Page 22 of The Alpha Under My Bed (The Chosen #1)

Twenty-Two

ELEANOR

I needed to run.

Every instinct screamed at me to stay—to turn back, to crawl into Mal’s bed and let him drown me in his scent until my mind stopped spinning. My body ached for it, my bones vibrating with the desperate pull of the bond. But I couldn’t.

I wouldn’t.

I shoved my trembling legs forward, forcing them to move, ignoring the searing protests of my muscles with every step. I was sore in ways I’d never felt before—utterly wrecked, my body unraveling at its core. Mal had made sure of that. But the physical pain was nothing, nothing compared to the storm tearing through my mind. The raw, burning betrayal split my chest open, raw and jagged, leaving me breathless.

My heart pounded against my ribs, a frantic rhythm that matched my ragged breaths as I stumbled toward the door, throwing on the first clothes I could find, my hands shaking too much to steady myself.

My vision blurred, edges of my world swimming in and out of focus, everything too sharp, too overwhelming. The apartment smelled of him, of us , of the bond we’d forged in the dark. It clawed at me, whispering that I was making a mistake—that I was running from something inevitable. I clenched my teeth, yanking open the door with more force than necessary. The cool air of the hallway bit at my skin, too hot with the burn of my emotions.

I wasn’t making a mistake. I was saving myself.

The elevator was too far. I needed the stairs. I took them two at a time, my breath coming too fast, my legs trembling as I forced myself downward, step after shaky step. The closer I got to the exit, the louder the bond screamed inside me, tugging at something deep, warning me that I was leaving something vital behind.

I ignored it.

I hit the lobby at a full sprint, barely registering the shock in the doorman’s eyes as I flew past him. I couldn’t stop. Not now. The city swallowed me whole the second I stepped outside, the cool night air sharp against my sweat-slicked skin, slicing through the fog of Mal—of everything I needed to escape. The scent of gasoline and damp pavement hit me like a slap, grounding me, breaking through the lingering haze of him.

I gasped for air, my lungs burning like I’d been drowning.

Where do I go?

I had no plan. No direction. Just the instinct to keep moving. To put distance between us.

I turned down a side street, my mind racing, desperate for an escape. I could find a hotel. A friend. Hell, I could disappear. But even as I thought it, the bond pulsed again—loud, furious, impossible to ignore. A visceral reminder that Mal would find me. He always found me.

I squeezed my eyes shut for half a second, shaking my head against the thought. No. Not now. Not yet.

A car rolled up beside me, the tires on wet pavement making my skin prickle. I barely noticed it at first, too lost in my panic, my mind spiraling.

Then a voice—too familiar, too casual, too wrong—cut through the night.

“Ellie? Jesus, are you okay?”

I whirled too fast, my head spinning, my pulse pounding in my ears. The streetlights cast a hazy glow over the sleek black car idling beside me, the tinted window rolled down just enough to reveal Claudia.

I stared at her, my breath still ragged, body trembling, the bond still tugging—tight, insistent, furious.

She tilted her head, her brows knitting in careful concern. “You look like hell, sweetheart.”

I swallowed, my throat dry, my limbs sluggish, my mind too fogged to think clearly. She was familiar. A tether to something outside of Mal. A lifeline when everything else felt like it was closing in.

“I—” My voice cracked, fingers twitching at my sides. I didn’t know what to say.

Her frown deepened as she reached over, opening the passenger door with a smooth motion. “Come on, let me take you somewhere safe. You shouldn’t be out here like this.”

Somewhere safe.

It was a lie. I should have known it was a lie.

But I was exhausted. Broken. And I didn’t think.

I stepped forward.

And then I got in the car.

As soon as I sank into the seat, a sharp pain exploded in my thigh.

I gasped, jerking forward, hands flying to my leg. A needle. Thin, metal, cruel.

My head snapped up, just in time to see Claudia’s grin, wild and too wide.

“Oh, wow.” She laughed, breathless, a twisted excitement in her voice. “I never thought I’d actually use one of these on someone. Man, what a fucking rush.”

She pressed the plunger.

A searing burn flooded my veins, too hot, too fast. My entire body reacted—jerking, thrashing—but I could barely move. My fingers were numb. My head spun, fast, relentless, disorienting.

No. No, no, no?—

“Shhh, sweetheart.” Claudia’s fingers tightened around my throat, just enough to feel mocking. “Don’t fight it. Just let it happen.”

The world tilted, spinning out of control.

The bond— raging .

