The Alpha's Shatter Zone ✔️

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The song above is a beautiful piano song called Fragile Heart by Richard Clayderman. I used to listen to his soothing music lots as a child when falling asleep at night 😌
The song is referenced in the chapter below, so now you'll know what it sounds like when you read about it ;) I've been trying to learn it myself on the piano and it's so pretty to play ☺️

Enjoy~

3021 words

A pensive mood hung over the old castle, mirroring the weight on his own chest, and Kaiden wandered down one of the many halls in nearly complete darkness. His keen wolf sight was something he'd come to rely on, especially when wanting to keep a low profile and stay hidden. He wasn't exactly sneaking or creeping through Alpha Chesca's pack residence, but he wasn't broadcasting his presence with a neon flashlight either. It was more comfortable remaining unnoticed, is all.

His fingers trailed along the wallpaper, and brushed the antique vases and ornaments that sat forlorn on cabinets and ledges. Some really were unique—just like the pack's Alpha, he mused. Chesca had been on his mind far too much for his liking. It didn't help that she kept getting herself into scrapes which he needed to rescue her from.
The stunt in the storm was classic.

After rebuffing his offer for help to track down the most recent set of trespassers, she'd gone and disappeared in her expansive territory. When she hadn't returned by nightfall, he'd been seriously growing worried. It startled him that his heart would feel that way, because he'd sworn to himself that he wouldn't let her get too close. He didn't want this painful feeling whenever they were apart or she was in danger.

He hadn't wanted to become too attached. But she was his mate, and who was he to fight the path chosen by Fate? Because, despite his best efforts, she'd snuck her way under his skin and he wasn't strong enough to tear it apart and release her. The soft voice she'd whispered and called him her Alpha was something he knew he'd never forget. The way she'd rested her cheek against his chest last night remained imprinted on his body. The smile she'd given him this morning when he made her breakfast seemed glued to the front of his mind. She had fallen for him, and he was suddenly doubting his plan.

It had been what he wanted, right? He wanted her to trust him, open up to him, give him access to her heart and pack, until it all belonged to him?

He just hadn't counted on giving his heart to her.

For that's what had happened, he realised with stifling clarity, as his hand absently rubbed the spot on his chest that had ached the entire time he'd searched the woods for his beautiful mate. Throughout the wind and the rain, amidst the lightning and thunder, the bond between them had led him to her anguished cries.

He stopped in his tracks when a strange noise echoed through the empty hallways. Well, not really a strange noise, but unusual.

Music. Piano music, to be exact. A few graceful notes that morphed into a complicated melody. The lonely and mournful song tugged at his mind, drawing him, beckoning him closer. Hurrying down one hall and then another, the music grew louder. Moonlight glanced in the windows of the main corridor on the ground floor, and Kaiden used the silver glow to guide him. Ornate double doors were at the far end, and he remembered from his very first tour through this place with Roman that behind them sat the great ballroom. He strode towards them and paused as the piano music came from just the other side. The notes rose and fell in tempo, as if telling a story, and he wondered if he would ever be able to interpret the cryptic message.

Opening the doors slowly so as not to scare the performer of such intriguing sounds, he peered around and saw the grand piano sitting at the far wall. Kaiden crept in ever so carefully until he gained a view of the seat and keys.