Jake
Skylar saw them before I did. Ever since my spiral of dark emotions, he’d been looking out for me nonstop. He cared for me and protected me, and now was no different.
He thrust the stack of posters into my hands. He locked on to the two men standing outside the Omega Angel Café with eyes like a hawk before yelling at them.
“Hey, you! What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”
I was baffled at Skylar’s unusually confrontational behavior, until I realized who the men were. My eyes widened. Standing maybe fifty feet away from me was the alpha who ran out of my life just days ago.
Griffin.
My chest clenched and I gasped for breath. I was torn between wanting to run away, wanting to hide behind Skylar, and wanting to beat the crap out of Griffin.
Then I realized that I knew the other alpha as well. It was Rafael, Griffin’s friend who sat me down for a chat when we ran into each other at the pharmacy on the day of my big decision.
At the sound of Skylar’s cry, they both looked confused. But when recognition dawned on Griffin, his expression changed to one I couldn’t read. Shock? Fear, maybe?
I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. He was out of my life now, and Skylar was about to make sure he got the message loud and clear.
He stormed over to him and pointed a finger up in his face. Despite Griffin’s size difference between him and the smaller omega, he seemed spooked.
“Answer me!” Skylar demanded. “I said, what are you doing here?”
Griffin sputtered, “I - ”
But Skylar cut him off. “And you!” He pointed at Rafael now. “I’ve seen you lurking outside the café for a couple days now. What’s your deal? Are the two of you plotting some kind of scheme? Well, if you are, you’d better think twice, because I won’t hesitate to call the cops on you!”
“Whoa, whoa!” Rafael said, holding up his hands. “No need for that, bud.”
“I amnotyour bud,” Skylar growled at him. “If you two alpha freaks don’t get out here, I’m about to become your worst nightmare.”
Despite everything, I couldn’t help but smirk a little at Skylar’s dramatic flair. He was in full crazy mother hen mode.
But Griffin wasn’t looking at Skylar anymore. His eyes were locked on mine. They flashed with intermingled pain and joy.
My fingers tightened around the papers and began to tremble.
Why is he looking at me like that?
As Skylar and Rafael bickered, Griffin broke away from them and started towards me. I was frozen to the spot. I couldn’t move. We never looked away from each other as the space between us closed. My heart hammered in my chest. My blood ran thick and hard.
Griffin finally stopped a few feet away from me. His expression was pained but hopeful, almost bittersweet.
“Jake,” he said softly.
My throat tightened at the way he said my name. My arms trembled around the stack of papers, and I clutched them to my chest so they wouldn’t fall.
My body unfroze. I took a step back.
Griffin’s eyes widened. “Wait,” he said quickly. “Please don’t run. I know that’s not fair of me to say, because that’s what I did, but - please, just listen.”
I hesitated. His words seemed real, and there was genuine pain in his voice.
Then Skylar burst in.
“Get away from him!” he snapped, putting himself between Griffin and I. He held his hands out at Griffin to make a barrier. “Don’t even think about touching him. In fact, don’t even talk to him. Just get out of here.”
“Skylar, we’re just talking,” Griffin said patiently, though it was clear the interruption upset him.
