A Year Later

Bailey…

Yet another birthday party for our beloved upcoming Alpha. Ha. Not my beloved upcoming Alpha. I hated the fucker. Breaking my heart without a second thought. What I had done to deserve that I had never got a proper explanation from him. Other than the frequent insults, of why would he want to be with someone like me? Did I look like Luna material to him? I had no clue. What the hell did Luna material look like in his eyes? Some blond bimbo, no doubt. They were the she-wolves he tended to spend his time with within our pack. The ones who worshiped the ground he walked on. That would do anything he asked of them. Ones that I highly doubted read much more than the work set of them at school.

“Bailey!” my Mum yelled at me from the stairway of our family home. “Will you hurry up?!”

“Do I really need to come to the party?” I responded. “I am telling you, Miles will not be bothered if I am not there!”

“Your Aunt and Uncle will be though. And I am not explaining to them again why you are missing.” My Mum continues yelling. “Do you not realize just how many events you have missed this year, all because you have your head in a book?”

“Yeah Bai-Bai. Such a geek. No wonder you have no friends.” My sister Morgan giggles from outside my bedroom door.

“Piss off.” I hissed. “I have friends.”

I stormed from my room, and down the stairs toward my waiting family. I planned to greet the birthday boy, not that he would care in the slightest. I know that he would rather not see me at all. And then I would sneak home.

“Ew, are you wearing that?” Morgan asked.

I looked down at the skinny black trousers I had on and the white tank top. Great. I can’t win. Nothing I wear is approved of by my sister, evidently named the fashion queen without my knowledge. Oh well, I am dressed and wearing it. I think it looked good with my chunky black sandals I had on…

I scowled at my sister and walked out of the door. “Are we going or not?” I snapped at them all, truly not able to wait for the following month when I leave to go to university. Get away from them, and this pack!

The party was well underway when we arrived, music pounding from the speakers as couples made out in every available space, so I averted my eyes as we walked through the corridors of the packhouse to the lounge where we would no doubt find Miles reigning over his people. Being all important, like he was partial to considering himself.

‘Why are you here?’ Miles’s voice filled my mindlink, before I had even fully entered the room behind my parents.

Great. ‘I didn’t get a choice. Trust me, I would rather not be.’ I snapped back.

I was getting more than a little tired of the way he would treat me. Yes, he planned on rejecting me. Decided I was not for him, but he could have left it at that. I didn’t need treating like I was some sort of social pariah because of the fact he decided I was not right for him. I do not think I deserved that. I had endured enough bullying through my time in high school, for the fact I enjoyed my education.

‘Oh. Excuse me? Are you implying you were not going to come to the party of your next Alpha?’ Miles links with some serious attitude.

‘Miles, you just asked why I had bothered coming. Now you are asking if I was not going to come? Make your mind up.’ I argued.

‘Remember who I am Bailey. You are not above me. Never will be. Could have been equal to me at most had I seen you as suitable to be my mate, but no. You were beneath that honor.’ He sneers.

I felt anger racing through me. ‘And you think I would not have rejected you?’ I snapped, moving back toward the exit, not wanting to be here anymore. Until I felt a hand grabbing the back of my tank top, yanking me back.

My eyes darted upward to see the dark eyes of Miles. Sneering down at me. Our Pack’s upcoming Alpha. The most arrogant man I think I have ever met. One, thankfully, I did not have to be mates with any longer as the stupid fucker had chosen to reject his own fated mate before even giving her a chance. “Going somewhere Bailey?” he asked, his voice full of spite.

“Well, I do believe you asked me why I was here, so I assumed you wanted me to leave.” I told him.

Miles bows his head down so it is level with mine, he inhales deeply, like he still enjoys the scent of me. He has done this numerous times of late, which I find quite bizarre. But, I ignore him as he tilts his head to look at me, “Hmm, I think my Mum and Dad may have something to say if you leave. Their clever little Bailey. Heaven forbid.” He presses his forehead against mine. “Just stay away from me, and do not spoil my fun.”

I shake my head in disbelief at him, as he stalks away. Did he even think for a moment I would be going near him if I could avoid it? I would rather be anywhere but near him!

“Bailey, why are you harassing my friend for?” I heard my brother, Jordan demand, as he suddenly approached, causing many people to turn around and look at me. Wonderful. Nothing like starting pack gossip is there. I am sure Miles would appreciate that!

“I wasn’t harassing him, he came to speak to me. Asking why I had come.” I told him, and my brother laughed. He is as much an idiot as Miles. Any of my friends who have big brothers hate how protective they are. Me? No, my big brother is the one leading all the bullying and being a total dick to me. He finds great embarrassment in the fact his younger sister is far from being one of the popular group, and is, in his words, ‘far too into her books’. I think, in all honesty, my entire family found me, in one way or another, a huge embarrassment.

