Locked to You (Unlikely Bonds #1)

Chapter 1

A grey prison uniform slammed into Ehlian Wardel’s face.

“Undress.” The guard’s command cut through the metallic air.

Ehlian’s fingers tightened around the uniform, fighting the urge to shove it down the guard’s throat. In the end, he obeyed. He didn’t need a few extra years added to his sentence.

His existence reduced to three digits. Great. It had only taken him twenty-four years to achieve that.

The guard, an alpha, didn’t bother turning away while Ehlian stripped.

In fact, he stared openly, without a shred of shame.

Ehlian’s stomach clenched with disgust. He’d heard the rumours about what happened to pretty omegas like him in prison.

Normally, he would have used his green eyes and soft, alluring beauty to draw alphas in, but here he wanted nothing more than to remain unnoticed.

The uniform was rough and heavy against his skin, its dull shade making him look even paler, his silvery-blonde hair almost blending in.

“Move,” the guard shoved him forward.

The metal plates of the narrow hallway clanged loudly under his boots. The tall windows along the right side let in no light. Space was an ugly, oppressive canvas of darkness and cold, a vacuum meant to suck the life out of anyone sent here.

And of all the godforsaken places in the universe, Ehlian ended up in a floating prison orbiting Arox, his home planet.

He couldn’t even blame anyone else. Petty theft alone wouldn’t have landed him here, but exploiting his telepathic power to force that miserable bastard of an uncle to his knees? Shattering his mental shield and digging through his memories? Yeah. That did the trick.

Not that the bastard didn’t deserve it. He’d been skimming money off Ehlian for years. Ehlian had only wanted to take back what was rightfully his.

A year. That was all he needed to endure. A year of lying low, staying out of trouble, and most importantly, never looking an alpha in the eye.

He kept his gaze rigidly on the floor, taking one step at a time as the guard pushed him up flights of stairs.

The artificial gravity tugged at his joints, leaving him slightly nauseous.

He never dared look up, not even when a door slid open and he caught the faint movements of other inmates from the corner of his eye.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the top floor.

“Stop right there.” The guard opened the cell to Ehlian’s left and barked, “Get in.”

Ehlian obeyed and stepped inside.

Then he stopped dead in his tracks.

This was a fucking joke.

It had to be.

The cell was spacious. Floor-to-ceiling windows were draped in deep red velvet curtains, exuding an air of luxury. A small bar occupied one corner, a wardrobe another, and an armchair sat in the middle of the carpeted floor. There was even a door, likely leading to a private toilet.

It was a fucking en suite room.

Huh.

And then there was the king-size bed.

An alpha lay stretched out on it, his legs crossed, a book open in his hands. He didn’t even glance up at Ehlian, his indifference so blatant it almost bordered on offensive.

It wasn’t only the alpha’s casual air of disregard, but also the way he dressed.

His dark uniform looked like it had been cut by a personal tailor, as though prison came with a luxury wardrobe service just for him.

The jacket hung open around his chest, the crisp white shirt underneath highlighting the curve of well-toned muscles.

The alpha looked as if he belonged here, radiating a casual elegance that matched the opulence of the room. The sheer absurdity of it all left Ehlian wondering if he’d somehow hit his head on the way up here and his mind was now making up some stupid shit.

No, he wasn’t imagining it. The man was real and definitely an alpha.

Ehlian could feel it.

The alpha’s power pulsed faintly in the room. The raw, resonant strength of his telepathic presence brushed against Ehlian’s senses, unwelcome but impossible to ignore.

His stomach twisted painfully.

Omegas were never placed in the same cell as alphas. Never. It was against the fucking law for a very obvious reason.

So why was he here?

“This is a mistake,” Ehlian said sharply, spinning to face the guard. “You’ve put me in the wrong cell.”

The guard ignored him entirely. He pulled the cell door closed and walked away without a backward glance.

“There’s no mistake,” the alpha said at last.

Ehlian froze, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the midnight-blue carpet beneath his feet. Strange white circles wove a pattern across it.

“You’re an alpha,” Ehlian said, his tone tight.

“Remarkable observation. You want a round of applause?”

And, apparently, a dick too.

“I’ll ask the guards to transfer me to another cell.”

“You’d only be wasting your time. They won’t do it.” The alpha turned another page in his book, barely sparing Ehlian a fraction of his attention. “What’s your name?”

Ehlian gestured at the number on his uniform. “Break the code.”

