Captured by the Cruel Alpha

Handled by the Alpha

*Fiona*

The need to escape never leaves my mind. All day long, I’m thinking about how I can get past the two guards at the top of the stairs and then make it past the ones at the bottom without anyone using the mind-link to signal I’m on my way.

So far, all I’ve done is beat the s**t out of several guards stationed right outside my door only to be caught by the ones further down the stairs and carried back here, kicking and growling. Not screaming–they’ll never catch me screaming.

Liora finds the entire situation amusing, which annoys the hell out of me. I’ve never even taken a swing at her. It’s evident she doesn’t want to be here any more than I do. She spends very little time in my room anyway. A few hours a day, she makes sure I don’t need anything. What could I possibly need–other than freedom?

Even without a clock, I can tell what time it is by the sun, so I know when meals are coming. I always get into position to jump the guards. It’s never been the same duo twice, so they don’t know what’s coming.

When I hear footsteps outside of the door and it’s not around a mealtime or the time of day Liora usually comes in, I’m caught off guard. I stand and get ready to pounce, but when I see it’s Alpha King Varek, I drop my arms from ready to position. I’m not going to attack the Alpha; that would be stupid. He’s obviously stronger than me, and everyone in the castle would fight to defend him.

“Sit,” he orders, like I’m a dog. I don’t move. “Sit, Fiona, or I will make you sit.”

Glaring at him, I move to the bed and sit on the edge. The memory of his wolf staring me down in the entryway of my castle is etched in my mind. He’s huge and menacing.

Not to mention, he has the ability to command people because he’s an Alpha. That Alpha order is difficult for anyone to ignore, even if we aren’t members of the same pack.

“What the f**k do you want?” I ask him, folding my arms beneath my chest.

He walks over and stands in front of me. “What I want is for you to stop beating up my guards.”

I snicker. “What’s the matter? Did one of the little boys with a boo boo come crying to Daddy?”

His eyes narrow, but I don’t back down. “You’ve caused some serious damage to some of my best guards.”

Shrugging, I say, “Those are your best guards? That’s kind of embarrassing.”

“You think this is funny?” He leans down so he’s eye-level with me, though there are still several inches between us. “You’ve attacked them when they’re trying to feed you. Would you rather we not feed you at all?”

“I would rather you let me the f**k go!” I snarl.

Varek lunges at me, his hands hitting the wall on either side of my head. I lurch backward, hitting my head on the wall. The pain that radiates behind my skull doesn’t even register, though. His dark eyes bore through me. Flecks of gold stand out against ebony irises. His jaw is clenched tight, his bone popping out near his ear on one side. “You belong to me now, Princess. You may as well get that through your head. You will not go anywhere until I say you do. I decide your fate, not you. Do you understand?”

I want to pull away from him, but there’s nowhere else for me to go. His words infuriate me. I want to spit in his face or slap him.

Or kiss him.

A white hot heat radiates through my body, pooling in my core. He’s by far the sexiest man I’ve ever seen, and his scent is intoxicating. How easy would it be to lean forward and press my lips against his?

Bile rises up in the back of my throat once I catch up with my thoughts. What the f**k is wrong with me? “You took me. I don’t belong to you.”

“I have a contract that says otherwise.”

“What?” Ice runs through my veins, replacing the heat I felt before. “What the f**k are you talking about?”

“Your father signed a contract with me, Princess. I didn’t just take you, I negotiated for you, and he agreed to the terms.”

Slowly, I shake my head. “No, that’s not true. He would never.”

Varek moves away from me so that he’s no longer in my face, but he doesn’t step back. “It’s true. The next time I come to visit, I’ll bring it with me. Maybe we could frame it and hang it on your wall.”

Tears sting the backs of my eyes, but I refuse to let him see that. “If that’s true, it was only to save the innocent people in our kingdom your beasts were slaughtering.”

“We didn’t harm a single woman or child,” he tells me, which is what Ronan said as well. “He saved the lives of the remaining warriors. We would’ve slaughtered all of them if he hadn’t, but then, I already had you, Fiona. Why would he need to sign when he knew you’d already been taken? He didn’t have to. He wanted to.” Varek folds his arms across his rippling chest, his biceps straining against his shirt.

“Get out of here. Now,” I tell him. I can’t listen to it anymore. If I do, I’ll start to weep, and that would be even more humiliating than the knowledge that my own father sold me to this bastard.

“I think you’ve forgotten this is my castle. You have nothing here, Princess. I’ll leave when I’m damn good and ready. Now, just so we’re clear, if you so much as harm a hair on another one of my guards’ heads, you will be chained to your bed–and not in a fun way. Do I make myself clear?”

I can’t trust my voice to speak at the moment, so I nod, staring into his eyes.

Alpha Varek nods as well. Then, he heads out the door. As soon as his footsteps echo away down the stairs, I bury my face in my pillow and cry.