Page 40 of Obsessed Wolf Daddy

I flinch at the harshness of his words. Sensing my reaction, he seems to soften his tone again. "He's ruining my life, Saf. No way would my alpha have come up with a stupidtwoyears of community service on his own." He snaps.

"No,” I argue. “Your alpha is in charge of your punishment. Cole just fired you from the internship. Your life isn't over, Terrance. You can still achieve anything you want. No charges were pressed. Working with your pack might be nice-"

"Because nothing actually happened," Terrance snaps. “The pack work is going to be humiliating.”

I glance at the man behind the counter, but he has his back to us. There's no one else in the coffee shop, either. This suddenly feels like a big mistake. "I should get going," I say.

I go to stand, but Terrance grabs my wrist, the pleading look returning to his face, "I'm sorry, Saffy. I don't know what's wrong with me at the moment. I'm all over the place." I sit backdown but stay on the edge of my seat. "You're right, I can start over,” he continues. “I might have a new opportunity coming up. Carmela's firm is recruiting. I might even go overseas."

"Away from the pack?" I ask, surprised. Both about the job and the fact that Carmela's involved.

He scoffs gently. "Might be a good thing. Considering. I’m not cut out for demeaning work, just hanging around my pack like a nobody."

I can't help it—I do feel sorry for him, despite everything. When Zack was framed, and it looked like we might be banished from the pack, the thought of leaving everyone was unbearable. I can't imagine ever being in the position of thinking going overseas would be better than staying with my pack. Terrance must be having a really hard time.

"Well, it's good that you have a new opportunity," I reply, trying to sound positive but also wanting to draw the conversation to a close. "I really appreciate the apology, and I hope things work out for you."

"What about you?" he asks quickly before I can stand again. "You and Cole?"

I can feel my face burning. I shouldn't be here; I shouldn't have said yes. I look down. "I don't want to talk about this, Terrance. I'm going to go to the bathroom, and then I really need to get back, okay?"

He sniggers cruelly. "I knew it—you are fucking him. Fucking your way to the top while I'm discarded."

I push my chair back abruptly, shaking off his hand as he tries to stop me again. "This was a mistake." I rush off toward the bathroom without looking back.

Locking myself in the stall, I pull my phone out of my pocket and text Tanya.

I'm so stupid. Terrance said he wanted to apologize, but he's being really weird. Are you in town? I'm in the bathroom at Miller’s.

I'm so relieved when I see the three dots that show she's texting.

I'll call Mike, he's always working at Miller’s. He'll get rid of Terrance. Stay in the bathroom.

I lean against the stall door, trying to breathe deeply. Should I tell Cole? I'm not sure what we are, exactly. Are we dating? Will he think I'm stupid for saying yes to sitting down with Terrance?

I feel like such a fool. I felt sorry for Terrance, but the moment he started talking, I could tell he felt more sorry for himself than about what he did to me.

The minutes pass like hours, but eventually, there's a knock on the door. "Saffy? It's Mike here. Tanya called, and I got rid of that jerk. I'll walk you back to your truck."

I stick my head out of the bathroom and find Mike waiting for me with a compassionate look on his face. "Thank you."

"No problem. If you ever have trouble with him again, you just come straight up to me, okay?"

I thank him again and follow him back to the coffee shop. It's only when I go to pick up my laptop bag that my heart plummets. "My bag. Did you see where my bag went?" I ask Mike, panic lacing my voice.

A horrified look comes over Mike’s face. "Sorry, kid, that guy left with a bag. I just assumed it was his."

I assure Mike it wasn't his fault, but inside, my mind is in turmoil. Why would Terrance steal my bag? He must know it has my laptop in it, but that's encrypted.

An ice-cold feeling rushes through me as the full reality of the situation hits me. The laptop is encrypted, but the memorystick isn't. How long do I have before Terrance realizes that he's stolen my entire program?

I walk in a daze back to my truck with Mike and thank him for his help before getting in. Sitting there for a moment while panic percolates through my system, I try to calm my breathing. My phone rings, and I look down to see it's Tanya. Tears prick at my eyes as I wonder how I can tell her what's happened. Imagine creating a cyber security program and then putting the entire thing on a simple, unprotected memory stick. I was just so keen to take it home with me. For the second time today, I feel like such an idiot.

I fire off a quick text to Tanya.I'm okay. Mike was great, and Terrance is gone. I've just got to stop off somewhere on my way home. I'll tell you everything then. X.

I pause before hitting call, my fingers hovering over the screen before finally connecting. Cole's deep voice soon fills my truck. "Hey, I was just thinking about you.”

"C-can I see you?" I ask, trying and failing to keep my voice neutral. "Are you at the office?"