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Alpha's Caged Mate I Hate You
Ava awoke to find herself in a strange room. The shiny black lacquered ceiling panels assured her that she was still in the club, but the absence of a diaphanous bed canopy told her that she was not, in fact, in her own room. Ava blinked into the morning light streaming in through the bedroom window and made to sit up. She sighed and seized up, a hand going to her throat. *Goddess*, that hurt.Actually, *everything* hurt. Every muscle in Ava’s body seemed to be screaming at her to *give it up already and go back to sleep!* She paused, taking stock of her various – *numerous *– aches and pains. Her shoulder blades were sore from where she’d laid pressed against the tub’s porcelain floor for too long. She grimaced – so was her back. Her wrists were on fire, and she’d bet her breakfast that she was sporting some gnarly bruises around her wrists, and – she moved a foot – *yep!*, around her ankles, too.Her jaw felt tight and stiff from how it had sat ajar for so long around the ga
Alpha's Caged Mate Long Scar
I fucking hate you, Xavier Michaels. Xavier’s gut clenched at the finality of the words. Ava had said them to him before, but this time was different, and he felt it as sharply as if she’d taken a knife to his chest. Before he’d made a conscious decision to do so, Xavier was out of his chair and standing before Ava’s rigid form. When he reached his hand out to her, this time she didn’t flinch. There was too much fire in her, a fire that he recognized because it matched his own. It was the same inferno that had lit his darker moments for more than a decade. It was also the same inferno that made it impossible to discount the fact that she might be a killer. “Don’t say that to me.” He lifted a hand and brushed a lock of Ava’s auburn hair behind her ear, “Say whatever else you want, but don’t you say those words to me. Not you.” “Who else has earned the right to be over your bullshit then me, Xavier?” She snarled, “What do you care how I feel about you? Or is it
Alpha's Caged Mate Who Gets Her There?
“Are you the one who sent her in there?” Bella’s face went ashen at the dangerous undercurrent in Xavier’s tone. The man they’d kept for questioning hadn’t been as helpful as Xavier had hoped. The terrified human hadn’t bothered to get the name of the girl who’d sent Ava – apparently, she was blonde and liked to play hard-to-get. Which described about a solid third of the club’s employees. With yet another avenue closed to him, Xavier was on a warpath. “Wh– “ It wasn’t often that Xavier found the mistress scrambling for words – the impeccably curated air of aloof control he’d spent his life trying to perfect his entire life seemed to come naturally to the businesswoman.“I had nothing to do with this abhorrent incident, Mr. Michaels. Frankly, I can’t believe that anyone would have the nerve to flagrantly disregard the hard rules of this establishment.” “Then where were your safeguards, Sutton? Your job is to keep the people who work for you safe, is it not?”Xavier
Alpha's Caged Mate Confusions
“What do you *mean*, they were anonymous, Jared?” Bella planted her hands on the desk and slowly rose to her feet, whispers of her Wolfe slipping past her barriers enough for even this dunce human to perceive. Jared leaned back in his chair; eyes wide as he saw evidence of the predator lurking underneath Bella’s skin for the first time. She never lost control of her beast – she was much too disciplined for that. But clearly she’d been too lax, given this human too much of her trust. If the people she entrusted to keep her business running kept blatantly disregarding the delicate balance of rules she’d spent so long establishing, Bella could lose everything. “Tell me, Jared. In what world do we let random civilians off the streets have complete anonymity under our roof. We’re no better than a common brothel, if we can’t keep track of who walks in and out of our doors!” Jared looked frightened, and rightfully so. Anonymity was a privilege reserved only for the highes
Alpha's Caged Mate Interrogating Madison
Bella looked across her desk to where Madison sat rigidly before her. Even now, the girl was determined to force an air of defiance in the wake of the disaster she’d instigated. Bella shook her head in distaste. Not only for the detestable young woman sitting before her, but for the undoubtedly unfortunate circumstances that she was sure had pushed Madison to this point. Bella herself remembered that desolate, desperate climb to the top. Clawing your way up from nothing was never pretty but allowing yourself to become so deadened on the inside was no way to live. Her business wasn’t a pretty one – Bella knew that. But she’d worked herself to the bone to create a place where her workers could do their jobs efficiently, and in relative safety. However, the last few days had made it remarkably clear to her how her mission had begun to crumble right from under her while she’d been none the wiser. Needless to say, there were more than a few holes in her business model that
Alpha's Caged Mate Plead For Your Enemy?
