I ignore Josie, walking past the group, my eyes on my goal. What are they going to do? It’s not like they can beat me – it will show on my body, and it will sully the pack’s integrity anddignity. Maddox knows it, which is why he only lets them harass me with words, but never lets them lay a hand on me.
The pack’s never been kind to me, but at least they let me exist. As long as I don’t cross their paths, I can live peacefully in my small cottage on the border of the pack together with Faye and Marina.
“Didn’t you hear me?” Josie snarls.
“Forget it,” one of the guys sneers. “Her senses are so dull she probablycan’thear you.”
Haha. Funny.
I push my bike into the backyard of the cafeteria and lock it up.
“I don’t know what Brandon sees in her,” another one says. “He claims she is his mate.”
“Eh.” Someone chuckles. “She can’t feel the bond, though. She is just his slut. Forget it. What do you think, Maddox?”
There is a pause until I can hear Maddox’s low voice. “What would a shifter like Brandon do with her, instead of just banging her?”
I close the door behind me to close out their voices as well. My chest churns at his words. It shouldn’t bother me, it really shouldn’t, but-
“Don’t listen to them.”
I turn around, staring right into Brandon’s hazel-brown eyes. He pulls me into his arms. “They just want to get into your head,” he says.
“I know,” I mutter. “I don’t really believe them, but they know where to hit me.”
“Do you want me to go outside and tell them off?”
“Are you insane? Don’t pick a fight with the alpha’s son,” I say, though part of me is happy he offered to do it. “No. Seriously, Brandon, I am fine. You are right, they just want to get into my head.”
“Then forget those assholes and let’s not have them ruin our day.” He smiles.
I wrap my arms around his neck, smiling when he pulls me closer and kisses me. Brandon is a year older than me, and we didn’t see each other much at school, but once we both graduated, I started to work in this coffee shop, and Brandon happened to have a part-time job here as well. Unfortunately, I can’t feel the mate bond; I never will, but Brandon says there is something between us, a pull which can only be explained by the bond.
He holds me in his arms for a couple of minutes, until a glance at the clock tells us that our shift is starting.
“I love that we share the same shifts,” he grins.
“A weird coincidence, huh?”
He blinks innocently, almost looking boyish. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Brandon helps me tie my apron and then does his own. “Oh, you are coming to the party tomorrow, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know, Brandon. I am not particularly popular.”
“It’s not on pack grounds,” he reassures me. “It’s a normal college party.”
“But Maddox and Josie will be there, right?”
“Yes, but so will a lot of other people.”
I tilt my head, looking at him anxiously. “Isn’t it going to be weird that I am not a college student?”
“Not at all, you will be my plus one,” he says, grabbing me by my waist and tugging me closer. “Pretty please?”
“How can I say no when you look at me like that?” I chuckle.
“That’s why I love you,” he beams, kissing me again.
My stomach does a backflip like every time he says he loves me. I have never had a guy be serious about me. While I did date a bit during high school, no one truly wanted to be with me until Brandon came along. He is the son of one of our elite warriors,and I know he has been training a lot to live up to his father’s expectations. He isn’t in Maddox’s closest circle of friends, but they are well acquainted.
