Girl With The Alpha Mate

Chapter 3

Ryker's POV

The Next Monday...

"Ugh, I just don't understand it." I huff, banging my fist on the cafeteria table.

"Just don't think about it," Steven says.

"Don't think about it?! How am I not supposed to think about it? She is my mate. She is all I think about. I'm here, and she is off with another guy who doesn't even appreciate her. This sucks." I huff, running my hands thru my hair in frustration. It's really been bothering me today.

"Speaking of..." Micah says, looking towards the door.

I turn around to see Alyssa walking into the crowded cafeteria while texting.

"Alyssa!" I call out to her while standing up. She doesn't hear me and walks the other way. "Alyssa, wait!" I run up to her. She gasps, putting her hand on her chest.

"Ryker, gosh, you scared me for a second." she laughs.

"Sorry." I apologize.

"It's ok."

"Want to hang out with my friends and me?" I offer.

"It's ok. I don't want to intrude on your guy time." Alyssa says, shaking her head and waving her hands in front of her.

"Come on; I want you to hang out with us." I grab her hand that's right in front of me. I can't help it; I just want to touch her.

"Are you sure?" she asks.

"What would you be doing if you didn't eat with us?" I ask, playing with her fingers a little bit.

"Normally, I use this time to do some work." She answers.

"You work on your lunch break?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm always struggling to finish my work on time. Speaking of, did you do the homework for calc class?" She asks.

"Yeah, I did the homework that was due today." I nod.

"Great. I have one problem left that I got stuck on" she smiles at me.

"I'll help you if you sit with my friends and me," I offer.

"Fine, that would be great." She smiles.

"Alyssa, these are my friends, Steven and Micah." I introduce them once we get back to our table.

"Hey," they both wave.

"Hey, I'm Alyssa."

"Oh, we know." Micah nods.

"What?" Alyssa asks, looking at me confused.

"Do you want to go get food?" I ask.

"No, I'm ok."

"You're not going to eat?" I ask.

"No, I just am going to do my homework." she shrugs.

"Ok. Now, what problem did you need help with?" I ask as we sit down.

"Question 1," she says, sitting down next to me and sorting through her bag.

"Question 1? Every other question was based on that answer. Did you do any of the homework?" I ask

"No. I meant to, but I fell asleep. I was just going to get it all done now."

"Do you always leave your homework to be done right before class starts?" I laugh.

"No, I try not to, but I got busy then fell asleep. And I set up my schedule so I didn't have lunch with any of my friends so I could focus on work," she explains. "I think I can do it on my own I just need to concentrate for a minute," she says.

"Ok, I'm here to help if you need me." I offer.

She reads silently for a moment."I need you" I feel like my heart stopped. My mate needs me. I love that.

She scoots a little bit closer to me and points at the page. "So right here, the derivative..."

I helped Alyssa with homework then, unfortunately, we both had different classes to go to. But I got to walk her to her other class, which was nice. But now it's time for the class we have together. I got here early, so I'm not wasting any precious time with her.

"Hey, how's the homework going?" I ask when she walks in the room over to her seat next to me.

"Good, I'm almost done. I have three steps left in the last problem," she says. I watch as she pulls out her homework and finishes it fast.

"Aaannnnnndd.... done," she says, sitting up straighter and smiling at me.

"That's good!" I smile back at her.

"Thanks for helping me during lunch. That was nice of you. Luke took this class before, and I asked for his help last night, but he wasn't very helpful." she says.

"He wouldn't help you when you asked?"

"Well, he just ended up falling asleep. Then I fell asleep." she shrugs.

"He slept over at your place last night?" I ask, trying to keep myself from growling.

"Yeah." she shrugs.

"Ohh," I say, taking slow, deep breaths.

"It's fine, though. It was pretty late by the time I got around to doing my homework anyway. He was tired." she says, digging thru her bag.

"I don't understand you. He is a jackass. Why do you stay with him?" I ask.

"Not that it's any of your business. But it's complicated," she says, reading her phone. She puts her hand over her mouth as she continues to read.

I need to know why she doesn't think she deserves better than him. "No, it's not. He doesn't treat you like you should be treated. He cheats on you every chance he gets and expects you to be ok with it. That's not right" I fight for her since she won't fight for herself. I look at her face to see her suddenly looking very upset and worried. "I didn't mean to be so blunt, but it's true," I say much softer.

