Alpha Bully (2 page)

His father always warned him, telling him to clean up
his act. The moment he found his mate, it would change him. His parents were
lucky. They’d been childhood sweethearts, and so neither of them had a past
they wanted to hide from. His parents hadn’t known they were mated until after
the first transition. Once they did no one could separate them. It was a true
love story. Marshall didn’t care about his mate. When he met her, he’d care,
and she’d learn to deal with his past. Until he found her, he was going to have
a shitload of fun.

“Time to party,” Marshall said.

Several girls ran over to them, and he forgot about
everything else other than having a good time.

****

Scarlett ignored the commotion behind her. She didn’t
need to look to see what was going on. The popular people were screaming and
dancing about the end of the year, and then there was Marshall Briggs’s little clique
of people who would be preparing for a night of partying. She’d never been to a
party, never been invited to a party. Not that she wanted to go. There was no
point in going anywhere where you weren’t invited.

She tugged the band out of her hair, letting her hair
fall around her. The strands were long and heavy. No matter what she tried to
do with the length, it wouldn’t do anything but stay straight. Maybe over
vacation she’d get it cut. Her parents had told her they were planning a trip
to Italy this year. It had been a couple of years since they last had a
vacation with work keeping them busy. Her parents were both doctors, experts in
their fields. For most of her life they’d been working in gaining respect and
notice within their fields. It had worked, and now they were able to take much
needed breaks.

Her father pulled up toward where she was standing.

“Hey, honey,” he said. She heard him unlocking the
door for her to get inside. “How was school?”

“I’m pleased it’s over.” She hated school more than
anything.

Her weight had always been an issue to all of her
peers. She’d tried to diet and exercise. Both of her parents told her she was
fine, and they were doctors. Neither of them was badgering her about being fat
or developing diabetes.

Shaking her head to try to clear her thoughts she
stared out of the window on the ride home.

“Are you still getting bullied?” he asked.

Glancing over at her father, she let out a sigh. “It’s
nothing. Don’t worry about it, Dad.”

“If you want I can talk to the principal at your
school.”

“No, don’t do that. You can do anything else but that.
I don’t want to have a reason for them to despise me.” They already hated her,
not that she’d done anything to earn their hate other than be fat.

He chuckled. “Okay, but if it gets bad and the
bullying gets worse, promise me you’ll tell me about it.”

She’d never tell her father what was going on. There
was a year left of high school and then she could go away to college. Scarlett
had never made friends easily, and that hadn’t changed now.

“Your mother’s making dinner tonight. We’ve got a
surprise for you.”

Scarlett smiled. She knew what the surprise was. Her
parents were not good at keeping secrets from each other, and they’d not gotten
any better when it came to her.

“How’s my car?” Scarlett asked. From the moment she
passed her driver’s class she’d had a car. Over the weekend she’d broken down
and had to have a tow.

“Not good news. It looks like your engine overheated,
honey. We’re going to have to go looking for a new one. It’s not a problem. I
intended to buy you a new one, anyway.”

She liked her old car, but there would be no talking
her father out of buying her a new car.

They pulled up outside of their large house. It was a
five bedroom house, and her parents still needed to work on filling the other
two rooms.

Walking inside, she was pulled into a hug from her
mother.

“Hey, honey, how was school?”

“Fine.
I can’t complain.” She
could
complain, but she hated putting anything on her parents. They’d been through so
much to give her a good life.

“Okay, go and get changed out of that horrid outfit.
We’re having a special dinner.”

Laughing, Scarlett made her way up to her room. Her
mother always believed jeans and a shirt were horrid clothes. They were the
clothes she had always been comfortable in.

Closing her door, she moved toward her window
overlooking the large forest area that surrounded their town. It was a
wonderful place to live with a large lake, and plenty of fun activities to get
involved in. Scarlett had never ventured into the forest. She had nightmares of
wolves, darkness,
trees
, all of it.

Her window was partially open, and as she stood looking
out over the view a breeze drifted into the room.

Mate!

She frowned at the sound. Glancing around the room she
wondered if someone was outside her bedroom.

“Mom, Dad?” She opened her bedroom door, looking
outside. Scarlett called them again.

“What’s the matter, dear?” her mother asked, coming to
the bottom of the stairs.

“Were you upstairs a second ago?” Scarlett pointed
behind her.

“No. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.
I just thought I heard something.”

“No, you were alone, honey. Get dressed, we’re waiting
for you.”

Nodding, Scarlett walked back into her room closing
the door. She went to the window and slid it closed, feeling the breeze brush
across her body. Wrapping her arms around her waist, Scarlett shivered as she
overlooked the forest. She’d never been a fan of the dark or of scary movies.

She moved away from the window as an image of a white
wolf came to her mind. Scarlett stopped to look back at the scenery. No, she
was imagining everything. There were no such things as ghosts, wolves, or zombies.
She was losing her mind. No wonder Marshall Briggs and all the popular kids at
school bullied her. Shaking her head, she made her way toward her closet. Going
through her clothes, she looked at the blue cocktail dress her mother had given
her months again.

Closing her eyes, she held onto the fabric of the
dress.

