Chapter 1 -Love Riding Dicks

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"Mate!"

My muscles tensed when he said the word for the second time. I''d known Flynn Winchester since we were kids—we used to meet at the playground, and that went on for years. He was the only constant in my life. It had been incredible when we recently felt the mate bond kick in.

"Come on! Do it!" he grinned, cornering me by the lockers. It was my first day of senior year. I was a nervous wreck because I''d been homeschooled my entire life. High school felt like a zoo to me, and I was the new exhibit for everyone else.

Luckily, my mom had talked to Mrs. Winchester about my first day, so Alpha Flynn picked me up at the entrance.

"Here?" I asked, glancing around the empty hallway.

"It''s empty. Don''t you want to be accepted by your popular alpha mate on your first day?" he insisted, and I couldn''t help but nod weakly. He looked amazing in his red and gold letterman jacket. Being an Alpha had made him popular here, and it would be nice to have someone in my corner to help me navigate this new world.

"I, Beatrice Mintz, accept you as my mate." I did exactly what he told me to. My body stretched as I went up on my tiptoes to reach his lips. This was going to be my first kiss ever. I had no idea how people kissed, but I trusted him.

My lips hadn''t even touched his when I felt a sharp crack of pain across my cheek as he slapped me hard enough to send me sprawling.

I hit the floor with a thud and touched my burning cheek. There was something wet on my face. When I pulled my hand away and looked at it, I realized it was shaving cream he''d smeared on me while slapping me.

Less than a minute later, cheers erupted in the hallway. Everyone poured out of the classrooms around me, laughing and pointing.

I was mortified. I looked at everyone with tear-filled eyes, then at Flynn, who was still smirking down at me. It was hard to accept that my childhood friend had chosen to humiliate me just to look cool.

"That''s how you treat a bitch," another guy stepped out from behind Alpha Flynn. He was taller than Flynn and had everyone bowing to him with respect. I could tell he was even more popular than Flynn.

"What are you staring at, freak?" the guy growled when he caught me looking at him in shock. It wasn''t hard to figure out that Flynn and his friend had planned this whole thing to bully me on my first day.

What I couldn''t understand was why.

"She actually thought an alpha would accept her," a girl laughed, making me cover my face and sob quietly. This was my first experience with a crowd, and this is what I got.

"Bullying got her all hot and bothered," another girl commented, and I buried my face in my hands.

"I bet she loves riding—" another voice made my cheeks burn red with embarrassment.

"Aww! Look at her. Poor thing''s crying. Did you really think Zane''s friend would accept you?" The other guy introduced himself with a grin. It was in that moment when he leaned over me that I saw his icy gray eyes gleaming down at me. He had a sharp, knife-like jawline that could cut glass.

"Everyone out! Didn''t you hear the bell ring?" A teacher finally showed up and scattered the crowd. Sadly, he didn''t bother to ask if I was okay.

I scrambled to my feet and ran toward the exit without looking back. This wasn''t how I''d imagined my day would end. I rushed through the gates and spotted my mom''s Honda Civic parked in the distance.

The second I threw myself into the car, my mom turned to look me over. "What happened to you? How did you get foam in your hair?" She must have sensed something was wrong from the way I was sobbing.

"They bul—bullied me. Fly—Flynn humiliated me," I was hyperventilating and spilling everything to my mom—except the whole truth.

I never told my mother that I''d felt the mate bond with Flynn. Mom never really liked the idea of me talking about finding a mate. She was always telling me to save myself and stay pure for someone special. I didn''t know what she meant by that, so I just listened to her. Today''s incident made me wish I''d stayed obedient—I would have avoided this humiliation.

"That''s why his mother was acting so bitchy on the phone today. I should have known they didn''t want us bothering them anymore. Anyway, don''t worry about it," Mom hissed, zoning out for a moment.

"Don''t worry about anything anymore. Things are going to change for us. You''ll have someone to protect you from these bullies every day," she said with a strained smile. She started driving to our next destination while I sat in silence, tears coming and going.

She had our bags packed in the backseat. We''d talked about moving for a while, but I didn''t know we were leaving today.

"Where are we going?" I asked in confusion. She''d gotten me enrolled and decided to move out of our house all in one day.

"Not far, just somewhere better. Beatrice, remember I told you I was seeing someone? Well, I think it''s time I introduced you to him," she smiled to herself as she drove us toward the beautiful, sprawling mansion of Lord Vasquez.