Page 4 of The Alpha's Forced Bullied Mate

“How do you know that?”

I quietly added tea bags to both mugs, lavender and chamomile. It made me think of her again—which was fitting considering the topic of conversation. After sighing again, I poured some honey into my mug and carried both to the table. “Because.”

“Because?”

“Because I just know.”

He nodded slowly, lifted his mug, and then blew steam from the surface. “This is about Faye, isn’t it?”

His tone had changed entirely. Gone was the goof. Here was the guy who would see me through thick and thin. He was the opposite of Faye in every way.

I hung my head. “I don’t want to talk about your sister.”

“You’re the one who chased off my sister. I know that’s what you wrote on that paper.”

Tense energy crackled like thick waves of radio static in the air. I shrugged my left shoulder and lifted my mug as if what he’d said had no effect on me. “And what did you write?”

“My biggest regret was letting you play a prank on her at all.”

I sipped my tea, the hot liquid stinging my tongue much more than I anticipated. He was right about that. He was usually right about a lot of things.

Not that I would dare admit it.

“She chose to run,” I retorted, “if I remember correctly.”

“And ifIremember correctly, she left everything behind when she ran off. That meant she was in a hurry.”

I snorted. “You would know. She’s your sister, duh.”

“Don’t give me an attitude for your mistake. You really think you can spend a whole childhood bullying her and then get away with reputational murder?”

I slammed my mug down. “You let it happen. Youencouragedit to happen.”

“I was a stupid kid.”

“So was I!”

An ethereal silence fell over the kitchen that made my skin crawl. This was stupid. I didn’t understand why I had to be hung up on some dorky chick from the past when I had an entire list of eligible mates right in front of me. My own best friend had said so. And he was usually right.

I glared at my tea, hot droplets turning cold on the back of my hand as I swept my fingers through the mess I had made. “How do I fix it?”

“I mean, you could start with an apology.”

“Then?”

He shrugged, cradling his mug in his right hand. “Uh, tell her that I miss her? I don’t know, dude. I’m not good at this kind of thing.”

“You’re the peacekeeper.”

“Much fucking good that did when my parents didn’t send out a search team to find their only daughter.”

I shook my head. “Talk about bullies.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“Do you think she would want to be my mate?”

Saliva and tea spattered the table. I avoided looking at Cliff, knowing that his chin was probably dripping with tea as his mouth hung open in shock.

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