Page 16 of Betrayed By the Alpha

Hayley palmed her forehead, letting out a frustrated groan. "Elena, are you suggesting that I ask Zach to come with me?"

"That’s exactly what I’m saying," Elena replied.

She shook her head in disagreement. "No, I don’t think that would work. I don’t even think he would want to come with me. You know what? I guess won’t go, I’ll just not show up. I’ll write a letter to the Mayor, thanking him for the invitation and say I can’t go."

"I don’t think that’s a wise decision, Hayley. This is not just any ceremony, but the full moon festival. It’s an important event for the werewolves. Also, it is a direct invitation from Bruce himself. I think it would be considered an insult if you refuse to go."

"You think so? I’m not sure, Elena. I can’t stand him. I don’t think I can bear spending the entire night with him. But I’ll think about it. I need to go now. Later, take care."

"You too."

She ended the call. Hayley decided she would have to speak to Zach about it. As she looked up, she saw the devil himself climb through her window. Hayley thanked her lucky stars that she wasn’t sleeping naked. “My crazy alpha,” she muttered.

Chapter 8 - Zach

Zach couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when he saw a shift in Hayley's gaze. It started with pure hatred, then turned into burning anger, and now it seemed to hold a hint of fear. But Zach didn't believe that she was afraid of him; rather, it seemed like she was afraid of something inside herself. She always looked like she was fighting an internal battle with herself whenever they met.

"Hello, Hayley," he said. "How was your night? You look...good."

Ravishing.

Hayley was a beautiful woman, and what made her even more attractive was that she knew and owned that. There was nothing more attractive than a confident woman. He had seen her confidence when she walked up to him years ago and called him her mate. Not every woman would do that. Her first words to him would forever remain etched in his memory. Those were the first and last words she said to him, because he didn’t give her the chance to speak again after that. Until the day he snuck into her room.

Hello, my name is Hayley Green, and you are my mate.

"What are you doing?" Her snappy tone brought him back to reality. "Sneaking in through my window again?" They both looked at her open window, then back at each other.

"You really shouldn’t be keeping your windows open, darling. I’m starting to think you leave it open just for me."

"Shut it. Never call me that again," she said, walking over to her open window to shut it close. "Next time, use the door, and before you enter, behave like a decent person and knock. Orelse, I’ll call the black ops, and have you arrested," she said, a smirk showing up on her face afterward.

Zach bit his lower lips to stop himself from laughing. "Yeah, and who do you think is the head of the black ops? I’ll give you a hint, me," he said the last word, pointing his right thumb to himself. "But that’s not what I’m here for, darling," he continued speaking, ignoring the dagger looks she was sending him because he referred to her as ‘darling’ again. Zach brought out an invitation. "I got this earlier today from the Mayor. As the Alpha of the werewolf clan, I have to be at the biannual moon festival. It’s going to be the first time I’ll be gracing the event as the Alpha of the wolf clan, and I’ll need my mate by my side."

She cocked her head a bit to the right. "If you’re here to say something, say it."

"I want you to come with me. I know you are going to refuse, but hear what I have to say first. I—"

"Okay. I’ll come with you."

Zach looked a bit taken aback, visibly shocked by her response. "Okay..."

She cleared her throat, holding her head high. "Yes. Anything else?"

"No, I’m just surprised. I was expecting something far different from the reply you gave. Why would you agree to go with me?"

"Zach, if you thought I would refuse, then you shouldn’t have asked me in the first place. I mean, if we are going to do this, we have to sell it, right? So, I’ll go with you, pretend to be your mate and whatever."

"You’re right, while on the topic of selling it…Why don’t we have dinner?" Zach decided to try his luck. He had a perfectexcuse cooked up already if she demanded a reason for why she should join him for dinner.

"Dinner?" Now, she was the one who looked taken aback.

"My place, I’ll cook. If I show up to the moon festival with you, trust me, we are a duo that’s going to stand out—the Alpha of the Wolf clan, and one of the most influential young women in town. People will approach with lots of questions, and we don’t want to give different answers. So, what do you say?"

"T—tonight?" Hayley stuttered, looking down at herself with a horrified expression, like he was asking her to walk the runway in her post-shower state.

"Yes. What do you say? I am not the best chef, but I’ll cook something nice for you."

"I guess I can make time for that. It’s not like I want to have dinner with you. This is just for the inheritance...to sell our story. That’s the only reason I’m agreeing to this."

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