Mated Before Love

Chapter 8

Chase POV

I kept tossing and turning all night following the big upset that happened earlier this evening. After we figured out why Haven had refused the command I went to my father to get him to tell Tyson not to punish her

Flash back

“Father it’s all a bit of a misunderstanding, Haven was under the impression her Beta was going to harm and r**e her.” I tried to reason with him “Son, as future Alpha you surely understand that either way you cannot have an Omega refuse orders from higher ranking wolves. I understand that her class is only low due to the request of her father which is why we are more open to the fact of having a wolf-less remain in the pack but that’s it. Her father is a trusted warrior and will punish her as necessary to her crimes and age” he dismissed me with this lecture of her status and I knew I should leave, but Apollo couldn’t settle until he knew “what will the punishment be?” I asked cautiously hoping he wouldn’t think I was to soft on her “As she is not yet 18 we would punish her with 3 hits of a strap, it’s not going to break skin but she will bruise up” with that he waved me to the door more focused on the documents in front of him then to look up at me the whole time during the conversation.

‘That punishment shouldn’t even be happening’ Apollo huffed in my head as we were walking away from dads office ‘it was all a misunderstanding’ he followed in a whine ‘I know she shouldn’t. But at least it is a very light punishment considering what she’s done’ I replied to him he cut me off from the conversation straight away.

Present

Apollo was restless at the injustice of her punishment ‘Dude would you calm down we have school in the morning’ I could feel him pacing in my mind non-stop ‘We are her Alpha, we should have protected her better’ he again whined and closed me off, something he’s done a lot in the last few years. I was left with my own thoughts on the situation.

After an hour of not being able to sleep I decided to go for a run to burn off some pent up energy. On my way down the hall past mine, Alex’s and Reece’s bedrooms I could smell a faint urine smell outside Reece’s door, I sniffed a little more so I could find the spot and clean it up so it didn’t ferment and found it strongest in a soppy caper of the carpet near his door. ‘Strange’ I thought to myself ‘What’s wrong with you now?’ Apollo asked me ‘the urine smells not that strong but the ground is saturated’ Apollo leaned forward so he could see what I meant ‘then follow the trail of wet patches down the stairs’ he’d said like it was obvious, I hadn’t seen anything until he had said it but did as he suggested. I follows the trail almost all the way down the stairs and out the door the urine smell was getting fainter until we got to the lobby. ‘Who would have an accident and not clean it up’ I thought to myself as Apollo snarled back at me ‘Someone who didn’t get the opportunity too’ as if the answer was obvious ‘You know who it was’ it wasn’t a question he just was being a pain and not telling me ‘Yes, you do to but you were all too angry before to notice’ he again snarled at me. It took me a few moments thinking on what he said, “we were all too angry to notice” he couldn’t possibly think that this had to do with Haven ‘This has nothing to do with her’ I grunted to him I refused to think she would have had an accident over what happened ‘It has everything to do with Haven’ was all he said before closing me off, emphasising ‘everything’. I knew she was scared but of what? Surely she knows the punishment isn’t too strong due to her age.

Reece POV

“You’ve really made a mess of things” Colt scolded me yet again for the 100th time since the incident last night. ‘I know, I know. I didn’t mean to she was refusing a direct order from her Beta, what else was I meant to think’ I tried to justify the actions taken last night ‘she was punished for your stupidity, you need to fix this’ he said to me with finality and closed me off from talking to him further. He left me with my thoughts from last night.

Flashback

“Are you coming or not, I haven’t got all day to waist” I spat out to her, she just stopped at the base of the stairs and stared at the floor. You could see that her shoulders were rigid. I quickly glanced around, I couldn’t see or hear anything that would cause her to stop so suddenly. I walked back down the stairs my annoyance growing with each step I go down until I’m mere inches from her when she looks up, nodding at my question that was left hanging in the air before. ‘Go easy on her’ Colt spoke in my mind. “Don’t make this harder on yourself” I said in a voice a little lower than normal trying to make sure we weren’t over heard. I remembered how she’d asked to keep the incident quiet, I noticed her shrivel back a little but though nothing of it, believing it was from the closeness.

We made our way up the steps all the way to the third floor moving at a quick pace so no one would notice Haven here at all. ‘Why is she limping?’ Colt asked in my mind once I’d let him have a look at our surroundings “Are you hurt?” I asked her without thinking of my tone coming off a bit sharper then expected. “N-no Beta Reece” she replied to quickly, clearly lying but she didn’t need to explain everything to me. “If you say so. Keep up” I left my reply short and turned around keen to get out of the hallway. By the time we got to the door way her limp had gotten worse and she was paces behind me I wasn’t waiting long though despite that. I decided not to say anything when she got to the door and just opened it and walked in, I left it open for her thinking she would follow suit, instead she stood in the hallway staring wildly into the room making the ground around her soppy from her clothing which looked as though a second skin to her with how wet they were. I waited a few moments before I looked at her, she was violently shaking her head at me and backing further away from the door. ‘I think she’s scared’ Colt said in my mind ‘It doesn’t matter Colt, we are her Beta and she’s been given an order’ “What are you doing, come in the room” I could hide my annoyance towards her, here she was wanting to keep the situation secret and there she was making a scene. I watched as she backed further away, I smelled the faint scent of urine where she was standing but it was mostly covered by the mouldy wet smell that clung to her clothing.

