Page 10

"I'm not sniffing around anything," Scott growled, his charming facade dropping and revealing the capable, annoyed Alpha underneath. Good. That was who I wanted to deal with, not the stupid act that he put on for Kiera and everyone else in this damn shop.

"Bullshit. Pack members have told me you've been in here every shift that Kiera works." We were almost chest to chest now, Alpha to Alpha, violence tainting the air around us. "You can't tell me that's a fucking coincidence."

"Wait, you've had a pack checking up on me while I'm at work?" I could see Kiera out of the corner of my eye, hands on her hips, annoyed. "And here I thought you trusted me enough to let me have one thing to myself. I guess not."

"Later, Kiera," I snapped, hating how she flinched at my voice's harshness. Dammit. Being this close to fighting another Alpha had my self-control fraying at the edges. I turned my ire back to Scott, the one who really deserved it.

Scott, the slimy fucker, was grinning again. "Actually, my being here had nothing to do with your mate."

"Then what in the fuck is the reason?"

Scott grinned even wider, taking too much enjoyment from his stupid little secret. "Because this is my shop. I bought Crescent Moon Coffee two weeks ago, and I come in daily to check on how things are going. The store manager, Kate, hired Kiera on her own. I didn't even know she was working here until I came in for my daily check." He crossed his arms and looked over my shoulder at Kiera, which made me want to knock his teeth out. "Imagine my surprise to see the Saltfang Alpha's little Omega working in my shop. It was a really fun coincidence. I'm disappointed you figured out my game so quickly."

As much as I wanted to strangle him, knowing he had nothing to do with hiring Kiera helped my rage somewhat. He'd still kept his identity from her, and the fact that he owned the shop my mate worked at from me, but it didn't appear that he was lying. Kiera's working here really was just a coincidence that he had taken advantage of.

"You should have told me." I took a step back, but didn't get out of his face entirely. "I would have considered you an ally until you pulled this shit."

"Oh, grow up, Samson," Scott laughed, "You'd throw away an alliance because your mate is working at my shop, and I didn't scramble to tell you? You might want to reconsider." He held up a hand to shield his mouth, as if he was telling me a secret, "It makes you look spectacularly insecure."

"We both know why you didn't tell me," I growled, ignoring his jab. "It's not because you were trying to keep an ally. It's because you wanted to get under my skin."

"I didn't lie," Scott shot back, "And I'm not going to apologize for enjoying seeing the look on your face when you walked in here. Still living in Zeke's shadow, pup?"

I was going to kill him. I was going to rip his throat out right there in his own place of business, and let him bleed all over the copper tile floor. Scott had ten years on me, which meant a decade more experience as an Alpha, but there was no way in hell I was going to let him talk about my mate and my father like that. I'd taste his blood before—

"I hate to break up this little reunion," Kiera interrupted, stepping between us and pushing us apart, "But it's almost time for me to get off work, so if you're going to fight, please take it outside."

Scott laughed and backed away, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm not looking to get into a fight with you, Samson."

I stepped forward, but Kiera shoved me back, her magic already thrumming through the air around us. "Out," she hissed at me. "We're done here."

As much as I wanted to challenge Scott's threat, I could feel my mate's magic coursing through me. It would have been so easy to shift and attack, to show Scott who was really in charge here, but Kiera's power wouldn't allow it.

God, despite how angry I was, her power sliding over my skin and across my nerves felt like silk. It was like she was touching me all over, making my skin raise in goosebumps. Just like she told me the other night, I couldn't feel an ounce of actual violence in her magic's touch, just a wall keeping me away from Scott. Kiera couldn't do me harm with her magic, but apparently, she'd found a loophole to make it work against me at least a little.

"No need for your beloved to leave," Scott sighed dramatically, waving his hand in the air, "I'm going in the back to count the drawers from this morning anyway. You two take a moment." He walked to the door, flipping the sign to 'CLOSED'. "Just switch this back when you're done fighting. No fucking, though. That's against the health code."

