Hated By The Alpha Bound To Me

Chapter 18 - Clear Boundaries

The shift in the room reached her before the door fully closed.

The air felt heavier the moment she stepped inside, thick with the lingering scent of cedarwood, paper, and the faint smoke drifting from the fireplace near the far wall. Elara felt it immediately, and the unease she had managed to keep under control during her walk through the territory tightened low in her stomach again.

Thorne stood near the table with maps spread beneath his hands, though his attention lifted the second she entered.

Straight to her.

Her pulse stumbled once before she looked away.

Elara crossed toward the window instead, needing distance before the silence between them swallowed the room whole. Cool glass brushed against her fingertips while darkness stretched beyond the territory walls, calm and endless compared to the tension waiting behind her.

“Where were you?”

His voice stayed low, though restraint threaded tightly beneath the words.

“I walked the territory.”

“You were gone for hours.”

Elara glanced back at him carefully.

“I didn’t realize I needed permission.”

“That isn’t what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying?”

His jaw tightened before he answered.

“Kaia was supposed to show you the territory.”

“And I’m capable of exploring it on my own.”

“You don’t know the territory yet.”

A quiet breath left her.

“And I’m supposed to learn it how exactly?”

“You could start by waiting for the person assigned to show it to you.”

The dryness in his tone scraped against her temper immediately.

“She’s your Beta. I doubt she has time to babysit me.”

“She was trying to help you.”

“Then why does everyone suddenly care where I am?”

Silence stretched through the room while the fire crackled softly behind him.

Thorne’s gaze stayed fixed on her long enough to make her stomach tighten again.

“You disappeared after earlier,” he said finally. “Nobody knew where you were.”

The reminder sent another wave of tension through her chest.

Elara almost pushed back immediately before another thought surfaced instead.

Rafe knew.

Somehow he had avoided mentioning any of it while they stood near the border earlier. She still didn’t know whether he had done that intentionally or simply understood she didn’t want another conversation about it.

Either way, she appreciated it.

“And somehow everyone survived the experience,” she muttered.

The response slipped out automatically, followed by an instinctive roll of her eyes.

A low growl rose from Thorne before he could stop it.

Elara’s attention snapped back toward him.

He looked equally irritated by his own reaction.

“Stop doing that.”

Her brows pulled together.

“Doing what?”

“The eye roll.”

Realization hit quickly enough that amusement flickered through the anxiety twisting inside her.

“That seriously bothers you?”

“And my wolf.”

The answer came immediately.

Warmth moved through the bond beneath her ribs, and judging by the look crossing his face, he realized too late how much he had just admitted.

Elara studied him for a second before another eye roll followed, slower this time and completely deliberate.

His growl deepened.

“That one was intentional.”

A faint smile tugged briefly at the corner of her mouth.

“You noticed.”

The reaction she pulled from him should not have felt as satisfying as it did.

Especially after the way he had looked at her earlier.

“I’m done for tonight.”

She pushed away from the window and moved toward the bed.

His hand closed around her wrist before she could pass him.

The sudden contact stopped her immediately.

Heat rushed sharply up her arm, stealing a breath from her chest before she could steady herself. The warmth of his hand lingered against her skin while the bond reacted hard enough to make her pulse stumble again.

Elara froze.

Thorne held her there for a second longer than necessary before his grip loosened slightly, though he still didn’t let go.

The distance between them disappeared fast enough to leave her painfully aware of every shift in his breathing.

“We need to finish our talk,” he said quietly. “We need clear boundaries.”

Her pulse kicked harder.

The controlled edge in his voice dragged her right back into the same knot of anxiety she had been trying to ignore since leaving his office.

Elara slowly turned her head toward him.

“You grabbed me over boundaries?”

Frustration crossed his expression before restraint buried it again.

“After today, you tell someone where you’re going.”

The answer came quickly, instinctive enough that it sounded like the words reached his mouth before he could stop them.

Elara searched his face carefully.

“Are you watching me,” she asked, “or trying to keep me in line by making sure I move where you want me to move?”

Silence stretched between them before he answered.

“Yes.”

The honesty caught her off guard more than the answer itself.

She had expected another argument. Another warning. Instead, he admitted it without hesitation.

The bond reacted instantly, pulling harder beneath her skin while his gaze stayed fixed on hers.

His attention never wavered.

