Mated to the Hated Hockey Alpha

Chapter Three: Leonora

“Did he take it?” Katie asks excitedly, making me practically flinch.

Because I’m an i***t. A big, fat, stinking i***t, and I probably shouldn’t be allowed into medical school if this is the kind of decision-making I’m capable of. But I did it. I actually did it. I did the worst thing I could possibly have done, and now there’s absolutely no taking it back.

While I was in the shower, still thinking about Cole’s naked body, I couldn’t help myself. My hands had been roaming over my own body, pleasure coursing through me as I imagined his hands doing the same. It was embarrassing enough to admit to myself, let alone anyone else. I’d been standing there under the hot water, trying to convince myself that seeing him naked had been horrifying and traumatic and absolutely not something I wanted burned into my memory forever. Unfortunately, my body seemed to have reached a completely different conclusion. Then I heard it. Heard Katie yelling at him because he’d brought home a woman. Again. And suddenly all those stupid feelings twisting around inside me had turned into something sharp and ugly.

“Yeah,” I answer, nodding slightly. “He took it.”

And then slammed the door in my face.

I leave that part out.

I also leave out the fact that I noticed he was... a little erect.

That seems like the sort of thing you don’t share with a person’s sister. Especially when that person happens to be your best friend’s brother. Even if the image keeps replaying in your head against your will. Even if it stung more than it should have to know he was in there with another woman. Even if some pathetic part of me immediately wondered what she had done to get that reaction from him.

“Brilliant, it’s f*****g brilliant, Nora,” Katie chuckles, carrying her burger over to the television where a movie is already queued up.

I follow her into the living room and sit down on the couch, content to stare at the screen and pretend I’m not currently waiting for karma to come crashing down on my head. Part of me hopes Cole doesn’t eat the food. Hopes he hates me enough to throw it straight into the trash.

Honestly, he should.

He’s been hating me since... well, forever.

I still remember the first time I really met him. It was at the beginning of high school. He was a junior while I was a freshman, still trying to figure out where my classrooms were and whether it was possible to die from social embarrassment.

Of course, I knew who he was.

Everyone knew who the Alpha’s son was.

But knowing who someone is and actually meeting them are two very different things.

I’d rounded a corner too quickly and practically walked right into him. One second, I was carrying my books and minding my own business, and the next, my entire world had come to a screeching halt. My books went flying everywhere. Papers were scattered across the floor. I immediately dropped into a crouch, apologizing over and over while trying to gather everything up before anyone noticed.

Then I looked up.

And there he was.

My future Alpha.

Even back then, he was gorgeous.

Sixteen years old, already ridiculously tall, already broader than most grown men because of his genetics. His brown hair had been messy in a way that somehow looked intentional, and those stupid eyes of his had locked onto mine. Then there were the dimples.

Honestly, the dimples should be illegal.

Technically, he still has them.

Which is deeply unfair.

For one brief moment, I genuinely thought I might faint.

Then he opened his mouth and ruined everything. “Look at where you’re going, mutt.”

His friends laughed. Then they walked away.

Just like that.

The entire fantasy shattered in less than ten seconds.

Unfortunately, my crush didn’t seem to get the message.

I quickly learned that Cole Murran only seemed to have two words for women. Mutt. Or babe. There was absolutely no middle ground. He either found you annoying or wanted to sleep with you. I firmly belonged in the first category.

For the next two years, he mostly ignored me. Completely ignored me, actually. Even when I wanted to compliment him. Even when I tried to be friendly. Even when I was standing right there. It was like I simply didn’t exist in his world.

Then something changed when he turned eighteen.

It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t obvious.

But suddenly it felt like he couldn't ignore me anymore. Like my existence irritated him. Like every time we ended up in the same room, he needed to remind himself that he disliked me.

The strange thing was that I never understood why.

“You know what? This isn’t half bad,” Katie grins, taking another bite of her burger.

I glance over at her and smile.

Considering I replaced the bacon with turkey bacon, made a calorie-friendly dressing, and swapped out the regular buns for protein buns, I’m honestly taking that as a massive compliment.

“Good,” I say, before turning my attention back toward the movie.

An explosion fills the television screen, but my thoughts continue drifting.

Everyone knows Katie and Cole are half-siblings. While Cole looks almost exactly like his father, Katie takes remarkably after her mother. They barely look related, honestly. Sometimes they look less like siblings and more like the unfortunate victims of a forced-proximity romance novel that went horribly wrong.

The thought makes me smile despite myself.

It also makes me feel slightly better.

Because while my brain fully understands that Cole is an i***t, my body still hasn’t quite caught up with that realization.

The story of Cole’s mother is practically legendary throughout the pack. It gets told to young girls as a cautionary tale about rejecting fate and choosing a mate instead. Everybody knows what happened to Clarissa. Everybody knows how badly it ended.

Knowing that history, I suppose it isn’t all that surprising that Cole seems to resent anything connected to the mate bond. Or commitment. Or relationships. Or even remembering the names of the girls he sleeps with.

Another explosion rattles through the speakers.

I grin as I bite into my burger, appreciating the sheer ridiculousness of action movies. There’s something comforting about watching people survive things that would absolutely kill a normal person.

Because realistically?

Nobody survives getting hit by a car, thrown through a wall, set on fire, and then blown up. But somehow they always do. And for some reason, we love watching it happen.

I’m just lifting my burger for another bite when something crashes upstairs. The sound is loud enough to make me jump. A door flies open. Then a string of curses erupts from somewhere above us.

Immediately, Katie starts laughing. Not chuckling. Not giggling. Full-on laughing.

She practically launches herself off the couch and runs toward the hallway.

A second later, a scream follows. Then another door slams.

And suddenly I know. The laxatives worked.

My stomach drops straight into my shoes. While Katie continues laughing hysterically, all I feel is dread. Because there’s absolutely no way Cole doesn’t know it was me. No way he doesn’t connect the dots. No way he doesn’t realize I was the one who tampered with his food.

Panic grips me so quickly that I’m standing before I even realize I’ve moved. My burger gets abandoned on the coffee table as I hurry after Katie, already knowing I need to escape before this turns into a confrontation.

Because if there’s one thing worse than having a crush on Cole Murran, it’s having a crush on Cole Murran while he actively wants to murder me.

But when I step into the hallway, where Katie is practically doubled over with laughter, I see the last person I expected.

“Leigh?!” I blurt out, my eyes widening.

Because descending the stairs, looking thoroughly disgusted with life itself, is my brother’s girlfriend.