Kiera spun around once Scott was out of sight, her face red. "What the fuck, Samson?"

"Scott isn't exactly the best company for someone like you to keep, Kiera." I crossed my arms over my chest and glared down at her. "I'm not sorry for getting angry."

"Someone like me?" She took a step closer, her hands on her hips. "You mean an Omega?"

"He's a lot older than you," I countered. "I'd be uncomfortable with any of my pack women being alone with him every single day."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "It's nice to know that you don't trust me enough to be alone with another man."

"It's not about trust, and you know it."

"Oh, that's right. It's about stupid Alpha posturing. I forgot."

I didn't know which of us had moved first, but before I knew it, Kiera was close enough to touch, and I didn't let the opportunity slide by. I was bursting at the seams with the need to put my hands on her skin, to claim her or mark her in any way she'd allow. Or a thousand ways she wouldn't allow, but I wasn't that much of an out-of-control prick.

Something about the way she argued, the way she fought, just did it for me. When Kiera showed her vulnerable side, like she'd done the night of her first heat, opening her door with so much need in her eyes, it had knocked the breath out of me. It made me want to protect and guard her with my life. But this Kiera, this ferocious, wildcat Kiera who wasn't afraid to call me out on my bullshit, was the one who really made my blood boil.

I was half-hard right there in the middle of a public coffee shop. Thank God it had emptied out. My reaction didn't make any damn sense. Shouldn't I want my Omega to be meek and submissive?

She was fighting me every step of the way, and I couldn't even pretend like I didn't love every second of it.

I took her by the waist and pulled her close, our bodies meeting so suddenly that she gasped and looked up at me. Her lips were parted, and I was so fucking tempted to kiss her again, to taste the anger in her mouth and see how far she would let me push things. Knowing Scott, my rival if not my enemy, was in the office right there in the same building increased my desire for her tenfold.

I wanted to have her, right there where he could hear us, scent us, and know that Kiera was mine. My mate, my wife, my Omega, mine .

"Let me go,” she huffed, doing very little to fight me off despite her complaints.

"No," I growled. "I'm going to show you just how good it'll feel to belong to me."

I bent my head and drug my nose over the scent gland in her neck, making her shudder, her knees nearly buckling. Nothing had ever, ever smelled as good as she did right then. It was supposed to be a tease to make her putty in my hands, and it might have been working, but I hadn't expected my own self-control to be hanging on by a thread. I repeated the action, grinding my hips against her when I did so, letting her feel how hard she made me. Kiera didn't push me back, and I was overcome with the need to pull her to the floor and scent every inch of her skin, everyone else nearby be damned.

She moaned, and I moved to kiss her, unable to bear it for a second longer, but when I lifted my head from her gorgeous neck, I caught sight of us in the mirror behind the counter. Fuck, what was I doing? I looked like a goddamned animal about to rip into her.

And somehow, I'd forgotten about Scott altogether. The thing driving me insane wasn't being able to stake my claim on Kiera while he was near. No. It was Kiera, Kiera, and nothing else, making me lose my damned mind.

I stepped back immediately, breaking contact with her completely. Her scent was still surrounding me, making me want to pull her close again, but I kept myself at bay.

Kiera's eyes were closed, her hands reaching up as if trying to touch me again. When she realized I'd pulled back, she opened them and looked around in confusion. "Samson?" She asked, her voice cracking, "What are you-"

"We're done," I said coldly. I didn't know why I was talking to her like that, but it was better than jumping on her. "If you think you can work here without getting taken advantage of, then be my guest."

Her mouth dropped open in shock and confusion. "But...what...?"

I pushed past her and marched to the door, flipping the sign back around and throwing open the door. I knew I was acting like a fucking lunatic, but I didn't care. I just needed to get out of there before I did something I would regret.

Before I let my Omega see how goddamned obsessed with her I was becoming.