Chapter 32

Erin’s POV

“What the fuck!” The man said again, trying to clean the hot coffee off his lap. I took a step away from him, crossing my arms over my chest.

“It’s time for you to leave,” I ordered.

“You bitch, get me another napkin and clean up your mess,” he growled at me.

I went to say something in return, but another voice spoke before I had the chance.

“I believe she just asked you to leave.”

I turned around quickly and was shocked to see Gavin standing in front of me. My eyes widened and I was at a loss for words.

How long had he been there?

“A…Alpha Gavin?” The man stammered, staring up at Gavin who towered over him.

Gavin’s eyes poured into the man, and they darkened; the man was hooked in a trance by Gavin and he was unable to look away. I realized that nobody was paying attention to what was happening in our corner, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that was because Gavin had done something to them as well.

The man finally breaks his eyes from Gavin and bows to me.

“I’m so sorry, mam. Please, accept my apology,” he says quickly before lifting his gaze to mine.

I stared at him in surprise for a moment. He doesn’t wait for me to respond; without another word, he scurries out of the restaurant.

I stared after him in shock, refusing to meet Gavin’s eyes.

What was he even doing here?

I turned away from him to take care of the man’s unpaid bill, but then Gavin snatched it from my hand.

“I’ll take care of it,” he says, grabbing his wallet.

“It’s okay,” I say to him. “I made a lot of tips tonight. I can take care of it…”

“Let me,” he said, his gaze softening as he looked into my eyes.

My heart melted at the first glimpse of him and I hated myself for feeling this way. I didn’t argue with him. I watched as he fished out his platinum card and handed it to me. I gave him a small smile before bringing it to the front counter.

Once I returned to him his card, he wrote out a generous tip on the receipt before handing it back to me with a boyish and lopsided grin. This was a grin I wasn’t expecting from him; it was a grin that I hadn’t seen since our high school days.

“You don’t have to do that,” I say, glancing at the tip he left me, feeling my features redden.

“It’s the least I can do,” he says. “Do you think we can talk?”

I eyed him carefully for a moment, unsure if I wanted to give him the satisfaction of having any words. But my wolf was going crazy and I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist wanting to know what it is he needs to say.

So, I just nodded.

“Give me a minute to finish here and we can go outside,” I tell him as I turn away.

He made himself comfortable in a booth as I went around and finished cleaning my tables. Once my duties were finished, I clocked out and went with Gavin into the parking lot, ignoring the strange looks of Kelsey and the rest of my coworkers.

“I’ve been trying to call you,” I say to him as we made our way to my waiting car.

“I know,” he said, lowering his gaze to the ground as we walked. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around.”

“I wasn’t calling you for the reason you think,” I tell him. I stopped walking to face him. “I just wanted to warn you that Henry thinks the murders are because of you. More now than he did before seeming this recent one was in your pack. He’s trying to find evidence against you…”

“I see,” Gavin said, meeting my eyes. “And what do you think?”

“I don’t think you did anything wrong,” I told him truthfully. I was with you when it happened.” My voice dropped to only a whisper.

He stopped walking so he could turn to me; I attempted to avoid his eyes, but I couldn’t ignore the intensity of his stares.

“About the other night…” He began.

“Nothing happened,” I said quickly. “It was a mistake.”

“If the phone didn’t ring…”

“Nothing would have happened,” I said firmly, stopping his words.

“I know you don’t love him, Erin…”

“Even if that were true, it doesn’t change the fact that you are with Susanna,” I say to him. “I saw you cuddled up on the news.”

He rose his brows, now I was seeing traces of amusement that caused my face to feel warm.

“You’re jealous.”

It wasn’t a question.

“Of course not,” I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest.

“There’s no reason for you to be jealous. I only allowed her to ‘cuddle up to me’ because she lost someone important to her. As an Alpha, I need to be there for her. It was a huge tragedy for my pack.”

“I get that,” I said, not wanting to discuss this any further. “But you must admit that she is perfect for you, Gavin. She’s exactly what you need as a Luna and more…”

“No…” Gavin said, taking a step closer to me; closing the small gap that sat between us. “You are everything I’ve ever wanted and more, Erin. It’s always been you. I showed you that it’s always been you…”

“You showed me how badly I hurt you,” I reminded him, peering up at his gorgeous blue eyes.

“I showed you how badly I loved you and still do love you.”

He lowered his head, so his forehead was pressed against mine.

“I want it to be you…” he whispered against me. “I’ll always want it to be you. Don’t you know that by now?”

“Gavin—”

“What are you so afraid of?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer his question; but soon, my words didn’t matter.

He was kissing me.

…

Henry’s POV

Late in the evening, Henry decided to go to the restaurant and surprise Erin at work. He hated the fact that they’d been fighting lately, and he wanted to make things right with her.

He’s been so wrapped up in doing the right thing at work that he hasn’t stopped to think about how Erin was truly feeling. This had to have been hard for her and he was only making this that much harder.

The look on her face this morning broke his heart and he wanted to be there for her. As much as he loved her, he knew what this marriage was. It was a distraction from the life she once had; a distraction from the pain that came attached to her old life.

Losing her mate, her family, and her best friend. It was a lot for her to take and all she wanted was a normal life in the quiet small town they lived in. She wanted to remain invisible and stay out of the light and he was making her feel guilty for choosing that life.

As her partner, he should have been more supportive and understanding. But instead, he’s been pushing her to return to the organization and at the same time pushing her to forget about the mate she rejected.

He saw her car in the distance as he neared. He parked the car and got out, but walking toward her he started to realize that she wasn’t alone in her car.

He paused when he saw a familiar figure standing with her.

It was Gavin.

And they were kissing!