“I’m busy,” I muttered.
To my surprise, the alpha actually laughed. “Hey, if you know Griffin then you know how hehateswhen people don’t pick up the phone.”
I stared at him in disbelief. Who was this guy?
Feeling the glare of the pharmacist on my back, I hurried out of the aisle. The alpha followed me. Meanwhile, my phone continued to ring and vibrate, and just to shut it up, I picked up.
With an immense amount of effort, I put on the most casual voice I could muster. “Hey, Griffin.”
Griffin’s tinny voice on the line made the alpha behind me perk up.
“Hey, Jake,” he said. There were shuffling noises in the background, like he was picking things up and putting them back down. “I was on my way home and discovered this boutique pet supply store. They have a lot of fancy cat food here. Should I pick something up for Lilith?”
I spaced out for a moment. Griffin still didn’t know. He was out there thinking about the cat, thinking nothing was wrong when we could have a potential crisis on our hands. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Um… Sure,” I said. I was too distracted to tell him that I could get a discount on foods at the store I worked at.
“Okay,” Griffin replied, sounding upbeat. “Is there a specific brand I should get? Or a protein?” He chuckled. “The employee tried explaining everything to me, but honestly, it all sounded like a different language.”
I bit my lip. I didn’t want Griffin to know anything was wrong, but could I hide this from him, at least until I’d dealt with it?
“Any brand should be fine. Maybe get a safe protein, like chicken,” I told him with my eyes clenched shut.
“Sure.” Something tinny rattled on the other end. “Should I get canned food, too? The guy said cats like wet food.”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said a bit too quickly. “Listen, Griffin, I have to run an errand, can I call you back later?”
“Of course.” I could practically hear the smile in his voice. “See you later, Jake.”
“Bye.”
When I hung up, the alpha behind me was staring at me with his jaw dropped. “You’reJake?”
