“But that’s not what happened,” I disputed, my jaw dropping. “Why would you think that?”
“Can we not do this?” Paul groaned, shaking his head as he stabbed another bite of salad.
“You know, I don’t think we can,” I disagreed. “It may make me a jerk, but I think I’ve done enough for you that I’ve earned an explanation when you just walk out of my damn life!” I didn’t realize I was shouting until the waiter stormed out of the kitchen, a massive wooden rolling pin held aloft. He was followed by an immense bear of a man wearing a stained cook’s apron with fists like hams and an intense scowl on his face.
“I think you should go,” the waiter snapped at me, laying a gentle hand on Paul’s shoulder. “You okay, luv? Nobody should be yelling at a pregnant person.” That last bit was said with a glare at me.
Crap.
I rubbed my hand over my face. “I’m sorry, Paul. You absolutely don’t deserve to be yelled at.” I stood up and pulled my wallet out, leaving cash to cover the check. “I’ll wait for you outside and follow you to be sure you make it to your destination safely.”
I was leaning back in the driver’s seat with my eyes closed when someone rapped on the window. Opening my eyes, I found the bear in the dirty apron scowling at me. When I rolled down the window, he thrust a Styrofoam take-out box at me and stomped back toward the front door without a word. Shaking my head, I reached over to carefully place it on the rubber mat that protected the passenger side floorboard.
Like there was any shot in hell I’d risk eating it after so clearly pissing them off.
Reclosing my eyes, I tried to clear my mind instead of dwelling on the accusation Paul had made. It didn’t work. When I finally heard Paul’s car start up, I sighed with relief. The sooner he was safe in Chuck’s care, the sooner I could go home and lick my wounds.
The familiar drive was lonely and tedious, made longer than usual by the multiple stops that Paul made along the way for what I assumed were bathroom breaks. When we finally pulled onto the drive that led to the ODI compound, I was exhausted but still more than ready to push through the return trip – after helping Paul unload his car; after all, I was butthurt not a dick.
Fate had other plans.
I parked the truck in the spot next to Paul and took a deep breath to center myself before climbing out. When I opened them again, Paul was lying unmoving in a jumbled heap of limbs, his car door still open and blood seeping from his forehead.
Bellowing for Chuck, I sprang from my seat and out of the truck, crouching next to Paul to check for a pulse as I scanned the open plains surrounding the compound. Finding nothing threatening, I scooped Paul into my arms and kicked the car door closed as Chuck appeared on the front step.
“What happened to him?”
“Not sure,” I grunted, shifting Paul’s weight higher against my chest. “I think he just collapsed. His pulse is strong but he must have hit his head.”
“This way,” Chuck pointed me toward the small office they used for minor medical care. “I’ll have the nurse paged.”
I laid Paul on the cot and stepped back, my brain warring with the Alpha instincts that demanded I care for him. “ I’ll go, then.”
Chuck’s jaw dropped. “What?”
I sighed. “He doesn’t want me around him, Chuck,” I admitted. “As soon as I told him about Laura, he stopped wanting anything to do with me. He didn’t want me to touch him or take care of him and then he took off without even telling me he was leaving. He left almost everything I’d bought for him and wasn’t thrilled when I found him, so I’m sure he wouldn’t want me here.”
“But he needs Alpha contact for the pregnancy,” Chuck reminded me.
“Yes, but it doesn’t have to be from me. Hell, there are even artificial pheromone sprays available that he can use now that he’s not in neglect.”
“So, it’s not that you don’t want to help him, you’re afraid he wouldn’t consent to you touching him?”
I nodded and Chuck sighed as a subtle change in Paul’s scent heralded an increase in his stress level.
“At least stay until he stabilizes,” Chuck insisted. “I can’t get any pheromone replacement spray until he sees a doctor and he’s obviously in distress.”
“Fine,” I groaned, pulling a chair up to the cot and taking Paul’s hand in both of mine. “But you’re going to take the heat when he wakes up pissed off.”
When Chuck turned to summon the nurse, I bent down to nuzzle Paul’s neck and whispered in his ear, “You’re safe, baby. I’m here.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Paul
I knew I was too tired to be driving. I also knew that I hadn’t choked down enough of the food at the diner to do much good. Add those factors to the anxiety and the fact that I hadn’t been close to an Alpha in what seemed like forever and it wasn’t really a surprise when I stepped out of the car and a wave of dizziness overtook me. I tried to grab for the car door and then everything went black.
My next memory is of being safe and warm, flooded with the soothing scent that I automatically knew was my Alpha. If I was back in Sylas’s arms, everything was going to be fine so I breathed it in, secure in the knowledge that nothing bad could happen to me.
