You belong to the Alpha - Elara

You belong to the Alpha - Elara
The bookshelf cracked with a sharp, splintering sound.

Books tumbled to the floor in a cascade of thuds—leather-bound covers slamming against wood, loose pages tearing free as they scattered across the rug. The sound echoed through the library, too loud, too sudden.

Austin staggered back from the impact.

Pain twisted across his face, raw and unmistakable. His breath came sharp and uneven, one hand braced against the shelf as if he were trying to hold himself upright—or hold something in.

My heart slammed into my ribs.

“Austin,” I whispered, already moving toward him. “Austin, stop—”

“It’s not me!” he shouted.

His voice cracked, desperate and strained, eyes wide as they locked onto mine. “Elara, it’s not—”

The words cut off.

Just like that, the pain vanished from his face.

His shoulders straightened. His breathing evened out. He brushed dust from his sleeve as if he hadn’t just thrown himself into solid wood.

I froze.

He turned toward me with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Elara,” he said smoothly, his tone almost amused, “it's not me that is the problem, you’re imagining things.”

A chill slid down my spine.

He stepped closer. Snapping his hand out to grab my shoulder and sending pain in the form of future bruises where his fingerprints are now currently.

“It’s not me who’s having problems,” he continued, his voice lowering, sharpening. “If anything, you need to start pulling your weight in this relationship.”

My stomach dropped.

“What?” I whispered. "Where is this even coming from? Austin this isn't you!" my voice now a whimper as the pain increases.

He slowly brought our bodies closer, his presence pressing in along with his body. “You’ve been distant. Emotional. Dramatic.” His eyes flicked over me in a way that made my skin crawl. “A Luna doesn’t get to fall apart when things get difficult.”

That wasn’t Austin.

Not my Austin.

“You need to stop with the pity,” he went on. “The pack needs strength. Leadership. And if that means you set aside your feelings and perform—then that’s what you do.”

"Let me write you a new Job Description. Your job as Luna is to smile and comfort those in our pack. If you wonder what you should be doing as the partner to the alpha, get this part ingrained in your head now!" Spit lightly spakled my face as his anger increased. His hand grabbed my ass and pulled aggressively towards him, "This belongs to me, and this and this, and this." Austin's hand pulled on my breast and then cupped my center and continued to grab and tell me how each part of my body belonged to him, and with each grab I felt the Austin I love move farther and farther away from me.

Shoving back from him, I contined to back away until the couch hit the backs of my knees. His laugh was revertibrating off the floors and shelves in the room, causing me to feel like the room was caving in on me.

My pulse roared in my ears.

Shoving me onto the couch and quickly putting his body weight on me, he braced one hand beside my head, trapping me in and also making it hard to believe. “Your place,” he murmured, voice low and cold, “is beneath the Alpha. Legs open wide and ready for me to take you and get all my tension out. Your place is knowing that you are beneath the Alpha and are required to obey him.”

My breath came in shallow gasps.

“This isn’t you,” I said, my voice trembling but firm. “You would never—”

His smile widened.

“I’m done entertaining excuses,” he said. “Do your duty. For the pack.”

Then he straightened abruptly, stepping back as if the moment had never happened.

He adjusted his shirt.

“I expect you ready in my bed, see you tonight, or else” he said casually, already turning toward the door.

And just like that—he was gone.

The door shut softly behind him.

I didn’t realize I was shaking until I went to brush my hair out of my face and felt the trembling of my hand that was trying to do a basic task.

My chest burned. My lungs struggled to pull in air. My hands clenched into fists, nails biting into my palms as the weight of what had just happened crashed over me.

That wasn’t dominance.

That wasn’t heat.

That wasn’t exhaustion.

That was something else wearing my mate’s face.

Tears blurred my vision, but I forced them back. Crying wouldn’t fix this. Pretending it hadn’t happened would get me killed—or worse.

I had promised to protect this pack.

To protect him.

And whatever had hold of Austin now?

It wasn’t going to stop on its own.

I pushed myself to my feet, legs unsteady but determined, and headed for the stairs.

The safe room.

The book.

Whatever darkness had begun this—whatever spell had survived Lima and Nathan, whatever thread Taylor had pulled—it was still here.

And I was done being afraid.