Bound to the Alpha

20

“You play tennis?” Ethan asks when he spots my tennis racket in my closet.

“Once in a while,” I say as I pack my clothes into the open suitcase on my bed.

“At the tennis courts?”

“That’s usually where one plays tennis, yeah.”

“And there are guys there? Watching you?”

I grin as I shake my head. I didn’t realize how possessive bear shifters got when their mates were in public. I kinda like it. I’ve never had anyone looking out for me before and it feels nice.

“I play at an all women’s court,” I lie, just to make him feel better. It works. I smile when I see the look of relief on his face.

He continues snooping around my apartment and I grin as I watch him. I like having him in my place. He makes it look so tiny.

When I have everything I need, Ethan takes my suitcase and we head back downstairs. I don’t know when the next time I’ll be back will be, but something tells me there might be snow on the ground.

He puts the suitcase into the back of his pickup truck, lifting it as easily as if it were empty. I take one last look at my small apartment that I rent over the garage of my landlord’s house and smile. I’ve been here for two years and it was the only place that’s ever felt like home. Well, the only place since I’ve been staying at Ethan’s house. That feels like my real home now.

I glance across the street and notice a man sitting in a black car watching us. He quickly looks away when I make eye contact with him, and then starts his car and leaves.

Something doesn’t feel right about it and there’s an empty pit in my stomach as I watch him drive off.

The worrying feeling disappears as Ethan steps up behind me and wraps his big possessive arms around my shoulders. How can I be afraid of anything with this protective beast looking out for me?

“Ready for lunch?” I ask him. “I’m starving.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to do take-out and eat at home?”

I roll my eyes and laugh.

“Let’s go,” I say as I grab his hand and pull him to the truck. “We’re eating at the restaurant!”

Chloe

I’m enjoying the sunset on the balcony when Ethan walks out with two big mojitos. This man can do it all.

He has lots of vacation time saved up over the three years he’s been a fireman and he’s decided to take a big chunk of it now. And since I’m on a permanent vacation from my job after my boss tried to kill me and burn the place down, we have all the time in the world to be together.

“Cheers,” he says as we clink glasses and enjoy the view.

His jaw is a little tight, which usually happens when he’s worrying about something. I love that I’m already getting to know all of his mannerisms and ticks. It’s only been a few days, but I already feel like I know him so well.

“What’s the matter?” I ask after I take a sip of the deliciously minty drink.

“Nothing,” he grunts.

“You’re lying.” His eyes snap down to mine. “Please don’t lie to me. Ever.”

“It was just… I saw a car on our way back from the restaurant.”

“The restaurant where you made a big scene about having a male waiter and made them move us into a girl’s section? That restaurant?”

I’m grinning as he shakes his head, trying not to laugh. “Yeah. That’s the one.”

“Okay. What about this car?”

“I got the sense he was following us.”

My stomach drops when I remember the guy from earlier. “Was it a black car?”

His eyes dart open. “How did you know?”

“With a man inside?”

“Chloe, who was that man?”

“I don’t know, but I saw him waiting outside my apartment. He took off when I looked at him.”

Ethan’s big biceps start quivering as he turns back to the lake with a fierce glare. “I knew I should have stopped and pulled him through his windshield.”

“Do you think he works for… Aylwin Kirk?” Just saying his name makes the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I’ve been too busy enjoying and discovering Ethan that I haven’t been thinking of him much. But now it all comes crashing back to me. The cold look in Mr. Kirk’s grey eyes when he pulled me to the floor and handcuffed me. The way he just walked out without a care in the world as I begged and screamed for him to let me loose. The smoke. The fire. Then, Ethan.

“He tried to kill you for a reason,” Ethan says. “Were you in the wrong spot at the wrong time or do you know too much?”

“Probably both.”

Ethan huffs out a breath as his forearm flexes. I jump as the glass in his hand explodes. “I’ll kill him for even thinking about hurting you.”

I drop my eyes, watching the ice cubes slide on the wooden deck as the drink and mint leaves disappear through the cracks.

“I must be too dangerous to him,” I say, more to myself than to Ethan. “I was his secretary. I knew everything. Appointment times, dates, who he met with, who he sent money too. I mailed the checks.”

Ethan stomps back toward the door. “I’m going to make a call.”

“To who?”

“A friend in town,” he says as he grabs the sliding door and rips it open. “Sheriff Austin Peters. Maybe he can find this guy so I can end his life.”