Page 26 of Bait Wolf
The quiet promise struck a chord and I had to swallow the lump forming in my throat.
Coal reached across the table, placing his hand over mine.
“I mean it,” he whispered.
“I know,” I choked. “That’s what’s getting to me.”
I blinked back the emotion as best I could.
Alphas had promised me safety before and not one had been able to deliver. Why did Coal make me want to hope?
The doorbell suddenly rang, breaking the moment, but neither of us moved straight away.
“Here,” Coal said, sliding his untouched meal to me. “You have mine before it gets cold. I can make more for myself in a minute.”
He waited for my nod before getting up to answer.
I managed one bite before the sound of raised voices reached my ears. Instantly, my heart started racing. Fight or flight or freeze hit me at once because this relative peace I currently had was hard-won and it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours.
My body tensed as I sat there, unable to move, listening with my weak human ears.
Finally, I stood and crept quietly to the sitting room, peering through the crack left open in the doorway.
I saw the streak of blond hair first and knew immediately who it was. Abram Adair paced the length of Coal’s living room, his face blotchy with anger.
“How dare you disrespect me like that?” he snarled.
His voice was clearly threatening, but he wasn’t looking at Coal. Clearly, he wouldn’t dare challenge him physically. He knew what he was capable of, after all.
“He’s my mate.” Coal’s calm, measured voice left no room for arguing.
From where I stood, I could see only a strip of the bright living room that Abram passed back and forth through. I couldn’t see Coal but pride filled me at the control in my mate’s tone. I’d thought Coal was hotheaded yesterday, but it seemed that was only because we hadn’t bonded yet.
“I don’t give a fuck what he is,” Abram snapped. “You want one ofmyomegas, you pay.”
There was a brief silence and then, “Ember, you can come in.”
Abram’s eyes widened and he swung around, suddenly meeting my gaze in the doorway.
I swallowed, embarrassed and more than a little uneasy about walking into the middle of this argument.
But somehow, I squared my shoulders and walked in. I pretended I didn’t notice the way Abram’s gaze went over the huge shirt and pants that Coal had given me this morning. They hung right off my thin frame. I’d had to use a belt to hold up the pants and roll them a few times, but it all stayed put and was comfortable, so I couldn’t complain. Except that I could see the way Abram was looking me over and could sense his anger growing.
As soon as I was close enough to reach, Coal took my hand and tugged me closer. He was sitting on the armchair and pulled me to sit on the arm, wrapping his thick arm around me like a shield. When our gazes met, Coal offered me a tender smile.
“You hear that?” he asked me. “This guy says that you belong to him. He didn’t pay you for rights to your life, did he?”
My lips twitched at the mocking tone. I bit them, managing to keep a straight face, and shook my head.
“Hm, that’s strange,” Coal mused. “Were you perhaps born in the league’s underbelly to Abram’s own mate?”
“No,” I said, continuing the charade. “I believe I was snatched from my real life, thrown into a pit, and abused for a long time. Certainly not my whole life, but long enough.”
Darkness shadowed Coal’s playful gray gaze. His arm around me tightened but before he could say anything, Abram growled. Clearly, he’d had enough.
“That’ll do,” he snarled. “We stealallour omegas. That doesn’t change the fact that we got him first. You want our omega, then you’ll have to pay the same amount everyone else does for them. Get me fifty Gs by Monday or you’ll never fight again.”
I nearly keeled over just hearing the amount the president wanted for me, but Coal didn’t react at all. Not even a twitch.
