Being the new girl in a new town is hard enough, but for Brayden Hayward it's damn near impossible. Especially when Ashton Philips, the king of the school, is determined to make her life a living hell. He tells her to stay out of his way, yet everyw...
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Peter Jameson
Ashton stalked down the hall, ignoring Zachary and Clayton who were trailing after him like good pack members, and snarling at anyone who got in his way. Much like he did with her. Brayden fucking Hayward. He had originally been amused when she almost hit him with her car when he was in wolf form. It wasn't as clear then. But when she crashed into him only moments before, it took everything he had not to pick her up, throw her against the lockers, and fuck her until she forgot her own name. He hadn't felt that kind of urge since he was fourteen and realized that men and women were different.
That instant reaction could only mean one thing. That girl, that human, was his fated mate. The one who was supposed to be his partner and help get him out from under his father's rule. His mate was supposed to be his equal. Not a lowly human who had no knowledge of his world. Ashton just hoped that his father never found out about this, because if he did, Ashton would be dead wolf walking.
"Ash, wait up!" Devon called as his brother ran up beside him, with Peter following closely behind.
"I hate it when you pull that Alpha shit on me, Devon," Ashton muttered. "You didn't even want to be Alpha. You gave the title to me. You can't take it back whenever it conveniences you."
"I wasn't taking it back," Devon argued. "I was using the power so you wouldn't maul some girl who bumped into you. I don't want to be Alpha. I just don't want to lose my little brother if you do something you'll regret."
"Aw, shit. You guys always make me cry," Peter said as he walked beside Zach and Clay. They may be an almost always silent duo, but they were the most loyal Gammas Ashton could have asked for. They also didn't talk back like Peter did.
"Shut up, Peter," Ashton and Devon snarled at the same time. Peter as Beta was loyal as well, but his position of power made him impulsive at times and honestly a little forward.
"Cut the guy a little slack, Devon," Peter said as if he hadn't just been reprimanded. "He just found his mate and my guess is that he's not happy about it."
"What?" Devon said, looking at Ashton in surprise but he looked stubbornly ahead of him, refusing to make eye contact. "How do you know that, Pete?"
"It was obvious," Peter answered. "You should have seen his face when Brayden crashed into him. He looked like he was two seconds from creating his own porno. I felt like I needed a cold shower."
"Is that true, Ash?" Devon asked. "Is she your mate?"
"Who the fuck cares?" Ashton growled. As far as he was concerned the girl was not, and never would be, his fucking mate. "Even if she was, I can't do anything about it. She's human and she can't be part of this world. I don't know why I'm telling you this. Didn't you experience something similar with Callie?"
"I told you to shut up about Callie," Devon said through clenched teeth.
Ashton shrugged, feeling like he'd made his point, though he did feel a little bad. Callie Robertson was a sore spot for his brother. He wasn't the only one whose so-called mate was a human, Devon's was as well. But unlike Ashton, Devon dated Callie for over a year, though obviously he didn't tell her anything about their world. Finally, she'd understandably had enough of the lies and broke things off with Devon. Now every time her name came up in conversation or Devon saw her because she was inexplicably friends with Rowan, he'd act all squirrely. Ashton had actually liked Callie and Rowan definitely did. She was alright...for a human. But that didn't mean Ashton would make his brother's mistake and date one. Even if she was supposedly his mate. And he already couldn't get her out of his head.
"Sorry, but you see my point," Ashton said. He had to tell his brother what he'd been thinking. "This girl is not my mate, nor will she ever be. No good can come from it."
"You can't defy fate, Ash," Devon replied. "That's what Mom always said about Dad. Remember?"
"Yeah, and look how well that turned out for her," Ash shot back and immediately regretted it.
Their mother's death three years ago was still a sore spot for the brothers. Ashton knew, though he wasn't sure if Devon did, that their father abused their mother for most of their lives. The only reason why it was unclear whether Devon knew the truth about their father was because, much like with Ashton, he wasn't often around when their father lay into their mother. Or he was in denial. For reasons that escaped Ashton, Devon put their father on a pedestal. And even though he couldn't prove it, Ashton was positive his father had something to do with his mother's death. He claimed that she drowned in a boating accident, but his mother had been a champion swimmer, so how was that possible? But the autopsy showed no evidence of foul play so Adrianna Philips' death was overlooked and ruled as an accident.
"That's not fair, Ash, and you know it," Devon said angrily. "I know what you think, but Dad was wrecked when Mom died in that accident."
Ashton didn't feel the need to comment on that. He didn't think his brother would take too kindly to the idea that his father was wrecked when his mother died because he didn't have his punching bag anymore. At least until Ashton got a D on a History paper six months after her funeral and got punched in the face. He knew that he and Devon were never going to agree on this topic, so to distract his brother from asking about Wolf Girl, as he was going to start to call her, he decided to throw Peter under the bus once again.
"Peter was hitting on Rowan again," Ashton said ignoring his best friend's look of shock and smirking when Devon's angry face switched to Peter.
"Dude! Not cool!" Peter complained. "You know she's my mate. I can't help myself."
"She's not your mate," Devon said seriously. "If she were, you'd both be drawn to each other and she can't stand you. Rowan's a wolf, she would know what it means. Sorry, Pete. You're out of luck."
"Okay, fine." Peter huffed. "She's not my mate. As far as I can tell, I don't have one or I haven't met her yet, but is it wrong of me to get close to Rowan in the meantime?"
"It is when her brothers will rip your head from your body if you try anything," Zachary answered.
"Not to mention what Rowan would do," Clayton added with a smirk. Ashton smiled to himself, the duo was silent most of the time, but when they did speak, the earth shattered.
"Oh, blow me," Peter answered. He crossed his arms and scowled, but Ashton knew he wasn't really upset. His Beta flirted and teased but Peter knew that if he ever actively went after Rowan, Ashton and Devon would team up and tear him apart. The brothers might not agree about their father, but they did agree about how protective they were when it came to Rowan.
Ashton let his friends and brother talk around him as he realized that it was the second time today he'd used his best friend to get himself out of a sticky situation. This situation was different, however. He didn't want to think about the human and the implications the mating bond had on his future. Never mind the fact that she smelled like strawberries.
"Ash?" His brother's deep voice asked. "You okay?"
Ashton looked up to see Devon and his most important pack members looking at him in concern. He nodded once and they continued walking. Ashton knew deep down that this girl was going to distract him and he needed to get her the fuck out of his head. He just met her, for fuck's sake. Or really she crashed into him. There was really only one way he could think of to get her out of his head. Make her go away.
