The Alpha's Shatter Zone
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She was silent for a few moments, then he heard her take a breath. “The wind.”

“The wind?” he asked quickly before smothering his surprise.

“Yes, and how he moves through the trees and across the land.” She paused, taking a deep breath as if debating whether or not to continue. So she didn’t trust him with her thoughts. As if she’d trust him with her heart.

“So freely.”

He was startled by her soft voice.

“Coming and going anywhere he pleases, as weak or as strong as he wants to be,” she hesitated for a few moments, and his ears strained to catch her words. “No one to tell him what he has to do. No deals he has to make. He just is.”

He tried to catch any subtle meaning behind her words, but wasn’t quite understanding.

“The mountains can’t stop him, the forest can’t contain him. He blows right through them. Storms and tornadoes fall at his feet, hurricanes and blizzards feed him his every desire. They are nothing without wind, yet they boast they are the master of him. Yet they have no power over him. He relies on moon and sun to awaken him, yet cannot be touched by either. Death cannot reach him, yet we are all stagnant and dead without his kiss of life.”

She released a deep sigh.

“Interesting concept,” was all Kaiden could say, unsure if he would break a spell by merely speaking. “But I don’t understa—“

“My father often told me that story. I always wanted to be like the wind. Strong and free, mastered by no one.”

He finally got her point. “You feel trapped.”

“And you feel like you’ve won.”

He was silenced for a few minutes and neither said anything as the moonlight and shadows played across the porch and courtyard.

“Chesca,” he began slowly. “I’m not trying to take your pack, I’m just...grateful now that we can...perhaps work together on this?”

She remained silent, and he was dying to know what she was thinking.

He watched her intently, her image blurred by the shadows, but soon she patted the bench beside her. “I need to explain myself,” her voice was quiet in the darkness. “And make one thing perfectly clear,” yet it held the icy edge he knew not to mess with.

He tentatively sat beside her, and couldn’t help but wonder if she’d clobber him if he so much as brushed against her.

“In regards to our...arrangement, that’s all it’s going to be. An arrangement. A ceremony and nothing else. We’ll make Asa happy that we’re mates, and then I’ll get my land, and my pack will be well off.”

So this was what it was all about. Her need to be in total control. And she called him power hungry.

“You mean, he’ll give you his land. It’s not yours, Chesca. Alphas don’t normally just hand their territory away when others ask for it,” he clenched his jaw, trying to get her to see just how generous Asa was being towards her.

“You’re right, they fight for it. Would you rather I fought Asa and took it from him that way?”

“That seems to be how I work, didn’t you know?” he couldn’t resist the dig.

“Well, it’s not how I work,” she huffed. “Asa is agreeing to give me some of his land, and I’m going to agree to his peaceful conditions. No fight. No bloodshed.”

He heard her voice drop on those last words and wondered what she was referring to. He chose to remain silent when she sighed and continued.

“It will still be my pack. I’m not giving you any rights or control, do you understand?”

“Crystal,” he said lazily, the corners of his mouth turning up though he knew she couldn’t see his smirk in the dark. “You do realise though, we’re going to have to mark each other,” his voice remained even and casual.

She tensed slightly, the movement catching the corner of his eye.

“You didn’t remember that small detail?” he turned to her, amusement in his voice.

“I—I hadn’t ...thought that far ahead,” she stammered, her voice sounding flustered. Goodness, she was nervous about it. For some reason, he enjoyed making her squirm. It proved she wasn’t as stoic and emotionless as she made out to be. He’d broken her wall.

“Well, it doesn’t have to mean anything,” he stared off into the dark woods, trying to remain cool and slightly sarcastic about it.

“No, of course not. It will mean nothing,” she said quickly, and he couldn’t help but smile in the dark. Boy, was she squirming. He felt her shift her weight a number of times on the bench, and he so badly wanted to know what she was thinking, to see inside that wonderful mind of hers and replace out if he was in it. How much of an effect he had on her. Because right now, all he could think about was her, and he wondered how perfectly she would fit in his arms, and how smooth her lips would feel against his.

She got up suddenly, breaking his thoughts, and he watched her shadow move to the edge of the porch where she leaned against a post. Her slim silhouette stood out against the snowy lawn, and he resisted the urge to go up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist. He didn’t quite feel like a black eye at this time of night.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess,” he mumbled as he got up and slowly headed to the sliding doors using all his will power to put one foot in front of the other—away from her.

“Sure. Uh… Kaiden?”

“Yeah?” he spun around, the sound of her voice arresting him in place. He studied her intently as she hesitated, the pale light playing on her beautiful features.

“Thank you again. I—I couldn’t have done this without you.”

He knew it must be killing her to say this. His throat tightened as his heart clenched, and he nodded, walking closer towards her. Slowly, so he didn’t frighten her away like a deer. She stared at him, a look of vulnerability fluttering across her face, like she’d never been in this situation and didn’t know what to do. He came closer until they were inches apart, her body heat reaching around him. He looked deep into her cold eyes and saw a flicker of warmth, surprise, and longing maybe? Desire. At least, that last one was smouldering in his own gaze, he knew. Her eyes moved skittishly over his face, landing on his lips. He leaned closer, his breath moving wisps of hair on her cheek. She was only an inch away, her heart plummeting in her chest, he could hear it.

