Cursed To The Alpha

Chapter 50

Jackson, one of Brad’s friends, walks past with a tray full of food.

Brad swiftly takes it from him, ‘Thanks Bro, I owe you one,’ he says.

‘But, that was- ‘ Jackson is cut off from the warning glare. Brad gives him and walks away.

Brad places the tray in front of me and sits beside me, ‘I thought I should get you lunch for a change,’ he smiles.

‘How sweet of you….’ I say, trying not to let on that I know he just blatantly stole his friend's lunch.

‘I know,’ he says.

Xander scoffs and rolls his eyes, Brad looks up at him, and they share a glowering look at one another. With my friends by my side, I figure now is the best time to tell Brad about our camping trip.

‘So, Brad. Over the break. I will be going away camping for a while,’ I say as I casually pick a sandwich up and bite.

‘For how long?’ he asks with a hint of agitation.

‘The entire two weeks, most likely,’ I reply.

Brad’s eyebrows furrow, ‘I don’t want you around a group of other people for that long. I’ll go too,’ he says.

‘You can’t. It’s girls only,’ I reply firmly.

I can feel his eyes burning into me, but I ignore him and eat.

‘Don’t you think you should have discussed this with me first? I am your partner, after all,’ he says, annoyed but trying to keep his cool in front of everyone.

‘No, you’re my boyfriend. I’m also an adult. I don’t even need my mother’s permission to go, so I never thought to ask you.’

‘What if I have made plans for us already, babe?’ he says lovingly.

‘Well, if you have. You must cancel them, as I won’t be available,’ I tell Brad.

‘I want you to cancel this girls' camping trip. You don’t need to go. You need to consult me in the future. Don’t you want us to spend time together? I thought you wanted to be with me?’ he says.

Xander, Janie and Imogen frown at one another.

‘Of course, I want to spend more time together and be with you. I just need to have this camping trip so I can then spend more time with you. So, you see. I can’t cancel it, but the wait will be worth it, I promise,’ I smile.

‘That doesn’t even make sense. Going means less time with me. So, you could not go and spend that time with me instead,’ Brad says.

‘I can’t cancel. It’s important I go,’ I tell Brad.

‘No, you don’t have to go. We can discuss it later in private,’ Brad says.

The silence is awkward. Brad helps himself to the food on my tray, pulls out his phone, and texts me. I take my phone and read the message. My heart sinks as I read his words.

‘I love you, Rose. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’d feel more comfortable knowing you were by my side in my bed, where I prefer you to be. Please think about it. I love you too much to argue and want us to be happy. I’m sorry I care so much about you. I love you.’

I feel guilt creeping up again and try to swallow it down. Although I know I have to go to Felderia. I reply to his text to buy some time, ‘I’ll think about it. I want us to be happy too,’ I type and send.

He smiles, leans over and sweetly kisses my cheek.

We all meet back at Janie’s house after spending the last hour shopping at a costume store for clothing items to wear to Felderia. We place our purchases by Janie’s dresser, and then Imogen and I sit on the floor with our backs against Janie’s bed. Mister Kal sprawls out in the sunshine on the balcony while Janie and Xander stare at me silently, with worry, then glance at each other to say something.

‘Why are you all staring at am as if I’m going to claw your faces off?’ I ask.

Janie elbows Xander, ‘Rose hates my guts. I think I’m the last person she’d want to hear it from,’ he says.

Janie then stares at Imogen, ‘You’ve known Rose your whole life. I think it’s best she hears it from you,’ Imogen says.

‘Oh, fine,’ Janie sulks and stares at me.

It’s clear she’s uncomfortable with what she’s about to say to me.

Janie takes a deep breath. ‘Since you’ve been with Brad, I’ve noticed he’s not as nice as I thought he’d be. Xander and Imogen also worry about how much control Brad wants over you. He seems very hot and cold. Angry one minute, then sweet the next.’

‘So, Brad was fine before dating me, and now that he’s dating me, he’s become awful, so it’s because of me he’s like this?’ I ask them, worried.

‘No! That’s not what we’re implying at all, Rose,’ Janie panics. ‘What I’m saying is I think Brad might be emotionally manipulating you, which is not okay and certainly has nothing to do with you at all! It just seems to be his personality,’ she says.

‘It’s not Brad’s fault. It hasn’t been easy for him or me. It’s because of these stupid ears and tail I have to be more reserved around him. I can’t give him what he wants while I’m like this. Brad and I will be fine. Once I’m human again, you’ll see how happy I’ll make him,’ I tell Janie.

Janie shakes her head at me, disapproving of what I had just said, ‘But, Rose. What about you? What do you want? Do you want to take the next step with him too, or is it something he only wants? You want to make him happy, but I don’t feel he is interested in making you happy,’ she says.

I look away, sad at the thought of Brad not wanting to make me happy, but Brad told me he loves me, so it doesn’t make sense.

‘Janie, I don’t think you know what you’re talking about, and Brad and I will be fine. So, can we please focus on Felderia?’ I then say, staring at Xander.

‘Alright, now that we got that awkward conversation out of the way, we can move on to the next subject. Felderia!’ Xander exclaims.

Janie gives Xander a chiding stare.