Page 226 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
It was as if Lance had just appeared next to me. I stepped to the side and eyed him. He wore the kind of smile a person reserved for someone they hadn’t seen in a long time. I wasn’t sure what that smile meant, but I didn’t return it.
The first time I ever saw Lance, he was hanging out with Troy, his pale eyes staring dispassionately forward. I’d never known him to smile or laugh or have a kind word for anyone. Why was he here if he was so close to Troy? Was he keeping tabs on us? After what happened with Evan, we couldn’t be too careful.
“Yes, actually.” I pointed to a chestnut-brown bracelet and a cranberry-red one. Both bracelets had brass clasps to keep them securely closed around the wrist.
Lance started to respond, but the shopkeeper returned at that very moment.
“You have a good eye, Alpha. I’ll give you a good price for the pair of them.”
“How much?”
“Forty-five dollars.”
I reached for my purse. My mother would be disappointed that I wasn’t haggling over the price, but I wasn’t in the mood for it. Besides, Lance was standing right next to me, and I didn’t want to try talking down the price with him watching me so closely.
I went to give the money to the merchant when Lance’s hand covered mine.
“Hold on there, Alpha,” he said. “I happen to understand the work that goes into bracelets like these. He’s taking advantage of you by asking for anything more than thirty.”
Both the merchant and I looked at Lance in surprise. The transaction was almost complete. Why was he stepping in for me?
“I can assure you,” the merchant began slowly, “that my daughter put everything into making these bracelets. How can you put such a low price on her hard work?”
Lance smirked, amusement twinkling in his eye. “Oh, really? Then why was Charline selling them to her friends for fifteen dollars each? Wouldn’t she know the value of her own work?”
“Charline—what?” The mention of his daughter’s name seemed to throw the merchant off. But he recovered quickly. “Well, regardless, what passes between friends is different from what happens in real commerce. I’m sure Alpha Hunter and I can settle for paying forty dollars for the bracelets.”
“Mmm.” Lance pretended to consider the offer. “No. I still think thirty is more than enough for two.”
“Thirty-five.”
“Nope. Thirty, or we walk.”
I didn’t remember agreeing to walk away from the sale. I really wanted those bracelets, but honestly, this negotiation was a little entertaining. What would the merchant do next?
He gritted his teeth, his face reddening the longer this went on. I hadn’t noticed until that moment, but a small crowd had formed behind us. I should have expected as much—Lance was handsome and a rare sight around the compound. That mystery kept people curious about him.
“Fine,” the merchant said. “Thirty it is.”
“Excellent! I knew we could come to a reasonable agreement.”
I handed over the haggled-down amount, and the merchant gave me the bracelets in a paper bag, which I slipped into my purse.
“That was…kind of you.” I didn’t even try to mask my confusion. One of Troy’s people helping someone out? That didn’t sound right—unless he had some kind of vendetta against that merchant.
Or maybe he had a greater plan in mind.
“Hardly,” he scoffed. “I’m just having some fun. Maybe next time, you’ll do the bargaining yourself.”
“Um, yeah, maybe.”
He raised his hand by way of goodbye. “I’ll be seeing you, Alpha.”
“Sure. Bye.”
He went in the opposite direction to the alpha cabin. That had been a bizarre interaction, to say the least. He didn’t make me feel unsafe, but he seemed to be testing me or trying to figure meout. I also had the strangest feeling that he and I were supposed to meet when we did. I wondered if the spirits were trying to give me a warning about him.
“Hey, Bryn!”
