Rejected by my Given Alpha

Chapter Two: Shopping

I woke up, my sleep-filled brain needing a moment to realize I wasn't in my bedroom like I thought I'd be. I looked around and was surprised to see I was in the living room, the opening credits of Aladdin playing. I then remembered falling asleep next to Liam as we watching Disney movies all night. Wouldn't be the first time we'd fallen asleep watching movies.

I started to get up, but realized I was being held down by an arm. I looked behind me and saw I was pressed to Liam's chest, my back resting against him. How we ended up in this position, I had no idea. From what I could recall, we'd fallen asleep at separate ends of the couch.

I smiled inwardly when I saw he was still asleep. He looked cute and peaceful, almost like a little kid again. He was breathing slowly, and his breath washed over my face. It wasn't a bad morning breath smell, mostly because it was masked by the laundry detergent. I guess werewolf smell really only notices the strongest odors.

"You know, it's rude to stare," Liam muttered, his eyes still closed.

I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't staring, I was looking to see why I was being held down against my will."

"You're the one who snuggled up against me last time," Liam said, yawning. "I was just trying to get comfy."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that how it happened? From what I remember, I fell asleep at this end of the couch and you were over on the other end."

"Memory is a fickle thing," he argued. "Now, shut up and let me go back to sleep."

I laughed. "I didn't wake you up; you woke up on your own."

"No, I woke up because I felt you staring at me like a stalker."

I hit him with my elbow. "Shut up, I wasn't staring. Maybe if your ego wasn't so big you would realize the difference between staring and looking."

Suddenly, I was pinned underneath Liam. His arms were pinning my down, and his body weighed down mine. Tingles shot straight down to my core, making goosebumps rise on my arms. I quickly thought about anything other than my arousal, not wanting the scent of it to make it awkward between us. After all, I had just turned eighteen and found my mate; it was common for the signs of heat to peek through.

Luckily, I wasn't in heat. In order to go into heat, you had to be marked by your mate. I was lucky enough to be rejected by mine, so I might never experience the full force of a heat. Just some random arousal here and there. Like now.

"Admit you were staring," Liam said teasingly.

"I won't because I wasn't!" I responded. I wrapped my legs around his waist and twisted around, flipping us over. I pinned his hands down and straddled him, keeping him down.

"Admit it!" Liam tried again.

I laughed. "Admitting it would be lying. I win, by the way."

Liam growled. He got his hands free from my grip and grabbed my waist. He flipped us over so I was underneath him again. I tried squirming away, but he tightened his hands around my waist. I chose to ignore the feeling of his bulge against me, chalking it up to morning wood. I was pretty good at ignoring things.

He grinned at me victoriously. "Now look who wins."

I shook my head, preparing to flip us over again. Liam opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by a pillow hitting his head.

"Get off Hayley," Brooke said. "You're not allowed to crush her before she has her birthday party."

"I win," I said happily. "You heard Brooke; get off me."

Liam glowered at Brooke but got up. "I was in the middle of something."

"I'm sorry for interrupting your very important moment crushing Hayley to death, but I do have plans today that involve her," Brooke said.

"F*ck, what are they?" I asked, suddenly horrified.

Brooke smiled deviously. "It's your favorite thing ever."

I groaned. "Great. Shopping."

"Shut up," Brooke dismissed my protest. "Go get in the shower. We've got stuff to get done today."

Grumbling and cursing, I walked upstairs to my room.

"Don't take all the hot water!" Liam called after me.

"You'll get what you get!" I called down and shut my bedroom door.

I changed out of my clothes and got in the shower. I let the warm water roll down my back, taking my time washing my hair and body. I shaved my legs and washed my face twice, just to annoy Liam. He should know better than to tell a girl to hurry up.

I finally turned off the water and got out of the shower. I dried off, wrapping a towel around my hair and body as I walked to my closet. I stared at my wardrobe, frowning. "What to wear, what to wear?"

"Hurry up!" Brooke said, knocking on my door.

"I'll be ready in a half hour!" I called.

"You better not make us late, or I will make sure we go to every store!"

My eyes widened and I quickly got ready. I threw on a pair of jean shorts and a tank top, pairing it with black converse. I dried my hair quickly, not bothering with making it look decent. As long as it was tangle free, I would call it good.

I walked downstairs and saw Brooke sitting at the counter. Liam was cooking pancakes, scowling at me when I came down. His hair was still wet, so I was guessing I did take all the hot water. Oops.

"You suck," he said.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Don't rush me next time."

"No arguing you two," Brooke scolded. "You two play nice today."

Liam laughed at me getting scolded. "Shut up, Liam."

"C'mon, let's go." Brooke grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the door.