“Move out of the way, piggy.”

“You’re so ugly. You’ll die a virgin.”

“Fatty.”

“Wide load.”

Shoving all of the humiliation aside, she grabbed the
blue dress from the wardrobe. Without looking in the mirror, she put on the
dress she’d refused to wear.

Mate!

Frowning, she looked around the bedroom, wishing she
would stop hearing that one word.

“You’re going crazy, Scarlett. Next year it will all
be over and you won’t have to worry about a thing.”

One year left and then it was onto college where she
could forget about the likes of Marshall Briggs and his creepy best friend.
With her pep talk over, she smiled. Life would be good soon.

Chapter Two

The pain was something he’d never forget. Marshall’s
bones shattered into thousands of pieces, burning hot iron coursing around his
body as the fire built to a fever pitch. Slowly, the pain started to ebb away
as if it hadn’t even been there. Collapsing to the ground, Marshall turned
toward the warmth of his mother, Carla, who was pressing a towel to his
forehead.

“He’s in pain, Luke,” she said.

Opening his eyes, he saw his father smiling. “He’ll be
alpha one day, Carla. The pain is necessary.”

“None of the others have had this kind of pain.”

“They’re not
alpha
like our
son. This will teach him respect, understanding, and it will make him a better
alpha. This is what is necessary for all of us who lead.” His father spoke like
the alpha he was. Soon, one day, Marshall would take over. He was the eldest son.
“I’m proud of you, son.”

Marshall smiled up at his father, wishing there was
something he could say. The pain was too great. The fire was already building
within his veins for another bone breaking transition.

“When you find your mate this will all
be
worth it, son. I promise you.”

He shook as the heat gathered inside. For some strange
reason Scarlett entered his mind, but he immediately pushed her image aside. Closing
his eyes, Marshall tried to focus on something else.
His
mate.
She’d be so beautiful and worth every second of this pain. Once he
transitioned he’d be able to protect her from everything. He’d be big, strong,
powerful
. His little, private obsession over Scarlett would
come to an end.

“That’s it. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe
out.” He listened to his mother and father as they coached him through the
transition.

There wasn’t a way for him to contain the screams as
his body started to break. Bones crunched together, and his whole body shook.
Opening his eyes he saw his skin rippling as fur started to sprout out of his
pores. Lifting his head, he released a growl, staring up at the sky wishing for
something to take the immense pain away. He hated this, despised it, but there
was no stopping what was happening.

Mate.

Love.

Respect.

Pack.

Loyalty.

He thought about everything he’d gain as his parents
stepped back. This time he didn’t stop. His back broke as he was snapped in
half. Screaming out, he let everything go.

Mate.

Love.

Respect.

Pack.

Loyalty.

“That’s it, son. You’re almost there.”

Marshall growled again as the pain intensified.
Everything burned as if he was stood in the center of hell with no way of
escaping. Did he want to escape?

“He’s falling back, Luke.”

Something grabbed the back of his head. “You will turn
this time, Marshall, or so help me God, I will make sure you don’t have a
choice.”

The power of the alpha washed over his body.

“Come on, son, please. You’re scaring your mother, and you’re scaring
me.”

For his father, his alpha to admit that, Marshall knew
he couldn’t escape. He didn’t want to hurt his mother or have her worrying.
Sinking
himself
into the pain of the moment.

Mate.

Love.

Respect.

Pack.

Loyalty.

Mate.

Love.

Respect.

Pack.

Loyalty.

Mate.

Love.

Respect.

Pack.

Loyalty.

He kept repeating the same words over and over again
in his head. Finally, something exploded, and the pain simply faded as he
collapsed to the ground.

“Luke, he did it.”

Closing his eyes, Marshall let sleep claim him.

****

When Marshall opened his eyes, he looked toward the
single basement window to find it was dark outside. Glancing down his body, he
saw he was back in human form. Had it all been a dream? Then he saw that his
body was different, bigger, larger,
more
muscular than
before.

“Your mother’s fixing you some soup.”

His father sat in the corner on a single chair in the
room. Sitting up, Marshall brought his knees up to his chest.

“Hey,” Marshall said. His voice was croaky, hoarse.
“Did I, erm, did I imagine it?”

“No. You changed, son. You went through your
transition, and now you’ve got nothing to worry about. It will hurt at first,
but as you transition more, you’ll no longer feel pain but exhilaration.”

He nodded, rubbing at his eyes. His senses were
clearer. There was a spider in the room. He heard it running across the floor.

“You’re going to spend the rest of the summer becoming
aware and dealing with your senses.”

“Did everyone make it through the transition?” He
thought about the rest of the pack that were due to change this summer.

Some young wolves couldn’t handle the immense pain or
the continued bone shattering. They simply didn’t make it and died.

“Arnold, he lost his daughter Samantha. She gave up,”
Luke said.

“Jack?” Marshall didn’t know what he’d do without his
best friend.

“Jack made it through. He says you owe him and he’ll
never forget this shit.”

Marshall chuckled. What he owed him was probably some
help at getting him some pussy. Jack liked sex, loved the chase of it. “Okay.”