Page 15 of Same Thing
“Okay,Mom,” Alese teased.
“I mean it,” Nory said, walking away. “I’ll be back in a while.”
“Let me talk to my boys, you’re being so lame,Mom,” Alese joked.
Nory snorted and made her way out of the bar with plans to return in an hour or two. Her extroverted friend would shut this place down, so she had time.
It wasn’t until she got outside that she felt a little uncertain about walking back by herself. Her apartment complex was right through a grocery store parking lot and across a small two-lane street, and well-lit, so she would be fine.
She was probably just jumpy after she heard Liam’s inner animal make that bone-chilling growl.
She was supposed to be afraid, right? So why then did she check Liam’s building on her way back to her apartment in hopes that he would be outside?
And why did her tits perk up when she glanced over at his truck, parked way down the row now. He must’ve driven to the bar and couldn’t find a close parking spot when he’d returned.He would learn though. It was his first day. He could just walk over to Shipwrecks the next time he wanted to go on a date.
Chapter Four
“You need to call a meeting,” Nate murmured.
Liam sighed and rested his head back against the seat of his truck. He shook his head slowly and closed his eyes. Today had been eternal. “This is already blown way out of proportion.”
“Is it?” Nate asked. “I’m telling you the entire Pack is riled up over something you are doing, and you’re putting off calling a meeting? What’s going on with you, man? Last week you would’ve called the meeting the second there was a murmur of trouble in the Pack. You are the one getting us all back on track after everything. You made that oath. And now the Elders are getting a call from an Arrangement, saying you’re with a human?”
“I’m not with a human,” he snarled, slamming his open palm against the steering wheel. “I’ve lived here for half a day! My shit is still packed in boxes. How could I be with a human? I did what was asked of me, and met the Arrangement, on my move-in day, after my fucking house burned down, Nate. A little grace would be appreciated. I’m sorry she felt slighted, but we barely had a connection. She was judgmental—”
“Liam, it’s your first meeting. Some of that will work itself out when you aren’t strangers anymore. She says she’s willing to go on a second Arrangement meet, but somewhere that makes sense for both of you. Not a human bar where you have eyes on some six, when you have a ten in front of you. You insulted her, man. I’m with her on this.”
“A six?” he gritted out. Nate was really calling Nory a six? “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“Ask yourself something,Alpha. Why are you getting so defensive over a human right now? I’m telling you what needs to happen to get the Pack on track—”
“Remember your place, Nate, or I will strip you of your rank and put you at the bottom of this fucking Pack,is that clear?”
“But—”
“Is it clear!” he yelled.
He didn’t miss the soft whine that came from the other end of the line. “Yes. Crystal clear.”
“I will talk to the Elders. I will even talk to the Arrangement if it’s what they want. I will message the Pack and set up a meeting first thing in the morning, but please remember what I’m dealing with.” His house had burned down seven days ago, and he was up to his neck in insurance claim paperwork, still managing his shifts at work, and was just trying to find a steady footing in the middle of a horrible week. “I will fix it, but no more lectures from you or anyone else on how I should be as an Alpha. I promised to drag this Pack up to prosperity, and that goal has not changed, but I need a second to fuckin’ breathe.”
Nate heaved a sigh. “Where are you?”
“In my truck. I was going to go for a drive. I want to see my den.”
“It’s fine. I checked on it three times today. No one is messing with the rubble but the insurance guys.”
“I feel…” Liam frowned, searching for the words to describe the roller coaster that was consuming him.
He didn’t know how to say it, and he and Nate didn’t engage in conversations like that. They never had.
Movement caught his attention to the right. Nory was walking across the parking lot toward her apartment building. She cast a glance at his truck and held for a couple of moments before she dragged her attention back to the direction she was walking. She looked cold, with her arms clasped tightly aroundher middle, and her shoulders hunched. There was a bite to the air that probably felt freezing to fragile human skin.
On instinct, he reached for the jacket he kept in his back seat but stopped himself. What was he doing? She was almost home, and also, he had no business building any connections with Nory. He didn’t need to be her hero.
She was fine without him.
A slight motion dragged his attention, and he saw the corner of a blind fall from the bottom floor apartment window. Jackson, he bet.