The Alpha Who Hates Me

CHAPTER 3

I woke up with a jolt when I heard the loud banging on the door. I looked around and realized I was still in Lia’s room. The only source of light was coming from the television as it showed the post credits of the movie we were watching earlier.

I noticed Lia was asleep beside me, too. We were sitting comfortably on her earlier, watching a movie that Lia had gushed about a few weeks ago. We must’ve fallen asleep in the middle of it.

I heard another banging on the door and this time it was louder than the previous one that woke up Lia, too.

I glanced at the clock on her bedside table. My eyes widened when I noticed that it was already forty-five minutes past ten o’clock.

Shoot! Kaleb’s going to kill me.

“Oh, sorry, Ellie. I fell asleep, too! I didn’t realize the time.” Lia quickly apologized as she started helping me tidy up my things.

“That’s okay.” I assured her. “I will just talk to Kaleb about it. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

I’m pretty sure he won’t.

But, of course, I didn’t want to tell that to Lia. All of the shifters in their pack are afraid of Kaleb. He’s their alpha after all.

“I can go ask Father to accompany you home.” Lia offered, but I turned down her kind gesture quickly.

“No, it may just put him in trouble with Kaleb. I can handle him.”

As if on cue, the door opened with a thud that it almost broke into pieces. Lia and I were both shocked that we barely had time to process what happened when a very serious looking Kaleb walked into her room.

“Hi, Kaleb!” I greeted him nervously. “I was just about to go home.”

“It’s way past the start of your curfew hours, young lady.” He said in a clipped tone with his arms crossed across his chest.

I was so overwhelmed by Kaleb's presence that I just noticed Lia’s parents standing just behind him, looking worried and nervous. “I know, I know. I'd fallen asleep while watching a movie with Lia and I didn’t realize that-”

“I didn’t ask why you’re still here, Ellie. I’m here to pick you up since you failed to keep your promise.” He looked past me and glared at Lia. “Looks like they also forgot about curfew hours. They should know better than putting your life in danger.”

“I’m really sorry, Kaleb. It’s my fault-” Lia started but I immediately cut her off.

“No!” I exclaimed. “It’s my fault. Don’t blame them. And besides, I’m safe here.”

“You’re safe now that I am here.” He grabbed me lightly by the arm and urged me to leave. He slightly turned to Lia’s parents. “I’ll have a talk with you tomorrow. For now, let’s call it a night.”

I slipped out of Kaleb’s grasp and pushed him away. “I told you it was my fault.”

He dismissed my argument. “We’re not having this conversation now, Ellie. Let’s get you home safe first.”

I glowered at him. “Alright, then. I’ll stay here instead. You can go home to your lovely abode, Mr. Overprotective McNair.”

He bit on his bottom lip, looking more annoyed than he already was. But he’s annoying me, too. He’s being unfair and unreasonable and wouldn’t even listen to a single word I said.

“Listen, you can either go home with me peacefully or I can have you carried all the way to the car and strap you there until we get home. You choose.”

Okay, now he’s being ridiculous!

Silence filled the room for a few minutes. I let out a defeated sigh and turned a bit and mouthed goodbye to Lia. I offered her parents a small smile before I walked out of her bedroom, went downstairs and into the car that was carelessly parked outside their house.

It almost looked like Kaleb had knocked out a few pots that Lia’s mother had placed as a decoration on their front porch.

Kaleb was just behind me and had already slid into the driver’s seat.

“Put your seatbelts on, El.” He commanded while putting his seatbelt into place.

“Always with all these commands.” I huffed under my breath but did what I was told anyway.

Kaleb didn’t say anything as he revved the engine and drove off. I was also silent the whole ride home. My frustration about what just happened and how Kaleb acted was still in my head.

I would often roll my eyes at him whenever I caught him taking a glance at me in the rear-view mirror.

As soon as we got home and the car was parked in the garage, I quickly stepped out of the car and made sure to close the door roughly.

“Ellie, we still need to talk.” I heard him call out.

I turned around and frowned at him “Now you want to talk? I thought you said earlier that we’re not having this conversation.”

“We’re not,” he said. “It’s about a different matter. Go change your clothes and come to my office after that.”

He didn’t even let me answer. He just walked past me and inside the house.

Narcia was waiting by the front door. Kaleb also didn’t say anything to her.

I sighed for the umpteenth time tonight as I approached Narcia.

“He’s just worried about you.” She tried to reason out. “He was frantic earlier when you’re still not home yet. He’s worried that something has happened to you. You know he’s always like that.”

I nodded. “I know. But I am not a kid anymore. Besides, he knows Lia’s family. This entire town is filled with Hail shifters. I’ve been protected all my life here by everyone.”

