CHAPTER
NINE
ARBOR
I’ve never been moresick to my stomach than I am driving to work this morning. Yesterday, leaving Glenn outside in the woods with the Howlers surrounding him had me pulling over and vomiting on the side of the road. But I panicked. I couldn’t risk getting taken by the three of them.
They might have been perfect gentlemen, but they didn’t look like it.
I didn’t want to stay and find out. So I left, my entire body shaking with adrenaline as I drove away.
He hates me.
That phone call proves it. He knows what I did.
He called me Mr. Wren. He hung up on me. And now I have to see him.
Oh, gods, I’m going to be sick.
I swallow down bile as I pull into the dirt parking lot. It’s not raining anymore, but it’s humid out. The minute I step outside, my already sweating skin positively drips.
Glenn isn’t here yet, and waiting for his arrival is making my entire body jittery.
I sit behind my desk, deciding against coffee as my stomach is roiling, and I already feel my teeth clattering anxiously against one another. If I drink any caffeine, I may die.
I rub my fingers against my temples before pulling the pendant from beneath my shirt and running it between my fingers. It better work today. It better conceal the scent of anxiety wafting off my body.
With a flick of my finger, I turn my computer on. I need to work. We’re currently two days behind because of the storm and my heat. Luckily, because I’m not fully an omega, I don’t need to have an alpha for my heats. They’re preferred, but I can get through them alone without dying in the process. It’s just a little uncomfortable and awkward.
But doable.
It’s how I made it through all of yesterday, with an inflated-knot dildo in my ass while I stared at my phone. I wanted to call him, waited for him to call me.
He didn’t, of course.
I don’t blame him. I suck. I’m the worst, most terrible person on Earth.
Whatever spark we had, I smothered it when I left. I knew that’s what would happen. I was banking on it happening, but still...
I didn’t know it would hurt this badly.
I clutch at my chest when I hear the rev of his truck pulling into the parking lot. My breathing speeds up, my pulse thumping. With shaking hands, I put on my glasses and stare at my screen, pretending to be normal.
Everything is normal.
The engine shuts off, and I hear the door slam. I hold my breath, my body vibrating with anxiety, with nerves. With lust.
Oh, gods, this was a terrible mistake. I should have never gotten involved with someone at work, and an alpha, no less. But it was so hard to resist.
Every inch of him attracts me, pulls me in.
The door swings open, and I let out a long, controlled exhale.
My eyes flick up to his, but he doesn’t meet my stare. Just walks over to the coffee machine and brews a cup. It’s silent except for the burbling of the coffee and milk coming from the machine.
I swallow loudly, my scent giving off a nervous, bitter scent that the pendant does nothing to quell. Cinnamon with a hint of bitter almond. It’s not a good mix. Not at all.
Not that he says anything. He just turns and stands in front of my desk, his gaze not meeting mine.
