Page 27 of Rejected By the Alpha

“I’ll keep an eye on them,” I assured her.

“Thanks,” she replied. “I’ll give Leah a heads up, too. They’re sitting in her section.”

My eyes flashed as I realized an unforeseen complication of having my mate work at the bar with me. I needed to treat her like I would any other employee, but the thought of her being in close proximity to men who had been drinking too much caused anxiety and anger to course through me.

Memories of how I had treated women when I was intoxicated came to my mind. It hadn’t been good, and I knew there were plenty of men in the world with even less restraint than me.

“Let her know I’m here if she needs backup,” I called as Jillian walked away.

You should switch her sections,my wolf growled.I don’t like this at all.

Calm down, Rocky,I reminded him.

How can I? She could be in danger.

Not while I’m here,I assured him.

That much I knew to be true. Nothing would prevent me from ripping any man apart who tried to harm or even intimidate my mate.

While serving drinks and responding to other patrons, I kept one eye on Leah, hypervigilant about the men who were becoming rowdier by the minute. Leah seemed to take Jillian’s warning in stride. She continued offering excellent service to all the customers while remaining professional and kind.

About an hour later, I saw her laugh at a joke someone at the bachelor party table said, and I felt jealousy burn like a hot knife through my stomach. A moment later, she brought theirempty glasses back to the bar, and I decided to take a moment to check in.

“How’s your night going?” I asked, doing my best to keep all traces of concern out of my voice.

“Great!” she said enthusiastically. “It’s really lively in here.”

I nodded as she cashed out a table and brought them their change. Before she could return to the bar, one of the men from the bachelor party left his seat. I watched as he made his way to where Leah was standing and drunkenly tried to pass her a piece of paper.

Is he really giving her his phone number?

Just as I was about to launch myself over the bar and mark her as my territory, I saw that she’d put her hand out to stop him from giving it to her. Her face transformed from one of sweetness into a harder expression of warning.

It was impossible to hear their conversation over the music and chatter of the guests, but the gist of what she was trying to say was unmistakable. Leah shook her head, declined the paper, and jerked her head toward me at the bar.

The man looked at me with wide eyes as he turned a deep shade of red, then scurried back to his friends at their table. Within a few minutes, they placed a pile of cash on the table and made a swift exit.

“What was that all about?” I asked Leah as she brought the cash up to the register.

“He wanted me to call him when I got off work,” she replied.

“And I take it you said no?”

“I told him it was in his best interest to check if the person he was hitting on was wearing a wedding ring before trying to pick them up,” she said with a shrug. “Then I said my husband was watching him. He gave you one look and decided he made a bad choice.”

I chuckled at her summary of events. It was true. The guy had looked like he was going to throw up when he saw me behind the bar.

With the table of drunken men gone, the atmosphere in the bar got calmer and quieter. After an hour, I’d sent Jillian home and had the cooks close the kitchen. By the time the last customer left, only Leah and I remained to close down the bar.

I would have assumed that she would be animated and happy now that the workday was done, but as we set about cleaning the tables, she looked crestfallen.

“You seem off,” I said.

“I’m just thinking,” Leah replied.

“Can you tell me what you’re thinking about?” I asked. “I’d like to help, if I can.”

I saw tears welling up in Leah’s eyes, and my heart sank. There was nothing on earth I hated more than to see her upset.

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