FATED TO THE ENEMY ALPHA

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR

ELOWYNNE

My pulse quickened. The bond hummed between us, growing stronger with every distance he closed.

"Stand up," he said, his voice low and commanding but not unkind.

“I didn’t ask for your help,” I said, but stood up anyway.

He smirked again, and my fists itched to punch it off his face.

I brushed off the dirt from my clothes and turned to face him fully.

I immediately regretted it.

Up close, he was even more overwhelming. The torchlight cast flickering shadows across his sharp features, highlighting the strong line of his jaw and the intensity in those silver-gray eyes that seemed to see right through me. He was tall, so tall I had to tilt my head back slightly to meet his gaze, and the sheer presence of him made the air feel thicker, harder to breathe.

"Instead of getting ahead of yourself, let’s start with your hearing. What’s the problem?” He asked, coming to a stop just an arm's length away.

Too close.

Not close enough.

My wolf was confused, torn between the urge to flee and the desire to close the remaining distance.

I was confused. This strange man just saw me, a young woman, with weapons, alone in the forest, and instead of threatening to take me back to wherever I was coming from, he decided he’d help me instead.

I found it suspicious, yet I felt uncontrollably pulled to him. I wanted him to help me.

This entire encounter had been strange, but maybe it was exactly like the moon goddess wanted it.

Maybe it was fate.

"I want to be able to hear from a long distance, but I can't seem to get past the immediate sounds,” I answered. “Everything just blends together."

Shawn studied me for a long moment, those piercing eyes moving over my face with an intensity that made my skin prickle with awareness. Then, without warning, he stepped closer, shrinking the space between us to mere inches.

"The problem," he said softly, and I could feel the warmth of his breath against my forehead, "is that you're trying too hard. You're forcing it instead of letting it flow naturally."

My heart hammered against my ribs so violently I was certain he could hear it. The bond thrummed with approval at his proximity, sending waves of heat through my body.

"I…" I started, but my voice came out breathless and weak.

"Close your eyes," he commanded gently.

I swallowed hard but obeyed, letting my eyelids flutter shut. Immediately, my other senses sharpened. I could smell him now, pine and something distinctly masculine, something that made my wolf keen with longing. I could feel the heat radiating from his body, so close to mine.

"Good," his voice came from directly in front of me, low and rough around the edges. "Now, I'm going to help you focus, but I need you to trust me."

Before I could respond, I felt his hands, large, warm, and slightly rough, come to rest on my shoulders. The contact sent an electric jolt through my entire system. My eyes flew open in shock.

"I said eyes closed, Audrey." His voice was firmer now, but there was a slight tremor there that suggested he wasn't as unaffected as he pretended to be.

I forced my eyes shut again, acutely aware of every point where his hands touched me. His fingers pressed gently against my shoulders, steady and grounding.

"Breathe," he instructed. "Deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth."

I tried to focus on breathing, but it was nearly impossible with him this close. Each inhale brought his scent flooding into my lungs, making my head swim. Each exhale seemed to draw him closer.

"You're tense," he observed, and suddenly his hands were moving, sliding from my shoulders down to my upper arms in a slow, deliberate movement that was probably meant to be soothing. Instead, it set every nerve ending on my body on fire. "You need to relax. Let go of the control."

"I'm trying," I gritted.

"Try harder."

His hands moved again, this time to my waist, and I gasped at the contact. Through the thin fabric of my shirt, I could feel the heat of his palms, the strength in his fingers as they settled against my sides. "Your wolf is fighting you. I can feel it."

The admission hung between us, heavy and loaded with what we already knew. He could feel my wolf. Only a mate could do that. I could feel his too, though there was something blocking me from assessing him properly. I could tell he was used to putting blocks around himself. Not truly feeling.

His hands shifted, one moving to the small of my back, the other coming to rest just below my ribcage. The position pulled me closer, not quite against him, but close enough that I could feel the solid wall of his chest.

"Focus on my heartbeat," he said, and there was a new quality to his voice now. Strained. Like he was fighting his own battle. "Block out everything else. Just listen to my heart."

I didn't want to tell him that I was already acutely aware of his heartbeat. That I could feel it thundering almost as violently as my own, betraying the calm facade he was trying to maintain.

I concentrated, trying to tune everything else out. At first, all I could hear was the rushing of blood in my ears, the ragged sound of my own breathing. But slowly, gradually, I began to pick up the steady rhythm of his heart. Strong. Fast. Definitely not as controlled as he wanted me to believe.

"I can hear it," I whispered.