"But I haven't eaten breakfast yet!" I protested.

"We'll get coffee on the way," she said, continuing to drag me.

"But Liam is cooking!" I complained, trying to get my arm free from Brooke's vice grip and lunging towards the food.

"He cooks every morning."

"But it's pancakes!"

"I have been planning this party for six months. You know just as well as I do we have to throw a party to celebrate your eighteenth birthday in hopes you'll find your mate."

"But I already found my mate! He rejected me, so I'm in the clear!"

"It's the rules, Hales. Face it, you're stuck with me today."

I glared at her. "What did I do to deserve your wrath today?"

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Suck it up, we're shopping. Let's go."

She yanked me hard towards the door with her wolf strength and dragged me further away. I managed to get free and lunged towards Liam, holding on to him for dear life. "Come with us! Don't leave me alone!"

Liam laughed and unwound my arms from around him. "Sorry, Hales, you're on your own."

I glared at him as I was pulled out the door. "Traitor!"

Brooke closed the door and made me get into her car. "You ready?"

"Don't have much of a choice," I grumbled.

Brooke smiled brightly. "That's the spirit!"

I sighed and leaned back on the leather seat. I turned on the radio and blasted the volume so I could mutter insults without Brooke hearing. I stared out the window, groaning when the mall came into view.

"Thank god we're here!" Brooke said excitedly.

"Kill me," I begged.

"Not a chance," Brooke steered me towards the nearest coffee place. "I'll buy you coffee."

"You're lucky I accept bribes."

Brooke rolled her eyes, and we walked into the mall. We got our coffees, which put me in a better mood, and looked at some dress shops. I didn't see any I really liked, but Brooke found a purple dress she liked.

"You sure it looks okay?" she asked as she tried on the dress, looking in the mirror.

"You look gorgeous," I said for what had to be the millionth time. "Why are you so worried about looking okay? Your birthday was last month; you already had your party."

Brooke smiled. "I just want to make sure I look good. You're right; I look amazing."

"Finally you listen to me."

Brooke grinned and helped me look at dresses while she bought hers. "What type of dress are you wanting?"

"Something simple," I said. "Nothing too short; I'd hate to steal the attention away from Kelly's short dress."

Brooke laughed. "You're right, she does tend to wear super short things. At least she has the confidence to wear them."

"True, I just dislike her."

While I'm all about girls wearing whatever they want and have the confidence to rock their outfits, my sister takes it to a whole other level. It just comes to a point where it's not a dress but rather an underwear garment. And with Kelly, well, as an Alpha's daughter, she can get away with pretty much anything as well as get anything she wants.

Brooke waved her hand in dismissal. "Alright, enough about your sister. Back to the dress topic: are you trying to impress anyone?"

I rolled my eyes. "Please, I always dress to impress. I just don't want anything that'll make me worried a boob is about to pop out. I don't want that to happen in front of a bunch of people."

"You don't even know who's coming," Brooke reminded me.

"Well, it's at the pack house as usual, so I'm guessing it's the pack, my sister, and my parents," I said.

"And Midnight Moon," Brooke added quietly.

I froze. "Tyler is coming? Did he forget about the events that happened yesterday, or am I imagining things again?"

"Calm down, it's regulation to invite neighboring packs for an eighteenth birthday celebration to increase the chance of finding your mate," Brooke said. "If I was in charge of planning, it would just be the pack since I know you found your mate already. Since he rejected you, we can just ignore everyone we want to ignore and have fun."

I sighed, frustrated. "Fine, but if word gets out he was my mate, I might throw something."

"Why is it that your first response is always violence?"

"It's better than it being murder."

"Well, it's a step down from murder, I'll give you that."

We continued browsing around stores until I saw a dress I liked. It was a knee length, strapless, white dress with a brown leather belt. It wasn't too risqué, but still was a cute dress. I tried it on and found it was the perfect size for me. No falling down or drooping; it stayed perfectly in place for a strapless dress.

I changed out of it after admiring my appearance in it and draped it over my arm. I got a pair of brown wedges to go with it and went to pay for it all. After our shopping spree, Brooke led me to a hair and nail salon.

"Hi ladies," a lady greeted us, smiling warmly.

"Hi, we're here for an appointment," Brooke said, smiling back. "It should be under Brooke Davis."

She looked at a clipboard and motioned for us to follow her. She led us back to pedicure chairs, which was very relaxing. We got our nails done, both pedicure and manicure, and we also got our hair done. I got my highlights touched up, as did Brooke, and a trim that was desperately needed. We both got blowouts done, which worked out well since we had a party to go to.

