A Chosen Mate

Mean Kids

When Alina got home her family and Sarah were sitting in the living room. She flushed bright red when she met the eyes of her brother, dad and mom. Her dad cleared his throat and stood up, "I take it you had fun last night?"

Alina shifted her weight from foot to foot uncomfortably, "ye.. yes, I did."

"Did you make sure to keep safe? Who were you with?" he asked.

"I met a guy... he's visiting our pack. He's incredibly nice and a perfect gentleman," Alina answered. "It's a shame he isn't my fated mate. Oh, and I was at his sister's house. She's married to the Gamma. I was perfectly safe."

Her parents visibly relaxed and her brother grinned. Ezra was two years younger than Alina and had dreams of training to prove himself of warrior status. Omegas weren't allowed to train at all, but Ezra was determined to be the face of change. He was training hard on his own and could definitely beat many of the lower classed warriors. He hoped the Gamma, Nathan, would notice him.

"I'm going to go shower okay?" Alina said and walked toward the stairs.

Her parents just nodded and Sarah winked at her. Alina rolled her eyes. Alexandar was not a second chance mate. Second chance mates were rare and she didn't think she'd be blessed with one. Alexander wanted to find his mate, so she wasn't going to get in the way of that. When people chose mates before finding their fated mate and then found theirs down the road it caused nothing but pain and resentment. That wasn't the road she was willing to go down. Not with a man as perfect as Mr. Gorgeous.

Over the next couple of weeks, Elsie was extra mean to Alina. Tripping her, spilling coffee on herself and blaming it on Alina and she started a rumor that Alina slept with five men after the party. It didn't take much for people to believe Elsie, the Beta's daughter.

After cleaning up the breakfast dishes, Alina went outside to take the trash out. Brandon and a few of his friends were waiting for her. "Hey Alina, I heard you were slutting yourself out, what do you have to say for yourself," he asked her, blocking her path.

"Did you finish school? 'Slutting' isn't a word," she answered and tried to push passed him. He grabbed her and pushed her into a nearby wall. His friends gathered close, closing her in.

"What if I want a taste of that? Doesn't matter who you have does it?" Brandan spat.

"I don't take sloppy seconds, asshole. If I wanted you I wouldn't have rejected you."

Brandon's face drained of color only to quickly change to red. He grabbed her and slammed her into the wall again. "I rejected you!"

She laughed out loud, "good one, good one Brandon. You don't have the balls to reject anyone." Her laughter was cut off when his fist made contact with her stomach. She bent in half for a second before standing and driving her knee up into his crotch. He crumpled and whined at his friends to make her pay. They stood awkwardly for a second. "Brandon needs his warm milk and a nap, maybe you guys should accompany him." Her eyes darted between them all. Her chances of running were very slim. She was waiting for their first move so she could counter it.

"What are you waiting for?!" Brandon yelled as he got to his feet. "I'm going to be your Alpha and this b***h just kicked me!"

That seemed to move his friends into action. They lunged for her at once. She kicked, hit, punched and chopped at them, but she was outnumbered. One grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back against him. "You can't treat your Alpha that way, b***h," he hissed in her ear. She stomped on his foot and struggled to pull away, but she was outmatched. One of the other's took the opportunity to land blow after blow into her stomach. After a few minutes they seemed to get bored and threw her to the ground. The last one, who hand't gotten a punch in yet, kicked her in the ribs. Before he could land another kick, she watched wide-eyed as they practically flew through the air. Relief flooded her when she saw Alexander.

"You don't exactly need saving, but it looked like you could use an extra hand," Alexandar said as he extended his hand to her. She took it and smiled up at him. "Amazing how you were with five, or was it six, men the night you were with me," he chuckled. He picked up the trash bags and through them in the garbage can.

They'd been texting back and forth and sat together for meals now and then, but they hadn't spent a lot of time together since that night.

"Don't feed the rumor trolls," she rolled her eyes.

"Did they hurt you badly?" he asked, sobering up.

"Just some bruises... I'll be fine."

"I don't like that you're being treated like this," he said quietly.

"Its just the mean kids in town, they'll grow out of it."

"I'm leaving in a couple weeks. Will you keep in touch? I want to know that you're okay."

"Definitetly," she answered. She wished he could stay... but she woudn't get in the way of him finding his mate. "I'll miss you, but I hope you find your mate and live happily ever after." She smiled up at him.

"I hope you find love too, Alina. You deserve happiness. If this keeps up here, please, let me know and I'll come get you. You can leave this pack."

"If it comes to that... but I am loyal to my pack and want to stick this out if I can," she answered. Pack loyalty was incredibly important. One didn't just leave their pack unless they'd found their mate and needed to move to be with them or things were really, really bad. Of course there was banishment too.