Mal’s anger slammed into me like a freight train—snarling, furious, distant. Too distant.

Claudia yanked the empty syringe from my leg, clicking her tongue. “Wow. That kicked in fast. Didn’t think I got the dose right.”

I tried to lift my arms. Failed.

Tried to speak, but my tongue was thick, heavy. My lungs struggled to drag in air, my body slowing.

Distantly, I felt fingers—Claudia’s—stroking my hair.

“You poor thing,” she murmured, almost affectionate.

The world swam.

My body slumped.

I fought to keep my eyes open, fought against the pull of whatever the fuck she had pumped into me. But it was a losing battle.

I woke to the scent of bleach and sterile plastic.

The air was cold—too cold. It pressed against my skin, licking at my arms, my legs, my throat. My head pounded, sluggish and disoriented, my limbs heavy. I tried to move.

I couldn’t.

Restraints.

Thick, unyielding straps dug into my wrists and ankles, pinning me to a cold, unforgiving metal surface. My heart hammered in my chest, panic rising like a tidal wave, slamming against my ribs with each frantic pulse.

No.

No, no, no, no.

Memory crashed into me in jagged, disjointed fragments—Claudia, the alley, the needle. The way my body had betrayed me, failing me when I needed it most.

My breath hitched, sharp and shallow. I flexed against the restraints, testing them again—desperate to break free—but they didn’t give. Not even a fraction.

I forced my eyes open, the harsh light searing my vision.

Bright. Blinding. Fluorescent. The hum of the overhead lights buzzed faintly, reflecting off the sterile white tiles that lined the walls. A lab. A fucking lab.

The air was thick with the acrid scent of chemicals—sharp, stinging. But beneath that, a smell I knew all too well.

Acrylics. Perfume.

Claudia.

A surge of panic lashed through me, violent and raw.

She drugged me. She fucking took me. What the hell does she want from me?

I yanked at the straps again, my arms straining, my legs jerking in futile resistance. The sedative still buzzed in my veins, dulling my senses, weakening my limbs, keeping me docile and trapped in this nightmare.

Movement.

A shadow crossed the room—long, slow. A laugh. Soft, sweet, but manic, like something just under the surface was snapping.

Claudia.

She stepped into my line of sight, grinning that same sickening smile. She was still dressed in her work clothes—her beige blouse pristine, the pencil skirt hugging her body like she hadn’t just fucking kidnapped me.

“Oh, good. You’re awake,” she purred, her voice almost mocking in its sweetness.

I bared my teeth, rage bubbling up like a burning fire. “Let me the fuck out of this chair.”

Claudia’s smile only widened, a dark, knowing curve of her lips. “Oh, sweetheart,” she cooed, her voice syrupy with false comfort as she clicked her tongue. She paced beside me, trailing her fingers along the cold metal of the table, as though she were admiring a piece of art. “You don’t even know why you’re here yet.”

My stomach twisted in dread, my pulse spiking.

I yanked harder at the restraints, every muscle straining, desperate to break free, to fight back, to do anything but lie there like a helpless, discarded doll. “What the fuck do you want from me?”

Claudia hummed, her head tilting as if considering a puzzle. Then she leaned down, her breath hot against my ear, her voice low and dangerous.

“I need what you have.”

Ice. Pure ice slid down my spine, freezing me from the inside out.

Claudia straightened, reaching into her pocket with a smooth, practiced motion. She pulled out a small vial—glass, delicate, filled with liquid. The color was a light gold, almost glowing, and the texture of it seemed thicker than anything that should have been in a tiny bottle like that.

My throat went dry as the reality of what she was holding settled in.

No.

No, no, no.

Claudia twirled the vial between her fingers, watching it catch the light. “You know, I spent years perfecting scents. I can make a beta smell sweet like an omega.” She sighed, lifting the vial higher, admiring it. “But this? This is the last missing piece. With you, I can make alphas believe that a beta is an omega.”

My blood turned to ice.

I struggled, twisting against the bonds, but my limbs were still weak—still too fucking slow.

Claudia gave me a mocking pout. “Oh, don’t struggle, sweetheart. You’ll just waste your energy.”

I bared my teeth, snarling. “You can’t bottle fucking pheromones.”

Her eyes gleamed. “Not yet.”

Pure, suffocating horror choked me.

She leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper, like she was letting me in on a secret. “But don’t worry. We have time to figure it out.”

The world spun.

The humming bond inside me reacted—flaring, snarling. Mal. His fury coiled hot and sharp through the connection, but he was too fucking far.

