Her Desired Alphas

Marabella

Ten Years Later

Sixteen Years Old

“I need to go see Mr. Bates after lunch,” Eziah tells me as we eat lunch with his friends. I say this because they aren’t mine. No, they are good pretenders. High-paid Hollywood actors, no one could tell apart from a bully. A wolf in sheep’s skin, literally.

They always are at the top of their roles when my brother is around. I gave up trying to tell him they hate me a long time ago. I tried to tell him that he should just have lunch by himself without me around so many times, but he never listens.

He can’t see the way they treat me when no one is looking. They know Eziah will blow up at them, so they make sure only to be outright mean to me when he isn’t near.

I have no one to back me up unless Eziah is around, and they know that. Yeah, I am just that monster they all hate.. And while they claim I am the monster and deserve this

- they are the true monsters. They are the shadows; the demons hiding in them, that attack me when I least expect.

I quickly pack my lunch away and move to follow my brother. “I will come with you,” I perk up. The last thing I want is to be stuck with all these fake people here, alone, without him.

Picking up my lunch tray, I stand up, about to follow him. Eziah shakes his head. “I won’t be gone long. I don’t need you to hold my hand,” he says jokingly, a smile on his face.

He takes my tray from my hand and sets it back down on the table. Nervously, I stare at his friends, who are watching me.

“Yeah, don’t be silly Marabella, you don’t have to leave just because your brother is,” one of them states, and I have to force down the lump that forms in my throat.

“See?” Eziah chuckles, and I reluctantly sit back down. “I will be back. Then, we can head to English together,” Eziah tells me.

He waves to his friends, and just as I expected, the moment he is out of sight, they all get up, sneering at me, moving to a different table. “Freak!” One spits at me.

I mask the hurt as another knocks my drink onto my half-eaten sandwich before he walks away. They treat me like I am a deadly plague, one they don’t want to risk catching.

I suck up the hurt and focus back on my lunch. Or at least the parts that aren’t ruined and try to ignore the stares I can feel on me. I can hear the cruel and hurtful whispers.

My appetite is suddenly gone, and I get up, dump my tray on the stack and walk out. I head for the library and nearly walk in when I spot Alicia through the glass doors. She is talking excitedly to someone. Yeah, I can’t go in there now.

Sighing, I glance around, debating where to go before giving up and going to the one place I always go to. I watch as groups of students talk and muck around; the sight makes me feel more alone.

Nothing is more lonely than being alone, while surrounded by an audience to witness the loneliness you feel, yet the ones you love and are closest to are blind to see it.

I would settle for anything, even my wolf.

I can’t wait for that day to come. My brother has his wolf already. Mom said I will have to wait until I’m eighteen. It seems unfair; but at least then, I will have a friend, someone to talk to, someone who will get me, and hopefully, who knows I’m not a monster.

Sighing heavily, I let the library door go before going to my other hiding spot. I really need to find a new one. Pushing the bathroom door open, I listen for any voices, then quickly walk to the far cubicle.

Slipping inside, I lock the door. Pushing the toilet lid down, I sit down. Grabbing my bag off my shoulder, I pull my phone from the front pocket out.

My heart skips a beat and I smile to myself when I see I have a text from Jonah. I am in the middle of replying when my phone rings in my hand. I can’t help the smile that splits onto my face when I see Jonah’s picture pop up on my phone screen.

“Hey, Jonah,” I whisper the greeting.

“There’s my favorite person. Why didn’t you write back? Are you going to come with me?” he asks.

“I thought Kyan was your favorite person,” I chuckle.

He pauses for a second. “He is my best friend, not my favorite person; that spot is reserved for you,” he tells me, and I can’t help the way my cheeks heat at his words. Gosh, I am pathetic.

He is my cousin, well, not technically. We are not blood related. He is adopted, even so, it is kind of weird, and he is twenty-two, and sees me as his geeky cousin - the way he should see me. But it doesn’t stop my cheeks from heating or me from smiling like an idiot.

“So, are you going to answer or continue to stay silent? I already rang your mother; she said it was fine,” Jonah asks me, and I sigh. The bell saves me from answering as it signals the next class.

“Who’s going to be there?” I ask him hesitantly.

“Just Kyan and the usual crowd,” he tells me.

“Kyan will be there?” I ask, knowing his friend does not like me. He just glares; I have no idea why he hates me, but he is always so hostile toward me.

