Chapter Six #2
They got a table near the back. Kael had never been here, and he looked around, curious.
Ridge was talking to the waiter, and since he already knew what Kael liked to drink, Kael didn’t bother paying attention to the order.
Instead, he took in the decor, which seemed meant to evoke Italy.
They were in a pizzeria, after all. The air smelled of garlic and tomato sauce, and his stomach rumbled, making him blush.
“I don’t know why some people are allowed in here,” he heard a woman say.
The voice came from their left. Kael knew he would regret it, but he looked anyway, unsurprised when his gaze met that of a blonde woman. She quickly looked away and sniffed, but it was too late. Kael knew she’d been the one talking, and he knew she was talking about him.
“Please,” the man sitting across from her said.
Kael couldn’t see his face, but he already liked him better.
At least the man wasn’t talking about Kael as if he wasn’t sitting right there.
Even if he agreed with what the woman was saying, he wasn’t being open about it in a place where anyone could hear.
He seemed to have a little bit of decorum, which the woman sorely needed.
“You know I’m right,” the woman insisted. “Look around. He’s the only one who looks different.”
“You don’t know what the people around us are,” the man hissed back.
“At least shifters have the decency of looking like us.”
Ridge was done talking to the waiter. From the tightness of his jaw and his stormy expression, Kael could tell that he’d heard what the two were saying. It would’ve been hard for him or anyone else in the room not to. The music was playing, but not loud enough to cover nearby conversations.
Kael swallowed and looked down. Maybe they should leave. He didn’t want to create problems, and apparently, just sitting here had started some.
“I just think they should stay in their villages,” the woman continued. “They’ve been hidden away for so long. They should know they don’t belong with us.”
Ridge put his hands on the table and started to get to his feet.
Kael grabbed his arm, squeezing it and realizing what he’d done only when Ridge blinked at him.
He shook his head, pulling Ridge back down.
The woman was rude, but he didn’t want Ridge to start a fight, even though he would easily win it.
But Kael was done. He’d been told time and time again, in one way or another, that he didn’t belong—though never quite so openly to his face.
People usually murmured it behind his back, or sometimes they didn’t even say anything.
Just the way they looked at him made it obvious that they thought he wasn’t supposed to be there.
But why not? What had he done that was so horrible that he couldn’t sit here eating pizza with his mate?
Nothing. He had just as much right to be here as that woman. She might have the right to say rude things, but he had the right to say that to her face.
He turned to fully face her. She’d been watching him, and she paled slightly, but she also lifted her chin, making it obvious she wouldn’t back down if he said something.
He didn’t expect her to apologize or even change her mind.
That didn’t mean he was going to stay quiet.
“I have as much right to be here as you do,” he told her.
“The way I look or what I am doesn’t change that. ”
She looked almost surprised that he had the nerve to confront her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I can hear you. Everyone in this place can. I’ve been listening to what you’ve been saying about me since I walked in, and let me tell you—you’re rude.”
She gasped and looked around as if she expected the people around them to side with her. Maybe they would. Kael didn’t care.
He didn’t care about any of it anymore. He belonged here, and no one would make him change his mind about that, especially not a woman he didn’t know. His heart was racing and he was terrified, but it felt good to stand up for himself for once.
He got to his feet, sliding out from the bench. Ridge scrambled to follow, and to Kael’s relief, he didn’t move toward the woman. Instead, he came to Kael’s side, close enough to touch.
“You have no right to tell anyone where they belong, lady,” Kael said. “Also, you should learn to watch your mouth in public. I’m not going to do anything to you because that’s not the kind of person I am, but someone else might not be so patient.”
“Are you threatening me?” the woman asked, her voice rising. She was gearing up to cause a scene, but Kael wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.
“I’m not. I’m just stating the truth.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the waiter said, coming closer.
Kael shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”
“You’re not the one in the wrong here, sir,” the waiter said, leaning in. “I’m a shifter, and as far as I’m concerned, you belong here more than she does.”
