The Bully Alpha's Fake Alpha Mate (BL)-Chapter 42: RETURN TO HATRED

ASHER

The truck ride back to campus was silent. Reed sat on the opposite side, his body angled away from me, staring out the window like I wasn’t even there.

We’d completed the mission. Survived the seventy-two hours. Reported the rogue pack activity and the deaths we’d caused in self-defense.

We had met the Dean at a tent set five hours away from campus. He had a relieved look on his face when he saw us but was masked immediately. He had taken one look at us—covered in blood and bruises, exhausted and hollow-eyed and dismissed us without a word.

Now we were heading back to the Academy where everything would go back to normal. Where Reed would go back to hating me. Where I would go back to being alone.

My chest felt tight and empty ike something had been carved out of it and left to bleed.

I kept replaying last night in my head. The way Reed had looked at me across the fire. The vulnerability in his voice when he said he was tired of fighting. The way his hand had reached for my face.

The way I’d jerked away like he was going to hit me, and the hurt in his eyes.

I pressed my forehead against the cool window glass and closed my eyes. The truck hit a pothole, jolting me against the side. Reed’s shoulder bumped mine for half a second before he shifted away and that half-second of contact made my whole body ache. I was so fucked.

We arrived at the Academy just after noon.

Students were everywhere. Coming back from classes. Heading to lunch. The normal chaos of campus life. It seemed we were the last set to arrive back to campus but I am glad we did after the hell we had been through.

The students stopped and stared as Reed and I climbed out of the truck. We looked like we’d been through a war because we had.

Reed’s shoulder was bandaged poorly, dried blood visible through the gauze. I had bruises covering half my face and a gash across my forearm that I’d wrapped with torn fabric from my shirt.

Callum was waiting by the main building. His eyes widened when he saw us.

"Holy shit," he said. "You guys look like hell."

"We’re fine," Reed said. His voice was flat, and cold.

Callum looked between us. "Did you—"

"We completed the mission, that’s all that matters." Reed turned to me for the first time since last night. His expression was empty. "Go clean yourself up, Graham. You look pathetic."

The words hit me like a slap. I stared at him, waiting for something, anything at all. Some sign that the past three days had meant something but Reed’s eyes were cold and distant like he was looking at a stranger, and like he was looking at an enemy.

"Right," I said quietly. "See you around, Jackson."

I turned and walked away before he could see the way my hands were shaking. I made it back to my dorm and stood under the shower until the water ran cold.

The blood washed away, the dirt and grime disappeared down the drain but I couldn’t wash away the memory of Reed’s voice saying he was tired of hating me or the way he’d just looked at me like I was nothing.

I got dressed and headed to the infirmary. Ms Chen needed to see that I’d survived. That her pills had worked well enough to get me through.

She was at her desk when I walked in. Her head snapped up, and relief flooded her face.

"Asher." She stood quickly, moving toward me. "Thank god. I’ve been worried sick."

"I’m fine." I told her with a smile plastered on my face.

"Let me see." She started examining me immediately, checking my vitals, looking at my injuries. "Any complications from the pills?"

"No." The lie came easily. "They worked fine."

Ms Chen’s eyes narrowed. "You’re lying."

"I’m not—"

"Don’t." Her voice was firm. "I can see it in your face. What happened?"

I sighed heavily. "The pills worked, mostly but they’re getting weaker. My pheromones were slipping through by the end."

Ms Chen closed her eyes. "Did Reed notice?"

"He noticed something was wrong. He kept commenting on my scent. Saying it was changing."

"Did he figure it out?"

"No." I swallowed hard. "But he’s suspicious. He knows I’m hiding something."

Ms Chen sat down across from me. "What are you going to do?"

"I don’t know." My voice broke. "I don’t know anymore."

We sat in silence for a moment then Ms Chen spoke quietly. "You need to make a decision, Asher. Either tell the truth and face the consequences, or find a way to leave this Academy before your secret destroys you."

"I can’t leave. I have nowhere else to go, and someone is depending on me. So I can’t fail." I told her.

"Then you need to tell someone." Ms Chen’s eyes were sad. "Because this can’t continue. Your body won’t survive it."

I left the infirmary with her words ringing in my head because despite everything, I had no one to trust.

Dinner was a nightmare. I walked into the cafeteria and felt every eye turn toward me. Whispers started immediately.

