Page 4 of Chained By the Alpha (Claimed Duet #1)

I curse, hitting my knee on the table. Great, why am I involved? I’m nearly tossed to the ground, at the force of which my father grabs me and pulls me up beside him. My chair tips over, and I stumble over the top of it. A menacing snarl leaves Alpha Zayn’s lips.

“Samuel, would you enlighten this old fool,” Alpha Zayn growls. My father stops, his grip on my arm becoming crushing.

Now I wish I had paid attention. My father never puts his hands on me, so something has gotten under his skin for him to grab me like this.

Alpha Samuel shrinks in his seat as my father’s gaze turns to him.

“What he says is true. I haven’t had the numbers after the last attack. I asked Alpha Zayn to patrol the pack’s borders,” he explains, looking embarrassed.

Alpha Samuel’s pack is the second largest and typically handles the city’s protection and border patrols. That is what my father pays him for: his protection.

“Excuse me? I pay you every fucking month,” my father spits at him, but it is Alpha Zayn who answers.

“Now, you pay me. So sit down and unhand your—” he pauses, looking me over, having lost his train of thought.

“My daughter, Cleo,” my father answers. The Alpha nods once, his eyes on my father’s hand that is still locked onto me in a death grip. What is going on here?

“I know who she is.”

My father growls, and I cry out as his grip crushes my arm. The other Alphas stare in shock. Alpha Zayn’s eyes blaze, a snarl on his lips.

“Dad,” I plead. “Let go! What’s going on? What are they talking about?” I say, feeling like there’s something big I’m missing.

“Let her go,” Zayn commands, voice holding a deadly lilt. “You’re hurting her.”

My father blinks, glancing down at the bruises and scratches already forming on my skin where his claws had slipped out and scratched me. Horror floods his face, and his hand falls away.

My cheeks burn. I am embarrassed as my father releases his grip on my arm, the intensity of it leaving behind the clear outlines of his fingers.

“Cleo? Crap, I’m sorry, sweetie,” he apologizes, the tone of his voice changing abruptly from venomous to remorseful. I feel like some prize or trophy, one he nearly damaged with his careless actions and temper.

“I’m fine. Just leave me,” I whisper, trying to hide my humiliation from him and the others in the room.

Swatting his hand away, I sheepishly try to hide the bruises on my arms. I’m acutely aware of the attention being placed on me as the weight of their gazes bears down on me.

I refuse to look at any of them. Instead, I focus on keeping my thoughts and emotions in check, remembering the countless lessons I have learned about controlling my reactions.

“Now, sit down. We must finish. I haven’t got time for another meeting later,” Alpha Zayn snaps. My father’s head whips in his direction.

“You are all fools, giving this lunatic control of the city and our packs,” my father says through clenched teeth at Alpha Samuel, before turning to glare at Alpha Zayn. “Shove your protection up your ass. I will not bow to the likes of you!” he glares at the Alpha before tugging me from the room.

“Dad!” I hiss, still confused about what’s going on. Even I know the importance of having those patrols.

“We need his help,” I grit out, but he isn’t hearing it. Instead, he rips me away from the meeting room and moves toward the stairs leading to the restaurant.

“Dad!” I snap when we reach the bottom and are out of earshot.

“No, Cleo, I am not leaving my pack in the hands of that monster,” he rumbles, stopping so abruptly I slam right into his back. He grips my shoulders and looks at me with a sigh and drops his head.

“Look, one day you will understand, for—” Sirens suddenly go off, ringing from everywhere. My dad straightens, his eyes dart around as the sirens grow louder, signaling the city is under attack. My eyes widen, as people panic and screams ring out from outside. My father shoves me behind him.

“Cleo, go, find somewhere to hide!” My father screams before shifting into his huge gray wolf.

My heart beats like a drum, panic, and fear filling me.

I take off only to be knocked down by the stampede of panicked humans.

I crawl to a nearby table, and duck under the tablecloth, when the windows all around suddenly shatter.

Gunshots ring out, and the roars and growls only get closer and louder.

“Cleo, run!” my father screams through the mindlink when a giant malt-colored wolf upturns the table. I scream, scrambling back on my hands and knees, only for my father’s wolf to attack the other. Turning, I try to get to my feet when teeth rip into my arm, sending jarring pain through me.

