The Alpha Rejected Me And Created A Monster

2

SELENA

“Hey! We’d like some pastries while you’re at it!” Daniel yelled from their table, and I responded with a thumbs up. Keeping conversations between us to the bare minimum was one way to ensure I didn’t get any snarky remarks from either of them.

These days, Kieran often ignored me, which I was thankful for. He had recently been named as the heir to his family’s companies, and that seemed to put a lot more on his mind.

He always seemed to be thinking about something or staring at his phone’s screen. Daniel, on the other hand, enjoyed his role as the friend of the billionaire and most coveted man in the city, according to the ladies who dropped by to grab coffee or pastries.

Kieran was all they talked about, and watching each one of them fawn over him filled me with disgust. For as long as I could remember, they’d had high school girls, college girls, models, and whoever cared to attend their parties fighting over each other trying to get Kieran’s attention.

I didn’t care for any of that because I knew a different side of Kieran—one that most of them didn’t. The part of him that ruled next to his father as a ruthless Alpha.

I was working as fast as I could to get them out of here. They were not the type of customers I wanted to start my day with, but I couldn’t send them away either.

Their money was important to the store, and I could tell that Daniel was itching for an opportunity to mouth off to my boss. I didn’t plan on making his day. Not today, not ever.

“Oh look, you can finally do something right,” Daniel remarked as I approached the table with their order.

“You don’t have to come here, you know,” I wanted to say but held my tongue. “Will that be all?” I said instead, and he shrugged.

“Is there anything else you have to offer?” Kieran said and got up. Daniel snickered, dropped a couple of bills on the table, and followed him out the door.

I picked up the money, counted it, and ran after them. “Hey, you forgot your change!” I exclaimed.

Kieran stopped in front of the car as his driver opened the door, then turned to look at me. A flash of irritation sparked in his eyes. “Keep the change. That’s your tip. Get yourself some new clothes,” he said and entered the vehicle.

“And maybe some time so you don’t miss the meeting—else we’d have to report this newfound tardiness to Mr. Martins,” Daniel quipped after him and entered the vehicle.

Passersby who had been watching the exchange as they walked past the store mumbled in low tones. The car had zoomed off before I could come up with a comeback.

“They’re gone, thankfully,” I said to myself, put the money into the apron I was wearing, and walked back into the shop, ignoring the lingering eyes that followed me.

Daniel’s reminder of the pack meeting left me feeling annoyed—I had forgotten about that. His threat to report to Mr. Martins, who was the store owner, didn’t seem like such a bad idea in comparison with staying in a crowded hall with members of my pack.

Whatever they had to say at that meeting could be sent as an email, and I still wouldn’t read it, but the fact that it had been mentioned meant that I had to be there.

I spent the next few hours working and trying to mentally prepare myself for the meeting. I dreaded being next to Kieran, his posse, and other members of the pack because they made me feel like crap.

I was fine with being ignored and left to be a fly on the wall whenever meetings happened, but they often went the extra mile to show me that I was a bug they could toy with and squash at will.

My life from kindergarten to this point had been a constant cycle of biting back the retorts I desperately wanted to say, ignoring the urge to hurt them as much as they hurt me, and finding new ways to hide, not draw attention, and shield myself from a world that was nothing but cruel to me.

I consoled myself with the fact that I was saving up some money, and when it was enough, I would get myself and my grandma out of this place. We would have nothing to do with the Bloodfang Pack, and I could finally live my life the way I wanted.

The rest of the day went by quickly, with fewer customers visiting the store after the exchange. Mr. Martins came into the store for a moment during my lunch break and talked about how he’d overheard that I was bickering with the customers. Without hearing my side of the story, he issued a query and warned that I’d be fired if the report persisted.

“I’m not earning enough to be treated like this,” I said to the empty shop. I was tempted to spend the evening looking for a better job, but I knew how hard it’d be to find one that’d pay more than I was currently earning, given that I had no college degree—so I put the idea out of my head.

“How was your day?” my grandma’s voice rang from the kitchen. My shift was over, and I was happy to be home.

“Regular,” I answered and walked to the kitchen. I left out details about Kieran’s arrival at the store because I knew she would immediately go into paranoid mode—and with the splitting headache I had, that was the last thing I wanted. “You’re home early,” I added, and she turned around to show off a cake in her arms.

I reached out to help her, and she shook her head. “Yes. I finished picking up herbs earlier and decided to bake a cake to mark this special occasion,” she said and looked at the cake satisfactorily.

“Special occasion? What’s happening? Are you having friends over?”

“Friends? Come on, Selena. Most of the women I know are too old and too tired to come all the way here. I made this for you,” she responded as she set it down slowly.

“For me? Why? I mean—it’s lovely, but why?” I inquired, and she broke into a hearty laugh like a very funny joke had just been shared. But I just stared on in confusion.

“Happy birthday, silly. Don’t tell me you forgot,” she teased, and I arched an eyebrow.