Bullied by Her Mate (Bellefleur Black Ops Wolves #2)

Prologue - Elena

Red leaves drifted from the trees and fluttered gently to the ground, carpeting the gravel path in a crunchy blanket of orange. The breeze was crisp and cool as it rustled the remaining leaves and set them swaying. Along the path, Elena skipped and hopped her way back home from another grueling day of high school torture. It was her senior year, and she couldn't wait to graduate. Anything to get away from the fellow witches at school who had made her life a living hell since kindergarten.

It wasn't her fault she couldn't figure out how to control her powers. She had been raised by wolves—literally, in that she was adopted by wolf shifters as an infant—and therefore missed out on learning the basics of her craft like every other witch. This led to some unfortunate incidents involving things levitating off the ground or crashing into walls whenever she got emotional. Which, for her, was often. As a result, most of her peers stayed far away from her. All she really had in the way of friends was Hayley, who kept saying she was planning on leaving Bellefleur as soon as they graduated, and Tolliver, her older brother, who was so busy with his other shifter buddies that he was hardly ever home anymore.

As she neared the old Victorian structure on the edge of town with ivy crawling up the walls and an overgrown garden sprawling across the grounds, Elena let out a sigh. Home sweet home. She bounded up the front steps onto the wide wraparound porch where ancient rocking chairs creaked in the wind next to potted plants overflowing with dried stalks and shriveled leaves. She needed to water those later. The one thing she was even remotely good at was alchemy, so she at least had to take care of the herbs. First, though, she wanted to change out of her school uniform and grab a snack. Maybe make herself some tea. That always cheered her up.

Just as she was reaching for the door handle to the weathered red door decorated with a cheerful fall wreath, she heard raucous laughter echoing from inside. That could only mean one thing—the boys were here. Since their parents died a couple of years back, the Sterling mansion had become the go-to hangout for her brother's closest friends. Whenever they weren't busy running around and doing whatever it was that shifters did in secret with the pack, at least. All she knew was that she wasn't invited, and they all treated her like an annoying kid they didn't have time for.

The redhead took a deep breath to steel herself, then stepped inside. The scene before her was nothing unusual: a pile of backpacks tossed haphazardly by the door, shoes lined up without much rhyme or reason, and several jackets piled together on top. Three guys were sprawled out in the large living room. Zach and Tolliver were playing some game that involved shooting bad guys while Ryder heckled them both mercilessly from where he lounged on a worn leather armchair.

The sight of the latter made Elena shrink back as an unwanted flush crept onto her cheeks. Ryder's dark blond hair was artfully tousled with curls framing his face, making the chiseled lines and angles of his jaw stand out even more. A crooked smile lit up his features, making his hazel eyes shine. Despite herself, her heart skipped a beat. Whenever she saw him, she felt a pull of attraction that she wished she could ignore. It was hard when he looked that good. Stupid girl. It was clear that he hated her—for as long as she could remember, Ryder Pierce had been nothing but a jerk and a bully to her. He had tormented her for as long as she could remember.

When they were children, it had been all the usual name-calling and pranks—taking her toys or pulling her hair, that sort of thing. In recent years, it had become more subtle and intense. He was Tolliver’s best friend, and her older brother wouldn’t stand for someone being openly cruel to his little sister. Instead, there were constant snide remarks meant only to hurt her feelings when her brother wasn't paying attention. Looks of disgust anytime he was forced to interact with her for any length of time and overall annoyance whenever someone paid attention to her. Elena felt the pain of those slights far more keenly than she cared to admit.

Now, his lips curled into a smirk as he noticed her. His gaze locked with hers across the room, and for a moment, the rest of the world faded away. A jolt of electricity shot through her body, making her pulse quicken and blood rush to her ears. Her breath caught in her throat. All she could do was stare, mesmerized by the intense look in his eyes. Perhaps it was only her imagination, but sometimes, when she caught him off guard, she could have sworn she saw something more than disdain reflected there.

It never lasted, though. This time, like every other, that flickering sensation was sharply cut off when he shook his head with a low chuckle, then spoke in a mocking voice. “Look who it is. Our favorite disaster,” he said, eyes glinting. “Any new magical mishaps today? We're waiting with bated breath.”

