Iwanted to tell Liza what I knew so badly, it was killing me. Ever since Dad had filled me in on our family’s history the other night, I’d thought about how Liza might react if she knew that we were the reason she had so many questions. The reason she didn’t know who she was or why she’d been brought here.
Liza swiped a tear from her face and looked down at her rapidly melting ice cream. She looked so beaten down, and there I sat, like it wasn’t a total asshole move not to tell her the truth. All she wanted was answers about where she had come from in order to better understand who she was today. The word ‘omega’ bounced around my mind, pinging off the edges like a pinball. If she didn’t know what she was—but shehadto know—it would be the biggest of all the surprises, and there were a plenty.
She hadn’t gone into detail, but she considered herself to be different from others. Liza needed reassurance, but more importantly, she needed to resolve the mystery surrounding her birth family.
Yet, there I sat, keeping the information to myself, not even hinting that I knew all the answers.
I was a dick.
If I shared what I knew with Liza, there was no way in hell she would want to be mated to me. My family had wiped out her entire family; her entire pack. She was an orphan because of us, and no one who knew the truth had bothered to step forward and tell her about the massacre or explain why it had happened.
As soon as she found out, I was going to lose her, no doubt about it. That alone would destroy me and probably my entire family, and my place as the next alpha would be in jeopardy. If Liza walked away from me and refused to be my mate, I would backslide and have to start over again at square one.
The thought of mating with someone else for the sake of keeping my family’s legacy intact made me sick to my stomach.
I couldn’t lose her. So, no. I wouldn’t tell Liza the truth. I was not taking that chance.
Not an option.
I cradled Liza’s face in my hands and pointed my gaze at hers. I wanted her to see how much she meant to me. It was my feeble attempt to reassure her. She was perfect in my eyes, even if she was shrouded in a mystery she didn’t understand, and I couldn’t tell her. I wanted her. All of her.
She stared into my eyes with a recognition that knocked the air out of me. I opened my mouth to tell her what she had come to mean to me, even within such a small span of time, but something in the air shifted.
I sensed his presence before he reached our table. It was a stench in the air, a sickening kind of haze. Doing my best to keep my composure, I slowly looked up and stared into Stone’s eyes. He glanced back and forth between Liza and me, his nose wrinkled in disgust, his lips pulled in a sneer. His scowl deepened with every silent second that passed.
The way he studied us put my back up. What the hell did he want? And how did he find us?
Stone let out a dry chuckle. “Fate sure is one sick bitch.”
Liza jolted at his brash words, accidentally dropping her ice cream cone on the Formica table. As Stone glared at her, she bit her lip and turned her terror-stricken eyes on me.
He lowered his voice and pointed his finger in her direction. “Do you have any idea of the mockery you’re making of yourself?” His tone was little more than a growl, but he might as well have struck Liza across her face.
She reached for my hand, her face a picture of confusion.
I didn’t know who this motherfucker thought he was, but damned if I was going to stand by and let him harass Liza. Rising, I dropped Liza’s hand and crossed my arms, planting my feet firmly in front of Stone. There was nothing he could say that I wanted to fucking hear. Not that I was going to give him a chance to say anything, anyway.
I towered over him, pushing my chest forward and shoulders back. This fucker needed to be made aware of just who he was messing with. “If you have something to say, then say it directly to me. Leave Liza out of it.”
Stone’s eyes narrowed to slits, and he let out a low growl. He wasn’t backing down, and it didn’t take a genius to realize he was going to ignore my warning.
I glanced around the outdoor patio of the ice cream shop, taking inventory of the multiple families and couples enjoying their treats and conversation. I couldn’t very well beat Stone’s ass in front of them, but he didn’t have to know that. Better he think of me as a wild card; a rogue who obeyed no rules and followed no code. It would suit my purposes.
Without warning, his face softened, and he turned to Liza. “I’m sorry for speaking that way to you. Of all people, you deserve much more from me.”
Of all people. What the hell did he mean by that?
Liza looked even more confused as she stood and shoved her hands into her pants pockets, taking a step closer to me. She wasn’t trembling. Wasn’t scared. I liked her courage. I liked it even more that she leaned into me.
Stone looked as if he might say something else about the two of us, but I held up a hand and stopped him.
“Meet me in the back parking lot,” I growled, my jaws clenching so hard that they ached.
“You bet.” Stone forced a smile and looked at her. I wanted to gouge his eyes out so he could never look at her again. “I’ll see you around, Liza.”
The fuck he would.
He walked around the side of the building. Once he was out of sight, I grabbed Liza’s hands. “I’m sorry for the interruption. Stay put.” I kissed her gently on the lips.