“N-n-no” she stuttered out at me, I couldn’t believe my ears “Excuse me” I gasped out ‘Go easy on her Reece’ ‘Shut up Colt she’s just ignored an instruction from her Beta, she will be punished. She kept backing away, now with her arms up in attempt to stop me from coming closer, she looked like sh*t hair stuck to her face, tears pouring down her face and the shaking she looked like a cracked out junkie looking for their next hit. “N-no”. At this point all I saw was red, she has refused instructions more than once and is now creating a big scene and drawing attention to us. It was then that I heard Chase’s voice in my head ‘Is she working or not?’ Was all he said ‘She is refusing the same order over and over. You may need to command her to even come in the room’ as I replied to him she was gone

“WHAT THE f**k!” I yelled out louder than intended which caused Chase to react as he did.

Alex POV

“Come on Reece can we just skip this there was a cute little she-wolf back there. She seemed like much more fun” I was trying to convince him not to take us, we’ve done all this before it’s not like being there gives me more time to be around Isla, she’s in completely different classes minus home economics. “You’d have to pay for her kinda fun” Chase piped up from the backseat. Isla was in the car with us today and he likes to sit near her when she does it’s been a while since he saw her. “You’re such a baby Alex, it’s not that bad and besides I get a front row seat to watch you try and cook or sew today. Happy as for that” Isla said between giggles, it’s intoxicating I know she’s my mate I’m just waiting for her birthday. “Haha you got home economics haha” Reece laughed from the seat beside me “why are you laughing, didn’t you cop Miss Greene for English” I said with a raised brow “At least I can eat in my class” Reece shut up pretty quickly at my remark. “Do you wanna be my partner Isla I’m sure we’ll create wonderful things together” I asked her cheekily knowing Chase will get annoyed “No” was all he gruffed out “It’s not your choice Chase, and besides Alex I have a partner already” Isla said sedating her brothers temper instantly.

Just after lunchtime Isla and I had home economics together so we decided to walk there together despite Chase’s objections ‘Alex start asking people about the bullying problem we need to find out what’s going on’ Chases voice came through my head loudly ‘Calm your farm, I’ll ask Isla she knows everyone’ “Hey Eyes” something I’ve called her for the last 4 years when we’ve had a chance to talk “Yes Lexi” she replied as she rolled her eyes she knew I hated that “I was wondering if you know of any bullying problem around the school?” It’s easier to ask her straight out “I mean…” she started which means she knew something “To what extent of bullying are you three investigating?” Odd she doesn’t normally brush off a question “I mean is there a bullying problem, you know against or towards one person” she avoided the question again and ran off to her other friends. She knew I wouldn’t push her.

“Now class I’m go-“ Ms Honeywell started saying when she was interrupted by a student coming in “I-I’m s-sorry” the stuttering was unmistakable even if I hadn’t been looking at her. It was Haven her meek figure stumbled through the door and leaned against the door “Just find a seat, this won’t go un-punished” Ms Honeywell said exasperated towards her. There were some free seats towards the back of the room as most of the girls had dragged chairs to sit around me. I glanced over as Haven plopped herself down on the chair, I thought I saw a grimace of pain on her face then remembered the events of last night ‘you should apologise to her, it may not of been our fault but it shouldn’t have happened’ Damon said in my head I agreed with him completely and would do so when I had a chance. “Now as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted” Ms Honeywell said rolling her eyes and not hiding her distain towards Haven who just shrunk further into her chair “I’m going to get everyone to get into pairs, this will be your partner all year for projects and classes” nearly all the girls around me squeaked in excitement some looking straight to their best friends and the rest looking at me. “As there is an even number of students in the class no one should be left out”. This caused me to glance towards Haven who was not pulling at her sleeves anxiously, she never looked up to get anyone’s attention. “Ms could myself Jade and Alex be a 3 we’ll all work extra hard” a girl Rita said next to me “No I’ll work with him” said another one. “There is an even number of students there will be no 3’s” Ms Honeywell said as she was sitting in her chair and typing on her computer, she excused herself for a moment while her phone rang “Well I’m not working with Haven” one of the girls whispered to another which caused an avalanche effect on the rest of them saying they won’t work with her and how they’d rather die. To my surprise I saw Isla look at her with pity before her attention was drawn away by one of her friends who had already claimed her.

Maybe Haven isn’t the bully, I looked at her quickly and saw her hiding her face behind her limp lifeless hair, tugging on her sleeves. There’s no way she could hurt someone intentionally. “Have you all chosen your partners?Move to sit next to them” Ms Honeywell announced upon her return to the classroom. Most of the girls moved around but two had planted themselves on either side of me gripping my arms possessively “Well Haven I expected better from you, no partner again.” The teacher was convinced that it was all her fault. Isla kept turning her face back and forward between her friend and Haven, she eventually looked at me and I understood, I can always read her like a book.

I stood from my seat peeling the girls away from me “I’m her partner” I said more to Haven then Ms Honeywell trying to be as joyful about it as possible, until Haven looked at me. Her eyes were devoid of anything but fear and she scooted in her chair inch by inch to get away from me “Are you sure Gamma?” Ms Honeywell asked me very suspiciously “Of course I am” I cheerfully said back to her trying to ease some tension between myself and Haven. “Very well” she replied back then started texting on her phone, uninterested in me any further, as I thought. She kept peering between myself and Haven suspiciously like she was trying to figure something out.

“G-Gamma Alex, I-I don’t mean to be rude. B-but you d-don’t need to be paired with m-me” I heard her meek voice stutter the sentence a mixture of sadness and fear in it “I know I don’t need to, I want to” I said to her, meaning every word that came out of my mouth ‘What do you think Damon, is she behind the bullying?’ I asked my wolf for his opinion ‘Never’ was all he said, I allowed him space so he could look at her ‘She’s not a threat’ that was all I needed to hear.