It’s not like I haven’t tried to get along with him, it’s just every time I try he shrugs me off or dismisses me. He took an instant dislike to me the moment I met him.

It has been three years since I last saw him and I wouldn’t mind continuing on like that for a few more years. My stomach drops. If I say yes, I will have to face him since he will be there. His presence always makes me feel uneasy and unwanted.

“I have an English assignment due on Monday, so I really don’t think I can,” I tell him. Unlocking the cubicle door, I peer out to make sure no one is there. As I see no one, I rush out of the girl’s bathroom.

“Come on, it will be fun, and your mother already okayed it. Live a little,” he tells me as I step into the hall, only to run directly into Alicia.

She flicks her blonde hair over her shoulder and shoves me away, glaring at me. Her foundation is a shade darker than her skin, making an orange ring around her neck. She really needs to get some makeup tips.

She steps closer and I back away, only she shoves me, and my back smashes against the brick wall. I barely manage to stop myself from dropping the phone.

“Watch it, skank,” she spits at me before walking off.

I watch her leave, snapping out of my thoughts when Jonah’s voice comes through the phone.

“Hey, is everything alright?” Jonah asks, worry clear in his voice.

“Huh, yeah, just some girl speaking to another; she wasn’t talking to me,” I lie while I adjust my bag on my shoulder. I didn’t need him to worry unnecessarily. Besides, it is nothing I’m not used to by now.

“I should go; I am late for class,” I tell him.

“Wait, you never answered,” Jonah says, and I quickly hang up the phone. Then, I send him a rushed text to tell him that I am too busy and need to do some fake homework.

Walking to class, Eziah walks around the corner up ahead and throws his arms in the air. “Where have you been? Everyone said you left. I’ve been looking for you.”

“I had to use the bathroom,” I tell him as he loops his arm through mine.

Eziah leads us to our English class, rattling on about something Marley did. It is apparent he has a crush on her, and I listen silently, despite her being one of Alicia’s besties and one of my biggest tormentors.

I don’t have the heart to tell him how nasty she is to me. He will be an Alpha one day, and he needs to get along with the rest of the pack. And I don't want to make his life harder for him. I know how much of a burden I already am on my family. I want to just blend into the shadows, and I’m glad dad is giving the pack to him.

I have no intention of staying here after I finish school. Nope, once I have my wolf, we are going rogue and finding some forest in which to be free. Free from everyone, free from the whispers, the stares, and the bullying.

I can’t wait until I get my wolf. I won’t need anyone then because I will have her.

The day slips by quickly, and before I know it, school has finished and the bell rings.

Walking out of class, Eziah walks beside me. “I am going to head to Marley’s; you will be alright to head home by yourself?” he asks, and I look at him.

“You’re not coming home first?” I ask, trying to keep the unease out of my voice. Eziah doesn’t need to know how bloody terrified I am of catching the bus home by myself.

“No, tell dad. I will be home before dinner,” he says, and I nod, watching as he rushes off toward Marley’s last class. Exhaling, I hoist my backpack up my back higher and walk toward the bus shelter.

As I near the bus stop, I instantly notice everyone lined up, waiting and talking amongst themselves. I stop, glance at the front gate and turn my back on the stop. I officially decide that the bus ride home isn’t worth the torment.

I can walk home, and it will only take an hour. There is no way I am going to enter that transport to hell, or more like hell itself, without Eziah beside me.

I watch the bus head into the school and start walking along the Highway. When it passes me, I feel something hit me in the side of the leg; followed by sharp pain. Their cheers and laughter out the windows make me clench my teeth and look down. Someone threw a pencil, and now, it is embedded in my leg.

Tears burn my eyes as I stare at it. They speared me with a pencil! What the fuck! Sucking in a deep breath, I rip it out. It is a lead pencil; the moron who tossed it

clearly hasn’t received his pen license if he is still using a pencil. I chuckle at my thoughts continuing the long trek home.

When I’m halfway home, I hear a loud engine roar up the road, making me look up. I would recognize that sound anywhere and I shake my head with a silly grin on my face.

The red Mustang pulls up next to me, and the window winds down. “Well, before you hung up on me, I was about to tell you I would not take no for an answer,” Jonah tells me.

