Page 1 of My Bad Boy Alpha

CHAPTERONE

ZURI

“He’s here,”my coworkers whispered among each other, peering behind the doorframe and into Caelfall’s most popular restaurant at the most feared man in town.

Alpha Stone had supposedly come all the way from Durnbone to find his fated mate.

A prophecy spoken long, long ago had promised that once he mated her, they’d be the most powerful couple in all of existence.In this space and this time, they would burn the forests to the ground, dine on the richest wine and the finest steaks, and have men and women falling to their knees in fear.

La-de-da-de-da.

Something like that.

All I knew was that I wanted to stay far away from him and his packmates.Elders had told me and my sister one too many horror stories about how his father and grandfather had ruled this land years ago.

But after the recent war of the wolves, his family had lost it all.Now, he planned to get it back.And I sorta felt sorry for the woman who’d be mated to him.I wouldn’t be able to handle the hatred in his soulless eyes, the torture I’d have to witness.

Plus, I heard he was sick in the head … during sex.

“Zuri!”Sophia, my manager, called.“You’re assigned to his table.Get out there.”

Me?!Why has she chosen me of all people?That is usually Eshe’s table!

“Can you, um”—I gulped and readjusted the button on my shirt—“get Eshe to do it?”

“Come on, Zuri,” Sophia said, nudging me.“It’s just a table, and besides … I bet he’ll leave a nice tip for you.I heard he’s rolling in money back in Durnbone, has the largest pack house anyone has ever seen.”

I opened and shut my mouth, nerves bubbling up inside me.“Please, I don’t want to.”

“Get out of my way,” Eshe said from behind me, shoving me to the side.“I’ll do it.”She retied her black apron around her petite figure, and then she pushed out her perky tits and plastered the fakest smile on her face.“It’s not like he’d actually want to see you.He’s here to find a mate, not a?—”

“Eshe!”Sophia growled as if she knew what was about to leave my sister’s mouth.

Eshe walked out the door and hurried toward Alpha Stone’s table.

“Don’t listen to her,” Sophia said, offering me a smile.“She’s a bitch.”She poked me in the shoulder.“But you need to have some more confidence in yourself.I had you at his table so you could maybe …”

“Maybe what?”I asked.“Have someone in this town look at me the same way they look at Eshe and not …” My throat closed, and I couldn’t even finish the sentence out loud.

Everyone here looked at me with disgust.Like I was some vile fiend.

Even though I could keep up with my pack during runs, even though I was strong on the training field, people—who were supposed to have my back—couldn’t get over the way that I looked.It didn’t matter what they said.I could see it in their eyes.

In their passive glances.

“You know …” She smiled.“Maybe.”

If she knew how rude Eshe was, part of me wondered why she didn’t just fire Eshe, but that was the stupid, selfish side of me.A side that I would never allow to come out because I feared losing my job.Eshe stayed in her position because she made the restaurant a lot of money and even more in tips.

Not because she was nice to the customers, but because my sister was beautiful.

In every single way that I’d never be.

A bell rang behind me, signaling that an order was ready.Deciding that I couldn’t hide from the pack of rebels for much longer, I grabbed a tray of drinks for another table and hurried out into the rowdy main hall.

The thick scent of lavender drifted through my nose.And while I wanted to keep myself small and hidden as much as I could—that had always proven to be hard for me because I was a bigger, taller girl who was clumsy as shit—I couldn’t stop myself from following the scent with my eyes and locking gazes with Stone from across the room.

My wolf, who I had buried deep inside to protect, suddenly awoke.“Mate.”

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