Fated To The Alpha (Ezra, Katya)

Read Fated To The Alpha [by Jessica Hall] Chapter 212 – POV

5 years later,

The high-pitched scream made me look u p from washing the dishes to look out the kitchen window. Marley and Alicia were out the back playing with the twins. Eziah, my social butterfly, squirts Marley with his water gun. Her scream rang out loudly as she ran away; the twins are six now and couldn’t be more opposite to each other; kids at school always surrounded Eziah. Marabella, however, was socially awkward, but still, she did her best to fit in and made a few friends; I had invited their friends over to play, having been a rather rough week for them. We had another rogue a****k, the fourth in the last two weeks, and tensions have been running high.

I chuckle to myself watching Eziah chase after Alicia and Marley squirting them, Marabella sat in the sandpit, playing with her bucket and pale before tossing it across the sandpit. My brows furrow as I watch her. She looks over her shoulder before slipping her gloves off and molding the sand to make a castle.

When I hear the doorbell ring loudly, I look over my shoulder, and I quickly dry my hands on a teatowel before going to answer the door. My face split into a grin when I saw Jasmine standing on the doorstep.

“Why didn’t you just let yourself in?” I ask her. Jasmine and I were still close, but something had been off with her lately. She and her mate had been having issues. I understood her mate’s concerns, but I also felt it was a little unreasonable. Marabella was a child. She wasn’t dangerous to anyone, not intentionally anyway.

“The lock must have clicked; I tried to open it,” Jasmine answers, stepping inside and closing the door behind her; I head back to the kitchen to turn the kettle on.

“Coffee?” I ask her.

“Yes, please, wait, is that Alicia?” Jasmine asks me, and I glance out the window while I fill the kettle up.

“Yeah, I invited her over, so Marabella had someone to play with.”

“So they are friends again, that’s good then?” Jasmine says, sitting down at the kitchen table.

“What do you mean, they have always been friends?” I asked her, slightly confused; Marabella told me Alicia was her friend, so did Eziah.

“Oh, maybe Marley was wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing, she is a good kid, she came over the other day, but Marley said Alicia always picks on Marabella at school,” Jasmine tells me, and I turn to look over at her.

“Maybe Marabella forgot to tell me they argued,” I wondered; I would have to ask her about it later. I poured the coffee and milk into the mugs when Jasmine shrieked, jumping up and nearly knocking the dining table chair over as she rushed out the sliding doors. I followed to see what happened, only to see Jasmine rush toward the sandpit. “Marley!”

I glance at the girls playing in the sandpit when Jasmine stalks over to the sandpit ripping Marley out by her arm.

“What have I told you? You know not to get too close when she hasn’t got her gloves on,” She scolds. Marley seemed confused as she looked down at Marabella. Marabella hangs her head, reaching for her gloves.

“I will put them back on the sand, it is hard to play with, “Marabella tells Jasmine and Jasmine turns to look down at her, a sad smile on her face and her cheeks blushing.

“Sorry, sweetie. I didn’t mean it like that,”

Then how did you mean it, Jasmine? I could only interpret one meaning of what you said,”

“Kat, come on. You know better than anyone else. You said she would have her gloves on, now I will have to….you know what never mind. Come on, Marley, we should head home,” Jasmine says, tugging her daughter’s hand and rushing off the side of the packhouse, Marabella looks down at her hands before glancing back at Jasmine and Marley’s retreating form.

“I wasn’t going to touch her, Mumma,”

“I know, sweetheart, you did nothing wrong,” I told her. Eziah reaches over and grabs her hand and I see him squeeze it.

“I will start making lunch,” I tell the kids; I will deal with Jasmine later. Marabella did nothing wrong, and I didn’t like how she reacted in front of my daughter. It irritated me that everyone was so frightened by her, she is a child. Yet fear makes people respond in different ways; as much as I hated to admit it, Marabella was treated differently by most people, yet it couldn’t be helped and I tried my best t o lessen the gut-wrenching blows when parents said no to letting their kids play.

After the first few times, I learned. Marabella would ask to have a playdate and be all excited and ask me to ring their parents. The look on her face broke my heart so I never asked front of her anymore. After a while she stopped asking, so I felt relief when Alicia’s mother agreed for her to come over. I didn’t particularly like her mother, she was pretty rude and didn’t seem to differentiate between being too nosy and just plain rude sometimes, plus she was a gossip. If you wanted the entire town t o know something, all you had to do was mention it to Ayla and that would guarantee it would be around town by the end of the day and a more elaborate exaggerated version.

