My Rejected Heart, Soccerluv4 * [book recommendations based on other books txt] 📗

I sat there in English, wondering where Drew was. After waking up this morning in his bed, I found it empty. Although the sudden absence of Drew, I just continued with my usual routine and went to school. However, I did earn a few snide remarks and evil glares for smelling like Drew. Well what did I expect? People were still going to treat me like shit no matter what.
“Hello, earth to Ari!” Melanie’s voice rang out from my sudden flashback.
“Huh? Oh yeah sorry,” I smiled sheepishly at her.
“Okay, so I have some great news! Jake and I got approved to move into the packhouse with you! Now we can live together like sisters! Isn’t that great?!” she beamed one of her million watt smiles, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“Really? That’s great!” I was happy for her, but the truth was, I didn’t want her knowing about real reason why I was bullied so much at school. All she ever knew was that people just thought I was some quiet nerd girl, but in reality, all my pack members hated me because of the accident and turned even the humans against me. With Mel moving in, I wouldn’t be able to hide the abuse anymore.
Just then, Drew walked into the classroom. But that wasn’t the only thing I noticed. He reeked of cheap perfume and a mixture of other scents, which I recognized were Dana’s. His lips were swollen, and his clothes ruffled. My heart broke at the idea of him being with Dana. After all he promised me.
Melanie noticed my sad expression and gave me a curious glance. I think she knew we were mates, but at that moment, I didn’t care. All I cared about was how bad he was treating me. It was always such a rollercoaster with him. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, he was always messing with my heart; crushing my feelings till they were mere powdered dust, forgotten and unimportant.
No. No more of this crap. I was just some ugly, quiet, pathetic, nerd to him, someone he didn’t need, not before, not now, and not in the future. Well, if that’s how he wants, it, fine. Mr. Alpha, I’m going to play dirty back.
*************
The last bell rang, dismissing us from school. I flew out of my seat, before Drew could catch up. This had been going on all day. He would try to talk to me, to explain about what happened this morning, but I wasn’t going to give him any sympathy. He should have thought about the consequences before practically having sex with her in the hallway. Screw him.
I was about to walk home, when Zane stopped me.
“Hey Ari! Need a ride?” Zane asked, offering me a ride in his white Audi TT convertible.
“Sure, nice ride by the way,” I ogled at his car. I seriously wished I had a car like that.
“Thanks,” he replied with a chuckle, “now hop in!” He swung his arm around my shoulders, and opened the passenger door for me. I stepped in, ignoring the now fuming Drew standing on the steps of the school.
Zane jogged over to the driver’s side, and pulled the car into gear. We drove down the road, laughing and talking about random things.
We pulled up in the pack house driveway, and I turned over in the seat, facing Zane.
“Zane, you know how you offered me help with Drew?” I started.
“Yeah...” Zane looked at me with curiosity in his eyes.
“Well, how about we get the big bad alpha a little jealous?” I grinned mischievously. Zane reciprocated my grin with one of his own.
This was gonna be good.