The alpha’s lips curled into a faint, amused smile. Ehlian quickly snapped his gaze back down to the carpet, resisting the dangerous instinct to meet the alpha’s eyes.

He took a cautious step, then another. When the alpha didn’t move, he grew bolder and walked to the bar.

A sharp and disbelieving laugh escaped him as he scanned the bottles neatly lined up behind two clean glasses.

This was some next-level holographic shit, a cruel form of psychological torture meant to drive him mad on top of stripping away his freedom.

Cells like this didn’t exist in prisons. Not for inmates.

Reaching out, he fully expected his hand to pass through the illusion. Instead, his fingers brushed cold glass. They curled around the neck of a bottle, and he lifted it experimentally.

It couldn’t be real.

It had to be fake.

“It’s real.” The alpha said.

Ehlian glanced at the alpha, who still hadn’t looked up from his book.

He lingered on the sharp jawline and the impeccably tailored uniform.

The alpha couldn’t be more than twenty-seven…

maybe twenty-eight. A faint, unsettling voice in the back of his mind insisted he knew the alpha.

He would have remembered knowing someone like him personally, yet the familiarity gnawed at him nonetheless.

Whoever the alpha was, it was glaringly obvious he was someone powerful and absurdly wealthy. No one else could demand such luxury while locked in a floating prison. His words carried a weight Ehlian’s never could.

“Ask the guards to transfer me to another cell,” Ehlian demanded. “With an omega.”

“You’re staying,” the alpha said, his tone making it clear the conversation was over before it began.

Yeah, Ehlian felt the gravity of his words. He bristled. “I won’t be your fuck toy.”

“You’ll change your mind in a week.”

Ehlian’s grip tightened around the bottle, knuckles going white. The asshole wasn’t even denying it.

“You’re not touching me,” Ehlian said firmly, his voice sharp.

The alpha didn’t even look at him, much less reply. Instead, he turned another page in his book, dismissing Ehlian so utterly it made his blood boil. That cold indifference hit something deep in his chest, painfully familiar.

Hadn’t his uncle done the exact same thing? Dismissing him, taking everything he wanted, draining the inheritance his late parents had saved through hard work. Never once giving Ehlian a shred of care.

Ehlian clenched his teeth. He wouldn’t be anyone’s pawn again. He wouldn’t let anyone use or disregard him. Not here. Not now. He needed to draw the line immediately. He wouldn’t survive this place otherwise.

“Did you hear what I said?” He pressed, his voice sharper this time.

“Loud and clear.”

“Good,” Ehlian said curtly. “We have a deal, then.”

The alpha clapped the book shut and tossed it onto the bed. Ehlian felt his sharp eyes finally fix on him. “No. I don’t think we do.”

“Tough luck, dickhead. My deal or no deal.”

The alpha stood up, his movements unnervingly calm. His bare feet padded soundlessly on the carpet, yet Ehlian felt the dangerous energy of each step.

Now Ehlian noticed a faint, barely visible scar running up his neck. Telepaths rarely got into physical fights. They simply didn’t need to.

He had no idea why this alpha was in prison.

For all he knew, the man could be a cold-blooded killer.

“You take one more step,” Ehlian tightened his grip on the bottle, “and we’ll find out just how real this bottle is.”

The weak threat barely left his lips before he realised how hollow it sounded, a plea lost in the endless void of space. The alpha didn’t even hesitate, stepping closer with maddening calm. Ehlian mirrored him, retreating as the gap between them shrank.

“I mean it,” he said again, his voice faltering. He raised the bottle over his head, ready to swing.

“Don’t do anything reckless, Ehlian.” The alpha’s tone was disturbingly even. “Put that down.”

Ehlian’s breath hitched. His shock at hearing his name froze him for a moment. But there wasn’t time to dwell on it, the alpha was already too close. A rush of panic hit him, and he swung—

‘Put it down.’

The command wasn’t spoken aloud. It invaded his mind like a cold, unwelcome wave.

The foreign thought overrode his will, suppressing his intentions and fading his anger into the background.

It was as though a part of himself had ceased to exist. His fingers loosened.

His arm lowered. And as though moving in a dream, he placed the bottle back on the bar.

‘Good.’ The alpha’s voice hummed smoothly in his head, a low purr that made Ehlian shiver. ‘On your knees.’

Everything in him screamed to resist. But his body betrayed him, obeying without hesitation. Slowly, he sank to his knees.

Ehlian’s chest burned with shame and rage, his breath shallow and uneven.

