Chapter 28
Wilder
I kept a careful eye on Lucy as we walked to the diner, my hand hovering inches from her back so I could catch her if she passed out.
She’d better not. My heart couldn’t take it. Even now, I was fighting the urge to pick her up and whisk her away to my cabin, where I’d wrap her up in blankets and feed her.
That’s called kidnapping and is illegal, the angel on my shoulder pointed out unhelpfully.
Who gives a fuck about the law? Do whatever you can to keep our omega safe. The devil on my shoulder made a lot of sense.
We headed inside the diner without further incident and settled into a corner booth. Lucy was pale and her hand shook as she took a long drink of water. I got up and grabbed her a straw, but what I really wanted was to hold the glass for her.
I’d done my best to stay away, but every glimpse of her through the coffee shop window pushed me closer to breaking. She’d sealed her fate when she ran into the fire station…when she came to me for help.
Our server—an omega named Rosie—came over, but my alpha couldn’t have been less interested in her. “Hey, guys, welcome in. What can I get you?”
Lucy stared unseeingly at the menu and my alpha urged me to take control, but I couldn’t because I didn’t know what she liked. Irritation flooded my veins.
“You go ahead.” Lucy glanced up at me.
I shook my head. “You go first, sweet girl.”
“Are you doing okay, Lucy?” Rosie asked.
“I’m just tired.” Her smile was strained. “I’ll do the veggie burger and fries, please.”
“Cheeseburger for me, thanks.”
Lucy fixed her eyes on her glass of ice water as she created a tiny whirlpool with her straw.
I wanted her eyes on me, but at least this gave me the opportunity to study her.
Her hair was in two braids, tied at the ends with ribbons that had strawberries on them, matching the pattern on her shirt and pants.
She looked fucking adorable. If she were mine, she would be in my lap right now.
It wouldn’t matter that we were in public.
I wanted my omega touching me at all times.
She caught me staring, and I quickly looked away.
She wasn’t mine, couldn’t be mine, but staying away from her was unbearable. My life had been fine before meeting her. It might have been dull or lonely, but at least it was uncomplicated. Nothing about the omega in front of me was uncomplicated.
Ever since that fateful storm on the mountain, my dreams had been consumed by Lucy.
In the nightmares, she was in danger and I couldn’t save her.
I’d seen her fall off a cliff and be swept away by the undertow as I stood helplessly frozen.
The worst ones, though, were when I was the danger she couldn’t get away from, when she ran from me in the woods and I caught her, throwing her down on the ground like the monster I was.
Dangerous creature.
Twisted alpha.
Shouldn’t be allowed in a decent society.
My jaw ticked as the voices of angry high school parents and teachers echoed in my mind.
“How’s your day going, cat rescue aside?” she asked, breaking the heavy silence.
“Fine.”
“Right. Well, that’s…” She trailed off like she didn’t have the energy to generate a response to my pathetic nonanswer.
Come on. Conversate. “What have you been working on?”
“Just some custom orders.”
A heavy feeling settled low in my stomach. When Lucy had been at my cabin, she’d barely stopped talking. I wanted that again, for her voice to form the soundtrack of my life.
“Are you sure you’re okay? I should take you to the hospital.”
I looked around to track down Rosie to tell her we needed our food to go but froze when a gentle hand closed around mine.
“I’m fine, I promise. I just feel bad for taking up your time. If you need to go back to work, I’ll be okay.”
She was smiling, but her eyes were so fucking sad.
“I want to stay.” I dragged in a deep breath. “I’ve missed you.”
Her lips parted, and I might have thought she was upset if it weren’t for the sweet burst of her scent—wild strawberries and flowers and sunny days lying down on the forest floor. Nothing in my life could compare to the satisfaction I felt when I made Lucy happy.
“Thanks for the cookies, by the way,” I added.
She beamed. “Did you like them?”
“I ate them all. Pissed off the guys.”
“Well, I’ll have to bring more for the guys, then.”
I grunted. I should be the only one she brought cookies to.
“You should come to the grand opening of Summer’s bakery,” she continued. “It’s in a few weeks.”
I’d noticed the Coming Soon sign in front of the bright yellow bakery on my many drives past Lucy’s store. “Might have to do that.”
Rosie dropped off our food. I waited for Lucy to start eating before I took a bite of my burger.
“What custom orders are you working on?” I asked, hoping I could tempt her into conversation. This time, she brightened and started telling me about the custom suit she was making, the outfits she had designed for Felix, and the craft night she was planning.
As she was talking, she placed her pickle spear on my plate. I locked eyes with it. I hated pickles, but Lucy had given it to me. Was this some sort of omega pickle ritual? I couldn’t risk upsetting her, so I stabbed it with my fork and choked it down.
“Craft night is actually in a few days. The past couple weeks have been so busy it totally snuck up on me. I’m kind of nervous about it.”
“You have no reason to be nervous.” I would destroy anyone who dared say anything bad about her event. “What kind of craft are you doing?”
“It’s a beginner embroidery project.” She chewed her lip. “You should come. If you want.”
I blinked. Lucy was inviting me to craft night. I must have passed the pickle test.
“Not sure I’d be any good at embroidery.” I stared down at my huge, scarred hands.
“It’s just for fun. You don’t have to be good at it.”
Her big blue eyes were all hopeful, and I refused to snuff that out. I would just have to take extra rut suppressants before the event to keep her safe from me. Even now, my alpha was pushing me to grab her.
Pull her onto my lap.
Scent-mark her.
Knot her.
I had no idea how to handle this. Being away from Lucy felt like slowly dying, but being close to her felt like courting disaster.
Maybe you’d become desensitized to her if you spent more time around her.
Fuck. I was weak.
“I’ll be there.”
I was playing with fire, but I couldn’t regret my words because the smile on Lucy’s face would stick in my mind for the rest of my life.