All Chapters of Alpha's Caged Mate: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

*“Murderer…”**“Liar…”**“Traitor!”*Each vile word spat at Ava stung like the cut of a blade, digging deep and slicing her up from the inside out. These weren’t strangers hurling profane slurs at her and glaring at her with such intense hatred in their glowing eyes; these were the people who’d watched her grow up, taught her what it meant to be a Wolf. Now, they bared their fangs at her in rage, the shadow of their inner Wolves threatening to rise to the surface, to come tear Ava apart. These had been her people once, but tonight it was clear they were her enemies.“Burn, you *fucking* traitor!”A rock sailed out of the darkness and caught Ava across the forehead. Ava hissed in a yelp of pain and dropped to her knees.“On your knees where you belong, rogue bitch!” The crowd erupted in a round of raucous cheers seeing the girl felled. The guards holding the lead to her shackles continued on, forcing Ava to stumble back to her feet or risk being dragged through the mud. Determined to

By the time the truck had rolled to a stop, Ava had successfully navigated the extreme sense of panic and dread that had plagued her for most of the sightless ride and settled into a grim determination to face whatever was coming head-on.If she’d learned anything over the last three years, it was that the adaptable ones survive the longest. To make it in the dungeon she’d figured out how to cage the fighter she’d been born to be and cow herself in effort to not draw unwanted attention. She didn’t know what fresh hell these new circumstances would bring, but Ava was ready to re-light her fire, if the opportunity called for it.Even if Mia was still silent.Despite the countless morbid scenarios flitting across her mind, the jagged hole in her…inner self where Mia should be, was an ever-present distraction. She didn’t know what exactly had been done to her to sever their bond, in fact that entire cursed night was a blur. Even as she focused on her memories of a couple nights ago, only

Ava started to sweat, but this time temperature had nothing to do with it. An iron-hard bicep caged her in, pressing her up against a chest like stone. Her nose filled with the scent of cloves and a male’s natural musk, so thick she didn’t need Mia’s heightened senses to catch wind of it.It was all too much. Ava hadn’t been this close to another, hadn’t *touched* another person since Layla had died and she hadn’t felt comfortable doing so for a long, long time before that. After all, the last man who’d touched her ruined her life and the majority of physical touches that came after were intended to make her bleed, put her squarely in her place. So, *this* charged interaction…the sheer proximity to any stranger, but particularly *this* stranger had Ava itching, like she was ready to jump right out of her skin. When the male’s head cocked the side and the very slightest bit of concern started creeping into his unbelievably cocky expression, Ava realized the all-encompassing vibrating

“Get away from the fucking door, Ava.” Xavier growled; heated eyes locked on where her hand was still poised for escape.The reality-bending revelation that she and the male before her were mated, came with abrupt clarity for Ava. At the forefront was the fact that she was now in a far more precarious position that she had been only moments before. Newly mated males were not to be contended with. Right now, Xavier’s body was being flooded with hormones that he had no control over, his primal being and human body fighting through a supernatural alteration to his very DNA. A male was dangerous in this state and Alpha was even more so. It was exceedingly rare, but mates didn’t always make it out of the initial bonding stages unscathed. Ava was sure that the fact that Xavier already hated her wouldn’t help.Never taking her eyes off of the panting male, Ava slowly removed her hand from the door. As soon as her arm reached her side, Xavier’s aggressive posture lessened, but not by much.

The hallway was dead silent as Ava followed Xavier’s imposing frame as he strode onward, navigating the VIP floor with ease. Ava wondered if there were just so few high-baller guests checked in tonight or if Xavier and his hedonistic friends had simply booked out the entire floor. Ava teetered toward the latter when Xavier stopped at another door, seemingly at random, and walked right in.Inside was another suite, nearly twice the size as the last one. They’d walked into a lounge room that, alone, was big enough to host the gathering they’d just left. A supple leather sofa sat in front of an ornate electric fireplace on one wall, while the opposite one held a private elevator finished in dark chrome. Double doors on the far wall led to the bedroom where a massive four-poster bed took up a good portion of the room. Through an open door off the bedroom, Ava caught a glimpse of an enormous claw-foot tub. She scoffed inwardly, thinking about the virtual hole-in-the-wall that doubled as he