Beauty and The Beta (Bailey)

8

Chapter 3 - Bailey

Three Years Later

| drove the long road down to pack. | hated this drive. It was like returning to hell for me. Lotus Shadow Pack. My

very own version of hell. Though, three years away, studying had been truly amazing. Transforming myself into

the woman | should always have been. Confident. Self-assured. Brave. Just me. And now a fully qualified teacher.

As a she-wolf, you spend so many years of your life being told your focus is finding your fated mate. Settling

down with them and creating a strong matebond. A love. A family. Well, once | had cto accept that my

naive, teenage dreams would never surface, thanks to the moon goddess pairingwith a mate so incapable of

loving anyone other than himself, | decided that my focus would be my career. My education had always been

something | took great pride in. I loved to learn, and | had decided that | wanted to pass that gift along. | no

longer cared what others thought of me. And, while at university, it felt so wonderful to be surrounded by others

who felt the sway. | finally felt like I fit in somewhere.

And, | believe that is what allowedto becthe person | was meant to be. However, now, | had to return to

my pack, at their orders. The agreement was, once | had completed my degree, | would return home. Unless, of

course, | had found my fated mate. But, | knew within my heart, that was never to happen. For, my fated mate

sat at home. Lording it over our pack. Acting like he was the best thing since sliced bread. Sleeping with any she-

wolf that cnear him, from what | heard, having rejected me.

I pulled up at our guarded pack gates. Harley, one of our pack warriors, currently on guard duty, stepped forward

to my car window. “ID” he ordered.

| frowned at him. | do not think | have been asked for ID before when returning home, even in all the times | have

visited home, though in all fairness, those visits have been few and far between. My visits were only when they

were required of me. | had grown to loathe this place, and coming back had becless of a priority forover

the t| was away...

“Harley, it is me. Bailey.” | explained, trying not to smile at his mistake.

Harley looked atcloser. “Sh it. Sorry Bailey, didn’t really recognize you there. You changed your hair. And you

aren't wearing your glasses. You look good.” He says with a shrug, quickly looking away, clearly embarrassed by

his faux-pas.

| smirk at his response. Yes, my hair is somewhat tamer than it used to be. The curls straightened out, and my

hair now neat and sleek down my back. My glasses | had worn for reading had been long gone. Having got my

eyes fixed with laser eye surgery whilst away. Plus, | now wore a little simple make-up to accentuate my

features. Nice to know somebody has noticed a difference...

“No problem. You still need ID?” | asked him.

He grins at me. “I think | know who you are. Nice to see you.” he nods atin acknowledgment as the gate

opens for me. “Maybe catch you around while you are back.” He adds as | begin to drive away.

I smiled in response, | guess there would be nothing to stopcatching up with any guy | wanted to now. Not

that | was really bothered right now... but it was not like | had a fated mate to wait for any longer. And it wasn’t

like Miles was making a point of staying single. Every t| had returned home, he had had a different she-wolf

on his arm. Parading them through pack like a prized possession, only to have traded her in by the t|

returned on my next visit. He was turning into quite the lothario. And quite a joke in my eyes.

| set off along the quiet, familiar roads of our sweet old pack. The evening sun was settling in the sky as | moved

my car down the route to my family home. No doubt my Mum would be there waiting for me, perhaps my Dad, if

he was in from work by now. My brother and sister, | was unsure. They still both lived at hwith my parents,

but were back and forth to friends’ homes and my brother was looking to move into the Beta suite in the

packhouse soon enough, in preparation for taking on the role from my father when the tcame. Either way,

they rarely bothered to rush hto seewhen they knew | was returning. | don’t think seeingwas at the

top of their priority list...

| pulled my car up on the street in front of my familiar family home. | could not believe | was home. Stuck back

here. The dread within my stomach churned heavily at the prospect of many years stuck here. Miserable and

unhappy, with no way out, now my fated mate had rejected me. Not that anyone other than Miles and | knew of

that. No. He had decided he would be considered weak if others knew an Alpha had gone against the powerful

Moon Goddess’s choice. So, this was our secret. Or he would makepay in ways | did not want to imagine,

apparently.

And, in all honesty, | did not want to think of it. He had allowedto go away to do my degree. Doing the final

bit of convincing when my Uncle, the current Alpha, and Miles’s father, along with my parents were on the fence.

Or, so he said. How true that was, | would never likely know the truth, but it had been for that reason, and that

alone I had chosen to do as he had asked.

If he had done the things he said, then he had allowedto fulfill my dream of gaining my degree of teaching

away from pack. To allowto be just me, not the daughter of the pack Beta. And | have thrived because of it.

But, now, | had to return. Back to where | belonged. And, while | may have gained my degree, | had no real

future prospects. | was likely stuck here.

| stepped from the car, determined more than ever to find work, as | heard my Mum's voice. “Bailey!” she

greetedfrom the porch steps, a big smile upon her face. “You look beautiful sweetheart.”

| smiled back at her, as | moved toward the front door. Only to see Miles leaving the house next door to ours. The

Alpha home. Could | have timed my arrival hany worse?

His eyes met mine, givinga dark stare before looking at my Mum. “Hi Aunt Brianna. You didn’t say she was

htoday.”

Mum smiled at Miles like she thought the world of him, though most of the tshe generally did. “Ah, | think it

slipped my mind. Bailey is hfor good now, Miles. How wonderful is that?”

Once more, Miles gavea dark stare. “Hmmm. Truly wonderful.” he said with sserious contempt in his

voice.

“You stay out of my way unless | say otherwise, you understand?’ Miles mindlinks me, as he moves toward his

car.

“Are you not going to speak to him Bai?” Mum tries. “He will be Alpha this tnext year, you know?”

“Oh it doesn’t matter, Aunt Brianna. Bailey will be excused this time. | am sure she is tired from her drive back

home. But no doubt | will be seeing her around. And yes, she will have to get used toas her senior. Her

Alpha.” He says with a sneer, and at his words my stomach twists into knots. | don’t think | can stay here... | not

only need to find work, | need to find work away from my pack, so | can move away to get away from my

psychotic Alpha and ex-mate!

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