Chapter 28 – Bound by the Alpha
The car ride was suffocating.
Ethan sat pressed against the leather seat, staring out the tinted window as the blurred city lights streaked by. He could feel the weight of Adrian's presence beside him, a gravity too sharp and heavy to ignore. The Alpha hadn't said a single word since they left the gallery.
Not one word.
The silence was worse than shouting.
Ethan's hand twitched against his thigh, the urge to speak rising and falling with every breath. But whenever he opened his mouth, the memory of Leon's words echoed inside him.
"Do you even know what Adrian has done to get where he is? You're nothing more than a pawn."
His chest tightened. He had tried to block it out, but Leon's eyes—so calm, so certain—kept flashing in his mind.
Next to him, Adrian's aura simmered, heavy and electric. The Alpha's pheromones leaked despite his iron control, curling through the car like smoke, demanding submission. Ethan pressed himself harder against the door, refusing to be swallowed.
The car rolled into the Zhou estate, tires crunching against gravel. Under the glow of the iron gates, the mansion loomed—vast, elegant, and cold, its windows glowing faintly in the night like the eyes of a silent predator.
The driver pulled to a stop. The silence inside the car stretched until Adrian finally moved. He stepped out first, his tall, broad frame illuminated by the dim streetlamps. Rain had begun to fall again, droplets misting across his shoulders, making his black coat gleam. Without looking back, he opened Ethan's door.
"Come."
His voice was clipped, restrained, yet it brooked no refusal.
Ethan's throat bobbed. He slid out of the car, but the moment his shoes touched the wet ground, Adrian's hand clamped around his wrist. Not gently. Not painfully. But with a finality that allowed no escape.
Ethan tried to pull back on instinct, but Adrian's grip tightened, dragging him forward. His strides were long and commanding, forcing Ethan to half-run to keep up.
The maids at the entrance bowed silently. None dared lift their heads. The storm that clung to their master was enough to choke the air.
Adrian didn't stop until they reached his private study. He shoved the double doors open, pulled Ethan inside, and slammed them shut behind him. The heavy sound reverberated through Ethan's chest, making his heart pound harder.
Adrian turned the lock.
The study was dim, lined with dark wood shelves and filled with the scent of cedar, leather, and the faint spice of Adrian's pheromones. The rain outside tapped against the tall windows, but within, the silence pressed down like iron.
"Sit."
The word came sharp, like a blade.
Ethan blinked. "Adrian, I—"
"Sit."
This time the Alpha's voice dipped lower, thrumming with command. Ethan's knees nearly buckled. Fighting the instinct to obey, he clenched his fists, but the weight of Adrian's gaze burned through him. Slowly, he sat in the leather chair across from the massive desk.
Adrian remained standing, leaning against the desk edge. His tall frame cast a shadow over Ethan, sharp and unyielding. His dark eyes locked onto him, unblinking.
"Do you know what Leon wants from you?" Adrian asked, his voice like steel scraping against stone.
Ethan flinched. "He—he just talked to me. He said—"
"He doesn't care about you, Ethan." Adrian cut him off. His jaw tightened, his fists curling at his sides. "Leon only wants to use you. He wants to get to me, and he thinks you're the perfect weapon."
Ethan's stomach twisted. "And you don't?"
The words escaped before he could stop them.
Adrian froze.
The silence that followed was louder than any scream. His eyes, sharp as a predator's, narrowed slowly. Ethan swallowed hard, regretting it instantly, but he couldn't take it back.
"You think I'm using you?" Adrian's voice was dangerously soft, a growl barely held back. "Do you think everything I've done—tying myself to you, binding you to my name—was for convenience?"
Ethan opened his mouth, but no words came out. His chest rose and fell too quickly, every nerve on edge.
Adrian moved. In one slow, deliberate step, then another, until he stood directly in front of Ethan's chair. He leaned down, one hand braced against the armrest, the other pressing flat against the desk behind him, boxing Ethan in without touching him.
"Say it," Adrian murmured, his breath ghosting over Ethan's lips. "Say you believe Leon. Say you believe I only want to use you."
Ethan's heart thundered. The Alpha's scent enveloped him—heady, overwhelming, and impossibly intoxicating. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight the trembling in his limbs.
"Adrian…" His voice cracked. "I don't know what to believe anymore."
Something shifted in Adrian's eyes. For a heartbeat, fury flickered into something rawer—pain, almost desperation.
Then he pulled back suddenly. Without a word, he opened a drawer and pulled out a small velvet box. The movement was sharp, deliberate, final.
He snapped it open.
Inside lay a silver band, gleaming under the warm lamplight.
Ethan's breath caught. "What is this?"
"A bond ring," Adrian said, his tone brooking no argument. "Wear it."
Ethan blinked. "A… what?"
Adrian lifted the ring between his fingers. The faint glow of Alpha pheromones shimmered in the metal—subtle but unmistakable. "From tonight onward, the world will know you are mine. Not by contract. Not by family arrangement. By bond."
Ethan's pulse raced. A bond ring wasn't just jewelry—it was a public claim. Once worn, the Alpha's pheromones would fuse with the Omega's aura, broadcasting ownership to every Alpha in the vicinity. It was nearly as binding as a mating mark.
His voice shook. "You can't just—"
"I can." Adrian's eyes were relentless, the Alpha's dominance thrumming in every word. "And I will. Leon's claws are already in you. I will not give him another chance."
Ethan's stomach twisted. He stared at the ring, then back at Adrian. The Alpha's face was carved from stone, but beneath the coldness, Ethan glimpsed something else—fear.
He shook his head. "And if I refuse?"
The air stilled.
Adrian's hand tightened around the velvet box until the leather creaked. His chest rose and fell once, then again. Slowly, he closed the box and set it down on the desk.
When he finally spoke, his voice was lower, quieter—yet it shook Ethan to his core.
"Then I'll find another way to keep you."
The words weren't a threat. They weren't even a promise. They were a confession. A plea.
Ethan's breath caught. His body trembled as Adrian turned away, shoulders tense, one hand gripping the edge of the desk as though holding himself back from shattering.
"You don't see it yet," Adrian said, his voice hoarse, almost broken. "But one day you will. One day you'll understand why I can't let you go."
The room fell into silence, the bond ring gleaming between them like a chain not yet fastened—but inevitable.
And Ethan… Ethan wasn't sure if the shiver down his spine came from fear. Or from something far more dangerous.