Alpha Mate

Chapter 5

Calum Pov

Innocent brown eyes stared up at me in defiance. Through my frustration at her disregard of my orders, I couldn't help but think she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I could get lost in those eyes if she wasn't looking at me with pure distaste. There was no way I could blame her for not liking me after our first meeting. Even now, my expression showed nothing but irritation at her leaving her room. But I had my reasons and as an alpha, I never owed anybody answers.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked her.

It may be true that we were not on the best of terms with each other, but I hadn't given her a reason to be anywhere besides her room. It made sense for her to not want to be here, but I had ensured that all of her needs were taken care of. There were maids that brought her food and anything she asked for. She didn't need to be roaming around my pack. I wasn't ready for her to be out in the open where people would find out her connection to me while he had yet to resolve things between us.

"I'm getting myself food," she said, drawing her shoulders back to take on a more confident stance. My mate was a brave little one. Speaking of little ones, she was without the child. This meant she was likely telling the truth, as she wouldn't plan to escape by herself alone.

"Why do you need to get yourself food when I've already arranged for my attendants to bring you all your meals?" Despite my anger, I chose to ask her in a calmer manner. This would hopefully receive a better response than if I shouted at her.

Because part of me did want to shout at her for challenging me in this way. This past week, I had pushed all of my feelings in relation to her aside. Lance had asked me numerous times what my plans were for her and why I wanted her to stay here in secret. Each time he asked, I simply brushed him off. Without being able to question my mate about the rogues, I increased our defenses on border patrol. There were too many other concerns within the pack that I had to manage before I could begin to worry about working through things with my mate.

With my calmer approach, she still raised her chin at me in defiance.

"I'm not incompetent. I can do it myself," she defended.

"I never said you were incompetent. I simply asked why you would come down here when it's unnecessary."

She rolled her eyes at me as though she was never taught how to respect an alpha. She likely would've added a snappy comeback if it weren't for Xavier, the guard I had positioned at her door, who came rushing down the stairs. His eyes widened when he noticed our exchange.

"She tricked me! I'm so sorry, Alpha. I promise it won't happen again. I'll take her back-" He took a hold of my mate's arm, prepared to drag her back to the guest room.

I stopped him, however, when I signaled with my hand for him to be quiet. Though I should have been angry with him for failing to do his job by keeping my mate secure in her room, I found myself more upset with the fact that he had his hand on her. The sight of him touching her had my wolf wanting to snarl and rip him to pieces.

"That is enough, Xavier. I'll take it from here. Wait for us upstairs while we finish our discussion."

"Yes, Alpha." Xavier looked displeased at my command, but he let go of my mate, turning around and walking up the steps. He likely figured a punishment was yet to come, but I hadn't made a decision about whether or not it was worth it. The man was already in the undesirable position of standing in front of a door all day and answering the demands of a small brunette-haired woman.

With Xavier away from us, my attention could be solely focused on my mate. I carried on as though we had been speaking without interruption.

"Answer the question," I ordered her.

"I would like to prepare my own food from now on. It would make me feel less like a prisoner."

"Who said you're a prisoner?" My mate was bold to claim I have made her a prisoner. Every one of her desires could be fulfilled if she simply asked the attendants. In my experience, prisoners had it a lot worse off than her.

"Nobody had to tell me. It's clear enough that I am one."

"How so? You don't look behind bars to me."

Her eyes emblazoned at my smirk. It was obvious I wanted to get a rise out of her, but she wouldn't allow herself to back down. Her emotions caused her to give into exactly what I wanted.

"Just because I've been kept in a lush guest room doesn't mean I am any less trapped than I would be if I were in a holding cell. I'm hidden away from everyone in that room. You keep me here despite me wanting to be far away from you, which makes me a prisoner. Despite being healed days ago, I'm not free to step foot outside those four walls. The only reason I stand before you is because I had to escape past a guard who you ordered to keep me locked inside that room."

The look she gave me was one of fury. If we ended up living out the rest of our lives together as mates should, this woman would likely never let go completely of how I made her feel in the first moments of knowing me. She may forgive me, but she will certainly never forget how I treated her.

"Just out of curiosity, how did you escape from, as you would call it, your holding cell?"

