Hated By The Alpha-Chapter 211: A month’s trial

"You have to stop looking at me like that," Audrey said as she walked down the stairs to the general room.

"How?" Lake asked innocently behind her.

Audrey rolled her eyes, "Like... you’re literally eye-fucking me." She pointed out.

"I wish that were possible, too," Lake smirked.

Audrey groaned as she headed over to slump on a sofa, wincing as she felt the soreness between her legs; her eyes immediately glared at Lake in accusation.

Lake saw her discomfort and squatted in front of her, "Are you alright? Are you sore? Do I need to place ice on it and lick it off-Ugh!" Lake grunted as he was kicked down to the floor by Audrey’s foot.

Audrey glared harder at him, "You’re a maniac." She wanted to throw a small pillow at him when she heard someone call her name from behind.

She turned and saw Leon staring at Lake with concern written all over his face; it made her wonder why Leon would suddenly get that concerned for someone he didn’t really like.

"Hey, Leon, are you okay?" Audrey asked, ignoring Lake, who was pretending to hurt so he could get her attention.

Leon cleared his throat and pointed at Lake, "Maybe you should attend to him... you hurt him, he might die," he said, looking a little panicked as Lake kept grunting on the floor.

Audrey rolled her eyes and sighed before looking at Lake, "Alright, enough, baby. You got the poor guy worried about you." She said, folding her arms in her chest.

Lake raised his face, feigning hurt; he stretched his hands toward her "I think I’m really dying. Please, help me get up, Moma -" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"No! Get away from me you deceitful devil," She slapped his hand away, taking her legs up the sofa to get away from him.

"No?" Leon whispered to himself, carefully watching to see if something bad would happen to Lake.

"Good morning, Luna. How was your night?" Sandra walked inside with Lawrence behind her.

Audrey turned to her friend with a smile, "Hi, Sandy. Good morning. Hey, what’s up, Lawrence?" She greeted.

Lawrence slightly bowed his head to her and then to Lake, "Good morning, Alpha, Luna." He greeted.

Lake stood from the floor, going over to sit because Audrey, pulling her to his side even as she tried to resist.

"Do you need something, Lawrence?" Lake asked.

Lawrence cleared his throat and glanced at Sandra. "I do need something, but it’s not from you, it’s from the Luna." He stated.

Audrey narrowed her eyes at him, "What’s that?" She questioned, curious.

"Well? Speak," Sandra nudged Lawrence.

Lawrence cleared his throat again, "She said she wants to break up with me... she wants to break our bond, I was hoping you would help me talk to her, plead with her -"

"Tell them what you did, you big beast," Sandra hit Lawrence’s shoulder, glaring at him.

"I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have -"

"No, don’t baby me right now, my mind is made up, I’m dumping you," Sandra looked away from Lawrence, naughtily folding her arms.

"No?" Leon muttered to himself again.

Everything he was seeing that morning was going against what Mark had told him last night.

He thought mates weren’t supposed to say no to each other... it would lead to death, just like Mark had said.

But Audrey had kicked Lake just now, said no to him; and now, Sandra was threatening to break her mate bond with Lawrence, still, everyone seemed to just look fine. Apart from the longing expression he saw on Lawrence’s face, there was nothing life-threatening about the whole situation.

Was Mark trolling him?

Lake chuckled, "You must have really fucked up, Lawrence. Now I’m curious. Tell us what you did." He said.

Lawrence sighed, feeling Sandra’s glare on him, "I... I told Melody that she looked prettier now that she had changed for good." He informed, his eyes pleading with Audrey to say something to Sandra.

"You did that, didn’t you?" Lake asked casually, leaning against the Sofa.

Audrey chuckled, "Just that? So you do find Melody to be pretty?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Answer her question, Lawrence. So you do find melody to be pretty? Prettier than me, huh?" Sandra raised her brow at Lawrence, her jealousy seeping through her skin.

Lawrence shifted his weight between his feet, "Not prettier than you, no one’s prettier than you, my love. I was just complimenting her to make her feel accepted. You were the one who brought her over to the house. I didn’t know what else to say to her." He explained.

Sandra scoffed, "You could have just said welcome and moved along. But you chose to compliment her looks. So, I’m allowing you to fully be with her and admire her beauty for the rest of fucking life," She pushed his chest and walked away, heading toward the kitchen.

