Taken For The Alpha ✔️ - 37 - Wattpad

Taken For The Alpha ✔️

by Midika

YOU ARE READING

Taken For The Alpha ✔️

Werewolf

18+ read at your discretion!
My hands tremble by my sides. "Don't sleep with her..."
He steps toward me, his eyes dark. "Why not?"
"Whatever you were planning to do to her tonight, do it to me instead," I whisper.

Ayah has always been unremarkable in every way other than in the power she wields. Since she was little she has been able to heal even the most fatal of wounds. Because of this, her father has locked her away, keeping her powers safe from the outside world. That is, until a man appears below her balcony, giving her a glimpse into the freedom she could finally have. However, the moment she starts to trust him, he takes her captive, revealing his identity to be a powerful Alpha who needs her to heal his younger sister. But when the girl's illness becomes impossible for Ayah to heal, she is dragged on a journey beside the Alpha to find an amplifier. On the way she learns their connection goes deeper than their heated attraction, to a soul bond neither can deny.

Word Count: 2052

~Ayah

I shuffle into the inn, pulling at the soaking fabric of my clothing as it sticks to my skin.

"I'm cold to my bones," I tell Zaon before pressing my teeth together in an effort to stop them chattering.

Thankfully, a fireplace is lit in the main room, easing the worst of the chill immediately. This place is quaint but lonely. It's an ungodly hour and the only occupant is a half asleep innkeeper who wouldn't be awake for anyone but an Alpha at this hour.

Zaon looks over me, his brows pressing together. "There will be baths, I'm sure of it."

"There better be..." I grumble.

The innkeeper straightens as we approach. I watch him subtly adjust his clothing, immediately succumbing to Zaon's imposing energy.

"Alpha, what a privilege to have you here." He bows so deep I'm tempted to pull him back up off the ground again.

Zaon smiles. "We need three rooms, please."

His eyes widen in what might be pure terror as he looks over me, Zaon and the coachman lingering behind us. Zaon decided not to bring a guard, wanting to limit the amount of people crossing pack lines.

"We only have two rooms available this evening, sir." He looks like he could throw up at our feet. "Both on the top floor."

"That will do. Thank you," Zaon exclaims graciously, glancing at me.

"Only two rooms? Who is sleeping where?" I question as we head up the narrow steps. I ignore the vacant sound of people arguing from a lower room as we walk upward. I'll just be grateful for a bath, at least.

"You may sleep with me." Zaon pauses upstairs, which is only made up of a short hallway and two separate rooms.

I shake my head. Sleeping with Zaon is a dangerous game that I'm not willing to play tonight. I don't trust my judgement around him - especially not considering the thoughts I've been having recently.

"No...absolutely not. You sleep with your coachman," I demand, looking at the poor male who is as soaked to the bone and wary looking as we are.

"Either you sleep in my room, or you sleep in his." Zaon gestures at him with a knowing smile. "The choice is yours."

I shift from foot to foot uncomfortably. I can't sleep with the coachman - I hardly know him.

"I'll sleep on the floor in the hallway." I gesture at the hard ground below me.

"And miss out on a bath, blankets, and a bed?" Zaon raises a sceptical brow. "I'll behave myself, Ayah. I promise."

It's not him I'm concerned about. It's my own limited restraint that is wearing thinner and thinner. But he is right, I'm cold and soaked through, and desperate not to sleep on a floor.

And despite my rampant thoughts, I would rather risk sleeping with Zaon than the coachman.

"Fine. But only because I am desperate for a bath," I mutter.

He unlocks the door and waves me inside. It's a perfectly quaint room with a single window. Outside, the storm continues to rage, and the thin roof makes every droplet well heard.

Zaon cracks open the bathroom door, pushing it wide so I can see the bath. It takes up almost the entirety of the small space, and has a film of dust over the surface. Regardless, I'm relieved to see it.

"Go ahead. You're first," he insists.

I inspect either side of the door, sighing discontentedly. "Do not come in. There is no lock."

He looks over his shoulder at me, a dark smile playing on his mouth. "Alright, Ayah."

Slipping into the bathroom, I close the door. I'm so exhausted, my limbs feeling as heavy as the sodden clothes on my body. As much as I've been keen to travel, I've come to realise that day long carriage rides are insufferable.

Especially when there's a complicated male sitting across from me, who I have no idea how to talk to. Not when getting to know him in any capacity is dangerous for me.

The bath fills slowly from a single tap, the stream spurting and spluttering against the porcelain. I stand, watching it fill while my mind spins and my body wavers.

Eventually, the temperature is satisfying to the touch. With a single glance over my shoulder to ensure the door is still safely closed, I shed off my clothing into a wet slump on the floor and step in.

I sigh with relief as the hot water envelopes my body up to my shoulders.

I clean myself slowly with a thick bar of soap that smells like pine. A hazy film slowly develops as I clean every inch of my skin until I'm warm and smelling clean.

After a long day of travelling, I'm ready to crawl into bed to sleep. My lids are heavy, slowly dropping until they are closed.

I'll just lay here for a few more minutes, then I'll...get...out.

Commotion yanks my eyes open suddenly. Zaon has materialised, seemingly out of nowhere, his hands on my arms, pulling me upward. There is a heaviness at the front of my mind, my eyes blinking to make sense of what is going on.

