After My Alpha Locked Me Away for Five Years

The bass from the ballroom above thumped through the ceiling of my tiny room, vibrating against my ribs. It was Alpha Hayes Stone’s twenty-eighth birthday. The entire Stoneclaw Pack was celebrating their ruthless, powerful leader.

And I, his fated mate, was sitting on a lumpy mattress in the basement, forbidden to attend.

I looked down at the braided leather wristband in my hands. I’d spent weeks working the dark material until it was soft enough not to irritate his skin. For five years, I had been Hayes’s secret. Unmarked. Untouched. He claimed he suffered from Bond Aversion—a rare condition where the mere touch of his fated mate caused him debilitating, agonizing pain. Because I was just a weak Omega with a dormant wolf, he told me I didn’t have the strength to heal him.

So, I stayed hidden. I endured the isolation, the claustrophobic walls of this room he called a 'Safe Room,' all to protect him.

But tonight, I just wanted to give him my gift.

I slipped out of my room, creeping up the servant stairwell. The pack house was loud, filled with the scent of roasted meat and expensive perfume. I navigated the shadows until I reached the VIP lounge. It was empty, smelling faintly of cedar and bourbon. I hurried toward the heavy leather armchair at the head of the table, placing the small box on the seat.

A crumb. That was all I wanted. A single smile when he found it.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. Two sets. One possessed the unmistakable, heavy tread of an Alpha.

Panic spiked in my chest. Hayes had strictly forbidden me from roaming the upper floors. With nowhere else to go, I dove behind the thick, crimson velvet curtains framing the floor-to-ceiling windows, holding my breath.

The mahogany doors swung open.

"Hell of a party, Alpha," Marcus, the pack Beta, chuckled.

"It’s adequate," Hayes replied. His voice, usually so strained and gentle when he spoke to me, was arrogant and deep. "Though Monica is already getting impatient. She’s been eyeing the door for the last ten minutes."

Monica. The pack’s high-ranking, seductive Healer. The one who supposedly gave Hayes 'sensory alignment treatments' to manage his aversion.

"Can you blame her?" Marcus laughed. "You two tore up the Alpha suite before the speeches even started."

My blood ran ice cold. My hands, still smelling of the leather I’d braided for him, began to tremble.

"I needed to take the edge off," Hayes said casually. The clinking of glass told me he was pouring a drink. "Being on stage requires a lot of energy."

"Speaking of energy," Marcus lowered his voice, though my heightened hearing caught every word. "How long are you going to keep Paisley locked up down there? Doesn't the whole 'Bond Aversion' act get exhausting?"

I stopped breathing. The world tilted on its axis. Act?

Hayes let out a harsh, mocking laugh. It was a sound that shattered my reality into jagged little pieces. "Faking a sickness