The Alpha Target

Five

His fiery little rose fell limp in his arms merely seconds after triggering her pressure points. Lucien held her petite frame close to his body, firmly wrapping his arm around her waist as his free hand traced the skin of her cheek. He was practically double her size, yet her confidence made her seem ten-foot taller. Now unconscious, he allowed himself a moment to bask in her mouth-watering scent without the fear of her fighting him off.

He was determined to get to the bottom of why his mate couldn’t feel the bond between them, which started by understanding just who his little rose truly was. He found solace in the fact she was inevitably drawn to him in a way she simply couldn’t explain, he’d noticed it in the way her eyes peered into his and the way her body had reacted to his proximity. Her scent lacked the usual cloud of fear he was used to, instead driving him crazy as he sensed her temptation.

This was good. It was a small win, despite the predicament Lucien had found himself in. He could have told her she was his mate, but - given his reputation - he highly doubted she would have believed his word alone. No, he needed her to feel the need for him all on her own, the same way his need for her burned within him. Moreover, his rebellious mate had lied to his face when he questioned what her reasons for being in his office were. The defiance written across her face only confirmed to him further that she wouldn’t just come out with the honest truth, instead he needed to do his own digging. He allowed himself a final glance at her rare beauty, feeling a tug in his heart as he prepared to say goodbye for now. Just what are you up to, little rose?

Reluctantly, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialled his beta’s number. Emmet answered on the first ring. “My office, now,” Lucien demanded, before hanging up the phone. His beta was useful in more ways than one. Not only was Emmet an incredible warrior, but he also had an act for tracking down any information Knox needed, very quickly.

It couldn’t have been more than twenty seconds before Emmet strode into the Alpha’s office. His eyes widened in suspicion at the sight of his usually stoic Alpha cradling a woman to his chest. Emmet was unsure was to make of it, scratching the back of his thick unruly hair as he waited in apprehension for instructions from Knox. Usually, the beta didn’t have any issue forming a coherent sentence to his best friend, but he’d never found the Alpha in such a compromising situation before.

“This is Cora,” Knox’s gruff voice rumbled. “Find out where she lives and return her home, safely,” he added extra emphasis on the last word. “A single hair out of place and it’s your head.”

Emmet tilted his head and surveyed the Alpha with interest, the corners of his lips quirking. When did his usually merciless friend start caring for a simple girl? He could have left well enough alone, but he decided against it. “And what might be the cause of this sudden heroic trait?”

Knox sighed, stroking his fingers through the girl’s hair. He could have snapped at Emmet and told him to mind his own damn business, but his beta was also his best friend and would find out eventually anyway. “She’s my mate,” he confirmed.

Emmet frowned, it was unusual for mates to separate so shortly after separating. “And you want to return her home?”

“She doesn’t feel the bond,” there was a rare hint of vulnerability in Knox’s voice as he watched the girl in his arms that startled Emmet for a moment, but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared.

“But-”.

“Enough questions, for f**k sake! Just do as your goddamn told and take her home.”

Emmet nodded, deciding not to probe any further right now and took the girl from his Alpha’s reluctant arms, his future Luna. As he turned to head for the door, Knox’s voice ordered him once more. “Report back to me as soon as she is safe, I want to know everything.”

***

Cora woke to Darca and Joni barging through her bedroom door. She frowned deeply and turned onto her side, pulling her sheets over her head in an attempt to ignore her two friends. She usually locked her bedroom door as she slept to avoid these unwelcomed interruptions, but she must have forgotten to do it last night. A second later, Cora felt the sheets cocooning her being yanked away from her body.

“Hey, sleepyhead!” Darca’s voice was laced with irritation. “Care to explain what the hell happened to you last night?”

“Considering she’s still in last nights clothing, I’m going to assume not much,” Joni commented.

Cora sighed, rubbing her tired stinging eyes as one of her friends opened her blinds and let the morning light shine in. In this moment, she hated them. They were officially disowned as her best friends and had been given the title of being her enemies. “Go away,” Cora huffed, covering her head with her pillow as she tried to fall back into a peaceful sleep.

