Chapter 3: Alpha Gray

She had to be the most maddening creature alive. She hadn’t said a word since I had forced her to get into the SUV with us. I hated using the Alpha command on her, but she left me with little to no choice. 

The entire drive from the rubble of her old home to the packhouse she had simply stared straight ahead out the front windshield and hadn’t made a sound.

Even now, as I questioned her, she had refused to answer a single one. The only reaction I got was when she rolled her eyes at me when I asked her about Damien.  

It didn’t help that she was painstakingly gorgeous. She looked and smelled as if the Moon Goddess had made her from my dreams. Matias, my wolf was going insane being near her. 

I sighed… “Marina. There are things we need to…” 

“NEED?” she interrupted. Clearly, I had struck a nerve. “...Please tell me what it is YOU need, Mr. New Alpha. And while you’re at it, why don’t you start with why you’re here, and how you managed to murder my parents on your way in?!” She screamed at me and jumped up from the sofa, her arms spread wide. 

I stood from behind the desk and was grabbing her chin in record time. 

“I did not murder your parents. Do not mistake me for your weakling of a boyfriend. I have patience, but it is wearing thin, Marina.”

I tipped her chin, looking into her eyes, for the first time seeing the tiniest crack in her armor, if only for the briefest of seconds, before they glazed over with a hard, steely gaze. 

“I don’t have a boyfriend. And if I did, he certainly wouldn’t be a weakling.” She rolled her eyes again, trying to pull her chin from his hand.

I held her chin steady in my oversized hand and stared into her eyes until I heard a cough from the doorway. 

 My hand dropped from her face as if she had burned my skin and I turned from her to face the door. “Yes. Thane, take her to the quarters upstairs. The ones that adjoin to my room, please.” 

“I’m not staying in YOUR…” She started.. But I continued as if she hadn’t spoken. 

“Yes. She needs to be somewhere she can be monitored. Security outside the doors, under lock and key. Until she answers my questions she is to go nowhere alone or unguarded.” 

“Yes, Alpha.” Thane opened the door for her and motioned for her to step out into the hallway before him. 

“Oh. And Marina?”  I called to her. “Don’t roll your eyes at me ever again.” My wolf was near surfacing. I could tell my words had affected her, for the first time she looked down at me through her lashes and nibbled her lower lip. 

Thane wisely chose this moment to exit the room, pulling the door around behind him. 

“Or what… Alpha?” Her voice almost sounded… 

I cursed. 

I crossed the room in three large strides and had her pushed up against the wall. I placed my hands on either side of her head against the wall. 

Marina’s POV

He placed his hands on either side of my head against the wall… 

He sighed. “Do you enjoy being disobedient?” His voice was quiet but rough and husky. 

I took a deep, slow breath and I couldn’t help but notice how delicious he smelled. Earthy, like the forest, but mixed with his cologne. I glanced up at him, hoping he couldn’t hear my heartbeat. It felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. 

“I enjoy a lot of things. Being disobedient might be one of them.” I shrugged. 

“You will obey your Alpha, Marina. End of Story.” 

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him, but it took a considerable amount of effort. I gazed up at him through my lashes, catching the little flecks in his eyes. 

“And if I don’t…?” I meant it to come out in a teasing tone, light and playful. But for some reason, my voice had become husky, almost breathy. 

Natalia snorted at my confusion… “Clearly, you think he’s attractive.” 

“Well. Look at him.” 

“Oh, I am. Don’t worry about me…” Natalia snickered.  

I rolled my eyes at her and re-focused on the situation at hand.

He took another half step closer to me, closing the remaining distance between us. I could feel his abdomen pressing against my chest. It would have been comical, the height difference between us if the air hadn’t been so tense.

I found myself wanting to squirm under his intense gaze, but I resisted the urge. I was playing with fire, and I knew it. 

I felt my nipples stiffen as his abdomen brushed against my chest, I silently cursed my stupid body. Reacting in a way that I had not expected. There hadn’t been anyone that I felt like that about since Damien. For it to choose right now, with this body… well, let’s just say that my timing could not have been worse. 

“Marina.” He growled. “You are testing my patience. Don’t.”  His gaze never left my own, but I’m pretty positive he could feel my nipples against his chest. I tried not to freak out even further when I realized how close he had gotten to me. I could feel his breath on my face. 

“My apologies….” I smirked and batted my eyelashes at him instinctively knowing that I was pushing him to his limit. 

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, as he reached beside me and threw open the office door next to us. 

“Take her upstairs!” He bellowed to Thane as he stomped off down the hall. 

Thane motioned for me to follow him, staring after his Alpha, his amusement evident on his face. 

Thane led the way upstairs, to the Alpha’s quarters, and by all definitions what should be the Luna’s quarters, that adjoined to the Alpha’s suite. 

He opened the door, allowing me to enter before him. It had been redecorated since the last time I was in here. Someone had erased all of the old Luna’s decor, updating it, but still making it seem cozy and warm. The style reminded me a little bit of Elizabeth and Mike’s cottage, which made me wonder where they were or if they were okay. 

“I…can’t stay here. This is for the Luna. Alpha Gray wouldn’t want me in here.” 

“This pack has no Luna…and this is where he instructed me to put you.” Thane said, “Bathroom is through the door to the left. If you go through the door to the right, that connects to the Alpha’s rooms…” Thane had started to say, pointing things out, but I interrupted. 

“I know where everything is already. I’ve been here before.” I sighed and shook my head. “Even before we were dating, we all hung out here with Damien. Hell. I probably know this house better than you do.” 

Thane gave me an odd expression, but said nothing, except, “There is a guard posted at your door. The doors are locked, as are the Alpha’s doors. There are alarms on the windows in the packhouse, so please don’t make us have to chase you. There really would be no point.” With that, he shut the door and I heard a resounding click as the lock turned into place. 

With a sigh, I flopped onto the bed. “Well. Now what…?”