Chained By the Alpha (Cleo and Zayn) novel Chapter 23

• Zayn •

A couple of hours earlier

The incessant tapping of my fingers on the mahogany desk can’t drown out the chaos in my head. Nightshade City looms outside my office window, a concrete jungle under the cloak of dusk, indifferent to my turmoil. The report I was supposed to be reviewing blurs before my eyes, each word a taunt reminding me of Cleo’s absence.

Learning last night that her father was watching when I dropped her off, pissed me off. I didn’t think he was stupid enough to try anything with my guard keeping watch. I was wrong. He knocked him out, and God only knows what he told her to convince her to go back home with him.

“Vance,” I growl lowly, my voice a rumble that fills the spacious office, “any updates from the border patrols?”

“Quiet as the grave,” Vance replies without looking up from his own stack of paperwork. His dark hair is messy from running his hands through it in frustration—a mirror image of my restlessness, and I know my mood has him on edge.

“Good.” I sigh, pushing myself back into my chair. My wolf, Zarek, stirs within me, pacing relentlessly sensing my unease. I try to focus on the numbers and figures while my thoughts betray me, slipping to memories of her with her wild green eyes and that defiant tilt of her chin. Her laughter echoing in my mind feels like a knife twisting in my chest.

“Hey, turn that up, will you?” Vance’s voice cuts through my reverie as he nods toward the television mounted on the wall, which is muted.

I glance up, irritation flaring at the interruption. It dies as the screen fills with an image I know all too well—the Shadowcrest Pack insignia. The headline beneath sends a chill down my spine; ‘A Pack Engagement.’

“What the hell is this?” I spit out, standing so swiftly my chair topples over with a crash.

Vance finds and fumbles with the remote, raising the volume just in time for the poised newscaster to deliver the blow. “—and it seems the young heiress of the Shadowcrest Pack, Cleo, has returned to her father’s side to prepare for her upcoming engagement.”

“Engagement?” The word is like venom on my tongue. My vision goes red, a howl building deep within me.

“Zayn, calm down. We don’t know the full story.” Vance’s attempt to soothe me is futile.

“Full story?” I snarl, the sound more beast than man. “She left, and now she’s parading around, ready to bind herself to that sniveling worm?”

“Zayn, listen to me!” Vance grabs my shoulders, his grip firm, grounding. Yet his voice is a distant echo in the eye of the storm that rages within me.

“Look at yourself!” he implores, desperation threading his tone. “This isn’t you. You’re letting it consume you.”

As suddenly as it began, the fury abates and I stand in the ruins of my office. My breaths come in ragged gasps, each one a battle between man and beast.

My gaze locks on the broken glass that litters the floor. “I need to see her. She can’t marry him.”

“Zayn, think about what you’re doing,” Vance says cautiously. “You can’t just barge into Shadowcrest. It’s her father’s territory.”

“Her father fucking sold her again,” I spit out like venom. “He has no right. She is mine—my mate.”

“Then let’s be smart about this,” Vance replies, his voice steady now. “You go in there. You’re just going to scare her,” Vance tries to reason, but I snatch up my phone and try calling her. I keep calling, when she doesn’t answer, I text. “Zayn, stop!” Vance says, reaching for my phone. I snarl at him, and he backs away from me.