Page 55 of The Alpha's Forced Bullied Mate

Lust flooded my body. I stared at him while the crispy bacon beckoned for me to take a bite. It truly was one of the most delicious things in the world. Bacon was my favorite. Being my favorite meant it had been forbidden in my house with my parents because they said bacon would make me fatter.

I frowned at the sandwich, feeling like a total loser. “I'm such a pig.”

He squeezed my wrist. “No. The people who convinced you of that are the pigs.”

I smiled sheepishly as he released my wrist and then focused on my sandwich again. I felt a cold ring around my wrist where he had once held it. I took a bite and then another, feeling that crushing sense of joy at being able to do something that I always did by myself without any problems.

After finishing the sandwich, I sat back and sipped my tea.

“My parents were really weird about food when I was growing up.” I sighed as I stared out the porch door, looking at the sun peeking through the trees. “I guess that's why I asked if you were mad. I didn't really ask if the food was for me. I just assumed that it was, and then I just kept eating it.”

“It’s okay.”

I hung my head while gripping my mug. “But it tasted so good…”

He smiled with reassurance. “I did make it for the both of us. I thought you'd be hungry after throwing up.”

I cringed. “You heard all that?”

He nodded as he pointed to his ears. “Super hearing.”

I chuckled nervously. “I mean, I just didn't expect you to defend me again. I guess it makes me feel good. It makes me feel safe.”

The way he grinned at me didn’t quite feel perfect. I looked into his eyes, the blue-violet, like ocean waves gettingready to crash over me. There was something hiding in the tide, something that I felt was directed at me.

It looked like disappointment.

Good things don't last very long,I thought.It's always taken from me at some point.

If it was that easy to disappoint him, I didn’t want to know what else would possibly lose his favor so quickly.

***

With another nap under my belt, I felt like I could face the world again when the afternoon arrived. Some of my doubts had drifted away. I wondered why I had ever been worried at all as I walked calmly beside Hector. We were on our way to Cliff’s house, which was two houses to the right of our parents’ house.

It was a simple structure with white columns and a red door. Most of the house was white with cinnamon-colored shutters and rigid squares for windows. Inside, the place was a lot cleaner than I would have expected. Sleek Spanish tile stretched in every direction, and nouveau-inspired designs framed the doorways. Plain beige wallpaper was used in every room but was enhanced with 1920’s stained glass décor. I blinked at my brother, almost not recognizing him.

My parents were in the kitchen chatting away about something, saying hi to me in a very casual way as if we did this all the time.

Cliff wrapped me in a hug. “Let's chill in the living room.”

I suspiciously inspected him and his motives as he pulled Hector into a hug. “I never got to congratulate you two, did I?”

I waved him off. “You congratulated me plenty. I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Well, I haven't exactly been a visitor.”

I glanced down the hallway. “Are Kylie and Fred still here?”

“Yeah, they're taking a nap in the guest room. If you want, you can go wake them up.”

I shook my head. “No, they probably need to sleep before they go back to Beaufort Creek.”

His eyebrows went up. “You're sending them back home.”

“I mean, there's no point in them staying here. I didn't think that they would find me at all.”

Hector cleared his throat and stepped in. “To be fair, I planned to encourage her to call her old alphas today.”

---