Hate Mates (The Alpha Shifter)

“Neither of you has asked how Cheryl is doing,” Gertie said. “Do you think she is handling her time well? She attacked another pack member. Was willing to kill her because of her obsession with you. That is how this silliness damages the pack. Now, if we believed neither of you were mates, we wouldn’t be doing this. You are mates, and this pettiness will end. Simple as that.” She waved her hand at them. “Now, go and shower. Hold hands, and I will know if you don’t.”

Alexa wanted to ask how she would know, but she was also a little afraid to test the older woman. She didn’t want to cause trouble. There was only so much pushing she was willing to do to Gertie.

Taking hold of Landon’s offered hand, she made her way upstairs. She didn’t want to think about how good it felt to hold his hand, or how … amazing and real, and just … everything. She had ignored these feelings for so long, but clearly the pack and their parents knew what was going on.

Back inside the bathroom, she glanced at Landon, who released her hand and closed his eyes.

She quickly stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower. Would Gertie truly know if they didn’t hold hands?

Looking out the shower, she took his hand, and he opened his eyes, but she was covered by the curtain.

“I don’t want to risk it,” she said.

They locked their fingers together, and she tried to wash and shower with only one hand. Her stomach gave her problems. The bites from Cheryl were not truly healing. She still had the scars present, but she knew inside, something was wrong. Her skin had healed over, but something didn’t feel right.

She didn’t tell her parents about it. What was the point? They’d only worry.

After managing to wash her body and her hair with shampoo, she decided she’d had enough.

“Er, do you have a towel?” she asked.

Landon shoved one inside, and she took it, having no choice but to let him wrap the towel around her. After stepping out of the stall, she leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and waited for him to finish. This was so embarrassing.

Her arm moved up, and she just knew he was soaping his body. Alexa tried to get the image of him touching himself out of her mind. She wasn’t about to bring attention to the fact of what he was doing.

Was this punishment?

She knew her own accusations were ridiculous. Marcel had every right to do what he did. After Cheryl’s attack, she kind of knew something was going to be forced upon them. With her free hand and the towel wrapped around her body, she touched the spot that was still sore, that hadn’t quite healed properly. In the few hours she’d spent with Landon, they no longer hurt quite so much. Was it possible for her to be healing the more time she spent with him?

Jerking her hand back, she clenched her fingers into a fist, refusing to believe it could be that simple. Surely, there was no way it could happen like that.

She wasn’t so sure.

The shower switched off.

“Could you hand me a towel?” he asked.

She grabbed one and shoved it into the stall, being sure to keep her eyes closed at all times, not wanting to catch a glimpse of him naked.

He took the towel from her, and she went back to leaning against the wall. Her other hand moved as he made himself decent.

Alexa didn’t know how much of this crap she was going to be able to take. They’d only been in this position for a couple of hours, and it was pissing her off.

The shower curtain was pulled back, and there he stood. Towel wrapped around his waist, and his naked chest on full display.

There was no way she found him attractive.

“We better go get changed,” he said, stating the obvious. They walked together toward the bedroom, nearly hurting each other as they both tried to fit through the door at the same time.

“You go first,” Landon said.

“You go first.” She held her hand open, trying to be polite.

Neither of them moved.

Alexa frowned as she glanced down at their hands. The cuffs were not on, but they were still holding hands. Still treating this as if … they had on the metal cuffs. What was wrong with them? They could just stop holding hands and then be in the bedroom.

All of a sudden, Landon grabbed her waist, spun her toward him so that her back was nestled against his front, and moved them into the room together.