Page 55 of Alpha's Bullied Mate
“I don’t want to fight you, Aidan,” he said, his voice ever so calm and collected. A fucking mayor’s son, indeed. “Shift. Let’s talk.”
“Maybe he’s too scared,” Conall taunted. “Didn’t talk back then, won’t talk now.”
“Conall,” Fenrys warned. His eyes remained on me. His brow twitched. “It’s been too long, Aidan. We were friends once. Can’t we just talk?”
That had me shifting in the blink of an eye. Something hurled my way, another pair of shorts, and I snarled at them but took the offered clothing. I yanked the shorts on and went for Fenrys. A growl knocked from me as I tackled him to the ground.
Every time someone shoved me back, I lunged for him. Relentless, I needed my hands on Fenrys.
“Youneverwanted to talk!” I yelled at him, held back by Conall and Theo. Their fingers dug into my shoulders, binding my wrists in a hand each. I snarled and struggled against their grip. “You never fuckingdidanything, Fenrys. Yeah, we were friends once,” I spat. “But you know what friends do? They fucking come through for each other.”
“I know,” Fenrys said, his voice infuriatingly calm. “And I’m sorry. I’ve spent years never knowing how to apologize enough for it.”
“There’s never a big enough apology,” I hissed. “We were banished. Ousted from ourhome.” My voice rose. “You don’t fucking know what that feels like. You can’t ever know because you’re the goddamn golden son. Fenrys Randon, everything handed to him on a golden plate.”
“Watch it,” Conall snarled.
“Don’t even get me started on you.” I spat at him. “You’re all as shitty as each other. Youallstood back and watched us leave. Stood on high and judged us. You all knew the truth. Months later, even when my father was proved innocent, you never reached out. You did fuck all.”
“Aidan, I’m sorry,” Fenrys said.
“Sound a little bit more fake, go on, Fenrys. Just abitmore and it might sound rehearsed enough.”
“Stop being an asshole,” he muttered. He nodded at Conall and Theo. “Let him go. Let him come.”
The second they released me, I barreled right for him again, anger pulsing in me. This was my revenge, finally. I knocked Fenrys to the floor and pulled my arm back. But as I went to swing, I faltered. Looking back at me was the best friend I’d had in elementary school. The boy I’d thought I’d grow up alongside, a proud member of his pack. I gritted my teeth and dropped my hand.
Was it even worth it anymore?
The question came to me in an awful blow. I slumped off Fenrys, sitting down next to
him.
“Just once, I wanted to hurt you,” I confessed. “Justonce. I wanted revenge, Fen. You all stayed together. Grew up together. I’ve been living out there, trying to make it my own. Trying to prove that I was always as good as you. That I mightbelong somewhere.” I shook my head, feeling pathetic. Butno. Fenrys didn’t get to do that to me.
“Then do it.”
“What?”
“Punch me. I deserve it. I’ll punch you the fuck back, Aidan, but if it’ll make you feel better, go ahead. I should have stood up for you. I had the power and I did nothing, and I really am sorry for that.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. It wasn’t a hard punch, nowhere near the force I would have had before. The second my knuckles slammed into his face, his own fist cracked me across the jaw. We both sat back, stared at each other.
“I fuckin’ hate you,” I muttered.
“Yeah, well, you don’t make yourself entirely likable, either,” Conall answered. “Kidnapping Dakota, Aidan, really? Are you just trying to make enemies everywhere?”
At the mention of her name, my head snapped up, and that anger reignited in me.
“Conall,” Fenrys snapped. Then that warning turned onto me as I got to my feet. I didn’t care if I was just one man alone against Fenrys’s pack. They weren’t Conall’s pack. They’d stand up for him, yes, but he couldn’t make them. “Aidan. Don’t.”
“You don’t command me,” I told Fenrys. “Andhedoesn’t get to even have her name in his mouth.”
Conall blocked the blow I threw at him. He grunted as we crashed together, grappling. I slammed the back of my heel intothe back of his knees, making him buckle. As soon as he was floored, I was on him, my hand bearing down into his throat.
“You piece ofshit,” I spat. “Do you know how miserable you made Dakota? She came here for a home. You only made her hate it, all because you have, what, an authority problem?” I punched him, needing to let the anger out somehow.
Conall swore and thrashed, his blunt nails clawing down my arms. He wheezed, the veins in his neck bulging as his face turned red.
