Page 4 of Such a Sweet Omega (His Alpha Desires #5)

Beale

“My name is Jabez. Let’s go to my office. Do you want a drink? Water?”

My body felt hollow as I forced myself to breathe in and out in a somewhat smooth rhythm, an attempt at self-soothing.

“Um, water. Why? Your office? You’re kicking me out?” I asked, not really recognizing my own voice.

“No, of course not. Your name is Beale?”

I nodded. “Yes.” There was something about the way he said my name. There was emotion behind it. That one syllable poured from his mouth and all over me. There was more emotion from him in that word than I’d gotten from Aaron in the months we’d dated.

“Beale, I just wanted to talk to you. You’re not kicked out. You did nothing wrong.”

“Oh. But he…but we…there was commotion.”

Jabez laughed. The sound was deep and guttural, born from his chest. “Not the first time there’s been commotion in this club and won’t be the last. Follow me, please. I have water in my office.”

I didn’t know much about these kinds of clubs before coming to Cuffed, but of course there were offices here. It was a business, after all. Would dungeon monitors be assigned an office, though?

“Are you sure? I can just leave. I’m okay. I think.”

“Your face is reddening. I want to make sure you’re fine before I let you go. I’m a healer as well as an owner. Please. Make yourself at home.”

An owner? Nothing about his tight T-shirt with the logo and Monitor across the chest had told me that.

Inside his office was sparse. A desk with no paperwork scattered. Not even a pen. One computer with three monitors. No family photos or anything else. Not even a landscape. There were no pictures on the pale-gray walls. He was so warm but his office was anything but.

“Thank you. I…you said you are an owner?”

He nodded, waving me to a seat before rounding the desk to take his. My face burned. Maybe it was hot before, but reality and the aftermath were setting in now. “I am. I invested early. Was that…is he your mate? Aaron?”

I laughed, but there was nothing close to comedic about this situation. “No. He’s not my mate. My boyfriend. And after tonight, we’re no longer even dating. I had a bad feeling about him, and tonight, and I ignored it.”

Jabez nodded. “Gut instincts are great, but only if we listen to them. And our animals.”

Ah, another shifter. Of course, now that he said it, I’d picked it up by his scent. He was a wolf as well. “That’s true. I…”

“Oh, your water.” He turned in his chair and got me a cold bottle of water and uncapped it before handing it to me.

I took a drink and sighed. What a night.

“We’d like to refund your membership fee. We don’t want you to think we allow this to happen to our members. Of course, you’ll keep your membership here.”

I scoffed. “I’m not a member. I was his guest.”

“Oh. Well, in that case, we’d like to offer you a six-month membership on the house. We want you to come back. I-I want you to come back and enjoy yourself in a safe way. We don’t condone that kind of behavior.”

“I know that. I’ve never seen anyone hurt here. At least, not in a way they didn’t want.”

“Let me get you some ice for your face.”

He was up out of the room before I could protest. In his wake, his scent aroused my wolf, bringing him closer to the surface than he had been in a while. He howled inside me at the absence of this alpha I’d just met.

The thing was, after tonight, I didn’t trust myself or my wolf to make decisions about dating or mates or men in general.

I should’ve listened to my instincts.

If Jabez hadn’t stepped in, how far would his abuse have gone.

“Here you go.” He came back in with an ice pack in hand. “We keep these in stock for other bumps and bruises. All consensual, of course.” The tall, broad man sat in the leather chair across from me, and I hissed as he pressed the ice to my face.

“I must look a mess,” I said.

“You don’t. You’re not a mess at all.”

“Sure. Sure.”

I covered the ice with my hand, and, the moment our skin touched, a thousand alarms went off in my head and my wolf’s. This man was something to me. I didn’t dare say mate because I’d just met him, and there was a chance this was all a trauma response.

Still, something sparked between us.

He cleared his throat and went back to his chair. I couldn’t help but think this big desk was a shield between us. Whether it was protecting me or him, I didn’t know.

“Um, thank you for the membership. I don’t know if I’ll ever come back here, but thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Here.” He reached into the center drawer and pulled out a notebook and a pen. Ah, he did have a pen. “Write down your name so I can access the information from the guest pass and upgrade you.”

“Sure.” I scribbled the details but more than anything wanted to get out of there. My face throbbed, and my pride was officially broken.

“And I will give you my number so you can reach me if you need to.”

My wolf whined for me not to leave.

Jabez meant something to him—to us. I just didn’t know what yet.

“I really have to go,” I whispered.

“I understand. Let me walk you out.”

“Someone might think you did this to me,” I joked as we strolled out of his office and down the hallway.

“They know better. I’m a healer. I would never harm an omega.” He made sure he had eye contact with me before continuing. “I would never hurt you, Beale. Not in a million years.”

“Thank you. I-I’ll be fine from here.”

“Are you sure? I can call you a ride. Did you drive?”

“No. I’ll walk. I walked here. Thanks for everything.”

I put my arms into the coat he held out for me and put my phone in my pocket quickly, not wanting him to see that my phone was almost as outdated as my car. “Good night, Jabez.”

“Good night, Beale. Sweet dreams.”