Page 10 of Sold Bullied Mate

I stand numbly for a second, the mention of my brother instantly conjuring images of us in this house. Playing in the front yard, acting like normal siblings before we became teenagers, and he became best friends with Dorian, and the two of them turned on me so suddenly and completely it was world-shattering.

At one point in my life, I had an older brother who would protect me from anything. Who truly cared about me and just wanted me to be happy. Then, maybe because of pack politics or just because that’s what happens to boys when they grow up, he hated me.

“Mom.” Now I’m the one dropping my voice, looking up and meeting her eyes. Eyes that are like mine, but also nothers, more stable, a sure brown instead of the colors constantly shifting in my own, like I don’t know who I am. “Please. I have nowhere else to go.”

She stares at me for a long moment, expression shifting quickly. For a second, I think she might actually relent and allow me inside, but there’s a sound from inside the house.

“Mhairi?” My dad’s voice. Low and inquisitive, serious as always. “Who is it? Dinner is ready.”

Mom takes a step back, head shaking again as she looks at me. Regret and guilt are there, but another emotion takes center stage, so bright on her features that taking it in is like staring at an oncoming comet.

Shame.

“I’msorry, Kira,” she whispers, taking another step back, easing away from me and into the life she’s built in my absence. “We justcan’t. I love you. Try and stay safe, okay? And—”

“Mhairi?” His voice is getting closer, and I don’t miss the flash of panic on my mother’s face as she whirls around, slides inside the house, and flicks off the outside light without giving me so much as a backward glance.

So, that’s it then. They want nothing to do with me.

A sob rips from my throat as I turn and hurry back to the street, certainly not wanting my mother to glance out and see me still standing there, waiting for her love.

After all this time, I’d at least kept in my mind that my parents would be there for me, if I really needed them. Leaving was for me—I couldn’t stand the ridicule, didn’t want to see what kind of punishment the council might pass down to me—but also for them.

My parents have always prized their place in this pack more than anything. My father, scraping tooth and nail to find a place near the leader, among the other alphas. They’ve always wanted to rise through the ranks.

Having an omega daughter might have helped with that if I was conventionally attractive.

My feet are heavy and awkward as I stumble down the street, heading back for the main road that will take me out of town. I don’t know what my plan is—my heat is coming soon. I’ll be vulnerable if I’m out on the road, hitchhiking, and I don’t even want to think about what could happen to me if I come across the wrong alphas.

But I have no other choice.

Another thought rips through me—what really would have helped would have been mating with the leader of a pack. Dorian’s face flashes through my mind, his features twisted with hate, his words from years ago filtering back to me.

“You are not my mate, Kira. And if you ever say something so blatantly false again, I’ll kill you myself.”

A shiver runs over the backs of my arms, tears already running down my face, thoughts racing through my mind. But everything comes to a sudden, halting stop when I turn the corner and run face-first into a towering man.

Fear rises in me—it’s already happening—but then I realize it’s Dorian, and he’s drawing back from me, careful not to touch my skin, his eyes skipping up and down my body before finally landing on my tear-stained cheeks.

“Alright then,” he says, taking a step back and opening the passenger side door of his truck, the softding-dingfrom the cab spilling out into the night. “Get in.”

Chapter 7 - Dorian

“No.”

Kira Argent is so damn stubborn, she actually crosses her arms over her chest and takes a step back, shaking her head like a disobedient child.

“Kira,” I say, watching the way her name from my mouth makes her body react. Once again, I think about it—just commanding her to get in this fucking car. Watching as she obeys, because nature will make her.

I’m tired as hell, ready to go to bed, and already spent from the absolute torture of keeping my hands to myself for the entire ride back into town. I have next to no patience left for her right now, and the last thing I want is for one of my pack members to come by, questioning what the hell I’m doing in the middle of the night, standing in the road, arguing with this woman.

Worst of all, they’ll wonder, very specifically, what I’m doing withthiswoman.

“Why did you even bring me here?” she chokes, taking a step back, and I realize her chest is shaking with sobs, tears running down her face, fat and heavy. “What was—what was the point of spending all that money? It’s really worth it to you, just to torture me?”

“No,” I grunt, raising my hands. “If you would just—”

“I get that you’re mad at me,” she says, gasping for air between words, face pained as though remembering what happened. My mind is a whirlwind, thoughts going by too fast for me to pluck one out and present it. “But I just—it wasn’t on purpose, Dorian, I genuinely thought—”

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