Page 38 of Rejected Pregnant Mate

Except...part of me didn't want to forget. Hell, I couldn't forget. He was always on my mind, and Scott clearly didn't want to forget either. He looked at me with those dark eyes, like I was the only thing that mattered. He touched me like I was precious and always ensured I was comfortable and cared for.

He was at the shop less now that we were fully staffed, and I'd taken on somewhat of a leadership position, which made it even more inappropriate that I'd let Scott fuck me on the counter, but it was too late to go back now.

For the current shift, he was in the back doing inventory while I worked up front, and my heat was starting to ramp up again. I wasn't going to push him away like before, not when the relief he'd given me had been so amazing, but I still needed to keep my cool at work.

The memory of his touch, how his hands moved over me, how his breath felt against my skin—it haunted me. It was hard to escape and harder still to convince myself that everything was purely physical and that he hadn't made my stomach fill with butterflies when he worshipped my body like it was something spiritual.

It was just because of the heat, a minor, but necessary lapse in judgment. We were both just caught up in the moment. Nothing had changed. He was still Scott, the smoothand effective Alpha, and I was still Nayeli, the odd, sometimes awkward Omega. We weren't a good fit.

Even if it really felt like we were sometimes.

I kept my focus on work, steaming milk, and taking orders with a smile on my face. I wasn't going to let him get to me. My heat would be back full force soon, but until then, I was going to work on my spells more. With Scott's blessing, I'd moved a lot of my magic gear into the guest room I'd been using. The space was slowly but surely becoming more my own, and I hated to admit that it felt like home more often than not.

My mind was still full of Scott when I heard raised voices and looked up from the espresso machine, scanning the room.

I spotted the source quickly enough. I still hadn't spent much time with the Shadowbay pack, but Scott was constantly introducing me to people and reminding me of names wherever we went. I recognized these two well enough.

The male wolf was Mike, a tall, bald wolf who always seemed standoffish. The woman was Rhie Watson, a fellow Omega, who Scott informed me was a new addition to the pack. There was some dark history with her family, which made her a bit of an outcast, but she'd kept her head down and been unproblematic so far.

Right now, she was standing against the wall with her hands clasped in front of her and her head lowered. Mike had her cornered, his arms crossed as he leaned towards her. From what I could tell, he was yelling at her, but their voices were too low to make out over the background noise of the cafe.

Rhie looked like she'd drawn in on herself, her eyes on the ground, and it sparked something inside of me. I'd stood like that before when I wanted to go unnoticed. I knew exactly what being an outcast in a pack felt like.

I'd never approached anyone in the pack normally, my social anxiety making it feel like a nightmare, but all of that burned away when I saw Mike pointing his finger at Rhie, and how scared she looked.

"Hey!" I yelled. I slammed my palms down on the counter, making the espresso machine jolt. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Heads turned, people looking over at the commotion. My face flushed, but I wasn't going to let Mike get away with whatever he was doing.

Mike shot me a glare, then looked back at Rhie. "None of your business, Omega. Run along."

I stomped around the counter. "Actually, it is my business. You're harassing one of our packmates, and I'm not going to stand by while you bully her."

Rhie stared at me in awe.

Mike crossed his arms and glared at me. "What are you going to do about it?"

Confronting someone was uncomfortable enough for me, but the idea of pulling rank made my hands feel numb. As an Omega, I was usually at the bottom of the pack, but as the Alpha's wife? I had a little more pull, and Mike knew it. He was testing me.

I straightened my back and met his eyes head-on. "I'm going to tell you to get the hell out of my shop."

"Your shop?" he sneered.

"My husband, your Alpha, owns it, doesn't he?" I got closer, until I was between him and Rhie. "So that makes it mine."

"Everyone knows Scott just married you as a favor to Samson," he laughed, but my words had made him take a step back at least.

That stung, but I didn't let it show. "That doesn't make it any less valid. Get. Out."

His lip curled, and he snarled, "Fine."

With that, he stormed out. He didn't have the guts to put up a real fight, and I was glad. If I'd had to fight him, I would have needed my magic to win, and Scott would have been pissed. I'd already made a scene in his store, but at least it ended peacefully.

I sighed and turned around, seeing Rhie still pressed against the wall, her mouth hanging open. She clearly hadn't expected anyone to stand up for her, especially not another Omega.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded, staring at me. "How did you do that?"

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