Bound To The Monster Alpha

Chapter 4: The Mysterious Things

ANNA'S POV

"But we haven't finished..."

"Now." His tone left no room for argument.

He practically dragged me out of the dining hall, through corridors I didn't recognize, until we reached a secluded balcony overlooking the forest.

"What did Elizabeth tell you?" I demanded.

"That the assassin was hired by someone in your father's old pack. Someone who knows what you are and wants to make sure no Guardian survives." His hands gripped the railing. "She has a name. Marcus Thorne. He was your father's beta."

My stomach dropped. Marcus. I remembered him. Kind, funny Marcus who'd brought me sweets when I was little.

"That's impossible. Marcus loved my father."

"Apparently not enough to keep him alive." Dominic's voice was harsh. "Elizabeth's tracked him to a location three hours from here. I'm taking a team to bring him in tomorrow."

"I'm coming with you."

"Absolutely not."

"He was my father's beta. If anyone knows what happened, it's him." I moved closer. "You said I need to help find answers. Well, this is me helping."

"It's too dangerous."

"Everything about this is dangerous!" I grabbed his arm, and the mate bond flared between us. Gold light flickered across both our skin. "I'm tired of being kept in the dark. If Marcus killed my father, I deserve to look him in the eye and ask him why."

Dominic stared at where my hand touched his arm. The gold light pulsed brighter. "You're making it worse."

"Making what worse?"

"The bond. Every time you touch me, it gets stronger." But he didn't pull away. "If it completes before we break the curse, you die, Anna. Do you understand? Not maybe. Not possibly. You die."

"Then we break the curse first."

"We don't even know where to start!"

"Yes, we do. My father's research. The artifact. If they were working together, Marcus would know where my father hid everything." I squeezed his arm. "Let me come with you. Please."

His eyes met mine, silver and stormy. "If you die because I couldn't control myself around you, your blood will be on my hands."

"If I die, it'll be because someone wants me dead. Not because of you."

"You have too much faith in me." His hand came up, fingers brushing my cheek. "I'm not the hero in this story, Anna. I'm the monster who married you for revenge."

"Then be a monster who keeps me alive long enough to get that revenge." I turned my face into his touch. "Because right now, we need each other."

His thumb traced my lower lip, and heat flooded through me. The mate bond hummed with approval. "This is such a bad idea."

"The worst," I agreed.

He leaned closer, his breath ghosting across my lips. "If I kiss you..."

"Don't think. Just do it."

His mouth crashed against mine, desperate and hungry and perfect. I gasped, and he deepened the kiss, his hand fisting in my hair. Every nerve in my body came alive. The mate bond exploded with golden light, wrapping around us like living fire.

Then he jerked back, breathing hard. "We can't. This is exactly what I..."

"Dominic," I whispered. "Look."

The golden light hadn't faded. It was spreading, flowing from where we touched, creating symbols in the air around us. Ancient symbols that looked like they were carved from light itself.

"Guardian magic," he breathed. "You're channeling it."

"I don't know how!"

"Then figure it out, because..." He stopped, his body going rigid. His eyes shifted to gold. "Someone's here."

Before I could ask what he meant, glass shattered. An arrow punched through the window, heading straight for my heart.

Dominic moved faster than thought, pulling me down. The arrow embedded in the stone wall behind where I'd been standing.

"Stay down!" He shifted, his massive black wolf form exploding into existence.

Two rogues crashed through the broken window, their eyes glowing red. They didn't go for Dominic. They went straight for me.

I rolled away, reaching for anything to defend myself. My hand closed on a piece of broken glass. When the first rogue lunged, I slashed wildly.

The glass cut across its muzzle, and it yelped, falling back. But the second one was faster. Its jaws snapped inches from my throat before Dominic slammed into it, sending them both tumbling across the balcony.

The fight was vicious and fast. Blood sprayed across stone. The rogues fought with suicidal desperation, like they didn't care if they died as long as they took me with them.

Dominic was a blur of black fur and rage, but there were two of them and he couldn't watch me and fight at the same time.

The first rogue recovered, lunging at me again. This time I didn't have anything to defend myself with.

Terror spiked through me. The mate bond on my wrist exploded with heat. And then power poured out of me like a dam breaking.

Golden light erupted from my hands, slamming into the rogue mid-leap. It flew backward, hit the stone wall, and didn't get up.

I stared at my hands, glowing with that same ancient light. "What..."

Dominic finished off the second rogue, his jaws crushing its neck. Then he shifted back, blood-streaked and breathing hard. "You're awakening faster than I thought."

"I don't know what I did!"

"You channeled Guardian power. Instinctively." He moved toward me, checking for injuries. "Are you hurt?"

"No, but..." I looked at the dead rogue I'd killed. "Did I just..."

"You defended yourself. That's all." His hands gripped my shoulders. "Anna, listen to me. Two assassination attempts in one day isn't a coincidence. Someone knows you're awakening, and they're trying to kill you before you reach full power."

"Why?"

"Because a fully awakened Guardian can break supernatural bonds, rewrite pack law, even kill an Alpha with a thought." His eyes bored into mine. "You're not just rare, Anna. You're a weapon. And every pack in this territory will want to either control you or destroy you."

The weight of his words crushed down on me. "I don't want to be a weapon."

"Too late. You already are." He released me, moving to examine the dead rogues. "We need to move up the timeline. Tomorrow, we find Marcus. Tonight, you start training."

"Training for what?"

