“I’m doing fine.”
“And if she leaves again, what then?”
He didn’t have any answers.
“Then you will do as I say.”
“Bombarding her isn’t going to win her over, Dad. I know this woman.”
“Yeah, well, maybe it is time you started to really get to know her. Had I known you targeted one of our pack, I would have warned you, son. As it is, I’m trying to fix your mess before that girl figures out there’s a loophole that can demand she leave you.”
“What?” he asked.
“Figure it out.”
His father turned away and headed off into town. The last thing he wanted right now was to be surrounded by people who actually felt sorry for him. Taking off in the opposite direction, he ended up on a rundown basketball court on the edge of town. He and his friends hid a ball so they could come out here to think. In recent months, he’d been following in his father’s footsteps, learning the ropes of taking over as leader, as Alpha.
Lucas was throwing the ball into the basket when he saw his two friends, Ben and Rupert.
“We figured this is where you’d be,” Ben said, climbing the fence and landing gracefully.
Rupert opted to use the entrance right next to where Ben scaled the fence.
“How did it go?” Rupert asked.
“It fucking sucked.” He grabbed the ball, and for the first time, missed his shot.
“Damn, that bad?” Ben asked, grabbing the ball and taking his own shot at the hoop.
“Sitting through another biology test would have been easier.”
His friends winced. He’d struggled through several lessons through school, biology being one of them. “Whatever.”
“There’s no way to convince her?” Ben asked.
“Nope. She sat in my company for maybe three minutes before she told my dad there was no way she wanted to be near me. I think that’s what she said.” He’d been too busy taking all of her in. Her long, brown hair, her beautiful, intense brown eyes. Every single thing about her, he’d been drawn to it. Even her body, and much to his shame, he used to call her chubby and fat, and a cow. Now, he was fucking mortified. His eyes had been truly open, and now he saw curves. Nice big tits, a small waist, flaring hips that he had spent many nights thinking about as he’d worked his cock, trying to gain control of his thoughts. He thought about her shapely legs wrapped around him. Every inch of softness against his hardness. He wanted her so badly.
There were times like now where he got hard just by thinking about her. Mabel thought she was the only one to suffer, but so did he. Years of hurting her constantly flooded his mind. All the times he could have been nice to her, offered her a hand when she needed it. Instead, he’d made her life miserable, and now, well, she got to make his miserable.
“What’s the plan now?” Rupert asked.
In the beginning, his two friends had thought it was hilarious that he’d fallen for the girl he used to bully. As the weeks wore on and they saw the consequences of his actions, the humor had soon died. Especially as a lot of the time, he missed her. Pretending to be happy or to even care was hard work.
He’d done it day-in, day-out over the past few years. The only thing he lived for was when Eliza or Gary would let it slip that Mabel was coming back to town. He’d spend so much time, planning, thinking of ways to see her, to get close to her.
Running a hand down his face, his own thoughts mocked him as he recalled the times he’d stepped in her way. Her full body pressed against his. The way he’d push her back and she’d stumble.
He’d been a giant dick, and there wasn’t a reason for it. Not really. Mabel had always been a little different. Whenever he saw her, she had her head in the clouds, an easy smile on her lips. It had pissed him off to see her so happy. Also, her size did make her different from the pack. Most of them were tall, athletic, and hard. Mabel was all curves, softness, and she wasn’t fucking tall at all. In fact, he’d even seen her jump up to see the stage in front to listen to his father at one of the town meetings.
Now, he fucking loved everything that made her different. He craved her in ways he’d never had before. Night and day, there was no reprieve in his need for this woman. She came and went, and he needed her.
He’d turned into a … stalker when it came to Mabel.
Before his transition, he’d enjoyed his share of women. The idea of being mated had never appealed to him. As far as he was concerned, it wasn’t necessary to find a mate when there were so many women out there to taste. He was surrounded by mated couples. His dad was completely devoted to his mom, and so were all mated men. Before he’d turned completely, he’d seen it as a weakness. Now, though, he’d give anything just to have his mate look at him. To at least spend more than a couple of minutes in his company.