Loyal to the Pack

06 Not Coffee

Sarah

The way he strides toward me shakes my whole world. The last shred of denial that it’s happening breaks when his smile creates a dimple on his left cheek, making butterflies flood my stomach.

He is here.

Here to meet me.

To smile just at me.

Even if the world exploded around us, I wouldn’t notice. My brain slows his movements like slow motion in a movie as he bypasses Britt to stand on the other side of the chair where I left my jacket and bag. My mouth has gone dry, and I can’t seem to form words, standing there stupidly with a bottle in each hand.

“Hi, Sarah,” he says, and the gravity of his cheeky gaze slices straight through me, shutting up my thoughts.

“Here’s a beer.” I croak out awkwardly, handing the bottle.

“Thanks, I thought we were having coffee,” he says casually, with that cocky grin still present. It looks like he successfully woke up from the shock he seemed to have in the law firm when we talked.

“Oh yeah, I hate coffee, but you can get one.” I motion to the bar.

“No, it’s better.” He smiles, and we stare at each other for a second. Or a few seconds because Britt’s throat clearing is the only thing that helps me tear my eyes from him.

Her eyes widen in surprise while she mouths, ‘WTF?’

Yeah, I get it; I don’t react to guys like this. I don’t know what’s going on.

I shake my head to free myself from his spell. “Let’s go sit outside. The bar has a nice garden.” I say, picking up my jacket and turning around on shaky legs without waiting for his answer. The heavy material of my blouse restraints my skin from breathing; a drop of sweat rolls down my back, tickling me.

I get to the door first, pulling it open, Nate's hand coming over my shoulder to hold it for me to walk through. He stands so close, his opened jacket brushes my arm. I make the mistake of looking up. I mean to thank him, but my parted lips freeze when our eyes lock again. His eyes are smiling in amusement, definitely noticing his effect on me.

My heart pumps out of my chest with embarrassment when I realize he must hear my heartbeat with his werewolf hearing and try to snap out of it.

We haven’t even reached a table, and I already feel this might be a mistake. I can only hope the cold air chills my face because it burns with mortification.

I sit at a table. Nate moves to sit next to me but changes his mind at the last moment and grabs the chair opposite me.

“So…?” I ask, then scold myself for opening my mouth when I have nothing to say.

I never imagined that we would sit at a table emitting casual chatting. I mean, I daydreamed of seeing him again, but none of those dreams contained us actually talking. I can’t act like when I was 14. I’m a grown-ass woman who is capable of more than staring… Urggg

Realizing that I might not be able to do more, I avert my gaze focusing on drinking my beer.

“So…” he replies. “How did your presentation go?” he surprises me with his question.

I still can’t wrap my head around what’s going on. Before the panic and anger can reach my tongue and I come off as a b***h again, I shake it off. “It was a bit difficult to focus, but I managed without any huge mistakes.”

“What was it about?” he asks, pulling the glass to his lips.

After a few gulps, he puts it down, licking his lips. My tongue darts out, copying his movement. A shiver runs down my spine, and I have to shake myself again. This is not going well.

What was his question? Oh yeah, the presentation. "I’m a trainer. We have a new filing system, and I’m teaching everyone at the company how to use it properly. I’ve been doing this presentation for weeks now.” I answer, not sure why he was even interested.

He nods his head, not asking anything else. It seems like he is deep in his thoughts, too.

“Did you sign the contract? Everything went as you planned?” I ask finally, proud of myself for making conversation.

“Yes. We are building a new academy. It is for kids from 14 to 21. We plan to accept students from any pack and even packless wolves.”

“That sounds amazing," I reply with interest and lower my voice for my next question. "So, Gabriel is Alpha now?”

“Yes, he has been the mayor for ten years now.” He winks when he says mayor, and I swear the warmth from my cheeks just traveled to my lower abdomen, making me flush somewhere I can’t cover with make-up. I’m in deep, deep s**t. “He worked with our father for five years after college. I joined in for the last three, and then Gabriel stepped up and chose me as his Second in command.”

“Oh, that sounds great,” I answer, surprise evident in my voice. Usually, the Beta’s son takes the Beta position. “Do you like it? Being the second-in-command? I’d wink back at you, but I’ve never learned to do that.”

