Chapter 2
CHAPTER
TWO
GLENN
After work, I sit in the trailer, quietly watching the annual supervisor training videos the company requires. As I click through the computer slides, I silently mock it. Of course I know this shit. It’s common sense.
Always wear PPE.
Never cut corners.
If something looks dangerous, it probably is.
But I’m not complaining because it means I get to stay after hours with Arbor, and it allows me to assess him. To get to know the omega who was so pliant and needy that night of the Heat Hunt.
And I’m learning more about this guy every minute.
The mystery of Arbor is slowly unraveling. Slowly but surely.
He wrinkles his nose when he’s frustrated, blowing air out of the side of his mouth before he forms a response to someone.
And he’s stubborn as hell. I can tell by the set of his shoulders and the tightness of his jaw. He won’t back down. Which makes the fact that he was a willing omega during the Heat Hunt even more of a mystery.
And his eyes seem to darken when he’s frustrated. Just a little, but enough to know how he’s feeling.
That and his scent.
I can’t fucking ignore that.
“Are you even watching it?” he asks, his eyes flicking over to mine. I don’t even look down, just click to the next slide.
“Yeah, learning so much.”
He rolls his eyes, and I see the twitch of a smile before it disappears entirely.
“It’s company policy.”
“Got it.”
I click to the next slide as his fingers fly across the keyboard. My hand moves under the hem of my shirt to scratch my chest, and I hear his typing falter slightly.
Hm, he’s looking. Likes what he sees.
“How much longer do you have?” he asks a minute later.
I glance down at the screen. It’s one of those trainings that forces you to watch the entire video before moving on to the next slide. It’s infuriating.
“Twenty more minutes.”
“Good. I should be done by then.”
He takes his glasses off and rubs at his mismatched eyes. And I can’t look away.
He catches me staring, and he glowers. “You keep looking at me like that, I’m going to have you take the sexual harassment training too.”
That makes me laugh slightly. “Yeah, all right.”
He cocks his head and then shakes it. “You look at me like you know me.”
“Nope.”
“Have we met before, Mr. Barrett?”
He stares at me for a long time, and I wonder if he’ll ever realize who I am, but he doesn’t, so I say nothing.
“Don’t think so.”
He rolls his lips between his teeth. “And it’s not my scent?”
“No. Haven’t noticed it.”
That’s a total lie. I have noticed it. It’s intoxicating. Every time I’m near, it infects me, turns me on.
But I tamp it down, reeling it in.
“Why do you keep bringing it up?” I ask, and that makes him bristle.
“I don’t. I mentioned it a few times because…because I realize I’m different. I try to keep it under wraps, but I can’t take it away entirely.”
I wait for him to explain, and when he doesn’t, I have to ask. “Why are you different?”
“I don’t know you well enough to tell you that.”
All right then. Guess I shouldn’t be too curious.
I turn my gaze back to the computer screen, even though I feel Arbor’s eyes on me.
It’s a prickle that spreads across my skin, and it only abates when he glances away.
Why this man has such an effect on me is mindboggling.
I have no fucking idea what’s going on, but everything about him calls to me.
Maybe it’s because he was my first with a man.
Or maybe it’s because his scent does things to my hormones.
I have no fucking idea. And instead of obsessing over it, I force my gaze to stay on the computer screen and work in relative silence until I’m done with my training.
“You done?” he asks as I shut the laptop and stretch my arms above my head. My shirt rides up slightly, exposing my abdomen.
I feel his gaze slide across my exposed skin and hear him clear his throat.
“Yep.”
“Well, thank you for completing the training with no objections.”
“I was objecting, but silently.”
“I’ll take it,” he replies, grabbing his jacket off the rack and opening the door. I hear a broken howl in the distance, and Arbor hesitates a moment. But he squares his shoulders, and I move toward him, knowing my alpha scent will most likely scare off anyone who is lurking nearby.
They won’t want to mess with me. Or what’s inferably mine.
I walk him to his car, and he stiffens slightly when I wait for him to get in. But I left him alone that first day. My conscience won’t let me do it again.
“Thank you,” he murmurs, an almost unwilling two syllables, but I accept them.
“Anytime.”
When he finally drives off, I slip into my truck and make my way back to my small double-wide on the south side of town. It’s not much, but I’m proud of it. I’ve done a lot of work on this place. New siding, new fencing, and a shit-ton of plants and trees.
It’s home. I park my truck and see the glowing eyes of a few feral cats on my porch.
Damn things won’t go away.
I’m not a cat person. Wolves never like felines.
“Fuck off,” I murmur as I pour them their food from the latched container under the chair.
