Chapter 19 - Rachel
I finished mopping the floors of the grocery store. A wave of exhaustion washed over me, not uncommon, now that I was pregnant, but I could still do without it.
Alex came striding over, hands in his pockets. Ever since Sam had come by, he had remained friendly but typically made sure to keep several feet between us, a consequence of Sam’s “protectiveness.”
“Are you heading out?” he asked with a slight frown.
I slowed, frowning. “Yeah, I just clocked out. Why?”
“I’d be careful when you leave,” Alex said, glancing outside with narrowed eyes.
“Why?”
“I just took my break, and there’s a guy lurking around,” Alex said.
I stiffened, my mind going to the two shifters who had broken into the store what felt like a lifetime ago.
Had they come back despite Sam’s warning?
Were they coming to get revenge for what had happened?
Jenson had improved the security system after the robbery, once he had given me an earful about closing on my own.
But I still felt like I was jumping at shadows sometimes, as if I kept expecting them to turn back up.
“What do they look like?” I asked, keeping my voice as neutral as I could.
Alex shrugged. “Not entirely sure. They’re keeping sort of to the shadows, like they don’t want to be seen.”
“A pack member?” I prodded.
He scratched the back of his head. “I think so? I’ve smelled their scent before, at least. But whoever it is, they’re acting weird.”
My lips thinned as irritation washed over me, and my fingers curled as a sneaking suspicion crept over me.
“I’ll handle it,” I said, my voice tight.
Frowning, Alex said, “Are you sure? I don’t want—”
“I said I would handle it,” I said, snapping despite myself as I marched toward the front. The pregnancy hormones had kicked in, and that only made every little nuisance irritate me further.
Cool air brushed against my skin as I stepped outside, the smell of fall filling my nose as I searched around, going to the side of the store to see a man looming in the shadows, close enough to keep track of everyone going in and out of the store, far enough back that few people would notice him.
He was tall, with russet hair and stubble, and I recognized him almost immediately. He watched me as I approached.
“Oz? What are you doing lurking here?” I asked.
Oz coughed, a sheepish expression spreading across his face. He glanced around, looking every bit like a child whose hand was just caught in the cookie jar.
“Hey, Rachel,” he said, adopting a too-casual tone as he tried to keep his face calm. “How’s it going?”
My lips pursed as I folded my arms, frowning. “What’s going on? Did something happen to Sam?”
“No! No, Sam’s fine. I was just looking for some groceries,” he said.
“And normally those are found inside the store,” I said. “Window shopping doesn’t mean you can reach through the window, you know.”
He swallowed as he bobbed back and forth, giving a casual, almost bored shrug as he scratched his chin. He gave a vague, innocuous whistle as he struggled to come up with some sort of response.
Letting out an annoyed growl, I folded my arms. “Why don’t you save us both the trouble and tell me what you’re really doing here.”
Oz didn’t say anything. Instead, he rubbed the back of his neck, looking everywhere but at me, as if he were a kid who’d been caught snooping in his sister’s room.
As I frowned, trying to discern what the hell was going on, an unpleasant certainty struck home, seeping deep down into my marrow.
“Oh my God,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Please tell me that Sam didn’t tell you to come here to keep an eye on me?”
Oz bit his lip as he tried to come up with a response. I folded my arms as I waited, hoping that my intuition was wrong.
“I mean, I could tell you that,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it’s going to be the truth.”
I stared, my mouth parting slightly as I let the words sink in. “I’m going to kill him,” I muttered.
Of course, he had someone tailing me. Ever since he had found out I was pregnant, Sam’s protective instincts had gone into overdrive.
This shadowing was only the most recent example.
He had tried to insist on my having a bodyguard at all times.
When I told him no, I started catching some of the guards who worked for him following me in secret.
Sam insisted on meeting me after work, regardless of whether I walked or drove.
And I had caught him chatting with Amelia on more than one occasion, as if trying to assess how I was doing.
“He’s just worried about you,” Oz said.
“Why would he be worried about me?” I asked, keeping my voice neutral. If Sam had told anyone about the baby, then I really would tear him to shreds.
“Because you’re his mate?” Oz asked. “Is that a trick question or something?”
