Greg had insisted with laughter. "We were just joking, come on."

"Yea. Brady man, tell him we were just playing around." Tyler had encouraged, with his own laughter infused in his smoked-out tone.

"Malik." one word, the call of my name from Brady's voice was enough to accelerate my heart and fuel it with hope. So like a damn fool I had pivoted, paused and faced Brady straight in the eye. Excited but afraid that if he asked there wasn't an atom in my body that would have allowed me to refuse him. Not when his blood was blue, not when his heart drummed the beat of a mate, my mate. After a hot second of us staring at each other, Brady's brow cocked, giving my body a once over. Which physically, mentally and emotionally pained me because my mind had gone straight to objectifying his intense appraisal of my body, with the notion of passionate romance and heated sex. His gaze fixed itself back on my eyes as though contemplating a colourful small creature.

I cleared my throat, prompting him to speak since he'd called my name but he didn't speak right away. His blue eyes perused me, from top to bottom and the way they slowly did so made me all warm, receptive and excruciatingly self-conscious. So because of it I'd moved my hands from the front of the borrowed shorts and crossed them over my exposed torso. That had made Brady chortle an amused laugh, one they may have thought was not at my expense but rather a laugh with me. That idea was trashed to pieces when his best friends took their Alpha's shepherding and clearly laughed at me with no holds barred.

A few things I have forgotten were said in between the guffawing but I'll never forget how I felt in that moment. They made me feel like such a loser and in effect, it made me even more averse to all of them, including Brady, who was my mate, unfortunately for me.

At that moment I understood the heavy pain of hate sitting on a heart because I hated them more than anything.

I thought of lectures in pack classes, where they each earned excellent grades in; Brady was a blue blood, an Alpha, and his three best friends were one strong Zeta, one noble Delta and one cutthroat Beta. They knew better than to make fun of me on this day when I was facing my first full moon after turning sixteen. Taunting me in classes or at the field was one thing, but bringing me this much tease on the day that my soul found a connection. A connection that would change everything for me and my red ribbon family. It was heartless and brought on the absolute worst feeling, I'd ever felt in my entire sixteen-year-old existence. A little compassion would've helped but all they cared about was making fun of me.

I had watched them all intently and saw Tyler snort and wipe beer from his mouth at the same time he pointed to Brady. "Bruh put a shirt on or else Bella Petit here will start thinking you're his mate."

Mindful to keep it under my breath I'd retorted for my ears only, "Like I'd want him."

Our gazes had caught and his was full of a negative look I couldn't name. It made me shiver and want to snap at him. But before I could a strawberry blonde girl wearing a pair of shorts that could have been knickers and a cropped vest, emerged from the darkness of the trees and stumbled on a branch startling all of us. "Oh hey Brady, hide and seek with me and my girls? You too boys" she finished with a nod at the inebriated bunch. And that's when I recognized her, she was the head cheerleader at a neighbouring school and every one our age knew she was sleeping with Brady.

Sharp pain had cut itself through my chest.

Evan had smirked as did Greg.

Tyler looked for approval from Brady with open palms and raised eyebrows.

"Just get her away from here I'll take him to his mother," Brady said it low enough the girl couldn't hear but his voice was clear and thick with bother. "He doesn't look good."

"Yeah, you take care of that," Tyler tipped his beer to me before he left. "He needs you to stabilise him."

I frowned.

"Yea man, you're doing the moon's work here," Greg had supplied as he tipped his beer bottle to the mouth before he ran toward the girls.

I frowned some more.

"Yo, Brady." Evan moved closer to bump fists with Brady, "You're gonna be a great Alpha someday."

"I know."

That had made me snap, "Hey, fuck you all." Seriously! How did they get off talking about me like that? As if I was some sort of burden and Brady was this saviour taking a break from carrying the weight of the world by doing me a favour.

His friends laughed heading in the direction the girls had strutted off in, I overheard one of them ask the others. "Any of you hear him curse before?"

I wanted to curse some more, but I got distracted by the strong and warm feel of Brady's fingers curling around my bicep as he took lead on leading the way.

