Page 3 of Bound to Enemy (Wolf Billionaire #3)

CHAPTER 3

ALESSANDRA

H e blinked his green eyes at me as if he was trying to compute what I had just said.

Great, he was slow.

This was the man that my father had decided to match me up with for the greater good of my pack.

"You're Alessandra?"

Yep, as thick as a brick apparently.

"I just said that, alpha." I spat his title like it was hot acid on my tongue. "You're far slower than I anticipated."

His eyebrows pulled together in a frown. "Excuse me."

"Do I need to spell it out for you?"

"Watch your tongue, Fraser. You're in the presence of an alpha."

I rolled my eyes. "In case you forgot, dipshit, I'm an alpha too. I am my father's heir and the only child he has left."

Saying those words out loud always managed to pierce my chest ever so slightly. That was the thing about death. You never quite got over the pain; it lingered even as the days turned into months and eventually years.

Grief was a disease that had no true cure. You just learned to live through the pain and try to fill in the holes that had been left vacant by those who left you.

"Last I checked you were born a runt."

"What did you just call me?" I seethed in his face.

I was by no means a small girl; at 5ft 8 I was rather tall, but his 6ft stature towered over me.

His eyes glistened, and the green gave way to a sea-like blue that made his pupils appear even blacker than they naturally were.

"A. Runt." One side of his lips tilted into a cocky smirk that had me contemplating the restraint I was choosing to have with my dagger.

The movement would be quick and efficient. I didn't even need to apply any real pressure. I had sharpened the blade only two days ago.

We cannot risk war with them and the rogues.

My wolf, who up until this point had made quite the show of hating being in this man's presence, was now trying to provide a reason as to why I should not kill him.

Don't be dramatic. My wolf scolded me.

I pushed her back and took control. "Take that back, alpha."

"Or what, Fraser? Does the truth hurt you so much that you can't even stomach it?"

I bit down on my tongue to keep myself from snapping at him. The last thing I needed to be doing was provoking his wolf. I knew better than to challenge a full-fledged alpha when I had not even come into my own power. It was a death sentence, but his insults were provoking my wolf.

I was not a runt. I had heard that insult for years since the time of my birth. I was by no means smaller than most wolves, but when the time came for me to assume the role of heir, I was much weaker than others.

I had to work my ass off to get to where I was. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that not many people ever saw. Just because I had the name Fraser did not mean anything to my people. I had to prove to them that I could be their leader, and I had done that time and time again.

"I hate you." I poured every ounce of bitterness and anger that I had stored up into those words.

"The feeling is mutual, sweetheart."

"I could kill you right here, right now."

He snorted, "I'm letting you hold me like this, Alessandra. I was only interested in seeing how far you were willing to take it."

"You're forgetting who has the knife right now, sweetheart."

It happened so fast and unexpectedly that I didn't even have proper time to react. One minute my dagger was placed against his neck, and the next he had my back pressed against the wall with my dagger in hand. He placed both my wrists over my head and pressed me deeper into the cold wall.

I tried to break free from his hold, but his grip was like iron. I couldn't break free, which not only annoyed me but made me feel rather embarrassed that I had allowed him to get the better of me. I prided myself on my ability to be alert and on the ball, but he had managed to disarm and subdue me in seconds.

"See? You'll have to try a lot harder if you want to kill me, sweetheart."

I snapped my teeth at him, "Don't call me that. I'm not your sweetheart nor will I ever be."

His eyes danced with mischief as he stared at me. "Feisty little thing, aren't you? I do think we will have a lot of fun together, Alessandra."

I growled; my wolf hated feeling subdued. I had alpha blood coursing through my veins, and I submitted to no one, least of all this pompous little prick.

"Tell me, wife, why the hostility?"

He was joking, right?

"Are you forgetting the hundred-year feud between our two packs? Did that all just somehow get lost in that thick brain of yours?"

His smirk slipped, "Have we not come to an agreement? There is peace between us now, no?"

I let out a humorless laugh, "You don't even believe your own words, do you?"

He stared at me blankly. "There should be peace between us."

"Well, there will never be any sort of peace between us, Daxton. You and I both know that your pack is nothing but selfish and power-hungry. It's ironic really because you all pride yourself on being about community and togetherness, but when we needed you, you were nowhere to be seen."

To this day that story still pained my chest. We lost dozens that day. So much blood and loss all for nothing. The rogues had attacked in hopes of getting the moonstone, a gem that had been taken from our land almost a century prior.

We had warned them that the stone needed to remain within the caves to be guarded, but they had refused. His great-great-great-grandfather had said the goddess spoke to him to remove the stone from its original place and take it to Blood Born.

"Are you not tired of playing the same old card, Fraser? The stone is where it belongs."

My jaw locked into place, the anger pooled into my blood like roaring waves. I could feel my insides beginning to bubble.

I closed my eyes, trying to push my wolf from resurfacing.

Every time I thought of that day and how the blood painted the soil red, I could not help but feel begrudged. The bloodshed could have been stopped. We could have shared the power of the moonstone, and maybe then our defenses would have been strong.

That was how it was meant to be. That was how it was supposed to be. The gift was to both packs and not just theirs. They left us defenseless, and when called upon, they ignored our call.

"I loathe you and your people. All you know is selfishness and hatred. There is nothing that you bring to this world but darkness. You are just as bad as the rogues themselves."

He pressed the dagger against the soft part of my flesh, slicing the skin and causing a sharp sting to radiate through my neck.

The blue in his eyes melted away and the black of his pupils spread. I could see the slight amber peeking through, and I knew that his wolf was fighting to come forward.

I gulped.

I would be lying if I said the thought of facing a full-fledged alpha was not terrifying because it was. When a wolf became a fully realized alpha, they were gifted with enhanced speed, strength, and size. And every alpha carried a special attribute that was their unique power.

Daxton's father was a highly skilled hunter. He had a killer instinct that made him lethal on the battlefield. My father was able to pierce into a wolf's mind without needing a blood connection. Those were some of the rare abilities.

I had no idea about Daxton's, but there was a reason they called him Rogue Slayer.

Daxton leered toward me, his teeth elongating into fangs. "I am nothing like that abomination, do you hear me?"

I held his gaze, not wanting to be forced into submission, but his alpha tone was strong. But I had held onto my strength.

I was no runt. I was an alpha, and I had earned my stripes.

"Learn your place, Alessandra." The way he spoke my name sent shivers up and down my spine. It was a culmination of fear, anger, and intrigue.

There was the logical part of me that knew not to push him further, but then there was the other side to me that wanted to see just how far I could go before he finally snapped.

Daxton looked like he walked around with a stick up his ass. I wanted to see him come undone and lose his control. But was losing my own life in the process worth it?

I held his gaze, not wanting to be the one to break first. The tension in the air grew thicker.

A thin red liquid poured from my neck as he held the dagger against my throat. All he needed to do was apply a little more pressure and I would be done for.

I dared him with my eyes. I wanted to see if he would actually do it.

His eyes glowed, his wolf taking further control.

I was fully prepared for him to do it, but just when I thought that he would slice me right through, he pulled back and dropped the dagger to the floor. He pushed his wolf back, his eyes returning to their normal color.

"We have a meeting to attend, sweetheart." He stepped back.

With those parting words, he turned on his heel and walked down the hall to my father's study, leaving me bleeding and at a loss for words.

If this was how we behaved when we had only met, then I wondered just how catastrophic our marriage was going to be.

Goddess help us all.