Page 56 of Fastlander Fighter

“No. I know him. Something’s not right. Something’s happened.”

“Fffuck.” Hallie looked around. “Shane, cover the register for a minute.”

Hallie gestured Sloane over to the side and squared up. “Captain is under an order to give you space, Sloane. It’s for your own good. And Ruger’s.”

“What does an order mean?”

“An Alpha order. Captain can’t see around it. He doesn’t know you right now.” Her voice had gone very small at the end.

“An Alpha order. Done by an Alpha. Done by Gunner?”

Hallie nodded, and there was such deep sadness in her eyes.

“Your Gunner?” Sloane asked.

Another nod.

“Why would he take him from me?” she whispered, throat thickening as realization hit her. Captain had told her about Alpha orders. They couldn’t be ignored.

“I can’t talk about it,” Hallie said. “You just have to trust me that it’s for your own good.”

Sloane’s eyes burned as she slid her gaze to Captain. He was chopping brisket like she wasn’t over here falling apart. Like her world wasn’t shattering.

“It’s not a forever thing,” Hallie rushed out. “Gunner will lift it someday.”

“Someday,” Sloane whispered, horrified. “What do I do until then? Just pretend Captain doesn’t exist?”

“You have to.”

Tears escaped her eyes, and Sloane dashed the back of her hand across her cheeks. “But…he feels so big.”

“I know,” Hallie whispered.

“You don’t know,” Sloane gritted out. “No one knows.” She backed away, feeling absolutely betrayed by the Fastlanders.

She rushed around the counter and hugged Captain tight. “You remember me. You do. Remember me? I’m Sloane, and my son Ruger is your biggest fan, and we do baseball games, and movie nights, and we cook together, and—”

“Get off,” Captain gritted out. He set down his knife and eased her away at arms’ length. “You can’t be back here. I’m working.”

The coldness in his voice shocked her.

His eyes looked so different as he looked at her. So silver and empty. So feelingless.

“Captain, please,” she pleaded.

“Someone get her out of here,” he said, gesturing to Sloane. “She’s fucking with the breakfast rush.”

Someone touched the small of her back, but she jerked away from them. It was Shane. “Don’t touch me,” she said, swallowing a sob.

Sloane looked around. Everyone was staring at her like she was crazy. Captain had gone back to work, giving her his back, and Hallie’s eyes were full of emotion, but screw everyone here.

They didn’t understand how badly she was being hurt. They didn’t understand the storm inside of her.

They didn’t understand what was being taken.

She’d found herself with Captain, and now what? How did she continue progress when her biggest motivation barely recognized her?

What would she tell Ruger?

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