With a snap of his fingers, the alpha had taken complete control of him.

A strange, distant heat coiled low in his belly, but he didn’t dare look at it too closely.

Fuck.

The alpha was one of the strongest telepaths Ehlian had ever met.

When the alpha’s grip on his mind released, Ehlian gasped as though surfacing from deep water. He could move again, but didn’t dare, too aware of the danger of another reckless mistake.

“Look at me.” The alpha’s voice was calm, yet the order sent a shiver down Ehlian’s spine.

“No.”

“What are you so scared of?” Warm fingers brushed through his silvery-blond hair. “We can’t bond unless we both want it. You think I’d tie myself to an omega who’s gone in a year? Don’t insult me.”

Bonds could only form with consent, but Ehlian wouldn’t take any chances. One moment of weakness, and he could be enchanted.

“You’re trying too hard to seem strong,” the alpha murmured, his fingers moving lazily through Ehlian’s hair, curious and unhurried. “Yet you won’t even look an alpha in the eye. They’ll tear you apart in here, kid.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“Then stop acting like one.” The alpha’s tone sharpened. “Look at me.”

Ehlian hesitated. He knew the risk of his own rule—keeping his eyes down forever wasn’t realistic. Slowly, reluctantly, he lifted his gaze.

And everything else vanished.

The room dimmed around him, every detail fading into a haze except the alpha’s eyes. Deep brown, scattered with amber flecks like sparks from a fire, they shimmered with magnetic brilliance.

Arox alphas and omegas were born with eyes unlike any others.

The natural brilliance of their irises mirrored their telepathic power, the most sacred part of their existence.

Ehlian’s own green eyes, streaked with bluish dots, shared the same magnetic beauty.

And yet, caught in those intense ember depths, he felt stripped bare.

But the mesmerising beauty hid a danger, a weakness: Aroxans bonded through their eyes. However resilient their wills and mental shields were, here amongst soulless criminals, any omega could be bewitched, possessed, tamed.

“Was that so hard?” The alpha’s voice broke through the haze, soft but cutting. “See? You’re still alive and unmated.”

Ehlian blinked, and the room sharpened back into focus. The alpha’s face came into clear view: dark, neatly combed hair, sharp features, and an easy, almost smug air. Yet his strikingly handsome face belonged on the cover of a magazine, not here.

And then it hit him.

Hayce Cartivair.

Heir to the Cartivair empire.

Dangerous. Unpredictable.

Second-born to the Cartivair commercial dynasty, Hayce was no ordinary criminal.

After his father had threatened to cut him out of his will, he tried to turn him into a puppet.

Losing control of his anger, the damage went beyond manipulation.

Hayce had fractured his father’s mind and telepathic core, shattering them with such force that it cost him his life.

Ehlian’s voice wavered as he spat, “Will you make me your puppet too?”

The atmosphere darkened instantly.

Hayce’s telepathic power swirled like a storm, invisible waves that slammed into Ehlian’s senses. His fingers gripped Ehlian’s hair tighter, and for a heartbeat, it felt as though he would break.

But just as swiftly, the storm passed.

Hayce let go, stepping back toward the bar and opened the bottle Ehlian had threatened him with minutes earlier. He poured two glasses and handed one to Ehlian.

Reluctantly, Ehlian accepted. He swallowed it in one swing, the alcohol burning his throat pleasantly.

“I don’t care who you are,” Ehlian finally said, his voice cold. “I’ll never be your fuck toy.”

Hayce let out a faint, dismissive hum.

He could hum all he liked. Ehlian meant it. “Is there only one bed?”

“You didn’t bring yours?” Hayce replied smoothly.

Ehlian glared. “Lost it on the way. Must be floating in space.”

“Then yes,” Hayce said, humouring him. “Only one bed.”

“I’m not sleeping in the same bed with you.”

“Then sleep on the floor.” Hayce lay back down on the bed, flipping his book open. “I don’t care.”

After pacing the room for a while and scoffing at its ridiculous luxury, he found the farthest corner and lay down on the carpet. It was cold and hard, but better than sharing a bed.

After minutes of uncomfortable shifting, a pillow suddenly hit him square in the head. Ehlian jolted upright and looked up. Hayce was calmly taking another sip of his drink, still absorbed in his book.

Ehlian let out a frustrated grunt, stuffing the pillow beneath his head and turning his back to the alpha.

Just one year. Nothing more.

But deep down, he knew one thing: he would never obey him.