflection. Not contacts. Gold that looked alive. Great, the sexy big one. Gage.

He didn’t look winded. He didn’t look angry, exactly. He looked like a man making an inventory.

I swallowed hard and lifted my phone like it could save me. “Back off.”

He tilted his head. “Open the door.”

“Yeah, no.”

His gaze dropped to my hands. “You have pepper spray.”

I froze. I hadn’t even reached for it yet.

“How do you—”

“Your right pocket,” he said, and his voice was calm enough to make me want to scream. “Don’t.”

I did it anyway, because I’m not built to obey. I shoved my hand into my pocket and wrapped my fingers around the canister.

The window shattered.

Not with a loud explosion—more like a hard pop and a spiderweb crack, then the glass gave way in a shower of cold shards. His arm was suddenly inside my car, hand closing around my wrist before I could lift the spray.

His grip was brutal. Not crushing, but absolute. Like steel.

I tried to jerk free. I kicked at the steering column. I twisted my body to bite him if I had to.

He didn’t move.

“Stop,” he said, and there was something under the word, low and rough, that didn’t sound human.

My pulse raced so fast it blurred my thoughts. “Get out of my car.”

“You were listening.”

“I was walking to the bathroom,” I snapped, because lying is a reflex when you’re cornered. “Your buddy’s bar has terrible signage.”

His eyes narrowed. “Wrong.”

I yanked again. Pain shot up my arm. He didn’t even blink.

“You heard the conversation, names were said,” he said.

I forced a laugh that came out shaky. “Lots of names get said in bars. You’d be amazed.”

His gaze flicked toward the back door of the building, where muffled voices spilled into the night. Someone shouted again. He listened like the sounds mattered, like he could separate threats from noise. Then his attention came back to me.

“You saw,” he said.

My mouth went dry. “I saw a bunch of idiots doing something illegal. Congratulations. Welcome to America.”

A flash of something crossed his face—irritation, maybe. Or restraint. “Not illegal. Not to us.”

Us. Pack. Law. Council. All those words rolled through my mind like broken glass.

I leaned back, trying to create space that didn’t exist. “Who are you?”

His eyes held mine, unblinking. “The one keeping you alive.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“I didn’t ask your opinion.”

I bared my teeth. “You don’t get to demand anything from me or force me into anything.”

His grip tightened a fraction, warning without words. “You’re in my territory.”

“There it is,” I said, too loud, too sharp. “The psycho ‘this is my territory’ thing. Are you going to pee on a lamppost next?”

For the first time, his expression shifted. Not humor. Something like… disbelief that I had a mouth at all.

Then he leaned closer through the broken window. The scent that hit me wasn’t beer or bleach. It was something wild, clean, and sharp, like pine and iron. My skin prickled.

“Tell me your name,” he said.

“No.”

His jaw flexed. “If you don’t cooperate, I can’t protect you.”

“I don’t want your protection.”

“You do,” he said flatly. “You just don’t know it yet.”

I dragged in a breath. My brain was screaming that he was too close, too fast, too strong, and that I’d heard him called Alpha like it was a fact, not a nickname.

I tried to aim my knee up into his ribs. He caught it with his other hand like it was nothing and shoved it back down.

“Enough,” he said.

“Go to hell.”

He stared at me for a long, tight second. Then his gaze flicked to my throat, like he was watching my pulse. Like he could count it.

“You’re shaking,” he said.

“I’m freezing,” I lied.

“You’re scared,” he corrected. “And you should be.”

The back door banged again. Footsteps spilled out into the alley. I heard Coat Guy’s voice—strained, angry—followed by another deeper one. They were coming.

The man at my window straightened. A decision clicked behind his eyes.

He opened my car door from the outside like it wasn’t locked.

I surged forward, trying to bolt past him, but he caught me by the forearm and yanked me out of the seat. My boots hit gravel. Cold air burned my lungs. He spun me and pinned me against the side of my car, one hand braced near my shoulder, the other holding my wrist.

No room. No leverage. Just him.

I struggled anyway. “Let go.”

He leaned in, voice low enough that it felt like it was meant for me alone. “If you run, they’ll hunt you. Not even I will be able to stop them. You’re a threat.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“You won’t,” he said, and his eyes flashed brighter for half a second, gold sharpening like an animal’s warning. “Because you’re mine until I decide you’re safe.”