"I have to go," she says, standing up suddenly, grabbing her things, then running out of the room.

"What, why?" I ask, looking at her in shock.

She continues to run away from me. I get up and chase after her. "You upset, mate. Fix it." Dex growls at me. I run down the hall, trying to catch up to her.

I follow her out into the parking lot. "Pick up, Luke," Alyssa says into the phone she has held up to her ear. "Either my calls or your mom's. Come on, Luke, think for just like one minute," she says, getting frustrated.

"What's wrong? Where are you going?" I ask, grabbing her shoulders and making her focus on me.

"What?" Alyssa huffs.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Now please just tell me how I can fix this, so you're not mad at me." I tell her.

"What?" she asks, looking confused.

"I'm sorry ok?"

"Sorry for what?" she asks.

"For saying things about your relationship that upset you... even if it was the truth." I explain.

"What? You didn't upset me?" she says, looking around again.

"You're not mad at me? You leaving class didn't have anything to do with me?" I ask.

"No," she shakes her head.

"Then what's going on? What are you looking for?" I ask.

"Luke. I need to go," she answers.

"Why?"

"I need to go, and he is my ride," she explains.

"He is probably off messing around with some girl behind your back," I say.

"You don't think I know that!? Of course, I know that!" she yells at me.

"Then you should break up with him! Don't you get that I like you? Give me a chance, and I'll show you what a princess you should be treated like. Why won't you give me a chance?" I say, grabbing her chin making her look at me.

"Now is not the time for this. I have to go." she huffs, moving away from me.

"I'll give you a ride; where do you want to go?" I offer.

"There you are! We have to go," the girl that is friends with my mate says, running up to Alyssa and grabbing her hand, pulling Alyssa away from me. "Mom called when my i***t brother didn't pick up his phone. Let's go."

"Mate just walked away from us," Dex says sadly.

"At least she didn't leave with the boyfriend." I sigh.

"She left with the boyfriend's sister, though. And boyfriend spent the night with her last night." Dex growls.

I know." I sigh

"I want him dead."

"I agree. But we can't risk Mate hating us for hurting him." I sigh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alyssa's POV

I look at Ryker as Kaylin pulls me away towards her car. Why am I so worried about him right now? I shouldn't be concerned about him. Ugh, Luke, why couldn't you just answer your phone when I needed you? That way, Ryker would have left me alone.

"Where were you? I was looking for you everywhere? My mom was calling me nonstop when she couldn't get a hold of Luke." Kaylin says, pulling out of the parking lot.

"I was looking for Luke. I knew you were still in class."

"Well, my brother is an i***t. Mom and I knew you needed a ride, so I left it." Kaylin says.

"Thanks."

"It's fine. It's a boring class anyway." Kaylin shrugs. She glances at me then smiles. "Soooooo.... who was that?" she asks, getting all excited.

"A friend from class. He followed me after I left class." I explain.

"You were yelling at each other you didn't seem so friendly." Kaylin comments.

"Yeah, I guess so" I sigh

"Well, he is hot." Kaylin smiles.

"I have a boyfriend." I remind her.

"Yeah, my piece of s**t, brother. I know."

"He isn't. He helps with the boys sometimes. And your mom watches them for me while I'm in class." I defend him.

"And he cheats on you constantly. Seriously why do you stay with him?" Kaylin asks.

"He is a good boyfriend."

"Yeah, maybe three years ago before you're parents died. But ever since, he has just been cheating on you nonstop. You barely talk about anything other than the boys. You barely act like a couple anymore." Kaylin says.

"That's not true." I sigh, looking down at my hands and playing with my fingers. "He is nice in the morning and when he gives me a ride to school."

"So 20 minutes a day of him treating you somewhat good then sticking his tongue down another girl's throat is perfectly acceptable to you? I know that's harsh, but you're my best friends; I love you and want what's best for you." Kaylin says.

"It used to bother me but not anymore. I understand why now." I shrug.

"Understand what?" Kaylin asks.

"He is a guy. Guys have needs. And I just don't have the time for that and work and the boys and school. He doesn't feel like a priority in my life, and that's my fault." I explain.

"That's bullshit!" Kaylin scoffs. "He cheats because he is a horny bastard who can't keep it in his pants and knows that you won't say anything. For what it's worth, I think you deserve better and should break up with him." Kaylin argues.