Folding my arms across my chest, I raise an eyebrow at him, unable to stop myself from admiring how sexy he looks. “I’m busy, I have…”

“Get in,” he cuts me off and I look down the road, trying to figure out another way to get out of going to the stupid reopening of the casino that Jonah and Kyan run together.

“You have three seconds to get in, or I will toss you in,” Jonah barks, the same as uncle Andrei does when aunt Sage refuses to listen to him. Blood related or not, those two definitely are father and son.

“One!” I shake my head and tap my foot defiantly.

“Two!” His blue eyes sparkle, and his lips tug up deviously.

“Three!” He goes to open the door, and I shriek.

“Okay, I will get in,” I tell him, racing around to the passenger side and climbing in. “I was actually looking forward to tossing you in,” Jonah laughs, and I swat his

chest with my hand as I pull my bag off my shoulder and place it between my legs.

“I waited at your bus stop for like ten minutes; did you go into town after school?” he adds as he starts the car.

“Ah, yeah, I had to get something,” I lie, placing my phone in the front pocket of my bag. When Jonah drives past the turnoff for home, I glance at him. “Ah, Jonah?” I ask, looking at him.

“You aren’t going home. I already picked up your clothes,” he tells me, turning onto the freeway, and I stare at him.

“No escaping me tonight,” he winks at me. I was hoping to convince Mom to tell him no, and now that option has gone out the window.

“I am not even old enough to be in the casino,” I tell him. If only Jonah would know how much I wish I wouldn’t be stuck in this situation.

“You don’t have to be. You won’t be going into the alcohol areas, and Kyan and I will be with you at all times. No one will say anything. Don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine with us,” Jonah assures me, although his words don't assure me at all. There it is, another window for escape closed.

“What, and mom was fine with you kidnapping me to take me to the casino?” I gasp. Are we talking about my mother? The woman who birthed me?

“Yep, what’s wrong? I haven’t seen you in a month, and now you suddenly don’t enjoy hanging out with me? Who is he then?” Jonah grumbles the last question with clear irritation lacing his words. This just got far too weird far too soon.

“Who’s who?” I ask, totally confused.

“This boyfriend you have. I’m sure that can be the only thing that makes sense for you to dodge me and refuse me every time I try to hang out with you. You got a boyfriend now, Mara?” he taunts me by poking me in the ribs.

“No, no. Of course, not.” As I shake my head, Jonah glances at me like he doesn’t believe me. If only Jonah knew I am a complete social pariah, maybe then he would understand how ridiculous his words are. There is no guy on campus who would even look at me, let alone want to touch me.

“Maybe I could just wait at your apartment? We can watch movies or anything you prefer to do after you return?” I suggest. At this point, I am ready to suggest anything just to avoid being around Kyan.

“What? No, you are coming with me. Why are you acting strange?” he asks, my stomach sinks.

Now, he too, thinks I’m strange… And although I know he doesn’t mean it that way. I still don’t like hearing that word from his lips. I don’t like it when the person I trust and have always admired all of a sudden says the same thing I hear from the others all of the time. Jonah is supposed to be my person, not another bully.

“I’m not, but your friend hates me,” I tell him with a deep frown.

Jonah sighs loudly and glances at me. “He doesn’t hate you; that’s just the way he is,” he tries to reason with me.

I furrow my brows, ready for the challenge I am about to toss at him. “Oh, really? So he is like that when Rose is with you, too?”

“He sees her more. Rose is my sister, he has no other choice but to stick around his best friend’s little sister. I believe you two just need to hang out around each other more often. You will see, once you get past the stone-cold demeanor, he isn’t half as bad as you think,” he says with a laugh.

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Stone cold? Kyan glares at me like he is hoping I will turn to ash in front of his eyes!” I don’t care what Jonah says, he’s somewhat biased in this situation anyway. We’re talking about his best friend.

It’s just like with Eziah. My brother doesn’t see past the fake mask of his friends either.

“Now, I know you’re being dramatic. You haven’t seen him in what… three years?” I nod my head.

It is only natural that I haven’t faced that guy for years. I always avoided visiting Jonah if I knew Kyan was with him.

“See, you probably imagined it,” Jonah tells me. It’s a little funny how much he believes in his words. Or maybe he is desperate to think his best friend isn’t the man I see him to be.

But now, as the silence takes over, I understand that there is no way I could ever escape the torment. Not even during weekends, the only time I get to spend away from judgment and constant harassment. “Maybe,” I whisper and turn my gaze to the window.