Tex left the store, waving goodbye and leaving both Zack and Betty looking at him with matching expressions of envy.
“That was your alpha?” Zack demanded, looking him up and down. His eye caught on Peter’s bonding scar, widening.
“One of them,” Peter said, hoping that Zack wasn’t going to be nasty about it. To his relief, Zack grinned.
“Is the other one as hot asOfficer Tex?” Zack asked, making Tex’s name sound like something from a porno.
Peter grinned, nodding. “Pretty much.”
“I hate you,” Zack said, his friendly expression making it clear that he was joking. “Where do you even find alphas like that?”
“The matching program,” Peter said, not specifyingwhichmatching program.
“Maybe I should give it a try,” Zack mused, biting his lip. “Fuck, if that is the kind of alpha that signs up, I definitely should.”
“I was lucky,” Peter said, not wanting to be too strong of an advocate for a matching program he hadn’t actually had any experience with.
“Yeah, you really were,” Zack whistled, the lecherous look on his face making Peter laugh.
Zack looked like he wanted to keep talking, but a group of students chose that moment to walk into the coffee shop, and just like that, it seemed the quiet period was over.
By the time his shift was almost over, Peter was exhausted, though he felt like he’d learned a lot.
“Tomorrow we’ll practice taking orders,” Betty told him, the two of them wiping down counters. There were too many customers for Peter to be behind the counter, the mad rush of students done for the day with classes meaning that he would just get in the way.
“Sounds good,” Peter said, clearing a table of cups and plates and carrying them to the dishwasher area in the back.
When he came back, he looked to the door just in time to see a familiar figure step through it. He did a double-take, the sight of the alpha making his blood run cold.
It was his uncle.
Peter froze, his heart racing and a cold sweat breaking out all over his body. He felt like he was going to faint. The world zoomed out, and for a moment, Peter felt like he was watching himself from far away.
His uncle didn’t see him, getting in line to order, looking like any other alpha and not like he was the undisputed villain of Peter’s life story.
“Everything okay?” Betty asked, coming up beside him and looking concerned.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Peter said, the world coming back into focus like he was falling. He forced his feet to move and fled to the employee bathroom in the back, locking himself in and sliding down to sit on the toilet.
His legs were shaking and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Leaning against the wall, breaths coming faster and faster, Peter tried to stave off his coming panic attack without success. He slid off the toilet and down to the floor, the lack of air making him feel like he was dying.
When he came back to himself, Peter was lying on the cold tile and gulping for breath.
Betty was knocking frantically on the door.
“Peter, please open the door. I’m getting worried!”
“I’m fine,” Peter croaked, pushing himself up. “I’ll be out in a second.”
Betty hesitated, but after a while said, “All right, if you’re sure you’re okay.”
“I am,” Peter promised, wondering what to do.
Hopefully, his uncle had left.
Still shaky, Peter unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out. Betty looked him up and down, her face pulled tight with worry.
“Are you okay?” Betty asked, watching him warily.
