08 : When you're trapped
1291 Words
After breakfast, Alyna took an early bus. It dropped her off a block away from the community where the Alpha's mansion was.
During the short walk, Alyna couldn't help but wonder what Alpha Eiran wanted. If he was suspicious, wouldn't it be better to interrogate her and kick her out directly?
Instead of taking the normal route, he hired her as his nephew's tutor. It was a strange way of handling suspicious people.
As long as I can live normally, it shouldn't matter, Alyna thought.
A designated car took her from the gate to the front door where the butler was waiting for her.
"Josh is waiting for you in the study." The Butler's smile was warmer than yesterday.
She should have known something was wrong the moment his politeness turned into an elderly warmth.
A gut feeling that something was wrong with the maids smiles came like a punch in the gut but it was too late. Alyna opened the door of the study and walked in.
"Good morning, Miss Westwood."
"Good morning, Miss Westwood."
Two voices rang at the same time.
One childish and expected.
The second was deep, seductive and was like a delayed punch to the gut.
Josh waved at her from his desk. Alyna looked at the second desk, which was empty yesterday but now carried a desktop, books, files and a very handsome Alpha behind it.
Alpha Eiran looked up from his screen to briefly glance at her. "Are you well this morning?"
Alyna composed herself within seconds and lowered her widened eyes. The emotions hidden perfectly behind those hooded eyelashes.
"Yes. Good morning, Alpha. I wasn't expecting to see you here. Please excuse my rudeness."
With her etiquette in place even after years of losing practice, she performed a perfect bow in front of the Alpha. It was almost too perfect.
She took note of the cameras around the room, they were off. No wonder. The feeling he gave her was the same as the stare yesterday.
"Don't be so polite, we'll be seeing each other more often. My study is being renovated so I've moved here temporarily. I hope it won't cause you much trouble."
"Oh, that's fine. Nothing to worry about. Josh is so smart, I'm sure he'll be fine."
His swirly chocolate eyes ran over her like a scanner. "And what about you? Will you be fine?"
If this was a test, Alyna would have failed. Fortunately it was a brushable question.
"Yes, Alpha."
He gestured to the desk, "Go ahead then."
Alyna spend the next three hours trying really hard to focus on Josh and his books but the Alpha had ways to distract her that she never knew would ever work on her.
The little taps on the desk, the movement of books and papers, the lightest typing and the longest breaths.
Everything about him was so distracting that he might as well be standing behind her and scream into her ears.
When the third hour marked it's end, Alyna wanted to erect a statue of the moon goddess and worship her for the gift of clocks. She gathered her things, ready to bid a cheerful goodbye to him when the desk next to hers made a suspicious sound.
A chair moving back. Precisely three seconds after she left her own seat.
Alpha Eiran stood up, his shadow so long that it reached her. Even their shadows touching had a strange effect on her. She stepped back.
"It's almost lunch time. How about you stay for lunch?" He proposed with no room for negotiation.
Alyna was about to decline the offer but the Alpha's narrowed gaze locked her words back in it's place. She gulped, not willing to lower herself but forced to do so.
Their eyes met briefly, blue on watercolor brown. Alyna looked down, wordlessly following him out with Josh.
Leaving the study, she couldn't help but think about the color of his eyes when the sunlight hit them just right.
Alyna saw Alpha Eiran's tattoos for the first time at the dining table.
When Alpha Eiran rolled up his sleeves to keep them out of the way, his tattooed arm revealed itself in its complete glory.
Her eyes lingered on the colored arm way longer than they should have. Although she looked away in time, she felt like his arm was flexing around way too much throughout the meal.
Not only did he keep that left hand on top of the table the entire time, he moved it way too much. It didn't help with Alyna's focus at all.
Alyna somehow made it through till the end and couldn't wait to leave. The silence was suffocating more than usual.
"I will give you a ride back. Your house happens to be on the way to the pack house." Alpha Eiran said, adjusting his sleeves back in place.
It was easier for her to breathe with the tattoos out of sight.
Alyna looked up in disbelief that she was once again about to be trapped with him. This time alone?
Think.
Think fast!
Don't forget to breathe!
Her heart almost leaped to her throat. Her voice still sounded calm when the excuse slipped out.
"It's alright, Alpha. I need to stop by the grocery store on the way." She hurriedly grabbed her bag, ready to bolt out the door.
"Don't be in a rush. I'll drop you off at the grocery store." He followed right after, his steps were unhurried, knowing well she won't run away.
And just like that, Alyna's hope of leaving his presence was shattered into unsalvageable pieces.
"Josh, tell your father I'll be late."
Saying that, he made a gesture for Alyna to follow him out. As he passed by, Alyna caught a whiff of his scent. The dark chocolate scent made her mouth water. He brushed a bit too close for comfort. Alyna shuddered.
True, good looks didn't work on Alyna back then. Doesn't mean Alyna was immune to it now. Attraction wasn't a controllable feeling. It hits you in the face and only then you get the realisation that you are doomed.
Alyna felt that doom seeping into her toes and spreading up rapidly. She wiggled her toes and followed him out.
The driver was nowhere to be found. The Alpha held the door open for her like a true gentleman.
If Alyna had not heard the word ruthless attached to his name and title, she would have definitely fallen for the act. She sat in the passanger seat with a heavy heart.
His scent wrapped around her like poisonous vine. Chocolate swirling around, enticing her.
Why was it so intense all of a sudden? She thought.
Alyna sat stiff as a board, not looking at him in fear that she'll accidentally reflect her emotions on her face.
"Don't be so stiff, Miss Westwood. This isn't the your Silver Mane army."
He knows.
He f*****g knows.
Bile rose up to her throat, threatening to spill and ruin the illusion she carefully curated in the last few days.
"I hope Ember Claw is treating you better than your former pack?"
He drove out of the gate at a slow pace. The slower he went, the faster Alyna's breath got. Her fingers shook, ready to reach out for the door anytime.
"Six years in the army; Four years of being a senior soldiers. Two years as a general and a little more than a year of being a nobody. How does one transition so well and fall so hard, I have seen only two in all my years."
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe, Alyna.
Nausea bubbled up and down her throat, finally settling in for a minute where she responded to him, “Who?”
- Writer