"Don't touch me!!" I yanked my arm from his grasp.

Brady smirked "You've got some fire in you today huh, I've never heard you curse before." He said as he kept walking ahead. I begrudgingly followed him picking on a thorn that had gotten under my foot. He stopped us, placed a warm hand on my bare shoulder and asked "But on the real, are you ok?"

I swear the tone of his voice sounded as if he truly was concerned for me and because of it I almost leaned in to hug him, tell him he was mine, lean into his chest as my fingers dug into his dark hair as he kissed me senseless. But this was Brady Victrolli everything about him and everything he'd done to me since childhood came back in a vengeful flash.

As our future pack Alpha, he had to care right? He had given himself the task of taking care of this after all.

I slapped his hand from my shoulder and punched him as hard as I possibly could on his chest. Which made him stumble to the ground flat on his ass "What is wrong you?" He yelled, face decorated with a confused anger.

The intent was to ignore him and continue on my merry way back home but he yanked my thigh back. Shifting me off balance ultimately making me fall on top of him. When I tried to lift off him he held me tighter by the small of my back and flipped us so I was on my back and he was on top of me. I tried to fight him off but of course, I wasn't winning against a blue-blooded Alpha that was also the captain of our high school football team. Eventually, I conceded when I felt myself starting to harden, I didn't want to cause any more friction. Lest I made the situation much harder, I didn't suspect he knew exactly what was coiling in the depths of my heart but to be sure I swayed my face from my side so I could read his face.

Blue eyes stared back at me and without warning, I hiccupped.

His gaze stayed on me and I couldn't make mine look away, it was like we froze in position. Him on top of me, with interlocked legs and both of my wrists pinned over my head so I couldn't fight him off. A ripple of excitement travelled through me from my insides to the top of my toes. "Malik," Brady whispered, his gaze was on my lips probably waiting for me to answer him, but I couldn't because that damned scent came up again. In thick waves of desperate need and I felt weakened. If I hadn't already been on the ground then I'm sure I would've fallen anyway. "Did you figure out who your mate is yet?" He asked, hands moving to free mine.

The damned denim shorts grew tighter courtesy of my primal needs.

Brady grinned showing off his perfect pearly white teeth as he soothed the skin behind my ear like some kind of animal. The primal need in me leaned into his touch, needing more of it, seeking some sort of fulfilment from his physical affection.

Inquisitively he asked, "So are you gay?"

I felt my body tense, I didn't trust him. Lord knows how many times he and his friends had told people they could smell the pride flag on me. It's because of them most of the girls in my year tried to make me their latest accessory. And prior to this night, I wasn't even gay, hell I wasn't into anyone! Period.

He placed a hand on the back of my thigh, right on a point so dangerously close to my inner thigh. "If my hand slides up to your ass would you have a problem with that?" He spoke in a butterfly whisper tone, very close to my lips. Consequently, I could scent his essence including his cologne and another sweet, feminine perfume my sister used to wear but I knew wasn't hers. "Your skin is smoother than some of the girls I know."

Triggered by all of it, I hastily pushed him off me and picked myself up from him. Contorting my face to show my actual distaste, "Just go back to your party and bully someone else ok? I'm not in the mood for this, whatever this is. You selfish...selfish...animal."

I wasn't very good at insults.

His lips curled, amusement dancing in his eyes.

He got up, rubbed dust and specks off his palms and said "Well. You're the one sporting a hard-on when It's just the two of us here." His smirk didn't lose resolve and I was growing red from anger. "It gives off a message, Malik. I'm just kind enough to respond, doing the moon's work and all."

"It's a full moon!" I gestured wildly to the bright moon, which was just about to leave its culmination then I gestured lowly to my body. "...I can't help it, every part of me is ready to find her now leave me alone!!" I pushed past him walking away.

He yelled after me "Well when you find her what do you plan on doing to her?" I ignored him and kept walking. I was mad the gods had failed me epically. "Do you even know her?" he continued after me. "Come on, who is she?" I manage one glance behind but otherwise kept on walking away. "Or maybe it's not even a girl at all?"

I didn't look back.