Hate Mates (The Alpha Shifter)

Chapter Three

The full moon was fast approaching, and Alexa stared up at the moon, feeling the energy come over her skin, and along with it, the noticeable pain. She hadn’t told her parents that the pain was getting worse.

According to her parents, over time the pain would lessen until it was nothing. She’d been changing for three years, and that hadn’t happened. The full moon didn’t make her feel any better.

When it was time to turn, she felt … terrified. Trying to pretend she wasn’t in any kind of pain was starting to get impossible. Hands clenched into fists, screaming inside her head as she tried to contain the sounds. She didn’t want anyone to know. Especially not her parents. They thought she loved the full moon, the chance to be at one with her wolf, but no, she hated it. For the first hour, it was impossible to move. She did so, but it was at great expense.

Staring up at the full moon, she felt the prickling of her skin. Goosebumps erupted across her flesh, and she tried not to react. Tried to think of happy thoughts. There was no getting away from it.

In time, she’d be able to control her ability to turn, but in the early years of being a wolf, there was no choice. She had to submit to the full moon. If she didn’t, there were dire consequences. So even though she absolutely hated the first hour or so, she came and did what she needed to do.

As the moon rose high up into the sky, the pain increased. She felt her skin splitting, each bone breaking, shattering in her mind.

Her mother had told her to not fight her wolf, to just embrace it.

This was her embracing it, but it wasn’t working. Nothing she did seemed to work. Her body shook as she fell to the ground, hurting all over and screaming in her mind. Begging for it to be over, and the moment it was, she merely lay on the ground, twitching a little.

Her wolf didn’t want to run just yet. Neither of them did.

The night felt good on her body. She hated feeling this weak.

It also wasn’t good for her to be weak. Not when Cheryl could be on the hunt for her. The other woman had made it her mission to irritate her and make her life incredibly hard. She’d been that determined to cause problems, and she’d even gone to the library. The one place Alexa felt salvation, Cheryl had invaded.

She didn’t understand what the woman’s problem was. Alexa didn’t stalk Landon. She had nothing to do with him other than what pack business required of her.

Just thinking about Cheryl was enough to make her worn-out body move, which was what she did. She got to her paws and stretched out her body, hating every single second of it, and took off. Not at full speed. There was no way she’d be able to handle that kind of pressure. Her body could only take so much.

The pack was all around the forest. Marcel always made sure to protect the forest. It was what helped to bring in tourists as part of a walking trail, but it also kept a great deal of humans out of their world. He protected the pack at all costs.

Alexa ran, taking herself to the edge where a break in the trees gave her unhindered access to the expanse of forest and the ability to look at the full moon without fear of interruption.

Coming to a stop, she tilted her head back, and they both—she and her wolf—admired the scenery below. This was one part of what she loved about running with the pack. They lived in a beautiful location in the country, surrounded by so much nature. During the month, she’d never get the time to come and admire this place, but as a wolf, she always gave it a few minutes, showing her respect.

It was beautiful.

Landon was close by. She sensed him.

Her wolf liked his wolf … a lot.

It was the only thing they disagreed on. Her wolf viewed Landon as their mate, but Alexa refused to have anything to do with him. As a wolf though, she couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling of contentment at knowing he was close.

She never felt this way when they were in their human form. No, that was wrong, she did like seeing him and feeling him close, but then someone would say something, and the moment would be lost.

All her life, she’d been told she was going to be Landon’s mate, and well, she was sick of it. They had never gotten along, and the thought of being his mate didn’t exactly fill her with rainbows.

Liar.

Ignoring the word echoing through her mind, she gritted her teeth and stayed perfectly still. The calm usually lasted a long time, but not today.

No, she and Landon were not alone. Another wolf was close by, and as she turned to see who it was, she was pounced upon.

The snarling, messy, blonde wolf was Cheryl, and Alexa was thrown across the ground, falling close to the cliff’s edge.

Landon burst out of his hiding spot, trying to take on Cheryl, but the other wolf was too lost in her rage to take notice of who she was attacking. Landon was tossed across the space, his back hitting a tree with a large crash, breaking the tree.

Alexa didn’t have time to watch it fall as Cheryl was back on her.

Alexa was distracted, and Cheryl got the better of her, tossing her across the cliff, but Alexa was able to grab on to the ledge. However, as she did, her wolf form faded as if there was nothing there, and she was completely naked, holding on to the ledge in human form.