Alpha, Not

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Pete

I've been working late ever since Avery said he needed time to think. That was two weeks ago. It's not that there is a lot of extra work for me to do, I'm just trying to keep my mind off how dejected he looked as he slipped out of my room at the pack house after hearing about my past. Everything about him looked hurt and, I'm afraid to even think it, disgusted by me. If I'm honest with myself though, I can't blame him. If we were to switch places, I'm not so sure I would be able to get past it either. So, I've been trying to keep myself busy at the office working a lot of extra hours just to forget; I can't say it's working very well.

I haven't been able to sleep for the last two weeks, and it shows; I look awful. Sandra and Tanya have been making me eat breakfast and lunch at the office, though they haven't brought me anything from the diner - for which I'm grateful. Eating food he probably helped prepare would make me sadder than I already am. The two women know something happened between us, but they don't know what it was, and I haven't said anything about it. They understand that it's not something I want to talk about.

On a couple of occasions, I've gotten up my courage enough to walk to the diner, fully intending to go in and talk to him; each time I lost my nerve at the last minute and walked on past after a brief pause to glance in the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. The sunlight reflecting down on the glass turned the window into a giant mirror that kept me from seeing anything inside. All I was able to see was my own reflection, staring back at me, utterly hopelessness and haggard.

At little after noon, as I was eating the lunch Tanya brought me, my phone rang; looking down I saw that it was Teagan. I'd asked him to keep an eye out for Avery whenever he was in the area. I was worried that those bullies might go after him as revenge for the ass-kicking I'd given them. They were the type of men to blame him for it, even though they were the ones who were hurting him in the first place. Teagan promised he would pass by during his patrols of the area. It turned out I was right, he'd already rescued Avery once; telling me all about the encounter, and how one of them had pushed Avery down and kicked him while he was on the ground. It seems Avery told him that they had done even worse than that to him before. I was so pissed off that Teagan had to hold me back from storming out and ripping them to pieces.

"Pete," Teagan spoke as soon I answered his call. "The men I have watching those three scoundrels just contacted me. They're at the diner right now and giving Avery a hard time. Brian is in there and will protect him if anything happens. I'm heading over and I'll be at the agency in five minutes to pick you up; be ready."

Almost exactly five minutes later, Teagan pulled up in a black Audi e-Tron with windows tinted so dark they had to be illegal. I climbed into the passenger seat, closing the door as he was already driving towards the diner. His men were waiting for us as we pulled up to the curb; Teagan insisted that I stay in the car for the time being. I hated it, but he was right; it would be better if I weren't seen at the moment. He stepped out of the vehicle, sauntered over to an old beater pickup truck that had a faded construction company logo stenciled on the side.

Shortly after he positioned himself, leaning against the truck, the diner's door opened and the three men I had stopped from bullying Avery a few weeks ago stepped outside and began walking towards the truck. A moment later, Brian stepped out behind them and casually followed; they didn't notice him.

"It looks like you don't listen very well." Teagan quietly said when the men were close enough that he could speak in a conversational tone.

It was obvious that they were surprised to see Teagan standing there as casual as could be. They looked around briefly, I thought they might make a run for it, not that they had anywhere to run. They still hadn't noticed Brian standing just a few feet behind them. The man had an uncanny ability to be go unnoticed, even when he was standing right in front of you.