by Sam Crescent
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2018 Sam Crescent
ISBN: 978-1-77339-755-9
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Karyn White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
BULLIED BY THE ALPHA
The Alpha Shifter Collection, 9
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2018
Chapter One
“Abel’s not a bad alpha. He’s always very fair, but that doesn’t mean he’s easy to live with. He’s difficult, and he demands excellence. Some people don’t like the idea of working hard, so they have to leave and risk going rogue,” Jessica said.
Cassie Sanders bit her lip, wondering what the hell she was doing here then. She knew the reason, but the more Jessica spoke, the harder it was for her not to wonder if risking going rogue and feral was a better option. She had heard that Abel was a last resort for a pack alpha.
Rumor had it that he was kicked out of his pack as a teen and had no choice but to create his own pack, turning a human so he didn’t go feral. She didn’t know if that rumor was true. Turning humans into wolves was something of an urban myth. She’d never heard it successfully done but knew if anyone could, it would be an alpha.
“What has happened to people who have gone rogue? Have they all gone feral?” she asked.
“We’re designed to be part of a pack. The only person to ever be successful is Abel. He takes in the strays, the wolves that have been kicked out of their packs or banished. Everyone can say all the bad shit they want to say, but he’s got a good heart. It’s just not easy to see. So, what brings you to Abel’s pack?”
Cassie stared at the beautiful woman in front of her as they were heading toward the large house that was Abel’s home. She had to ask for permission to be part of the pack, and if he accepted, she could find her own home, but first she had to spend at least two months within the pack, being part of it so that they could accept her as she accepted them. It was an intense time, but one she hoped to succeed at. She didn’t want to die. Feral wolves were hunted, captured, and killed.
Death was not an option for her.
“My pack expelled me for being fat,” she said, staring at Jessica.
“You’re kidding me.”
Cassie glanced down at her size eighteen figure. She was used to being made fun of, the finger pointing, the constant, endless teasing. They all thought it was funny that she was a fat wolf. How could it be possible for her to be fat? She didn’t know. Before she turned into a wolf, she’d been fat, and every single person within her old pack made her feel that way.
“Nope. They didn’t do fat, so there was no place for me.”
She forced a smile to her lips.
Growing up, she’d cry, and cry some more, but now unless she was having a really bad day, like, the worst day, then she’d allow herself to cry, but not now.
“What did your family think of that?” Jessica’s arms were folded, and she looked pissed.
“They helped pack my bags.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-three years old.”
“When did you transition?”
“Eighteen. They gave me several years to try and lose weight. It was like a game to them, watching me work out, and to do everything they wanted me to do.” She wasn’t unfit. She’d done everything they asked of her, and still they kicked her out.
“Wow, that’s fucking harsh.”
“Were you kicked out of your pack?”
“Yes, I have one green eye, one blue. They felt that tainted the perfection of their pack.” Jessica shrugged. “They were already fucked-up, so I didn’t see a reason to stick around.”
Cassie smiled. Jessica seemed nice, but she’d been wrong before, and that had always ended badly for her.
“I’ve fucking told you to never turn your back on your enemies!”
The loud voice echoed around the hallway, and the hairs on Cassie’s arms lifted. Jessica winced. “That’s Carl. Being part of Abel’s pack comes with a few requirements.”
“What are they?”
“Abel has had alphas and packs come to his territory in the hope of either killing him or making him submit. None of them have succeeded, but because of the threat, he likes to keep everyone at the peak of their awareness. They must learn to fight and to fight with him, beside him.”
“What about the ones that are too weak?” Cassie asked. “Surely there’s no chance of them being able to fight.”
“Carl was kicked out of his pack for being weak, and Abel still makes him train even if it’s to save his own life. Abel doesn’t want any of us to die because he didn’t train us. Come on, you’ll get to see him in action.”
Cassie followed Jessica to a large room that looked similar to a high school gym. The length of the room was huge, and glancing up, she saw the windows were glass, which at night would allow the moon to filter in.
Once inside the room, there were bleachers on either side of the room, but Cassie’s gaze was caught in the center. A man well over six feet tall, muscles aplenty, and one of the fiercest men she had ever seen, stood glaring at a guy smaller than he was in stature. Both of the men only wore a pair of tight shorts and were covered in sweat.
There were nearly a hundred people within the gym watching the fight.
“Why are they all watching?”
“We have to,” Jessica said. “It’s what Abel demands. This is not even a full house right here. There’s rarely all of us here at one time. He doesn’t do anything without a reason. You must defend, train, and prove yourself. No one will ever best Abel, and that’s fine, but he wants you to be able to keep yourself safe.”