I sit quietly for the rest of the car ride. She doesn't understand. How could she? I honestly hope she never understands, but I need Luke, and I love Luke. Kaylin looks at me and sighs. "We're here. I'm going to go to your house and get stuff ready for the boys," she says softly as she pulls her car into her driveway.

"Thanks." I nod.

Kaylin walks away to my house, and I stand by her car, taking a few deep breaths. I wish everyone would leave me alone about this. Don't they get that it is embarrassing and humbling for everyone to know that I'm not even good enough for my own boyfriend? It's ok, calm down, Alyssa. I made it thru worse. I can make it thru this too. Ok, let's go.

I walk into their house. "Gigi! Boys!" I call out.

Dylan and Aiden run into the living room and hug my legs. "Hey, babies! How are you?" I ask.

"Mommy Bryson and Callum are sick," Dylan says.

"They threw up. It was gross." Aiden adds.

"I know. I heard. How are you two? Feeling ok?" I ask, feeling both their foreheads. Neither of them feels warm.

"Yeah," Dylan nods.

"Hey," Gigi says.

"Hey, how are they?" I ask.

"Well, it started with Callum getting sick, but while you were on your way here, Bryson got sick too.."

"ok," I nod.

"I have been trying to keep Aiden and Dylan away from Bryson and Callum, so they didn't get sick too," Gigi says.

"You're a nurse and a mom. What do you think it is?" I ask.

"In my professional opinion... The flu."

"What do I do?" I ask worriedly.

"For starters, try to keep the healthy ones away from the sick ones. But they are constantly together, so I think it's only a matter of time before they get sick." Gigi points to Aiden and Dylan, who are still holding onto my legs.

"Ok. How long do you think it will last?"

"A few days. Let's just hope that you and the boys don't keep passing it back and forth. I'll try to help you as much as I can when I'm not at work." Gigi says.

"Thank you. Really, thank you for everything." I say again. "I'll take these two home, then be back for the other two. Kay is already at my house; she can watch these two while I'm getting the other two." I say.

"Ok," Gigi nods.

"Ok boys, come on, say bye to GiGi!" I say, grabbing their hands and walking them out the door. Ok, time to play nurse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryker's POV

A few days later... Friday...

I can't take this anymore. It's been days. I haven't seen my mate in days, and I don't have a way to contact her. Where is she? I spot her i***t boyfriend with some girl. What if he did something to her?

Before I can stop myself, I grab him, throw him against the wall and hold his throat. "Where is she?" I growl.

"Who?" Luke splays dumb.

"Alyssa. Where is Alyssa?" I yell.

"Why do you want to know where my girlfriend is?" he grunts, trying to pull my hand from his throat.

"You have the audacity to call her your girlfriend while your arm is around some other girl. Your piece of s**t. Can't you see that she is too good for you?" I growl.

"Back off, dude." Luke pushes at me.

"Not until you tell me where she is."

"It's none of your business."

"Fine, I'm just going to make you tell me," I threaten.

"Stop!" the girl that's friends with my mate asks, pushing us apart. "Luke, get out of here, you jackass." she shoves Luke away.

"Fine. Just keep him away from me." Luke glares at me, putting his arm over the random girl.

"Sorry about that. He's an ass." the girl says, then walks away.

"Wait, I want to talk to you." I stop her.

"What's up? Who are you? Oh, wait! You know Alyssa." she says, pointing at me.

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Where is she? She hasn't come to class the whole week. I'm worried about her." I say.

"Don't be. She is fine." Kaylin says.

"No offense, but why should I trust you when you are that scumbag's sister," I ask.

"That's understandable. But for the record, I don't like how he treats her any more than you do." the girl says.

"I want to see her."

"Nows not a good time," she says, sounding worried.

Ring. Ring.

"I have to take this," she says, holding up her phone. "Hey, what's up?" she asks into the phone.

"Can you do me a huge favor and stop by the pharmacy? The boys need more medicine. I'd ask Luke, but he isn't answering his phone right now." I know that voice. That's Alyssa. She is alive! She is ok!

"Of course. I can do that, babe." the girl says, side-eyeing me.

"Who are you talking to? Is that Alyssa? Tell her hey." I say.

