Ruined By The Alpha

Chapter 8

The air in Alpha Caine’s lounge was so thick with clashing dominance it felt like a physical weight pressing against my chest. Carl stood tall, his chest heaving, his eyes flashing a defiant silver as he waited for his father to strike him down for the challenge.

But Caine didn't strike. Instead, the lethal, possessive smile on his face slowly smoothed out into a mask of terrifyingly cold indifference. He took a slow sip of his liquor, his gold eyes shifting from his son’s face back to mine, drilling straight into my soul.

"You are dismissed, Carl," Caine murmured, his voice deadly quiet. "Take Madison and get out of my sight before I decide to teach you a lesson in humility."

Carl didn't wait for a second invitation. He grabbed my wrist—his grip tight, protective, and completely desperate—and pulled me out of the penthouse lounge. He dragged me down the corridor and straight into the elevator, pressing the button for the floor below, where the heirs' quarters were located.

The moment the elevator doors slid shut, Carl let out a shaky breath, turning to face me in the small enclosure. "You're staying with me tonight, Maddy," he ordered, his voice raw with lingering adrenaline. "I'm not letting you go back to the submissive wing. Not while he's looking at you like that. Not after what he did to you at the gala."

"Carl, no, I can't," I whispered, panic flaring in my chest. "Your quarters? If the pack sees me leaving your room in the morning, the rumors—"

"Let them talk," Carl interrupted fiercely, stepping closer and cupping my face with both hands. His thumbs gently brushed my cheeks, his eyes soft but burning with the confession he had just made. "I meant what I said to him, Maddy. I love you. I'm going to claim you as my Luna. I want everyone to know you're under my protection."

I wanted to throw up. The sheer tenderness in his gaze was a blade twisting in my heart. He was offering me his future, his loyalty, his everything—and all I could feel on my skin was the phantom burn of his father's rough hands, the intoxicating memory of Caine's teeth grazing my neck. I was a parasite, feeding on Carl's protection while my wolf secretly craved the monster ruling the floor above us.

"Okay," I whispered, defeated. I couldn't fight him without raising suspicion.

Carl led me into his massive suite. It was a sprawling, modern space overlooking the dark pine forests of the estate, complete with a king-sized bed draped in heavy, dark grey sheets. He handed me one of his oversized black t-shirts to change into. I retreated to his bathroom, peeling off the emerald silk dress that was still heavily saturated with Caine’s scent. When I washed my face, I looked in the mirror and felt sick. My lower lip was still slightly swollen from where Caine’s thumb had parted it.

When I walked back out, Carl had already changed into sweatpants. He pulled the covers back, offering me the center of the bed. "Get some sleep, Maddy. I'll stay on the other side. I won't touch you until you're ready, I promise. I just want to know you're safe."

I crawled under the heavy duvet, my body shivering despite the warmth of the room. Carl slid in beside me, leaving a respectful foot of space between us, though he reached out to hold my hand under the sheets. His touch was comforting, but it didn't make my blood boil. It didn't make my wolf whimper. It was a brotherly comfort, a safe harbor when my soul wanted the storm.

"Goodnight, Maddy," Carl whispered, his breathing slowly evening out as exhaustion from the gala and the confrontation finally took him.

The room grew dark and silent, save for the steady, calm rhythm of Carl's breathing. But sleep wouldn't come.

My eyes kept drifting toward the ceiling, toward the tiny, dark lens of the high-security camera nestled in the corner of the room. The Black Estate was a fortress, equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance that fed directly into the Alpha’s private monitors. Caine oversaw everything. Every hallway, every perimeter, every room in the main wings.

I lay perfectly still, my heart rate spiking as a sudden, terrifying realization washed over me.

He was watching.

Right now, sitting in his dark study upstairs, Alpha Caine was staring at a monitor. He was watching his son sleep beside the girl he had claimed as his own.

As if on cue, the heavy, dark silence of the bedroom was broken by the soft, sharp buzz of my phone resting on the nightstand.

I carefully slid my hand out of Carl's grip, making sure not to wake him. I reached for the phone, the bright screen illuminating the shadows of the room. There was a single text message from an unknown, encrypted number.

My breath caught in my throat as I read the words.

“You look so beautiful in my son's bed, little wolf. But your pulse is racing, and your scent is spiking through the vents. You aren't thinking about him, are you?”

A cold sweat broke out across my collarbone. I looked up at the camera lens in the corner, the tiny red indicator light glowing like a predatory eye in the dark.

Another text buzzed instantly after the first.

“He thinks he can keep you from me. He thinks a locked door and a declaration of love will save you. Turn your head to the left, Madison. Look at the glass.”

My head snapped toward the massive floor-to-ceiling glass balcony doors overlooking the forest. Standing out on the stone terrace, completely swallowed by the shadows of the rainy night, was a massive silhouette.

It wasn't a man. It was a wolf.

The wolf was impossibly large, its fur as black as coal, its shoulders dense with pure warrior muscle. But it was the eyes that made a choked gasp die in my throat. Two burning, piercing pools of liquid gold, staring straight through the reinforced glass, locking onto me beneath Carl's sheets.

Caine hadn't just stayed behind his monitors. He had shifted, letting his beast run wild, and he was standing right outside the window, watching his prey lie in his son's bed.

The phone buzzed one last time in my hand.

“If you don't unlock that balcony door in the next sixty seconds, Madison... I am going to shatter the glass, and I will take you right in front of him. Start counting.”