Tolliver glanced over his shoulder with a grin, oblivious to the tension in the room. “Hey, Ellie!” he called out cheerfully. “How was school?”

She blinked twice before coming to her senses enough to respond. “Fine,” she mumbled, dropping her backpack on the floor beside the sofa. She was acutely aware that Ryder still hadn't taken his gaze off of her, looking her body up and down with that same smug expression plastered on his stupid, beautiful face.

“Something bothering you, Ellie?” Ryder asked, using the childish nickname her brother called her with as much mockery as possible. “You look a little flustered. Do we need to call the fire department to hose you down? It looks like you're about to burst into flames.”

That made her face grow even hotter with embarrassment. It was bad enough that she couldn't stop thinking about him and was reduced to a fumbling idiot in his presence. Far worse was that he noticed. She could almost see the gleeful malice glimmering behind his eyes at every twitch and squirm of discomfort she displayed. The blush on her cheeks must be bright scarlet by now. If she stayed another minute in his line of vision, she might spontaneously combust.

“I'm going to grab a snack,” she muttered with as much dignity as she could muster.

Turning around sharply, she made sure she didn't meet his gaze before darting off to the kitchen. Tolliver was too preoccupied by the game to notice anything amiss, and as she went past Ryder's chair, he winked at her. “Don’t get any ideas, yeah? I would never be with something like you.”

Elena ignored the pang in her heart as best she could, but tears sprang to her eyes nonetheless. With a huff of frustration at how quickly he managed to turn her from a calm and collected individual to a whimpering mess, she got herself a soda and snack, then marched upstairs to her room to escape. She slammed the door behind her and collapsed on the bed, pressing her face into the comforter. One of these days, she would manage to come up with some clever, witty comeback that left him speechless. She'd show him that she wasn't the awkward little girl he thought she was. Somehow. For now, though, all she could think of was a vague wish that the earth would swallow her whole.

After wallowing in self-pity for a while, she tried to bury her misery in a book. That usually worked well enough to distract her for a few hours. Today, however, the loud laughter coming from downstairs made it impossible to concentrate. No matter how hard she tried to focus on the page in front of her eyes, her thoughts kept drifting back to Ryder. It wasn't fair that he had this effect on her. Why couldn't she act normal when he was nearby? There had to be some way to make her heart stop beating faster every time he looked in her direction.

Trying to distract herself, she texted Hayley to complain about being stuck with the infuriatingly handsome blond wolf taking over her living room. After some back and forth, her friend suggested meeting up later, once she came home from tennis practice. Hanging out with Hayley always made her feel better. No matter how much things sucked, her friend always knew the exact right thing to say to make the situation brighter. Unlike Elena, Hayley was cool and confident, and almost made her believe that she could be, too. If only.

As the sun started to go down outside the window, Elena was antsy to leave. She grabbed a jacket and rushed down the stairs, eager to get out of there as soon as possible. When she reached the bottom of the steps and rounded the corner to the living room, the guys were gathered by the door. Tolliver stood with one hand propped against the doorframe while Zach leaned back against the wall, and Ryder was hunched over to lace up his combat boots.

They chatted easily among themselves in an inane conversation about weekend plans until Tolliver caught sight of her approach from the corner of his eye. He looked at her curiously and cocked his head.

“Going somewhere?” he asked, eyeing her jacket and purse.

“Uh, yeah, I'm just going over to Hayley's to hang out,” she answered sheepishly.

“All right,” her brother responded, then glanced back over at the blond man now standing up straight. “Ryder is heading back into town, too. Why don't you hitch a ride with him?”

Elena's face immediately turned crimson. Of course it did. She avoided looking at Ryder directly, but it wasn't hard to imagine the annoyed grimace he was undoubtedly sporting. He never missed a chance to point out what a loser she was. Tolliver seemed oblivious to this, however, looking expectantly at his friend. Ryder let out a barely audible sigh, then nodded.

“Yeah, sure,” he offered begrudgingly. “I'm heading that way anyway. I guess somebody's got to make sure the kid doesn't get eaten by a rabid raccoon along the way.”