"Baby -"

"Don’t follow me, I’m hungry right now. Bye," Sandra waved her hand behind her as she sashayed into the kitchen.

Audrey sighed, shaking her head at Lawrence.

"What to do?" Lawrence asked.

"Follow her," Lake advised.

"Don’t... gosh, men are so dumb," She facepalmed, sighing.

Lawrence blinked in confusion, "Okay... I won’t follow her. I’ll give her some space... I’ll just go back home," he said and turned to leave.

Audrey groaned in frustration, "You can’t leave, Lawrence. Seriously? She’s going to be mad if she comes out and doesn’t find you here. Sit. Wait. It shows you’re really sorry." She told him, pointing at a chair in the corner.

Nodding, Lawrence obediently walked over to the chair and sat down.

"And you," Audrey turned to Lale, frowning.

"Yes, me?" He smiled cheekily.

"Are you dumb?" Audrey asked.

Lake nodded, "Yes. For you, I’m a dumb ass. Just so you know, if you’re ever sulking at me, I doubt it will ever happen; but if it does, there’s nothing like space or distancing, I’ll gumming you until the only thing you think of -"

"Shh, shut up, I get it, have some decency," She placed her hand over his mouth, smiling at Lawrence who was staring at them in entertainment.

"Audrey?" Leon called quietly.

Audrey suddenly remembered that Leon was saying something before Sandra and Lawrence arrived; she almost forgot about him.

"Oh, I’m sorry, Leon, did you want to say something to me?" She asked, smiling at him.

Leon nodded, "Yes. It’s about his brother, your cousin, Mark. He -"

"I did what, handsome?" Mark suddenly walked into the house, smiling sexily at Leon.

Leon paused, surprised at the coincidence. He refused to look Mark’s way, clenching his fists as he felt his heart skip a beat because of Mark’s voice.

He could sense that the mate pull was getting stronger by the seconds. That means he needed to speak to Audrey quickly before he couldn’t get himself to do it.

"Missed me, Sugar?" Mark asked as he walked over to Leon and raised his hand to touch his face.

However, Leon moved away before Mark’s hand could touch him; frowning, he walked over to stand in front of Audrey, still not looking at Mark.

"Audrey, can I speak to you privately?" He asked, giving her a desperate, helpless look.

"Sure," Audrey didn’t hesitate to agree.

She removed Lake’s from her side and stood from the sofa, taking Leon’s hand, she led him away from the living room, heading outside.

"You’re being cringe," Lake said, crossing his legs.

Mark chuckled and walked over to sit beside Lake, "Am I?" He asked, smirking.

Lake nodded, "Absolutely. I don’t blame the poor guy for not wanting you. I wouldn’t want you, too." He told Mark with a straight face.

Mark laughed, "Please, brother, never make such a reference again. If you were my mate... Damn, I can’t even let that image form in my head. I’d kill myself on the spot the moment I realise you were my mate." He shrugged and turned to Lawrence.

"Hi, Lawrence, you look scared. Did you do something to Sandra?" He teased.

Lawrence frowned, "Not your business." He replied, looking away.

"Hmm, I hope you’re that rude to her when she threatens to break up with you," Mark snickered.

"I wouldn’t worry about others if I were you, Mark. I’d be more concerned about your mate, who is obviously planning on how to run away from you," Lake smirked, looking out of the door.

Mark scoffed, "Run?" He chuckled, "You and I know he can’t run away from me; he’s just in his shock versus denial stage... he’ll come around." He said confidently.

Lake shook his head, "With someone like you? He’s definitely running, brother. Keep an eye on him, or... poof!" He made a vanishing sign with his hands, "He’s gone... forever." He smiled as he saw a little fear flash through Mark’s eyes.

Without saying a word, Mark stood and strode out of the house.

"I don’t like him, you’re a witch, right? Is there nothing you can do to dissolve this mate bond between us? I really don’t see myself spending the rest of my life with him... a man. Please,"

Mark slowed his steps as he approached Audrey and Leon by the side of the house; Leon’s words went right to his heart and cut him deeper than a knife would.

’Was he really condemning me before gender?’ Mark thought as he stood and stared at Leon begging Audrey to dissolve their bond, a sacred gift from the moon goddess.

