Page 61 of Hunted

Abigail nodded gratefully.

“Okay. I’m hungry! Take an old lady to get some lunch. Would you?”

Abigail helped her friend off the bench and headed toward the tables to set out the food.

Chapter 27

Dominic

Abigailwasignoringthem.

Dominic had tried speaking to her multiple times over the past two days. But she always found an excuse to slip away at the last minute. He was frustrated and could not shake the feeling he had done something wrong. However, deep down, he knew he hadn’t. It took him a while to figure it out, but when he did, the knowledge dawned on him, bright and clear.

It’s obvious. Of course it is. How did we not see this before?

Dominic thought this as he helped Esme and Bert set up for the cookout.

It was a spontaneous decision, broached by Esme, to help break some of the tension that lingered over the Moonstone pack compound.

He followed Esme’s instructions blindly as he thought about Abigail’s behavior over the last two days. She had pulled away from both him and Luke, and neither of them had spent any real time with her.

They barely spoke, or even saw each other, aside from at the communal meals.

Abigail had thrown herself into her work with the children and seemed to be choosing work over sleeping, according to Esme.

Esme told Dominic and Luke about all the lessons Abigail had planned. She had built an entire curriculum especially for the pack pups. She had created bigger, better classrooms in two of the abandoned cabins, and she had, apparently, done all the work herself. She had even sanded down and painted the walls on her own.

All in two days.

Dominic could not bring himself to stop Abigail when it was clear she was on some kind of mission. Even if that mission was partially to get away from him and Luke. He just hoped she wouldn’t burn out. From what Esme had told him, it seemed the woman he loved was pretty close to being at the end of her rope.

In fact, it seemed that Esme had had to force Abigail to eat anything at all over the last two days.

Dominic could not deny that he was worried about her, and when he looked at Luke, he saw identical worry on Luke’s face.

“We need to talk.” He told the other alpha as he handed a few steaks to Esme, and Luke nodded right away.

But first, they had to eat.

Esme, Abigail, and a few of the other wolves had prepared a sumptuous dinner of steaks, potatoes, and wings, along with giant bowls of salads.

For a second, as they sat down and ate, Dominic could almost fool himself into believing everything would be okay.

He could almost believe they weren’t facing down a sure fight between his pack and Christian and his betas.

He could almost believe Abigail hadn’t pulled away from him.

He could almost tell himself that everything was fine. That everything was completely normal.

But it wasn’t.

Christian was still coming. And Abigail must have realized that she didn’t know which alpha she would choose, which was why she ignored them both.

Dominic also could not deny that he was hurt. He had thought, had hoped really, that Abigail would choose him.

He would not have been jealous if she had chosen Luke, but he loved her. He wanted her in his life forever. He slipped away, along with Luke, when dessert was served.

Dominic was sure that Abigail had noticed this. Was sure that her head had lifted at their slightest movements. She may have pulled away from both of them, but she was still as aware of them as she had ever been.

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