My Fated Alpha's Cruel Game (Elena and Marcus) novel Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Chapter 2 Bound in Shadows

Elena’s POV

The word hung between us like smoke.

He didn’t flinch. He didn’t rise. He set his pen down with the same care a man uses to close a coffin.

“Sit.”

“No.”

His jaw tightened. “Sit, Elena.”

My name in his mouth did something terrible to my insides. Tara keened, a high, broken sound that vibrated under my skin. I gripped the chair harder and stayed standing.

“How long have you known?”

He leaned back. The leather creaked. His green eyes raked over me, slow, clinical, like he was pricing a horse.

“Long enough.”

“That’s not an answer.”

A muscle jumped in his cheek. “Six years.”

The floor tilted.

“Six,” I repeated.

“I was eighteen. You were twelve.” His voice didn’t change. No apology. No softness. “I caught your scent at a pack gathering. I followed it. I saw a scrawny child with scraped knees and a dead father’s name.”

“So you walked away.”

“I walked away.”

My hands were shaking. I pressed them flat against the back of the chair so he wouldn’t see.

“My father died for yours.” My voice came out thinner than I wanted. “He bled out on a battlefield protecting your father. And you let us starve. You let my mother work until her hands crack. You knew what I was to you, and you still—”

“Sentiment.” He said it like a slur. “Your father did his duty. That’s what warriors do.”

“He was your mate’s father.”

“You were not my mate yet.”

The sound I made wasn’t quite a laugh.

He stood. God, he was tall. Taller than me, which didn’t happen often. He came around the desk slow, buttons gleaming, and stopped just close enough that the cedar scent curled into my mouth. Tara threw herself against my ribs so hard I almost gasped.

He’s in pain too, she whined. Look at his face, Elena, look—

I didn’t look.

“Here is how this will go,” he said quietly. “I will not reject you.”

Relief tried to rise. I crushed it.

“That’s not mercy.”

“No. It isn’t.” His mouth curved, bitter. “The Peak Goddess does not forgive insulted bonds. A formal rejection would bring ruin down on this pack. Crops. Children. Warriors. I will not gamble the lives of my people on the pride of one girl.”

“Then acknowledge me.”

“Absolutely not.”

The words came flat. Final.

“You are ranked below the omegas, Elena. Your family is a cautionary tale in this pack. I will not stand in front of my people and tell them the Moon chose you to be their Luna. They would laugh. My alliances would crumble.”

“So I’m nothing.”

“You’re a problem I am solving.”

Tears burned. I refused them. I had not cried in front of this man as a child, and I would not start now.

“Here are the rules,” he continued, like he was reading a grocery list. “You speak to no one of this. Not your mother. Not a friend. No one. You will not approach me in public. You will not touch me. You will not let another male touch you.”

“And you?”

His eyes flickered.

“I will continue as I have. Viviana stays. She is useful. Her uncle’s territory borders ours.”

“Your girlfriend.”

“My artificial girlfriend.”

“You expect me to live like this.” My voice rose. “Watching you with her. Feeling it. Every time. Pretending—”

“You will adjust.”

“I won’t.”

“You will.”

I stepped back from the chair. My knees had stopped shaking somewhere along the way. A cold, clean fury was taking their place.

“I graduate in a few months.”

“And?”

A faint smile. Not kind. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify