@Match_Box brought to my attention that this song is totally the vibe of this chapter, lol! (Gives you hell by The All-American Rejects)
Chapter 3
Axel's POV
I was furious. And the list of things ticking my timer just kept growing.
First, some shitty 'soul mate' of my mine had me sick the whole week. I'm a fucking werewolf, I'm impervious to the common cold.
Sucks to be a human, but we don't get their little sicknesses.
Until now, I suppose—the fresh mate bond had me hypersensitive to the poorly state of my mate, and I didn't appreciate the welcome gift of high fevers, chills, throwing up, and a near-constant state of drowsy nausea.
I almost got bodied by a football in front of the whole damn school because of this stupid illness!
And as if that wasn't embarrassing enough, my once-in-a-lifetime special 18th birthday was ruined—it was supposed to be the party of the year and it didn't even get to start before I was heaving my guts out all over the place.
I'd definitely get revenge for that humiliation.
Additionally, I didn't get the alpha title.
I knew my dad was going to give it to me!
I had been training for this for years. No one—not even my older sister—was more suited to become Alpha than me, even if she was the original inheritor. It was now my position, and I was supposed to have it by now.
The ceremony planned after my birthday party—it was a full-moon, which should have been good luck!—was when my dad was going to make the announcement.
But before any of that could even begin, I was in a half-concious state, the wolf spirit in me taking over, drooling, desperate, growling some gibberish about 'finding mate!'
And now I wasn't going to get my title until I had my 'soulmate' by my side. The ridiculous unfairness of the situation made me want to throw something. Preferably my mate, down a set of stairs.
This said mate of mine was a guy, wasn't he? He should be able to take that much.
I didn't even want to think about it. It wasn't uncommon or totally unexpected for a guy to have a guy mate. But that didn't mean I wanted my mate to be a guy!
I like the soft suppleness of a nice pair of knockers; the sweet smell of between two sexy spread legs—
And as if that wasn't enough, my mate was a human.
Human.
Fucking human. If it had to be a male, why couldn't he be a wolf in my pack?! That would make things so much less complicated!
If he was a wolf in my pack, he'd already love me and would know everything about the supernatural world, and we could quickly mate and I'd become the Alpha.
But no, since he was human, I had to first court him, make him fall for me.
Then I'd have to hope he didn't freak out and call animal control when I show him my true self, and then I'd have to convince him to join me in this werewolf world.
Only after that could I gain the Alpha title that was rightfully mine to begin with!
To make things even fucking worse, this mate of mine was an annoying piece of shit.
Running around the school during lunch when I was looking for him, making sure to rub his scent everywhere as if to purposefully confuse me or something.
And then coming late to class hanging all over some loser—he might as well have been humping that nerd!—covered in a hundred different scents, as if he was rubbing himself against everyone in gym.
And then the damn sass he gave me. Who the hell did he think he was? Everyone knew me. He should have been honoured that I was his partner—and that I went out of my way to sit beside him, when he didn't come running up to me—but he tried to ignore me. Ignore me.
And then that blasted sarcastic tone of his. He pissed me off! As he left chemistry, I was damn near close to mauling him, grabbing him by the neck and forcing him to submit to me.
I took a deep breath before linking to my wolf, focusing on the instinctual connection innate within our kind.
Alex, I half pleaded, calling on my second being. I definitely would need my wolf on my side to convince my dad to give me the Alpha title immediately without mating with my mate.
Alex growled, the protective mate instinct flaring at response to my thoughts. Alex grumbled lowly, and I sighed in distress.
Put in human terms, Alex was declaring Mate is suitable. Mate with him immediately. He is mine.
I rest my head against my pillow, anger dissipating into a mild discontentment with the world. What, Oliver's rude attitude turned Alex on?
Oliver, I had to admit, wasn't particularly harsh on the eyes. It wasn't like I was complaining about that or anything. And from what the guys told me, he was polite, easy to get along with, and friendly.
But I had my doubts.
Luckily, Van agreed. He seemed amused by Oliver as a whole, but my sanity was grateful that at least he wasn't also a Blaring Oliver Fan.
He had way too many of those. I never paid attention to unimportant humans, so it came across as a surprise, but a ridiculously large percentage of people who knew him really liked him.
It pissed me off just thinking about it. What, did he sleep with them all? Whored himself out to get that popularity?
I hated it. I hated him. I hated that I cared. I never asked for him, but if he was mine, he was mine. I was not okay with him sleeping with whomever losers he wanted.
He could sleep with me—that would be very convenient on my part, actually—but he wasn't allowed to sleep with others.
Van, I half whined, half groaned, reaching for the connection that came as easily as breathing. Help. I just want what's rightfully mine, I grumbled. Why do I gotta court a fucking human to get my position.
I could feel Van sigh despite not actually hearing it. What does your wolf think of your mate?
I definitely did not pout or sulk. Alex is being an asshole.
Van snorted. He approves? You're just gonna have to do this the hard way, buddy.
I groaned.
You've got a project together, don't you? Use that to your advantage and get close. You're gonna have to be patient. Oliver doesn't seem all that interested, so your trashy pickup lines aren't gonna work.
I frowned. What 'trashy' pick up lines? All of the ones I use are great, I defended.
I could hear him snort. Sure thing. 'Damn girl are you sitting on an F5 key? Because that ass is refreshing', he quoted me.
Hey—that wasn't that bad! I protested.
'Baby did you just fart? Because you blew me away.' 'Did you ever realize screw rhymes with me and you?' 'If I flip a coin what are my chances of getting head?' 'Are you French? cause Madamn' Need I continue? he laughed.
I couldn't help but chuckle. Okay, some of those were pretty bad. And I never used the last one!
Jenna on the soccer team, he retorted. Oh. Right.
Well, I got my point across. Don't say anything I just did and I'm sure it won't go too bad. Oliver seems like the type to value his reputation, so just be aware of that. But, you know Axel, he paused.
I blinked. What?
It's... I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking this, but even if Oliver is a human, shouldn't he feel something for you?
I frowned. What do you mean?
I mean, Nick had a human mate, right? Logan was a man in his early thirties in our pack. I'd met him briefly a few times, but it's not like I cared all that much about his love and mate life. I've heard him and his mate Priyanka talking about it at their wedding—they both felt the attraction even when Priyanka was still human. She said it she was drawn to Nick even before she knew anything about them being mates.
Right, I agreed. I vaguely remembered them both babbling away at their wedding.
I hated weddings. The ceremonies were so long and pointless. Just exchange rings and head straight to the bedroom. What else matters?
It's not like they're the only one. Qichen and Hana said something similar, even Qichen was attracted after the mate bond—
Yeah, yeah, better love story than Twilight. Quit it with the fairy-tales, I interrupted. What are you getting at? Oliver's secretly in love with me?
Van sighed. No, you simple-minded dumbass. I'm saying that even someone with good control over their emotions like Oliver can't deny there must be something between you two. Just don't, like, majorly fuck it up, and it's not gonna be impossible to get him to fall for you.
Of course it isn't, I retorted, grinning. I'm gonna get what's mine.
Oliver's POV
I looked at the Facebook friend notification.
I moused over the 'confirm request' button, but then snorted and clicked 'not now'. I couldn't help but snicker at how immature I was being, but I didn't really care.
Like hell I'd accept a friend request from Axel's, even on Facebook. I contemplated blocking him for a moment, but decided against it. Somebody might ask why I blocked him and I didn't have an excuse. Other than the honest truth that 'I just don't want to be around an entitled asshole'.
He was most certainly an asshole, but unfortunately for me, he was a hot asshole.
It wasn't his face I had a problem with. In fact, I actually rather appreciated it. It was a shame he had such a horrible personality.
If he changed that, I couldn't really complain. He was a sight to the eyes, and he knew it. Tall, dark and handsome, with just enough boyish charm to prevent him from getting any consequences for his shitty actions.
It was a shame his looks were the only appealing thing about him. Well, his wallet was too, but you couldn't buy humility.
You could get away with being condescending and demeaning attitude, though, if you had his face and bank account.
It irritated me. It was the small things he did, like preen as if he expected to be praised for doing less than the bare minimum—if he could even be bothered.
The looks of disgust as he waved others away got on my nerves—what, did us lowly peasants stink? Our commonness was clearly beneath was O Holy Lord And King Axel who the whole world revolves around, because what else would explain his over-reactions and undisguised contempt at being even slightly inconvenienced by the mere existence of anyone he arbitrarily deemed lesser than him?
I had never had a real conversation with him. I didn't need to. It took a handful of interactions—like asking him to pass the fork—to realize I was obviously so much lesser, how dare I, a lowly peasant, have the nerve to bother his Royal Highness?
He was lucky I hadn't stabbed him with said fork.
Was my judgement hasty? Perhaps. Probably. Did I care? No.
I knew it was hypocritical of me to judge him as harshly as he judged others, but I didn't really care. Maybe when he stopped being an egocentric asshole to literally everyone else, I'd consider reevaluating my opinion. But I honestly didn't even want to. Why should I bother?
A text broke me out of my pondering. When I saw my phone, I grimaced.
He was bothering me already.
A: hey y did u not freind me???
It took me a moment to understand what it was saying. Then I rolled my eyes as I realized that Axel had noticed me rejecting his Facebook friend request, somehow gotten my number, and was dead set on being a nuisance.
I turned read receipts on and then promptly put the phone away.
It was only a minute or two later that I heard the signature buzzing of a new text message.
Geez. I wonder who it could be.
I ignored it until a couple minutes later, when I received another text. And then another.
I closed my eyes, sighing. Seriously. Could he not take a hint?
Reluctantly, I opened the messages.
A: i no u saw my mssge
A: reply
A: hey u ther
A: ??
Jesus Christ. I could feel a tumour growing in my brain as a direct response to the stupidity I was reading. I tapped out a response, making sure to take my time.
O: I'm busy.
20 seconds later I had 2 responses.
A: hey
A: sup
Not able to resist the temptation, I searched up 'how to deal with annoying texters' on my laptop. I found a website and snickered to myself.
O: Nothing much, I was just so excited you texted me that I fainted.
A moment later I had a response.
A: haha ;) rlly
Of course not you stupid piece of shit. I rolled my eyes.
O: Sorry the doctor put drops in my eyes. I can't see.
A: oh
A: u k
A: wait wat
A: ??
I snickered.
O: Just kidding, I was driving. You don't want me to die, do you?
A: oh
A: srry
Finally the messages stopped. I put the phone down, smiling to myself. Passive aggressively attacking people is the best way to get shit done.
It was only five minutes, however, before the next text came. I sighed again as I picked up the phone. I underestimated how much of a nuisance a person could be.
A: r u dun
O: Yeah. Sorry my clock was set to Tokyo time.
A: oh
A: its fine
I snickered again. Why the hell would my clock be set to Tokyo time? And even if it was, how did that matter if I was driving?
A: soo
A: wat ru doin
A: im lyin on my bed
A: hbu
Was this his idea of sexting? That was probably the least sexy thing I've ever read.
O: I can't tell you.
A: aww
A: why not
O: My fortune teller advised against it.
A: oh
A: cool
A: so wen can we meet fr chem
O: I don't go out on days that end in -day. Sorry, personal preference.
A: wait wat
A: then wen
A: tomorrow?
O: Sorry, but I can't do anything for the next few hours. I'm allowing my food to digest. You can never play it too safe!
