Page 14 of Stalked By the Alphas
As I slide the last book into place, the bell over the door chimes. I turn, plastering on a welcoming smile that falters when I see who it is.
Rob.
He stands awkwardly in the doorway, hands shoved in his pockets. “Hey, Hazel,” he says, voice low. “Can we talk?”
I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry. “I’m working,” I say, gesturing vaguely at the shelves around me.
He takes a step closer, and I catch a whiff of his scent - pine and musk.
“Please,” he says. “Just five minutes.”
I glance at Mrs Lewis, who is pointedly not looking in our direction. With a sigh, I nod towards the corner at the front of the shop. “Fine. Five minutes.”
Rob follows me, his tall frame looming over me. I cross my arms defensively, waiting for him to speak.
“There is something you should know,” he starts, running a hand through his blond hair, his head snapping to the side when the door opens. He relaxes slightly when a man walks in. I smile at the customer as he closes the door and starts poking around the bestsellers’ display.
“You need to know why I ended things,” Rob says, drawing my attention back to him.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “You made yourself pretty clear in that text, Rob.”
He winces. “I know, and I’m sorry about that. I didn’t really have much choice.”
“What?” I ask, losing interest in this conversation already as my eyes drift back to the alpha. He is good-looking, and he is looking at me with eyes that are so blue, they are hypnotic.
“Hazel?” Rob asks as he clearly sees my attention wandering.
“What? What do you want, Rob?” I snap, harsher than I meant to, as I look back at him and his weak attempt to make this right. He doesn’t even have the balls to tell me straight that I’m not good enough forhim, or whatever other excuse there is, ready to be told.
He glances over his shoulder through the window and swallows. When he looks back at me, he is panicked, cornered.
I step back, as that is the last look I want to see on an alpha’s face as if I’m trapping him or something. “You can leave, Rob. I’m not interested in whatever this is.”
“No, wait, Hazel. You don’t understand...” He reaches out, and his hand closes around my wrist.
“Get off me,” I grit out, yanking my arm back, but his grip only tightens. “Get your hands off her,” the alpha customer says, stalking over and shoving Rob in the chest. “You don’t treat women that way.”
“Butt out of this,” Rob growls, but he is out-alpha’d by the stranger and he knows it.
Rob’s jaw clenches as he eyes the newcomer, clearly weighing his options. The tension in the air is thick as I’m caught between the two alphas. Mrs Lewis is edging closer, brandishing a heavy cookbook that she looks like she wants to batter Rob with.
“This doesn’t concern you,” Rob says, his voice low and dangerous. But there’s an undercurrent of uncertainty, a flicker of fear in his eyes as he glances back at the window.
The stranger doesn’t back down. He steps closer, placing himself between Rob and me. “I think it does concern me when I see an alpha manhandling an omega who clearly doesn’t want his attention. Let her go before I make you.”
My breath catches in my throat, and the omega inside me purrs with longing.
Rob hesitates, but then he lets me go, his gaze darting between me and the stranger. “Hazel, please. You need to listen to me. You’re in?—“
“That’s enough,” the stranger cuts him off. “The lady asked you to leave.”
For a moment, I think Rob might argue further, but then the stranger grips him by his collar and hauls him through the shop and practically kicks him out onto the pavement.
Mrs Lewis and I share a look, but she is grinning like a Cheshire Cat. I roll my eyes as she shoos me towards the growly alpha customer and turns her back to pretend to keep looking at the cookbooks.
The alpha closes the door and turns back to me with a concerned expression. “Are you okay?”
I nod, dumbstruck by his eyes again. Then I remember my manners. “Yes. Yes, thank you. It wasn’t necessary, but I appreciate the assist.”
