AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hollis wasn’t sitting at the table. Instead, he was pacing, hands fidgeting in front of his chest, off to one side of the room. As the door swung closed behind Derek, Hollis stopped pacing. Behind his dark-framed glasses, his pretty brown eyes widened.
“Um,” Hollis said, hands still lifted in front of his chest.
His scent was mouthwatering, and for a moment, all Derek could do was stand there and stare, taking in lungfuls of the delicious aroma. “Hi,” he said eventually, voice coming out more gravelly than normal. “I’m Derek.”
“Hollis.” He swallowed loud enough that Derek could hear him across the room. “You’re the…aren’t you the…”
“Hellhound alpha.”
“And you’re—” He cut himself off, one of his hands pointing slightly to Derek and then to himself.
“Your new mate. Yes.” Derek moved toward the table. “Come sit,” he said, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. Hollis was obviously nervous, and while Derek wasn’t sure that they’d have some great relationship between them, he didn’t want his mate afraid of him.
Hollis moved to the chair Derek had indicated. He was cute, dressed in khaki slacks, a soft chocolate sweater, and brownOxfords. He couldn’t be more than 5’7”, and with a mop of curly blond hair and the glasses, he was downright adorable. A smile pulled at the corner of Derek’s mouth imagining Hollis on the back of hisHarley.
Once Hollis sat down, Derek moved to that side of the table and pulled out the chair beside him. He sat, noticing that Hollis had tensed up with every step closer Derek had taken. Not knowing what else to do, he held out his hand. “Might as well do this officially. I’m Derek. I’m the hellhound alpha and lead council enforcer.”
Slowly, Hollis slipped his hand into Derek’s outstretched one. His hand was cold, smaller than Derek’s, and somehow, a perfect fit. “Hollis. My uncle is the human police commissioner. I worked at the library before this, but I’ll be working here now.”
He didn’t seem super happy about that, but Derek didn’t want to pry just yet. Instead, he swiveled his chair to face Hollis and reached for his other hand. Hollis didn’t fight him but did frown in confusion once Derek had clasped both Hollis’s hands with his. “Your hands are cold,” Derek explained, running his thumbs over the backs.
Somehow Hollis’s frown got deeper as his cheeks started to redden. “Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
“Are you saying that because you don’t want me touching you or because you think cold hands are something you should be embarrassed about?”
Hollis opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “I-I guess the second thing. I don’t want you to think…”
Derek gently squeezed his fingers. “Don’t want me to think what?”
“Good to see you two getting along,” Lenette said, breezing through the door.
Hollis tensed up and pulled his hands from Derek’s. He wouldn’t meet Derek’s eyes. Instead, he turned his chair to face the table and clasped his hands firmly together in his lap.
Derek shot a glare at Lenette, barely containing the growl that was building in his chest.
Lenette raised one eyebrow at him and smirked. Two of Lenette’s assistants entered the room. One moved to the table and pulled out a chair opposite Derek and Hollis for Lenette. She sat and laid the folder in her hands on the table. “I’ve got your mating license here. You’ll each need to sign, and once I’ve filed it with the city tomorrow, I’ll send you a copy.” She met Derek’s gaze. “To the hellhound clubhouse, yes?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Here we go.” She pulled a paper out of the folder and turned it, laying it in front of them along with a pen. “Look it over for errors and then sign above your names at the bottom.”
Derek could barely focus on the paper. All he could hear was Hollis’s heartbeat increasing and the acrid scent of anxiety weaving through his scent.
With a shaky hand, Hollis reached for the pen, but Derek stopped him, covering his hand with his own. He looked at Lenette. “Could you give us a couple more minutes?”
She tilted her head, its tight spiral of brunette hair not moving an inch. “Of course.” She and her assistants were out of the room a second later, the door quietly clicking shut behind them. Yet somehow, their absence seemed to make Hollis’s anxiety spike even further instead of diminishing it.
“Hollis, talk to me.” Derek turned more toward him, the rolling chair he was in making it easy to maneuver even on the terrible office carpet. When Hollis didn’t immediately say anything, only getting more red in the cheeks even as the hand still under Derek’s got colder, Derek looked around the room. Down from them, in the middle of the table, was a tray holding a glass pitcher of water and four glasses.
Standing, Derek went to the tray and poured a half glass of water. He went back to his chair and gripped the armrest of Hollis’s, turning him so he faced Derek again. “Here.” Carefully, he put the glass into Hollis’s hands.
Hollis was shaking, but he held the glass tight and took a small sip.
“Hollis…” Derek tried again, voice as gentle as he knew how to make it. “What exactly are you afraid of right now? Is it just the mating, or is it…me?”
After a couple deep breaths, Hollis lifted his gaze. “Should I be scared of you?”
“No. I understand that this isn’t ideal and kinda fucking crazy, and I have no idea how it’s going go, but the one thing I can tell you about it is this.” Derek took both of Hollis's hands in his own again. “You don’t ever have to fear me. Hell, you don’t have to fear anything. You’re my mate now and under hellhound protection.”
Some emotion Derek didn’t recognize crossed Hollis’s face. “I believe you.”
Derek huffed a laugh. “Well, that’s a start.”
For a moment, they watched each other. Hollis still seemed…wary. Resigned. Anxious. Derek didn’t like it, but he figured the only way to fix it was with time.
Letting out a deep breath, Hollis squared his shoulders. “Okay, I’m ready.”
