Page 25 of Reclaiming His Lost Mate
Pairing his turtleneck with ripped jeans and a decent pair of sparkling white sneakers—my herb supplier’s preferred style of dressing—Tom looked and carried himself with as much pride as friendliness.
Something else Tom always carried with him wherever he went was scorching hot gossip, but it was mostly Lyvia and Mia who coddled him, both of whom were not around.
“Whatever, Tom. Why are you here? I do not see you supplying me with any bags of herbs from Silvermoon,” I chipped in playfully, eyes drawn together, watching him settle down on a high stool across the counter. “You know that is the only reason why I entertain you.”
Tom, catching my joke, responded, wriggling his eyebrows. “Even if I have news?”
Expelling a sigh, I answered. “Fine. Indulge me.”
“There’s a new guy in town. His name is Alexis, and the birdies told me that he’s The Alexis,” Tom chirped, excitement sounding in his pitched tone either from the news itself or from me agreeing to hear it from him. “As in, the Alpha Alexis of Shadow Moon Pack.”
I would have been shocked otherwise, but this was old news to me.
“And?”
My disinterest did not dampen Tom’s mood. He went on, straightening his back out on the stool. “And my Selina honey, the rumors did not do justice to how fine the man is!” He added, drawing out the word "fine." I wasn’t interested in Alexis, but I had to agree with Tom. On that fibbing thought, my stupid heart bounced against my ribcage, my wolf crooning in attention, and I quickly cautioned her. Tom spokeagain, not done with the tea. “And I do not know what his reasons are, but I thank Igaluk that he’s rented an apartment a few streets over. Damn!”
As Tom said that, my blood spiked.
“What?”
“Uh-huh. He’s living here now. Or at least for now. You know an alpha can never be away from his pack for too long. Not with Torin's raids. And oh,” Tom chipped in, switching the topic fast, and I was thankful for that because he would have caught on to my reaction like a match to kerosine. “Two of your front steps are broken,” he said, pointing a long finger toward the entrance of the shop.
I sighed, putting it at the back of my mind to find a carpenter, knowing how hard that would be in a town as small as this.
My mind went back to Tom’s earlier words about Alexis getting a house nearby, and I hoped that it wasn’t true. Why would he do that?
Did it have something to do with him finding out about Mia? What could he possibly want?
Scary memories sprang, and it wasn’t easy to push the thoughts away, but I later did.
Tom hung around while I cleaned the display of herbal potions I kept on the transparent counter in the shop. The top was made of strong wood, and the front part with plexiglass. A few minutes later, Mia skidded into the shop, back from her lessons.
Ignoring me, Mia ran to Tom, who was still seated on the same stool he had been since he arrived, and she threw herself on him. “Tom!”
“Hey, Mia,” Tom drawled, chest rumbling as he patted her head after their hug. “I’ve missed you, my girl,” he said, and Mia, not old enough to understand that Tom flirted with any creature that walked on Igaluk’s green earth, even though the man only ever took an interest in his gender, twirled on her feet. “I’ll have to be on my way now, Selina, Mia. We’ll see soon, though, okay?” Tom announced.
Drying my hand with a rag, I came out from behind the counter to hug Tom goodbye. He did the same for Mia and then turned for the door. Just as I crouched low to Mia’s level, Tom reached the door, but someone else opened it from outside.
Even before he came into the shop, energy leisurely crawled up my back, snaking its fingers around my neck, and held me in a grip. My heartbeat kicked into another gear, and the instant zing I felt between my thighs told me exactly who the visitor was. Before I turned, Mia confirmed my suspicion with wide eyes.
“Mommy, your friend who said the bad word is behind you,” she pointed, smiling.
I snapped my head around, and sure enough, the man who’d featured in my dreams, in which he’d uttered more than a few bad words, stood in the entrance.
And I wasn’t the only one, it seemed, who couldn’t resist Alexis’s spell. Even Tom, who was still present in the shop, was checking him out. Alexis was in dark gray pants and a two-tone shade-lighter round-neck T-shirt. His hair had been groomed to the length I recalled him wearing five years ago. Dark blue eyes held mine for too long, and I felt my resolve being slammed into with a sledgehammer. In Alexis’s grasp was a large bouquet of blue flowers, causing my throat to close up, and in his left hand, a bag that looked like it just came out packaged from a store.
If I had tried to speak yet, I wouldn’t have been able to, but Tom spoke instead, taking the weight off my hands for a second.
Tom stepped forward. “Ah, you must be Alexis. Welcome to town!” he said, a friendly smile brightening his face.
My stomach plummeted at Tom’s openness. I tensed, stepping back into a protective stance, uncertain of what chaos had just re-entered my life.
“Thank you,” Alexis replied, his expression unreadable as he shifted his gaze from Tom to me. The moment was charged, a ripple of intrigue passing between the two men. Tom’s casual charm filled the air while Alexis’s presence loomed large.
Tom nodded, sidestepping Alexis to now get behind him so he couldn’t see Tom as he palmed the back of one hand to his forehead, mouthing the words, “he’s so hot,” to my face, while I tried hard not to react.
With that, Tom was gone, closing the door behind him, and it seemed like the movement dragged the already limited supply of airright out of the shop with him. Alexis approached, his alpha stride closing the gap between us, and if I felt small compared to him before, my squatting down to Mia’s level made me even smaller.
