Page 27 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

“I have to bring the dog in. Just wait here. Can you hold Mano? Make sure she doesn’t follow me.”

She dumps the cat in my arms before hurrying to the back of the building. I hear a door open and then a whine. Moments later, the door closes, and there’s the rattle of a cage door. Charlotte’s sweet voice is murmuring apologies to the pup. I smell the distinct scent of what can only be dog treats.

When she returns, she immediately takes Mano from my arms. “C’mere, baby.”

Her voice is a soft croon. I blink, the gentle sound making my heart skip a beat. “You really love her.”

For a brief moment, I find myself envious of the cat who is at the receiving end of such fierce adoration.

“She’s my whole world,” Charlotte admits, not even looking at me. The cat clearly enjoys the attention, purring loudly.

I study the two of them, and then I ask, “Why didn’t you tell me you were the one who saved me, the other night?”

Charlotte freezes for a moment and then opens her mouth. “I don’t know what—”

“Don’t bother lying to me,” I cut her off bluntly. “It was you, alright. Why did you do it? You’d already met me. You must have known what I was. Why help me?”

She shrugs, looking uncomfortable, shifting her gaze away from me and toward the animal in her arms. “Why do you care? It’s already over and done with, and I really don’t like rehashing things.”

“Indulge me,” I insist, smiling at her.

She takes a few minutes to reply, her fingers moving through Mano’s fur. Interesting tactic.

Avoidance.

“Charlotte.”

“You were going to die if I didn’t intervene,” she bursts out, her expression uneasy. “I didn’t think you deserved to die.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I could help, so I did.”

She has a soft heart. This is merely further evidence.

“Why not just tell me?”

She shrugs. “I didn’t want to be dragged into anything. Besides, it’s not as if you would have believed me. A vampire saving a wolf shifter. Even the idea sounds ridiculous.”

Her reasoning takes me aback, and she gives me a hard look. “I live among humans, like a human, Mr. Montgomery—”

“Robert, please,” I say quickly. “Call me Robert.”

“Fine, but the thing is, I don’t belong anywhere. I have no choice but to live among humans. I don’t want to get dragged into this war between vampires and shifters. I have no role in anything. I just wait on people, sell them coffee, and then I come and volunteer here. I’m going to become a vet one day. See, I have very human aspirations. I’m not a threat to the wolves or the vampires. I just want to be left alone.”

Her voice is matter-of-fact, but I can hear the underlying meaning behind her words.

I don’t belong anywhere.

Not even among the humans, I muse.

What a lonely existence.

I smile at her warmly. “Thank you. For helping me that night.”

She flushes and shrugs once again. “Sure. It was no big deal.”

The way her eye is still slightly bruised tells me she suffered greatly to do it. Especially when she clearly does not have the same fast healing of her kind.

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