“Well, he has a point. Not like you will be joining in with the celebrations. You will probably be sitting in a quiet corner somewhere reading.” He teases.

“Well, it is certainly more intellectually pleasing than any of you would be.” I smirked at him as I walked away from my brother who was standing looking confused. I am sure he had no clue what I meant. The scary thing is he will be the next, pack Beta. Heaven help our pack. Between him and Miles they only had one brain cell between them, and that was one that they shared, I am sure of it! And even then, I think it was rechargeable and started losing power and knowledge at a rapid rate! They only graduated high school because they paid people to do their work for them.

As I snuck away, out of the busy lounge to the top of the stairway, where I hoped to hide out for as long as possible, I heard footsteps behind me. I quickly turned, hoping it was simply someone on their way to their bedroom or even to one of the spare bathrooms on this floor. But, sadly, luck was not on my side tonight. No. Miles was following me. Eyebrows raised and looking quite irritated.

“Oi. I want to talk to you.” he demanded.

“You asked me to go away a minute ago, didn’t you?” I asked him.

“Don’t think so, think it was more a case of why you were here.” Miles says with a smirk. Sitting on the top step with me.

“Miles, you have the whole pack here for your birthday, I am sure whatever you need to speak to me about can wait.” I shrugged, desperately craving peace, which, considering the pounding beat of the music playing, would be difficult.

“No. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?” he questions, like he is irate at the fact I had not let him know. Why would I let him know?

“Why would I? We aren’t friends, Miles. You also are not my Alpha yet. It was arranged with my parents, me and your Dad, as Alpha.” I explained to him, unsure why this would even bother him. If anything, I would think he would be glad to get rid of me.

“You are going away though.” he murmurs.

“That is generally what happens when you go to college or university. Yeah.” I said with another shrug.

“There wasn’t one closer to home?” he hisses. “Because it seems to me you picked the one furthest away.”

“What does it matter to you? You hate me. I won't be here, You get your wish of being rid of me.” I snapped, truly sick of him trying to dictate to me what I should and shouldn’t be doing. I had worked hard in school, so I could do this. My parents had spoken to my Aunt and Uncle, the Luna and Alpha of our pack to allow me special permission to go to a university out of state to study, saying it was what I had dreamed of. I had nothing holding me back. And, with the fact Miles did not want me for his mate, or his Luna, I truly did not. Not that any of them knew of that. That was our own secret.

Even despite the pull to him as my mate since my wolf had arrived, I still found him truly repulsive. He sickened me. Though, the pains when he slept with the many she-wolves that visited his bed, made it even easier to detest the man that he had become. I still had no clue what I had done to deserve this treatment from this man, other than not being one of the popular group. But, I knew I deserved better than him.

Miles glanced at me, momentarily a thoughtful look passed over his face, almost caring, before a hardness replaced it. “That much is true. No more having to see the disappointing failure the moon goddess made of mating me to you. At least not for a few years. Who knows, perhaps you will meet someone while there. I suggest you do. That way you won’t have to come back, because, I, as Alpha, will be looking for my Luna.”

“Miles, I honestly do not care if you find someone else.” I told him, going to stand and head home, not wishing to spend another moment in the same place as him.

As I went to move away, he grabbed my hand, pulling me to him, so I was once more sitting level with him on the top step of the first floor landing of our packhouse. “Always so righteous aren’t you Bailey? You say you don’t care? We will see. Well, this will be on my terms. I, Miles Davenport, reject you, Bailey West, as my fated mate…” he began, and my head began to whirl as his words sunk in. The realization and excruciating pain of what was happening becoming too much for me…

Three Years Later

Bailey…

I drove the long road down to pack. I hated this drive. It was like returning to hell for me. Lotus Shadow Pack. My very own version of hell. Though, three years away, studying had been truly amazing. Transforming myself into the woman I should always have been. Confident. Self-assured. Brave. Just me. And now a fully qualified teacher.

As a she-wolf, you spend so many years of your life being told your focus is finding your fated mate. Settling down with them and creating a strong matebond. A love. A family. Well, once I had come to accept that my naïve, teenage dreams would never surface, thanks to the moon goddess pairing me with a mate so incapable of loving anyone other than himself, I decided that my focus would be my career. My education had always been something I took great pride in. I loved to learn, and I had decided that I wanted to pass that gift along. I no longer cared what others thought of me. And, while at university, it felt so wonderful to be surrounded by others who felt the same way. I finally felt like I fit in somewhere.

