The Alpha's Shatter Zone ✔️

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Bonus mid-week update ☺️
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2667 words

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, hey. I'm just ah...um, on my way to the trash out back," Kaiden greeted them with an innocent smile.

"What are you carrying?" The temperature in the air dropped as the icy words left Chesca's lips.

"Just old stuff, I didn't think you'd need it anymore. Uh, wait-" Kaiden dropped the box and followed Chesca as she stormed into the old supply room. The very same one she'd been hiding in a few weeks before.

"What have you done to this place?" Chesca turned in circles, taking it in.

"Oh, wow..." Lexi poked her head in and marveled at the transformation. Bookshelves were emptied, bench tops had been cleared, and boxes of old documents had been removed from the floor. On the main oak desk sat a new laptop, some fresh paper, and a half empty mug of coffee. It was clear someone had made themselves at home.

Chesca paced around and dug her fingers into her hair, "What have you done with my stuff?"

"I'm just clearing it out, so I can use the space. I needed somewhere to work out of—" Kaiden began explaining, but was cut off by a screech.

"The files!" Chesca gaped wide-eyed into an empty filing cabinet.

"They were dated back ten years ago," he said.

His justification would pass under most ordinary circumstances, but this was no ordinary office. "They were my Dad's!" the Alpha of Steelheart leveled a heated glare at Kaiden, before she opened the main drawer in the old yet sturdy desk. Then she backed away, a look of panic on her face and her jaw clenching hard. "The diaries. What did you do with them?"

"Again, they were just old junk—"

"What did you do with my father's diaries?" she gasped, her voice rising nearly to a shriek yet with perfect enunciation as if weighing each word with a threat.

"I chucked them out."

The bang from the slamming of the drawer made everyone jump. Chesca inhaled a deep breath, then expelled it through her nose in a measured fashion.

"I can't believe you. I honestly can't believe you, Kaiden," her words came out deadly low and through clenched teeth. The veins stood out on her neck, the obvious restraint summoning great control. "What do you think you are doing in here, destroying my property?"

He rounded the desk and stood up close in front of her, looking down at her with calculated precision. "I'm an Alpha. Am I not entitled to my own space to work from? This room was unused—"

"You threw away my good things!" She waved an arm, indicating the bare walls and empty shelves where once maps and charts, documents and books had graced the areas. It had been a meeting room where her dad had discussed things not as private as that in his office upstairs. It had become a storeroom in recent years due to a shrinking of the command, but it was still an important place. To her, it was a retreat that still held her most treasured memories, as well as her father's scent and legacy.

Her mate just shrugged casually, "I didn't think they'd be good for anything anymore. Maybe just for fire starters, or garden mulch."

Chesca just stared at him, containing the boiling anger that raced through her veins and threatened to blind her vision. Her fist shook as it ached to connect with his face and show the arrogant Alpha just what she thought of his callous and inconsiderate behaviour. "Go ahead. Take it. Get rid of it. Use my place for your work, see if I care," she jabbed his chest with a finger. "But let me warn you: I'm watching you. If you mess with my people, the dungeons may become your new home."