Hate Mates (The Alpha Shifter)

Chapter Four

Alexa had never lived with another person. Not only was she now bound to Landon with cuffs, but they had also been told to occupy one of the rental homes near the edge of the forest. It was a secluded house, often used for honeymoon couples who were too close to the full moon to leave the pack.

She loved the house and had often come to sit and look at it because it was so beautiful, but now, with her clothes already in the main bedroom closet, she didn’t particularly like it all that much.

The house had one bedroom. One large bed.

With the cuffs, they had no choice but to share it. Right now, they stood in the bathroom, looking at the large shower, and of course the bathtub that didn’t offer any privacy.

This place wasn’t good for privacy. It wasn’t good for anything.

There were also many mirrors.

“So, er, I don’t know how we’re going to do this,” he said.

She nibbled on her lip and looked at him. “You can go first, and I will close my eyes. I do not need to see anything. Trust me.” She closed her eyes, just wanting this over with. Tonight’s announcement was not what she anticipated, and if she was honest, she was quite worried.

Spending time alone with Landon terrified her. They hadn’t spent any time together in a very long time. Not since they were kids and their parents got tired of all the arguing, fighting, and of course the tears. As a boy, Landon was a real crybaby.

Not that she couldn’t deny her own shared tears.

“I’m not going first. I’m a gentleman. I’m not going to be accused of taking all of the hot water. You go.”

She opened her eyes and saw he’d closed his eyes. When he attempted to cross his arms, he nearly pulled her with him. “Shit, sorry. This is going to take some getting used to.”

“Agreed.” She looked at the shower, and then Landon held his arm out. “You’re not allowed to look,” she said. When it came to her clothes, she frowned. “Er, I don’t think your dad thought this through.”

“Shit, er, okay, this isn’t, I don’t know …” There was a sudden knock on the door, and they both looked at each other with a frown.

They had no choice but to make their way downstairs, which was a lot harder, seeing as they nearly fell down them. If it wasn’t for Landon suddenly wrapping an arm around her waist, they would’ve fallen.

She thanked him, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do.

Together, they made it to the front door. Opening it up, they found Gertie, Landon’s mother, waiting. “Hi, this is good. You haven’t, you know, killed each other. This is progress.”

“Look, I get that the alpha is doing this for a reason, and I really appreciate it, I do, but we can’t … shower, or you know, change.”

Gertie held up a finger and presented a key.

“Every night, one of us, me, Marcel, Penelope, or Dan, will help you with this problem. Let me have those wrists,” Gertie said, unlocking the chain. “When you are done in the shower, and you’re changed, you will come down and be chained up again.”

“Don’t you think this is a little … extreme?” Alexa asked.

It was good to be free of the cuff, but the thought of her parents, or even Gertie and Marcel, being there every night and morning to lock their wrists together, it just seemed … well, like they were treating them like children.

“Pack business is going to get in the way,” Landon said. “Can’t we come to some kind of arrangement?”

Gertie smiled. “Yes, but until you have proven yourself, you’re to keep the cuffs on. We know this is extreme, but that is why we’ve also utilized the help of the pack. If one of us is busy, someone will come by and help us to bring an end to this … bickering. Trust me, it is for your own sakes. Now, go and take that shower.”

Alexa spun on her heel, pleased to have some alone time.

“Oh, I forgot. You have to hold hands,” Gertie said.

She paused on the stairs and turned toward Gertie. “You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not. You have both brought this on yourself and have become a danger to each other as well as the pack.”

“How are we a danger to the pack?” Landon asked.