The Alpha Who Hates Me

CHAPTER 5

“Why are you all alone here, Little El?” Lowell appeared beside me, which almost gave me a damn heart attack.

I was alone in the garden, just watching the beds of flowers and the birds passing by. It was so quiet before Lowell arrived. That’s why I was surprised. I almost smacked him on the face.

I placed a palm against my chest and could literally feel my heartbeat going wild. “Oh, gosh! You almost gave me a heart attack. Don’t do that!”

He chuckled as he took a seat in the empty space beside me. “Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. What were you thinking about?”

I turned my attention back to the birds in the garden as they flew freely from one branch of tree to another, then to the fields of freshly bloomed flowers. “There are a lot of things going on in my mind right now. If I tell you everything, we’ll be wasting a day or two.”

“I don’t mind listening,” he said with a shrug. “Besides, I have all the time in the world for our little El.”

I smiled a little. Lowell was usually sweet and caring compared to Kaleb, even though a lot of times he liked teasing me. “I’m not Little El anymore.”

He giggled. “You are still our Little El. That’s why we’re protecting you, especially Kaleb.”

I sighed at the mention of his name. “Well, that’s all he ever does.”

“What do you mean?” Lowell picked up a small rock then tossed it into the small pond just near the flowerbed.

I fidgeted with my fingers, still looking at the birds. “Kaleb only sees me as someone who he needs to protect. He doesn’t see me as anything beyond that.”

“He’s scared of losing you the way he lost his parents.” The man beside me uttered.

The statement wasn’t something I could easily believe. “Kaleb told you that?”

Lowell shook his head. “He didn’t, but trust me. I know Kaleb more than anyone here. I know him more than he knows himself. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he’s scared of losing you. That’s why he’s batshit crazy about wanting to protect you.”

“And what about the mythical bond?” I asked, which Lowell frowned upon.

“What about it?”

I pursed my lips, thinking of the best way to answer without sounding like a broken-hearted b***h who had been in a one-sided love for a long time. “Do you think him wanting to protect me was just because of the mythical bond between us? I don’t even know what it is about and why we have it.”

“The mythical bond between you and Kaleb doesn’t affect whatever feelings you may have or will have for each other. You falling in love with him isn’t because of the bond and that same goes with Kaleb wanting to protect you.” He explained. “For shifters, we can be fated with our mates but not fall in love with them. Not all fated shifters create a love s********e are just after the power after they are mated, while some are just following the tradition.”

“What if that’s the case? Can they fall in love with somebody else?”

“No,” Lowell answered quickly. “Shifters will be forever bound to their mates until they die whether they fall in love with each other or not. That’s just how it is.”

“Then isn’t that painful if only one of them falls in love?”

Lowell didn’t answer me this time. I couldn’t tell if I was relieved or whatnot after learning that some shifters have the same fate as mine, we’re all in a one-sided love with our mates.

“Ellie,” Lowell’s voice was low as he called out my name. “Do you have any idea about the red blood moon?”

I shook my head no. “From what I heard, it only happens once in four years but I don’t know much about it. Why do you ask?”

“The red blood moon plays an important role in your mythical bond with Kaleb,” Lowell started. He stood up, picking up a red rose, then inhaled its scent. “Before the red blood moon happens, you and Kaleb need to seal the mythical bond or else Kaleb will slowly lose his power.”

I was still trying to process what Lowell was saying but I couldn’t seem to follow. “What do you mean by losing his power?”

“When a mythical bond happens between a human and a shifter, they must seal their bond before the red blood moon occurs or else the shifter will slowly lose his power and eventually weaken to the point when he can no longer fight for his pack.” He’s slowly plucking the petals of the rose in his hand until he’s left with only the last one. “Kaleb’s case is far more critical because he is the alpha of Hail and if our alpha weakens, so does our army. Our pack will fall and will never be heard from.”

This was the first time that I'd heard this. Narcia and Kaleb didn’t mention anything like this about the mythical bond. I thought it was almost the same as having a shifter mate for shifters only with a human, but I never heard anything about the red blood moon or why it was so important for the mythical bond.

“When will this red blood moon happen?” I asked, still lost.

“Two months from now.” Lowell’s quick reply. He sat down beside me again. “Try talking to Kaleb. He might listen to you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Listen to me for what? I don’t even know how this mythical bond works.”

He answered me with a soft chuckle. “You’ll find out soon enough, Ellie. Besides, it’s about time.”

I shot him a confused look. “About time for what?”

“You know,” he shrugged. “For Kaleb to truly realize his feelings for his mate.”

---

When evening came, I had dinner with Narcia only because Kaleb and Lowell had to leave to attend an important gathering for the night. Kaleb hasn’t spoken to me aside from our very little conversation earlier this morning.

I submerged my body deeper into the bathtub. I excused myself after dinner and advised Narcia that I’d be going up to my room to sleep early, but I couldn’t sleep at all, so I decided to freshen up.

I was still thinking about what Lowell said earlier and why Kaleb never told me anything about the red blood moon. If it’s something so important, why didn't Kaleb even care about making me aware about it?