Zane and I walked into the pack house, hand in hand. I was incredibly nervous to how the others would treat me. Even though Zane was a respected member of the pack, I wasn’t, and I was afraid that if they saw us together, the members would have a fit.
He lifted his hand out of mine, and replaced it on the small of my back, leading me up the stairs. We entered the hallway, only to abruptly stop when my dad came into view.
“What the fu-oh hello Zane,” My dad covered up quickly when he saw Zane. I smiled inwardly. Zane was absolutely amazing. He was able to keep my pain away, both physically (from my father) and emotionally (from Drew).
“Hello, Mr. Mitchell” Zane replied, his voice gruff with traces of venom. He practically spat out the words to my father. Even though I still loved my father, it felt nice to know that someone cared enough to understand my situation and stick up for me.
Something Drew should’ve done, but instead, Zane was doing.
We walked into his room, and set the bags on his bed. I looked up in awe. Did everyone’s rooms look like palaces? The room had more of a cozy vibe. It was covered in wood, from the laminate wood flooring to the wooden beams on the ceiling. The window overlooked the forest behind, making it feel even more cottage-like. A small fireplace mounted into the wall gave off a warm glow. I breathed in the musky, yet masculine smell of Zane and old spice cologne.
“I knew you would like it,” he grinned beside me.
I smiled back up to him, and felt my heart skip a beat. Gosh, why couldn’t Zane be my mate? He was so kind and caring, unlike Drew. Zane noticed me before he got to know me. Drew, instead, only learned of my existence when he found out we were mates.
I jumped onto his bed, reveling in the soft sheets. Zane just chuckled, before climbing in beside me.
“Ari, wanna play COD instead of doing homework? Pretty please?”
“Damn it Zane, stop using that puppy dog face! You know I’ll always give in when you use it!” I pouted.
He grinned back at me.
“That’s exactly why I use it,” and in the blink of an eye, Zane had scooped me up off the bed to the front of a large plasma screen TV. He shoved a controller into my hand and started up the game. I just laughed at him before delving into it myself. Instantly, we both got comfortable, lying down on the thick white wool rug.
We were halfway through the game, laughing and bumping each other’s shoulders every time we killed someone. Apparently, we got into a heated wrestling match when Zane thought it was funny to steal my controller. Both of us ended up sprawled on the ground, me on the top and him on the bottom, when the door to the room burst open. I glanced over my shoulder, to see a very pissed off looking Drew standing there.
His eyes were no longer their misty blue grey. Instead, they were dark grey, with faded traces of blue. They held jealousy and possessiveness in them. His hands were clenched into fists. A power of dominance radiated from him so strong, it almost knocked the wind out of me.
I looked down at Zane, then back up at Drew again. Our position really wasn’t helping the situation, especially since we were lying on the floor. I could already tell Drew’s wolf was aching to take care of Zane, but I couldn’t let him do that. I knew he would tear Zane limb from limb for touching his mate. Drew wasn’t even hiding how jealous and possessive he felt, and it was literally rolling off of him in waves.
Shit, I really screwed up this time. I could tell Zane was thinking the same thing, but I knew we had to do this if we wanted Drew to stop his player ways. Looking back at Drew’s face again, I prepared myself to face the consequences.
I gulped nervously. Oh shit.

You know that feeling, when something you least expect happens? When you feel so dumbfounded, you can’t even blink your eyes because of how shocked you are? Even medically, they call that suffering from shock. Well that’s how I felt right now, when Drew just turned around and walked out the door.
I expected him to fight for me, to tackle Zane to the wall and beat him senseless until I begged him to calm down and stop. I expected him to grab me by the waist, and pull me close to him, before growling ‘she’s mine’ to Zane. What I didn’t expect, was for him to bluntly walk away, like it didn’t even matter that his mate was in some other guy’s room, wrestling on top of him.
I needed to blink back to reality. Oh god, reality. This was real, it just happened! I scrambled off of Zane and looked back at the door, hoping, with any last shred of dignity that I had left, that Drew would come back and do the things I expected him to do. But sadly, it didn’t happen. I stood there, for what seemed like hours, before Zane laid a hand on my shoulder, waking me up from my trance.
“Hey Ari, you okay?” he questioned softly.
“I don’t know Zane. I really don’t know,”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Zane grabbed my arms and pulled me into a hug. I clenched his shirt as the tears flowed freely down my face, soaking it, “Ari, don’t worry. This is all part of the plan. Look how he reacted when we were just joking around. Just imagine how he’ll react if we actually go out, or something? That’ll be hilarious!” He tried to make me laugh, but my laugh was humorless.
“So, are you asking me out?” I joked.
“Yes, m’lady” Zane bowed down like a real knight. I giggled before hugging him.
“Thanks so much Zane, for everything,” I whispered.
“No problem Ari,” he gently kissed the top of my head.
I left the room with a smile on my face. Zane truly was the best. I was walking down the hallway when I passed Drew’s room.
Stopping for a second, I contemplated on talking to him. Just as I raised my hand to knock, the sound of giggling, followed by moaning filled my ears. My body froze, standing there with one arm raised. Suddenly, the moaning stopped, followed by footsteps. I dropped my hand, and stepped back as the door opened.