The Alpha's Mate

Life Drags On

The next few days are some of the worst days of my life, which is saying a lot since my parents, in my mind, abandoned me.

In some of my more bitter moments, I spend a lot of time thinking about the fact that they never would have left if it had been Erin at home and not me. I almost always feel guilty right after I have the thought, since there were about a hundred other factors in play when it came to my sister, but it isn't a completely false thought either.

I basically spend my entire day at school, first doing classes and then sitting in the student area after school while waiting for Jared to get done with football practice. And because homecoming is rapidly approaching, at least according to the hot pink flyers hanging on every corner of the school, football practice takes at least three hours.

When I'm at home, which is the entire weekend since my only friend is - hang on, let me think- no one (ok, maybe Jared, but it's still extremely hit and miss), I diligently avoid Mike and Helena, only emerging from my bedroom for mealtimes. I barely speak during meals, unless they ask me a question, and even then I give as minimal an answer as possible.

The only good thing that had come out of my new hatred for Mike and Helena is that Jared had shown me the old treehouse in the backyard, which no one visited anymore. There's still a rope ladder to take you to the single room, though, and the boards haven't fallen through yet.

I spend most of my days there when it's warm, which it almost always is apparently in Tennessee, even though it's September, and then crawl back into my window shortly before dinner and stay in my room until the next morning when I either go to school or return to the treehouse.

It takes two weeks for my mother to return my call and all she tells me is that she's sorry about the kids at school are being mean (she doesn't know that they avoid me like the plague now, except for this one girl with long red hair that would smile at me when she saw me and, obviously, Jared), and and that she and my dad thought that Mike and Helena were doing what they thought the best thing for me was. Before I could get a word in otherwise, my mother said she'd just gotten a page to the hospital and had to go.

"Are you ready to go?" Jared asks, poking my cheek and I slap away his hand.

I'm laying in the grass to the side of the practice football field, a faded Transformers beach towel thrown out underneath me. I've been laying there for the past hour, the sun warming my face while I listened to my cold cases podcast.

I open my eyes and peer up at Jared, who has his football helmet tucked under one arm and his pads unclipped, but not off. His hair is slick with sweat, making it more brown than blond.

"Yes," I grumble, stretching out my legs before pushing myself up and gathering the Transformers towel and my AirPods case before turning back to Jared.

"Hey, man!" Someone shouts behind us and Jared and I both turn to see the blond who had saved me in the hallway that day- Beckett- rushing toward us. He's already taken off the top half of his football gear and is wearing just a black muscle tank and his padded pants.

Jared grins at the sight of his best friend, something I did not know the day Beckett saved me from the evil hallway students. They spent pretty much every weekend together, doing whatever it is that teenage boys do in their free time. 

Beckett eyes me and some emotion I can't name flashes through his eyes before he turns his attention back to Jared. "Are you coming to the bonfire tonight?" He asks. 

Jared lifts an eyebrow. "Dude, it's the full moon tonight. Of course I'm gonna be at the bonfire."

"What does a full moon have to do with having a bonfire?" I ask. I might have been a city girl, but I'd been to my fair share of bonfires- and none of them had revolved around the fact that it was a full moon.

Beckett stares at me for a long moment while Jared gives him a sheepish look, like he said something he knows he shouldn't have. Finally, Beckett clears his throat. "Everyone here knows that I throw the best bonfires on the full moon," he says arrogantly. "It's a thing here."

Jared nods, his head looking a bit like a bobblehead as he agrees with Beckett. I fold my arms over my chest and look between the two boys, trying to figure out if they are lying to me. Jared's face is filled with relief, which makes me suspicious all on its own, but it could be a lie or it could be that Jared really didn't want me to go the bonfire tonight. Beckett's face is wide and open, though, nothing that says he is lying to me.

And really, what reason would a stranger gain from lying to me about a stupid bonfire?

After a long moment, I sigh in defeat. "Fine."

Beckett grins at me, the kind of grin that I'm sure has the girls tripping over themselves. "I'd invite you, New Girl, but I don't think our crowds would mix well."

I can't help it- I snort. "In case you haven't noticed, Mr. Hotshot, I don't exactly have a crowd."

Beckett's grin falls and for a moment, it looks like he feels sorry for me. "It's probably better that way," he says, looking over my head. "Although, I think there's a few people who would be okay with being your friend."

I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah? Like who?"

"Like Alexis Jacobson. Don't count everyone here out, Adira. Jared, I'll see you later."

I have no idea who Alexis Jacobson is, but I roll with it as I watch Beckett jog off. As soon as he's disappeared in the door by the locker room, I whirl around to face Jared. "So do I get to go to this party, then? Since I don't get to give up on fitting in here and maybe, just maybe, not sitting alone at lunch for the rest of the school year?"

"No," Jared practically snaps, his face stony. "Beckett did not mean starting tonight at the bonfire."

Hurt flares through me. "What, are you too embarrassed to be seen with me?"

Jared huffs and runs a hand through his hair. "That's not it, Addie. It's just not the place for you."

"You don't know anything about me, Jared Shepherd." I stomp off to the parking lot without looking back, even as Jared calls after me.

Someone would be surprised to see me at that party tonight.