Page 2 of Redeeming His Omega Mate

As I leaned in to pour, I felt a finger creep up my thigh, sliding towards my waist. My body reacted instantly, flinching away from the unwelcome touch. In my haste to move, I stumbledbackward into the girl behind me, and the jug tipped forward, sending beer splashing all over her.

Shit.

I didn’t need a crystal ball to know what was coming next. I knew exactly what would happen and how it would happen. She would rain hell on me, loudly berating my incompetence, cursing my entire existence, and threatening to involve her undoubtedly powerful Beta father because I ruined her pretty dress. The whole scene would attract the attention of Mr. Titan, who would come barreling out of his office to join the chaos, berate me in front of everyone, and remind me of how unworthy I was of the scraps he was paying me as wages. He always made sure to make it seem like he was paying me an arm and a leg.

Bracing myself for the inevitable, I closed my eyes, took a steadying breath, and prepared for the storm.

“How dare you, you tramp?! Don’t you know how to do your job?” Raina, a regular at the bar, shrieked, leaping to her feet. Her finger jabbed at me repeatedly, her words sharp and venomous as she hurled insults and threats my way. Of course, she ended with the ultimate promise to tell her Beta father, who no doubt had the money and influence to make my life miserable.

I tried to slip in a few apologies, but they were drowned out by her tirade. And just as expected, Mr. Titan stormed out of his office, his face red with anger.

“What is this commotion?!” he bellowed, his fury quickly zeroing in on me. “Tala, can’t you go a single shift without causing a disaster? You’re lucky I even pay you for this nonsense!”

I stood there, absorbing his words, each one stinging like a fresh wound.

Oh, I forgot to mention. Humiliation? Yeah, we were old friends.

After making it very clear that I was going to get a deduction from my wage today, he ordered me to work behind the counter for the rest of the night and leave the table service to “more competent” workers.

I kept my eyes lowered to the ground, as I returned to prepare another round of drinksfor the late-night patrons, the doorbell chimed, signaling the arrival of another customer. I sighed—more work. But when I looked up, something stopped me cold. My breath caught in my throat, and suddenly, everything Gina ever told me about the day she laid eyes on Rowan started to make sense.

Every thought faded into a blur when I laid eyes on him. He walked in like he owned the room, his movement smooth and deliberate, carrying a quiet confidence with each step. His scent hit me next, earthy and warm, wrapping around my senses like a slow-burning ember on a cold night.

As he approached the counter, I straightened, drawn to him in a way that felt too strange. I couldn’t look away, even as my pulse quickened in my ears. There was a strange sensation, like I had known him forever, yet this was the first time I was seeing him. My breath hitched when his eyes met mine, and in that moment, it was as though something deep inside me had snapped into place. My wolf, quiet and dormant for so long, woke with an urgency that felt foreign to me. A magnetic pull tugged at me, strong enough to stop time, steal the air from my lungs, and root me in place.

He flashed me a smile as he settled onto one of the barstools behind the counter. It wasn’t the cocky grin of a Beta looking for trouble. it was softer, quieter, and almost…curious. Only now did I have the sense to tear my eyes away from him and hope silently that he didn’t think I was checking him out or something. At the thought of that, I cringed internally.

When I glanced up at him again, he was still smiling, but as per my job description, I had to smile back and ask this gorgeous customer what he wanted.

“A glass of beer, please.” His voice was calm, far more soothing than I was prepared for.

I filled a glass, and as I was handing it over to him, my fingers brushed his. For some reason, my entire body shivered. The bar was hot and thick with the stench of sweat and alcohol. So, why on earth was I shivering?

“Would you like anything else?” I asked, trying to keep my composure.

He shook his head in refutation. “Nothing for now. I am waiting for someone. Mind if I wait here?”

“Wait…here?”

He looked down at the counter, and then he looked back up at me. “Is that a problem?”

I mentally slapped myself. “Oh no, you can sit wherever you want to. It’s a free world, not for people like me, but yeah, anywhere you like.”

Having already embarrassed myself enough, I turned to head over to the other side of the counter, but he spoke again. “Damian.”

I stopped and turned back toward him, a brow arched.

“My name is Damian,” he repeated, offering his hand with that same easy smile on his face.

Before accepting his handshake, I discreetly wiped my surely sweaty palm on my apron. “Tala.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tala.”

For a moment, everything seemed to pause.

Something about the way he held my hand sent a strange shiver through me, a fleeting sensation I couldn’t place. That was ridiculous, wasn’t it? No one believed in fated mates anymore—except Gina.

The silence between us was only broken when the doorbell chimed again, signaling another arrival. Damian glanced over his shoulder and turned back to me, still holding my hand.

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