Page 8 of Alpha's Bullied Mate
“Yes, but—”
“No big deal, then.” I shrugged. “You’re very dramatic, Dakota.” I did this thing where I dragged out the vowels in her name because it made her shudder and look deeply unsettled at how I said it, as if the very way made her hate her own name. I flung an arm over her, aware my weight would drag her down. She flinched and tried to struggle away. “Let’s head to class.”
“I have Math next,” she said.
“Funny,” I said, preparing to lie. “Me too. Come on, I’ll grab us some desks next to each other.”
Her eyes widened as she ducked out of my arm and bolted down the corridor. I laughed loudly after her before I walked off to the school gym for basketball practice. I was satisfied knowingthat at least Dakota would be watching the door to her Math class the whole time, waiting for me to enter…
It was five in the morning, and I hadn’t yet slept or figured out how to get Dakota off my mind. She wasn’t the Wolfie I had terrorized years ago. Her body had grown, her face maturing, and while she had never been ugly, she had grown into her features and developed into something… Beautiful. I didn’t want to admit it, but I could, in the very small corners of my mind.
Where she’d once been timid and afraid, she was now honed from something I recognized. Determination and fight. It was a pity she had found her way to Fenrys’s pack before mine. She would have been at home in it. Then, I pulled myself up at that unexpected thought.Whywas I thinking of her being part of my pack? Disgusting.
I pulled myself up and out of bed and went to walk out to the back garden before remembering that Dakota was out in the living room, and I would have to walk by her. Honestly, I didn’t feel like talking to her. I didn’t want to acknowledge that she was there, that I hadtaken her. Thalia was the woman I’d prepared myself to take, justifying it by getting to Fenrys, but not Dakota. Just the sight of her made me uneasy, and I hated that.
I groaned and got back into bed, closing my eyes. She was there, bared teeth and all, daring me to untie her and find out how she fought.
“Fuck,” I muttered, watching the dark night through my open window. My hurt and anger at everything had forged my heart into a shell, protecting it, not wanting kindness or anything remotelylikecommitment. Even with my pack, I was not always the kindest alpha. I was hard on them at times, sharp with them more often than not. When roots could be yanked out,taken away, never a permanent home, I had learned to accept that anything could be temporary.. And yet, my past was literally in my living room, striking a hammer to that shell. “Get the hell out of my head, Wolfie.”
***
Hours later, I walked past Dakota, who watched me with narrowed eyes.
“Want to sit in on the pack’s meeting?” I asked, nodding at the fire pit outside. I gave her a sly laugh. “Shame if you did. Those bonds aren’t coming off just yet.”
“Let me guess, you’re deciding what to do with me?” Dakota asked, rolling her eyes. “How about you send me back to the pack and I won’t say anything?”
“Giving in already? Surely you have more fight in you than that.” I was only riling her up. I had no intention of elongating her stay with us beyond yanking information out of her. If that meant she stayed tied up for as long as she remained quiet and stubborn, then so be it.
“Aidan,” she called, as I went to head out to the backyard. “I would like to use the bathroom.”
“Hold it,” I told her.
“Not into that kink, thanks,” she muttered.Thatgot my attention, and I bit back a laugh. Oh, shewasproving to be far from the girl I had known in high school.
“Yeah? What are you into, then? Degradation? Impact play?”
“If you’re saying that based on how you made me feel in high school I can assure you that wasnotattraction to you. I putup with you because you were like a shadow that wouldn’t leave. Youharassed me, Aidan. Now, let me find some damn way to relieve myself, or you can grab the mop.”
I met her eyes, starting to seethe. She didn’t get to mess with me when she was powerless in my hold. Part of me wanted to be cruel and dare her to do it right there, toactuallyhumiliate her, but another part of me didn’t care to spare the time nor watch her embarrass herself like that.
Quickly, I stationed two of my pack members outside the house, around the bathroom, and held Dakota’s wrists in one hand, slicing through the bonds. I made her shuffle awkwardly with her ankles still bound, not wanting to risk giving her too much movement. I showed her the bathroom downstairs and made her talk to me while she relieved herself so I knew she wasn’t escaping or her voice growing fainter with distance or breathless from moving fast while plotting something to distract me.
Minutes later, she emerged, her cheeks flushed, anger tightening her jaw. “Don’t ever make me almost beg to use the bathroom.”
I shoved her into the wall, one arm braced next to her head. “Get this into your head, Dakota. You don’t make the rules about your treatment here. You didn’t make the rules years ago, and you sure as hell don’t now. Be grateful I didn’t let you humiliate yourself.”
She stared at me, fury igniting in her whole expression. Her eyes were a raging storm of ire, and her mouth hardened into a line. I wondered what she wished to actually say to me. All that came out was a whispered, “I hate you so much. I never thought I’d see you again after graduation.”
“Surprise, Wolfie.”
“Ihateyou,” she snapped, as if the first time wasn’t enough.
“I fucking hate you too,” I answered. “Now get back on the chair. If you’re lucky, I’ll throw you out with the garbage once we decide what to do with you.”
“And if I’m not lucky?”
I gave her a smile that I knew set fear into most people. “I guess you’ll find out, won’t you?”
