Bound to the Alpha

3

I came into work early today like I always do and was surprised to see Mr. Kirk tearing up his office. It looked like a tornado had ripped through it.

“I thought you were in Hong Kong,” I said to him as I put my coffee on my desk.

He looked on edge as he raced around his office, pulling out files and throwing them onto his desk.

“Something more important came up,” he said as he grabbed his laptop and broke it over his knee. I stared in shock as he tossed the pieces onto the floor.

“Anything I can help you with?”

His body stilled as he slowly turned to me. A shiver raced up my spine as his hard eyes locked onto mine. His eyes were normally bright green, but this morning they seemed to be glowing.

I took a step back as he grinned.

“Yes, actually. You can.”

He leapt forward in a blur and grabbed my arm. I screamed and tried to yank it back, but his grip was unbreakable. He was incredibly strong.

Before I knew what was happening, he pulled me to the ground and handcuffed my wrist to the heavy desk.

“What are you doing?” I asked him as I stared at the metal chain in shock.

He just shrugged, like I wasn’t even worth an explanation. “You know too much, Chloe.” Without another word, he left and ran downstairs. A few minutes later, I started to smell the smoke.

My eyes are watering, but I’m forcing them open so I can keep an eye on the approaching flames. They start to spread along the cheap carpet as I kick the desk leg again and again, each strike gets weaker and weaker.

I’m just about to give up when I hear a siren in the distance.

Yes!

But the building is already in flames. It’s going to take the firemen at least a few minutes to get here, park, set-up, and then come in. And I don’t have a few minutes. By the time they get here, if they even enter the building, I’ll be nothing but a pile of ash.

A pile of ash that accomplished nothing in her life. That was tossed out of her house by her alcoholic mother and her druggie boyfriend. That never finished school. That has no friends. That has never had a boyfriend. Never been loved. Never even been kissed.

I’m going to die a virgin, having never felt the warm skin of a man pressed against mine or felt the loving protective feel of strong arms wrapped around me.

I’m going to die lonely and afraid. Which is pretty fitting after all, considering that’s how I spent most of my life.

The flames reach the open door and start burning the wooden frame. I have seconds before they reach me, maybe a minute if I’m lucky.

I know I’m going to die. It hits me hard, and just as I’m about to wallow in my own self-pity, I hear thundering footsteps.

My back straightens and I force my eyes back open as I try to call out. The words don’t come out thanks to the thick smoke that is filling my lungs. All I can do is hope and pray that the brave firemen get here in time.

The flames burst through the drywall and spread into the room. I wince when I feel the intense heat. My skin is slick with sweat, but it’s doing nothing to cool me off.

The footsteps get louder and then I see him. He’s massive. So big that his muscles strain against the big baggy firefighter uniform hung on his giant frame. His thick coat molds to his round biceps and is pulled tight against his enormous chest.

He’s not wearing a helmet and I swallow hard when I see his face. It’s hard with rough edges and a mean-looking scowl that softens when he lays his sexy brown eyes on me.

A jolt of something sizzles through me as he stands in the flaming doorway and locks his territorial brown eyes on me with a heated stare.

I must look like s**t. Sweaty, cheap dollar store make-up running down my face, hair a hot mess. It’s ridiculous to think of what I look like right now when death is still a very serious possibility, but I can’t help what goes through my head.

He stomps into the room on his thick powerful legs and kneels down in front of me.

“It’s you…” he says in a deep growly voice as he stares at me in awe.

There’s something about the way he’s looking at me. Like he recognizes me or like he’s seeing for the first time something he’s been searching for and never quite found. I know I’ve never seen him before. I would have remembered that. You don’t forget seeing someone like him.

His big hand is shaking as he slowly reaches out and cups my cheek. I lick my lips as an undeniable urge to kiss him rips through me. Maybe I just want to feel a man’s lips on mine before I die, or maybe the smoke is making me hallucinate, but something is pulling me toward this man. Something strong and undeniable.

My body tingles as his hungry eyes roam over it. He spots the handcuff around my wrist and it seems to snap him out of his daze.

With a grunt, he punches the thick desk leg and it explodes into splinters. He catches the falling desk and throws it across the room as I stare in shock. How the hell can he be that strong?

I kicked that leg dozens of times and didn’t even make a dent. I must have loosened it for him. But even as the thought passes through my mind, I know that it’s not true.

He scoops me up in his big arms and cradles me to his chest as he stands up. I can feel his heart pounding against my tingling body.