Page 4 of My Brutal Alpha

Even if I was worn out from being at the bar all night, stripping down to my boxers and dropping myself into bed did nothing to tame my anger and disbelief about what my parents dropped on me.

Still, I shoved it down like always and closed my eyes, sure about one thing:

I wasn’t going to do anything my parents wanted of me. The time of me caving to their demands was long gone.

Chapter 2 - Zoe

It felt like a lifetime had passed since I started making plans for the new pack gym.

With my bright ideas, some elbow grease, and my brother’s help, it was finally done. The new facility was complete, and the opening day had arrived.

My excitement had been uncontainable leading up to it, and I was more than confident that everyone around me was beyond sick of hearing about it. Still, it was my pride and joy, and I was going to bask in it as much as I could.

To my surprise, the event's advertising stretched far wider than I expected, and I managed to get the attention of people from out of town—much farther than I ever anticipated. Fortunately, many of them seemed thrilled to show up and support me on opening day.

Of course, it helped to have Sebastian as my brother, and I was sure he had some sort of pull there.

But regardless, I couldn’t be annoyed by his potential interference. I was far too happy about how everything turned out and that I could finally have something of my own that I wanted for so long.

Wearing my best all-black athleisure ensemble, I toured the building, greeting and thanking those who came to see it.

As I stood in the foyer, I spotted Sebastian and his friends as they came in, cheeks already hurting from smiling so much. Even so, I was more than happy to see him since I knew he’d be a frequent visitor.

“It’s about time you showed up,” I said, mostly to Sebastian as he and the others approached.

My brother chuckled and put his arm out for a supportive side hug. “Oh, come on, you knew I’d be here no matter what. I had to see how your meticulous planning panned out.”

I scoffed light-heartedly, still cracking a smile for him. “Yeah, yeah. I know. Still, you could’ve been here to help me greet everyone.”

He flashed me his teasing smile and gently clapped my shoulder. “I’m here now, aren’t I? And I also brought some familiar faces to celebrate you today.”

Letting go of a conceding breath, I nodded and grinned as the guys looked around.

“Congrats on all this, Zoe. I knew you’d kick Sebastian’s ass into getting a better gym here,” Levi said, supportive and kind as always. Fortunately, he was one of his more tolerable and level-headed friends.

“Someone had to, right?”

He chuckled and nodded. “That’s absolutely right. Better it be you than anyone else.”

Beau and Jacob said similar congratulations before they got distracted with some of the state-of-the-art machines, and then Ethan, in his usual enthusiasm, draped an arm around my shoulders, grinning at me. “I’m impressed by everything you’ve done here, Little Rivera. But if you think this is going to help your chances of beating me at any kind of strength competition, then you’re completely out of your depth.”

I scoffed at him, used to his antics. “If you think that will stop me from challenging you, you’re deluded.”

He laughed at that, towering over me as he leaned in more and pointed to one of the machines. “You think you could be a doll and show me how to work that thing?”

“All right, quit harassing my sister,” Sebastian said, tone veiled with amusement as he pulled Ethan off me and put him in a headlock, causing them both to laugh and fuss over each other.

I sighed as they caused the slightest scene before Sebastian let go and Ethan called for a truce. “You guys are always so obnoxious…” I pointed at them with the faintest warning in my tone. “You better be good. This is important to me.”

Flashing his boyish grin, Ethan put his hands up in defense before he gestured to my brother. “I’ll be on my best behavior—he’s the one you have to watch out for.”

Sebastian waved him off, pretending to be unimpressed by it. “Whatever…anyway, I’m proud of you, Zoe. You’re doing great here, keep it up.”

Satisfied with his praise, I smiled in return as the two of them eventually joined the others. But as I turned to look towards the foyer again, my pleased expression dropped at the sight of who I saw standing there.

Ezra, who had apparently been preoccupied looking at the bulletin board at the front, met my gaze as he approached.

I couldn’t help but grimace on the inside, realizing that the others had essentially left me alone with him, and the awkwardness of the situation immediately settled in my skin as I looked up at him.

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