AllFreeNovel
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"Thank you. I'm really happy to be here."
"Good."
I leave the children's section behind, heading to the adult fiction. I could use some fun adventure stories to keep me company in the evenings. I ignore the romance books that I used to love, but haven't read since long before Lexie was born. All those types of books do is make me bitter. Bitter at being a beta. Bitter at the bullshit they tout of happily ever afters. Bitter about the fantasy they make pack life look like.
Most romances are about omegas and alphas, betas scattered throughout as nameless, faceless, unimportant characters there just to move the main story-line along.
So I stick to stories about heists and quests and solving murders.
It doesn't take long before my stack is almost as tall as Lexie’s. I have to make my own difficult choices.
"Heist novels, huh?"
I blink, my pulse skittering as the familiar scents of wild mint and sunshine washes over me. "You."
He smirks. "Me."
"What are you doing here?" I ask, a little unnerved at him showing up here.
Alphas do like to hunt.
He holds up a smaller stack than mine. "Same as you. Gathering my reading for the week."
I scramble for something to say, not wanting him to know how off-kilter I am. "You don't like heist novels?"
"On the contrary. They're some of my favorites. And you're hoarding them all." He gestures at my pile.
I blink down at my ridiculous hoard. "Oh. Right. Sorry. I don't plan to actually check all of them out, so I suppose I can spare a couple."
His shoulders move in an easy shrug. "You got to them first, so whatever you can spare."
I set the pile on the empty shelf at my side, and start sorting through them. "I plan to head to the rec center once we're done here, see about signing up my daughter for basketball."
"That's excellent news. I've got a shift there in half an hour, so I guess I'll see you there. Unless you're done here and want to walk over together?"
I shake my head, glad for the excuse. "She's over at storytime, so I'm stuck here until that's over."
He nods with a smile. "I'll see you over there then."
He smiles a lot, his energy calm and easygoing, instead of dominant and stern. It's messing with my head a bit.
"You will. Here you go. I'm not going to get any of these this time." I pass him at least half the books, too flustered to pay too close attention to what I handed over.
"Perfect." He freezes. "Hey, maybe we can switch next week and then chat about them. None of my other friends read many heist novels."
I raise a brow, skeptical and confused. "You want to start a two-person book club?"
He shrugs with an impish smile that looks odd on an alpha. "Why not? I'll even pay for the coffee at Jen’s.”
"I'll think about it." I can't believe I don’t shoot him down immediately.
Something about him keeps putting me at ease, yet on edge at the same time. On edge because he tempts me.
His smile is big and happy, bright and genuine. "Good. The offer stands. I'll let you get back to browsing and see you and your daughter at the center in a bit."
"Okay. See you then."
I stare after him, feeling a bit off center. I've never met an alpha like him. His energy is more beta-like than alpha, the dominance doesn't pour off of him like it usually does. His scent of mint and sunshine is calming too. It puts me completely at ease, but his attractiveness makes me nervous.