"That’s Asher Graham—"

"He survived the contested territories—"

"With Reed Jackson—"

"I heard they almost died—" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

I ignored their voices, grabbed food and looked for somewhere to sit. Julian waved me over to his table and relief flooded through me.

I started walking toward him then Reed’s voice cut across the cafeteria.

"Graham." He called out and I turned. Reed was standing by his usual table, surrounded by his crew. Callum, and a few other Alphas. All of them watching me.

"Come here," Reed said.

It wasn’t a request, and I walked over slowly. My stomach was twisting. Something was wrong. I could feel it in the way Reed was looking at me.

"What?" I asked quietly.

Reed smiled but it was cruel. "I just wanted to make something clear to everyone here." He said out loud and my blood went cold.

"The mission is over," Reed continued, his voice carrying across the cafeteria. "Which means our temporary partnership is over. Which means things go back to exactly how they were before."

The cafeteria was silent now because everyone was watching.

"You’re still my enemy, Graham," Reed said. "Still untouchable. Still fair game for anyone who wants to make their life easier by staying away from you."

My chest felt like it was caving in. "Reed—"

"And just so we’re clear," Reed’s eyes were hard, "don’t think that surviving three days in the wilderness together means anything. Don’t think that fighting side by side changes anything because it doesn’t."

He took a step closer. Close enough that I could smell him. Close enough to see the way his jaw was clenched, close enough to know that he was dead serious and no hint of joke was written on his face..

"You’re nothing to me," Reed said quietly. "You were nothing before. You’re nothing now and you’ll always be nothing."

The words carved into my chest. Each one a blade slicing through my heart and soul. I stared at him, waiting for him to take them back, waiting for some sign that this was just an act, just Reed protecting himself but his eyes were empty.

"Understood?" Reed asked.

"Yeah." My voice came out rough, broken and defeated. "Understood."

I turned and walked out of the cafeteria.

Behind me, I could hear the whispers starting up again, I could hear Callum saying something to Reed in a low voice but I kept walking. I walked past Julian’s table where he was half-standing, looking ready to follow me.

I walked past Scott who was watching with pity in his eyes.

I walked past all of them, and made it outside before my legs gave out. I sank down on a bench, my whole body shaking. My chest was heaving like I couldn’t get enough air.

Reed had just publicly humiliated me again,he had reasserted his dominance in the cruelest way possible. He had proven that the past three days meant nothing, that the moment by the fire meant nothing and that I meant nothing.

I heard footsteps approaching, and I looked up, and saw Reed was standing there. He was alone.

"What do you want?" My voice was hollow.

Reed’s jaw was working. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides. "I need you to understand—"

"I understand perfectly." I stood up, my legs wobbling. "You made yourself very clear in there."

"Asher—"

"Don’t." The word came out harsh. "Don’t pretend you meant something else. Don’t act like that wasn’t exactly what you wanted to say."

Reed’s eyes flashed. "You don’t know what I want."

"Yes, I do." My voice was rising. "You want me to know my place. You want everyone to know that nothing has changed, that you’re still the big bad Alpha and I’m still your enemy."

"That’s not—"

"Then what is it, Reed?" I was yelling now. My hands were shaking. "What the fuck is it? Because one minute you’re telling me you’re tired of hating me, and the next you’re calling me nothing in front of the entire Academy."

Reed’s face twisted. "I had to—"

"You had to do what? Humiliate me? Prove your dominance?" My vision was blurring. Tears, I was fucking crying. "You chose to hurt me, just like you always do."

"Stop," Reed said, his voice rough.

"Stop what?"

"Stop looking at me like I hurt you."

The words hung in the air between us. I stared at him. At this Alpha who’d saved my life and then destroyed me in the same breath.

"You did hurt me," I said quietly. "You keep hurting me over and over and I keep letting you because I’m stupid enough to think that maybe—"

I stopped and swallowed hard.

"Maybe what?" Reed’s voice was barely audible.

"Nothing." I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. "It doesn’t matter."

"Asher—"

"Leave me alone, Reed." My voice broke completely. "Please, just leave me alone."

Reed stood there, his expression torn and conflicted like he wanted to say something but the words wouldn’t come then he turned and walked away.

I watched him go, my heart breaking into pieces in my chest. He’d almost touched me last night, he had almost let his walls down, he had almost been something other than my enemy but that moment was gone and I was alone again.