Page 32 of Bound by Alphas 1: Bound (The Blood Moon Chronicle #3)
I ’d barely finished struggling into my oversized sleep shirt—a faded Seattle Art Institute relic that had seen better days—when my bedroom door opened without so much as a courtesy knock. Because privacy was clearly a foreign concept in this house.
Cade stood in the doorway, his massive frame practically filling it, expression set in that unreadable alpha mask that made me want to throw things at him. Preferably heavy, pointy things.
“I’m fine,” I said preemptively, pulling the shirt down over my still-damp fox tail. The damn thing refused to disappear, a furry reminder of my humiliation at the lake. “You can go back to whatever important alpha business you were doing. Crisis averted.”
“You’re not staying up here alone,” Cade replied, his tone making it clear this wasn’t up for debate.
I raised an eyebrow. “Watch me.”
“Either you come downstairs where we can all keep an eye on you, or I’m staying in here with you. All day. All night.”
The thought of being confined in my bedroom with Cade—with his overwhelming presence and that scent that made my fox want to roll around like an idiot—was enough to make me reconsider my options.
“Fine,” I muttered, grabbing my phone from the nightstand. “But I’m not doing the invalid-on-the-couch routine. I nearly drowned; I didn’t contract the plague.”
“Nearly drowned because someone pushed you,” Cade corrected, his voice dropping to that dangerous register that made the hair on my arms stand up.
I brushed past him, ignoring the electricity that sparked where our shoulders touched. “Semantics.”
Cade herded me downstairs—there really was no other word for it—his hand hovering at the small of my back without actually touching me. The gesture was so typically Cade: controlling without contact, guiding without asking.
The living room had been transformed into what I could only describe as a blanket fortress for adults. The massive sectional was piled with every soft thing in the house, and someone had lit a fire despite it being approximately a thousand degrees outside.
“I’m not an infant,” I protested as Cade guided me toward the center of the nest. “And it’s summer.”
“You were shivering,” he replied simply.
I wanted to argue, but the truth was I had been cold since the lake—a bone-deep chill that hadn’t quite dissipated even after the hot bath. Instead of admitting this, I settled into the blankets with as much dignity as one can muster while sporting damp fox ears and a tail.
“Happy now?” I asked, arranging myself cross-legged among the pillows.
“Getting there,” Cade replied with unexpected honesty, those blue eyes assessing me in a way that made me want to hide and preen simultaneously.
I busied myself with my phone, pretending to be absorbed in something fascinating while Cade disappeared into the kitchen.
The moment he was gone, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Being around any of the brothers was difficult since the Augury, but Cade was the worst—all controlled intensity and watchful silence.
Mochi appeared as if summoned, leaping onto the couch and immediately curling into my lap like a living heating pad. Pixel materialized next, claiming the back of the sectional with her usual feline superiority, her one eye regarding me with what felt like judgment.
“Don’t start,” I told her. “It’s not my fault I grew a tail.”
Pixel blinked slowly, unimpressed.
I’d barely settled into browsing art school websites—my silent rebellion against the supernatural chaos of my life—when Logan appeared with a mug, the contents steaming.
“Elena’s special hot chocolate,” he said, placing it on the coffee table within my reach. “Drink it.”
“Has anyone ever told you your bedside manner needs work?” I asked, though I reached for the mug. The scent of cinnamon and chocolate was too tempting to resist out of pure stubbornness.
“I’m not aiming for bedside manner,” Logan replied, his green eyes tracking the movement as I took a sip. “I’m aiming for you not getting sick after being half-drowned by those Blackwood?—”
“Logan,” Cade’s voice cut in from the doorway, a clear warning.
Logan’s jaw tightened, but he stepped back, giving me space that felt both considerate and reluctant.
I focused on my hot chocolate, pretending not to notice the silent communication happening between the brothers.
Keir was next, appearing with Boba tucked under one arm like a furry football. The puppy wiggled excitedly at the sight of me, his little potato body practically vibrating with joy.
“Someone missed you,” Keir said, depositing Boba beside me. The puppy immediately flopped against my leg with a dramatic sigh that perfectly expressed my own feelings about this day.
“At least someone in this house respects my personal space,” I muttered, scratching Boba’s round belly.
Keir’s laugh was warm and genuine. “Boba? The dog who sleeps on your face and follows you into the bathroom? That’s your example of respecting boundaries?”
