Page 29 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

“N—Nothing.” She tries to move her shoulders in a shrug. “I don’t usually get that response.”

“What kind of response do you usually get?”

Charlotte looks reluctant to answer but does so. “That I’m aiming too high. Once a waitress, always a waitress.”

Annoyance stirs within me. “What kind of bullshit is that? Don’t tell me your colleagues at the coffee shop said that! They seem to like you.”

She laughs lightly, as if the very idea is ludicrous. “Not them. I’ve never told them.”

No more information is offered, and she sits behind the front desk. “Anyway, I’m going to become a vet. I have a plan. I’m very good at planning.”

Her confidence is endearing, and I smile. “I bet you are.”

Her head shoots up. “There’s no need to be condescending.”

“I’m not,” I protest with a chuckle, getting up and bringing her cat over to her. “I truly do think you are good at planning. After all, you’ve survived without a clan all these years. That couldn’t have been an easy feat.”

Charlotte takes Mano from me, but the cat seems to be in no mood to return to her owner. Instead, she jumps to the ground, and with her tail up in the air, she wanders off. I move to pick her up again, but Charlotte shakes her head. “It’s fine. All the doors are locked. She’s probably going to go into the back office to take a nap.”

It’s just the two of us now, and the silence that falls between us is awkward.

“So,” I begin, but Charlotte cuts me off.

“Are you really going to leave me alone now?”

I blink slowly. “Is that what you want?”

Her fingers pluck at the threads on her shirt. “I told you, I just really don’t want to get involved.”

I nod. “I understand. I can guarantee that none of my people will bother you. I’ll make sure they know you have permission to work and live in my territory.”

Charlotte looks relieved and gives me a faint smile. “Thank you.”

“That doesn’t mean you won’t be seeing me from time to time,” I say, grinning. “It is the closest cafe to my office, you know. And I enjoy the baked goods and the coffee.”

“I guess that’s okay.” She gives me another small smile.

A sudden flurry of barking has us both looking toward the back of the shelter. Charlotte jumps to her feet, rushing toward the source of the sound. I follow her. She switches on a pair of dim ceiling lights in the furthest room in the back, revealing a line of cages. The barking seems to be coming from a cage in the corner, and after Charlotte opens it, she brings out a small puppy.

“There, there, Zeno. There’s a good boy.”

The puppy seems to be a mixed breed.

“How old is he?” I ask curiously, watching her pet the shivering little dog.

“A couple of months. A teenager found him on the side of the road and brought him in last week. We’re trying to find him a home, but he’s got anxiety. I don’t know if anybody will adopt him. It doesn’t help that he’s a mixed breed. People prefer pure breeds or prominent ones. These little fellas slip through the cracks.” Her hand strokes the anxious puppy’s head, and her voice is sad, a little wistful. “Nobody wants you, do they, Zeno?”

Seeing her press a kiss on the top of the quivering puppy’s head, I feel a strange stirring within my heart. “What’s going to happen to him?”

Charlotte meets my gaze, and there is a heavy sadness in her eyes. “I don’t know. Thank heavens we are not a kill shelter. We’re trying our best to get him adopted. I’m not going to think about what’s going to happen to him in the future. I’m just going to do whatever I can to make sure he gets into a good forever home.”

I hold out my finger to the puppy, who sniffs it. Suddenly, his little tail begins to wag.

“He knows you’re an Alpha,” Charlotte realizes. “He feels safe around you.”

He’s kind of cute, I muse to myself. I ask, “May I?”

She lets me hold him. Zeno can’t wait to jump into my arms and begin licking my face, his tail thumping against my arm.

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