Beauty and The Beta (Bailey)
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Chapter 3 – Bailey

Three Years Later

I drove the long road down to pack. I hated this drive. It was like returning to hell for me. LotusShadow Pack. My very own version of hell. Though, three years away, studying had been trulyamazing. Transforming myself into the woman I 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 replaceing your fated mate.Settling down with them and creating a strong matebond. A love. A family. Well, once I had come toaccept that my naïve, teenage dreams would never surface, thanks to the moon goddess pairingme with a mate so incapable of loving anyone other than himself, I decided that my focus would bemy career. My education had always been something I took great pride in. I loved to learn, and Ihad decided that I wanted to pass that gift along. I no longer cared what others thought of me. And,while at university, it felt so wonderful to be surrounded by others who felt the same way. I finally feltlike I fit in somewhere.

And, I believe that is what allowed me to become the person I was meant to be. However, now, Ihad to return to my pack, at their orders. The agreement was, once I had completed my degree, Iwould return home. Unless, of course, I had found my fated mate. But, I knew within my heart, thatwas never to happen. For, my fated mate sat at home. Lording it over our pack. Acting like he wasthe best thing since sliced bread. Sleeping with any she-wolf that came near him, from what I 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.

I frowned at him. I do not think I have been asked for ID before when returning home, even in all thetimes I have visited home, though in all fairness, those visits have been few and far between. Myvisits were only when they were required of me. I had grown to loathe this place, and coming backhad become less of a priority for me over the time I was away…

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

Harley looked at me closer. “Sh it. Sorry Bailey, didn’t really recognize you there. You changed yourhair. And you aren’t wearing your glasses. You look good.” He says with a shrug, quickly lookingaway, clearly embarrassed by his faux-pas.

I smirk at his response. Yes, my hair is somewhat tamer than it used to be. The curls straightenedout, and my hair now neat and sleek down my back. My glasses I had worn for reading had beenlong gone. Having got my eyes fixed with laser eye surgery whilst away. Plus, I now wore a littlesimple make-up to accentuate my features. Nice to know somebody has noticed a difference…

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

He grins at me. “I think I know who you are. Nice to see you.” he nods at me in acknowledgment asthe gate opens for me. “Maybe catch you around while you are back.” He adds as I begin to driveaway.

I smiled in response, I guess there would be nothing to stop me catching up with any guy I wantedto now. Not that I was really bothered right now… but it was not like I had a fated mate to wait forany longer. And it wasn’t like Miles was making a point of staying single. Every time I had returnedhome, he had had a different she-wolf on his arm. Parading them through pack like a prizedpossession, only to have traded her in by the time I returned on my next visit. He was turning intoquite the lothario. And quite a joke in my eyes.

I set off along the quiet, familiar roads of our sweet old pack. The evening sun was settling in thesky as I moved my car down the route to my family home. No doubt my Mum would be there waitingfor me, perhaps my Dad, if he was in from work by now. My brother and sister, I was unsure. Theystill both lived at home with my parents, but were back and forth to friends’ homes and my brotherwas looking to move into the Beta suite in the packhouse soon enough, in preparation for taking onthe role from my father when the time came. Either way, they rarely bothered to rush home to seeme when they knew I was returning. I don’t think seeing me was at the top of their priority list…

I pulled my car up on the street in front of my familiar family home. I could not believe I was home.Stuck back here. The dread within my stomach churned heavily at the prospect of many years stuckhere. Miserable and unhappy, with no way out, now my fated mate had rejected me. Not thatanyone other than Miles and I knew of that. No. He had decided he would be considered weak ifothers knew an Alpha had gone against the powerful Moon Goddess’s choice. So, this was oursecret. Or he would make me pay in ways I did not want to imagine, apparently.

And, in all honesty, I did not want to think of it. He had allowed me to go away to do my degree.Doing the final bit of convincing when my Uncle, the current Alpha, and Miles’s father, along with myparents were on the fence. Or, so he said. How true that was, I 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 allowed me to fulfill my dream of gaining my degreeof teaching away from pack. To allow me to be just me, not the daughter of the pack Beta. And Ihave thrived because of it. But, now, I had to return. Back to where I belonged. And, while I mayhave gained my degree, I had no real future prospects. I was likely stuck here.

I stepped from the car, determined more than ever to replace work, as I heard my Mum’s voice.“Bailey!” she greeted me from the porch steps, a big smile upon her face. “You look beautifulsweetheart.”

I smiled back at her, as I moved toward the front door. Only to see Miles leaving the house nextdoor to ours. The Alpha home. Could I have timed my arrival home any worse?

His eyes met mine, giving me a dark stare before looking at my Mum. “Hi Aunt Brianna. You didn’tsay she was home today.”

Mum smiled at Miles like she thought the world of him, though most of the time she generally did.“Ah, I think it slipped my mind. Bailey is home for good now, Miles. How wonderful is that?”

Once more, Miles gave me a dark stare. “Hmmm. Truly wonderful.” he said with some seriouscontempt in his voice.

‘You stay out of my way unless I say otherwise, you understand?’ Miles mindlinks me, as he movestoward his car.

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

“Oh it doesn’t matter, Aunt Brianna. Bailey will be excused this time. I am sure she is tired from herdrive back home. But no doubt I will be seeing her around. And yes, she will have to get used to meas her senior. Her Alpha.” He says with a sneer, and at his words my stomach twists into knots. Idon’t think I can stay here… I not only need to replace work, I need to replace work away from my pack, soI can move away to get away from my psychotic Alpha and ex-mate!