“I’m coming with you,” Ava said firmly. “I want you to take me to him.” Madison bucked in the guard’s grasp, “Haven’t you already made me look bad enough? All you do is make things worse everywhere you set foot.” The cocktail waitress was gearing up for another tirade but stopped dead in her tracks when Ava shot here a chilly glare. “You need to stop talking, Madison.” She muttered, “Quite while you’re behind.” Ava might have felt compelled to intervene on the other girl’s behalf when it came to Xavier, because she knew just how…unhinged Xavier could be.No matter what the motivations were behind his twisted recent sense of affection towards her, Ava knew that there was no way he was going to let Madison get away with what had gone down the other night – if for no other reason than the simple fact that making Ava’s life a living nightmare was his job, and his job alone. But there was no mistake in Ava’s mind when it came to the fuming girl before her – Madison was
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter46 What Do You Want?
“I don’t know what it’s like to have my life not be my own?” His words were low as he finally moved from the desk to stalk toward Ava. Unlike before, when he’d maintained a semblance of respect by keeping his distance, this time he fully crowded Ava’s space. They truly had entered into a new phase of their relationship, because when he stepped in close, Ava didn’t bulk. She stood her ground until they were chest-to-chest, their bodies pressed up against one another. “You think Alpha snap their fingers and get everything they’ve ever wanted?” Ava found herself curiously apprehensive, rather than intimidated as Xavier leaned down until his nose brushed hers, “What if it was you I wanted, Ava?” His breath whispered against hers, and their hearts met each other beat for beat. But this wasn’t like earlier. The mating scent that emanated from them was thick, but cold. The air between them didn’t heat but was laden with an aching sorrow. Inexplicable, Ava felt that the heavy e
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter47 She Is A Monster
Xavier stared up at Ava, where just moments before, she’d been slaking the firestorm raging in his blood. Their bond had deepened, giving Ava glimpses of himself that weren’t meant for anyone’s eyes but his own.He’d balked at the pity in her eyes – at the fact that after all that she’d gone through, she still had it in her spirit to find sympathy for the likes of those who caused her pain. That was something Xavier couldn’t reconcile. The idea of mercy had become so foreign to him, that he still struggled with the idea of forgiving Ava amidst the well of doubt. Vengeance and retribution had become his bread and wine, and the knowledge that Ava could just…move past her own, floored him. Agitated him. So, he pushed her. Because that was what he did. His need to punish Ava had subsided considerably, in its place had come a needling craving to push her boundaries. The dominant in him wanted to see how much she could take and reveled every time she rolled her eyes and talked bac
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Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter150 Keep Calm And Carry On
The helicopters hovered above the arena as long dark ropes unfurled from the gaping voids of their cockpits, and soldiers in white began to descend into the Trial grounds. The largest chopper in the group tilted downward, and Xavier watched in horror as gun turrets descended from the vehicle’s hull.Just as he shouted a warning, it was drowned out by the spray of rapid machine-gun fire that bathed the stands where his people, his allies, his mate stood watching on in bewildered shock. It was a stroke of luck and good fortune that Emmaline and Marnie Adair had insisted on attending the Trial along with several other representatives from their coven.The witches were quick to respond, throwing up glimmering shields that did an excellent job of deflecting the rain of bullets, sending them careening off to join the hundreds of other projectiles currently reducing the two-hundred-year-old structure to little more than kindling.Xavier roared his fury and shifted, sna
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter149 Trial By Fire
The weeks leading up to the next month’s Blue Moon and the Trial by Combat scheduled for that night went by surprisingly quickly and quietly. The calm before the storm.Ava, for her part, spent most of that time talking, getting to know as much as she could about her newfound allies. There was a host of information that the spellcasters and the shapeshifters had to bring to the table; doors that she had never known were there to open. Her analytical tactician's mind was thoroughly stimulated at the influx of new information.She had to be thankful that Marnie and Emmaline’s coven had deemed their cause worth investing their time and resources into. And the Selkies? Ava was under no naïve misconception that their involvement was due to anything less than desperation. It just so happened that desperation was as good a motivator as any.Slowly, ever so carefully, Ava worked with Emmaline, Marnie, and the Selkie diplomats to covertly spread the word of th
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter148 Changing Tides
“The nerve of you is astounding, Adair. What, pray tell, did you think you would accomplish by bringing them here?”The hostile vibe Ava had picked up even from a dozen yards away and through several inches of bulletproof glass somehow didn’t manage to improve by coming into close proximity to the…finfolk? The Selkies, Marnie had called them. People who could turn into seals.It seemed ridiculous, given her own circumstances, that…well, anything really, could surprise her at this point. And, to be fair, it wasn’t the existence of seal people that was currently throwing her for a loop; it was being hit, once again, with the staggering realization of just how little she actually knew about the world around her, her own wider community.And it wasn’t just Ava, either. Through their bond, she could feel Xavier’s mind whirring, struggling to quickly process the new influx of information. Even now, after all this time,
