Page 19 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

I raise a surprised brow. It turns out the meek little girl has some claws that she was hiding.

“Did your clan not inform you that vampires are no longer allowed to conduct business in my territory?” I ask coolly.

“No, they didn’t,” Charlotte replies, her voice tight. “Because I don’t have a clan. And I am just working in a cafe. I’m not running a business. I’m not getting any profits. So, why are you bothering me again?”

Her words take me by surprise. “What do you mean, you don’t have a clan?”

“I was exiled,” she tells me. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

“From which clan?”

“Also none of your business. Now, do you want your coffee or not? It’s seven ninety-five.”

She holds out her hand expectantly, and my eyes narrow. “The board behind you says three twenty.”

“The rest is for ruining my morning,” she says bluntly.

I find myself coughing up the cash, unable to deny her that. “This is extortion.”

She just shrugs.

As I walk out with my coffee, knowing she’s not going to answer any of my questions this easily, my lips twitch again.

She’s cute.

And possibly dangerous.

I’ll have to dig deeper into Charlotte.

If she has any secrets, I’ll find them.

Chapter 5

Charlotte Sanguinite

I know better than to mouth off to an Alpha of a prominent shifter pack, but the way he looked at me, as if I were nothing more than a pesky insect, pissed me off.

I didn’t know that vampires were no longer allowed to conduct business in shifter territories. I have always tried to stay away from any establishment owned by my former clan, and they had no reason to inform me of such a decision.

I press my fist to my mouth as I look at job postings in the city. The problem is that, even with the map in front of me, the lines between each territory aren’t clearly marked. As an exiled vampire, I will not be welcome in any vampire clan territory. And the wolves won’t let me work in theirs.

What am I supposed to do? Where do I go?

What if Robert decides to come back this evening and just deal with me once and for all? He probably won’t, but I can’t help but imagine worst-case scenarios right now.

I could always do the one thing I’ve never been able to before: sell the apartment and leave. Move elsewhere. But wherever I go, it’s either going to be shifter territory or vampire territory. And if Robert has such a problem with me simply working at a job in his territory, what’s to say other shifters won’t share his feelings?

I bury my head in my hands, feeling lost and overwhelmed. I should have controlled my temper. I shouldn’t have snapped at him. Now he’s just going to find a way to kick me out. And who knows if he’ll even leave me alive and in one piece? It’s the idea of finally finding a place where I’m happy and have friends and then being told I don’t belong here that has my blood boiling.

“Everything good with you, Charlotte?” Shelby Brown, the woman who works here part-time, asks as she mops the floor. Shelby is a heavyset woman in her late fifties. She has a soft heart and a jovial personality.

“Yeah.” I stare at my laptop anxiously.

“Doesn’t look like it.” She makes her way over to me. “What’re you looking at?”

When she sees the job search website, she gives me a confused look. “What’re you doing searching for a job? You already got one.”

I wish I could just open my mouth and lay bare my heart, but Shelby is a human, and sharing anything with her would also put her life at risk.

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