Daughter of the Alpha

Chapter five

"No, I told you, the knight only moves in an L-shape, like this," Dylan explained moving AJ's chess piece two paces forward and one to the side, "Or like this." Moving it again he placed it in the other direction and then back to where it started.

"I know," AJ grumbled, "I just forgot it for a millisecond, I got it." The fire crackling in the fireplace filled the silence while she thought of her next move. Then, with two fingers she moved the knight two places forward and one to the side.

Dylan moved his piece forward. "Just checking."

It was her turn again, she placed her finger on the bishop, contemplating the move, then removed her finger and instead placed it on the rook. She bit her lip, contemplating, whipping her hair out of her face. She had spent a lot of time bent over the board in the hours she had been there. She was pretty sure she was going to lose. Again. But damn if she didn't want to fight this time. She could feel him watching her, waiting for her to do her move. She had several options, none of them would help her. She growled and narrowed her eyes at him, tilted her head up to face him. "You've trapped me."

"Have I?" he chuckled. His beard moved when she knew the corners of his mouth turned upwards, his head cocked to the side. "Calculating my moves are you?"

"Well it's obvious," she huffed, "No matter what I do, you'll have some way of countering it." she bit her lip again, knotted her brows together and studied the board.

"If I've trapped you, what does it matter what move you make? Just do something." He stretched his arms above his head and yawned. "I'm waiting."

She sneered at him. Placing her finger on her knight, she decided to move it, slowly, enjoying every tap on the board. "Did you really sleep with your Alpha's mate?" she asked. The question had been bugging her ever since her father told her, but she hadn't had the nerve to bring it up. Unfortunately, she was annoyed at him now and out it came.

"Where did you hear that?" he asked, surprised at her outburst.

"It's a rumor, I guess," she answered.

"I did not. I have never slept with anyone's mate," he grumbled, his tone harsh as if he had taken offense. He groaned and scratched his forehead. "I've never been that person. I had a bit of a reputation in my pack, I was, unfortunately, a little too enamored by the opposite sex." He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "But I have never taken it as far as to sleep with someone's mate, it was all just innocent flirtation. I was a bit of a flirt, I guess."

"A bit of a flirt?" AJ questioned.

"I only ever slept with unattached women, never a mate, I would never cross that line," he quickly added, tapping his chess piece on the board and quickly captured her knight.

"Right," AJ mumbled. He didn't look like he could be a flirt, she hadn't seen any side of him that was the least bit charming. More like grumpy and slightly rough. He certainly didn't own a comb or hairbrush, AJ was sure of that. A flirt? A ladies man? Hardly, he looked more like a caveman in tattered old clothes. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his arms were clean but scratched and scarred, probably years of rough living. They were thick with muscles though, she had to give him that. She remembered the glimpse of his shape she had seen the first day she snuck back there, she had imagined she could see his chest clearly through his drenched shirt and she was anything but repulsed by the sight. But him? A regular Don Juan? She doubted it very much. But before she could stop herself, her hand had crawled upwards and buttoned up a couple of buttons on her shirt, closing it up completely, just in case.

Dylan caught sight of the action and threw his head back, the loud laugh that burst out of him took her completely by surprise. "You're quite safe," he managed to get out once the laughter had subsided. He wiped a tear from his eyes and continued, "I keep telling you, I don't want any more trouble, and especially not with a little girl who still has cartoon characters on her underwear."