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter147 Give and Take
“Alright, alright, shock aside, this is good for us, right?”“That we’re so out of touch that we didn’t even know that there’s an ancient order of witches ruling the world?” “I’m having a hard time tracking your logic, sweets.”“First, to be clear, the institution is ancient, not the witches,” “Well, save for a few that I can think of, but none that we know personally.”“All that aside,” Ava reiterated through gritted teeth. “We all want the same thing! We came here looking for allies to start a new society, and here you all already have irrefutable proof that our plan has legs.”“In theory,” Emmaline emphasized. “Once again, I feel the need to impress upon you the fact that we have no real insight on the inner workings of these pan-supernatural communities outside of the fact that they exist. Much less whether something of the like would
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter146 Into the Woods
Ava and the Alphas gaped as the two embraced. One female, one woman. One Wolf, the other a human witch. And yet, somehow, they claimed to be sisters. It wasn’t just a turn of phrase or empty words, either. Now that the idea had been spoken, Ava saw the glimmers of recognition solidify into irrefutable shared features between the two.The piercing emerald green of their eyes, the deeply rich, almost black of their hair, even the shapes of their noses and their general bearings were the same.“You’re sisters?” Ava asked.“You’re Alpha?” Liam asked even louder.Emmaline cocked her head to the side in the same bold challenge that Marnie was good for adopting pretty much anytime she found herself speaking with any Wolven male. Ava was beginning to realize that the habit was probably born of more than simply dealing with male bravado.“Why wouldn’t I be?” Emmaline asked, her supple voice thick with saccha
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter145 Grave Crown Rising
“No.”The line went silent as Ava blinked rapidly, her neurons firing at all cylinders struggling to process the fact that her brother had just blatantly shut down such a simple request for information and why on earth that would be.“Excuse me?” She finally asked. “What do you mean no?”“I mean that I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go meddling in Grave Crown affairs,” he said, his voice stern and giving no quarter. That was all well and good that he felt so strongly, but as long as he was also giving her no answers, ‘no’ wasn’t going to cut it for her.“Grave Crown affairs are Alliance affairs, Aiden. You know that,” she replied.Her brother huffed on the other end of the phone – a frustrated sound. “Even if the Alliance still existed, you, I, and everyone else knows that hasn’t been the case in a long time.”“Bullshit,&rdquo
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter144 Witch, Please!
Ava blinked in and out of consciousness as searing pain ripped through her abdomen. Whenever she surfaced, the renewed shock of pain would cause her to take a quick breath inward that would send yet another, even more, intense wave rocketing through her, sending her back into oblivion.It took a couple of tries and several hours for Ava to wake and stay awake; the pain finally dulled to a thrumming ache. When she could finally open her eyes without her eyelids feeling as if they were made of lead, the first thing she saw was Jack’s pensive face hovering over hers.And the second thing she registered, along with an intense sense of déjà vu, was Xavier’s equally pensive face a little ways off, slumped in a nearby chair.“This feels awfully familiar,” she quipped, her dry throat making her joke sound more like a croak.“Really? And to think that I was just beginning to forget what it was like trying to glue you back togeth
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter143 Watch Them Scatter
First came the rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns. Then came the screams.All around her, bodies flew into motion as she stood with her phone gripped numbly in her fist.“Ava,” she heard Noah’s desperate voice faintly through the other end of the line as if through a fog. “Ava, what’s happening? Talk to me! Has it already started, damn it?!”Without a word in response, Ava ended the call with a flick of her thumb, far too thrown by just how quickly the tide had shifted today. Neia hadn’t just crossed a line – she’d obliterated it and re-drawn a new one in her image.Ava sprung into action, doing the first thing that came to mind as she ran to the nearest emergency call button and smashed it. The system was relatively shiny and new, having only been installed after her run-in with those sadistic bastards in room 701.Now, flashing warning lights lit up every hallway in the building. The blaring alarm made it im
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter142 Homecoming
Eight months ago, if someone had told Ava that just the sight of the Green Light Club’s garish neon sign would be enough to make her smile, she would have laughed in their face. Alright, well, she probably wouldn’t have, but she certainly wouldn’t have believed them either.And yet, here she was, grinning from ear to ear, at the prospect of feeling something familiar, even if the majority of her memories of the place were of the variety that was best left forgotten. She was fairly sure that there was probably some sort of clinical diagnosis with a long name used to describe the contextually perverse sense of relief she felt at her first glance of shiny black lacquer and crushed green velvet. Goddess, this place was awful, and she was so glad to be back.Then again, the journey getting back to the club had been fraught enough to make her eager to climb under the first black silk duvet she saw, regardless of the fact that it could never, under any cir
