Chapter 6 Barriers and Battlelines

I sat on the edge of the bed, my eyes fixed on the open window as the last streaks of sunlight bled across the sky in soft oranges and dusky purples. I hadn't slept a wink. Couldn't. My mind had become a battlefield of tangled thoughts and impossible truths.

Everything that had happened over the past twenty-four hours, if it had even been that short, pressed down on me like a mountain. The heaviness in my chest wouldn't lift. The questions wouldn't stop.

I'd been fired and kidnapped. Held in some luxurious prison in the middle of nowhere by a man who called himself an Alpha and said I was his mate, as if that word meant something binding. As if fate had tied me to a man who barely blinked when he tossed me out of my job. Now, I was surrounded by people who spoke in riddles and half-truths. Words like "bond" and "claimed" and "rival packs" echoed through my mind, but none of it made any damn sense. And then, there was the gigantic wolf that had stood outside my window like it knew me. As though it belonged to me... or I to it.

The memory made my arms prickle with goosebumps. I couldn't stay here. I wouldn't. No matter how smooth his words were. No matter how deep that gold in his eyes burned. I refused to let the same man who'd dismissed me in front of a boardroom now play prison warden in a mansion laced with secrets and threats. Sure, my life back home wasn't anything to write about. It was lonely, routine, forgettable. But it was mine, and I'd take my quiet misery over this madness any day.

A loud crash made my heart jump, and the door burst open, banging against the wall. My heart slammed against my ribcage as I jerked toward the sound-and there he was. My nightmare and my daydream, standing like a damn storm in the doorway.

Damian Thorne.

Wearing a black t-shirt, the first three buttons undone, revealing just a sliver of his chest. His sleeves hugged his arms in a way that made my breath catch, and black slacks hung low on his hips. He shouldn't have looked as devastating as he did. He shouldn't have made my chest clench like that.

But then his golden eyes settled on me, and I hated how my pulse quickened. Without thinking, I snatched the pillow beside me and hurled it straight at his face. He caught it calmly and effortlessly, without even flinching.

"Nice to see you too," he said, one brow arching with infuriating amusement.

I gave him my fiercest glare, forcing all the rage, betrayal, and confusion into that one look. If I could've lit him on fire with my eyes, I would have.

"Let me go," I snapped.

"No." His voice was calm and final. Like the matter wasn't even worth discussing.

"Seriously? You kidnapped me," I hissed. "You drugged me. Dragged me out of my life. You had no right! Boss or not."

"You challenged me in front of the board," he said, stepping further into the room, "and something... ancient snapped into place. The bond recognized you before I even understood what was happening."

"Oh, how convenient that you keep saying the same thing over and over," I said bitterly. "You fire me one day, and the next I'm your mate or whatever that word means? That's twisted even for someone like you."

He stared at me for a long, slow moment. "I didn't want it either."

That made me flinch, but I recovered fast. "Then, that's good. Let's both pretend it never happened and you can let me out of this lunatic house."

"You don't understand what this means," he said quietly. "You can't run from the bond."

I laughed bitterly. "Watch me." My gaze darted to the open door. My muscles tensed before my brain even fully registered the impulse. Then I ran. I didn't think. I just sprinted toward the hallway, heart thudding in my chest like a war drum. But before I could cross the threshold, the heavy wooden door slammed shut on its own with a deep, echoing thud that stopped me cold.

I stumbled to a halt, breath stuck in my throat. No one had touched it... I hadn't seen him move. But the door was closed. And behind me, I felt him. The press of something large and shadowed loomed at my back. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might break through my chest.

Slowly, very slowly, I turned to face him. Golden eyes met mine. His expression was unreadable, but the power radiating off him was like a second heartbeat in the room. He stepped toward me. One step. Then another.

I took a shaky step back, but my shoulders met the wooden door, sealing my fate. He didn't stop until the front of my body was nearly pressed against his. His warmth enveloped me like fire on all sides, and my breath stuttered in my lungs. He raised one hand, and braced it against the wall beside my head, caging me in with a single motion.

"You are the most stubborn woman I've ever met," he murmured, voice rough like gravel and smoke. "You'll be the death of me."

"Glad to be of service," I muttered, chin tilted defiantly.

"I'm trying to protect you."

"By locking me in a mansion surrounded by wolves?"

His jaw clenched. "There are things you don't understand yet."

"Then explain them instead of playing alpha caveman."

He didn't answer. Didn't argue. He just leaned in so close I could feel the whisper of his breath against my cheek, it felt warm, electric, maddening. Then he pulled away just as quickly, stepping back and grabbing my wrist. Before I could protest, he led me back to the bed.

"I've asked Maris to assist you with anything you need," he said, voice flat and controlled.

"Gee, thanks. How generous of my captor."

He didn't flinch nor speak. Just turned, walked to the door, and opened it. But before I could make another mad dash, he stepped outside and closed it behind him with a soft click. The unmistakable sound of a lock turning followed. I stared at the door, frozen.

He'd locked me in. The heat that surged inside me was a mix of rage and helplessness. He really thought he could control this. Control me. But I wasn't done fighting. Not even close.