The Alpha's Shatter Zone

“Did you hear that?” Chesca gasped when her mouth broke contact with Kaiden’s, their kiss suddenly at the back of her mind.

“I’m not deaf. Of course I heard that. Perfect timing, I must say,” he muttered while stumbling back in the dark. It was pitch black and all she had to give a sense of direction were her wolf instincts.

“I think it came from outside the window,” Chesca stepped in that direction, where a pale light seeped in from the moon, but Kaiden’s strong arm shot out to stop her.

“Wait, it could be dangerous!” he whispered loudly, his body blocking hers from anything that might be lurking outside.

“I’ll be fine, just move!” She thumped on his impossibly hard muscled back and pushed past him. Only when she was a few metres from the window did she realise the state of her clothes. Or lack of. “Where’s my shirt?” She hissed and turned to look for it, but the darkness was making it nearly impossible to see, and there was no way she was going to put a light on. Whoever or whatever was outside would have a perfect view, not to mention her overly excitable mate also.

“Here,” Kaiden whisper-shouted and Chesca found herself suddenly smothered by a face full of material. Snatching at it in the dark, it was drenched in a scent suspiciously like Kaiden’s, but she put it on anyway. A grunt and groan told her, her mate was still trying to reach the window.

“Be quiet, will you? You’re gonna scare them awa— ow!” She tripped over an object and landed face first onto the ground.

“You okay?” His dark shadow loomed over her as she rolled onto her back and rubbed her sore nose. Kaiden began groping around in the darkness, feeling if she was still in one piece.

“I’m fine, just get your paws off me! You’re such a klutz,” she shoved him, maybe in the face; she didn’t care.

“Says the one on the floor.”

“Shut it.”

After what seemed like forever, they disentangled themselves and crawled to the window, pulling back the curtains to look out. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Chesca noted the shadows on the trees dancing peculiarly.

“Over there, look,” she pointed and slid the window open, and started climbing out, stretching a leg to reach onto the adjoining balcony.

“Careful,” Kaiden clawed at her arm and peered down at the ground. It was a good 14 foot drop and she didn’t particularly feel like falling, but she’d done this plenty of times before, and reclaimed her arm before his incessant grip yanked her to her death. Jumping over the railing, she flattened herself against the shadowed wall to remain hidden from whatever was out there.

When Kaiden finally joined her after a seriously failed attempt to remain quiet, she edged her way forward again. A few scraping sounds were coming from the roof that sloped just to the right of her, pieces of ancient tiles bouncing down to the ground, and she berated herself for not getting her baseball bat from beside her bed. If it was an intruder, a weapon would sure come in handy—but then again, she did have her Alpha mate right beside her. An overwhelming feeling of being safe and protected shivered through her tense body, calming her instantly, and it surprised her. She didn’t want to feel this way for him; didn’t want to rely on him for safety and a sense of security. After all, she was an Alpha herself.

“About what happened back there—“

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she shushed him and whacked him across the stomach.

“I was going to maybe apologise—“

“This is not the time, Kaiden!” she hissed. “Wait—you were going to apologise?” she queried and looked up at him in the dim light from both the moon and fluorescent light down in the yard. A strange smirk was playing on his face.

“Well, if you don’t want me to..”

A loud grunt startled them both, and Kaiden grabbed onto her hand tightly. “Stay behind me.”

“No way.” With a roll of her eyes, she argued and stepped forward, peering around the corner.

“What in the—“

“Oh goodness, no,” Kaiden grunted from his perspective right behind her shoulder.

“Hey, uhh...hi guys,” a dark form came towards them and his scent was immediately recognised by Kaiden, but not by Chesca. His smooth voice was, though, and she took a large step back with disdain as Elah dropped from the eave to her balcony. “Nice night to be out,” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“You idiot!” Kaiden lurched forward and grabbed him by the collar. “You trying to get yourself killed? Do you know the scare you gave us?” Kaiden had obviously been on edge and ready to strangle the midnight intruder. For some reason, Chesca wouldn’t mind if he still did.

“Hey hey! Hold up!” A feminine voice joined the conversation and reached her hand around Kaiden’s shoulder to push him away. With a laugh lacing her stern tone, she leaped down to the balcony and flicked her perfect black hair over her shoulder.

Miranda.

“What? You too?” Chesca couldn’t believe her eyes as she switched the outdoor spotlight on, and saw the two intruders holding beer bottles and teetering on their feet. “I don’t believe this…” her voice trailed off, heavy with threats.

“We were just enjoying the night air from the rooftop,” Elah slurred and slung an arm around the gorgeous woman.

Miranda leaned into Elah's side and smiled coyly. “Sorry to interrupt your...whatever you guys have going on,” she looked them up and down and lifted her eyebrows in a knowing way. Miranda’s gaze crawled over Chesca’s skin, making Chesca want to leap on the vixen and scratch her eyes out. That thought seemed catty and possessive, but the desire in the other woman’s eyes as they lingered over Kaiden was disgusting and on the verge of punishable.