They meow angrily at me, pissed I’m home late.
“Well, tough canines. I’m not your owner.”
Just a servant, they hiss back.
With a roll of my eyes and a nice middle finger to them, I push the door to my home open and jump slightly when I see my brother in the kitchen. I can smell dinner attempting to be cooked, and my stomach rumbles.
“River, what the fuck?” My younger brother is bouncing around near the stove.
He must have his earphones in because he can’t hear me.
So, I close the door and kick off my shoes.
When I tap him on the shoulder, he screams. Embarrassed and ashamed of what just came out of his mouth, he punches me in the chest.
“You scared me.”
I let out a low laugh. “You scared me, lurking in the kitchen in the dark. Why the hell are you here cooking me dinner?”
“Uh, well, I ran out of food, and your place was closer than the store.”
“Fuck off,” I say. “You need a grocery service.”
“I wish we had that, but we aren’t in the city, man. We don’t have Pack Pantry here.”
I pull open the fridge and pull out a couple ciders, handing one to my brother before cracking one open for myself.
“Oh gods, I love this brand. Wild Howl is the fucking best.”
He slurps it, drinking half down in seconds and letting out a burp.
“What are you making?” I ask.
“I decided on spaghetti. Because, you know, I can boil a fucking noodle.”
“Let me guess? Noodles and sauce from a jar?”
“Shut up. You know I’m not a good cook.”
I shove him out of the way and flip him off.
“You aren’t. You’re shit. Last time you were in the kitchen cooking, you burnt a pan advertised as not burning. I think the entire company had a crisis over that. So kindly fuck off. I’ll finish up.”
“Hey, man. That was one time!”
“The only time, but it was enough.”
I turn the stove off and pull the sauce from the heat, moving to the freezer and pulling out some Italian sausage links to throw in a new pan.
“Well, fine. How was work?” River asks as he chugs his cider next to me before grabbing another one.
“Good as it can be.”
He burps again and finishes another can.
“Help yourself,” I say dryly, but he ignores the sarcasm and lowers himself onto a chair facing me.
As I work to grate the Parmesan cheese, River leans back, opens his mouth, and blabbers. It’s a real skill set if you ask me. Love my brother, but fuck, he can talk.
“You hear about those Howlers breaking and entering all over town?”
“Yep.”
“Wonder if they’re from one of the clans up north.”
“Could be.”
“Ooh, or maybe they got kicked out or something. Maybe they, like, broke the rules and were exiled.”
“Could be. Won’t know until they’re caught.”
He hums and taps his foot on the ground. “Maybe they weren’t alpha enough, you know? Maybe got kicked out for not having a knot or something.”
I peer over at my brother, who is chewing on his bottom lip.
“Every alpha has a knot.”
He shrugs, not looking at me. “Yeah, guess you’re right.”
“Maybe they’re not even really Howlers. They could be werewolves. Never know.”
“Werewolves? As in the ten-foot-tall human-monster hybrids? Shit, I thought those were extinct. Scary fuckers.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe they’re just in hiding. Probably lots of creatures out there we don’t know about.”
We’re silent for a while, and when he crumples the can in his hand, he sighs. “Dinner almost ready?”
“Almost.”
“You heard from Skye or Mav lately?”
“Nope. They’ve been busy.”
“Yeah, nesting and shit, I’m sure.” He says that slightly despondently, but his cheery nature, something he got from Mom more than our dad, shines through a moment later.
“Anyway, guess what? I got a raise at work. I’m thinking about getting a house, a little one on the outskirts of town, kind of like you. ”
“That’s a good idea.”
He bobs his head. “Yeah, just need to find an omega who wants to share it with me.”
“Or you could be happy alone.”
“Not everyone is you, dude. I want someone to do things with.”
I think about Arbor, and my chest twists. Yeah, probably not a good idea to think about him and the future. He made it perfectly clear he’s not interested in more.
“What about that girl you were seeing? What’s her name?”
“Cherry? Yeah, we broke up.”
“Why?”
His cheeks darken, and he stammers slightly. “Dunno. Just not compatible.”
I put the sauce back on the stove and put the cooked sausages inside. Reaching into my freezer, I grab the garlic bread and throw it in the toaster oven.
“You gonna make a salad?” River asks.
“Why?”
“Just, you know, for some greens? Gotta keep my body in shape. I work an office job, unlike you.”
“How about you make it? Can’t burn the house down with romaine now, can you?”
He sighs and stands up, moving to the fridge and pulling out a head of lettuce and a tomato.
“You should buy the bagged stuff. So much easier.”