And, I believe that is what allowed me to become the person I was meant to be. However, now, I had to return to my pack, at their orders. The agreement was, once I had completed my degree, I would return home. Unless, of course, I had found my fated mate. But, I knew within my heart, that was never to happen. For, my fated mate sat at home. Lording it over our pack. Acting like he was the best thing since sliced bread. Sleeping with any she-wolf that came near him, from what I heard, having rejected me.

I pulled up at our guarded pack gates. Harley, one of our pack warriors, currently on guard duty, stepped forward to my car window. “ID” he ordered.

I frowned at him. I do not think I have been asked for ID before when returning home, even in all the times I have visited home, though in all fairness, those visits have been few and far between. My visits were only when they were required of me. I had grown to loathe this place, and coming back had become less of a priority for me over the time I was away...

“Harley, it is me. Bailey.” I explained, trying not to smile at his mistake.

Harley looked at me closer. “Shit. Sorry Bailey, didn’t really recognize you there. You changed your hair. And you aren’t wearing your glasses. You look good.” He says with a shrug, quickly looking away, clearly embarrassed by his faux-pas.

I smirk at his response. Yes, my hair is somewhat tamer than it used to be. The curls straightened out, and my hair now neat and sleek down my back. My glasses I had worn for reading had been long gone. Having got my eyes fixed with laser eye surgery whilst away. Plus, I now wore a little simple make-up to accentuate my features. Nice to know somebody has noticed a difference…

“No problem. You still need ID?” I asked him.

He grins at me. “I think I know who you are. Nice to see you.” he nods at me in acknowledgment as the gate opens for me. “Maybe catch you around while you are back.” He adds as I begin to drive away.

I smiled in response, I guess there would be nothing to stop me catching up with any guy I wanted to now. Not that I was really bothered right now... but it was not like I had a fated mate to wait for any longer. And it wasn’t like Miles was making a point of staying single. Every time I had returned home, he had had a different she-wolf on his arm. Parading them through pack like a prized possession, only to have traded her in by the time I returned on my next visit. He was turning into quite the lothario. And quite a joke in my eyes.

I set off along the quiet, familiar roads of our sweet old pack. The evening sun was settling in the sky as I moved my car down the route to my family home. No doubt my Mum would be there waiting for me, perhaps my Dad, if he was in from work by now. My brother and sister, I was unsure. They still both lived at home with my parents, but were back and forth to friends' homes and my brother was looking to move into the Beta suite in the packhouse soon enough, in preparation for taking on the role from my father when the time came. Either way, they rarely bothered to rush home to see me when they knew I was returning. I don’t think seeing me was at the top of their priority list…

I pulled my car up on the street in front of my familiar family home. I could not believe I was home. Stuck back here. The dread within my stomach churned heavily at the prospect of many years stuck here. Miserable and unhappy, with no way out, now my fated mate had rejected me. Not that anyone other than Miles and I knew of that. No. He had decided he would be considered weak if others knew an Alpha had gone against the powerful Moon Goddess’s choice. So, this was our secret. Or he would make me pay in ways I did not want to imagine, apparently.

And, in all honesty, I did not want to think of it. He had allowed me to go away to do my degree. Doing the final bit of convincing when my Uncle, the current Alpha, and Miles’s father, along with my parents were on the fence. Or, so he said. How true that was, I would never likely know the truth, but it had been for that reason, and that alone I had chosen to do as he had asked.

If he had done the things he said, then he had allowed me to fulfill my dream of gaining my degree of teaching away from pack. To allow me to be just me, not the daughter of the pack Beta. And I have thrived because of it. But, now, I had to return. Back to where I belonged. And, while I may have gained my degree, I had no real future prospects. I was likely stuck here.

I stepped from the car, determined more than ever to find work, as I heard my Mum’s voice. “Bailey!” she greeted me from the porch steps, a big smile upon her face. “You look beautiful sweetheart.”

I smiled back at her, as I moved toward the front door. Only to see Miles leaving the house next door to ours. The Alpha home. Could I have timed my arrival home any worse?

His eyes met mine, giving me a dark stare before looking at my Mum. “Hi Aunt Brianna. You didn’t say she was home today.”

Mum smiled at Miles like she thought the world of him, though most of the time she generally did. “Ah, I think it slipped my mind. Bailey is home for good now, Miles. How wonderful is that?”

Once more, Miles gave me a dark stare. “Hmmm. Truly wonderful.” he said with some serious contempt in his voice.

‘You stay out of my way unless I say otherwise, you understand?’ Miles mindlinks me, as he moves toward his car.

“Are you not going to speak to him Bai?” Mum tries. “He will be Alpha this time next year, you know?”

