Alpha Bully (6 page)

“What, Dad?”

“Nothing.
It offers a complication, but it’s not unheard of. I can reach out to
other packs to see how they approach her family.”

Jack snorted. “You’ve got no chance of reaching out to
her family.”

“Why?”

“She wants nothing to do with me.”

“Why not?”

Glancing in the mirror at his friend, Marshall knew it
was up to him, not Jack, to tell his father. “I’ve not exactly been the nicest
person to her growing up.”

“We bullied her,” Jack said, speaking up.

“You bullied your own mate?”

Shame filled every part of him. “Yes.”

“We didn’t know she was his mate then,” Jack said.

It didn’t matter. His father had warned him about
hurting others. No one was sure of their mate until after the change.

“Your mother’s not going to be happy,” Luke said.

He wasn’t happy himself.

No one spoke for the rest of the journey. Luke dropped
Jack off first before they headed toward their own home. They lived in a
secluded part of the town that was cut off by the forest. None of the locals
ever ventured into the forest. Rumors of bears, wolves, and coyotes kept them
all away.

His father slammed the door closed, and they headed
inside.

The sound of his mother’s humming filled his senses.
Great, he hated upsetting his mother, but he wouldn’t have a choice.

Seconds later she came around the corner carrying a
bowl. The scent of her baking wafted toward his nostrils.

“How was your first day?”

“It was good.”

“Son!”

Closing his eyes, Marshall took a deep breath. He
didn’t want to upset his mother.

“What’s going on?” Carla asked.

“He has found his mate,” Luke said.

She squealed, wrapping her arms around him. “Where is
she? I couldn’t wait for this moment. Do you remember when we changed for the
first time? We were true mates.”

“She’s human,” his father said.

Carla looked worried.
“Oh, dear.”

“I’ve also spent a great deal of time bullying her.”
Marshall blurted the words out. It would be better if he told her everything.

“Bullied?”

Marshall nodded.

“You bullied a young woman who’s your mate?”

Staring at his mother he saw tears and disappointment
fill her eyes.

“Yes.”

“She’s a human and hates you?”

“Yes.” His wolf dropped his head. The full force of
what he’d done finally hit him like a slap to the face. There was no chance of
him ever getting Scarlett to want him, let alone love him. Mates were destined.
They were fated to be together and were supposed to love, honor, and cherish
each other. He wouldn’t be able to look at another woman without thinking about
his mate. “I’m going to my room.”

No one stopped him as he carried his bag upstairs to
his room.

“Luke, what should we do?”

“I’m going to call a few friends. They know of humans mating with us. I
need to make sure he’s taken care of as much as the girl.”

His father moved around. He listened to his parents
talk about the different packs all over the world for several minutes.

“He was a bully?”
His mother sounded so
disappointed in him.

Sitting on the end of his bed, he dropped his head
between his thighs.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, Carla. She may never accept him.
She’s human. There’s no way she’ll feel such a strong connection.”

“What did she look like?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see her.”

She’s beautiful, more beautiful than he ever imagined
she could be. Scarlett was everything he wanted in a woman and didn’t even know
about. He was such an asshole. Last year he’d been annoyed with his response to
her, lashing out and hurting her for his own issues. Now, he was living with
the consequences of his actions, and he hated it.

Running fingers through his hair, he slid down the bed
until he landed on the floor. His cell phone went off, and he held it to his
ear.

“How are you holding up?” Jack asked.

“My mom’s upset.”

“Do you blame her? Even I remember her talking all
excitedly about your mating. It was going to be the event of the year.”

“I’ve fucked it up. I’ve fucked everything up.”

Jack didn’t speak for several minutes. Running a hand
over his face, Marshall tried to think of something that could repair the
damage.

“What was it like?” Jack asked.

“What?”

“You know, finding her? Knowing she was the one
designed to be yours for the rest of your life.”

Blowing out a breath, Marshall rolled onto his back so
he was looking at the ceiling. “She smelled of roses, the forest, home. She
smelled like home, and when I heard her speak, I knew I could sit and listen to
her talk all day. It wouldn’t matter what she said, only that she kept talking
and didn’t stop.”

“Wow,” Jack said.

“I wanted to touch her. I wanted to wrap my arms
around her, hold her close and never let go. I wanted to fuck her, make love to
her, and claim her so no other guy would get the change. She’s the other half
of me, and I know I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her.”

Jack was silent for several minutes.

Marshall got to his feet, heading toward his closet.

“What about her weight? I mean, she’s, you know,
chunky.”

Pausing in his closet, he thought about Jack’s
question. “She’s perfect, Jack. Fuck, before summer, all of last year I was
responding to her. You know, getting turned on just being around her.”

“Why didn’t you fucking say anything? I wouldn’t have
picked on her,” Jack said.

“I don’t know. I didn’t understand it. Why did we
bully her? She was so fucking scared of me, Jack. She flinched away from my
touch as if the thought of my touch terrified her.”

“Shit, man, I’m so sorry.”

He rested the phone against his shoulder as he reached
up to grab the box that contained old school photos that his parents had gotten
over the years.

“Is there anything you can do?”