His smile turns to a full-blown laugh at my words, his eyes squinting, cheeks puffing. I don’t remember ever seeing him laugh. Smile, smirk, grin, sure, all the time. But actually, enjoying himself and having fun, laughing wholeheartedly? I don’t think I have.

Maybe when he was in wolf form, alone in the forest, but it’s hard to tell when his face is hidden in his wolf’s body.

“Wait,” he asks between laughs. “You really can’t wink?”

“I mean, I’ve never really tried. I don’t need that technique to get a guy’s attention.” And at that moment, he stops laughing. His face turns serious, and a low rumble reverberates from his chest.

I haven’t heard an inner wolf growl for ten years, but damn. A fire roars up my insides and runs through my veins to settle in my stomach. My breath stuck in my throat at the intensity of it. “s**t,” I breathe out. “You can’t do that here.” I roll my eyes at him, trying to cover up his effect on me.

“Yes, I’m sorry. It was not intentional,” he says, looking around briefly, and I use this moment to compose myself. I shuffle a bit on my seat, changing my feet as they cross one another.

“So, how are things at home?” I ask, trying to change the subject. “Is Lissa Gabriel’s Luna or your mate?” Nice, Sarah, really nice. Could I be more unequivocal? Why do I even want to know? I shouldn’t. Who cares about his mate? I don’t. I’m not part of his pack. Why did I ask that? I’m such an i***t. Urggg.

While I vent inside my head, I almost miss the way the left tip of his lips inclines slightly, indicating a smile that does not appear. I catch myself wanting to know his thoughts, the reason for his almost smile.

“No, she is the pack’s lawyer, hence she came. Gabriel’s Luna came from another pack. And I’m still alone,” he replies, and my hand stops mid-air with the bottle a few inches from my parted lips.

Nate smiles at my reaction as I swallow the lump in my throat with my drink. He turned 19 ten years ago. He should’ve found his mate by now.

Before I could voice that, he jumped in with another question. “So, I don’t remember why you left? And when exactly?”

He scrapes the paper on his bottle as I deliberate my reply. His gaze jumps up to me, and I see hurt in it for a moment.

“I was offered a scholarship to a boarding school when I was 14. I moved to a family and spent the summer accumulating into the human world.” Even though it is old, the memory cuts up a wound I thought healed years ago.

The fact that I have to explain this means he hadn’t even noticed that I was gone. Which I suspected because he hadn’t noticed that I was there, so …

While I spent many nights staring at the ceiling, thinking about him. The question is, why does he want to know now?

“It wasn’t safe for me to live amongst werewolves as a human,” I whisper, finishing my thoughts as I fix my face and voice to be as unemotional as possible.

I’m happy and have a great life, but being kicked out of your home and never allowed to visit was painful. Still is.

“Was the family who took you in nice?” the concern in his voice surprises me again. “Yes, they are fine. They have a daughter. We are very close.”

He only nods, and me being me, I question everything. The momentary silence makes my head race with questions. Where is he going with this? Why now?

“Was that high school so special? I mean, all pack members go to human high school. You could’ve gone there and been fine," he replies with a scrunched-up face and hurt in his eyes.

"I didn't choose to attend that school," I reply, frustrated. "My parents insisted it was a unique opportunity, and I had to go. It took me some time to understand, but eventually, I realized they were sending me away because I'm a human. I didn't have a say in the matter."

I don’t know why I am mad at him right now. It’s not his fault I’m a human, or they sent me away. He probably didn't know about it.

I gulp down the rest of my beer, hoping it will reduce the boiling inside me.

Nate observes me like I’m a deranged animal before continuing to ask about my high school years and where I went after that. I have often wondered about my life and what led me to where I am now. As a low-class werewolf, I doubt that I would’ve lived here. Even college would have been out of the question. Who knows where I'd be as a werewolf?

We talk about schools for a while. I knew he and Gabriel went to an all-boys military high school. His brother studied politics and governance while he had military studies planned for him by his father, so I’m surprised to hear that he changed his college major after a year and has a business degree.

Bobby brought us fresh bottles twice. Maybe Brit wanted to check on us to see if everything was ok.

When I last saw Nate, he had just returned after the first year of college. He changed a lot in that year. But he still had that boyish face. Now, though, he is a man. A very sexy, intimidating man. These ten years have changed him a lot. Not to mention how much I have changed.