Page 62 of Knight With Benefits

“No one has to tell him you came in to get it. Or, you can blame him for making a poor omega carry such a heavy bucket all by herself. Either way, you can’t paint the building with the bucket inside.”

I’d turned my back as I spoke, taking the few steps through the doorway, but I still heard the sigh of one of them giving in, making my lips twitch as I tried not to smile. It turned out to be the one who seemed familiar, his eyes darting around the bare kitchen as if he expected there to be cameras waiting to catch him breaking whatever rules Carl had put in place.

“It’s right there. It’s not going to bite you.”

His brow quirked although his lips stayed straight, and I huffed under my breath.Ithought I was funny.

“If you need anything, just bang on the door. And feel free to take a break whenever you need to. I can grab you some lunch when you get hungry if you give me about thirty minutes to walk home for it.”

He grunted as he lifted the bucket, although I doubted it was from the weight. He was nowhere near the size of Carl, but he was large enough for me to think he wasn’t human, so he likely had a shifter’s strength.

“We’re good. Carl is taking care of it.”

Without explaining further, he disappeared through the door, the gentle snick of the latch seeming to linger until the door popped open just far enough for him to stick his head back inside.

“Lock this behind me.”

He was gone again before I could do more than suck in a breath, torn between being irritated, or feeling cherished. While part of me wanted to stomp my foot and say I didn’t need anyone telling me what to do, a larger part appreciated Carl looking out for me.

Even if he did it like the neanderthal caveman he was supposed to have evolved from.

Chapter Thirty

Carl

I’d glanced at my phone at least a million times before the text came through that Gwyn had arrived at the café. My bear loosened his grip on me, but he still didn’t relax. That part of me couldn’t understand why I was at the shop instead of with our omega, no matter if Sebastian was pack or not.

She was more precious.

Asking Jackson to keep an eye on her hadn’t been enough to ease my worry, so I’d ended up sending Knox too, under the excuse that the two of them would get the painting done faster. Really, it was because I knew the Purists never traveled alone, and with Jackson’s problems with his wolf, I couldn’t convince my bear he was enough to protect Gwyn on his own if something happened. Sebastian could win a fight against multiple human alphas, but Jackson wasn’t as strong or experienced, even if he managed to shift.

Knox was another young wolf, and between the two of them they should be able to hold off a few humans long enough for more help to arrive. I’d already warned the guys riding patrol to keep close to The Hangout and watch for unknown alphas.

Popping another anxiety pill, I glanced at the clock, growling under my breath when it showed it was still morning. With how late I’d been getting to bed I should have still been sleeping, but now even my bear was working to keep me awake as many hours as possible. He used to be the one to push me to sleep more, but he’d become the part I had to fight to fall asleep, his stress over being separated from Gwyn adding to the worry I always carried.

Answering phones and handling invoices when people arrived to drop off or pick up their vehicles kept me distracted for a while, but by the time the guys headed out for lunch, I couldn’t stop myself from dialing Jackson. When he didn’t answer I couldn’t even try Knox, tapping Gwyn’s name as my heart pounded.

“Hello?”

The sigh that escaped stole my breath, leaving me to give off stalkerish vibes as I remained silent on the line. It didn’t matter that I really was stalking Gwyn, hanging out between two overgrown bushes a couple houses down from hers during the hours between when I slipped away from the other Knights and when dawn threatened. I didn’t want to freak her out.

“Hello? Carl?”

Shaking my head, I pulled myself out of the funk that had taken over.

“Hey, sorry, how’s it going?”

“Umm, fine. I got the first coat on the new wall, and I think the guys are about halfway through outside too.”

My bear wanted to growl over other alphas being near her with the way her scent had changed over the last few days, but I swallowed it down.

“That’s good.”

I desperately tried to think of something else to say to keep her on the phone, but my brain was drawing a blank on anything that would make sense.

“I’d actually forgot you wouldn’t be here today, and I’d wanted to talk to you.”

My whole body lit up at her words, a smile pulling at my lips.

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