“Oh it doesn’t matter, Aunt Brianna. Bailey will be excused this time. I am sure she is tired from her drive back home. But no doubt I will be seeing her around. And yes, she will have to get used to me as her senior. Her Alpha.” He says with a sneer, and at his words my stomach twists into knots. I don’t think I can stay here… I not only need to find work, I need to find work away from my pack, so I can move away to get away from my psychotic Alpha and ex-mate!

Bailey…

I sit out in the garden drinking my morning coffee, with my laptop open scrolling desperately through the job vacancies, when I hear a deep growl to my left, causing me to swirl my head to look. Miles was resting his head on the garden fence from next door, overlooking our back garden, to where I was sitting. Watching me intently, the look upon his face was one of sheer disgust...

I had no clue how long he had been standing there, or what had angered him to the point of growling, but he had made me jump. “Fucking hell, Miles.” I snapped, giving him a dark scowl. I had done well the past week since arriving and stayed out of his way. Managing to ensure I avoided all pack events, and ensuring I dodged any places he was likely to be. Yes, it meant I spent an awful lot of time in my bedroom at home, but I would rather do that than have to deal with him.

Today, the sun was glorious, and I thought it would be nice to take my breakfast outside while I looked for jobs online. Sitting on the patio furniture we have in the back garden, under the warmth of the morning sunshine, my coffee was enjoyable, all until this stupid fucker disturbed me. I shook my head in his direction, wondering why he had snuck up on me. He had so many more places he could be...

“Who do you think you are cursing at?” Miles snarled.

“The creep who did exactly that. Crept up on me out of the blue for no good reason.” I rolled my eyes at him in disgust, only to see this seemed to anger him further. Though, I think anything I did would anger Miles. He seemed to hold some serious resentment towards me at the moment, but should I really expect anything less?

“I will come over there and deal with you, Bailey.” He hissed.

“Deal with me?” I questioned his choice of words. “Deal with me how? You asked me to stay out of your way. That is what I am doing.”

“What are you doing?” he chose to ignore my words, and looks to my laptop screen instead, so I slowly shut the screen down, so he would be unable to see. I do not want him knowing I am applying for work outside the area. I would not put it past him to stop it from happening. He seems to be being deliberately nasty of late, so I truly do not know what he would sink to, in order to be nasty towards me…

“Nothing of your concern.”

“I am your Alpha. So, all that goes on in my pack is my business.” He tells me with a smirk.

I shook my head with a smirk back, “Hmm, not quite Miles, you are not. Your Dad is still Alpha, so don’t be getting ahead of yourself.”

An angry look flared across his face once more. His handsome features contorted in fury. He did not like having people disagree with him. But I was not about to have him dictating to me...

“Just because you were my mate once upon a time does not give you the right to talk to me however you please, you know.” Miles snarls.

“She is your mate?” a voice questions, causing us both to whip our heads round, only to see the unexpected face of Miles’s younger brother Ellis.

I look at Miles with despair now, my heart pounding within my chest and my palms becoming sweaty. Wondering what the hell he planned to do now the secret we had kept between us for so long was out now… how had neither of us heard him coming?

“No she is not. She rejected me.” Miles said coldly, looking at me as if daring me to disagree with him.

Wait... he was making it out like I had rejected him? I looked at Miles in shock, but the look within his eyes was like he dared me to argue.

“You rejected your Alpha? What kind of fool are you?” Ellis asked as his eyes looked me up and down like a piece of dirt. Sadly, a look I am more than used to. “Do Mum and Dad know?”

Miles shakes his head. “No. I don’t want them to either. It would worry them too much, Els, please do not say anything. Bailey and I were never a good match, so perhaps she made the right choice. Please for me?” Miles is pleading with his brother, and part of me wonders if he is worried what his family would do if they learned of his decision to go against the Moon Goddess. As an Alpha, this was almost unheard of. Blaming me was gutless. But, if that is what he wants to do, then let him.

‘Do not even think of saying anything different.’ Miles’s voice reverberates through my mind via the link. ‘Or you will learn to regret it. That degree you love so much could easily be destroyed.’

I took in the words Miles had said, and the sad thing is, I do not doubt them. I would not put it past him finding a way to have my degree removed. Having me stuck within our pack. He would be Alpha soon enough, and he would be the one able to dictate what I did... I had little choice but to do as he asked. Yet i felt anger racing through my veins...

I lifted my laptop and stood from my seat. “I will talk to you however I like Miles. When you seem to think you can treat me however you like.” and with that I walked away from the two brothers, both looking at me, walking away in shock. I know I would come to regret what I had just said, but I truly no longer cared…