Claimed By My Enemy Alpha

Chapter 4

Kiana

Bile rose in my throat, but before he could touch me, the glass shattered. He paused, and I scrambled under the nearest metal table and tucked my injured leg beneath me. I gripped the leg like my life depended on it.

The alarm stopped. “Fan out!” Troy growled. “Find out what happened.”

Great. More people to witness my humiliation.

“A-Alpha,” Danny called out. His voice trembled just a little, and I couldn’t help but scowl.

Surely, he wasn’t worried that he’d be in trouble. “We’re back here.”

Troy and two other wolves joined him. One was Jenson, and the other was a female that I didn’t recognize. She radiated power, so she was definitely high up in the pack. The alpha’s eyes darted to me and narrowed. “There was a report that she almost reached the river.”

“Yes, sir. She ran. I caught her just in time,” Danny said proudly.

“What were you doing here so late?”

“She’s let this place become a pigsty. I’ve been giving her extra cleaning duties. I came back to make sure that she was doing what she was supposed to, and I caught her trying to run.”

“Bridget, Jenson, take Danny out and get a full report. Then see that he gets home. I’ll deal with her.”

Bridget. Troy’s third-in-command. Did he really think he needed both to catch me?

“But alpha…” Danny protested. When Troy snapped his head around to stare at him, he ducked his head. “I only m-meant to say that an escort home is uncalled for. I can make it on my own.”

“Nonetheless, an escort you will get.” Pack magic trembled in his voice, and the two flanked Danny as they walked outside. Still under the table, I reviewed my options. There was no running. Not on this leg, and I sure as s**t wasn’t going to complain to Troy about Danny.

That was, no doubt, the fastest way to worsen my situation.

“Come out, Kiana.”

No use hiding—he’d already seen my pain, and I wouldn’t let him see it again.Still, I had no choice. I dragged myself out from under the table, leg bent awkwardly beneath me. A cry tore from my throat as the pain stabbed deep.

Troy’s eyes narrowed, and in two strides, he was yanking me up like I weighed nothing. My back hit the table with a thud, and I gasped, glaring up at him.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he snarled. “Can’t even run right?”

“I was fine,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “Until one of your wolves blocked me, and your drunk pet chased me through the damn forest.”

He ignored my words, fingers pressing into my knee with no warning. I bit back another scream.

“Be glad you didn’t reach the river,” he muttered, more to himself than to me. “If I have to get wet dragging your ass back, you won’t like what happens next.”

My lip curled . “Chivalrous.”

“It looks like you just twisted your knee and ankle, but I’ll send a healer to take a look at it.”

“No, thank you.” The last thing I needed was more wolves touching me. “I’m sure it’s fine. Get on with your punishment so I can try to get at least an hour of sleep before I start inventory and my shift later today.”

Troy grunted, like I was being difficult just to piss him off—which, maybe I was—and without another word, he threw me over his shoulder like a sack of grain.

“What the f**k are you doing?!” I thrashed as much as I could, fists pounding against his back. “Put me down, you overgrown—!”

“You can’t walk and as entertaining as that might be, I don’t have time to watch you hobble painfully around,” he snapped as he walked through the kitchen to the stairwell that led up to my apartment. “So shut up and stop squirming.”

I wanted to scream. I wanted to bite him. But I bit my tongue and stayed still, hating the way his hand pressed against the back of my thighs like he owned them.

“What are you doing here, anyway?”

“An alarm goes off in the territory, I’m alerted.”

I could buy that, but he had a security team and guards for this very reason. I highly doubted he personally checked out every alarm. Not to mention that we were pretty far out in the territory. He’d made it here in record time. Even for a shifter.

“I guess it was dumb of me not to disable the alarm before I tried to escape.”

“You’re many things Kiana, but I don’t believe for a single second that you’re dumb.”

When he reached the top, he started patting my ass.

“I can get the key,” I said hastily. To my surprise, he removed his hand, and I reached in my pocket. It took a second because I always clipped the key to my belt loop to make sure I didn’t lose it. After some wiggling, I got it free and handed it to him.

When the door was opened, he stepped inside and flipped me onto the bed. Then, he stepped back and stared at me.

My mouth dried. Troy had never been into my small apartment. Even Parker had never come up here. Until Danny muscled his way in, this had always been my space. Small. Quiet.

Relatively safe.

Now, with Troy’s hulking form in the middle of my room, nothing felt safe.

The bed was a twin, which was fine. I often slept curled up and rarely moved in my sleep.

When I’d first been told that it was mine, I immediately rearranged. The bed had been pressed against the wall, and I’d moved it to make sure that I couldn’t be trapped on it. An armchair was now in the corner, catty-corner but right next to the window. There was also a crowbar under the chair in case I needed to smash the window and make a quick getaway.

On one side of the apartment was a small bathroom. It had no windows which allowed for privacy, but I couldn’t relax there. No luxurious baths or long hot showers knowing that there was only one entrance or exit.

On the other side was a kitchenette. It had a small fridge, a kitchen sink, a microwave, an air fryer, and a crock pot. No oven or stove, but there was a Bunsen burner in the cabinet, and Parker told me I could always use the kitchen downstairs if I needed it.

Sometimes, when he was alive and I was certain I was alone, I’d sneak down and make a big heavy meal. I hadn’t done that in a long time.

“It’s certainly cleaner than when Parker lived here,” he commented as he moved and began to inspect everything. “You’re neat.”

I was neat. Almost obsessively. There were few things that were in my control, and what was, I…well, I controlled. I didn’t have much, but I knew where everything was.

Most of it was in a small duffel bag under my bed. The dresser and closets were both empty. There were a few toiletries in the bathroom, but I had clothes, some bottles of water, and snack bars in a bag under my bed.

Just in case I found my chance to escape.

Troy’s gaze moved slowly around my space, and I gripped the comforter. When he looked at my dresser, I held my breath. Maybe he wouldn’t think it was strange that the dresser blocked the closet door.

With one hand, he reached out and moved it in front of the door. It might be empty, but it was heavy wood. It took effort on my part to move it.

Just like that, he’d trapped me in.

Leaping from my bed, I tried desperately to get to the window. As pain shot up my leg, I cried out and crumpled.

“And where the hell do you think you’re going?”