Kael gave the waiter a smile. “Thank you. That’s very kind of you, but really, I’m sorry. I think it would be better for me to leave.”
“I can ask her to go instead.”
Now that would be something. Kael almost said yes, but he knew it would only make things worse, and it wasn’t what he was after.
“It’s all right. My mate and I will be back, and we’ll get our pizza then.
In the meantime, thank you.” He paused and glanced back at the woman. “Good luck dealing with her.”
She gasped, but Kael was already moving toward the door, Ridge right behind him. His heart was still racing, but he was smiling.
The person he’d been a few weeks ago would have hated this interaction. He still did, in a way. He wished it hadn’t happened and that people weren’t like that, but in the end, they didn’t matter. The only people who did matter thought that Kael’s place was here, and he agreed.
He’d really made his decision, hadn’t he?
He wasn’t going back to Starhaven or to any demon town.
He wasn’t going anywhere. This was his home now, and nothing anyone could say would change his mind about that, least of all a woman he’d never met.
He knew he would have to deal with a lot of nastiness going forward, and maybe eventually it would become too much, but for now?
He was proud of himself. He’d made his choice, and he’d meant it.
He’d done so in front of his mate, and even though they weren’t bonded yet, he could tell that Ridge was proud of him.
What mattered more was that he was proud of himself.
* * * *
RIDGE SCRAMBLED TO keep up with Kael. He hadn’t expected his mate to get up and leave the restaurant so quickly, but as soon as Kael started moving, he’d followed.
He’d heard what the waiter had said, just like he’d heard Kael answer.
He was proud of his mate for taking the high road, but at the same time, he wanted to go back and give that rude woman a piece of his mind.
She had no right to decide who belonged where. She had no right to tell Kael whether or not he should be there, and Ridge was glad that Kael had finally realized that.
They hadn’t talked much, but he’d been watching Kael.
He knew that his mate was uncomfortable most of the time, and he’d seen how relaxed Kael could be when they’d been with the other demons.
Kael had been nervous for other reasons there, but it had been clear that he felt like he belonged.
He hadn’t had to watch himself. He hadn’t been aware of his surroundings the way he was now.
Ridge felt sorry about that. He wanted his mate to always feel like he belonged, but he wasn’t sure how to give him that.
The only way it could fully happen was if Kael returned to a demon town, and that was one place where Ridge wouldn’t be allowed to follow him unless they looked into whether they could move into the town they’d just visited.
The demons there had been open enough to welcome them and listen to them.
They knew he and Kael were together. Maybe they’d make an exception to let Ridge in permanently.
It was something Ridge was going to bring up as soon as Kael stopped power-walking down the sidewalk.
“Hey,” he said, reaching his mate and gently catching his wrist.
Kael didn’t shake him off, but he also didn’t stop. “Where’s your place?” he asked instead.
“That building over there where I parked. We don’t have to go yet, though.”
“Why shouldn’t we? We need to talk.”
“We do, but after what just happened, I don’t mind waiting.”
That was enough to get Kael to stop moving. He came to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk and turned to face Ridge, squinting at him as if trying to read him. Ridge wasn’t sure how to make this easier on him. He wanted to give him the world, but the only thing he could give him was himself.
He wasn’t sure that would be enough.
He wasn’t exactly a catch. He had a job that most people would be horrified to learn about.
It wasn’t like the council sent him around killing random people, but still.
He had blood on his hands, and that might not be something Kael was willing to deal with.
It was one of the things they needed to talk about.
“Do you think we’ve waited long enough?” Kael eventually asked.
“There’s no such thing as long enough when it comes to mates. If you need more time, I’ll give you more time. There’s no need for us to rush into anything.” Especially since Kael wasn’t a shifter.
“Well, maybe I want to stop waiting. Maybe I’ve had enough of keeping my distance from you.”
“But what just happened was a lot.”
“It wasn’t more than anything else I’ve already lived through. You might not realize that, but that’s how people have been behaving almost since I moved here. It’s one of the reasons I’ve had such a hard time.”