Chapter Fifty-One
Robin
Falcon is probably only in Lana’s office for a few minutes, but it feels like forever to be standing in the hallway waiting around, wondering why he had to shut me out of the room to speak to her.
Owen starts out leaning back against the wall by the side of the door, head to the side as if he’s trying to listen in to whatever they’re talking about in there.
I take a seat on the bench across from the door after a few seconds.
I knew if I didn’t sit down, I would have had to pace around.
After a minute, Owen lets out a sigh and looks over at me.
“You know if you don’t want to spend any time with him, you can say so, right?”
I blink at him, and then I manage to make myself nod.
It seems like a strange question, but I guess he’s used to being suspicious of everyone.
At least, I hope that’s why he’s asking.
“I want to spend time with him,” I confirm, not seeing any change in his hard to read expression. “I don’t have any reason not to like him, unless there’s something you know that I don’t?”
He holds my gaze as he answers, “He lied to us to get access to this place, and then he turned around and decided you were his true mate. I don’t trust him. Lana doesn’t either. You should be careful around him.”
It never hurts to be cautious, so I answer, “of course.”
Owen nods and turns his head toward the door again.
I stand up when I see the door handle turning.
Falcon exits the room, his expression a little stormy.
“Everything okay?” I ask, hoping he stays true to his word and tells me what he went into Lana’s office to discuss.
He nods after a second of hesitation. “Yeah. We can go get lunch now.”
“Don’t forget to come back here when you’re done,” Lana warns him, saving her smile and softer words for me. “Have a nice time, Robin. There’s a guard in the cafeteria. You can speak to him if you need to, for any reason.”
Oh, wow. She really doesn’t trust Falcon.
It stings more than I thought it would.
She’s been so great this whole time.
She’s done so much for me.
And she doesn’t like the only guy I’ve really felt safe around since I was rescued.
That’s disappointing, but it doesn’t make me feel any differently about him.
The only person who could change my mind about that is Falcon himself.
“Thanks!” I smile back, even though it’s the last thing I feel like doing.
I don’t want her to force Falcon to leave. He hasn’t done anything wrong.
So, I take his hand in mine, and I lead him across the reception area, moving at a quick pace.
He lets go of my hand when we get to the doors, and I can tell from his reflection in the glass that he’s concerned, even before I turn to look at him.
“Hey,” he starts, keeping his voice low. “What’s wrong?”
I look back at him, trying to understand why Lana thinks he’s so untrustworthy.
There’s really only one thing he’s done that makes me feel a little weird.
“What did you have to talk to Lana about?”
I make sure I look him in the eyes while I wait for his answer.
“I wanted to ask about staying here at the academy,” he admits, after a slight pause.
“Um, you want to stay here?”
I can feel my cheeks warming as I think about the implications of his request.
“It’s better for true mates to stay close once they find each other,” he goes on, giving me a wry smile. “We have a suite in a hotel in the city. It’s not far from the academy, but if we’re off site then we need to schedule visits every day to get the chance to spend time with you.”
“Oh!” I gasp, as it sinks in how serious all of this is.
He’s not talking about dating me, visiting when he feels like it to spend time together.
He’s talking about wanting to spend all his free time here!
“Well … I … Don’t you have to work, or something?” I blurt, once I’ve pulled myself together enough to ask.
He smiles. “I’m on hiatus from working. Alphas are pretty good at making money and saving it. Shayne is in the same position right now. It made coming out to the city to be near you a simple decision.”
“Um, well, I have a job here.”
“I know. We can visit whenever it’s good for you.”
“So, Lana said no to you staying here?”
“She wasn’t in a good mood when we spoke. I realized it wasn’t the right time to ask. If I’d thought she would agree to it, I would have asked if we could rent a room here in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, she’s still not very happy with me right now, so I don’t think that’s going to be an option.”
“She doesn’t seem to like you very much.”
“I don’t blame her for looking out for you. It’s good that she cares.”
“She’s been so nice to me. Even when I didn’t know these people were helping me, and I tried to escape, she helped me understand the truth.”
“The truth?” he asks, frowning.
I look down as I process everything I’ve been through since I got to the academy.
Finding out my life had been a lie wasn’t easy, but Lana made it easier to get through, for sure.
“I was young when my mother died. Too young to remember anything. The truth is, I saw that house as my home. I didn’t know …
I had no idea my mom was sold to Ivan Hamilton because she was an Omega.
I wasn’t aware of how close I was to death when you got me out of there and brought me here.
I didn’t know that was a rescue. If I’m honest, it felt like a kidnapping, at the time. ”
He's blinking at me in astonishment when I look back up into those deep-set gray eyes.
“A kidnapping?” he whispers.
I nod. “It sounds awful, I know, but it’s the truth.”
He stares at me, his shock slowly turning to horror.
I give him a minute to process what I told him, and then it feels like it’s time to move on.
“Are you still hungry, or …” I start, trailing off when I realize it might be too much for him to take in.
The girl he thinks he rescued isn’t someone who was instantly grateful for what he did.
She was confused and kind of hurt by it, at first, before she understood her whole world had been upside down from the very beginning.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He takes my hands in his, before lowering his head to kiss them.
I can’t help but shiver at the light touches of his lips against my knuckles.
“It’s okay,” I murmur. “I know.”
He moves back, not letting go of my hands.
“You were too exhausted to talk that night. It seemed like all you wanted to do was sleep.”
“I was in shock. I didn’t know what was happening. I was tired, but honestly, if I’d fallen into anyone’s arms but yours, I would have found the strength to back up and ask questions. I just … from the moment I saw you I felt safe, and that made it impossible not to relax.”
He gives me a smile. “That’s because we’re fated. It’s not always as obvious to a Beta, but they can usually feel it on some level. It’s just not as clear as if you were an Alpha or an Omega.”
“That makes sense,” I admit, wishing I had that same sense of certainty that he seems to have.
Is that what a true mate feels like?
A safe place in the middle of a storm?
It feels right, but I wish I could say I have no reservations.
The truth is I don’t know about Betas having fated connections, and I know nothing about packs.
All I really do know right now is that I like this Alpha, and I don’t want him to leave.
The longer he looks at me like I’m the most amazing thing he’s ever seen, the harder it gets to think about anything other than dragging him down the corridor and up the stairs at the end of the hall, to bring him to my room.
“I guess we should go have lunch,” he reminds me.
I chew on my bottom lip while I think about other things we could be doing instead.
His teeth already got sharp when we kissed before.
They’ll come back if we do anything more.
We can only go up there if I want to be marked.
My body likes that idea, but my head isn’t so sure.
Our attraction to each other is undeniable, but I barely know anything about him.
I can’t let myself get wrapped up in the way he makes me feel.
Not before I know this is what I really want.
“We should go eat,” I tell him, sticking to the original plan.
“Let’s go,” he says, giving me a wry smile as I let go of one of his hands.
I catch him staring at my curves when I turn and gaze at his reflection in the door.
I had no idea today was going to test me so much, but I’m determined to make it through without having my skin marked by this tempting Alpha.
If he comes back again, then maybe I’ll give in.
Not today. Definitely not today.