Chapter Five
Gabe
I woke up late and starving.
Checking in the previous night, I hadn’t realized how late it was until the owner of the motel, Bennett Duke, commented that it was lucky he’d gotten up for a glass of water and heard me arriving in the wee small hours.
Seeing him behind the desk this morning, I poked my head in to thank him for helping me out.
“It wasn’t any trouble. Part of the job of a roadside motel owner is being available to check in people at all hours. How long do you think you’ll be with us? I didn’t ask last night because you looked like you were about ready to keel over. You seem better now.”
“I slept better than I have in a while.”
“Well, we do pride ourselves on our comfortable beds.”
I stepped inside, not wanting to have to shout back and forth.
“I don’t know how long I’m staying. Is that all right?
If you have another reservation, I can leave whenever you need me to.
” Not that I had anywhere else to go. And the motel, for all that it looked a little bedraggled from the road, my room was neat and clean, featured that comfortable bed and the shower had great water pressure.
Not a lot more a person could ask for the low price.
“Not at all. We’re glad to have you as long as you care to stay with us. Be sure to let us know if we can be any help or if you need more towels or coffee pods…”
“I’ll do that. Right now, I am going to go in search of something to eat. I haven’t had anything since lunch yesterday, and my stomach thinks I forgot about it.”
He chuckled. “It’s easy to do when you’re driving along.”
Bennett was nice enough not to comment on the fact that if I’d been so in a rush to get somewhere, I was not acting that way now. Maybe people in hospitality were trained not to pry.
“Well,” he said, reaching for the ringing landline phone, “I’m here if you need me.”
I kind of did. Hoping I looked less awkward than I felt, I waited while he took the call and informed the person on the other end of the line that they had the wrong number. He set the receiver down and said, “Would you like a recommendation for somewhere to get a bite to eat?”
“Yes, that is what I was going to ask. I’m taking up all your time though.”
“Not a problem. Now, the two best places nearby are Fred’s Fried Chicken and the Good Times Diner. Both have good food, great prices. Just depends on what you’d like to eat.”
I considered. “Fried chicken sounds good but maybe I’ll have that later or tomorrow. Can I get breakfast all day at the diner?”
“Not sure about all day, but you can get it now. Or a burger. Their breakfasts are very good and generous servings, too. But their burgers…well, just make sure you get one while you’re here. They will ruin you for any others.”
“These guys pay you to send customers?” I was joking, but not totally He could really be a commercial for the restaurants.
“Nope. I just know what I like. Now”—he pulled out a paper map of the area, unrolled it, and smoothed it out on the counter—“here is Good Times, and here is Fred’s.
You shouldn’t have any problem finding them.
” The phone rang again, and he reached for it then said, “The internet is better there, they claim.”
Sounded like a rivalry to me. I didn’t think it required a reply, especially after he’d been so nice about their food and prices.
I hadn’t even gotten online the night before, and probably wouldn’t today either.
Last thing I did before falling asleep was turn off my phone.
My father would be enraged when he realized I hadn’t done what he asked, and I didn’t want to hear about it in voice, text, email, or any other social media one of his betas might use.
It was a short drive to the diner, and I found a spot to park on the side street.
The instant I got out of the car, I inhaled the scent of frying meat patties, bacon…
French fries. Maybe I’d do breakfast another day because I was for sure going to give those burgers a try.
Anticipating the juicy goodness, I walked past an alley behind the restaurant and then stopped.
Loud voices rang out, three males demanding money from a fourth who cowered near the dumpster.
I made it a policy never to step into the middle of drama, particularly when the one being bullied was calling the others his brothers. Family drama. I hesitated only a few seconds before raised voices turned to raised fists.
Oh hell no. Pivoting away from the sidewalk, I started down the alley. No trio of gorillas was going to lay one finger on my mate. On. My. What?
Mate, my wolf snarled. Let me out.
I’ve got this, I told him. For now. They were big, they were three, and my wolf could make mincemeat of them. But first, I was going to try something a little less bloody.
“Hey!” I marched right into their midst, placing my body between them and my mate who huddled in the corner. “What is wrong with you three? Go away and leave this man alone.”
The tallest of the three answered. “He’s our brother and he has what’s ours. If he tells us where the rest of it is, we’ll only beat him a little bit.”
Rage such as I’d never experienced flooded my bloodstream, alpha power surging up, and my wolf beating to get out at the same time. I let him in just enough to shift my eyes to wolf and freak out the bullies.
They staggered back, all three of them, but not for long. Whispering among themselves, they must have come up with a plan because they started back toward me, fists raised again. But not with the force they’d had before. If my eyes scared you, wait until you see my claws.
My wolf pushed a growl up and out my throat, and the goons stumbled, but they were a determined trio; I had to give them that.
Unfortunately for them, if they continued to feel that way, no undertaker was going to be able to sort out all the bits of them to sort into coffins.
My alpha power was reaching for my wolf, and in about another two seconds, it would all be over.
“What the unholy…” The back door had opened, and in it stood a man wearing a white T-shirt and jeans with an apron tied around his waist. “Temple, where are you?”
“H-here, Gary.” The fourth brother, my omega, my mate—something we were going to have to talk about later—unfolded from his hunched posture.
“What are you doing still out here? You’ve got an order up, customers waiting.”
“Sorry.” He darted past the older man in the doorway, ducking under his arm holding the door open. Then he was gone.
“Mister, if you’re looking for the entrance, it’s on the other street.
” The man, apparently my mate’s boss, stepped back and let the door close.
When I turned around, the trio was gone.
My wolf was still wild, but some meat would calm him, as well as knowing our mate was safe.
Definitely burgers for lunch. This was not over, not by a long shot, but I needed more information to make it so.