"It's nobody." the girl says suspiciously.

"Is that Ryker? Ummm.. my friend from class that I was talking to before you drove me home the other day." I hear Alyssa say.

"Yeah. He is asking about you," she says.

"Tell him I say hey. And tell him not to worry about me." Alyssa says.

"I already did that," she says into the phone. Then she takes the phone away from her ear and looks at me. "Alyssa says hey." Oh, I'm so happy.

"Hey..." I smile.

"He says hey."

"I have her assignments from this week and notes from class for her. Can I drop them off at her house of something?" I offer.

"You can give them to me. I'll take them to her." the girl says.

"Give what?" Alyssa asks over the phone.

"Your class notes and assignments." the girl says.

"Oh. Give him my address then. I can't fall behind in school." Alyssa says. Thank god for werewolf hearing.

"Ok, if you're sure, I'll tell him. I'll be there in an hour. Bye Lyssie," the girl says, then hangs up the phone.

"So?" I ask.

"I'll give you her address, and you can swing by in an hour." the girl says.

"Ok, I can do that. For sure!" I nod excitedly.

"Great. Here is her address. I've got to go," she says, handing me a piece of paper then walking away.

"We get to see mate in an hour!!!!" Dex cheers in my head.

~~~~~~~~~

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Oh, why am I so nervous to see my mate? Maybe it's because I haven't seen her in soooo long. I miss her so much.

The front door slowly opens to reveal Alyssa as beautiful as ever, even though she is just in sweatpants. "Hey," I smile.

"Hey!" she smiles.

"Hey. Your friend said that I could drop your stuff off here." I explain.

"Yeah, I know. Come on in," she says, opening the door wider and walking further into the house.

She leads me over to a couch and sits down. "Nice place you got here," I say truthfully while looking around. This is a nice house. It has to be her parents.

"Thanks." she nods.

"You live with your parents?" I ask.

"No," she shakes her head.

"This is a nice place for someone so young to have by themselves," I comment.

"Oh, ok, thanks, I think," Alyssa says awkwardly.

"So, where have you been all week? I've missed you in class. I have no one to talk to now. Is it something I said or did?" I ask.

"No, definitely not. I was busy. Sorry. I know that I must have looked insane last time I saw you." she laughs humorlessly.

"Busy with what?" I ask.

"Lyssa, I made snacks." the girl I talked to earlier walks into the room. "Hey, dude." she waves.

"Oh, you two haven't been properly introduced yet, have you? Kay, this is Ryker, my friend from class. Ryker, this is my best friend Kaylin, or Kay, or Kaylee. We have a lot of nicknames for each other." Alyssa says, looking between us.

"Yeah, we do. I mainly call her Lyssie, Lyssa, Lys, Momma, or when I'm feeling frisky, babe. Nice to officially meet you, Ryker." Kaylin says.

"Nice to meet you too." I smile at her.

"Ok, Lys, I'm going upstairs."

"Thanks for making snacks. And for stopping at the store." Alyssa turns around to look at Kaylin, who is walking up the stairs.

"What did I miss while I wasn't in class?" Alyssa asks, turning back to me.

"I can teach you. Kind of like a study buddy." I offer.

"That's nice of you to offer, but I rarely get time to sit down and just do school work. I don't expect you to waste your time waiting for me to be free to get around to doing school work. I can just try to figure it out on my own." Alyssa says, putting a strand of hair behind her ears.

"I don't mind helping you no matter how long it takes," I say as I hear the front door open behind me.

"Seriously? Why is he here?" Luke huffs once he sees me.

"He is helping me with some school work," Alyssa explains

"Yeah, whatever." Luke rolls his eyes.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off f*****g some girl in a broom closet?" I scoff.

"Yeah, that's what I've been doing since my classes ended. But she had to go, so I'm here now." Luke shrugs then walks behind the couch. He puts his filthy hands on my mate's shoulders. I look at her face to see her looking very sad. He is making her sad. "Those other girls mean nothing to me. You know that you're the only one that means anything to me," he says, then kisses the top of her head. That's my mate.

"Where are they?" Luke asks, standing up and looking around.

"Upstairs. Your sister is up there." Alyssa points to the stairs.

"Ok. I'm going upstairs then." he pats her shoulders then walks up the stairs.

"Thanks."

