Hate Mates (The Alpha Shifter)

“They’re good buddies, they just…”

“Landon, don’t worry about it. Honestly. I believe you. Come on, let’s get this show on the road. Where to next?” she asked.

He didn’t want to be near Ben and Drew if they tried to flirt with her. It was bad enough just listening to their comments over the years about her. Alexa was his mate, and they hadn’t even attempted to hide their attraction to her. He couldn’t handle them hitting on her, not today. Not with everything going so damn wrong.

All he wanted was to show Alexa that he was capable. That he wasn’t some loser who didn’t know how to handle himself.

The rest of the day didn’t go well. The complaints were endless, and even as he tried to resolve them, no one was happy. In the end, his father had no choice but to take over, and he actually sent him and Alexa back home.

They were walking together toward their honeymoon house, and Alexa suddenly tugged at his hand. The next thing he knew, she was hugging him. Her arms felt so good. Resting his head on her shoulder, he breathed her in.

“I think you did awesome today,” she said.

“Don’t lie.”

“I’m not lying. I think today has been hard, and you’ve done amazingly well.” She rubbed a hand down his back.

“My dad has never sent me off like that.” He felt like a fucking failure.

“You did good.”

He wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t know how long they stood like that several feet away from their home, just holding one another. This was his day to feel like a fucking pro, and instead, he felt like a damn loser.

“So, I was thinking tonight we can grill some steaks,” Alexa said. “What do you say?”

“You want to?”

“Yeah, I want to.” She pulled away and laughed. “Come on, we got through a day bound together. We can do whatever we want.”

“You’re positive tonight.”

She groaned. “I hope tomorrow we can get through my day.”

“We will,” he said. “We’ll get through it together.” They locked hands together and walked side by side toward their home.

****

Marcel watched as Landon and Alexa walked toward the house.

Today had been hard on his son.

He knew it wasn’t fair what he was doing, but their lives needed to be challenged. Alexa and Landon spent too much time focusing on their fake hatred for one another. It was his mission to make them see that it was fake, that they could work as a team.

“Do you think you pushed him too hard today?” Gertie asked.

“No, he didn’t cave to the pressures today. He stood up and held himself like an alpha.”

“And Alexa?”

“She showed that she is an alpha’s mate. There was no judgment, she was by his side, encouraging him. This is good, Gertie, I promise you.”

“I hope you’re right.”