Big Red and the Little Wolf

Chapter 14

Echo pov

“Woah. Not like that.” Kodi reached over to take the glass that was overflowing with foam from my hands. He set it down on the drip tray and handed me a wash rag to dry my hands with. “Let’s try this again.”

Kodi was at the pub again with me, but this time, he had a shift behind the bar. Mikey had tasked him with teaching me how to pour drinks. So far, I had found little success despite Kodi's guidance. Though I was by no means a natural behind the bar, Kodi left any frustrations with me out of his voice as he corrected me.

Now that the foam in the glass I had poured was settled, Kodi wiped the sides of the glass clean before handing it to a bearded regular across the bar. “Don’t mind the overflow, she’s still new here.”

The redhead nodded in assurance. “The contents have not changed. The lass will get the hang of it in no time.”

As Kodi walked back, he selected an empty glass from an open crate only to hand it over to me.

“We don’t have any new orders,” I said, but took the glass from him anyway.

“This one will be just for practice. Mikey will understand you need more practice to get the hang of it. Pour from the same tap.” He took a few steps closer so he could peer over my shoulder.

As I lined up the glass to the tap as he had shown me before, the only thing I could concentrate on was how close he was standing to me. If I leaned back just a little, I would be pressed against his chest. This must be what having a mate feels like. Even with the slightest proximity, he infiltrated all my senses.

I barely registered that I had been filling the glass with the light colored ale until Kodi’s voice brought back my focus.

“Look how far up the liquid is in a few seconds,” Kodi advised. I filled the glass until it was a few centimeters from the top before he spoke again. “Stop pouring now.”

I didn’t hesitate to release the tap at his instructions. We watched together as the foam filled up the remaining space at the top of the glass. I stamped down the urge to have a mini celebration, settling for a smile as the drink didn’t overflow.

“Great job, Echo. Now as your reward, you can keep that one for yourself to drink,” Kodi said, grinning at her in a way that made her want to pour twenty more glasses if she would receive that reaction from him each time.

“Mikey won’t mind us drinking on the job?” I asked.

Kodi gave a little scoff that held no malice, but revealed the idea to be absurd. “That man hasn’t been sober a day since he took over this pub.”

“Well, if it won’t be a problem,” I trailed off as I shrugged. The scent of the ale was strong as I lifted the glass to my lips. I could predict the taste before it even reached my mouth. Regardless, I wasn’t prepared for the sting in my throat that it left in its wake.

With the burn in my throat and the aftertaste of the alcohol on my tongue, I scrunched my nose in disgust as I brought the glass back down. For good measure, I let out a small couch as though it would help expel the ale from my senses.

Kodi chuckled at my reaction before his curiosity showed through. “Is this your first time drinking ale?”

“Yes, and it might be my last.” I set the mostly full glass down, intending to be done with it. Though drinking alcohol had never been very appealing to me, werewolves did not have the same tendencies around alcohol as humans did. Because of our supernatural strength and hyperactive senses, it took large quantities of high proof alcohol for a werewolf to feel the effects of it. With such a high tolerance, drinking alcohol lost the same allure it had on humans. Only a few actually drank it because they enjoyed the taste. “Why would anyone ever drink this?”

“Heartbreak.”

Kodi’s response sent a chill through me, affecting me to the same extent as the ale. Was there another woman who broke his heart? Could he still be in love with her?

Part of the reason it was rare to receive a human as a mate was that they would often start their own relationships and families, not knowing there was a mate out there designed specifically for them. There were cases like my father’s in which I only existed because he didn’t wait for his mate by becoming entangled with a human woman.

It couldn’t be more clear that prying into his personal life would be overstepping. I had met him only a day before. But if I didn’t, curiosity would gnaw at my insides as I begged to know if there was another girl in his past or, even worse, current life. I dared to ask the question, “Have you ever experienced a broken heart?”

“Yes.”

With that simple confirmation, my heart flopped to the pit of my stomach. I feared to ask him anything further should he tell me about the girl who was amazing enough to ensnare his heart. At the same time, I ached for him in a way that surpassed all jealousy due to the mate bond. Even if he had found love before me, I never wanted him to go through that sort of pain.

“What happened?” I asked before adding in a soft voice, “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I lost my parents when I was a little boy.”

I stamped down the temptation to feel relief that it wasn’t a girl he was referring to. My mate having to suffer a traumatic experience so young was far from good news. Even though I knew what it was like to be without parents, my heart reached out for him because he never should have had to go through something like that.

“That’s awful.”

“My uncle took me in after they passed. He and I have grown very close over the years, but we still miss them. They’re actually part of the reason I could never let you walk back to the inn alone at night,” he admitted.

After he shared with me an impactful experience of his, I found myself crossing my arms and leaning up against the bar to prepare myself for the next offer of insight. “”How’s that?”

“These woods around here are some of the most dangerous in the world. My parents died in them, and so have many others. They were victims of a wolf attack.”

The new information led my blood to run cold. It didn’t escape me how he so conveniently left out the reason why his parents were in the woods in the first place. If his parents were hunters like him, he shouldn’t have been surprised that the werewolves would actually defend themselves.

I was in more danger than I realized if his hatred for werewolves went deeper because he lost his parents to them. Maybe he didn’t even want to be a hunter until he was pushed to avenge their death. The foolishness of my actions was catching up to me. We were sided with opposing alliances, but I was the only one who held that knowledge. Unless he sensed my true identity, and if that were the case, then this was as much a trap for me.

All I said in response was, “I guess I won’t put up an argument next time you demand I get in your truck.”

This caused him to smirk at me, replenishing any cold blood with a warmth that only a mate could incite in one another. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

He then reached for the glass of ale that I had discarded on the drip tray and lifted it. Rather than dumping it like I had expected him to, he brought it to his lips.

“Why would you want that? I already drank out of it,” I pointed out.

Kodi simply shrugged. “I can’t let perfectly good ale go to waste. That would be considered a worse offense to Mikey than drinking on the job.”