Alpha's Girl

Chapter Ten

"Cole," I begin carefully. "Carlos is harmless. He's just my guard," I pause to gage Cole's expression. It is still rock solid with barely placated anger.

"I don't trust him," He responds. "An unmated male, speaking to you like that?" He breathes in and exhales angrily. "You do not want to know the things my wolf is telling me to do to him," He speaks slowly. He meets my gaze and I can't help but shiver at the look in his eyes.

I have no experience with the angry wolf side of Cole. I barely have experience with the mate side of him. His face softens just slightly as he sees the discomfort in me.

"Come here," He mutters gruffly. Without giving me a chance to respond, he pulls my arm until I fall against him. He holds me there for a moment and takes a breath, his arms folded around me, pressing me into his chest. My head is just below his heartbeat and I can hear it begin to slow as his body relaxes into mine.

My whole body feels warm and fuzzy when Cole breaks the silence. "I don't want to let you go," His lips brush against my forehead in a gentle kiss. "But I can tell Declan isn't going to be patient for much longer," He glances towards the diner where I am sure Declan is eyeing us watchfully. "We'll meet later tonight, and we can talk more then," he whispers just soft enough so I can hear.

"They won't let me go, I know it," I shake my head sadly, referring to my brothers.

Cole frowns. "Don't worry, my love, I will take care of it," He promises. My heart skips a beat at this, and he gives me a lopsided smile and takes my hand. "I think we should rejoin the group before we start a war,"

I am doubtful, but I nod anyways, agreeing. He takes my hand then, and I step away from his embrace as we begin to walk back to the diner.

What the hell was that about, Declan is in my mind instantly.

Can we just let it go, I plead back. The mind link shuts off, surprising me. Hopefully he will play nice.

I slide into the booth while Cole talks to Declan. Carlos is nowhere to be found, and I pull out my phone to avoid the awkwardness of sitting by myself. I contemplate texting a friend, but I don't know who to talk to about this without telling them that Cole is my mate. I know that information is not supposed to be shared yet. I hear Cole shake hands with Declan and begin to speak, but it is too low for me to hear. When they come back and sit down, the tension seems to be gone.

"So, I noticed that you have upgraded a few of the sites on your territory," Cole begins. Declan immediately brightens. He handles a lot of the territory and building managements, and has brought in many technological advances to them in the past year.

I listen as they ramble on about pack related things, comparing this and that to one another.

"I'll take you to see more of the training facilities tomorrow before you leave," Declan grins. "We just got a new shipment yesterday, and our guys have been unloading some real cool stuff,"

Cole nods, smiling at the idea. "I'd like that, yes," He pauses to sip his drink. "Although, I am thinking about delaying my trip." My head swivels towards him in shock.

"What!" I exclaim. "When did you decide this?"

"When things came up," He shrugs simply. "Just another day or so, to get things figured out," We all know what he is referring to. Me. I nervously wait for Declan to jump up angrily like he did earlier.

"Well, you know you're always welcome here," Declan surprises me by saying. Clearly he has come to terms with this more than he was this morning. "I'm sure Owen will say the same."

Cole nods in appreciation. "I was thinking I might ask if Cece can come with me tonight, to discuss logistics more." He phrases it so professionally that I am confused about what he might want to discuss.