“By being understanding and supportive. I’m trying. It comes and goes. I’ll reach out to Nikolai and see if he has any suggestions. He spent decades going through the same thing.”
“You’re an idiot. Nik chose to go without his beloved because it would destroy a family since she was married with children and another on the way. He took care of her.” Vincent sighed. “You’re just being a martyr and refusing to claim your beloved because he might be afraid of the family.”
“We are a lot to take in, Vincent. You weren’t there. You didn’t see him. You didn’t hear what the others said that he’d been through. He deserves happiness, and I would only ever bring him the opposite.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Go to bed, Vincent. I’m tired, and I want to get some sleep. Otherwise, I might end up growling and hissing at someone tomorrow and they go running to you again.”
There was a long silence before Vincent sighed. He didn’t say another word. He simply got up and left. I was left staring up at the darkness, wondering if some of what he’d been saying wasn’t true. Was it possible that Abel would be accepting and fit in? Iwouldn’t ever know because I wasn’t going to ask him to give up the life of happiness he had found with the council. He deserved that, and I couldn’t offer anything more than a great orgasm and a life of stress and worry. That didn’t change the fact that I desired him and always would. Sometimes, we didn’t get what we wanted, and I was the one who had to live with that.
Chapter 2
Abel
“See you next week, Abel.”
I turned and waved to Monroe. He was a great boss to work for. “Bye, Monroe. See you Monday!” I was probably more excited than I should be. I had the entire weekend off, and I was planning on doing all the fun things. I was going to treat myself to dinner out tonight, something I hadn’t done in a while. There was a certain alpha down in Lucky Lake that was going to take me out tomorrow night, and although I wasn’t certain, it was possible I would be spending the night with him. He wasn’t my mate, but he was sexy, and I had a heat coming up in a few weeks. I certainly wouldn’t mind spending it with him.
I realized I was already at the transport building and needed to remember to make sure I didn’t get too distracted while down in Timber Valley. I was going to Burgers N Shakes, because I wasn’t fooling myself. I really wanted the shake more than the burger.
“Hi, Timothy,” I said to the warlock that was there to help transport us on and off Treasure Ridge.
“Good afternoon, Abel. How are you doing today?”
“Not bad. I have the weekend off, and I’m planning on spending some time off of Treasure Ridge.”
“That sounds lovely. It’s good to get away and do things off of the mountain at times.” I nodded in agreement. “Ready to head down?”
“Yes, please.” I smiled when I felt my stomach tickle. It was always fun going up and down off the mountain. We were at the cabin in a blink, and I waved to Timothy as I walked off. I looked at the line of keys that were on the wall and grabbed the ones for the little SUV. It was just me, and I wasn’t exactly tall at five eight. And to be honest, the larger SUVs that the dragons and gargoyles always took intimidated me.
I’d thought about moving off the mountain, but why? I only had Tyler as a roommate, and he was awesome. We hung out every so often when we had time, but for the most part, I didn’t know he was there, and he didn’t know I was there. It worked for us.
I found the little red SUV, and after pushing the button on the fob, the lights flashed when it unlocked. I opened the driver’s door and climbed in. It was a newer SUV that the council had purchased for all of us to share, and I loved the little push-button start. After I had my seat belt on, I backed out of the spot. It was only a ten-minute drive to Burgers N Shakes, and already my stomach was growling in anticipation. I was getting a strawberry shake with extra strawberry. I loved all fruits, but strawberries were my absolute favorite.
I turned on the radio to the local pop music station and bopped along as I drove to my destination. It was busy when I pulled into the parking lot, but that was expected for a Friday after work. I saw several others from Treasure Ridge as I parked the vehicle, and when I got out, I waved to Lewis. He gestured for me to come over, and when I joined him at the door, his eyes widened.
“Are you here alone, or are you meeting someone?”
“Alone. Why?”
“Will you eat with me? I thought I could do this, but there’s so many alphas in there right now, and I’m not intimidated, but some of them are super sexy.”
I chuckled, looped my arm through his, and pulled him inside with me. “Let’s go eat. I’m hungry, and I really want my strawberry shake.”
When we entered, I immediately saw what he meant. It was as if there were some sort of alpha meetup or something because the back half of the restaurant was full of them. There were some omegas here—I could scent them—but the amount of alpha pheromones that were in the place was a bit overwhelming.
“Umm…did you want to go somewhere else?” I asked.
Lewis looked at me, as if he could tell I wasn’t exactly comfortable.
“Are you all right to stay? Is there anywhere else to get your shake?”
I sighed. “This is the only place that makes shakes with ice cream and not soft serve or some sort of ice cream dessert shit that isn’t real ice cream.”
Lewis leaned in close. “Well, I can get us out of here in a blink if needed, if that makes you feel better.” I nodded because it honestly did. Lewis pulled me along, and after we ordered, we took our drink cups over to the machine. I got the lemon lime option, because why not, and Lewis filled his cup with cola. We went searching for a table, and I hesitated when I saw Cole. I normally wouldn’t think anything of it, but he wasn’t alone, and it was obvious that he and the woman he was with were on a date.
“What’s wrong?” Lewis asked.
