Chapter
Twenty-One
The Golden Fin’s uniform consisted of a white button-down and black slacks, so standard fare for a restaurant. Once I was dressed, my hair pulled back in a high bun, Hunter drove me to work in his Bentley.
I spent the first part of the tense ride debating if I should ask him about the bandage on his hand—how serious does an injury have to be to take this many hours to heal? It was still none of my business though, and his expression didn’t exactly invite questions, so I shut up.
Hunter appeared unbothered by the silence, his expression calm, while I was a fidgeting mess. “Sit still,” he finally ordered, pulling to a stop at a red light. “You’re going to wear a hole in my seat.”
Clenching my hands into fists at my side, I forced myself to focus on the landmarks of the city around us. “Are we close to the restaurant?”
He turned to me, and the waft of mocha grew stronger, which had me desperately breathing through my mouth to counter his scent.Which did fuck all. If anything, now I could almost taste him as well.
“The restaurant is just around the next corner, but we’re going to stop at a cafe first and grab you breakfast. I didn’t have time to organize anything before we left.”
My surprise that he’d even thought of my need for food had me slow to answer. “I’m all good on that front. I often skip breakfast so I can easily work through the lunch rush and eat after.”
Hunter responded with a deep, ominous rumble, and proceeded to completely ignore me as he swung his car into a parking spot out the front of Greengrocer Cafe. He was out of the car fast, and before I could decide if I was following or not, he opened my door and held his hand out for me to take.
It wasn’t his right hand with the bandage, which I noticed because I had a new obsession. At this point, it was a competition over who was the better stalker.
Hunter was a patienthunter, as he waited for me to make the choice to take his offered hand or not. When my stomach rumbled, I decided that it was unbecoming for an omega to play dominance games, and I dropped my palm against his.
Heat enveloped me as zips of energy passed between us. Not so strong that I wanted to yank out of his hold, but enough that my wolf wiggled and whined in my chest.
Hunter’s dark eyes turned positively feral, and I heard his wolf in his voice when he said, “We’ll run soon.”
I managed not to gasp as he used his substantial strength to haul me from the car, and when I was steady on my feet, I met his gaze. “You can hear my wolf’s unease?”
He leaned down until our faces were close enough for me to see the pigments of gold in his stormy eyes. “I’m your alpha, little omega. Your wolf belongs to me, and Ifeelher.”
I wanted to argue that my wolf—and me—belonged to no one, but there was no moisture in my mouth. When I parted my lips to try, a strangled huff was all that emerged.
Hunter kept a firm hold on my hand as he led me toward the café, and it was only when we stepped inside the inviting space with its red brick walls and array of potted plants that I managed to remove myself from his grasp.
His hand immediately pressed to the center of my back, warm and strong, nudging me toward the counter where the scent of toasted sandwiches and coffee had my body betraying me once again by rumbling.
A pretty wolf with golden hair and deep brown eyes hurried right over to us. “Alpha Hunter,” she squeaked, her eyes wide and frantic. “We didn’t know you’d be in this morning.”
It was impossible not to roll my eyes as she all but simpered at his feet, and on top of that Hunter was all charm when he responded. “Just a social visit, Kitty. We’re here for two breakfast sandwiches and two take away mochas.”
Asshole.“Not my favorite coffee,” I muttered, and I swore he smiled in response.
Kitty input his order but didn’t take any money from him. Which I found odd, but whatever. Reeves Pack probably had a tab here or something.
I started to wander along the cabinets, checking out their offerings which included breakfast foods and sweets. “Don’t leave the café,” Hunter called after me. “I’m just going out back into the kitchen.”
Wrinkling my nose, I wondered if he was joking but… nope. He was already lifting the bench and striding behind the counter. Was this alpha that much of a control freak that he had to supervise his sandwich being made?
Kitty appeared unfazed as he entered through a swinging door, and I decided to just file that in with all the other weird shit happening around me.
“How do you know Alpha Hunter?” Kitty’s tone wasn’t quite as friendly without Hunter’s presence.
Forcing a smile to my lips, I shrugged. “He kidnapped me off the streets, but his house is nice so I’m going to stay for a while. Let’s call it a rapid case of Stockholm Syndrome.”
Confusion creased her expression. “But aren’t you the omega who was living out in the human world as a rogue?” She examined me from my hair to toes, clearly finding me wanting. “Why in the world would you try to stay away from a pack like Reeves? They’re top freaking tier.”
“Why in the world would you ask me how I knew them if you were already well aware who I was?”
