Page 7 of Betrayed By the Alpha

"Elena!" Hayley snapped. "I can't. I have to leave now."

"Now? Hayley, wait!" Elena yelled when she saw Hayley was already walking away.

"I can't...I can't," Hayley kept mumbling to herself.

"Hey, watch where you are going," said a bartender whom she nearly bumped into, but she paid him no attention and ran to the exit door. When she got out, Hayley released a shaky breath, hitting her chest gently. She nearly jumped out of her skin in fear when Elena appeared behind her.

"Hey, Hayley. What was all that in there?"

"You didn't see him?"

Elena watched her for a while. "No. I don't even know what you're talking about. I didn't know the drink would have this much effect on you. I’ve gone numb before, but I never saw things."

Hayley closed her eyes. "Elena, I saw Zach in there."

"Zach?" Hayley nodded. "No, it can't be him. Maybe you saw someone who looked like him. I come here all the time, and I hardly ever see him. He doesn't even hang out with his friends. Ryder is there all the time, so annoying, but Zach? No."

"Elena, I know what I saw—or rather,whoI saw. I have to go home. I can't stand being under the same roof with him, especially not with this inheritance situation."

"So, what now?"

"I'm going home. You can go back and flirt with that guy. I think he was really into you."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, honey. You have also ruined my night. You know I'm not going to leave you alone. Come on, let's head home."

Hayley sighed in relief, happy that Elena stuck with her. "Thank you."

Chapter 4 - Zach

When Zach arrived at the bar, Ryder stepped out to greet him. While he was more of a conservative type of person, Ryder was the outgoing party freak and friends with everyone in town—mainly the women. Zach couldn't count the number of times he had visited his best friend and found him in bed with a woman. It was a different woman each time he walked in. He wouldn't be surprised if Ryder had fucked every supernatural creature known to humankind. He had even seen his friend with fairies, who were supposed to be the most chaste of all supernaturals.

Zach met Ryder in middle school. Ryder was the new kid and was placed next to Zach in class. Usually, Zach didn't care much about making friends and was ready to spend the entire day not saying a word to Ryder, but it didn't take long till he found himself speaking to the boy like they'd known each other for years, without even realizing it. And they’d been friends ever since.

"I thought you said you were going home?" Ryder said when he stepped out.

"Yeah, but I think I need a drink to cool down first," Zach said.

"That's great. How did it go with Bruce? I'm sure he was shocked to see you. I didn't think you actually planned to go there."

"Why? Well, I spoke to him. I'll be going there on Friday to see him again. How's it going with the black ops, any news?"

"No, no bandits have been sighted. I'll keep you updated. Now, come on. Push anything concerning work aside. Let's go drink."

They both proceeded in, and Ryder led him to the table where two of his friends were already seated. Zach looked at the two men, he was sure he had seen them before, but he couldn't remember their names.

"Zach, this is Francisco and Benny," Ryder said as if reading his mind. "Guys, you know my best friend already, Alpha of the wolf clan and leader of the black ops, Zachery Hill."

"Nice to meet you, Alpha." Zach didn't know the name of the person who spoke, but with his curly dirty blonde hair and chubby cheeks, Zach thought he looked like Benny. The other man gave a small wave and a friendly smile. Now that Zach looked closer, he felt he had seen him somewhere before.

He nodded to the one he thought was Benny and faced the other as he sat beside Ryder. "Your face is familiar. Have we met?"

"Uh, yes. We've met. I'm one of the recruits at the black ops. I joined last month. You were the one who interviewed me." As the leader of the black ops, it was his job to interview every trainee before they became full-fledged black ops members. While a few people would say Zach was made the black ops leader because of his father, no one would deny he had proven himself worthy of the position when the crime rate in town reduced greatly under his authority.

"How are you fitting in so far?" Zach felt he should ask, although he didn't want to.

Francisco hesitated before speaking. "Oh, just great, Alpha. It's been amazing being a member of the black ops."

Zach knew something was wrong. It seemed to be related to the lack of compensation. A few of the recruits left after the first month. It was the first time anything like that was happening, and it was all because of one man.

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