"Good." His hand on my back pressed slightly, drawing me that final inch closer until we were almost touching. Almost.

"Now expand outward. Use that as your anchor point. Let your awareness spread out from there, in circles. Don't force it. Just let it happen."

I tried to do as he instructed, but it was nearly impossible to focus on anything other than the man in front of me. The heat of his body. The strength in his hands. The way his chest rose and fell with each controlled breath. The way the bond seemed to sing between us, urging us closer, demanding acknowledgment.

"Audrey," he said my fake name like a warning, and I realized my hands had somehow found their way to his chest, palms flat against the firm muscle there. I could feel his heart pounding beneath my touch, racing as fast as my own.

"Sorry, I…" I started to pull away, but his hand moved from my waist to cover both of mine, pressing them firmly against his chest. Keeping them there.

"Don't," he said roughly. "It's... it's fine. It might actually help. Physical connection can strengthen the bond and make it easier to channel your wolf's senses."

Was he making excuses?

Was I?

Did it matter?

"Try again," he commanded softly. "Focus."

This time, with my hands on his chest and his covering them, with our hearts beating together and the bond thrumming between us, something shifted.

I felt my awareness expand outward, past the melody of our combined heartbeats, our ragged breathing, and the whisper of the wind through the clearing.

I could hear the rustle of small creatures in the underbrush twenty feet away, the distant hoot of an owl, the sound of running water from a stream I knew was at least a quarter mile away, and the creak of tree branches swaying in the breeze.

"I can hear it," I gasped, my eyes flying open in excitement. "I can hear everything!"

But opening my eyes was a mistake. Because Shawn was staring down at me with an intensity that stole my breath. His silver-gray eyes had darkened to the color of storm clouds, and there was something raw and hungry in them that made my stomach flip.

We were so close, too close. His hands still covered mine on his chest. My body was pressed fully against his now; I couldn't remember when that had happened. I could feel every hard plane of muscle, every rapid breath, every thundering heartbeat.

"Shawn," I whispered, and I didn't know if it was a warning or a plea.

Just then, he clenched his jaw and pulled away. My senses rushed back to me, and that familiar sense of embarrassment filled me again.

I glanced up at the sky, trying to decipher what the time was. Hours must have gone by. I needed to get back to the pack house.

“I… I have to go,” I muttered, bending to grab my things.

He ran a hand through his hair, watching while I hastily gathered my bag and slung it across my shoulder.

“Will I see you here tomorrow?” He asked.

I blew out an annoyed breath. “I will be here, but I hope I don’t see you. You distracted me today.”

He laughed, and I was momentarily struck by the beautiful sound.

“Goodbye Audrey. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

***

I returned to the pack house and managed to sneak back into my room without getting noticed. And for the rest of the day, I felt my skin burning with Shawn’s touch.

I attended healing classes in the morning, not able to keep up with my lie of being sick. The rest of my daily routine went by at a slow pace as I looked forward to meeting Shawn again.

I didn’t know my excitement was evident on my face until Elena called me out.

“You’ve been smiling and zoning out the entire day,” she said after dinner on our way to my room.

“I just…remembered something funny,” I lied.

I wanted to tell her that I’d found my fated mate, but that would lead to more questions, like what I was doing in the forest in the first place. And for some reason, I wanted to keep Shawn my pretty little secret for a while.

‘Gods, you’re so stupid!’ I heard a voice chastise in my head. ‘You don’t even know him. You only spent a few hours with him.’

Thankfully, before Elena could tell me that she didn’t believe my lie, I spotted my father approaching.

“Hey, Dad," I greeted.

Elena proceeded to give a small, curt greeting. “Good afternoon, Alpha.”

But my father had a serious expression on his face.

“Elowynne, come to my office. I have something serious to discuss with you.”

Panic rose in my chest as I stared at him.

“Now?”

“Now.”

He walked off in the direction of his office. I stared back at Elena’s confused expression, shrugged in equal confusion, and then followed my father.

The walk to his office felt like hours even though it took less than a minute.

“Take a seat,” he said, settling behind his desk.

“What’s the problem, Dad?”

He clasped his fingers together on his desk. “Take a seat, sweetie.”

Now my panic worsened. I felt a sense of déjà vu. The scenario felt like when he had to break the news of my mother’s death many years ago.

I sank into the chair opposite his desk.

“This isn’t a bad thing, but…” he glanced up at me. “I know it’s not what you want.”

I balled my hands into fists. “What is it, Father?”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “We have found you a husband.”