My scream echoes through my skull as the beast shakes its head violently, flinging me toward the kitchens.

My body flies through the air, and I crash heavily on the floor.

Groaning, I scramble to get to my feet, and slip on the tiled floor that is drenched in blood.

Bodies are strewn across the restaurant floor, and I run for the kitchen doors just as I am tackled to the ground—another wolf upon me.

The wolf’s teeth tear into my thigh, and this time, when I hear my father’s panicked voice ring out, I know he has shifted back to find me.

“Dad!” I scream for him.

“Samuel, get to Cleo!” I hear his gurgled cry from another room before I hear the snapping of bones again.

I kick out, trying to get the wolf mauling me off while keeping my arms over my head, knowing if he gets to my neck, I am gone.

Claws rake down my sides, and I scream in agony as the wolf drags me closer.

I thrash, screaming and kicking when his weight is suddenly gone from on top of me.

I gasp, only to see a massive black wolf standing over the rogue that attacked me.

The rogue now lies dead at his feet. I crawl back on my hands and feet, my leg throbs as my blood spills onto the floor, mingling with the rest of the bright red stains.

I shriek when I notice another rogue lunge at my face, only to stop midair when the black wolf mauls it.

I try to escape, but I am now caught beneath the black wolf.

He takes down the rogue, and I clutch his fur, wondering which Alpha it is because I haven’t seen this wolf before.

He doesn’t snarl as I use his body to pull myself out from under him so I can stand.

The wolf sniffs my leg and whimpers, more rogues spill in through open windows.

The wolf snarls, spins on his feet before snapping his teeth at me, telling me to run without the mindlink.

I don’t need to be told twice. I clamber to my feet, ignoring the pain and run toward the kitchen to find somewhere to hide, catching glimpses of rogues everywhere.

They are going to kill everyone, there are too many.

Sliding along the floor, my leg throbs to its own beat, and my arm gushes blood when four rogues come into the kitchen from the other end.

I come to a halt before spinning, only to find my exit is now blocked, and I am surrounded.

“Cleo where are you?” my father calls through the mindlink.

“Dad, I’m…” a snarl pulls me from the mindlink.

“Hold on, Bub, I’m trying to get to you!” he calls back, while my gaze tracks the movement of the wolves surrounding me.

Glancing around, I grab a knife off the counter, trying to watch them as they stalk toward me. The one at the exit I just came in from charges at me, and my eyes fly wide, a shriek leaving my lips when it, too, is attacked, mere inches away from me.

The huge black wolf from before starts ripping it to shreds and knocking me out of the way before the other four join the fray, trying to kill him.

Scrambling back on my hands and feet, I turn, looking for a way to escape, when I see one wolf tear into the black wolf’s hind leg.

Panic ripples through me at the sight, the black wolf is the only thing keeping me alive.

I stare at my hand and remember the knife.

Getting on my hands and knees, I scramble to my feet.

I rush toward the one ripping at his rear leg while two try to get at him from the side, the other dead on the ground.

I plunge the knife into the filthy gray wolf.

It rears back and snarls, then wheezes when I pull the knife out just as quickly.

Only it doesn’t kill him. It only to piss him off.

Panic rushes through me as he stalks toward me.

The black wolf is busy mauling the other two when more come in.

By the time I turn back, it is too late.

The wolf pounces and tears into my shoulder, knocking me backward.

I scream, pain flooding through me, and the sound rings out loudly as it shakes its head.

Teeth tear through my flesh easily when it lets go. I groan, rolling on my side. Blood coats the floor, making it slick as I try to drag myself away.

I crawl toward the huge walk-in freezers and grab the handle, attempting to rip it open.

The savage fighting grows louder, and I hear their bodies drop just as more come crashing into the kitchen.

They knock the steel benches over and send utensils flying.

The black wolf that saved me is now severely outnumbered and surrounded as he puts himself between me and them.

Yet, no matter how many spill into the kitchen, he keeps attacking them with surprising finesse.

Although, he’s slowing down, limping and bleeding in several places.

I feel powerless, unable to shift, and of no use to him.

All I can do is watch and slowly back up, watching them intently.

Who is this mysterious wolf? And why hasn’t he abandoned me to save himself?