Bound to the Alpha

2

I close my eyes and try to ignore the livid bear who is trying to hack and shred his way out of me and instead try to focus on the fresh mountain air that’s running through my brown hair.

I love Montana and I’m having a blast working as a fireman with the guys in the truck down below.

But this is ruining everything. My stubborn bear is ruining everything.

He won’t stop, and I don’t know how to handle it.

The smell of smoke hits my nose as we get closer to the fire.

I open my eyes and see it snaking into the sky in the distance. It’s coming from a two-story office building on the edge of town that’s engulfed in flames.

I grin, expecting my bear to shrink down in fear like he always does when I’m near a fire, but the furry fucker doesn’t even give me that satisfaction. He’s as alert and focused as ever.

Buried in the thick heavy smoke is a sweet smell that suddenly sneaks through and hits me hard. My core clenches as a dump of adrenaline surges through my veins. It’s a scent I’ve never smelled before, but it’s so familiar. My body knows it intimately.

I breathe in deeply through my nose, trying to get as much of it as I can. It’s faint and barely detectable, but it cuts through me like a thousand knives. It sears its way down my throat like battery acid. It scalds and burns my insides, but it feels so f*****g good.

My bear starts raging inside like never before. He’s acting like a mad dog as he thrashes around and bounds for the surface, desperate to get out. I drop to my hands and knees and scream out in frustration as I struggle to hold him in.

The nasty beast shreds his way to the surface until my arms are swelling up and my teeth are aching as my canines extend and sharpen.

I roll onto my back and grit my teeth as I fight him. “f**k. Off. Cocksucker,” I hiss as I squeeze my entire body, trying to pull him back in.

He’s never been this strong. He’s never been this bold. My grizzly has always been a primal beast who doesn’t care that I’m trying to fit into society. He wants what he wants and right now he wants to get out and move closer to that scent.

But that sweet intoxicating scent is giving me strength as well and I manage to fight my bear back down. He gnarls and gnashes at me as I force him to return to the depths of my body.

With him taken care of for the moment, I turn back to the smell and breathe it in. The thick black smoke is overpowering the intoxicating scent as we get closer to the fire, but it’s unmistakable…

It’s her.

It’s my mate.

My hands are shaking as I climb up to my feet, riding the firetruck like a surfboard. My whole body is tingling as I get closer.

“What the f**k is going on up there?” Rylan asks as he pokes his head out the window and looks up at me.

“I’m on Team Mate,” I say as my heart pounds so hard that I’m worried it’s going to vibrate out of my chest. “That’s what’s going on.”

Carter turns the firetruck into the parking lot of the blazing building. Her scent is stronger than ever and my stomach drops when I realize that it’s coming from inside of the burning building.

I leap off the truck before it stops and land in a summersault on the pavement. I spring back up and sprint toward the building as fast as I can. Past the parked cars, past the stunned people standing outside watching, past the billowing smoke and broken windows.

Without stopping, I take a deep breath and run into the burning building, ignoring the thick smoke that’s searing my eyes and the hot flames that are licking my shoulders and back.

I have one focus.

Her.

I don’t care if I come out covered in flames. I don’t care if I take one step onto the sidewalk and burst into ash.

As long as she’s safe, I’ll die happy.

She’s my only concern now. Her safety is all I care about.

My mate is in trouble and my protective instincts have taken over.

I just hope I’m not too late…

Chloe

I’m choking on the thick smoke as I kick the wooden leg of my desk over and over again, but the stubborn thing refuses to break. My wrist is slick with blood and stinging like crazy as the metal handcuffs dig into my skin.

Come on!

I can feel the heat of the hungry flames from the other room as they spread toward me, stalking me as they get ready to feast on my flesh.

You’re not dying like this. Come on, Chloe!

I give the thick oak desk leg a few more kicks, but it’s useless. Nothing can kick through that strong wood.

My eyes are watering down my cheeks and I can’t even open them as the thick gray smoke billows in through the open door.

My resolve begins to fade as I force my eyes open and see the flames in the other room. They’re traveling up the file cabinets that I was sorting through this morning and burning the files inside.

I guess I know now what I always suspected: Kirk Holdings Incorporated is a criminal organization.

The first time I suspected it was a few weeks ago when my boss, Aylwin Kirk, came walking into the office with a garbage bag full of loose bills. I was his personal secretary and I just pretended that what I saw was normal.

Why didn’t I leave then?

I keep asking myself that question, but I know the answer. I had nowhere else to go. I’m only nineteen and I’ve already been on my own for two years.

Mr. Kirk paid well and I often turned a blind eye for that life-changing money. For most people, the paycheck wouldn’t be life-changing, but for me it was. It was the difference between sleeping at a bus stop after my stepfather kicked me out and sleeping in a bed. I chose a bed. And this is where it got me.

Yesterday, the FBI came to visit when Mr. Kirk was away on business. They began asking me and some other employees questions about some missing cargo ships in the China sea. I had no idea what they were talking about, but Mr. Kirk seemed pretty agitated when I called him on the phone to tell him after.