Chapter Sixty-Three
The silence in the room after my statement was deafening and everything was amplified including my heart that was racing like no tomorrow and my breathing that was coming out in shallow pants.
I sounded like I had just ran a marathon and I could only imagine what my appearance looked like- sweaty and wide eyed.
Alpha Alessandro didn't say a word, he didn't move, I wasn't even sure if he was breathing at this point.
His body was rigid as he sat behind his desk, his eyes fixated on me, not moving, not blinking.
It was very unnerving and as the seconds slowly began to tick by my anxiety began to build up like a birthday balloon slowly being inflated.
Why wasn't he responding? Why wasn't he moving? Was he in shock?
It would be a lie to say that I wasn't in shock and turmoil over my decision but what choice did I actually have?
I was Alpha Alessandro's mate and at some point in our lives I would have to mate with him, it might not be anytime soon, could be in two, five, ten even in fifteen years' time but that day would come one day.
It was inevitable.
Just like the truth finally coming out, it was inevitable.
We could have hidden the horrible truth for years but one day, everything would come out and the destruction it would cause would be unmanageable.
I understood from Cami's point of view, that wasn't entirely true, I didn't understand fully but I could see where she was coming. She just wanted it to all be over.
Unfortunately, it all being over included her life which she seemed to happily accept.
Clearing my dry as the Sahara Desert throat, I tried to elicit a response from Alpha Alessandro. "Did you hear what I said?"
There was no response, nothing at all. He was like a statue and if it wasn't for his chest rhythmically rising up and down, I would have thought he stopped breathing too.
Should I say it again? Should I approach him? Give him a little shake?
Was what I said that unexpected?
"Alpha Alessandro?" I took a hesitant step towards him, still clutching onto the book. "Did you hear what I said?"
Due to his lack of response or movement, I slowly went over to him. My steps were slow and deliberate in an attempt not to startle him. Or maybe I should startle him, that would break him out of this weird trance he was in.
Once I was by his side behind his desk, I cleared my throat again. As anticipated there was no indication that he heard me, he was still staring straight ahead to where I had stood earlier.
"Alpha? Alpha Alessandro?" I waved my hands in front of his face.
Nothing. Zilch. Nada.
Was he broken? Had I broken the Alpha?
"Are you okay?" I tried again. "Can you hear me?"
Should I call someone? Or get some help?
"Hellooooo."
Perhaps some physical contact would break him out this stupor he was in. Should I use an object? Should I hit his face? The possibilities of what I could use to hit him and where was making me excited.
No Nala, calm down and focus!
But this opportunity was too good to pass, when else would I get the opportunity to hit Alpha Alessandro and be able to justify it? When questioned I could say I was so concerned by his lack of movement and reaction that I had no choice but to use force to shake him out of it.
Yeah, that made perfect sense. I had no choice but to hit him.
I eyed the desk, looking for the perfect weapon, I mean object, to use to help him break out of his trance. His lamp should do the trick. With a smile on my face, I unplugged the lamp from the socket, placed the book on his desk and gripped the lamp tightly in my hands.
Lifting the lamp up high, I positioned it and myself so it would hit Alpha Alessandro square in the face, the target was perfect as he was still unmoving.
Just as I swung the lamp, Alpha Alessandro seemed to have broken out of his trance without any help. It was too late to stop the hit and Alpha Alessandro saw it but he was a second too late.
The lamp collided with his face with a sickening thud, shattering all over both myself and Alpha Alessandro.
I may have used too much force.
If I thought Alpha Alessandro was shocked earlier, his shock and surprise was on a whole new level this time. We both stared at each other, I was still holding the lamp, what was left of it, and he was staring at me with pieces of the bulb and lamp shade stuck on his face.
The look of disbelief quickly turned into anger.
Backing away, I raised the stem of the broken lamp. "I..I was trying to help you."
