Chapter 0002

"HAIDEN!" My father roared as I slammed into the ground. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Standing, I wiped blood from my lip. "I’m fine, let's continue."

This was the third time that my father had managed to get through my defenses. Ever since confessing and being rejected, that was all my mind could focus on, which wasn’t good given the fact that I needed to be focusing on training.

"GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!" My father growled and lunged forward.

Quickly moving, I managed to miss his attack, but I wasn’t able to stop him from grabbing me from behind and throwing me onto my back once more.

"This is pointless." He huffed and stared down at me. "I don’t know what is going on, but I expect you to be in good form tomorrow."

"Yeah, got it." I huffed.

Turning, my father stormed away, leaving me where I was. Sighing, I stared up at the sky above, trying to clear my head.

As a future Beta, I didn’t have the luxury of being able to allow my emotions to get the better of me. I needed to be cool headed at all times. Emotions had no business being involved and I hated myself for showing such weakness.

Getting up, I brushed dirt and grass off of myself before heading back to the house for a shower. I had plans with Antoine later and I didn’t want him to see me in such a condition. Being the overly protective type, he would most certainly demand an explanation for my current state. If that were to happen, I didn’t know if I had the courage to tell him about what happened with his brother.

Antoine had warned me more than once to not bother letting Ashton know about my feelings. Even though I knew deep down he was right, I was stubborn.

‘Look where that stubbornness got you.’

Huffing, I stopped the bitter laugh that threatened to bubble up as I closed the distance between me and the house.

Antoine waited for me at a local coffee shop called Bon Appetit that had just opened up recently. His usually perfect hair lay across his head in messy waves, a look that I wasn’t particularly used to, at least not from him. It was much too similar to Ashton's preferred style.

"Did you wait long?" I called, quickening my steps. "I tried to get here as soon as possible, but traffic was hell."

"Was it traffic or were you just wasting time?" Antoine asked, lifting a brow. "I’ve known you for how long now?"

"Watch it, this time it truly was due to traffic." I growled and punched Antoine in the arm.

Laughing, Antoine held his hands up in a gesture of giving up.

"Come on, miss feisty, I'm sure you're starving after your morning practice with your father."

If this had been any other day, then he would have been correct. I would have been starving. However, due to my rejection just this morning, I had no appetite.

"Your treat, right?" I asked, plastering a fake smile on my face.

"Isn’t it always my treat?" Antoine asked in confusion.

"Yup, because you always want to come to places like this to hang out." I pointed out.

"Whatever you say."

Placing a hand on my back, Anotine began leading me through the cafe towards an empty table near the back.

"Have a seat, ma am and I will go grab us some drinks and pastries."

"Sure, sure."

Sitting, I fixed my gaze on Antoine as he made his way to a woman who looked bored, standing behind the register. The minute her eyes fell on Antoine, they lit up and she began to smile like a fool.

Sighing, I shook my head. Of course, I couldn’t really blame the woman. Antoine was, after all, a very good-looking guy and very fit. He and Ashton were the top eye candy of our pack. All the women wanted them, but they were untouchable, at least on an emotional level.

"Done staring?" Antoine asked, bringing me back from my drifting thoughts.

"At you?" I asked, quirking my brow. "Who the hell is staring at you?"

"You were." Antoine responded matter-of-factly.

"Sorry, but I’m not amongst those who adore you."

"Are you sure about that?"

Laughing, Antoine sat down across from me before fixing his gaze with mine. Something in the way he was looking and the sudden serious look that crossed his face told me I wasn’t going to like what he had to say next.

"Go on." I might as well pull the bandaid off. It seemed that even though I hadn’t wanted Antoine to know about this morning, his brother had already told him everything.

"First, let me say this…" Antoine began sighing. "I told you how many times not to mention anything to my brother."

"Yep, many." I confirmed, feeling my irritation rise. "But you know me."

"Sure, I know you and love you." Antoine continued sighing. "Why would you go and do something stupid like confessing to that ass hole?"

Why would I confess? Of course it would be because I wanted something to change between us, but where the hell did that get me?

"I am regretting my choice okay." I sighed, laying my head on the table. "Lesson learned."

"I’m not saying this to make you feel bad." Antoine assured me. "I mean, I feel for you. Getting rejected must have sucked."

"Why don’t you twist a little more." I growled, remaining in place. "I was horrible at practice this morning."

"Your old man kicked your ass?"

"Yup."

Discussing this wasn’t helping me feel any better. I knew that Antoine meant well, but I just wanted to get off this topic as quickly as possible.

"Can we just talk about anything else but this, please?"

Frowning Antoine nodded, "Sure, if that is what you want. I figured that letting off some steam would help you feel better."

"It isn’t helping me feel better in the slightest." I confirmed lifting my head. "Really, kicking some ass is the only thing that could help me right now."

"Then how about you go and do some training with me?" Antoine suggested smirking. "It has been a while since I’ve taken you on. If memory serves me right, you’re pretty badass now, right? "

"Why would you say that?" I asked, confused. "As a future Alpha, there is no way I, as a beta, could take you on."

"Was, past tense." Antoine corrected me.

Flushing I immediately shot a look at Antoine to make sure that he was alright. I usually forgot that he had to give up on the rights to being Alpha after getting injured when we were younger. These days, it's hard to tell that he even had an issue, especially if you weren’t aware of it.

"It’s fine." Antoine said, quickly standing. "Come on, let me take you on."

"Sure."

Smiling, I got up from my seat and grabbed my things. If Antoine wanted to fight me that badly, well then I was more than willing to oblige him.