I was alone.

And Claudia wasn’t done.

She turned, striding toward a tray of gleaming tools. Needles. Syringes. A scalpel. A fucking IV drip.

My stomach lurched.

“You see, sweetheart,” she went on, too casual, too light, like we were just having a normal fucking conversation. “Your body is… unique. I had all these test samples, all these theories, but synthetic pheromones? They never worked quite right.”

She turned back to me, her smile sharp. “But you? You’re the real deal.”

I yanked at the restraints so hard my wrists burned.

“I’ll fucking kill you,” I spat, breath ragged, my entire body shaking. “I swear to fucking God?—”

Claudia sighed, pressing a hand to her chest like I had wounded her. “Ellie, Ellie, Ellie,” she tsked. “You keep acting like you have a choice.”

I clenched my teeth, every muscle in my body screaming for me to move. To fight. To do anything.

She smiled, slow and triumphant. “But you’re already mine.”

And then?—

The needle sank into my skin.

Heat slithered through my veins, coiling at the base of my spine, unfurling low in my belly like an ember catching fire. My limbs felt heavy, my skin too sensitive, my breath coming in slow, uneven gasps. Something was wrong. So fucking wrong.

My head lolled to the side, my cheek pressing against cool, slick vinyl. Sweat dampened my skin. I was hot. Too hot. My body hummed with something I didn’t understand, something I couldn’t fucking fight. I tried to move, to breathe, to do something—but nothing responded the way it should have.

The restraints were gone.

That should have sent relief crashing through me, should have sparked some primal instinct to flee, to run—straight for the fucking door. But I couldn’t move.

My body felt like liquid. Heavy, slow, melting under the weight of something I couldn’t fight. My muscles were slack, unresponsive, like they had been drained of their will, sinking deeper into something dark and suffocating—something inescapable.

A sluggish, lethargic pulse throbbed through my veins, deep and unnatural, as though every beat was dragging me further under, pulling me into a pit where I couldn’t see, couldn’t think, couldn’t escape.

I wanted to scream, to fight, but the air felt thick, suffocating—like it was pushing me down, smothering me. My mind screamed at my body to act, but it just wasn’t listening. The fear that should have been razor-sharp was dulled, muted, like I was already sinking into some kind of void where nothing felt real anymore.

I cracked my eyes open, my vision swimming as my world tilted. Claudia sat a few feet away, legs crossed, watching me with sharp interest, her gaze lingering like I was some fascinating little experiment. She smiled, slow and satisfied, her manicured nails drumming lazily against the armrest.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Claudia sighed, leaning forward. Her perfume was suffocating, sickly sweet. “You’re fighting it, aren’t you?”

I bared my teeth, but even that felt sluggish. My body wasn’t mine. It was too hot, too slow, too fucking wrong. I forced my fingers to move, curling them into the slick vinyl beneath me. Pushed. Shoved. But my limbs felt like they were wrapped in chains, every movement too weak, too slow, too late.

Claudia’s eyes gleamed. “That’s good.”

I tried to tense, tried to summon even an ounce of strength to fight her, but the slow pulse in my core deepened, my thighs pressing together on instinct. A sick thrill flickered through Claudia’s expression.

No.

Oh, fuck no.

I forced my muscles to work, tried to push myself upright. My legs trembled, my breath hitched—but I moved. My body wasn’t completely lost to whatever the fuck she’d done to me. Not yet.

Claudia tsked, shaking her head like she was disappointed. “You’re stronger than I thought.” She leaned back in her chair, gaze flickering over me in appraisal. “You know, I was so sure I’d have to kill you when this was over.”

Ice slammed through me.

She smiled. “But look at you. I could make so much money off you.” She gestured vaguely, like she was picturing something. “An omega who can be forced into heat on command? That’s valuable, sweetheart.”

My stomach twisted violently. She forced me into heat.

White-hot panic lashed through me. Move. Move. Move.

My legs buckled, but I lunged—my body slow and weak, but not broken. I barely made it two steps before Claudia sighed?—

And something slammed into the back of my skull.

Stars exploded across my vision. Pain lanced through me. My knees hit the tile.

Darkness clawed at the edges of my mind, but I fought it, my body trembling, my breath ragged.

A shadow loomed over me. A hand gripped my hair, yanking my head back. My neck wrenched, and before I could blink, Claudia was crouching in front of me, her nails digging into my chin, forcing my dazed, blurry eyes to meet hers.

She smirked.

“Let’s begin.”