Chained To The Alpha

Chapter2

Thorne had been conversing with a perfectly polished but absolutely vapid brunette when the sweetest, brightest scent crossed his path. ‘Mate… that’s Mate… follow her,’ Eli howled in his head, surprising Thorne as Eli rarely spoke to him, preferring actions over words. Thorne struggled to maintain his composure, his eyes dilating and his concentration split between the pointless conversation about car colours and tracking the scent of his Mate, who apparently was in the room after all.

‘Mate…Mate…Mate’, Eli growled, increasingly frantic. Thorne eventually managed to extricate himself from the brunette, not even sure why he started the conversation in the first place anymore. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

*f**k f**k f**k*

Her scent was fading now; she’s moved.

Thorne tracked the scent with a single-minded determination, shoving other girls and women out of the way as he passed, grunting in an approximation of an apology. He followed the scent through the room and out through the small door into the kitchen used only by the staff.

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“M….Mate,” the sweetest voice, and the fruity scent, what was that? strawberry? No… it was something uniquely her that couldn’t be named.

Thorne’s eyes found her at last. He took in the bruises visible on her too-thin body, the scuffy blonde hair, the confused and wary blue eyes. The tatty hand-me-down clothes and the ice in her hand.

Nyx. How did he miss this? The girl has lived under the same roof as him since she was about 7 years old. He shook his head. No, the traitor’s daughter could not be his Mate. She could never be the Luna that the pack deserved. What the actual f**k was the moon goddess playing at? To pair him, Thorne Mitchell, with… with… trash.

She looked horrible, malnourished, and tired. Had his mother made the girl prepare all the rooms single-handed? Part of him hoped not, but the bigger part was simply confused why he cared. What did it matter to him if she was worked to death?

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Thorne didn’t answer the girl for a long time, his wolf warring with his human side. Eli demanded that he go and fix the hurt in his Mate. Thorne couldn’t decide what he wanted: to snap her neck or to take her to his den and mark her.

His head tilted to the side, and he blinked deliberately. She smelled and sounded divine. But she’s the traitor’s daughter. Thorne looked over her still exposed abdomen. Under the clothes she had on, she had potential; if he wasn’t scared of breaking her, he could enjoy her. But she’s just the help.

“Go… get to the medical centre”, he told her gruffly. His voice was gravelly as his wolf fought to speak through the human throat. Thorne couldn’t think straight with her scent and the howling of his wolf in his head.

Thorne didn’t know what he was going to do; he needed to think, needed to get her scent out of his nose so that he could think straight. Sending her away from him right now seemed like the best idea.

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It was Nyx’s turn to look confused now. The clinic? She wasn’t allowed to go to the clinic for anything less than a life-or-death emergency. Luna Margot had made that perfectly clear years ago, when Nyx had been taken to the clinic by the school for stitches.

“But… Its… I’m…. not allowed,” she whispered, knowing full well that he would be able to hear every sound she made.

She watched in confusion as Thorne growled, “Go… now!” before turning his back on her and storming away in the opposite direction.

Nyx stood in the kitchen for ten more minutes as her head swirled with thoughts. Her shirt dropped over her side once more.

Why hadn’t he responded to her? Did he not feel the bond? Was her wolf mistaken? Did he not plan on acknowledging the bond? But if he didn’t feel anything or plan to acknowledge the bond, why would he send her to the clinic?

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The rapid clicking of high heels, signalling the approach of someone — likely Luna Margot, made Nyx rush from the kitchen. She headed down to the cellar, into the old storage space that served as her bedroom, and pulled on a jumper. Like everything else she owned, it had once belonged to someone else and probably someone before that. Various scents clung faintly to the fabric, no matter how many times Nyx washed or wore it. It was grey, the fabric was worn away and torn in various places.

The medical clinic was a good ten-minute walk down the road, in the centre of the little village of San Luc pack lands. The name San Luc belonged to the larger human town about a half-hour’s drive away. Packs were usually known by the name of the nearest town or city, which made it easy to know where they were based.

Nyx slipped silently from the large house; the mansion was too grand, but the house seemed to diminish the place somehow. There were countless bedrooms, a kitchen, 3 lounge areas, a game room, a cinema, and a gym across the 5 floors of the main building, a swimming pool in the back, and the cells in the cellar. She was good at getting around unnoticed; it was the best way to get through her chores without getting a beating.

Her mind continued to spiral as she walked down to the clinic. Why would Thorne tell her to see the doctor if he didn’t plan to do anything about their bond?