In the Alpha’s Arms

Dinner Date?

Lita could barely make it up the stairs to her apartment, drenched in sweat with every muscle in her body screaming. Gymhead, who turned out to be named Alex, had insisted she run a set of circuits so he could evaluate her. To say she was weak was to state the obvious. And he intended for her to know it, in fact, he seemed to intend for everyone to know it by making her do the circuits in the middle of the room, for all to see. She didn’t care what anyone thought about her, but she could feel those dark eyes from across the room.

She struggled badly on the circuits. Being weak and sweating like a sauna, she dropped the weights a lot and after only two iterations of the circuit, Alex had demanded she stop embarrassing herself. It was only then that she felt the penetrating gaze of the mysterious man leave her. Alex’s satisfied expression said it all, he wanted Lita to quit. She’d already paid and now all he wanted her to do was go, and to never set foot in the gym again. But she had no plans to concede.

She fished into her bag for the apartment key, suppressing the groans she felt in her throat at the muscle movement. Suddenly, the door to her apartment burst open, and the angry face of Brian stared back at her.

“Where the hell have you been? And why do you look like death warmed over?” he growled, pulling her roughly into the apartment. Lita felt the familiar cold shivers down her back. She was in trouble. Brian had been her boyfriend for the last year and a half. He was a family friend, the son of a wealthy business partner in her father’s firm. And during her last year of high school, he’d come in and swept her up in his mystique. But they were on a break, not that it stopped him from exercising his control over her every second of every day. She mentally counted the fresh bruises on her forearms. The ones Alpha had seen. Brian’s touch seemed to only ever spell disaster anymore.

When they both got into Stanford: her in undergraduate and he, in the master’s program, Lita’s parents put her in the same apartment building as him. They gave him a key to her apartment for safety, one of the many safeguards they’d put in place to monitor Lita while she was away from home. She would tolerate it if it meant she could finally leave the nest.

“Where the hell have you been all day?!” he hollered again, edging her closer to the island with his imposing form. She turned to slink away, depositing her purse onto the island, readying her lie for him.

she made herself as small as she could.

forever. He was handsome, clever, rich, and older. Old enough to be more established in the world and old enough that all the girls in school had gushed when he would come to pick her up. She felt wanted and desirable and lucky. God, she felt so lucky because he was a catch and her mother pegged him

you’re so lucky he doesn’t mind

an

have thought he’d be interested in you, dear. Aren’t you

been. She hadn’t

offered, ignoring her hesitation and smiling in a way that

edge. He was warning her not to say no. She hated it, hated the way it made her feel insignificant and scared. What she wouldn’t give to never feel scared again. She hesitantly pulled

was very much anyone’s type, with a moderate build, perfectly cut short brown hair, friendly eyes, and strong, symmetrical features. She’d always had a crush on him growing up. Sometimes, when he’d show up to her parent’s house early in the morning, with his messy hair and glasses, she would feel like a puddle of hormones. And spend the next week or

that way. She wasn’t innocent and idealistic anymore. Now she really knew him. Now she was thankful he gave her

herself get caught up. These moments weren’t the dangerous ones. These were the nice ones. When he looked at her as if she were the only girl in the world. When he made every fiber of her being believe that he could change. And maybe he could.

second she let her guard down, word would get out to Brian about what she was planning, and her life would end. All the lengths she’d gone through to get out would have been for nothing.