“Our family was ousted when Temple was on the way. They don’t tolerate half-breeds or humans.” Not super clear about which he might be, but okay. Also, a pretty obvious reason why they were such assholes to him. They probably thought he was at fault for their family’s downfall. Imagine, their innocent younger brother being punished for the crime of being born.
“And who are you?” The middle-height brother demanded.
“I’m the future alpha of Foresthill pack.” It was the first time I’d ever said it. And it felt true. Fuck. Father was right. I was going to be alpha. Now, I just had to not mess this mate stuff up.
“Gabe?” The voice of my omega pulled me from my thoughts. “Will you come and sit with me?”
“Sure.” I moved to the far side of the bed, kicked my shoes off, and sat straight up against the headboard. He snuggled into me and I rested an arm around his shoulders. “Close your eyes now.”
“Will you stay until I fall asleep again?”
“Yes, Temple. I will.” I stayed until morning when my arm was numb.
Totally worth it.
Chapter Eleven
Temple
When I woke in the middle of the night, for a split second, I didn’t realize where I was. Then I remembered I was in the motel with Gabe. It hadn’t been a dream.
Leave it to Gabe to get the only room at the motel that had a freaking sofa. He was so far across the room from me, I could barely see his shadow in the dark. I hated it.
I closed my eyes, trying to sleep again, but my mind kept reeling about everything that had happened over the past day. So, instead, I called out and asked him if he would sit with me. Had I been fully awake, I doubted I’d have mustered the courage.
As I fell asleep, I fully anticipated waking up in bed alone, Gabe back on the couch, but he wasn’t. I was still snuggled against him, his arms around me, as I soaked in his warmth. And he smelled so good.
He’d been sitting in that diner all afternoon long with me. Sure, he wasn’t near the grill, but it had to have soaked into him too, right? But no. As I inhaled, cedar and amber and rosemary, all mixed together in this intoxicating aroma, filled my nose. It was officially my new favorite scent.
Before I knew it, I was holding him tight, inhaling deeply again and again.
“You’re awake.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you sitting up all night.” Or to be smelling you like you were a flower or a perfume sample.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m so glad to be here and that you asked me. How’d you sleep?”
I should’ve pushed myself up instead of staying glued to his side, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to enjoy every last second we had together. “It was the best night’s sleep I remember having.”
As a kid, I’d wake up to my brothers playing what they called pranks on me, trying to “toughen me up” like a real wolf. We didn’t know then that I wasn’t, but that wasn’t the true reason. It was just an excuse to torture me. They’d cut my hair, pour water on my bed, and put rice under my sheets. You name it, they tried it. They’d always been shitheads.
After they discovered I had no wolf, it got worse. The good nights now were when they woke me up to make them something to eat or do their homework or clean up their vomit from when they’d had too much to drink. When those were the good nights, it wasn’t hard to imagine what the bad ones were like. As much as I tried to never think about them, it was impossible not to.
“I’m so glad.” He bent down and kissed my head. At least, I thought he did. He definitely brushed against it. It was close enough for me.
“What time is it?” I asked.
Unfortunately, he had to get up to grab his phone on the other side of the room. When he told me it was nearly time for my shift, I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t opening, but I did have part of the breakfast duty and had less than twenty minutes to get there.
“I need to go,” I said, jumping out of bed and grabbing my backpack. “I have to work.” I ran right into the bathroom to brush my teeth and get dressed. The last place I wanted to go was away from Gabe, but I couldn’t let down Gary and Layla either, not when they’d done so much for me.
When I came out, he was sitting back on the couch.
“How many days are you in town?” I wanted him to say a million, a bazillion, a trillion even, but he gave me the most noncommittal answer ever.
“I’m staying for a while.”
A while. A while could mean anything, but I didn’t have time to drill down for a more concrete answer. I was already pushing it timewise. I left, missing him by the time I reached the car.