Cassie’s gaze couldn’t move as she watched the smaller guy charge at the man. She winced as the larger man reached out, gripped the man’s neck, lifted him up, and slammed him back down onto the mat.
If they were human, the force of the impact would kill them.
“Will Carl be okay?”
“Carl has a fast healing ability. It’s why he was expelled from his pack. His ability to sustain damage and be right as rain within an hour freaked them out. They decided he wasn’t a wolf at all but a monster.”
“Everyone that’s here, they’ve rejected their pack in some way?” Cassie asked.
“Or they’ve gotten thrown out. We’re a mixture, Cassie. I hope you can handle that.”
“I don’t mind.” She folded her arms and winced as Carl yelled for time.
“You don’t get fucking time. No one will give a fuck if you’re on the battlefield. You’ve got to learn to keep on fighting, and not give up.” Abel charged toward the man, and Carl scurried away, and when he crossed his arms in front of him, curling up in a ball, Abel stopped.
“Please, I need time,” Carl said. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He rocked in a ball.
“We know Carl was hurt a lot because of his healing abilities. Out of all of us, he’s the one that is taking the longest to train.”
“Hurt?”
“They would use everything they could find to see how far his healing went. The scars on his body are the ones t
hey gave him before he was able to turn into a wolf. After that, the scars they tried to carve into his body always healed. Those are there now, but the worst ones are in his mind. So much pain for him to deal with.” Jessica looked sad, and Cassie understood why.
She herself had been starved. That had been some of the tests they had put her through. The entire pack had made it a joke. They chained her up, only allowing her freedom toward the full moon. Without any food, she’d been weak, but even still, her weight hadn’t left her. She was still the chunky girl at the end of the year.
After that though, she had spent more and more time away from her family. Seeing the look of disgust on their faces hadn’t been enough for her to sit at their table to eat dinner. The more time she spent away from the pack, the happier she was. Of course, that all changed when it came to the full moon and they all wanted to hunt.
They had treated her like a rabbit and had attacked her every chance they got, but no matter what they did to her, leaving her for dead, she always healed.
She rubbed her arms when she recalled that last hunt, and she imagined the painful reasons they’d expelled her. Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she watched as Abel offered his hand. The power he exuded was still there, only this time, it showed kindness, which took her by surprise.
“We will continue these sessions. You understand, Carl. This is not cruelty to you.”
“I know. I need to be strong.”
“You have to be. In this world, there are so many people who will want you to fail. You cannot allow yourself to do that. Not even once.”
Carl nodded and walked away.
She watched as Abel lifted his head, scenting the air, and his gaze moved toward them.
“Who is that?” Abel asked.
She didn’t like the sudden fear that gripped her.
Abel was one of the largest men she’d ever seen, and the thought of being near him filled her with dread.
****
Vanilla was one of Abel’s favorite scents, and the moment the mystery woman had entered his gym, he’d known about it. She stood just a little behind Jessica. She was rather plump for a wolf, but she was there. His own wolf inside him gave a little growl of approval.
“Hello, sir,” Jessica said, coming forward, her hips swaying seductively. Several of his pack females had wanted to mate with him, only Abel wasn’t interested in them. He liked his women to be … sweet. He didn’t have time for women who fought their way into his bed. He wasn’t looking for a weak woman, per se, just one that didn’t look like they wanted to tear each other apart for his affection.
It was part of the wolf trait though, at least among those that had been removed or rejected from their pack. They became more primal, more in need of mating.
His gaze fell on the pretty little redhead as she followed Jessica toward him. Her hands were clenched together, and he saw her knuckles were white. She was nervous.
“This is Cassie Sanders. Recently expelled from her pack.”
She looked terrified, and he imagined a weakling didn’t hold any place in a pack.
“Did you cause trouble?” Abel asked.
Finally, Cassie’s gaze was on him, and her green eyes had to be the most beautiful he’d ever seen. They were so expressive, giving him a glimpse of the pain inside her.
“No.”
“How long have you been expelled from your pack?” he asked. The longer they’d been outside of a pack, the higher risk of their being feral, and he liked to guard his pack from any potential threats.
“A week.”
“That’s not long at all.”
“I didn’t want to risk going feral and being killed. I have no wish to die.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-three, sir.”
Being forty years old, Abel stared at the young woman, noticing her abundant curves. All of his pack had something wrong with them, or something their previous pack had deemed wrong.
Jessica’s eyes were different colors, and Carl had the ability to heal. There was even someone who didn’t like group sex and seeing as their pack was all over that, they’d expelled him. So many different reasons, but within his own pack, Abel had brought them together as a family.
“Why did they expel you?” he asked.
“I’m too fat,” she said.