“Yeah, nice shirt, Sis. Is it...inside-out?” Elah leaned forward for a closer inspection of Chesca’s shirt and chuckled.

The mortification that erupted in her chest as she looked down was worse than anything she’d felt before. Heat stained her face bright red as she realised what she was wearing: Kaiden’s grey shirt hung loosely on her body, reaching mid thigh over her short shorts, and obviously insinuating one thing and one thing only.

“We weren’t...I mean, it’s not…” her voice squeaked and stammered, only making them smirk harder.

“You kids are so cute,” Miranda smirked and flicked her hair over her shoulder in a priggish manner.

“Leave her alone,” Kaiden stepped closer to Chesca and continued gripping her hand, as if the couple in front of them really were a threat to his mate. It was almost endearing, in a sense. For a damsel in distress.

But hiding behind an Alpha wasn’t her idea of showing dominance. “You two have all of ten seconds to get off my roof,” she hissed, meeting both their gazes and widening her stance. Anger rippled off her shoulders, causing her hands to clench into fists.

“Oh, we were just coming in anyway, weren’t we, El baby?” Miranda shrugged, purring with nonchalance. Taking his hand, she brazenly tugged him towards the sliding door that led into Chesca’s suite. “You have a beautiful place, Alpha. My sister is going to love it.”

“Your sister? Who said you could invite all these mutts to my territory?” Chesca glared at Elah.

Miranda just giggled in response, the smell of alcohol lingering in the air behind them.

“I want both of you gone, this instant!” Chesca fumed and followed them inside, opening wide her bedroom door on the other side of the room to let them out.

“Sure. Which way was your room again, Elah?” Miranda trotted out, her short dress flipping up and revealing toned thighs.

“I mean out of my residence! I will not tolerate you scheming together or sleeping together under my roof!”

“Chesca…” Kaiden tried to reason, his tone soft.

“No, Kaiden,” she slapped away his hands, infuriated with the audacity of his unruly brother and slinky ex.

“It’s ok, we’ll find a place in town,” Elah threw over his shoulder as they walked down the hall. Chesca couldn’t close the door on them fast enough.

“Kaiden, what has been going on? I told you to keep a handle on your brother!”

“You know he doesn’t listen to me. Besides, why does he have to? He can make his own decisions,” the scowl on the other Alpha’s face was conciliatory.

“Did you know he’d invited Miranda?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow.

“So what if I did?” Kaiden mimicked her action and took a step closer.

“Yet you didn’t warn me?” She stepped back, but immediately wished she’d held her ground instead as she watched a faint but deviant smile tug at his lips.

“What would you have done? Thrown them both in the dungeons?”

“Maybe,” Chesca shrugged, hating his blasé attitude. “Maybe I’d make you join them too, seeing as you like them so much,” she declared, pleased at the way his face blanched in response.

“You wouldn’t! I’m your mate.” The statement came out with bucket loads of confidence, and she narrowed her eyes at the cocky Alpha standing proudly before her.

“Yeah, a mate who enjoys keeping secrets from me,” she tossed at him. This verbal war was just heating up, and she had no intention of losing.

“Says the woman who won’t let me anywhere near her office.”

“That’s because you aren’t careful or considerate with my things.”

“Things don’t matter to me as much as people, Chesca,” his face softened and he took a step closer. By now he was only a foot away, and making her very aware of his presence. It was messing with her resolve.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she warily eyed the hand he had stretched out, her mind not wanting to read into it too much.

“I don’t ever want to intentionally hurt you. No matter how much you distrust me, you matter to me,” the smooth lift of his lips was hinting at something, the confidence in his tone anything but reconciliatory. He was playing her, and she didn’t like being played.

“Could’ve fooled me!” Throwing up her hands, she exclaimed, all while trying to keep a grip on her steely intentions. “Then why do you let your brother and your slutty ex-girlfriend hang around here?” Yes, that was a good question she needed an answer to. He couldn’t just say he cared about her, but let his lack of actions speak otherwise.

“Can’t we just forget about them for a moment?” Kaiden took a step back and ran his fingers through his hair. “Why do our conversations always go around in circles like this?” his voice grew louder.

The flash of his dark eyes only made her more angry. “Why do you have to always be such an arrogant know-it-all?”

“Maybe because I’m an Alpha, and I do know a lot!” he shouted and pinned her with a relentless glare. “You don’t respect me for that.”

“Me, respect you? Why would I, when you’re an insolent, pig-headed, obstinate--” she paused to take a breath and think of more insulting adjectives, “--selfish, heartless, mean mongrel with rocks in your head!”