Once we're alone, I look back at Alyssa to see her still looking sad. I want to fix it for her. "I know I'm overstepping my bounds, but what do you see in that guy? He just admitted to f*****g someone else an hour ago, and you say nothing." I ask

"Ok, well, what did I miss in a calculus class?" Alyssa asks, completely ignoring my question.

"Well...." I start.

"No, no, no, get back here!" Kaylin yells from the top of the stairs.

"Mommy, mommy!"

I turn to see a child running down the stairs. Alyssa doesn't miss a beat; she stands up and walks to the stairs. "What is it?" she asks.

"Auntie Kaylee says it's time for snacks!" the child says happily, walking down the stairs standing right in front of her looking up at her.

"Yeah, it is. She worked hard to make you snacks, so tell her 'thank you.' She made you a special snack today." Alyssa says.

Kaylin walks down the stairs behind him, and I notice she is holding another child in her arms. "Sorry, he got away from me," Kaylin says.

"It's ok. Go on in the kitchen, baby. I'll be right in." Alyssa says to the child.

That can't be her child. Right? "Luke's right behind me," Kaylin says, setting the second child down. They both run off towards the kitchen.

"Ok," Alyssa says as Luke walks down the stairs holding two more children. What the hell is going on."

"Is it just me, or is he still a little warm?" Luke asks Alyssa tilting a child towards her.

"Yeah, he is. It's time for him to have more medicine. Kay stopped and picked up more on her way home from school." Alyssa says, putting her hand on the kid's forehead and looking up at Luke, who looks concerned.

"Ok, is this a daycare or something?" I ask.

"Mommy, I don't feel good." the child says that Alyssa holds his forehead.

"Oh, I know, baby. I'm going to get you some medicine and a snack, then you can go back to bed, ok?" she says in a baby voice to him.

"Ok." the kid yawns.

"Ok, then, little man. Let's go get you and your brothers fed." Luke says to the kid.

"I'll be there in a minute," Alyssa says to Luke.

They all walk out of the room, leaving Alyssa and me. "Ha. Ok. Is this a joke?" I ask the universe while laughing humorlessly.

"Is what a joke? My life? Ha! Yeah, I wish it was a joke." Alyssa says sarcastically.

"So, is that why you haven't been in class?" I ask.

"Yeah, Callum got the flu, then gave it to Bryson, who gave it to Aiden, who briefly gave it back to Callum, then he gave it to Dylan. They've just been passing it back and forth all week. I think once Dylan gets over it, and then it will finally be gone." Alyssa says.

"Ok, that's good, I guess," I say sadly. Maybe that's why she won't break up with Luke. They have four kids.

"Yeah, that's why I don't have much time to sit around and do my school work," Alyssa says.

"Yeah, I get that now." I sigh. I can feel Dex whimpering in my head.

I can feel Alyssa looking at me, but I don't want to look at her right now. "Well, I better give the little monster medicine," she says hesitantly.

"I should probably get going and get out of your way." I sigh.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you want. Sorry things are so chaotic. Well, my life is chaotic." she laughs a little bit.

"Yeah, I bet." I take a deep breath. "So I guess that's what you mean when you say that the reason you stay with him is complicated. Four kids are pretty complicated." I nod. "So how old are they? They look close in age."

"Yeah, they're about 6 minutes apart. Quadruplets." she nods with a tightlipped smile.

"Wow, that's rare. That's like a whole litter of pups." I say before I can stop myself.

"Yeah, I guess it is. You know if they were dogs." she laughs a little bit.

"Mommy!" one of the kids calls out.

"Well, that's my cue." she smiles sadly.

"Umm... should we trade numbers? So if you have any questions about the homework, I can help you the best I can." I offer.

"Ok. I probably won't get the chance to work on it until late, after the boys are asleep," she says.

"I'm a night creature. I'll be awake," I reassure her.

"A creature of the night? Like a night owl?" she smiles at me tilting her head slightly.

"Yeah, something like that." I smile.

"Well, thanks. This means a lot to me." she giggles. "I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't borrowed your notes."

"It's no problem." I shrug. "I'll see you around."

"See ya." she waves, looking a bit sad. I hate seeing her sad... But what do I do?

I want to shift and go for a run, but I can't leave my car in her yard. Ugh. I get in the car and head towards home. At least I know where she lives now. And I have her phone number.