Elara scoffed softly before pulling her wrist free.

Another eye roll slipped out as she turned away from him.

His growl followed immediately behind her.

This time her amusement escaped before she could hide it.

“You’re proving my point.”

“You enjoy this too much.”

“I enjoy watching you pretend you’re unaffected.”

The answer came easier now, and somewhere beneath the frustration still hanging between them, the tension shifted into something warmer.

Thorne dragged a hand across the back of his neck before turning away briefly.

“The bond’s making this worse,” he muttered.

Elara paused near the bathroom doorway and glanced back at him.

“You actually admitted that out loud.”

His eyes lifted toward hers again.

“Don’t make me regret it.”

Despite herself, another smile threatened briefly at the corner of her mouth.

The bond reacted immediately.

So did he.

Another low growl slipped through his chest while his eyes narrowed.

“You think this is funny.”

“I think watching you get personally offended by my existence is becoming entertaining.”

That earned her another long look.

The room quieted around them while tension tightened beneath the weight of his attention.

Then his gaze dropped briefly toward her mouth before lifting again.

Quick enough that she almost missed it.

Heat climbed slowly into her chest.

Annoyance followed immediately after because her body reacted far too easily whenever he looked at her like that.

The bond stirred harder beneath her ribs.

Thorne stepped back first.

The movement looked controlled, though frustration still lingered through his shoulders.

“You should sleep.”

The sudden shift caught her off guard.

“That’s it?”

“You look tired.”

Elara stared at him suspiciously.

“You were two seconds away from growling at me again.”

“I still might.”

That answer sounded far too honest.

A faint laugh escaped her before she could stop it.

The sound affected him immediately. His expression tightened while something unreadable flickered briefly through his eyes.

Elara shook her head slightly before stepping into the bathroom.

Steam filled the room while hot water worked slowly through the tension clinging stubbornly to her muscles. Some of it eased beneath the heat, but the rest stayed tangled beneath her skin along with the memory of his hand around her wrist and the way his voice had lowered every time he stepped too close.

When she stepped back into the bedroom later with damp hair falling around her shoulders, she found Thorne sitting against the headboard with one arm resting across his chest while the untouched maps remained abandoned on the table nearby.

His attention lifted immediately.

Straight to her again.

The bond reacted fast enough to make her pulse stumble once beneath her ribs.

Elara crossed toward the bed without speaking, fully aware of his gaze following every step she took.

“We’re not finished,” he said quietly.

She paused beside the bed before looking at him.

“I know.”

The honesty in the answer seemed to catch him off guard for half a second.

Elara pulled the blankets back and climbed in, keeping her focus ahead instead of on the weight of his attention still resting on her.

The mattress shifted moments later beneath his weight.

Awareness spread instantly between them.

Without the distance she usually forced between them, every small movement felt amplified. The warmth coming from his body bled into the cool air between them while silence stretched heavily through the room.

“You crossed a line today,” Thorne said eventually.

The warning in his voice tightened something painfully inside her chest.

“I know.”

“You went through things that weren’t yours to touch.”

Elara swallowed once before turning her head slightly toward him.

“You’re still angry.”

His gaze stayed fixed on her.

“Yes.”

The answer came without hesitation.

Strangely, that felt easier to handle than if he had pretended otherwise.

Silence filled the room again while the bond pulsed steadily beneath her skin, impossible to ignore with him lying only inches away.

“You keep looking at me like you’re deciding whether to argue with me or throw me out.”

A rough breath left him.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

Despite the tension twisting through her stomach, amusement flickered briefly at the edges.

“That should probably concern me more than it does.”

“It should.”

The answer came lower this time, close enough to send another rush of warmth through the bond.

Elara became painfully aware of how little space separated them now.

Every shift against the mattress pulled harder at the connection between them.

Every breath sounded louder in the silence.

She hated how aware of him she had become.

“You’re staring again,” she muttered.

“You noticed.”

Her eyes rolled instantly before she could stop herself.

The growl that answered her echoed softly through the dark.

This time her laugh slipped out quietly before she could hold it back.

The sound faded slowly between them before silence returned once more.

Neither of them spoke again after that.

Still, long after the room fell quiet, Elara remained awake beside him, fully aware of the anger he still carried, the tension neither of them had resolved, and the dangerous pull growing stronger every time they ended up this close.