A: oh
A: soo
A: wat did u eat
O: Un morceau de merde. It reminded me a lot of you! :)
A: wat
A: sounds fancy ;)
O: It's as sophisticated as you are ;)
A: wow yur bein nice to me
A: ;)
O: Should that come as a surprise?
A: wel u wernt vry nice to me b4 but now u r
O: That's SO MEAN! I don't ever want to talk to you again! Go away. You've made my life miserable! I want to sit in a corner and cry for the rest of my life!!! :( :( :(
Snickering, I turned my phone off, content to just ignore Axel until Monday.
Axel's POV
VAN! I yelled through the mind link, connecting to my Beta.
I could feel his startled wince. What?! he demanded back. Why are you making a racket in my head?!
Come here, I begged. I could hear him sigh, and then the quiet thumps of him leaving his room a couple doors down to enter mine.
"What has you urgently calling me in the middle of the day? Not everybody is free all the time like you," he grumbled.
I looked him over. He was wearing baggy shorts and a loose t-shirt, and his hair was in a loose and messy ponytail.
Van looked tired, but relieved. Knowing him, I'm guessing he was looking for an excuse not to study.
I flashed my phone at him. "I'm texting Oliver. I think I pissed him off?" I questioned, waving him over. He joined me on my bed and read through the messages from the top.
I could see his lips twitching the entire time. I frowned. What was so funny? At the end, he gave in and burst out laughing.
"Jesus Christ, Axel, are you being dense on purpose? This is hilarious." He eventually snickered. My frowned deepened.
"What do you mean? Everything was going fine. He even complimented me, didn't he?"
Van laughed again. "Axel, he literally called you a piece of shit in French." Van shook his head. "You take French, for goodness sake."
I blinked as Van pointed it out.
"Wh—"
"Guess I'll have to schedule tutoring you in French somewhere," Van said to himself, scrolling through the messages. "That aside, Axel, even I can't tutor you in common sense. This is pathetically try-hard, especially for you."
I sat there, baffled and disbelieving. Sure, I'd noticed he was a bit busy, but it was me so—
"Hah!" he snickered. " 'You don't want me to die, do you?' That's so sly. I'm definitely using that on whatever dumbass bothers me next."
I had a vague feeling that Van and Oliver would get along well, as well as an instinctual fear of the two of them teaming up. But that was submerged with the anger that surged through me.
Fuck him! Who the fuck did Oliver think he was?! I was taking time out of my day to talk to him, and I was even being nice by texting first and he was—what? Making a fool out of me?! Who the hell did Oliver think he was?!
I turned inward to my wolf, seething. Looking for support, I made my anger clear, only to be shocked by the amusement radiating out from Alex.
A clever mate is a good mate, he seemed to be saying. He belongs to us.
I ignored him.
"Who the hell does he think he is?!" I ranted in irritation. "Seriously, I'm going to get him back. Does he think he can get away with treating me like that? I'm gonna fucking get that tricky little bitch," I grumbled.
"Oh I'm totally sure you will, you fancy morceau de merde," Van quipped, amused. I growled in warning, but he ignored me. His brows tightened. "I wonder if you can. I wonder if you can..."
I vaguely noted that Van was taking screenshots and sending them to himself, but I paid it no mind. "Of course I fucking can! Who do you think I am?! I'm gonna get back a hundred million times. He's gonna be sorry."
I paced up and down my room, fuming. Van played on my phone, ignoring my totally-not-a-tantrum, but I didn't look at him.
I knew what I had to do.
The best revenge was having him as soon as possible—mating him, taking my alpha position, my legacy. And that was exactly what I planned on doing.
He could try and be rude and sarcastic, or play nice—it didn't matter. I'd let him have his fun making fun of me going out of my way and trying really hard to be nice. I wouldn't let myself be distracted by that.
No, I was going to focus solely on making Oliver submit to me as soon as fucking possible.
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*** Un morceau de merde -- is French for a piece of shit
Chapter word count: 3037
Total word count: 9286
comments/votes/shares are very much appreciated!!
Storm// stressé