We grabbed some lunch at a sandwich place and walked out to the car. We were laughing and joking around, but my laughter automatically stopped once I saw my sister walking towards us.

"What the hell does she want?" I growled.

"Maybe she's just here to shop," Brooke suggested, always playing the peace maker.

I glared at Kelly as she sauntered towards us in clothes so little it made me question if she was wearing any. Her shorts were more like underwear than shorts, her top was more of a bra, and she was in strappy five-inch heels. How she could walk in those, I'll never know. If there was one thing I admired about my sister, it was the fact she could walk in high heels. I could never.

Despite my hatred towards my sister, I will admit she is gorgeous. Her strawberry blonde hair was perfectly curled around her face, and her makeup, while heavy, was actually done pretty well. Her eyes were honey brown, but it was slightly hard to make out their color due to the heavy mascara she wore. If she wasn't such a b***h, I might actually admit to her that she's pretty.

"Hi girls!" she said with false cheeriness.

"What do you want?" I asked, cutting to the chase.

She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Is that any way to greet your big sis?"

"It is when we barely talk to one another," I pointed out. "What is it that you want?"

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll cut to the chase. Dad cut off my credit cards since I was spending too much."

"And I care because?" I questioned. "Why not use your debit card that has money you already have?"

Kelly glared at me. "Did you not hear me? Dad cut off my credit cards, so I can't spend any money. I need to use yours."

"Not a chance in hell," I said. "It's my allowance, not yours. It's not my problem you blow through yours."

Kelly's eyes flashed. "I don't even know why you get an allowance; Dad barely acknowledges you as a member of the pack, let alone his daughter."

"At least I got more of mom's attention." It was a low blow, and I knew it. Our mother always favored me, perhaps feeling bad about our father's treatment of me, so she always paid me more attention than Kelly. I knew it bugged her, and I felt slightly bad for saying it, but sometimes you have to use a low blow to get them to back off.

Kelly snarled and lunged at me. I quickly moved to the side and grabbed her arm as she flew past me, forcing her down to her knees. I pushed her hard away from me, and she landed hard on her arm a few feet away from us.

"You little b***h!" Kelly screamed. "You're going to pay for that!"

"Whoa, calm down," a male voice said.

A tall guy I instantly recognized helped Kelly to her feet. She gave him a flirtatious look, and I couldn't help but scoff. Little did she know she was flirting with my ex mate.

Tyler saw me and smiled. "Hayley!"

I rolled my eyes. "What do you want, Tyler?"

"I was just doing a little shopping before the party tonight." His eyes went the bag with my dress. "Any particular color I should pick out?"

"Red so it can hide your blood stains if you don't back away from me right now." I smiled sweetly.

He frowned. "You wouldn't hurt your mate."

I scoffed. "We're not mates anymore, remember? I have no issue harming you if need be."

"Wait, hold on," Kelly interjected. "You're mates with my sister?"

"Ex mates," I corrected. "Rejection really is a beautiful thing. Now, if you two will excuse us, we have my birthday party to get ready for."

My phone buzzed, and I answered it after a quick look at the caller ID. "What do you want, Liam?"

"Someone's got you in a bad mood," Liam said. "Kelly or Tyler?"

"Both." I was calming down slightly.

"Who are you talking to?" Tyler asked.

"None of your business," I snapped.

Tyler scowled, and I gave him a scathing look as he took a step towards me. It made him stop advancing towards me.

"Want me to come pick you guys up?" Liam offered.

"No, we're leaving now. What did you call for, anyway?"

"I was seeing where you guys were at. It's getting close to the party, and I know how long it takes Brooke to get ready."

"We're on our way," I said and hung up the phone.

"What'd Liam want?" Brooke asked.

"He was making sure we're on our way so we still have time to get ready," I said. "Which we won't if we don't leave right now."

I gave Tyler and Kelly one last glare and we walked towards the car. As I was getting in, I heard Tyler say, "See you at the party."

I growled as Brooke drove off. I was really starting to get annoyed with this whole mate thing. I thought rejecting a mate would make you want to be nowhere near them, not show up randomly. Brooke could sense my frustration, so she turned up the music. We pulled into the driveway and walked into the house.

"Thank god we're home," I said in relief. "No one is here to annoy me."

"That's not true," Liam said, putting his arm around my shoulders. "You say we annoy you all the time."

I rolled my eyes and shrugged his arm off of me. "Yeah, whatever. I'm gonna get ready. See you in an hour."

Liam laughed as I shut the door to my room. I sighed and turned towards my bathroom, staring at the pile of makeup that I knew I was about to wear. Here's to hoping Y*****e tutorials are enough to teach me how to do makeup for a party. Otherwise, I was in for a disastrous time.