Chained To The Alpha

Chapter 3

Thorne paced in the garden. His head was spinning. Even as he argued that he didn’t care about the girl, sending her to the clinic was purely to get her out of the house for the afternoon; he couldn’t fight the urge to walk around the gardens to a point where he could see her pass on the road out front on her way. He counted the minutes he stood there, waiting and waiting for her leave. He told himself that it was just so that he would know when he could go back inside and find his father to sort this whole mess out, but Eli’s smug preening in the back of Thornes head told a different story.

“Girl! Where have you gone? Drinks need serving! Get your useless backside into this kitchen right now!”

Thorne heard the shouts as he watched Nyx walk down the drive. Part of him was glad that she wouldn’t hear, knew that she didn’t deserve to be spoken to like that. Another part wondered why that made him happy.

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“I sent her to the clinic. I found her in here with ice on her ribs… you shouldn’t let the others hit her so much, Mother, she won’t heal as we do,” Thorne told Margot firmly.

“The clinic?! What has the dramatic little witch done now? I thought I made it clear that she is not part of this pack and not entitled to use our facilities!” Margot replied, throwing her hands in the air and shaking her head.

Thorne’s jaw dropped at his mother’s words. Somewhere, he thought his mother was a decent wolf, that she had a shred of maternal instinct to protect a weaker wolf. “Mother!” he hissed “, Like it or not, she is part of this pack, you saved her, remember!”

“There is no need to bring up that… distasteful business”, Margot hissed back, clutching her son’s arm tightly, her long talon-like nails painted perfectly to match her dress, digging into his skin.

Thorne found himself hoping that, when she has the choice, Nyx won’t want her nails that long or have them painted to match her clothes. He hopes that she will always wear only her natural scent and not cover it with perfume or creams. That she will keep her hair long and let him play with it.

He caught himself before he said any of this out loud, shaking his own head and pulling his arm free of his mother’s grip.

“Where is dad? I need to talk to him urgently” Thorne looked around the kitchen as if expecting his father to appear out of the fridge or from under the sink. “His office?” he asked after his mother only narrowed her eyes.

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Thorne found his father, Alpha Henry, in the office space — a space that would, in other circumstances, be the conservatory. Though it was huge, it once fit 12 Alphas and their seconds. Henry was typing on his computer and sipping on a glass of whiskey.

“Father, I need to talk to you… about the bond”

“Didn’t they teach you this at that school? What did I even pay for?” Henry demanded, putting his drink down and looking at his son over the top of the screen. He sighs deeply and gestures to the chair on the other side of the desk, “It’s a bit late for this, but sit”

Thorne took the seat with a sigh of his own “I know the basics… but how do I know that what I’m feeling is the truth?”

Henry looked at his son suspiciously. “Have you found her?” he asked. “You must tell your mother, bring her here, let’s meet the young lady.” Henry was getting excited at the prospect of meeting his only son’s Mate; he shifted in his seat, straightening his tie.

“Yes, Maybe, I don’t know. But don’t tell mother anything… not yet” Thorne sighed softly, rubbing his hands down his face before he continued. “How do I know what I’m feeling is definitely the Mate bond?”

Henry settled back into his chair. “I think you need to tell me who this girl is. But the Mate bond is an undefinable but undeniable attraction, a pull, a desire; it hits in an instant and never leaves. She will be the only thing your wolf wants and the only thing that will calm him. Is your wolf demanding you go to her? Demanding to claim her? wanting to be with her?”

Thorne nodded slowly. He couldn’t truthfully deny any of those things. Eli was going crazy in his head now at having to watch his Mate walk away. “But what if the Goddess clearly made a mistake? The girl categorically cannot be the Luna of this pack?”

Henry shrugged, “She will not have much choice, you cannot survive alone. Neither of you can.” He leant forward, elbows on the desk, “It can’t be that bad, son. Who is she? That stupid brunette your mother said you seemed quite taken with?”

Thorne shook his head, looking down at his lap.