There was no sign on Oz’s face that he knew the truth, so at least Sam had kept his promise. I breathed a little easier. That didn’t mean I was any less furious with him. Only that I was less angry than I would have been otherwise.
I let out a deep breath as I looked around, half-expecting to see Sam himself lurking somewhere in the distance, unsatisfied with only one guard shadowing me wherever I went.
Oz still lingered to the side, waiting to see if I was about to kill the messenger.
But my issue had nothing to do with him.
I intended to cut this problem off at the source.
“Hop in if you’re coming with me,” I said, marching to the car without bothering to stop for him. “There’s no sense pretending that you aren’t supposed to keep tabs on me until I get home, so we might as well save gas.”
“Are you heading home?”
I snorted, my anger still surging as my wolf bristled in frustration. “Hell, no. I’ve got other things I need to take care of.”
“Where are we going exactly?” Oz asked, trotting until he caught up with me.
I gave a grin with bared fangs. I didn’t miss the fact that Oz leaned away as I started up the car.
“I’m going to go have a chat with my mate,” I said.
***
I barged into Sam’s office without bothering to knock. His head shot up when the door burst open. He stayed seated behind his desk, the sun from the window shining on his hair as his expression remained impassive, though I didn’t miss the surprise flickering in his eyes as he saw Oz and me.
“Sorry, Sam,” Oz said. “I told you I was never any good at stealth.”
“We need to talk,” I growled at Sam, ignoring Oz’s quip entirely.
That surprise on his eyes morphed into what I could only describe as uneasy caution. He exhaled as he set down his pen.
“You set one of your guys to tail me everywhere? And didn’t tell me?” I snarled, marching up and pressing my palms onto his desk. “You have got to be joking.”
Sam glanced behind me. “Why don’t you go grab lunch or something, Oz?” he suggested.
“You know, now that you mention it, I’m starving,” Oz agreed. I heard the door shut seconds later as if he had bolted out of there at the speed of light.
“Are you out of your mind?” I snapped at Sam when I knew we were alone. I marched toward the desk, forcing myself not to slam my hands on the table. “You’re having people stalk me at work now?”
“Oz wasn’t stalking you,” he fired back, his tone infuriatingly even. “He was just keeping an eye on you to make sure you’re safe.”
I laughed, folding my arms as I glowered up at him. “Like I’m going to get attacked at work?”
“You were attacked at work,” he pointed out. “Remember?”
“That was completely different, and you know it,” I countered.
“It doesn’t matter,” he replied. The tone of his voice held nothing but cool, rational certainty and conviction.
He felt that what he had done was the right thing, and nothing I did or said was going to tell him otherwise.
“It’s my job to keep you and the baby safe.
I can’t be there all the time, so I’m having people keep an eye on you. ”
Biting my lip, I tried to quell some of that anger, trying to see things from Sam’s perspective.
I knew that none of this could be easy for him.
He was used to being able to control things.
It had to feel like things were spinning further and further out of his grasp.
Having someone keep an eye on me probably made him feel as though he still had a grasp on a wild situation.
At the same time, none of that gave him the excuse to treat me the way he had.
I sighed, trying to get my frustration under control even as I continued to bristle. I could feel my wolf snarling in frustration. I couldn’t keep doing this, no matter if it kept Sam at ease.
“You know that by having people tail me all the time, you’re only drawing attention to me. It isn’t going to take a genius to figure out why you’re having people tail me.”
“You’re my mate,” he said. “They’ll just assume it’s because of that.”
“Come on, Elias is smarter than that,” I said. “How did you explain it to him?”
He didn’t answer, just drummed his fingers as he watched me, those handsome features staring down at me with an intensity that normally filled me with a pleasant, prickling heat. This time, however, it did none of those things.
“Look, I need you to please tone it down,” I said, trying to keep my voice gentle and reasonable.
I was trying to see it from his perspective, but he wasn’t making it easy.
“It’s getting out of hand. I’m starting to feel like I can barely breathe.
Hell, I can barely go to the bathroom without feeling like someone is watching me. ”
While I wanted to find a happy medium and meet him halfway, it seemed he didn’t feel the same way. He shook his head.
“Not going to happen,” Sam said. “Not until we find out how much the wraith knows.”
I frowned, brow creasing as I tried to make sense of the words. What did the wraith have to do with any of this?