The Alpha's pretend mate

chapter 9

AVELORA

The impact of her body hitting mine sent us both sprawling back into the closet. My head cracked against the hardwood shelf, and for a second, my vision went blank.

"You little thief," a voice hissed.

My eyes snapped open to see Natalia. She wasn't the polished, untouchable Natalia. Her face was contorted, her teeth bared in a snarl that was more wolf than human. She had her hands bunched in the fabric of the hoodie, Alpha Khyrix's hoodie, exactly the same one I had on, and she looked like she wanted to shred it, and me, to pieces.

"I... Natalia, stop," I gasped, trying to push her off.

"You’re wearing his scent," she spat, her eyes flashing dangerously. "You think because he brought you here, you’re special? You’re a placeholder. A charity case. He’s an Alpha, he needs a Luna with blood that matters, not a servant who can’t even find her own wolf." She shoved me harder against the shelving. A row of alpha Khyrix’s shoes tumbled down around us.

"He’ll get bored," she whispered, her face inches from mine. "And when he does, he'll reject you then toss you back to the kitchen where you belong. I’ll make sure you’re scrubbing floors until your fingers bleed."

Fear flared in my chest, but instead of being just scared like always, I wanted to fight back, I felt angry and irritated, If she was such a better option, Alpha Khyrix wouldn’t have chosen me.

"He threw your underwear in the trash, Natalia," I said, my voice trembling but sharp.

She froze. The silence in the closet became suffocating.

"What did you say?"

"The lace garment, the one on the armrest," I said, gaining a sliver of courage as I realized I had hit a nerve. "He picked it up with two fingers like it was garbage and threw it away. He said the person who left it would be the one to clean it."

Natalia’s face went pale, then she turned red. Her hand flew back, her palm flat and ready to strike. I flinched, bracing myself for the blow.

It never happened.

The closet door was ripped open with such force it nearly came off its hinges.

"Get. Out."

A deep guttural growl vibrated through the air that it made the room tremble. His eyes weren't their usual colour, they were gold.

Natalia scrambled off me, her bravado vanishing instantly. "Khyrix! She... she was stealing your clothes. I was just…"

"I told you never to enter my quarters without permission again," Khyrix said. He didn't raise his voice, but his tone was enough to make me question why I didn't just wear my dirty clothes back "And you laid hands on my mate."

"She’s a servant!" Natalia cried, her voice cracking.

Alpha Khyrix moved so fast I didn't see him step. One moment he was in the doorway, the next he was standing over Natalia. He didn't touch her.

“Never touch what’s mine, ever.” He growled “If this happens again, you’ll be used as an example.”

Natalia nodded frantically, tears finally spilling down her cheeks.

"Out," he commanded.

She bolted. She didn't look back, disappearing through the bedroom and out into the hallway.

I stayed on the floor, My shaky hand barely holding my body up. I felt small, I felt like the hoodie was swallowing me whole.

Khyrix turned to me. The gold in his eyes dimmed slowly to their normal blue hue, but his jaw remained tight. He looked at me, then at the mess of shoes on the floor, and finally at the oversized hoodie hanging off my shoulders.

He reached out a hand. I hesitated for a a second before taking it. He pulled me up with effortless strength, but he didn't let go of my hand once I was standing.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"No," I lied, my head still throbbing from the shelf.

He knew I was lying. He stepped closer, his thumb brushing over the pulse point on my wrist. He could feel how fast my heart was going.

"You’re wearing my clothes," he remarked, his voice softening.

"I didn't have anything else," I muttered, looking at my feet. "I’ll take it off."

"No." His grip on my hand tightened slightly. "Keep it on. It suits you."

He looked at me for a long moment, a strange, intense expression on his face. "We’re going to the training grounds. Now."

"Now? But I haven't even eaten."

"You need to learn to defend yourself, Avelora. I can't be in every room with you, and these people... they aren't going to make this easy for you." He looked toward the door where Natalia had fled. "Next time, I want you to be the one who puts her on her knees."

I looked at him in disbelief. "I don't have a wolf, Alpha Khyrix. I can't do what you do."

"Then we'll find another way," he said firmly. "But you will never be a victim in this place again."

We left the room with the mess it was in, he said it was going to be cleaned before we get back.

When we reached the training room, he took me into the men locker room where he brought out gears that was exactly my size from his locker.

Even though I was inquisitive as to how he knew my size.

Instead I fumbled with getting the gear on.

"You're doing it wrong," he said.

It looked so expensive and it smelled of new leather and a hint of him, I almost couldn't touch it, afraid of tearing something.

He stepped into my personal space. The locker room was small, but the air felt thick and suffocating, the sudden heat of his body made me freeze.

And when I finally moved, I shifted backwards.

"Stay still," he commanded, his voice barely above a whisper. It resonated somewhere in my bones.

He didn't wait for a response. He reached around me to pull the back straps tight. His arms caged me in, his chest so close to my face that I could hear the steady rhythm of his heart beating against the fabric of his shirt. I stood like a statue, my breath hitching as his knuckles grazed my ribs, cinching the vest until it felt like a second skin.

One week, he told me I was going to crack in one week. That time felt like an eternity considering how my body was jumping to life from everything he did.

"The weight needs to be distributed," he murmured, that made the hair on my arms stand up.

He moved to the front. He knelt on one knee to adjust the shin guards, his large hands wrapping around my calves to secure the Velcro. I stared down at the top of his head, watching the way the muscles in his back shifted under his shirt.

He looked up, catching me staring. The intensity in his gaze was predatory, but his touch remained careful.

"Stand up straight, Avelora," he said, rising slowly. He didn't step back. Instead, he reached for the wrist wraps.

He took my right hand. His palm massive compared to mine, swallowing my fingers as he began to wind the leather. He did it too slowly that I could have sworn he was tracking my pulse, I knew he was. He could feel my heart racing, erratic and loud.

"Your heart is loud," he whispered, his eyes never leaving the wrap.

"It’s the adrenaline," I lied.

He paused, He looked up, his face inches from mine. I could see the gold starting to bleed back into his iris. He reached out, his hand hovering over the bruise on my cheek from earlier, his thumb ghosting over the skin without actually touching it.

"Is it?" he asked.

"If I wanted to hurt you, Avelora, I wouldn't have brought you here," he said, his voice dropping to a dangerous octave "I'm the only person in here that wouldn't break you on purpose.”

He let go of my hand, but the ghost of his touch stayed behind. He turned to grab his own gloves, his movements fluid and detached once more.

"Now we need to set a motivation.” he looked at me with such intensity I wanted to cower into the ground.

“Avelora, what is your goal?” A goal? I didn’t have a tangible goal, and instead of giving him an answer, I wanted the attention away from me.

“Alpha Khyrix what is your goal?” A flicker of surprise ran through his face, barely noticeable.

“I'm glad you asked.” He started slowly “I want to be the alpha I should be, not a puppet controlled by the elders, I want to lead the packs with dignity, not just carry the label of alpha.”

My mouth was ajar, surprise and disbelief, he never seemed like someone who had a clear goal, he was our cassanova, golden ticket alpha and moreover, does he trust me enough to be honest with me?

“So tell me Avelora… ” He called slowly” What is your goal?“