Despite my best efforts, I secretly enjoyed the possessive claim from my alpha. Kaelen made me feel safe.Safe.It was an odd sensation. It wasn’t until now that I realized I had spent the better half of the last decade feeling anything but that, constantly in a stage of fight or flight.
Kaelen settled in beside me, touching and kissing and whispering until I wiggled in my seat, making him chuckle. The backs of his knuckles dusted over my arm when our meals came out. I leaned further into him, and he gently pinched my chin, sending a rush of arousal to my center.
“Eat, Omega.”
The warmth of his alpha command seared over my skin. I speared a scallop, moaning at how it fell apart on my tongue.
“You can’t make those noises,” he grunted, squeezing my thigh under the table.
“Trouble, Alpha?” I asked, sweeping my tongue across the tines of my fork.
“You’re the one who is going to be in trouble,wife,” he said, his voice hoarse as he drained his wine.
Dark green eyes watched me as I ate, taking pleasure in my movements. A faint smile ghosted over his features. I savored each bite, surprised by how tender the steak was.
Over the years, I had attended at least a dozen fancy dinners for my dad’s re-election, but nothing tasted this good.
The waitstaff were courteous and slightly terrified as they cleared our plates and brought out dessert. I shimmied, almost giggling at how pretty the chocolate pastry looked. I had no idea what it was, but knew it was going to be delicious. Kaelen breathed a raspy sound, digging his fork into the dessert and bringing it tomy lips.
Before I tasted it, an acrid scent, like stale cigar smoke and spoiled fruit, made me gag. I winced, shaking my head. My omega bristled, and Kaelen dropped the fork with a clink, digging his nails into my hip.
“Kaelen Finnegan and his wife,” a rough, grating voice said, cutting through our reverence. “What a pleasant surprise.”
A metallic taste danced along my tongue as my teeth dug in hard on my poor lower lip. Two men and a young girl stood in the entryway to our tucked-away table. Far enough to be respectful, but close enough to leave me and my omega uneasy.
Kaelen’s scent shifted, a burned edge corroding the usual cozy notes.
Both men were undeniably alpha, the older of the two gray-bearded and pot-bellied. A seedy sneer spread across his lips, revealing yellow teeth. My stomach flip-flopped, and Kaelen’s grip on me tightened. The younger of the two men remained unnervingly neutral, his face giving nothing away.
“Rossi,” Kaelen said, his free hand drifting to his gun, while holding me tighter. “I will kindly ask you to keep your eyesoffmy wife and omega.”
My breath hitched. I tried not to panic. I didn’t want to show fear, not in front of the man who had been too close to marrying me. I retched, imagining a world where I was bound to Vittorio Rossi.
Wood scraped against the floor as Kaelen rose. Even in a room full of alphas, his towering figure dwarfed everyone else. I clung to his hand, my pulse thudding in my ears. Vittorio gave me a look that hovered between placating and predatory.
The younger alpha placed a heavy hand on the young omega’s shoulder, prepared to jump in front of her if needed. Kaelen stiffened, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze as his chest heaved with labored breaths.
Chances were we were a few seconds away from Kaelen’s alpha bursting free, sending the restaurant into chaos. I trailed my finger over his tattooed knuckles, trying to push out as many calming pheromones as I could.
“Willow Sterling is such a charming creature. Can’t say I’m surprised you scooped her up,” Vittorio said. “I still believe she was promised to me first.”
“Finnegan,” Kaelen corrected, the vein in his neck throbbing. “And she is notyours.Willow ismine.My omega. My wife.”
Vittorio gave a clumsy bow, a hand splayed over his chest.
“Of course. My sincerest apologies. Please forgive my rudeness, Mrs. Finnegan,” he said, his raspy voice thick with his Italian accent.
“Don’t. Talk. To. Her,” Kaelen snapped, his green eyes almost black.
The younger man beside Vittorio shifted. Unsettled. He murmured something in Italian to Vittorio, making his beady eyes narrow. Vittorio’s face pinched as he waved off whatever the other man said. The younger man shot a subtle look at Kaelen, something urgent in his gaze.
Kaelen’s hand drifted, and for a second, I thought it was to his gun. My throat constricted. I debated hiding under the table when the shadows in the dimly lit room shifted. Torin emerged from the darkness, with no playfulness in his features.
Soon, Aidan and another man I didn’t recognize appeared, the men flanking me and Kaelen.
“What are you doing here?” Kaelen asked.
“Simply a happy coincidence,” Vittorio said. “I was enjoying dinner with my son and daughter when we saw you. The polite thing is to say hello. Is it not?”
