Bullied by the Alpha

“One for the team?”

“You know, make it look like I caught you off-guard?”

Abel folded his arms and refused to budge on the matter.

“Come on, man.”

“Any woman that doesn’t accept you the way you are is not worthy of your attention, and I even mean that about the women within the pack. You’ll fight for who you are, and you will make them see that you are a good mate.”

“This coming from the man that could have every single female in his bed with just the snap of his fingers.”

“I don’t want every female.” Just one.

He didn’t speak his thoughts. There was no need to. For the next hour, he trained with Carl, making sure his friend was able to at least defend himself. By the time they were finished, Carl was exhausted and excused himself.

Standing alone in the garden, Abel moved toward the brick wall that surrounded his home. His mother had found this place and told him it would be the perfect base for any pack. At first, he’d mocked her, saying it was too big for the three of them. His father had been the first one to pass, but then he’d already been particularly old, nearly a hundred in human years. Humans aged faster.

Abel felt guilty when it came to his father’s death as he blamed himself. His mother had told him not to worry about it, but without the pack, his father had started to wilt, almost like a flower. He’d not really accepted his son as his alpha, and in doing so, he’d become a shell of the man he was.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Abel stared down at Elle, his gorgeous Labrador that he just loved.

He crouched to her level and began to make a fuss as she moved closer to him, her back pressing against his front and her tongue lolling out of the side.

“You’re a good girl, aren’t you? Such a beauty.” She rolled over onto her back, paws in the air, and he gave her a stroke, standing up as Cassie made her way toward him. She carried a small tray, and it took every ounce of strength within him not to smooth out his hair, or to make sure he looked okay.

“I thought you could do with a hot drink and a snack.”

“Sounds wonderful,” he said.

They moved toward the nearest table. It was cold out, but as wolves their blood ran hotter, so unless it was minus ten outside, they didn’t really feel it.

She sat down with him, then did that cute thing again where she nibbled her lip.

“You can sit. I don’t bite unless I have to.” He winked at her, and inside he was cursing himself for even talking right now.

She chuckled. “I’m sure there are a lot of women here that would love for you to bite.” She placed a cup and a muffin in front of him.

“I have no interest in them.” In fact, it was really starting to piss him off that they were not taking no for an answer. He didn’t want one of his pack females, well, apart from this woman in front of him.

“One day you’re going to have to find a mate. Settle down, have kids, that kind of thing.”

“Why?”

“The pack has to continue. Without potential alphas from your line, the entire pack could end up dead, or don’t you care?”

“I care. Don’t get all on your high horse. I’m very much aware of what can happen, but I have no interest in the women that have thrown themselves at me.”

She nodded. “I get that. Have you thought of using a dating website?”

“I’m not using a dating service. I have no interest in human women. When I’m ready, I’ll find a woman perfectly fine on my own.”

All this talk of finding women, mating them, was not putting him in a good mood.

“Sorry. I only wanted to cheer you up.”

“I’m perfectly fine. Shall we talk about you and your potential mate?”

Her face just dropped. Any hint of a smile vanished. “I have no intention of ever mating. I’m so sorry for invading your time.” She picked up her muffin and her coffee, moving away from him.

Abel watched her go and didn’t bother to call her back. Running a hand down his face, he was pissed off right now.

He was interested in her.

Cassie was the only woman who’d ever gotten under his skin in such a short time, and yet, here they both were. She was trying to find him another woman while he wanted her.

This entire thing was just too funny for words. Actually, it wasn’t funny, not even a little bit.

“Fucking ridiculous.” He peeled back the small wrapping that encased his muffin and took a large bite.

He didn’t have a clue what he was doing to do with that woman. If she kept trying to set him up with other people, how was he going to be able to deal with this attraction?