Betrothed To An Alpha? I Don't Think So!
Chapter 37: Why Do You Care?

Chapter 37: Why Do You Care?

Alessio stared at Zayne who was tracing his finger around the glass of whiskey on the table.

"Zayne..." he muttered, apprehensive. "Are you okay?"

"Do I not look alright?" Zayne spoke without sparing him a glance.

Alessio frowned. "You look anything but okay! And why do you have blood all over your hands? What did you do?"

The man glanced at the blood on his hand, disgust painting his expression. He took out his handkerchief and wiped it off, tossing it aside.

"I fucked up," he mumbled.

"How come?"

"I..." he hummed, pondering how to fix his words. "I lost my temper and did something I shouldn’t have done. Not in front of her."

Alessio was getting impatient. "Zayne, you’ve got to be straightforward with me. What did you do?"

"That was Preston’s blood," Zayne said.

"Huh? Her brother?"

"Yes. I hurt him. Really badly."

Alessio was taken aback with a frown ensuing on his face. "That’s impossible. You hardly ever lose your temper. What did he do?"

"He hit her."

"Oh..."

"I lost it. I got so angry like I’ve never done before. It just..." Zayne paused, chewing his bottom lip. "I almost lost control of my wolf, Alessio."

"Because of a human like Preston?"

"The problem isn’t him." He explained, "It’s seeing him hurt her. It was like a trigger. I just lost it before I could even think. I might have even killed him had she not been there."

"Oh shit." Alessio’s frown grew even darker. "S-she was there? You mean she saw you like that?"

Zayne gave a nod. "She did. I just...lost it without even thinking."

Alessio sighed, pinching between his brows. "And that’s why you’re here, no?"

"I couldn’t look her in the face after because of what I saw." Zayne chuckled, shaking his head. "It was fear. And every fiber of me hated it. I felt disgusted with myself. I wished I could turn back time in that moment to fix what I’d just done, but all I could do was walk away."

"Zayne—"

"She’s scared of me now. Might probably think I’m some kind of monster. What if she finds out I’m not human? How would she look at me? How would she see me? She’d leave, don’t you think?"

"Whoa. Let’s slow down, Zayne," Alessio said. "You might be overthinking this, to be honest. Besides, she doesn’t have to ever find out what you are. We’ve been able to hide our true nature from humans for years now. What’s the difference with her?"

"She’s my mate." Zayne scowled heavily at him. "That’s the difference, Alessio. She’s not just any human, she’s my mate, who spends every freaking day with me."

"Okay. What are you going to do then?"

Alessio peered at him with a questioning look.

"Are you going to tell her? That you’re not human?"

Zayne couldn’t say a word, but could only sit, gazing at him. His thoughts were completely jumbled at that moment, and he had no idea what to say as a response.

"Zayne, listen, it doesn’t matter that she’s your mate. She’s still human in the end. There is a reason we can’t just tell humans what we are, no matter who they are. To them, we’re nothing more than monsters. Do you think she’ll accept that? What you are?"

He snapped a glare at him. "Alessio—"

"If you really want that human, Zayne, you’re going to forget what you are. No shifting, no letting your wolf ever take control, not even during full moons. You’ve got to completely cage yourself because I see no other way this will work out. A human and a werewolf? Yeah, no. Heck no!"

Alessio scoffed. "I don’t even know why you’re getting this deeply involved with this human even if she’s your mate. You could always just reject her and—"

"Mind your fucking words!" Zayne cut him off. "She’s my mate and I want her. That human is mine and I don’t care if it’s reckless to want her. She’s mine. MINE, Alessio. And don’t ever mention rejection to me again."

"You understand that you’ll end up getting really hurt, right?" Alessio questioned. "You think you can be with her? That she’d ever be yours?"

"Yes, she will. She’s mine. And no one’s ever going to change that. No one, and I mean, no one." Zayne snarled, pissed off.

"Suit yourself then. But I’m telling you, you’re going to regret this big time. I’m only looking for you because you’re my brother. But here you are being stubborn and an obsessive freak when you know I’m telling the truth."

"Fuck off!" Zayne sounded provoked.

He rose to his feet and turned around, tramping off to leave the bar.

"Where are you going?" Alessio shouted at him. "I was only being honest. Why are you—"

Zayne slammed the door shut with a heavy thud, shutting him up.

"Are you kidding me?" Alessio pulled at his blonde hair. "He comes to me, and when I speak my mind like the good brother I am, suddenly I’m a terrible person?"

He grabbed the leftover whiskey and chucked down the full glass.

———

Zayne stepped out of the elevator. He proceeded towards his room and pulled the door open. He came to a quick stop, lowering his gaze to Evelyn who stood, arms dropped to her sides with balled fists.

"Why are you still awake?" he asked.

Evelyn’s eye twitched. "That’s what you’re going to ask me?"

He bit back down on himself and stepped past her into the room.

"Zayne."

But he didn’t answer her. Instead, he began to take off his coat, causing her to fume even more. He didn’t want to talk. Not now. Not of what he’d done.

"You can’t even look me in the eyes!"

"What do you want me to say?" He paused for a second, digging his fingers into the material.

"Are you kidding me? What do you mean by ’what do I want you to say’? Zayne, you left and disappeared to who knows where. It’s almost midnight! You didn’t say a word, didn’t even tell me where you were going. I came home and you weren’t here! Do you know how many times I’ve tried to—"

"Why?" Zayne snapped around towards her. "Why do you care where I’ve been, Evelyn?"