It didn’t matter if it was a trick of the light, some cosmetic procedure, or a miracle. The fact was, Elijah had been wandering the city all night to distance himself from Silas’ condo, and here Silas was in the first place Elijah had come to seek shelter.
If Silas thought he could get away with following him, he was wrong. Elijah wasn’t going to stand for it. He’d made it clear that he was done, and that Silas was never going to see him again. Taunting him like this wasn’t acceptable.
Smoldering anger fueling him, Elijah cut across the dining room floor and toward Silas. The tray Elijah held rattled as he approached—he was shaking.
Silas had ducked under the table to secure the folding legs, but he looked up and stood as Elijah approached. An easy smile crossed his face as though nothing had happened between them.
“Welcome to The Soup Pot. I haven’t—”
Elijah set the tray down on a table as he passed by, and as soon as he was in range, he slapped Silas across the cheek with every bit of strength he possessed. Elijah’s mouth was open and he was ready to speak, but before he could get a syllable out, Silas grabbed him by the wrist and squeezed tight. Pain shot down Elijah’s arm, and he whimpered and tried to twist away.
The soup kitchen had gone dead silent. Every eye in the room was on Elijah.
“Tad? You be gentle, now,” the woman from the front door said in a soothing voice as she swept forward and stood behind Elijah. “Something’s got to be going on with him.”
“You’re following me,” Elijah hissed. The more he moved, the tighter Silas’ grip became. Silas was an alpha, but he’d never had a backbone like that. Elijah assumed his extensive education and training to be an omega rehabilitation counselor had stripped him of most of his dominance. The same couldn’t be said for the Silas who kept him pinned. “I told you to leave me alone! I don’t ever want to see you again!”
“Who do you think I am?” Silas demanded. He held Elijah’s wrist higher, and Elijah had to stand on his toes as Silas overextended his arm.
“Don’t play games with me!” Elijah blinked away tears. “I’m through with being manipulated, Silas! You need to let me go!”
Silas released his grip suddenly, and Elijah staggered backward until he hit the woman who’d greeted him at the door. She braced him by the shoulders.
“Ernestina, if you could bring him into my office, I’d appreciate that.”
“You’re not going to take me anywhere!” Elijah shot back.
“You’re not going to leave here until you’re calm,” Silas replied. He jerked his chin in the direction of the back rooms, and Ernestina began to guide Elijah away from the breakfast crowd. “You and I need to have a talk, man to man.”
“It’s going to be okay, hon,” Ernestina whispered. “I know you’re scared, but Tad’s a good man. He’s going to help you get through whatever it is you’re going through.”
Tad. They kept calling him Tad. Elijah’s mind reeled as he tried to figure it out. Silas Rutledge didn’t abbreviate to Tad in any logical way. As Ernestina guided him through the doors and into the back of the soup kitchen, Elijah realized why.
The Silas he’d seen in the dining room wasn’t the Silas he knew from Stonecrest. Silas had told him that he had brothers—triplets. Elijah had the misfortune of running into one of them.
Ernestina let him into a small, windowless room. It was hardly bigger than a closet, large enough only to hold a desk, two chairs, and a file cabinet on top of which was stacked a few books. Elijah looked around, unimpressed. Did they want to hold him there?
“Just hang tight for a second. I’ll bring you your breakfast, okay?” Ernestina patted him on the shoulder, then showed herself out of the room. The door clicked into place behind her. Elijah didn’t bother to test it—he assumed he wasn’t the first brought into Tad’s office, and that there were measures in place to make sure miscreants didn’t walk out and rejoin the public.
It hadn’t been a full day yet, and already he’d gotten into trouble. Elijah sighed and dropped down into one of the chairs. For now, breakfast was his top priority. After that, he’d deal with whatever Tad had in store for him.
After that, well…
Traveling somewhere without a Rutledge to bother him seemed like a damn good idea.