“It's no problem, I can walk,” Elena interjected with her teeth clenched as she tried to glare at him. It probably came across as more of a pout instead.

“Nah, come on,” Ryder said with a wink. “If something happened to you, I'd never hear the end of it.” His gaze darted to Tolliver, who rolled his eyes and snorted in response, then looked back at Elena. “Let's get going. I have a date with a keg tonight that I'd rather not miss.”

Elena bit the inside of her cheek and silently followed after him. On the way, her brother gave her a quick side hug, then disappeared back into the living room with Zach. Perfect. Just perfect. Now she got to spend the entire ten-minute drive alone in a car with a person who made her wish for spontaneous combustion. Exactly what she needed.

***

Ryder

Ryder strapped himself in, trying to avoid looking at the redhead sliding into the seat next to him. When had she gone from a scrawny little annoyance to a smoking-hot goddess? Every time he saw her nowadays, it took effort not to stare. He would catch glimpses of her long legs peeking out from under her skirts, or her breasts straining at the buttons of her shirt and swallowing up the fabric in ways that should be criminal. It was driving him crazy.

A year ago, he had wanted to strangle her. Then, one day, he walked into his best friend's house like he had a million times before, blissfully unaware of any impending doom, and met her gaze across the room. It was like someone had sucker-punched him in the gut. He almost fell to his knees from the sheer impact of feeling the world tilt on its axis like some twisted cosmic joke. He had heard what it was like for wolves to discover their mates, but he had always laughed at how overblown and dramatic everyone made it sound. Nothing about it was funny now. If anything, he wanted to hunt down whoever was responsible for putting him in this position.

He stuck his keys in the ignition and revved the engine. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her wrap her hands tightly around the bag in her lap. Damn it, that was Tolliver's little sister. The infuriating, awkward, gangly girl who had spent her entire life trailing behind them like a shadow. Always getting in their way and never knowing when to shut up. Anyway, Tolliver would kill him if he ever touched the kid, and that friendship was too important to risk. If he pretended hard enough that the bond didn't exist, maybe it would go away. No way in hell did he want this.

Except the longer he sat in the driver's seat beside her with her scent short-circuiting his brain, the harder it was to hold on to that belief. His wolf wasn't helping matters by screaming at him to do unspeakable things to her. She would probably let him, too, that was the worst part—the kid looked like she would melt into a puddle every time he glanced in her direction. Right now, he felt her staring at him with those big, green eyes that always sparkled with too many emotions at once. It would be amusing if he wasn't doing everything in his power not to throw himself at her and shove her up against the nearest wall. Why the hell did his mate have to be the one person in the world who was strictly off-limits?

He turned and looked at her eyes then, and to squash further disturbing thoughts, he went into his asshole mode.

“I thought you’d be old enough now to know to put your seatbelt on,” and then, on instinct, he stretched his hands and did it for her. The move brought him close and personal with her and for a tiny moment, he lost himself in those eyes. Before the urge to claim her right then and there took over him, he jerked and pulled back. She was breathing heavily.

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel and his jaw clenched. Get through the ride. Ten minutes. That was all. Then, he could head down to the bar, find some gorgeous stranger to hook up with, and forget about all this nonsense. Easy.

He pulled out of the driveway onto the gravel road leading to town. All he had to do was pretend nothing happened and play it cool for a few minutes. He could do that. “Guess Tolliver's still scared you're going to get whisked away by some strangers if you don't have anyone to babysit you?” he quipped without looking at her. His mind was a mess of contradictory emotions. He didn't like to be vulnerable, and having her around threw all of his carefully curated barriers off-balance. Being a dick was easier than facing how out of control he felt.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her mouth opening and closing as she searched for an adequate response. It took a second, then she said, “I'm not some kid. I don't need a babysitter.”

“You could’ve fooled me,” he forced out of his mouth. Yup, the biggest asshole of the year over here.

He glanced over at her with an arched eyebrow—no, she definitely wasn't a kid anymore. That was a full-grown woman, wearing sinfully tight jeans and a top that left little to the imagination. The wolf whimpered and pressed against the inside of his skin, begging him to reach over and take her right here and now. Push her up against the car door and leave bite marks along the nape of her neck to mark her as his. To claim her in a way she'd never forget.

