Page 5 of The Alpha's Forced Bullied Mate

We never talked about Faye. And there was good reason for that.

…Other than the bullying.

“You’re high,” Cliff said, a partial laugh of surprise escaping him for a second. “I don’t think anyone who got fakeproposed to and then turned into a laughingstock wouldeverbe able to come back from that.”

“You said to start with an apology.”

He nodded with his eyebrows raised high. “Yeah, dude.To start. I haven’t heard from her in years. I didn’t think the blowback would be that bad from a fake date, but a proposal, dude? You really shot yourself in the foot with that one.”

“I just liked her.”

“You had a funny way of showing it.”

I gave an exasperated sigh. “Things were different back then.”

“Things are different now, Hector.”

“I know!” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I know. I want to change everything. I want to protect the pack from demons. I don’t think I can…”

I closed my eyes.I don’t think I can live without her.

It probably sounded stupid coming from the guy who set her up to be publicly humiliated. All for a joke.

A stupid, useless joke.

Cliff sighed and gestured vaguely toward me. “I guess you have to go find her and tell her that.”

“And you’re okay with me taking your sister as a mate?”

“Yeah, dude. Everyone thought you two would end up together, so I got used to that idea a long time ago.” He rubbed his elbow. “Besides, I want my sister back. I miss her.”

“What about your parents?”

“One thing at a time, man. I can only think about so many things.”

I reached out to tousle his hair. “That’s because you have an empty head.”

He swatted my hand away, dodging left. “Cut it out, Man. You’re such a damn kid sometimes.”

“You’re the goofball. Are you saying I can’t be goofy?”

“I’m saying tocut it out.”

I managed to rustle his hair once more and then went to the counter to grab a towel so I could clean up the mess I had made with tea. Well, at least one mess was easy to clean up.

Now, I had to figure out how to clean up the other one.

Chapter 2 - Faye

Things weren’t the same in the townhouse without Kylie living across the way. It didn’t matter that someone named Turner had taken her place, or that he played loud K-pop early in the morning,orthat he had a knack for making birdhouses that he freely gifted to me. While I liked having some company, it just wasn’t the same without my best friend.

The foyer floorboards creaked, pausing my count of the dollar bills in my hands—it sounded like Turner was late for his morning shift at the beach. Local fishing was a huge source of revenue for our pack, so our farm managers were rotating groups of water shifters to scour the ocean for the good stuff. Being that Turner was a rare gator shifter, he was usually best at diving into rivers and streams where he could sit still to catch unsuspecting fish.

Once the door groaned shut and the lock faintly clicked into place, I resumed my counting. A large stack of dusty one-dollar bills sat on the desk in the nook overlooking the rear garden where newly hung birdhouses painted in crisp marigold and scarlet attracted the morning crew. White paint clung to the edges of the squares holding the glass panes in a grid style. Faint echoes of a time before this place was turned into a townhouse.

Glumly, I set aside my remaining stack of bills. The numbers didn’t matter much anymore. What was I saving for now? A new set of running shoes? It wasn’t like I paid much rent. What little Blake requested was merely for upkeep of the property, and really, I had it mostly in tow between me and Kylie’s mate, Fred. The pipes leaked every so often, and sometimes a bolt came loose in a doorway, but mostly, the place was just a rustic set of gorgeous vinyl floors and sleek rectangular edges.

Behind me was a wide living area with a doorway leading into a lush bedroom of sage silk and fluffy white rugs. Saggy teal chairs flanked the doorway, sat next to a table leading to a wider view of the land, including the barns. An older box television sat on top of a burnt coffee-brown entertainment center filled with movies. I didn’t watch much. I worked more than anything. And then after that, I just liked to jog. And hike. And swim.

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