“Not until you tell us what happened!” Darca demanded. “I was worried sick about you, Cora. You can’t just take off like that and then send me a text to say you’ve gone home!” Right now, Cora wanted to strangle them. She just wanted a lay in for once, was that so much to ask? She didn’t think so.

Then, a moment later, Darca’s words registered in her foggy mind. She removed the pillow from over her head and scowled at the agent. “What are you talking about?”

“This,” she huffed, bringing her phone to Cora’s face so she could read the text message. It was a text from Cora’s phone, explaining she had headed back to the HQ. Abruptly, Cora sat up in her bed and grabbed Darca’s phone, rereading the text over and over again.

Her gaze flickered between Joni and Darca as her frown deepened. “I didn’t send that,” she informed them, her eyes now scanning her room for her phone. Spotting it on her dressing table, she lifted the sheet that was still draped across her legs and stood to get out of bed, at least until her eyes landed on the outfit she was still wearing from last night. “Why am I still in this?”

The three of them shared wary glances before Cora sunk back down the edge of her bed. “Let me think,” she told them, holding her face in her hands as she closed her eyes and thought back to last night.

She’d hidden in Alpha Knox’s closet after hearing him suddenly returning to his office, thinking she would be able to stay discreetly in place until he left once again. But he’d known she was there the whole time, carefully watching her as a predator did to its prey before they leaped. He’d been baiting her, allowing her a moment to believe her plan had been successful, before calling her bluff and luring her to face him.

Cora twisted her body to face her two friends. “Knox, he found me in his office when I was placing the bugs.”

Joni’s eyes widened as she and Darca exchanged a look. “Did he see you placing them?”

Shaking her head, relief flushed through Cora. “No, I’d placed them all before he returned.” Including the one she had positioned behind the button of his jacket while she hid in the closet.

“Wait, so how did he find you?” Darca probed.

Cora then told them everything. How she’d hidden in his closet when he returned, how he baited her into thinking her plan had worked before abruptly calling on her, how he questioned her on her reasons for being there in the first place and how, as she was leaving, he’d knocked her out cold.

She purposefully left out the part where he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen, how she’d wanted to climb his incredibly impressive build like her own personal jungle gym and how he’d managed to pull a reaction from her body that even her ex-mate hadn’t been able to accomplish.

There were some details that could be spared, partially because they were not important and partially because even thinking about him was making her flustered, never mind the reaction her body would have if she thought further into said details.

Even her wolf was stirring within her at merely the thought of him, something which only bewildered Cora further. She’d never officially accepted Kai’s rejection, so technically the bastard was still her mate, therefore only he should be the one of interest to her wolf. Yet her wolf had been practically purring at just the sight of Knox. The whole commodity muddled Cora’s mind.

Joni’s concern was written across her face, while Darca pressed her lips into a fine as she thought on the information for a moment. She was the analytical thinker and the problem solver. “So the last thing you remember is being in his office?”

Nodding, Cora sighed. She wasn’t usually so off her guard like that, it was an insult to all of her training that he had managed to so easily knock her out cold – something that had never happened before – but his presence had been so disarming, Cora could hardly think straight. “Next thing, I’m sound asleep and you two marched in like James Bond on a mission.”

“How the hell did he find out this was where you lived?” Joni’s brows drew together, they’d been careful. It shouldn’t even be possible to trace them back to Viper.

“It’s Knox, of course he managed to find out,” Darca twisted her lips, not completely surprised. “I’m more concerned with how he managed to even get in. That’s what should be impossible.”

Cora couldn’t disagree. The Viper HQ ran a ridiculously tight ship when it came to security. From CCTV, motion detectors, facial recognition, armed guards, steel doors, drones and so forth. Whatever security technology one could think of, it was already in place at Viper. It just wasn’t physically possible to get beyond each of those barriers without going unnoticed. Yet somehow, Knox and his men had managed it without a single issue.

“Who the hell is this man?” Joni shook her head, her mind scrambled as she rubbed her temples. A man so terribly attractive even the ancient greek gods were envious, Cora thought.

“And more importantly,” Darca’s eyes flickered to Joni before landing on Cora and gulping, thinking back to Knox’s reputation. “Why aren’t you dead?”

She had no idea.