Alpha Alessandro cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow causing some pieces of the lamp to fall off his face leaving blood in its place. "You were trying to help me?"
"You were in shock and weren't moving or responding." I explained as I took a step back.
"And your solution was to hit me across the face with my desk lamp?" His tone was laced with both anger and annoyance.
In hindsight maybe it wasn't such a good idea to hit Alpha Alessandro with the lamp, but it sure did feel good. "I tried calling you and I waved my hands in front of your face..." My justification was weak and ridiculous, even to my own ears.
He stood up quickly causing me to almost trip over my own feet as I tried to maintain some distance between us.
"I was just trying to help you!" I reminded Alpha Alessandro as he began to approach me.
I reacted without thinking when he got too close and struck him again with the broken lamp. The force wasn't as big as last time but I did hit him quite hard and stopped him in his tracks.
A low growl erupted from Alpha Alessandro and my eyes widened at the sound.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!
"It was an accident! I didn't mean to, you scared me!" I shouted truthfully, I didn't have any plans to hit him again, I reacted instinctively without thinking.
He grabbed the lamp easily from my hands, despite me holding onto it with both my hands with as much strength as I could, and I wondered if he would strike me with it. He tossed the broken lamp to the floor and gripped my upper arm tightly.
"Ow, that hurts." I told him, receiving a glare in return.
He tossed me onto the sofa like a cushion. "Sit and don't move."
Should I make a run for it? I wasn't going to willingly sit around for him to retaliate and strike me back? He must have seen me eyeing the door because he loomed over me and grabbed my face. "Do not leave this room."
Swallowing harshly, I nodded, looking away from his face that still had pieces of the lamp and blood all over it. Satisfised that I wasn't going to run, not that I actually had anywhere I could run and hide without him finding me, he let go of my face and moved away.
He stormed off towards the door at the back of his office which I assumed led to a bathroom or another room. He slammed the door behind him and I winced, knowing that he was incredibly pissed off and there was a good chance he would take it out on me.
He shouldn't take his anger out on me, according to the books I had read, mates were supposed to provide support and comfort to each other, even without doing anything, their presence would soothe them.
I don't think my presence soothed the Alpha, in fact, I think it did the opposite.
It didn't take long for Alpha Alessandro to return, his face was still red but there was no broken fragments of the lamp or blood on him. He also didn't look as angry as he did before.
"The second time was an accident." I quickly defended myself before he could say anything. "The first time was on purpose but that was because you weren't responding and I was...worried about you."
I wasn't worried about him, I just couldn't let such a good opportunity pass by, plus it wouldn't hurt my case to let him think I cared about him.
I didn't care about him, I didn't. Whatever weird feelings I have towards him could be explained by one of two things, Stockholm Syndrome or the mate bond. Or maybe a combination of both?
"So." I took in a few deep breaths to ready myself. "Back to why I came to see you."
"Ah yes." Alpha Alessandro smirked. "You want me to mate you."
I nodded. "Yes."
"Because you believe it would save your sister from dying."
I couldn't deny it, it was true. If mating Alpha Alessandro saved Cami I would do it in a heartbeat. Did that make me a bad person?
"You would sacrifice yourself for your sister." It wasn't a question, it was more of a statement. "Do you know what marking and mating includes, what I would have to do to you?"
"Yes." My eyes wandered to the book I had placed on his desk. "I have thought about everything."
I knew what I was doing, what I was giving up and what my life would be like once we mated. This was the only way forward.
"You've thought about everything?" Alpha Alessandro let out a little chuckle.
"Have you thought about the fact that I may not want to mate with you?"
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A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter
Do you think Alpha Alessandro will mate with her? Will Nala actually go through with it? What would you do in her situation?
Only 12 more chapters to go!
I will upload again in a few days but you can read the completed story on www.patreon.com/kayy_b or on my subscription page on www.inkitt.com/kayy_b
Thank you for reading :)
-Kayy xx