Fuck. She was Tolliver's baby sister, he reminded himself. The gangly nuisance who had trailed after them like an irritating pup and constantly got in the way of their fun. He gripped the wheel tighter and looked fixedly ahead, forcing himself to focus on that image rather than the reality of the bombshell currently sitting in his passenger seat, inches away from him. Yes. The annoying brat who made a face whenever anyone swore and whined endlessly about everything. Not sexy at all. Maybe if he repeated that enough times in his head, he could convince himself. Stop this , he ordered himself.

“Oh, please,” he shot back with a roll of his eyes, taking great pains not to look at her again. “No one really wants to be near you because you can’t control yourself. You almost caused a fire because you got scared of a bat just a few weeks ago. Remember that?” Shit , he thought. That was too harsh, but he was on a roll now. “Poor little Ellie, no real friends who could pick her up. A little girl who needs someone to watch over her,” he almost scowled at himself.

“Oh, shut up, that's not what happened!” she retorted furiously. “It was a tiny spark! Not even a real flame. It lasted for a second, if that. And I might not have a whole entourage of friends, but I wouldn’t change my inner circle for anything in the world. Quality over quantity, maybe something you should think about.”

She went there, didn’t she? She just hinted at his player’s ways. She was getting bold and he couldn’t deny how alluring it was to witness it. The thought broke through his carefully constructed mental image of his friend's unsexy little sister and was followed immediately by the image of how she would look blushing and writhing in his bed. He pushed that thought away as forcefully as he could. Damn it all. Too tempting for her own good. Or his. He swallowed thickly and gripped the wheel so tightly he was almost worried he might break it. Only a few minutes to go. He could do this.

“At least I am not spending my nights on my own,” he told her through gritted teeth, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. Being alone in an enclosed space with her was a special kind of hell. His primal desire warred with his rational mind, making him frustrated and on edge. In the past, teasing her had been an amusing distraction. Now, it was a matter of self-defense, the only thing keeping him focused, and his words came out even harsher than usual. “It's amazing Tolliver lets you walk around all by yourself, considering how often things go wrong around you. Isn't that why the coven gave up on training you?”

At that, he felt her stiffen next to him as her whole body tensed. Ryder winced inwardly. Okay, that was a low blow even for him. This whole interaction was just wrong, as if he was set on ruining her. Still, he wasn't about to apologize or admit he'd crossed the line. The more distance there was between them—the less she liked him—the easier it was for him to stay away from her. To maintain control and keep things simple. Maybe if she stopped blushing and stammering whenever they were in the same room together, he'd stop having all these inappropriate fantasies. At least he hoped it would.

They drove the rest of the way in tense silence. The only sounds were the hum of the engine, the occasional faint roar of other cars driving past them in the opposite direction, and the maddening sound of Elena's breathing in silent fury. By the time they reached the Green family's manor, Ryder was about ready to jump out of his own skin. The sooner he could be rid of her, the closer he could get to the bottle of whiskey waiting for him at his favorite dive bar and drowning all this ridiculousness in alcohol and a random beautiful stranger. That would fix the ache pounding inside him. It had to.

As the tires crunched on gravel underneath them while he brought the car to a stop, Ryder resisted the urge to exhale with relief. Without so much as looking at him, Elena threw open the car door and practically leaped out onto the path. She paused for a moment as if to steady herself or say something. He met her glare, plastering on his usual cocky grin and quirking an eyebrow.

“You’ll have a hard time ever finding a mate, kid,” he drawled out lazily. “No one would ever want you. Least of all me.”

The car door slammed resolutely in his face. As he watched her stride angrily away, Ryder leaned back in his seat and let out a deep sigh of relief. Fuck. That had been too close. Too tempting. He needed to figure out a better way to handle this ridiculous situation or risk losing his mind. Sooner or later, if he kept getting stuck alone in small spaces with her, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing something stupid. She was too much of a distraction for his peace of mind. Somehow, he had to get this under control.

Until then? Time for a good old-fashioned night of debauchery and meaningless sex. By morning, he would have forgotten all about this nonsense. It wasn't a permanent solution, but for now, it would have to do.