I sighed. My head’s starting to hurt from thinking too much.

Getting out of the tub, I grabbed a robe and wrapped it around my wet body. I brushed my teeth and washed my face and just before I was able to walk out of the bathroom, I accidentally tripped on the rug on the floor and fell hard on my butt.

It didn’t really hurt that much, but I was so surprised that I screamed, the whole house might’ve heard it.

Someone knocked on the door and I immediately thought it was Narcia. I tried standing up but I felt a sharp pain in my ankle. I gasped, quickly regretting my movement.

“Narcia, I’m in the bathroom!” I called out, wincing as I made an attempt to stand again.

Instead of Narcia, a worried Kaleb appeared as soon as my bathroom door opened. I looked at him wide-eyed.

“Kaleb? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be out tonight.”

He didn’t even bother answering my question. He simply scooped me up in his arms and carried me out of the bathroom and then placed me ever so gently above my bed.

“Ah!” I winced when he pressed on my ankle. “That hurt!”

“Wait here.” He said before he went out of the room and then appeared again with a bandage in his hand.

“There’s no need for that. It’s just a minor injury.” I told him when he began wrapping the bandage on my hurt foot.

“It’s swelling a little.” He stated while he focused on wrapping the bandage properly. “You can just leave this on for the night and see if it’ll feel better tomorrow.”

“You haven’t answered my question, Kaleb. Why are you here?” I asked again.

“The gathering ended early, so I headed home right away. I was about to go inside my bedroom when I heard you scream, so I checked on you immediately.” He finally answered but he didn’t even spare me a look as he continued to finish putting the bandage on.

I sighed inwardly. “Where’s Lowell?”

“He’ll be back here tomorrow,” was his quick reply.

When he finished wrapping my hurt foot, he went to my closet and rummaged through it. Then he came back with a clean pair of pajamas in his hand. “Go change your clothes and take a rest for the night.”

He was ready to leave but I reached out for his hand. “Wait.”

“What is it, Ellie?”

“Well, about the-” I contemplated with my words. What should I ask him first? The kiss? Or what Lowell said earlier. “You haven’t talked to me about the kiss from the other night.”

“What’s there to talk about?”

Okay, that’s definitely not what I expected to hear from him.

“Well, we kissed, no - you kissed me.” I stammered. “So I guess that’s something that we should talk about, right?”

Kaleb’s expression turned cold and unreadable, totally different from the concerned look he had on his face a little while ago when he found me hurt in my bathroom. “You said you could be like all those other girls. I’ve shared meaningless kisses with other girls, for starters, and you said you could do that.”

“What?” I thought it would be less painful if he just slapped me.

He let out a sigh as he crouched a little so we were at eye level while I sat on my bed. “Look, Ellie. This is the reason why kids shouldn’t meddle with adults’ play.”

“I’m not a kid anymore.” I hissed at him. “Stop being a jerk, Kaleb. Dump me all you want, but I will only cling to you even more.”

A soft, angry growl escaped from his lips. He moved so quickly I didn’t have enough time to realize that he had me pinned on my bed with him on top of me.

I gasped, looking up at him.

“Why do you look so scared now?” Kaleb rasped, his fingers playing with the hem of my robe.

“I’m not.” I told him, my voice cracking a little.

But that’s the truth. I was not scared of what was going to happen or what he was about to do.

In fact, I was looking forward to his next move.

“You don’t want to do this, young lady.” He said, but he didn’t even move an inch or make an attempt to get off from me.

“I want this more than anything.” I whispered before I locked my fingers together on the back of his head and pulled him down so I could kiss his lips.

I felt his body stiffen but when he didn’t move, I took that as an opportunity to claim more from this kiss. I instinctively ran my tongue along his lips and attempted to kiss him deeper, but he still hasn’t been responding to the kiss. I was about to pull away when I felt his hand on my face and his lips finally moving against mine.

I moaned, my lips parting and his tongue took that as an opportunity to explore my mouth. I moaned some more.

His kisses became more aggressive and rougher, but I was not afraid if he'd leave bruises or if my mouth became swollen from his kisses.

When he grabbed my waist and rubbed his body against mine, I felt his arousal against my thigh.

“Oh, Kaleb!” I moaned out his name as his lips began tracing the line of my jaw down to my neck. “Please.”

Something snapped inside him and every movement stopped. He used his hands to push himself up from my body and looked at me like he was torn, disappointed, furious and everything in between.

If there’s a word worse than embarrassment, that would best describe what I was feeling. He looked like he instantly regretted that kiss.

“F*ck!” Kaleb cursed under his breath as he got up and raked his fingers through his hair furiously. “That shouldn’t even happen. I’m sorry I-”

Right, he’s now sorry for kissing me. That just made this more painful.

“Kaleb, please I-”

He didn’t even let me finish what I was about to say. He already stormed out of my room, closing the door on his way out with a loud thud that made me jump a little.

I prepared myself not to cry. Not anymore. I thought I was stronger.

But once again, Kaleb proved me wrong.

I could pretend to be strong whenever I wanted and he would still wreck me all over again.

F*ck you, Kaleb McNair.