Then she blinked her eyes, and placed a hand firmly on his chest, pushing him back.

“You may be my mate, but you will never be a part of my pack,” she said with more firmness than he would’ve guessed, perhaps even a hint of venom lacing her tone. “Especially not the Alpha. Nothing you try on me will work.”

He placed his hand over hers, feeling it flinch. Searching her eyes, he found a wall over them once more. Why did it feel like she was reading his mind? She was tougher to mess with than he’d figured. “Whatever you say, Beautiful,” he whispered with a slight lift of his lips before dropping her hand and turning once more to head up to his room. His chest suddenly felt cold, his heart aching for her touch.

It was definitely going to be interesting, the next few days. He reminded himself to take it slow. Baby steps. Her pack would be his soon enough.

“This is ridiculous,” she muttered to herself before pressing dial. Her stomach tightened in a wave of nausea but she swallowed and practiced a smile.

“Hey what’s up? How’d it go? I haven’t heard from you in like, two days!” Lexi’s voice powered over the line, and Chesca pulled the phone away from her ear, not wanting to go deaf before her 23rd birthday.

“It’s cool. Um, everything’s going well and we should be heading home this morning straight after breakfast,” she replied, trying to keep her voice steady.

“And….?” Lexi prodded.

“And Alpha Asa finally agreed to give us the land!” she raised her eyebrows and spoke with a cheesy smile before smushing her face in her hand. She was a goner, for sure.

“Wow! Oh my! That’s great! How did you do it? Never mind, don’t answer that. I know how persuasive you can be,” Lexi exclaimed and Chesca felt like punching something. Kaiden’s face would do.

When Chesca remained silent, Lexi’s enthusiasm dropped a notch. “Wait, it all went as planned right? There’s no catch, like Asa wants to dig for gold in our mountains or draft us all into his army?”

“No no, nothing like that!” She forced a chuckle. Lexi was good. Too good, and Chesca knew she’d never get away with this. “Hey um, so how’s everyone there?” she changed the subject.

“You’re keeping something from me.”

“No, like what?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

“I asked you first, how’s the pack? How about those prisoners you caught last week?”

“They’re ok, still refusing to talk to anyone but their Alpha Kaiden. Stupid kids don’t realise they’re on your territory now—“

“And Kaiden is sooo not the Alpha.”

“You got that right.”

There was silence on the line for a moment, and Chesca swallowed hard.

“So out with it,” Lexi said evenly.

“I don’t know what yo—“

“Ches, you can’t lie to me.”

“What makes you think—“

“Remember that time in high school you failed that test and had to explain it to your dad?”

“Shut it, Lex. You’re never gonna replace out what that was really about. I’m taking that one to my grave.”

“Which will come sooner than you think if you don’t start talking. Now.”

“Ok ok, I just wanted to.. uhh, ask you something. It’s nothing really…”

“Spit it out.”

Chesca ran her fingers through her hair, flipping it to the other side of her head. “Ok, um…. wouldyoustandbymeformymateacceptanceceremony?” she pushed out the sentence in one breath.

A loud scream followed by a thump punched her in the ear, and she looked at the phone half expecting Lexi to jump out at her.

“Hi Alpha, you there?”

She heard Charles’ voice come on the line.

“Yeah, is Lex alright? Is she mad at me or…”

“Honestly, I can’t say. She’s doing a maniacal dance around our room...wait, now she’s jumping on the bed pulling her hair--Alexis! get down before you--” CRASH!

The muffled thud made Chesca wince.

“Sorry, Alpha, I think she’s displaying a rare combination of excitement and fury, if that is indeed possible. With her, I think anything is. What exactly did you tell her?” a breathless Charles came back on the phone eventually.

“Girl, are you nuts!?!” Lexi screamed through the line. “What did Asa make you agree to??! I knew it didn’t sound right. But oh man, you’re gonna accept Kaiden!” she squealed again and Chesca still couldn’t figure out if Lexi wanted her to be with him or keep pushing the jerk away. She was the one who had encouraged Chesca to stand up to the conniving and manipulating scoundrel.

“Look, it’s nothing big,” she sighed, knowing her beta and head guard were both listening. “It’s just a ceremony. Asa wouldn’t give me the land unless I agreed to accept Kaiden, but I’m still gonna be the only Alpha of Steelheart Pack. I am not letting Kaiden get his paws anywhere near it.”

“That’s my girl,” Lexi chimed.

“Seems to be a very sound plan,” Charles agreed.

“So I’ll see you guys later, ok?”

“Sure! And we’ll go shopping tomorrow for a dress! Oh, I need more shoes too, and a new clutch…” Lexi’s voice faded in the background.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Chesca,” Charles said with a voice full of concern.

“I do. I’m sure about this,” she said while looking at Kaiden across the room. He winked at her, making her realise a shakier truth had never crossed her lips.

His dark eyes motioned for her, drawing her outside near the car where their bags were packed and ready to go.

“Chesca, I need to tell you something.”