I tried to maintain my glare, but it was difficult when Keir looked at me like that—all fond amusement and genuine affection. Of the three alphas, Keir had always been the easiest to be around, his charm a more gentle force than Cade’s authority or Logan’s intensity.
“Shouldn’t you be entertaining your guests?” I asked, suddenly remembering Drew and the others were still out on the boat. “Or did you banish the Blackwoods to the bottom of the lake?”
Something flashed in Keir’s eyes—something cold and calculating that didn’t match his usual playful demeanor. “Drew’s handling the guests.”
Before I could press for details, Keir was gone again, leaving me surrounded by pets and questions. The brothers were up to something; that much was obvious. They kept moving through the house with purpose, checking on me at regular intervals while clearly focused on something else.
Despite my determination to stay alert, the events of the day were catching up with me.
The warm cocoon of blankets, the comforting weight of animals around me, and Elena’s hot chocolate combined into a potent sedative.
My eyelids grew heavy, my phone slipping from my fingers as I drifted toward sleep.
The sound of cars on the gravel driveway jolted me back to awareness. Drew and his friends were back, which meant the Blackwood cousins were about to bring their fake smiles and calculating eyes into my home again.
My first instinct was to retreat to my room—to hide until they left. But as I started to gather Mochi and extract myself from the blanket nest, a surge of anger stopped me cold.
Why should I be the one to run? This was my home. They were the interlopers. They were the ones who had pushed me into the lake.
Fuck that.
Instead of fleeing upstairs, I moved to the deck off the living room, drawn by raised voices from the front drive.
From this vantage point, I could see the driveway where Drew stood facing Sophia and Mia, his normally easygoing posture replaced by something rigid and confrontational.
Jake and Tyler flanked him, their beta energy subdued but supportive.
“—don’t care what your excuse is,” Drew was saying, his voice carrying clearly in the still air. “Get your things and get out. Now.”
Sophia’s laugh was brittle. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re guests for the weekend, and it was just a little accident?—”
“Bullshit,” Drew cut her off, and I nearly fell over in shock. Drew, who never swore, who was always the peacemaker.
“As if you could prove anything,” Mia scoffed, though her confidence seemed forced. “It’s our word against yours, and the Blackwoods have a lot more influence than some adopted beta?—”
“You’re on Sinclair territory,” Drew interrupted, his voice dropping to a register I’d never heard from him before. “Pack law applies here. And pack law says you get the fuck out and never set foot on our land again, or I will personally rip your throat out.”
I gripped the deck railing, stunned by this version of my usually gentle brother.
Sophia’s expression twisted into something ugly. “As if a beta could do anything against Blackwood alphas?—”
The front door opened, and the air itself seemed to change, becoming heavy with alpha energy so potent I could taste it. Cade, Logan, and Keir emerged like avenging angels in designer clothes, their synchronized movements reminding me of predators coordinating a kill.
“He won’t have to,” Cade said, his voice deceptively soft. “Because if you’re still on our property in five minutes, you’ll be dealing with us instead.”
The color drained from Sophia’s face. Beside her, Mia took an instinctive step backward.
“This is ridiculous,” Sophia tried again, though her voice had lost its conviction. “It was just a harmless prank?—”
“You attempted to drown our—” Logan began, only to be cut off by Cade’s hand on his arm.
“Five minutes,” Cade repeated. “And then we consider it an act of aggression against our pack.”
The Blackwood cousins exchanged glances, then practically sprinted toward the guest wing of the house. I’d never seen anyone move so fast in designer sandals.
I stood frozen on the deck, my mind struggling to process what I was witnessing. They were throwing the Blackwoods out. Because of me. Because of what had happened at the lake.
Less than ten minutes later, the powder-blue Beetle peeled out of the driveway, gravel spraying in its wake. Drew, in a gesture so uncharacteristic I wondered if he’d been possessed, raised his middle finger in a salute.
“And don’t even think about touching our baby brother again, you Blackwood bitches!” he shouted after the retreating car.
Jake and Tyler burst into laughter, slapping Drew on the shoulders.
“Dude, that was awesome,” Tyler exclaimed. “I didn’t know you had it in you!”
Drew’s posture relaxed, his usual good nature returning now that the threat was gone. “Nobody messes with my brother,” he said simply.