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“You’re not slow,” he laughs. “You kept up with an experienced group of runners for over two miles. Give yourself a break, Nina. As for ruining my run, you didn’t. I’m coming off a knee injury and I have to baby it more than I’d like. You’re doing me a favor by walking with me.”

“Mmhmm,” I snort, surprising myself. Covering my face as he laughs harder, I shake my head. “Excuse me. Must have almost swallowed a bug.”

“Who's full of shit now, Little One?” he asks.

“We’re doing nicknames now? I don’t think you know me well enough for that,” I say primly. While I didn’t correct Abbott or Cassidy, it doesn’t feel right to let Ellis speak to me like that.

I’m not supposed to be having such an easy conversation with a stranger. I’m awkward, quiet, and have a boatload of secrets. They come out much too easily when I let my guard down.

“This is true. My apologies,” he says, inclining his head toward me. “I’m afraid I’m also a bit of a flirt. God, I don’t think I’ve flirted with anyone in ages outside of my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” I ask, feeling as if I may be moving onto more solid ground. Though, he shouldn’t be flirting with me at all if he has a boyfriend.

“Yes, I think he’d like you too,” he says, winking at me.

Now I’m very confused.

“I can see by your face that I’m in danger of breaking you,” Ellis says.

“Only because if you’re with your boyfriend, then you shouldn’t be flirting with me,” I say, echoing my earlier thoughts.

Hell, I shouldn’t like that he’s flirting with me, and not only because I have packs of alphas I need to be focused on. God, it’s enough to make my head spin.

“Right, I mean, we can talk about that,” he says, grabbing my hand as we walk past a group of men. “Lean into me, just trust me.”

They’re staring at me, and my natural reaction is to do exactly that. Ellis wraps his arm around me as we walk and the group of alphas turn away. No wonder Cassidy and Abbott didn’t want me to walk alone.

Shivering from the interaction, I don’t move away from Ellis right away, letting the warmth of his body melt away the ice in my veins. Alphas really do remind me of predators, waiting for the exact moment to pounce.

“You’re good,” Ellis murmurs into my hair. “A lot of people run here. I may only be one person, but I’ll keep you safe.”

“You already did,” I say, though my voice feels as if it’s coming from a long distance away.

I can’t get the shaking to stop and my breaths are coming faster.

“Maybe, but your body is taking a little longer to believe it,” he says. His voice is still soft, strong, and calm, though he’s walking toward a bench. “Let’s take a break and slow your breathing down.”

“I can’t be having a panic attack,” I groan, though I can feel the signs of it. My vision is blurry, and I manage to trip, only not eating shit because Ellis steadied me.

“Eh, those alphas were looking at you like you were a piece of steak,” he says, pushing me to sit once we arrive at the bench. Squatting in front of me as I force myself to breathe in and out, he adds, “Some alphas are pigs. You just saw a bunch of them show their asses.”

Huffing out a laugh, I nod. My body is on the edge of an attack, but not quite there, which means I can pull back from it. My fingers are twitching painfully, and Ellis takes my hands and begins to rub them.

“You asked about my boyfriend,” he says conversationally as he continues. “We’re both alphas, and we met in college. It started out as light and fun, messing around here and there. Then, it was a way to expel stress when we were having a rough time.”

I recognize that he’s talking to me to distract me from the way my body is reacting, and I appreciate that. I also want to know more about him and his boyfriend.

“That’s not a relationship, that’s called using each other,” I say without thought. “Sorry, my filter is malfunctioning.”

“Meh, I deserve to be called out,” he says. “It was my fault that we were sneaking around anyway. I didn’t want a relationship, convinced my moods were too rocky. So I used one of my friends, who routinely tried to pull me out of funks and reminded me that civilization has its positive moments.”

“I smell bullshit,” I state, wincing. “Ugh, this is helping, but I don’t think I’m fit for conversation.”

“If anyone knows how that is, it’s me,” Ellis says, amused. “I’m enjoying myself. Please, Little Queen, call me out on my shit.”

“Nicknames,” I remind him, unable to frown because I’m fighting to hold my shit together.

“Eh, I thought ‘Little Queen’ was cute,” he says, winking. Ugh, he’s incorrigible.