Chapter 3
AUSTIN
I walk through the door to my office on the top floor and settle behind my desk in my grandfather’s leather chair. I stand as soon as the others join me and take their usual seats around the large meeting table in my office.
“We tracked down one of the participants in last month’s attack. Unfortunately, we lost him again. But we are fortunate to have a witness who saw him in his human form.” I inform them standing in front of them with my fists against the table.
“Where is this witness? We need to interview him to get as much information as possible,” says Garrett, my Gamma.
“I will personally handle the interrogation. She’s a human and she was shaken by what she saw.” I explain, cutting short any negotiation. It's out of the question for any of them to approach her.
“She’s Riley’s roommate so she’s under good escort.” Adds David.
“The hot waitress at Spotlight?” Garrett asks, a smirk on his face.
I land a huge punch on the table, cracking it. How dare he talk about her that way? He deserves to have his head ripped off.
“Don’t talk about her like that,” I growl in my alpha tone.
“Yes, alpha,” Garrett replies to me looking down.
I meet David’s amused gaze and have a sudden urge to punch him in the face to wipe that look off his fucking face.
“I’ll report back as soon as I know more. In the meantime, you keep looking for any clues. I want all the light to be shed on this attack and I want them all to pay. Understand?!"
“Yes, alpha.” They respond in unison, their voices filled with conviction.
Once the meeting is over, they all leave my office except for David, who sits in the chair opposite my desk. He just stands there, arms crossed with his fucking amused look on his face in silence.
“You’re not going to say anything, are you?” He asks.
“No, and you better not say anything to Riley,” I warn him.
“I won’t tell her anything but I think it’s a shame. She has a right to know, it’s her life too and the mark would protect her.”
He walks out, closing the door behind him leaving me alone with my dilemma. In other circumstances, I wouldn’t have hesitated, but I want to do the right thing and what that other wolf said to her is still on my mind. And after the fiasco with Rachel, I won’t risk putting my pack in danger. I need to get to the bottom of this other wolf and find out if he may be her mate. Which would be the strangest thing.
ARIA
Riley followed me around all day on Saturday, in the evening she sat at the counter with David all through my shift. She didn’t leave my side all weekend, I’m almost happy to go back to class on Monday morning and not have her around all day. She's as sticky as fucking gum stuck to the sole of my shoe. Normally I love to see her little blonde head but this is too much for me. We separate in front of the main building but she makes me promise to wait for her for lunch. When I walk into literature class, Gavin waves and I join him. He’s the second person I’ve talked to when I arrive, after Riley. He’s kind, very caring, attentive and he’s very cute. He has big green eyes, a dark complexion and wavy brown hair, I immediately found him adorable.
“Did you have a good weekend?” He asks me as I sit down next to him.
“Oh, you know my weekends come and go.” I pause. “I didn’t see you at the bar, not once.”
It shouldn’t be but it felt weird. Usually, he comes at least one night with his group of buddies, I’ve seen them all but him. I can't help feeling abandoned.
“My parents came to see me this weekend so I was stuck.” He pauses. “I mean, they’re paying for my education, I owe them that much.”
I sigh. Gavin’s father is the boss of a big publishing house in New York, he’s guaranteed a job when he graduates even though his father has a bit of a temper.
“Are you free one night in the week to watch a movie?” He asks me.
“Wednesday night I will work on the economics project with Sarah and Thursday night I agreed to work at the Spotlight. So tonight, if that’s okay.” I answer.
“Yours or mine?” he asks with a smile on his face.
“My place. Riley’s in a babysitting mode right now.”
He looks at me confused and I’m saved by the professor’s arrival. I don’t even know what I could give him as an explanation. I don’t even know what happened. The morning went by at a crazy speed, the three of us had lunch together and we agreed on the movie we were going to watch. Of course, David will be there. Those two have become inseparable. Fortunately, Gavin will also be there to keep me from holding the candle.
While David and Riley are making out on the couch, the door is ringing. Gavin is behind with pizzas and sweets. He enters and the two lovebirds take off from each other so that Riley can introduce them. When we’re all on the couch, David asks us what movie we’re going to watch.
“Goonies?” He asks, surprised.
“You got something against the Goonies?” Riley asks with frowning brows.
“No, I’ve never seen it.”
“Ever?” We ask him all three at the same time, our eyes wide.
He shakes his head looking sheepish.
“So it exists,” Gavin commented as he narrowed his eyes at David.
We start the movie and focus, finally stuffing our faces, especially David and Riley. I was always surprised at how much food she could ingest and never get fat. My dream...Before coming here, I used to train a lot with Cassius in Jiu-Jitsu but now I don’t have time to work out. I try to go running at least three times a week but I can’t make it every week. As David and Riley go back to cuddling, Gavin puts his arm around my shoulder and I settle in comfortably against him. I am grateful to have him in my life, everything is so easy with him. We hit it off right away and he’s really cute so we tried but it didn’t work out. It was too weird so we stayed friends and I think it’s cool that there’s no ambiguity between us.
At the end of the movie, Gavin left and Riley asked me if I was okay with David spending the night with her. I told her in all sincerity if they don’t keep me awake, I’m fine with it.