Page 4 of Fated Surrender

When he got to the corner of High and Market Streets, he noticed that Marcus Evans had Johnny Lawson pinned to the side of the theater. He growled under his breath and picked up his pace until he was close enough to hear what was being said.

“You need to quit playing hard to get. Just go out with me already.” Marcus gripped Johnny’s arm tightly.

The smaller man’s face was full of anger.

“Get the fuck off me, you psycho! The reason no one in town will date you is because you are a douchebag. Quit being lazy and look for someone outside of Arkadia, because I can almost guarantee that no one in town wants your pathetic ass. Just remember, no means no, or you’ll find yourself locked up in a human jail,” Johnny said, struggling to free his arm.

Marcus hissed at him. “You little shit.” He pulled his arm back to punch Johnny, who raised his other arm up to protect his face.

Connor stepped forward and grabbed Marcus’s fist before it could connect. “I know you weren’t about to assault Johnny. That would not be advisable,” Connor said, squeezing Marcus’s fist until he heard several bones snap.

Marcus howled in pain and turned his rage-filled face to Connor. “Go flip some burgers and mind your own business. You’re just a short-order cook.” Marcus spat at Connor’s feet.

Grinning, Connor tightened his grip and several more bones cracked. “Short-order cook or janitor. My last name is Arkadion. I was born and raised to defend Arkadia and her people. So, no matter what, I will always outrank you, even if all I’m doing is flipping burgers. Now, head home like a good kitty, and as you’re letting that hand of yours heal, you really might want to rethink if Arkadia is still the right place for you to live.” Connor released Marcus’s hand.

Cursing under his breath, Marcus cradled his broken hand to his chest and hurried away.

Connor turned to Johnny. “You okay?” he asked.

“Thanks for the help. That guy has been getting worse lately, especially after he was humiliated by Prince Gabriel, when he chased him away from Ashby. I think he feels like he has to prove he’s a big strong man or something. Too bad he’s just coming across as an asshole.” Johnny rubbed his arm.

“Let’s get out of this weather,” he said and nodded toward the diner.

“Good idea. I was on my way there when the jerk-off waylaid me,” Johnny said, falling in step with Connor.

When they walked through the diner’s doors, Connor could smell that Ma had started the bread rising for lunch. Before he knew it, breakfast was over and they were in the middle of the lunchtime rush. He was serving up another bowl of his award-winning chili when Kate, Caleb, and Bran walked in.

“Caleb, hey man, glad you’re here. Can you give me a hand in the back real quick?” Connor asked, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

“Sure thing, be right there.” Caleb dropped a kiss on Kate’s head and walked with Connor to the back of the diner. Connor opened up the door to the large walk-in freezer and both men walked inside. Connor shut the door and turned to Caleb.

“What are we grabbing?” Caleb asked.

“I lied actually. I just wanted to get you back here where Kate and Bran couldn’t hear us,” Connor said.

Caleb tensed. “This can’t be good,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Just checking on you, man. Someone recently told me what kind of decisions you all were making when you didn’t think there was a cure to that virus. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” Connor watched Caleb’s face carefully. The man’s brows snapped together.

“That’s none of your damn business,” Caleb spat out.

Connor sighed. “Do you really think I got your hairy ass back here to be nosy? I know if it had been my mate dying from that virus, the kind of choices you all were facing would have fucked me up for a while,” Connor said honestly. Connor could tell the second the fight went out of Caleb, as the larger man’s frame relaxed and almost began to collapse in on itself.

“He was going to leave me. My Alpha was going to leave me to face their deaths alone and raise the twins. I would have lost them both.” Caleb turned to face the back of the freezer.

Shit, it’s worse than I thought.

“Have you talked to Bran about this?” Connor asked.

Caleb shook his head.

“No, after Kate recovered, it was like nothing had ever been wrong. I didn’t want to mess that up for him.”

“So, he put on a smiling face and acted like everything was okay?”

“I guess.”

“Kinda like what you’ve been doing?” Connor suggested and Caleb turned back to face him.

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