Chapter 4 Bound By Fear

• Aphrodite's Point of View
• I hadn't even noticed until he mentioned it. My whole body was shaking, small quakes running through me as if my body had become a traitor to the words that had just left my mouth. I tried to will it to stop, but only made it worse.
• Zeus leaned in closer, his lips brushing the shell of my ear as he spoke again, this time lower, more intimate. "Lying doesn't suit you, Aphrodite."
• I bit the inside of my cheek, fisting my hands. The emotional walls I'd erected to survive my captivity years were breaking down so easily around him. His smell, the heat radiating off his body, was just too much.
• "I-I'm not lying," I finally managed to get out, though the shake of my voice betrayed me.
• His hot breath danced across my ear as he leaned in closer, close enough that I felt his heart beating steadily beneath his chest. "We'll see," he murmured darkly before pulling away.
• Just as I felt a wave of relief at the space between us, a knock echoed at the door, making me flinch. My heart raced again, thinking it was another test, another punishment.
• Alpha Zeus straightened, his eyes never leaving mine as he called out, "Enter."
• The door creaked open, and a servant stepped inside, bowing low. "Alpha, the bath is ready. You asked for Lady Aphrodite to accompany you, so I came here to pick her up."
• My heart stopped. What? A bath? For him? I was supposed to… accompany him?
• I froze, mentally scrambling to understand the scenario. Alpha Zeus's bath? Why did he need me? What was required of me?
• Zeus swung his gaze back to mine, his eyes glinting with humor from my confusion. "You heard her, didn't you?" he asked smoothly. "Your presence is required."
• "I--" I choked over words. My pulse pounded in my throat, my chest tight with fear and uncertainty. Was this some sort of cruel joke? Was I to be punished for some reason I didn't know?
• Zeus's face turned stern, his eyes regarding me. "You're mine now, Aphrodite. You belong to me. And I expect you to obey."
• I swallowed hard and felt the weight of his command crush down upon me. Obey. I had no choice. I was a servant, a captive, at least-whatever he wanted, I was to follow. But this… this was something I didn't understand.
• We stopped before a bathroom so grand it rivaled the rest, with steam wafting from the marble tub right in its center. The air was warm and heavy, pungent with the aroma of herbs and oils. I froze at the entrance, unsure of what to do next.
• Zeus materialized behind me, his large frame filling the doorway as he stepped inside. "Prepare to help me bathe," he said, his voice unbending.
• My heart went into a riot, my mind tangled in a mess. "I-I don't know how--"
• "You'll learn," he cut me off, his eyes never leaving mine as he began to undo the buttons of his shirt, revealing the hard planes of his chest.
• I looked away, my cheeks hot. It was more than I had ever imagined. Everything in me screamed to turn and run as far from this room, from this Alpha King, as I could. But where? I was his now, his possession, sworn to obey his every order.
• And as he stood before me, half-undressed, watching me with that unreadable look on his face, I knew that my fear was not of him but of what was to come. What would he ask of me next? What would my role be in this new life, this new prison that I had entered?
• Alpha Zeus leaned in closer, voice low, husky. "You will serve me in every way, Aphrodite. And I will make sure you understand exactly what that means."
• Warm steam filled the room, thick and heavy with moisture, as I knelt beside the large, marble tub. My heart pounded against my chest, every move calculated, every second stretched thin. The Alpha King sat before me, his broad back exposed, muscles tense while I began to scrub his skin.
• The silence between us was deafening; my mind raced as I tried to focus on the task at hand. My hands slightly quivered, my fingers dipped the cloth in the water, squeezed it gently, pressed it onto his back. His body's warmth mixed with the warmth of the tub, and I could feel the intensity of his presence without him having said a word.
• As I scrubbed, my eyes caught something unusual, faint lines, deep grooves etched into his skin. Old scars, long since healed but never fully erased. I paused, curious. The scars stretched across his back, crisscrossing like old wounds that had never faded.
• I couldn't stop my hand from tracing the edges of one of the deeper scars; the skin was rough beneath my touch. It was just so strange to see something like this on him, Alpha Zeus, the most powerful being I have ever known. Part of me wondered how someone like him had scars in the first place.
• I would have yanked my hand away when, in a split second, I felt him flinch.
• I froze.
• Quick it was, but a flinch it was nevertheless; and that was enough to flip my heart. Alpha Zeus… flinch? Could this be real? I stared at the back of his head, half-expecting him to whip around and chastise me for having dared to touch him, but he did nothing.
• And then it dawned on me, he had a weakness.
• I couldn't help but feel that if even the mighty Alpha King could flinch, there was something more to him, something he was hiding beneath all that strength, all that authority.
• "You've noticed them," he said; his voice was low, as if he could read my thoughts.