Page 5 of Claimed By Two Alphas

“I’ll pay you for the three hours. Tell me going home doesn’t sound nice. You could relax, and hopefully your headache will go away.”

Shane bit his lower lip as his gaze dropped to the floor. “Are you sure you’re not going to fire me?”

Was he kidding? If it was up to me, Shane wouldn’t have to work. I wasn’t even sure he was our mate, but I already wanted to pamper him. There was just something about the human that kicked in every protective instinct in me, something about him that made the softer side of me want to come out. Wolves weren’t known for their gentle disposition. We were fierce, moody at times, and always had to show our strength within a pack.

That was one of many reasons Joshua and I had struck out on our own. It was the only way of life we’d known, yet it had become tiresome to always have to fight to keep our places. After our parents were killed, we’d left. Then we’d wandered for a while before settling in Hungry, where we’d started our own business. Life had been good until Nezat had come to town.

“Come on.” I got up and grabbed the keys to the Charger off the desk. We didn’t live far from Bailey’s, so it would be no sweat for Joshua to walk home. He wouldn’t mind, knowing I was taking care of Shane.

“I promise I can finish my shift.”

“I promise I’ll be the one with the headache if you keep arguing with me.” I held open the office door, and Shane walked out. “Hector, I’m taking off,” I said to the head cook. “Let Joshua know if you have any issues.”

“Got it, boss,” Hector said. Three guys worked in the kitchen, making the flow of orders easier on everyone. Jace, the most recent hire, was parttime. He only came in on the weekends. Right now it was just Hector and Mike. While Hector prepared the main dishes, Mike handled desserts, though he jumped in when Hector needed him. Mike also washed the dishes between dessert orders.

I caught Joshua’s eye as I was leaving. A simple nod told my brother I was taking Shane home. In the past hour, more people had shown up, but I knew my brother and the other servers could handle the crowd.

When we stepped outside, Shane’s features visibly relaxed. From the first night Shane had started working, I’d been watching him, keeping an eye on his headaches. Lately, I’d noticed something peculiar. Shane tensed when he was around other people, but as soon as my brother or I touched him, the tension melted away. He was also okay whenever he was by himself or at home.

Was he suffering from something entirely different? Did Shane have some kind of phobia with crowds? It was a legit question, but one I’d never asked. He already seemed ashamed that he suffered, and I hadn’t wanted to put him on the spot.

After I pulled into the driveway, I parked and followed Shane to his door.

“Thanks for…well, for this.” Shane pulled out his keys. “I promise to make this up. You don’t have to pay me for the hours I didn’t work, Delvin.”

“Nonsense.” I waved away his concern. “You’ve been a great employee who never takes a night off, even when we schedule you off. You come in and insist on working.”

And we let him, only because we’d wanted to keep an eye on him. One of us could have stayed home and accomplished that, but Shane always seemed agitated when he wasn’t working. He always seemed agitated when he was working. I couldn’t make heads or tails of him.

Shane opened the door, and I walked in. I’d been to his house a few times, though he’d never been to mine. It was modestly decorated with hardwood floors, white walls, and a single couch in front of a decorative fireplace with a television mounted over it. Not a big one, but maybe he didn’t want a big television.

“You don’t have to babysit me. I’m sure Ashford needs to go potty.” Shane dropped his keys into a bowl on a stand by the door. “I promise I’ll be okay.”

Ashford. That was me. My middle name. I’d groaned when Joshua told me what he’d named my wolf for Shane’s benefit. My brother thought it was comical. There were worse names he could have given me.

“Ashford will be okay until one of us makes it home.” The night we’d rescued Shane from Nezat, he’d been so out of it that he hadn’t seen our wolves, hadn’t noticed that Joshua and I had been naked. It might have been the fear that had rattled Shane, but I wished he’d remembered. Now we would have to explain about our wolves, and that was another conversation I wasn’t looking forward to.

I took a seat at his wobbly kitchen table. “Tell me, Shane. What do you recall about the night you were taken?”

It had been four weeks, but we’d yet to question Shane about it. Joshua and I thought it best to leave it alone since the human had looked so shaken. His headaches seemed to worsen after that night, and neither of us had wanted to make them even more unbearable.

But it was time to find out just how much he remembered. It was time to stop pussyfooting around with him. I wanted to know if Shane was our mate, and damn it, I wanted to find out tonight.

If Shane didn’t kick me out for dredging up what he clearly wanted to forget.

Shane put some water in a tea kettle, placed it on the burner, then grabbed two cups and two tea bags. He kept his back to me as he spoke. “I recall taking out the trash. One minute I stood by the dumpster, and the next, I woke up in a strange room.”

His voice was careful, like he would make Nezat appear if he spoke too loudly.

“I heard a lot of fighting, though I couldn’t make out what was said. That weird reverend was outside the door, blocking me from leaving. I heard the phrase ‘chosen one’ and knew Nezat had said it. I think it was the room Casey and Dillon were taken to.” He cleared his throat. “Then you were there, taking me out of there. Casey waved to me, and I waved back, but my headache was too bad for me to focus on what was happening around me.”

“Do you recall seeing any animals there?”

Shane finally turned, a scowl on his face. “Animals? Like a cat or dog?”

So he hadn’t seen nor heard our wolves or Ken’s bear. His head must have been killing him to miss all that. “But you heard ‘chosen ones’?”

He nodded. “I still don’t know what that means. Do you know what Nezat was talking about?”

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