Page 5 of Stealthy as a Wolf

Not weak.

I took courage from my beast, then shoved my wolf down to the deepest, darkest pit at the back of my consciousness. I’d gotten good at that over the years, burying my beast so deep that most people couldn’t even detect my animal.

Knowing that delaying the inevitable wouldn’t make me any better prepared, I pushed the door open and headed toward table five. “What can I get you?”

I directed my question over his shoulder and stared at the wall, doing my best to avoid looking directly at the alpha. As a wolf, I knew better than to meet his gaze—it could get a person beaten or killed for their daring.

When he cleared his throat, my eyes automatically dropped toward him.

And I was caught.

His blue eyes were mesmerizing, power practically blazing from the depths, even though he was suppressing it. His smile was kind, and he took care not to flash his fangs. “I would like a steak. Rare.”

The deep rumble of his voice was so commanding, so damn sexy, that I could do nothing but stand there while my wolf howled in my head, prancing about like the man was a potential mate.

Which both freaked me out and made me ache for his touch.

I hardened my resolve, refusing to fall for that foolish hokum bullshit.

There was no such thing as mates.

It was a trap for the gullible.

I was too smart to fall for the same trick twice.

When he simply continued to gaze at me, I was suddenly terrified that he might have heard my thoughts, or something else equally mortifying. I cringed when the flop sweats began to soak into my shirt. As the silence stretched between us, crinkles creased the corners of his eyes, and I felt more than saw his amusement.

Then he glanced at my name tag before purposefully looking at me.

“And I’ll have a glass of water, Maggie.” One of his brows lifted, and his eyes twinkled when he nodded down to the notepad clutched in my hand. “Maybe a vegetable?”

Heat seared my cheeks, and I hastily scribbled down his order, gripping the pen so hard that the plastic creaked. Then I got flustered when the page ripped slightly from me pressing the tip of the pen down so hard. “Uh, yeah, got it.”

I began to back away, nearly crashing into a chair behind me.

Then I turned tail and ran.

The kitchen door whooshed shut behind me, and I crouched by the sink, waiting for the dizziness to pass, trying to remember how to breathe.

It wasn’t because I was afraid.

No, it was way worse than that.

It was because, for the first time in my life, I wasn’tafraidof a wolf…I wasattractedto one.

I forced myself to my feet, then got to work making his meal. When the steak and mashed potatoes were on the plate, I fussed with the darn thing for a full minute before I mustered up the courage to deliver his order.

He was kind enough not to look at me, and I wasn’t brave enough to do anything but ditch the plate on his table and scamper back to the safety of the kitchen. I hid, my hands buried in sudsy water for the next twenty minutes, peering through the kitchen window like a freaking creep, watching the man eat.

I hated to think I’d become that kind of girl, and it only reinforced my determination to leave this town. I dried off my hands and headed toward the office, hastily scribbling down my final notice, then set the page in the middle of the desk with a pang.

It was past time to leave.

I knew it.

That didn’t make leaving yet another place any easier.

I headed back into the kitchen, then breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the alpha finally shove the last bite of steak into his mouth. I wrote out the bill, ignoring the slight tremor in my hand, then headed toward his table to drop it off.

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