“That’s how you see me?” his nostrils flared as he breathed out deeply, his face reddening with anger, his bare chest heaving. “Fine. Have it your way. I don’t need a mate anyway. I was doing perfectly fine on my own.”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t need you either! Or your stupid shirt,” she added and tugged the offending fabric up over her head.

As her luck would have it though, it didn’t come off cleanly so as to quickly snatch up another, more appropriate shirt.

No, it caught on her chin.

And the more she struggled in her agitated mood, the more it tangled around her arms and head. Strangling herself in her own hair and his shirt was probably preferable to facing a smirking mate though, so persistence was the only thing on her mind as she jiggled around some more, trying to yank it off.

“Chesca…”

She could basically hear his laughter in the simple word. “You can see I’m busy!” she snapped.

“Chesca. Stop moving.” The simple command had her pausing, and wanting to submit. His Alpha tone didn’t work on her, but the gentle words of her mate had made the difference.

When he laid a hand on her arm, her body instantly stilled and yielded to his touch. Carefully, she felt the fabric lift away from around her neck, and she squinted at the sudden light that flooded her face. Kaiden stood inches in front of her, a frown creasing his face, the warmth of his body wrapping around her. He wasn’t laughing, he wasn’t smirking, he wasn’t even amused by her own stupidity. He dropped the shirt and tenderly brushed the hair out of her eyes, smoothing it down around her head. “You okay now?”

The simple question nearly undid her. So much for not needing him. She’d crave his touch for as long as she lived.

Remembering he’d asked something, she swallowed and lifted her gaze from his perfectly sculpted torso to his eyes. “Ye--yeah, I guess.”

The air had suddenly ceased to be filled with tension and the untrue words from their argument, but instead became warm and comfortable. Something she hadn’t felt since...since… Actually, she couldn’t remember ever feeling like this before she’d met Kaiden. Her mate.

Funny how he could make her feel such extremes. He could have her so angry and exasperated, then somehow calm the fury within, and wrap her in a tender sense of comfort like nothing else.

His irises were ringed with a darkness that she’d only seen a few times before, and was it her imagination, or had his breathing increased? When his hands slid down her shoulders to her bare waist, he tugged her closer. She watched in slow motion as his gaze enveloped her with tenderness and desire, and his lips parted slightly.

“Kaiden, please don’t,” her words were barely a whisper, a plea almost in a tentative and weak voice, but it had an effect instantly.

A shiver crossed his features before his expression became blank and he clenched his jaw tightly. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled and turned around suddenly, rubbing his hands down over his face. For a moment she just stared at his back, taking a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart, then she turned and stumbled into her closet, grabbing the nearest pyjamas.

Too many thoughts competed for attention in her head as she showered, and it took effort to just focus on the hot water streaming down her back and clear her mind. Everything was just too confusing.

But the strangest thing happened when she’d finished getting ready for bed and quietly pulled the covers down, so as not to disturb Kaiden where he was already lying down on his couch.

He sat up, the sheet pooling around his waist, and flicked on his lamp. She could now observe the pained expression on his handsome face. “Chesca?”

“Yes?” She halted her movements and studied him in the rosy light.

“About today,” he cleared his throat and began again after a pause. “I’m sorry...for earlier, in your dad’s office.”

He was apologising? She bit her lip and wasn’t sure what to say, or if he was going to continue. A silence hung between them.

“It’s okay,” she blurted out eventually, her stomach a jumble of butterflies. “You just..thought they were old, and didn’t mean anything.” She didn’t know where she was going with this, but just let the reasoning unravel in her mind as it pleased. “It’s just stuff. And as you said, it shouldn’t matter so much anyway.”

It still hurt what he did, but it hurt more to remain upset with him. It was shrivelling her up inside, trying to be strong and keep him at arm’s length was eating away at her soul.

“But they were your dad’s things. I understand how important they were to you. I should’ve checked with you first before doing going through that storeroom,” his words were tentative but she could hear the remorse behind them. It filled a tiny crack in her heart.

“Yeah, you should have. But it’s okay. I realise...I’ve placed too much value in his things, thinking it keeps him close even after all these years. But...I’ve learned all I can from them. My parents memories will remain inside my mind...no matter where I am and what I have,” she finished with a sigh.

“He was a good man- your father. And I know you’re a great Alpha like he was,” he held her gaze across the short space between their beds. Despite how angry she had been with him, he was changing that with just one look. “And I respect that about you, Chesca.”

His words were confounding. Something that could only be described as hope bloomed in her chest. Hope for herself, hope for him, hope for them as a couple even. Maybe. It took all she had to not leap off the bed and fling her arms around him. It was just an apology, for goodness’ sake. Not a declaration of undying love and commitment. Not a promise to always have her back and support her in times of need.

Not a profession that he wouldn’t undermine her authority and submit to her pack leadership instead.

But it was a start. A wonderful start.