Fated To The Alpha (Complete Fated Series collection)

Book 2 Chapter 5

"To get a drink," I lie and he nods, letting me go and snuggling back into his pillow. I wait a few minutes for him to fall back asleep.

I walk to the walk-in grabbing one of Ezra's shirts from the hanger.

"You have drunk too much, Kat. I don't think I can shift. I feel queasy," Kora whimpers. Great, now I have to run. I feel fine though. Grabbing some track pants and a jumper, I slip them on, ditching Ezra's shirt on the floor and sneaking out of the room.

Going down the steps, I forget about the third one, and it creaks beneath my foot. My heart almost stops at the loud noise, made louder by the deafening silence that has fallen over the house. Hearing no movement, I make my way out the back of the packhouse and slip out the back door.

It takes me thirty minutes, longer than last time to get there and I stay for around an hour when my mother tells me to head home because I can’t stop yawning. Trudging back through the woods, we part ways when I am halfway back to the packhouse.

Kora is off, making me wonder if my drinking affects her and not me because I feel completely sober while she feels sluggish. I am nearly home when a twig snaps. I freeze, sniffing the air. My heart is hammering in my chest and Kora stirs nervously as I peer into the darkness.

Kora presses forward sluggishly, and peers out my eyes which enhances my vision a little.“What is it?”

“An animal?” I suggest and keep walking, yet I can't shake the sensation of being watched, nervously I keep glancing over my shoulder and listening for noise, the darkness becomes eerie, and worry starts to freak me out. Maybe this is what I get for torturing Mateo with his fears.

I move quickly and break into a run when movement behind me makes me run faster. Another twig snaps off to the side of me, I spin in the direction I hear it come from, freezing in place.

My eyes dart around between the trees and Mateo steps out into my line of vision. He walks toward me before stopping, his arms are folded across his bare chest and he shakes his head. "I'm sorry Kat, you left me no choice," he apologizes.

I gasp and take a step away from him. "What did you do?" I whisper. Fear has me by the throat and I swallow hard, trying to bite down the panic clawing its way through my body.

I already know.

I take a step back from him when I notice the footsteps behind me. Slowly, I turn around and Ezra walks out from amidst the trees.

I feel like I've just been punched in the gut. His eyes are blazing and I know this won't be solved easily. I glance back at Mateo. He leans against a tree, studying me before he glances back at Ezra.

"I didn't want to believe him, told him he was wrong." Ezra scoffs and shakes his head. "Clearly, I am the one who is wrong for trusting you." He snarls at me.

Tears sting my eyes. Mateo had betrayed me. How had he even known?

Ezra stomps over and reaches for me, but I jerk away from him, making him growl.

"Kat?" Mateo calls my name, his arms dropping to his sides. He takes a step toward me.

"Save it, Mateo! You're supposed to be my friend!" I snarl the words. I still can't get over that he told Ezra about this.

His words are soft at first, but the more he speaks the harder they become. "I am always your friend Kat, but you are also my Luna. My job is to keep you safe. To keep Ezra safe and I can't do that if you are running off into the woods every night. My job is to protect you, even if it means protecting you from your own poor choices," Mateo snaps at me.

I choke, the tears spilling down my cheeks. I feel cornered, Ezra reaches for me, his fingers wrapping around my arm gently. "Have you shifted out here?"

I don't say anything. Instead swallow and am about to say no.

"Don't lie to me," Ezra says and Mateo steps forward, holding out something.

"I was going to give this to Ezra tomorrow, hoping I was wrong and that it was from the night you shifted, until I felt you climb out of bed. You lied to me, Kat. I nearly had a heart attack when I woke up and you weren't back from getting a drink," Mateo scolds.

He passes it to me and I look down at it, to find it is a photo of me with my mother's wolf, me also in my wolf form.

"You put yourself at unnecessary risk, Kat," Ezra growls, his grip on my arm tightening.

"Where did you get this?" I ask, looking at Mateo, my brows furrowed.

"Jackson’s men." He spits and I hang my head.

Fuck!

I shrug off Ezra's hand, and he jerks me to him. "I am trying to hold it together right now, Kat, but I suggest you start walking home," he growls.

My eyes dart to Mateo and he looks away, unable to meet my gaze. I sniffle before pressing my lips together and walking ahead. Both Ezra and Mateo follow behind me. Getting to the house, I know I am in some deep s**t. I still can't understand why Mateo betrayed me and involved Ezra in all this. Why not just confront me directly?

Stepping inside the packhouse, I have the overwhelming urge to run.“Kat, I’m sorry but you can’t be out in the woods alone,” Mateo says, grabbing my arm, he pulls me to him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders while I try to push him away as Ezra shuts and locks the back door. “I will never do something to hurt you, Kat, but I can’t always be your friend. Not when you do something as dangerous as leave without telling anybody,” Mateo whispers, before kissing my forehead.

I growl at him.

“Don’t be pissed off at him. He is only doing his job. You brought this on yourself,” Ezra growls back at me from where he was watching us from the doorway. He nods to Mateo and he lets me go.

I walk upstairs noticing all the lights are on and flick them off. Mateo’s bedroom light is on and I know he is too chicken to sleep with it off as I walk toward our bedroom.

Ezra silently follows behind me, and his silence is almost worse than his raging fury. At least when he is screaming I know what is going to happen. His silence feels lethal, deadly and if I couldn’t feel the raging storm brewing within, I wouldn’t have realized how angry he is at me.

I walk into the room, getting into bed and Ezra waits by the door before Mateo passes him something. My stomach drops when Ezra closes the door, and he walks over to me with a set of handcuffs in his hand.

“You can’t be serious?” I whisper, sitting up.

“I can’t have you running around while I sleep. Don’t argue with me and be happy this is all I am doing right now.”

“Happy? You want to handcuff me!” I yell at him, as he cuffs one to his wrist before reaching for my hand. I jerk it away from him.

“It's better than the alternative.” He snarls, pushing me to the center of the bed.

“And what’s that, Ezra? Are you going to let Maddox have me? Put me in my place?” I spit at him when he grabs my face. His canines slip out as he partially shifts.

“Don’t f*****g tempt me,” he whispers, his grip loosening as his eyes flicker. He rubs his thumb below my eye before letting out a breath and pressing his forehead to mine when the cool metal presses against my skin as he locks the cuff in place.

“Just go to sleep,” he orders, letting go and laying down beside me. He pulls on the cuff, forcing my arm around him and making me lay with my head on his chest. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“You wouldn’t let me see her.”

“With good reason too." His body trembles beneath me as he fights to keep Maddox at bay. After a while, it stops. “I won’t have you running off, if you want to see her, take Mateo with you, I don’t trust myself not to kill her,” he says, kissing my head before he reaches over and turns the lamp off. “Now go to sleep.”