"To fight. To control your power. To survive." He looked back at me. "Because the next assassin won't announce themselves. They'll slip poison in your food or a knife between your ribs while you sleep. And I can't protect you every second of every day."

"Then teach me to protect myself."

Something that might have been approval flickered in his eyes. "Get changed. Meet me in the training yard in twenty minutes."

He left me standing there, surrounded by broken glass and dead bodies, with power I didn't understand still crackling in my palms.

I looked down at my ruined gown, then at the mate bond mark glowing on my wrist.

Twenty-four hours ago, I'd been nobody. Just a girl sold to settle a debt.

Now I was a Guardian. A Luna. A target.

And I was falling for the one man in the world who couldn't have me without killing me.

This was going to end in disaster. I could feel it.

But for the first time since this nightmare began, I wasn't running.

I was fighting back.

The training yard was empty when I arrived, changed into athletic clothes Eva had provided. Moonlight bathed everything in silver. Dominic stood in the center, shirtless, his muscles defined in the pale light.

"You're late," he said without turning around.

"I was busy trying not to panic about the fact that I just killed someone with my bare hands."

"Get used to it. It won't be the last time." He finally looked at me. "The goal tonight isn't to make you a warrior. It's to make you aware of your body, your instincts, your power."

"How do we do that?"

"We fight." He moved into a ready stance. "Come at me."

"What? No. I don't know how to..."

"Exactly. Your body does, but your mind is in the way." His eyes gleamed. "Stop thinking and attack me."

"This is insane."

"Anna. Attack me. Now."

Something in his commanding tone triggered a response I didn't expect. My body moved before my mind caught up, lunging forward with speed that shocked me.

He blocked easily, redirecting my momentum. I stumbled but caught myself, spinning back toward him.

"Better. Again."

We moved through the moonlight, him blocking and correcting, me attacking with increasing confidence. My Guardian instincts started taking over, my body remembering things I'd never learned.

"Your father trained you," Dominic said after I nearly landed a hit. "When you were young. Before he suppressed your nature."

"How do you know?"

"Because you move like a Guardian. It's in your muscle memory." He swept my legs out from under me, and I hit the ground hard. "But muscle memory isn't enough."

I glared up at him. "Are you trying to humiliate me?"

"I'm trying to keep you alive." He offered his hand. When I took it, that electric shock hit again. Harder this time. The mate bond pulsed between us, and suddenly we were standing too close, breathing too hard, staring at each other with something that definitely wasn't just combat focus.

"We should stop," he said roughly. But he didn't let go of my hand.

"Probably."

"This is dangerous."

"Everything about us is dangerous." I moved closer. "What's one more risk?"

His free hand came up, tangling in my hair. "You're going to destroy me."

"Good. Then we're even."

He kissed me like he was drowning and I was air. I kissed him back like tomorrow didn't exist. The mate bond exploded with light, wrapping around us, and this time neither of us pulled away.

His hands roamed my body, igniting fires everywhere he touched. I pulled him closer, desperate for more contact, more heat, more of whatever this was between us.

Then his phone buzzed. He ignored it. It buzzed again. And again.

With a curse, he pulled back, breathing hard. "What?"

He read the message, and his entire body went rigid. "No."

"What is it?"

He looked at me, and I saw genuine fear in his eyes. "Marcus is dead. Someone got to him first."

My stomach dropped. "When?"

"Two hours ago. Right after Elizabeth told me where he was." He was already moving, grabbing his shirt. "This was a setup. Someone wanted us to know about Marcus so we'd relax our guard."

"Elizabeth?"

"Maybe. Or someone using her." He stopped, gripping my arms. "Listen to me very carefully. Whatever happens tonight, whatever you see or hear, don't leave this packhouse. Don't trust anyone except Eva. Do you understand?"

"You're scaring me."

"Good. You should be scared." He kissed me hard and fast. "Lock yourself in my room. Don't open the door for anyone but me."

"Where are you going?"

"To find out who's trying to start a war." He shifted, his wolf form massive and intimidating. Then he was gone, racing into the night.

I stood there alone, my lips still tingling from his kiss, my mind racing with fear.

Marcus was dead. The assassins kept coming. And somewhere in this pack, a traitor was feeding information to our enemies.

I started walking back to the packhouse, but I'd only made it halfway when I heard it. A sound that made my blood run cold.

A child crying.

I stopped, listening. It came from the forest edge. A little girl's voice, sobbing in the darkness.

Every instinct told me to run. Dominic had said don't leave the packhouse. Don't trust anyone.

But it was a child.

I moved toward the sound, my heart hammering. "Hello? Are you okay?"

The crying continued. Closer now. I could almost see movement in the trees.

"Please, someone help me," the child's voice called. "I'm lost."

I stepped into the tree line. "Where are you? Keep talking so I can find you."

The crying stopped.

The forest went silent.

Too late, I realized my mistake.

Figures emerged from the shadows. Not rogues. These were organized, armed, and moving with military precision. Six of them, surrounding me in a perfect circle.

The leader stepped forward, pulling down his hood. I recognized him from the wedding file. Richard Cole, Alpha of the Northern Pack.

"Hello, Anna," he said with a smile that promised pain. "We've been waiting for you."

I tried to run, but they were faster. Something hit me from behind, sharp and chemical, stabbing into my neck.

My legs gave out. The world tilted.

As darkness swallowed me, the last thing I saw was Richard's face leaning close.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "You're far too valuable to kill. At least, not until we figure out how to use that Guardian power for ourselves."