Page 50 of Bait Wolf
A few more days of regular food would fill me out even more. Still, I didn’t look like much of an omega. Aside from a brief period when I’d been young and soft and not as street worn, I never had. I was tall and somewhat masculine. More like a beta. There was nothing for an alpha to lust after here, I decided. Meanwhile Coal was the epitome of an alpha, so large and gruff and fuckingsexy.
Could he really be so attracted to me?
Insecurity eating at me, I turned away, deciding to take Coal’s advice and watch TV for the distraction.
I passed the office, heading to the stairs but at the last minute, my steps slowed despite myself. I inched closer to the door, listening.
Maybe it was wrong, but he’d been in there for hours, and well… weren’t we supposed to be partners now? Why was he hiding away in there? What did he want to keep from me?
I pressed my ear to the thin wood. Coal’s voice was easy to make out and I was immediate filled with sympathy at the defeated tone of his voice.
“I know I just bought the house,” he was saying. “That doesn’t change the fact that I have to sell it.”
I frowned, confusion filling me as Coal went on.
“I don’t have enough. I just got off the phone with the bank. We were going back and forth. They had me sending them a shit load of paperwork, calculated all of my assets and expenses, I mean right down to my phone bill, Seymour, and it still wasn’t enough to get Asha back.”
He was silent for a beat.
“If the guy doesn’t find her by Monday, I have to hand over the keys and take out a loan for the rest. She needs to be with her dad… That’s not even addressing the payment for Ember.”
Coal sighed heavily and a long silence followed as he listened presumably to Seymour. I finally pulled away. I edged quietly from the door and found myself sitting in the kitchen, looking out the window at the big empty yard. The conversation explained a few things, really. Coal had just bought this house. That was why the rooms seemed a little bit empty and extra clean and organized. It also explained why he was spending time with me instead of every minute out there looking for her. He had someone else on it.
It seemed like no time passed at all before Coal stomped down the stairs and found me still gazing out the window. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and breathed me in the way he did when he wanted to calm down.
I clung to his strong arms for a moment, aware that Coal was taking comfort from me. He needed it.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“No, I’m okay.”
I was impressed with how solid my voice was. I really sounded like nothing was wrong while everything felt like it was already crumbling down around me.
Coaltskedand went to the fridge.
“We’re trying to fatten you up a bit,” he said. “Don’t feel shy. You can take anything you want.”
“Sorry,” I muttered, barely listening. I was too caught up in watching Coal: the confident way he moved, the narrow line of his hips, his broad shoulders. Coal had some hardships in his past too, but he’d made something of himself. He was rich and famous now in Lunar City. He wasthe Redwood, big and unshakeable. That was what the nickname meant. To see him being brought down like this seemed wrong.
Worst of all, I felt a gut-deep need to protect my alpha. I wanted to see him smiling and happy, yet my very presence was adding to the issue. Coal was sacrificing a lot to be with me: his home, his sister, potentially his job…
If he paid the price for me, would he have enough to get his sister back?
If I was gone, could he keep the home he’d worked so hard for?
We had both had it rough growing up. Was it really worth going back to having nothing?
A small part of me, deep in the back of my mind, whispered,If we have each other, we won’t need anything else.But I knew that wasn’t true. I used to think silly things like that as a child and reality had given me a cold, hard slap.
I looked at Coal, the strong lines of his broad back, still disturbed that anyone could take something away from him. It felt like no one was safe.
When Coal looked at me, worry was etched in the lines of his brow. Despite that, he still gave me a smile, a small dimple visible when he shot it my way.
I clenched my fists to stop myself from going to him. Coal had wanted privacy for that call. Clearly, he didn’t want my involvement in his issues.
“What do you want to have?” Coal asked. “We’re pretty well stocked.”
