I was done. Found. Even though they didn’t spare a dime or a minute to try and find me before, now they were searching for me.
Hunting me.
“Anathea?” A voice attempted to draw me from this hell but it wasn’t enough to completely work. The chime of the door rang out but I didn’t stir. All I could do was stare at the phone.
“I…” Forcing my body and mouth to do something other than appear catatonic.
“Darlin’, look at me. Breathe. In and out.” I heard the words but didn’t heed the command until he took my hand in his. The touch breached my walls and turned the threatening heat into a warmth that I never wanted to escape.
“Carter?” I asked, looking up at those blue eyes.
Chapter Eight
Carter
I’d told Elias and Jayden that I would try to make inroads with the female. She was ours, our fated, and our scent match, but the decision of whether we moved forward together lay entirely in her lap.
So far, we’d each had pleasant conversations with our female, and Elias had even had the privilege of helping her with her injury. How we all hated that she’d been hurt in the first place. We could not protect her from all of life’s minor dangers, but we vowed she’d never come into contact with canned soup again—at least not as the cook. We generally tried to eat well, but we did occasionally eat processed foods, like almost everyone else in the country. If she liked canned tomato soup, one of us would make sure it arrived in a bowl in front of her.
Funny place to draw a line, but it represented how much we wanted this female under our roof and safe from even the household accidents that landed so many omegas in Elias’ clinic. I hesitated outside the shop, wondering if I should bring her a latte or treat from the coffeehouse next door. In the end, I decided I’d ask her to take a break and come with me to select her own. Seemed like a good choice for a date without much pressure.
But when the bell over the shop door chimed, instead of the cheerful omega bustling around the place I expected, I encountered a very different female.
Standing just a few feet from me, she held her phone in a trembling hand, her eyes fixed on the screen, lips moving like a fish out of water.
“Anathea?”
“I—”
I closed the distance between us in two steps. “Darlin’, look at me. Breathe in and out.” Closing my hands around her free one, I squeezed lightly.
As if waking from a dream, she lifted her violet gaze from the phone and met mine. “Carter.”
Keeping hold of her, I moved back to the door, flipped the sign to closed, and twisted the lock. “Yes, darlin’. It’s me. Now, show me what’s on that phone that has you so upset.”
She shook her head, but allowed me to ease it from her grip. “I-it’s…”
“All right. Where can we sit down and talk about this?”
“The back room?” She ticked her chin in that direction. “There’s a table where we eat our lunch.”
“Perfect.” I guided her toward the rear of the store. “Whatever is wrong, we’ll figure it out, okay?”
No answer, but that was all right. We’d still fix it. Once we were in the combination break and storeroom, I eased her into one of the wooden folding chairs at the small table. An electric kettle and a selection of tea things sat on a shelf nearby, so I let go of her hand, tucked her phone in my pocket, and plugged in the kettle. “What kind of tea would you like?”
“Green?” she said. “There’s matcha powder.”
“Ceremonial. That’s the best grade. All right if I have a cup, too?”
That seemed to catch her attention. She moved to stand. “I should do it. You’re our guest or the customer or…are you here to inspect us?”
I waved her back to her seat. “I’ll take guest. I just came to visit with you. Let me be the barista, though. I am very good at making matcha.” A white lie. I’d never done it before, but I did enjoy the drink, and there were directions on the can. Also, I’d seen enough YouTube videos to appreciate the ritual involved. A few minutes later, I’d whisked the powder into the hot wateruntil it all dissolved and none floated on the surface. “Here.” I set it in front of her. “Let it cool, then you can tell me how I did.”
“Aren’t you an expert?”
I chuckled. “You’ll have to be the judge. So, while we wait for our drinks to be a temperature that won’t burn our lips, we can get to know one another better.” I fished in my pocket. “Starting with what on this phone had you frozen in place, looking like a rabbit about to bolt.”
“Oh, just give it back. There’s nothing anyone can do about it.” She sighed and muttered, “Except move farther away. A lot farther.”
