Page 13 of The Alpha: Part One
"No," Desir'ee says flatly. "She didn't."
God, Talia would love her.
I hold his angry glare and speak very clearly. "There you go. We didn't come over here to pick a fight with you, but Desir'ee is uncomfortable with you at her table and she's too polite to ask you to leave; so, we'll be more than happy to find you another place to sit."
"You don't know the trouble you're causing. For her or for Michael and Benjamin." He believes what he's saying, so do several of the others if the sudden, sharp scent of anxiety is anything to go by.
I keep holding his gaze. "I'm not causing a single thing, but you're publicly making an omega uncomfortable at an event and threatening a councilman. There are consequences for those things, but I'm willing to let go of the threats and insults to me if you and your pack leave this table. Right now. You'll still owe Desir'ee an apology, though." That's the last polite out I'm giving him.
Of course, he digs his heels in. "You know nothing of how things work here. You are an outsider. You hold no authority in this territory, not any real authority."
And that's about all I can stand. I don't care about being insulted; I care about the threat. "Listen, if you want to measure dicks, we can do it. But I promise you, mine is longer," I run my tongue over my teeth, "and thicker."
His mouth tightens in a flat, little line as my tone shifts even more into alpha influence. "It wasn't my intention to threaten a councilman, even an East Coast councilman." He looks to Desir'ee, "I never meant to offend you, Miss Romero. Alpha Flores is very interested in you, and I merely wanted to hold a place at the table for our pack to express our interest. Please forgive my rudeness." He gets to his feet, nodding at the two alphas standing behind the chair. He turns to walk away, but pauses beside Michael, or Ben, there's got to be a way to tell them apart. "I'll be in touch, boys," he says lowly, then he goes.
David, who has been silent up until this point, lets loose a whistle. "You sure know how to make an enemy, don't you?"
"He doesn't know me well enough to be an enemy," I say, watching as the departed Alpha Lopez pulls up a stool at the bar.
"That won't matter when the Flores pack decides you're a problem. They hold a lot of sway in this territory, even with the WCC. Councilman or not, you should watch your back." David smiles, and it's good natured. I can see myself liking him.
Ben, I'm almost seventy-five percent sure it's Ben, puts his hand on my shoulder in an unexpected physical show of solidarity. "We'll watch his back."
That's good enough for David. "Well, it was really nice talking with you, Desir'ee, and meeting you, Alpha Pratchett, but it is overwhelmingly obvious that there's no reason for me to be at this table. I hope to see you around." Then David makes his way across the room, leaving an empty chair on either side of me. The twins sit down almost in unison.
"Fucking hell, Michael. What the fuck?" the younger brother exclaims, dragging his hands down his cheeks. "What the fuck are you going to do now? Is this guy for real?"
"Yes," I say, smirking just a little. "I'm for real. I am a sitting member of the East Coast Council, here on official council business. Alpha Minos invited me here tonight so I might get a feel for the West Coast."
"Uh-huh," Desir'ee says, an eyebrow arching high. "Benny. You couldn't have warned me? I've been sick about this for days. And you," she levels me with a look. "What are you trying to do, get my entire family wiped off the planet?"
"Not at all," I say. "He had to go. You were so uncomfortable. I couldn't tolerate it. I will answer for any repercussions that come of this."
She looks back and forth between the twins again. "He's not going to be here long enough to clean up this mess. Did you plan this? What are we supposed to do now?"
One of them looks like he's working up an answer, but the server arrives with my food. It smells and looks like heaven. I didn't lie when I said I was starving. "This was the perfect choice for me, darlin. Thank you." I pick up my fork, but I hold it over my plate. I can't eat it. Not alone. It's been more than two years since everything went down with Jay and Derek. Feeling the twins beside me,with me,flanking me, has so many feelings rushing through me. I've known them for less than half an hour, but I don't think I can eat a bite of this food while they don't have anything in front of them. Not to mention the fact that the omega across the table still has an entire piece of cake in front of her that she isn’t eating. I have no real connection to these people, nothing solid that would merit this type of reaction, but I don’t think I can take a single bite of this food now.
Desir’ee is watching me with her soft brown eyes and I see the moment she understands. There’s no explanation for that, either. She’s known me for the length of one awkward conversation, but somehow she understands. She slides her pile of cake and crumbs in front of the younger of her brothers and takes his empty plate, wiping the crumbs from it with a napkin before she pushes it across the table toward me. No words, just silent understanding.
I put the sauciest, cheesiest portion onto the plate and slid it back to her. A level of relief is immediate, but I’m still bothered by the twins. I turn my head to the right, I genuinely have no idea which twin I’m talking to. I’ll need to get a handle on that with a quickness. “You’re not hungry?”
He looks around me to his brother and they come to a silent agreement in a few moments. “We’ll eat later. You and Desie eat now. We’ll watch.”
As soon as he says it, I realize I’m having that problem, too. I can feel the Lopez asshole staring a hole in the back of my head. Knowing the twins will keep watch while Desir’ee and I eat is like a balm soothing me.
Throughout this entire sequence, Desir’ee’s brothers have been exchanging looks, having full blown conversations with their eyebrows. They probably think I’m insane. I don’t care, they can think what they want. This is the first time I’ve felt safe and secure eating outside of Kaleb’s house since I was a kid at home before everything went to shit with my dad. I might never get this feeling again and I’m going to enjoy every bite.
Chapter eight
Desie
I'm really going to sit here and eat this man's food.
I wasn't even remotely hungry before, but now that I have the plate in front of me, I'm suddenly starving. The first bite is close to heaven, and I chew it slowly to give me a little more time to try to think through what exactly is going on with me right now.
Okay. Mister East Coast Council is gorgeous. The eyepatch just adds to it, and I've never seen eyes as blue as the one he's watching me with. All that thick, wavy, red hair has my fingers itching, too. I might actually die of curiosity before I work up the nerve to ask about the missing fingers. I want to know every possible thing there is to know about this man, starting with why I feel this insane need to take care of him. I want him to be alright in the same way I want my boys to be alright and there's absolutely no good reason for it. I barely know his name, for goodness sake.
"How long are you going to be on the West Coast, Mister Pratchett?" Mateo asks.