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking me up and down suspiciously. It seemed as though she wanted to hold back information from me out of distrust. She had no idea why I would be asking her all these questions. Eventually, she caved in and explained what had happened.

"I was just so frustrated at being trapped in that damn room. I screamed and the guard barged into the room. I told him that I had seen a large spider in the adjoining bathroom. When he went to check it out, I slammed the door behind him and made a run for it."

A smile broke out onto my face. I couldn't stop myself. If this situation was any indicator, my mate would be a handful. She proved today that she was crafty and quick on her feet, something I couldn't help but admire about her.

It was exactly the reason I hadn't reached out to talk to her. Lucas had reminded me that I needed to question her and find out which pack she came from. She had every reason to feel trapped and isolated in the guest room. I had put that on her, knowing that it would be easier to fall in love with her as soon as I was able to speak with her. At first, I had been drawn in by her beauty, but now, her ferocity and cunningness was slowly winning me over. Every single thing about her made me want her, even though it was uncertain if I could have her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ashlyn standing a distance down the hallway, watching our exchange. She only left her work at the daycare for valid reasons. It was likely she needed to speak with me, especially about my interest with my mate after seeing us together. Not ready to face her questioning, especially in front of my mate, I ignored her presence for the moment.

"I do believe we missed out on a formal introduction, which is entirely my bad. What is your name?" I asked my mate.

"Morgan."

"It's nice to officially meet you, Morgan," I said. At the sound of her name, she shuddered. It was so minor that it was hardly visible, but I noticed it. A wave of confidence shot through me at the reassurance of my effect on her. "I'm Calum."

"I know. Your beta told me," she said beta as though the word was revolting to her. For some reason, it must not have appealed to her that I was an alpha. While most women would love to be mated with a higher-ranking wolf, she didn't see my power as a good thing. It made sense she would despise that I had the capability of keeping her in my pack as long as I desired.

Since it seemed as though she hated me as much as possible already, I didn't see the harm in letting her wander around the kitchen this afternoon. No one had any idea who she was to me, at least until I talked with Ashlyn who was still eyeing the interaction.

I called out to Xavier and he appeared at the top of the steps in an instant.

"I'm here, Alpha."

"Xavier, I would like you to escort Morgan to the kitchen. She would like to find something to eat. Once she is finished preparing herself something to eat, you are to take her straight back to her room. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Alpha."

Morgan let out a light sigh. She was doomed to go back to her prison, as she called it, but I had granted her wish to grab her own food at least for the day. I hoped that it would keep her spirits up to have this win, even if it were a small one.

"You may go now."

I stood still as the two of them passed me to make their way over to the kitchen. My gaze fell to my feet, thinking about the gorgeous mate who would likely never want me just as she never had in the first place. I didn't have to look up to know that the footsteps approaching me were Ashlyn's. She had been waiting patiently to talk to me about what she had just witnessed.

"Cal?"

"Yes, Ash?" I lifted my gaze to meet her curious blue eyes, one of the features she had obtained from our mother.

"You have some explaining to do."

"I figured as much. This is a discussion that would be best held in my office," I said. She nodded, getting the impression it was possibly an even more serious matter than she had realized. "Follow me."

I waved her in the direction of my office, leading her down the hallways. We walked in silence, our minds running wild. Hers likely imagining what could possibly be happening between me and this woman who had come to our pack in danger. Mine, however, was thinking about what verbal lashings she would come up with when she learned what was really going on.

That was part of the reason we couldn't be in the hallway for anyone to overhear our discussion. The subject was entirely too personal to be discussed in a public spot. Not only did I not want it to become rumored around the pack that Morgan is my mate, but Ashlyn would likely reprimand me so badly it would put our mother's scoldings to shame. She was the only one who could get away with talking to me in this manner. Whether or not pack members suspected that, they could not witness their alpha being disrespected by his sister.

I'm not certain how much Ashlyn has already learned about Morgan's presence as she had been taking care of the baby during Morgan's stay in the infirmary. That, and my sister is as nosy as they come. It wasn't much of a surprise that she wanted to get all of the details from me. The only surprising thing was that she had waited this long to inquire about the girl staying in one of my guest rooms.