All Chapters of The Alpha's Mate: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I just have to get to class, I think. If I can make it through the hallways to my first class, I should be okay. I shove my beanie into my pocket and try to push my way through the crowd. Most people just ignore me, but as I round the corner, I see Miranda and her friends, a gaggle of tall, gorgeous, well dressed shifter girls.“Well, well, well,” Miranda says, walking over to me as her friends look on. “If it isn’t little Baldy.”I’m not bald, I just have...a temporary lack of hair. And it isn’t even my fault - some girls (who, to be honest, looked and talked and acted just like Miranda and her friends) ruined it for me. Of course, I don’t say any of that. I just give a shy little wave. “Hi, Miranda.”“Oooh, she knows your name!” One of Miranda’s friends shrieks.“Did you make a new friend, Miranda?”“Shut up, guys!” I’ve clearly made a mistake. Miranda’s yellow eyes are nearly glowing with rage. “This stupid Omega is not my friend.”“I have to get to

My parents were thrilled when I told them that I had gotten invited to a party on my very first day at the new school. Of course, I didn’t tell them any other details - like the fact that no actual students at Ponderosa High seemed to want me there, or that I was only going because the pack Alpha, who was a year or so older than me, had told me to come.When my dad drops me off, I make sure he leaves me at the bottom of the road. I’ll hike up to Badger Lodge myself. The last thing I need is everyone seeing my lame Omega parents taking me to a party. I start walking up the long drive, keeping my eyes on the twinkling lights up ahead. The Badger Lodge is high up on a mountainside overlooking the town, and it’s a nice enough walk through the tall pine trees.I’m halfway up the drive when I hear the sound of a car behind me. It’s not the first time a car full of shifter kids has passed me on their way up to the lodge, laughing and yelling. Most of them didn’t even notice me. I

I consider just leaving entirely, but something pulls me back to the party. If I’m honest with myself, it’s because I want to see Caleb.Even if he can’t possibly be my mate. Even if he’s likely to be just as disgusted with me as everyone else. He’ll regret the kiss, deny me, kick me out of the pack - everything an Alpha is supposed to do in this situation.Still. This might be my last chance to see him. I need to.So I push the doors open to the Badger Lodge, only to face a wall of jeering, mocking faces.“Useless!”“Pathetic!”“I heard she can’t even shift!”“Worse than a regular Omega.”“Why did they even send her?”Tears well in my eyes as I shrink away from the attention, trying to find Caleb in the crowd. But someone grabs the back of my shirt and yanks me into the center of a circle, where Malcolm and Miranda and all their friends poke and prod me.“Not even a fang? A claw? A whisker?”“Nothing. Basically a human.”“Gross!”Malcolm puts his

I see relief and happiness on Caleb’s face when I tell him I want to stay at the cabin. “I just want you to be safe,” he says, smiling.I know he’ll keep me safe. He’s the Alpha, after all. And he’s my mate.Together, we cuddle up under the warm quilt, listening to the fire crackle and nibbling on the snacks he laid out for us. I find myself wrapped up in his arms, my head resting on his chest, his fingers carding lazily through my hair.“You’re amazing,” Caleb says.I laugh. “I’m an Omega who can’t shift. I got sent away from one pack only to get banished from another one. I’m anything but amazing.”“Don’t talk like that.” Caleb’s voice sounds stern. He’s a true Alpha. “No one insults my Luna and gets away with it.”My cheeks burn, hearing him refer to be that way. “I’m not a Luna yet,” I remind him. “Not until we made.”“I know, I know.” He dips his head down to kiss my neck, right where he would mark me if we mated. “Soon. But in my heart, you’re already my

“Miranda, no! Stop!” Caleb shouts at her, racing after her, but she’s disappeared into the woods, leaving us alone again. “She’s going back to the pack house,” I say. “She’ll tell everyone that I didn’t follow the rules of banishment.”“I’m the Alpha,” Caleb growls. “She can’t to this to you. To me. To us.”“I should go,” I mumble, bending down to clean up the picnic supplies. “You can tell them that I tried to trick you into letting me come back, that you were just taking advantage -”“No.” Rage flares in Caleb’s grey eyes. “You’re my mate. I love you. This can’t happen. Let’s go.”“But,” I protest, “I’m banished.”Caleb isn’t taking no for an answer, though. He shifts into wolf form, his jet black fur rippling in the forest breeze. He tosses his head, gesturing for me to climb on top of him, and I grip his thick fur in each fist, sticking close to his muscled back as he rushes through the woods. His paws take each twist and turn of the forest path perfectly, and so