"Ayah, are you alright?" Zaon asks frantically, his hand still gripped tightly around my arm.

I stare up at him, dazed. His expression is wrought with panic, his bright blue eyes tracing over my face. Did I fall asleep? My hair is completely soaked, hanging around my head in one thick clump.

"Of course I'm alright, you fool." I brush him off, still trying to make sense of what's going on.

He breathes out deeply, visibly relieved. "You fell asleep. I came in and your head was falling into the water."

I blink, a little confused. Then, I realise that any bubbles that may have been in the bath from my soap have long since dissipated in the warm water, leaving me completely exposed if Zaon were to look down.

"I'm naked!" I screech.

"Here." He turns, grabbing a towel from behind himself, putting it into my hands. "I didn't look, I promise. I was too focused on ensuring you didn't die."

I take the towel, straightening in the bath with my knees up. I cover the rest of what is exposed with the towel, the edge skimming the surface of the water.

It's not like Zaon hasn't seen and enjoyed my naked body in the past. Somehow, with all my recent thoughts and feelings, it feels too intimate for him to see me so exposed now.

"You brute. Get out of here," I demand coarsely. "Privacy would be excellent right now."

He immediately steps back, rolling up his wet sleeves. "As you wish."

I wait for him to close the bathroom door behind himself before I clamber out of the bath. It's much chillier out here, and to make matters worse, my hair is wet.

Quickly, I dry myself off, winding the towel over my head before I dress in my night clothes. They are modest enough having to sleep next to Zaon.

He's standing near the window, looking out into the endless dark when I step out, steam drifting around me.

"Thank you...for saving me from drowning myself. I've just been so exhausted," I breathe, rubbing my eyes.

I shouldn't have snapped at him. He didn't deserve that. He was trying to help me. I'm just so sensitive around him these days, having to battle complicated feelings I don't want to address.

He turns back to face me. I can see the fatigue on his face, which I'm sure mirrors mine. He may be an Alpha — so much stronger than anyone like me — but after tonight, he needs his rest.

"I know." He smiles tiredly. "And you're welcome."

"And thank you, for ensuring I wasn't taken by my father's men." I rub my arm. "The thought of going back to that life is unbearable. While I wouldn't be healing my mother any longer, I'm sure he would subject me to something else terrible."

I'm sure he only saved me because of his own motivations, but I feel this way regardless.

"Thank you for trusting that I will give you your freedom when it comes down to it," he says earnestly.

I nod, looking away. I still have my doubts, but I'm slowly beginning to trust Zaon's word. My powers would benefit anyone, but for the first time in my life, I can feel him seeing me beyond them.

"There is a chance when I heal Iris, it will kill me." I cross the room to the bed, sinking down into the foot of it. "But for my freedom, I'll take that risk."

What other choice do I have?

He runs a hand over his jaw, his expression unreadable. For a moment, I thought I may have seen uncertainty, regret on his face. It must be the low lighting giving me that impression.

"Hopefully an amplifier will offer you enough power so you won't be at risk."

"I'm not sure..."

I'm so unfamiliar with my own magic and with amplifiers that I can't be certain one won't kill me. The rock we sourced as an amplifier didn't have enough power, but what if one has too much? What if I can't control how much I draw?

He looks down at himself. "I should bathe. I doubt you want to be sleeping next to someone covered in blood."

I blink, realising I've been so wrapped up in my own head that I forgot he's smeared with dried blood. It cakes his clothes and thickens in his hair.

"No, that would not be pleasant."

He slips into the bathroom, and a moment later, I hear the faucet turn on and the bath begin to fill with water.

I wander over to the window, peering past the view of my own reflection and into the darkness. All around is forest and no civilisation. It's an incredibly isolating feeling, especially since I have no idea where we are.

Cracking the window open a touch, I listen for a moment to the steady pour of rain. A gust of wind weaves through the small gap, blowing at my drying skin.

I shiver. This has been an exhausting day, but right now, I feel strangely alive.

A door breaks from behind me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see the bathroom door has been blown slightly ajar. It doesn't seem as though Zaon has heard over the sound of the bath filling.

I approach, intent on closing it for him until I glimpse his bare back, and then his bare backside.

I pause in spot, right in the centre of the room.

His skin glistens, strong, thick muscle shifting beneath his skin. He's completely undressed, running his fingers through his dark hair while he waits for the bath to complete filling.

My mouth dries. Fuck me.

I back up until the back of my knees hit the bed. I sink down onto it, averting my eyes from the slight gap in the door. I'll just mind my own business.

I keep myself busy, unwinding the towel from my head before using it to rub away at the dampness still clinging to my hair.

Sharing this space with Everin is only becoming more difficult, my skin heating. Risking another glance, I allow myself only a glimpse of his powerful body before my gaze finds the floor again. He's beautiful, and I'm painfully attracted to him.

What would be the harm in sharing one night with him? We've done it before, and I don't feel any worse off for it...

I hear him step into the bath, and I lose him from view. Good. I'm losing my mind being in such close proximity to his naked body.

Flopping down onto my back, I drape my hand over my eyes. This is going to be a long night.