Chapter Two #2
Ally huffed. “I don’t spend my afternoon sitting around your garage watching you work on cars.”
“You should,” Bennett said. “Then you might actually know how to change a flat tire the next time you drive over a curb.”
“Go home, Bennett,” Ally groaned as she walked back to the kitchen.
I rounded the bar and smiled at him. “Sisters.”
He leaned forward, elbows on the black granite and eyes gleaming. “You have sisters?”
“Just one. She’s older, but she’s always on my case about something.”
Bennett laughed. “I have two. Both younger. Both pains in my ass for different reasons.”
“Ally seems great,” I said, tossing the towel over my shoulder.
“She is. She’s also a hotheaded alpha who tries to dominate both me and her alpha mate.”
“I’ve never met a female alpha before, but I thought I could tell that’s what she was. Are female alphas more dominant than male alphas?” I asked, unsure of how gender dynamics among alphas worked. For omegas and betas, it didn’t really make a difference, except for the female ability to reproduce.
“If Ally is any indication, female alphas certainly think they’re more dominant, but that might just be because her mate, Wyatt, loves her enough to let her get away with anything.
She can shift into wolf form though, so there is something arguably more primal in female alphas,” Bennett said.
“I hope you’re good with working during the full moon each month while she runs around outside. ”
My jaw dropped. “Are you shitting me? She can really shift?”
I’d heard rumors that female alphas could shift, but most people didn’t know for sure because so few people had actually encountered a female alpha.
Thousands of years ago, our wolf-shifter and human ancestors had started mating, and as time went on, the ability for male omegas to reproduce and for any of us to shift into wolf form was bred out of our lineage.
“She can.” Bennett nodded, taking a slow sip of his beer. He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “And if she doesn’t during the full moon, she turns into an agitated pain in the ass.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Something tells me you have no problem telling her that.”
He shrugged and leaned back. “I might have mentioned it to her once or twice.”
A rush of desire ran through my body as he relaxed. I wanted to climb over the bar, curl up in his lap, and ride him while he held me against his chest until I couldn’t walk straight.
His nostrils flared, scenting something, and his eyes widened, arousal taking over his features.
I instinctually took a step back. An aroused omega gave off pheromones that some alphas couldn’t ignore.
Most of them could control themselves; some chose not to.
I’d spent two years with someone who’d chosen not to control himself, and fear pulsed through me as I tried to sus out exactly what kind of alpha Bennett was.
He can clearly smell the desire I feel for him.
Bennett set his beer bottle down and stood up, rounding the bar with his hands in the air in surrender.
I watched, mesmerized, as he dropped to one knee in a sign of submission.
My jaw went slack and my heart raced as he looked up at me, hands still in the air and his face devoid of all the amusement I’d seen moments ago.
“You don’t need to be afraid of me,” he said slowly. “If you went into heat in front of me right now, I’d put you in my truck and take you somewhere safe, but I wouldn’t touch you even if you begged me to.”
“Why are you saying this?” I asked.
“Because I don’t want to be the reason you smell like fear,” he said.
I shook my head, trying to snap myself out of the trance he’d put me in. I waved my hands at him. “Will you stand up? You’re making me more nervous doing whatever the hell that is.” I gestured at him impatiently. “Seriously, get up!”
His lips curved upward in amusement. “It was supposed to be a gesture of submission. Letting you know you’re in control and that I respect you. I don’t think I’m entitled to you just because you’re clearly attracted to me.”
“Alphas are so fucking weird,” I said, shaking my head. My eyes caught on Ally as she stepped behind the bar.
“What the fuck are you doing on your knees, Bennett? If you think you’re blowing my new bartender while I’m still here just because you’re both clearly horned-up for each other—”
“That’s not what this is, Ally,” Bennett snarled, standing up.
“I literally just hired him.” She gestured to me. “Can’t you pick people up somewhere else?”
“I’ve never picked anyone up here.” Bennett ran a hand through his hair.
“He wasn’t picking me up,” I said, jumping in to defend him and clear up any misunderstanding that might get me fired. “I’m not interested. You don’t have to worry about me jeopardizing my job.”
“Not interested,” Bennett scoffed under his breath. “Yeah right. She can smell you too, you know.”
“I can smell both of you!” Ally said. “I don’t care what this is or isn’t, but it’s not happening here.”
“This is nothing,” I said quickly, turning back to Bennett. “If I were in the market for an alpha, you’d be at the top of the list, buddy, because you are clearly smoking hot. But I’m not interested in being anyone’s omega right now, so we can all pretend this never happened.”
Bennett lifted one eyebrow. “People don’t forget smoking hot, Felix. They don’t forget an instant connection with someone either. I’ll see you around.”
He turned away from us and grabbed his jacket off the back of the barstool, and without saying a word, walked out the front door of the bar.
“Is he always like that?” I asked, heart thumping loudly in my chest.
Ally looked me over curiously, clearly able to sense exactly how I was feeling.
There was no way to cover up arousal around an alpha, and my heart probably sounded like drums to her ears.
I just hoped she had as much control as her brother claimed to have.
“No. No, I’ve never seen him like that.” She studied me for a moment longer while I fought the urge to crawl out of my skin.
Thankfully I’m past the constant cravings for drugs during stressful times because this is making me think about getting high to ease the discomfort.
“You did a great job tonight,” she said. “I hope Bennett didn’t scare you off. I could really use someone with your experience, and he’s harmless.”
“I’m not scared of Bennett,” I said, forcing a smile. My heart filled with unexpected affection. “He seems like a giant puppy. Tough on the outside, but really, he probably just wants love and cuddles.”
Ally snorted and shook her head at me. “Most people miss his gooey interior because they’re too hung up on his rough-and-tumble appearance. Whatever happens with you two, please don’t let it affect your job here. I like working with you.”
Why do I already have a clear impression of him? We hardly interacted.
“Wait, shouldn’t you be warning me away from him because of my past?”
Ally smirked. “I don’t think that’s necessary. Bennett can handle himself, and you seem pretty harmless too.”
“You’re not going to tell him that I’m a recovering addict?”
“I’m not going to tell him shit. That’s not my business. Are you going to be honest with him if anything happens?”
“Yes, of course, but nothing’s going to happen. I promise,” I said.
She smiled, clearly amused as she walked by me and squeezed my shoulder. “If I were you, I wouldn’t make promises about this one.”
Nothing was going to happen with Bennett. No way was I getting involved with my boss’s brother, especially with my complicated history—even if he was the most enticing person I’d ever met.