Abel tilted his head to the side to stare at her. She said the words as if they didn’t have any meaning to her, and yet the moment she said “fat,” he felt his wolf rise up as if to protect her. Her sadness affected him deeply, and he didn’t like that.
She was a new woman, and each woman had to go through the same rigorous testing as the others. He didn’t play favorites.
“I need to know if you can take care of yourself,” he said. “It’s part of my rules. You must stay here for over a month, even two, as you’ve already missed the last full moon. I don’t like getting into conflict with other packs because one of my men or women has gone feral.” He hated having to deal with other pack alphas and the way they looked at him as if he was the reason everything had gone fucked-up in the world.
“What do I do?” Cassie said.
“It’s simple. Attack me.”
She rubbed her arms, and he waited as she shook her head.
“No.”
“I demand my pack be fit for war in case it ever arises between packs. We’re expelled because they deem us weak. We may be weak, but I want to know my men and my women can fight for themselves and for the pack. You will attack me.” He stood there waiting. Normally, his demands were always met, so when she still shook her head, he was pissed. He didn’t want to deal with this right now.
His pack was watching, so he stormed up toward her, and she didn’t take a step back.
“You will fight me.”
She gritted her teeth and shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Do you think you’re too special to fight? That you’ve got a fucking gift? Wise up, woman. You got kicked out of your pack, and you will follow my rules, or your ass is on the feral line. Now, fight.” He didn’t like to hit women, but in order to be prepared and ready, he needed them to be able to fight. He would never have a person too weak to defend themselves, and even if they were unable to fight, he found ways for them to defend themselves long enough to get away. He had no wish to hurt a woman, but he would make them stronger.
He watched as Jessica urged her forward, and when he had finally had enough, with her back toward him, he moved toward her.
This was the first time he’d done this, but his wolf was pacing at the surface, and he had to prove to her the value of her actions. As he was about to shove her, and not very hard either, Cassie suddenly spun and caught his arm.
The moment she touched him, pleasure rushed through every single part of his body. Everyone in his gym fell away, and the only two that mattered were him and her. He didn’t even know if Jessica was there.
“Don’t … touch … me,” Cassie said.
He felt the power within her touch, and even his own wolf was shocked by the sheer force of it. He was an alpha.
Abel didn’t submit.
It was one of the many reasons he’d left his pack.
Whenever his alpha asked him to submit, he couldn’t do it.
He’d tried for so long, often fought with himself, but he couldn’t do it. Kneeling before an alpha was something he couldn’t do for anyone.
She gave him a little shove, and he moved back just a foot, but it was enough. Staring at Cassie, he saw the fear in her eyes, but it wasn’t fear of him, or attacking him.
“Why did you leave your pack?”
“They didn’t like that I was fat.”
It wasn’t a lie. He would scent that lie coming. But something else had happened to her too.
“Leave!” He spoke the word, letting everyone know that they were not to argue with him.
The spell that had been wrapped around them was broken as she stared left and right, the sounds of foots
teps echoing around the gym.
“Jessica, put Cassie’s things in a room.”
“Sir?”
“We’re going to have a little chat.”
Jessica nodded and turned to leave like the rest of them.
Cassie tucked some of her hair behind her ear, looking like she wanted to leave with them.
Once the door closed with an echo, he paced in front of her, not taking his eyes off her. She didn’t move an inch. Her hands were once again locked together in front of her. She was strong, there was no doubt about that.
“They may have kicked you out with the excuse that you’re fat, but I want to know what else happened. You didn’t put weight on this quickly. What happened?”
She stared at him, and her lips were pressed together. “I’ve been big and have been for a long time. They … they tried many methods that they thought were both amusing and productive. Nothing worked. Every single full moon, they would starve me, and have me run out into the woods near where our pack is based, and then they would attack me. For a long time … I took the attacks. I didn’t fight. I didn’t make it stop.”
Her green gaze was on him again.
“But this last time you did?” he asked, standing in front of her, arms folded.
“I … couldn’t stop myself. I was grabbed around my ankle. They didn’t give me time to turn, and I … everything is kind of a blur. Years of being called things, of being treated like crap, I just reacted. I hurt them,” she said. “I scared them with how easy it was for me. I didn’t even … there was no … effort. I just defended myself, and the next day I was expelled from my pack with the few items with me.”
The wolf inside him raged, demanding that he help her, that he protect her.
“You will not hurt me,” he said. “I am alpha here. I am stronger, and you will do as I ask, otherwise I will fucking—”
He didn’t get to finish as she pushed him hard, and he wasn’t paying attention.
That simple push threw him backwards across the gym, and he landed on his ass. Rolling over, he stared back at her.