Walking inside, I grabbed the bread from the pantry and made sandwiches for the kids, hearing the front door open. I was relieved when I smelt Ezra’s scent waft to me; signally he was home. Turning around to greet him, I was startled when Marabella rushed inside, tearing past me and nearly knocking me over. Her face streaked with tears. I could just make out Eziah yelling at Alicia as I took off after her. She races down the hallway beside the stairs only to run into her father.

on?” Ezra asks. Marabella’s is covered in sand, and

wrong?” He asks, kneeling next to her, but Marabella

walks in, saying

next to Ezra and peering down

all hate me. Everyone

I chew my lip, watching worriedly. This wasn’t the first time

am a freak,

her say things like that. We all did, she was Six, no child should feel hated, and we tried to shield her from the judgement, but it was near impossible when she had a

i s being the bigger one and not rising to the hurtful words, trying to ignore it. Ezra once lost his temper, but I don’t blame him for that time. If he didn’t k**l the a******e, one of us would have. It was an Alpha meeting and we brought the kids to play with the other Pack Alphas children when one man, who had no

the time. “She should have been put down at birth” The growl that left Ezra as Maddox pushed forward still

had anything to say. None did; none were game enough, too, after watching the man get torn apart, his d**d, bleeding body at Ezra’s feet while he was drenched in blood. I shake the memory

one can touch me,” Marabella shrleks as Ezra tears the gloves off her hands; Marabella

skip a beat as Marabella tries to rip her hands away. Ezra grabs them, pressing

but he refuses to let her hands go that are placed on either side of his face.

“Dad, please,” Marabella begs.

it.” Ezra tells

while sobbing, and Ezra hushes her softly until she calms down and finally stops crying. He pulls her to him,

hall toward the kitchen, and Mateo wanders off out the back. Yes, it was best if Mateo returned her to her mother; mine and Ezra’s tempers quickly erupted. Now, knowing Alicia had something to do with her being upset, I didn’t trust myself not to give her mother the spanking her daughter deserves. I despised bullies; Marabella was a

you,” Ezra tells her, and she nods against his

***********

Another ten years later,

Sixteen-years-old.

Marabella POV

they were good pretenders. They always were when my brother was around, I gave up trying to tell him they hated me, that he should just have lunch by himself without me around. He couldn’t see the way they treated me when no one was looking, no one to back me

will come with you,” I tell him, picking up

Then we can head to English together,”

I headed for the library and nearly walked in when I spotted Alicia through the glass doors. She was talking excitedly, and I looked

day to come. My brother had his wolf already. Mum said I had to wait until I was eighteen. It seemed unfair; at least then I would

one. Pushing the bathroom door open, I listen for any voices before walking to the far cubicle, slipping inside, pushing the toilet lid down, and sitting down. Grabbing my bag off my shoulder, I pull

the middle of replying when my phone started ringing in my hand. I can’t help the smile that splits onto my face when I see

“Hey, Jonah,”

didn’t you write back?”

was your favorite person,” He pauses for

friend, not my favorite person; that spot is reserved for you,” He tells me, and I can’t help the way my cheeks heat. Gosh, I was pathetic. He is m y cousin, well not technically. We were in no way blood relations. He is adopted but still, it was kind of weird, and he was twenty-two and saw me as his geeky cousin the way he should

Jonah asks me, and I sigh. The bell saved me from

be there?”

usual crowd,” he

like me. He just glares; I had no idea why he hated me. Not like I haven’t tried to get along with him. He just took an instant dislike to me the moment I met him, it had been three years since I last saw him, and my stop

assignment due on Monday, “I told him, unlocking the cubicle door and heading out for

okayed it” He tells me as I step into the hall only to run directly into Alicia. She flicks her blonde hair over her shoulder before glaring at me, her foundation a shade darker than her skin, making

myself from dropping the phone, “Watch it, s***k,” she spits at me, She walks off, and I watch her leave when

alright?” Jonah

wasn’t talking to me,” I lied while adjusting my

am late for class,” I tell

says, and I quickly hang up before sending him a text and telling him I would

to class, Eziah walks around the corner up ahead and

you been? Everyone said

mine. Eziah leads us to our English class rattling on about something Marley did, it was apparent he had a crush on her, and I listened despite her being one

I finished school. Nope, once I have my wolf, we are going rogue and finding some forest to be free in, free from everyone, free from the whispers, the stares. I couldn’t wait until I got my wolf; I wouldn’t need

be alright to head home by yourself,” He says, and

unease out of my voice at having to catch the bus home by

back higher and walking toward the bus shelter. Seeing everyone lined up waiting and talking amongst