Page 1 of My Mate

Chapter One

Dex Arlington knew his father would be very proud of him at this moment. He stood in the men’s shower at the swimming pool complex, and he hadn’t torn Buddy Anderson’s throat out. This was a good thing, or at least it was according to his father.

A torn throat would cause a great deal of issues within the pack, and Dex didn’t like dealing with them at the best of times. Even his own father, Klaus, sometimes hated having to be Alpha. One day, Dex would have to take over and the whole Arlington Pack would belong to him. Everyone would turn to him for guidance and all that shit, but he had a way to go before that happened. He was an Alpha in training. Not that he felt like he needed any training.

No, that wasn’t true. He just liked to piss his dad off from time to time by pretending he knew it all. It was fun to irritate his father. At the moment, he already annoyed his dad by having a very bad reputation, especially among his peers.

It wasn’t his fault that everyone else was an asshole, or more specifically, it wasn’t his fault that Buddy Anderson rounded up a group of his buddies to beat the crap out of a girl.One specific girl, Casey Scott. There was no way he was going to allow anything to happen to Casey. She was the person he was going to protect above all.

Five months ago, she turned eighteen and like the rest of the pack, she was expected to change into her wolf. The only problem was that, even now, she was the only pack member in history that had not changed into wolf form. Unfortunately, it made her a target, and Dex could not allow that.

Staring at Buddy, wearing his swimming boxers and even whistling while not giving a shit, pissed him off. He leaned against the lockers, staring at the guy he wanted to kill. Dex cleared his throat and as he did, Buddy let out a shout and spun around.

“Holy fuck, you scared the crap out of me,” Buddy said. “I nearly shit myself.”

He didn’t laugh and the smile soon fell from Buddy’s face.

“Uh, what’s the problem?”

Dex stared at him for several seconds, but he didn’t say a word, just waited.

Buddy was a weakling and a coward. Always had been and always would be. He couldn’t stand him. The guy had gone after a female, and he looked at him, feeling the revulsion once again.

He could see Buddy tense up.

“You’re my problem, Bud,” Dex said. “You think it’s okay to attack females?”

Buddy scoffed. “Come on, man. You’re seriously not mad about Casey? That can’t be possible. We’re just trying to do the pack a favor.”

“A favor?”

“No one wants that weakling.”

Dex took a step, then another step. “And you’re the Alpha who gets to decide that?”

Another weak chuckle. “I’m on your side and the Arlington Pack is strong, and she cannot turn into a wolf.”

“My father has no problem with Casey. She is pack. Her place is here with all of us. Do you remember what happened to David?” Dex asked.

Buddy’s eyes went wide, and he started to shake his head.

Last year, David Delagair decided he was going to scare the crap out of Casey, and it ended with her getting a black eye. Dex made sure David had two bruised eyes, a broken arm, and he forced him to apologize to Casey. Anyone who hurt Casey, directly or indirectly, suffered.

Since the moment they were kids, she had been a target for bullies, but Dex had taken care of it. The bullying had soon stopped, until it was only a few fleeting events, which he dealt with. No one messed with his Casey.

He didn’t give a shit that she hadn’t changed, and he didn’t care if she never did. Casey was one of the nicest, sweetest people in the pack. Nothing was ever too big or too small. She gave, and people were quite willing to take from her.

Dex would make sure no one abused her kindness. She would be protected.

The black eye he saw, along with the split lip, were highly unacceptable. In fact, all he saw as he looked at Buddy was the new bruising on her face, and it pissed him off. The first punch was not that hard, but the second and third were. Buddy tried to hit back at him, but he was no match for Dex. He was a training Alpha. He’d been born bigger, stronger, and faster. No one could compete with him, and that was exactly what his father had taught him.

The pack needed to respect him. If anyone had any inkling of weakness it would throw the pack into chaos. Dex would not allow that to happen.

Buddy landed in a heap on the floor and began to soband beg. Wrapping his fingers around the man’s neck, he didn’t squeeze, although he was tempted to.

“You’re going to go to Casey, and you’re going to look her in the eye and you’re going to apologize to her. Do you understand me?” Dex asked. “If you don’t do this, then I will fucking kill you. I’ll annihilate your whole family, and I don’t care about the repercussions, got it?”

“Yes, yes, I got it. I’m sorry, Dex. I’m so sorry.”

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