Maycomb is a town in the middle of the forest. It’s hidden in a way that no human can trespass at the borders and not even any shifters outside the pack could enter without permission. Hails were the only shifters who decided not to live among humans. They preferred peace and quiet and, in order to do that, they created their own little world inside the human world.

Ever since I was saved by Kaleb during that attack that killed my entire family, I’ve never been outside the borders of Maycomb. It’s a golden rule not only for me but the other members of the pack as well, except for Kaleb and his army.

They would leave and cross the borders from time to time to check the world outside and see if there were any dangers lurking.

As the alpha and leader of the pack, I totally understand that all he wanted was to protect everyone, including me. But I couldn’t help but wonder why he’s always been so extra strict towards me.

Maybe it has something to do with the mythical bond.

Or maybe he just doesn’t trust that I wouldn't do anything silly that might put me and everyone else in danger.

“He’s going to wait for you. Go up to your room and change,” Narcia reminded me.

I gave her a nod before I went and dragged myself upstairs and into my room where I took a quick shower. I put on the matching pajamas that Narcia made for me last week and then did a quick brush of my hair before I went out again and proceeded to Kaleb’s office downstairs.

The door was slightly open but I still knocked two times before fully opening it to let myself in.

Kaleb was in his office chair with some papers in his hand. When he saw me walking in, he put down the papers on the table and gestured to me to take a seat.

I obliged without saying a word.

It was silent for a few minutes until I decided to initiate the talk. “So about what happened earlier, I hope you’re not going to punish them or anything, because it’s really not their fault. I really fell asleep while watching a movie with Lia and didn’t notice the time.”

He raked his hand through his hair and sighed. “I told you, Ellie, we’re not going to talk about that. I’ll deal with that tomorrow.”

“You don’t understand, do you?” It was my turn to sigh. “I don’t want them to get into trouble because of me.”

Kaleb leaned back a bit on his swivel chair. “I want to talk to you about last night.”

I thought my heart just fell down my stomach and I got nervous all of a sudden. I already had a hunch earlier this morning when he wanted to have a talk with me. I somehow knew this was about what happened last night or what I saw last night.

“You can’t just sneak into my room like that.” He started. “You know all about respecting someone’s privacy.”

“I didn’t technically sneak in. Your door was already slightly open and I didn’t know exactly what was happening because I heard noises from your bedroom.” I reasoned out.

His left brow raised slightly. “And you didn’t even bother leaving after witnessing that.”

I was once again rendered speechless. So how am I supposed to answer that?

“Why not? It’s a free show. How can someone just leave and miss all of that?” I didn’t really think carefully before I said the words and before I knew it, they were already out of my mouth. It was intended to sound like a joke, but by the way Kaleb frowned, he clearly did not think of that as a joke.

Kaleb stood up from his seat and maneuvered around his table so he could stand in front of me. I gulped in nervousness and I could feel my palms sweating. He slowly moved to crouch so we’re at eye level.

“Tell me, did that turn you on?” Kaleb asked in a low, gravelly voice.

“No.” I answered truthfully. “But I actually wished I was her.”

If that answer did something to him or affected him in any way, I wouldn’t know because he abruptly straightened himself and turned his back to me.

“In fact, I even touched myself when I returned to my bedroom last night.”

I felt a strong whoosh and my back was already against the wall, Kaleb was right in front of me and his hands were placed on the wall on either side of my head, trapping me.

I held my breath as I noticed how close his face was to mine.

“You’re still a little kid. What exactly are you trying to do?” He gritted his teeth.

His face was so close I could smell his hot breath. Minty with a hint of alcohol and cigarettes.

“I’m no longer a kid, Kaleb. I can give you more than what those other women are giving you.”

He growled under his breath. He was staring at me so intently I could just melt right on that spot. “Shut up, Ellie. I already told you, you’re confusing your feelings for me into something else.”

“You can’t tell me what I’m feeling, Kaleb.” I told him as a matter of factly. “I am not confused. I told you. I love you. I have told you that many times.”

“Shut up, Ellie. Shut your mouth!”

“No!” I was practically screaming at his face. “I am going to say that to you whenever I want and you can’t tell me to shut up because-”

I was cut off mid sentence.

My eyes widened. My heartbeat stopped. I thought the world also stopped as I felt a pair of lips on mine.

I might be dreaming.

Kaleb’s kissing me!

Please tell everyone not to wake me up.

The kiss was so quick and subtle that before I even got the chance to react, Kaleb was already pulling away.

“That shut you up.” He remarked. “Go back to your bedroom, young lady. We’re done talking.”

He walked out of his office without looking back, while I was left dumbfounded.

What the hell just happened?