Audrey already saw Mark, and she sensed his sadness and sighed. Holding Leon’s hand, she said, "How about you give Jim a chance? A month? I promise, if you still insist on being incompatible with him after a month, I will dissolve your bond, even wipe your memories so none of you ever remembers the other. Sound good?" She asked.

She was helping her cousin and her friend. Separation would hurt both of them, especially Mark who felt the hind more because he was a werewolf. Leon might be human, but Aydtey knew that he had started to feel the pull of the bond between them; separating from his mate would hurt him as well.

They were typically strangers who met each other for the first time last night. Leon’s reaction was understandable, plus, he’s been straight all his life, suddenly getting paired up with a man would come as a shock to him.

"No. I don’t want to give him any chances. He’s manipulating, too," Leon said, frowning.

Audrey bit her lip, feeling helpless as she saw Mark quietly taking a step back.

"Why did you say so?" She asked calmly.

"He said that mates aren’t supposed to refuse each other. No saying words like: no, reject, don’t want you. He said it’ll kill a mate instantly if it’s said. But just now, I say you saying no to Lake, kicking him, too, and Sandra is even threatening to break up with Lawrence. Yet, you still look fine to me," Leon looked pissed as he thought of how Mark had fooled him last night.

Audrey blinked for a while, sending Matk a bewildered look.

She cleared her throat, she had to help Mark, he was already starting to look like he would actually die if Leon refused him.

"Um, you see, he’s not wrong," Audrey places a hand on Leon’s shoulder, looking into his eyes.

Leon frowned, "He’s not?" He questioned, confused.

Aydrey nodded, "Yeah. We could say that tou our mates because we’ve already mated and marked them. We know we don’t mean them when we say those things, it would only harm us if it were said genuinely. Rejecting a marked mate has been recorded across history to have killed a lot of the rejected mates, it’s that brutal..." She sighed, folding her arms.

"It’s even worse for unmarked and unmated mates. Rejection torments them before it kills them. It’s like depriving your souls of that wholesomeness it thought it almost had. It would tear you from within. Sometimes, it doesn’t even kill them, it keeps them alive and turns them crazy, haunting them with the faves of their rejected lover, " She sighed deeply, shaking her head.

"Poor, Mark. He must be very scared now. But, if you’d just give him a month, stay with him, spend time together. At the end, if he’s really someone you can’t be with, I’ll grant your wish and disconnect your souls. So? What’s going to be?" She asked gently.

Leon furrowed his brows, "I don’t know... I don’t want..." he paused as he felt a hand gently wrapping around his wrist.

Looking to his side, he frowned as he saw Mark staring at him with unreadable eyes.

"Leave me alone," He said, glaring down at his caged wrist.

"Please, Leon. A month, just like she said. If you still don’t want me after that, I’ll willingly accept your rejection," Mark spoke tenderly, looking into Leon’s eyes and slowly rubbing his thumb over Leon’s hand.

"You don’t have to get her to wipe our memories, even if remembering you would hurt like hell, I’ll take that instead of not remembering you at all. Please, just a month with me is all I ask," Mark pleaded, his playfulness long gone.

He meant what he said, if Leon really still refused to be with him after a month, then there would be no need to mark someone who doesn’t accept the matebond, it would be an unhealthy and unhappy union.

He would let Leon go after a month, that is, if that’s what he insisted on.

Leon stared at Mark and saw how serious he looked, his words were pretty convincing.

Plus, now that Msrk was the one asking, he couldn’t even say no to him... the situation kept getting messier.

"A month it is. But you have to keep your distance from me. Well just wait till a month passes," He gently removed his hand from Mark’s gentle grasp.

"Don’t follow me," Leon warned and walked away.

Mark stared at Leon as he left, a small smile playing on his lips.

"You’re welcome, you bloody liar," Audrey punched Mark’s shoulder.

"Ouch, that hurts!" He grunted, blinking at her.

"Did you have to make all those up? Now I had to keep up with your dumb lies," Audrey glared at him.

Mark frowned, "I wasn’t lying. I’d lose my mind if he rejects me. So, I’m just taking precautions not to let it get to that extent." He leaned down and pecked Audrey’s head, "I owe you one, thanks." He said and walked off in the direction Leon had gone.

There was no way he was keeping any distance between them for this one month.

’Distance makes the heart grow fonder?’ Not in this case.

It was more like ’Out of sight, out of mind.’ And he didn’t want to ever be out of Leon’s mind.