“I don’t know. I’m not going to quit or give up
without a fight. She’s my mate.”

“What are you going to do about this new guy? He’s not
going to back away.”

Marshall walked back to his bed, putting the box on
top. “We’re going to become friends with him.”

Jack laughed. “How do you work that out?”

“We become friends with him, I get close to Scarlett.
I can’t just leave her.”

“You’re going to get close to her by being friends
with him?”

“It’s the only way I can see it can work. When we’re
friends, I can push him away using other girls.”

He was going to start being nice to her as well.
Marshall didn’t know what he was going to do, but he had the rest of the year
to try to figure it out. He disconnected the call and opened up the box. Inside
were all the photographs from years ago.

Some of them were class photos. Picking one up from
when he was ten, he looked through the photo and stopped when he caught sight
of Scarlett. She was standing in front of him in the picture. How had he not
known she was going to be his mate?

Sitting on his bed, he went through most of the
pictures, and was shocked to find they were close together in each one. Had he
known?

His mother knocked on his door.

“Come in.”

He sat in the center of his bed surrounded with
pictures of his mate. There were not any of just her, but there was enough to
soothe his wolf.

Carla carried a tray filled with cookies and some
milk.

“You got through your first day.”

“Is Dad still mad?”

“He’s concerned.” She sat on the edge of the bed after
putting his drink and cookies on the night stand beside his bed. “
This her
?”

Marshall pointed to Scarlett.

“What’s her name?”

“Scarlett.”

“She has a beautiful name.”

He nodded.

“I’m really sorry about this, Marshall.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it.”

“And here I was worried more about your first day back
at school.”

He blew out a breath. “She hates me, Mom.”

“Then charm her. She’s your mate, so something has to
draw her to you.” Carla stroked his cheek. “I’d advise that you don’t bully her
anymore.”

There was no chance of that.

****

The following day Scarlett had gym once again, and the
teacher, Mr. Bridges was having all of them running laps. She’d run around the
track four times, and she was starting to get out of puff. Trey was running
beside her even though he didn’t have to.

“You can run on ahead,” she said, wanting any excuse
to just fall back and stare up at the beautiful blue sky.

“Nah, I’m good.”

“You’re going to torture me.” She grabbed her side,
slowing down as it got too much.

“Come on, Fields and Decker, get moving.” The teacher
blew his whistle.

Picking up her pace, she kept running, wishing someone
would come and take her away now. She’d gladly have a broken leg than have to
keep running.

“I enjoyed last night.”

Trey had called around to her house when her folks
arrived home. He introduced himself as her friend. Her parents adored him, and
Scarlett was starting
to
really like him. He was fun
and didn’t bully her.

“Me, too.”
She glanced over at him to see him smiling back at her.

“I was wondering if you’d like to come around to mine
to study
tonight?
My mom will be home so you don’t
have to worry about me taking advantage of you.”

Scarlett giggled. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t worry about
that.”

“Come on, Decker, move it,” Marshall said, giving Trey
a nudge as he started to pass.

She froze as she watched Trey throw Marshall off him
then charge on ahead. Scarlett kept running, watching as Marshall and Trey were
competing for first place.

When the teacher blew the whistle, Scarlett started
walking heading toward the group. The whole day of school had been exhausting,
and finishing on gym didn’t help. Her legs were like Jell-O.

Trey punched Marshall in the arm before he ran back up
to her.

“Sorry about that. It’s inbuilt to accept a
challenge.”

“No problem.” She rubbed her palms down the shorts she
wore. The shirt she wore was three times too big, but she was starting to wish
she’d gone for a different shirt as it kept slipping off her shoulder. “You’re,
erm, you’re friends?”

Trey nodded.

It was good he was making friends. They started walking
toward the gym.

“Here is the man,” Marshall said, grabbing Trey around
the head, and rubbing his hair.

Scarlett kept walking.

“Get off me. Can’t you see I’m talking here?”

She tapped her thighs as they entered the gym. At the
start of gym class they’d been split into two groups. Once they entered the
room, Cheryl squealed bouncing over toward them. Scarlett kept moving, going
toward the bleachers to take a seat. She was sweaty, and when she got home she
was going to take a long shower.

“What’s happening?” Trey asked.

“Dodgeball,” Cheryl said.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Cheryl run her
hands up Marshall’s chest. The teacher shouted Cheryl’s name as the game
started up. Mr. Bridges took a seat on the bleachers with his group of
students.

Trey sat beside her, and she couldn’t help but feel
Marshall sit directly behind her. Something touched her back, and she jerked
around to see what it was only to find nothing there but Marshall’s hands.

“What’s up?” Trey asked.

“Nothing.”
She was losing her mind. There was no way Marshall would try to touch
her. Glancing back to the game, she watched as the teams started throwing balls
to either side of the room. Some of the balls hitting flesh made her wince.

“Right, team, you’re up,” Mr. Bridges said.
“Our team against yours.”

Trey grabbed her hand, leading her onto their space of
the court. She didn’t like this. Grabbing a ball from the floor, Scarlett blew
out a breath as she faced the other team. She hated dodgeball.

“Are you okay?” Trey asked.

“Yeah, I’m good.”