Getting Close to the Omega (5 page)

little smile and got out of the SUV. Matthew followed, and the

two men walked over to the art store.

“Dean, how nice to see you. It’s been ages.” A pretty young

man with a huge smile splitting his face, greeted Dean warmly,

before casting a wary eye over Matthew.

“Hi Ben,” Dean said. “Yes I’ve been busy and haven’t been in

town much. Did you get that paper I ordered?”

“Yes, sure sweetie,” Ben said. “Anything for you, you know

that.” Matthew was fascinated with Dean’s blush, but he wasn’t

keen on Ben’s overly friendly manner. He moved closer to

Dean as Ben kept on chatting.

“Yeah, what’s up with the shop, man? See your boss has got a

sign on the door. You guys having some problems?”

“No, nothing like that,” Dean said looking over a rack of

pencils. To Matthew they all looked the same, but Dean was

picking out different ones, so they must have some significance

for him. “The boss, he just needed a vacation and doesn’t trust

the rest of us to do the work without him.”

Dean seemed pleased that Ben laughed, but Matthew wasn’t

pleased that Ben had moved closer and even bumped

shoulders with his young mate. Suppressing his growl Matthew

leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms across his chest,

knowing the deliberate move emphasized his broad chest

muscles, and huge biceps. Ben threw him a quick look as he

moved, and then audibly swallowed as he took in just how big

Matthew was. Matthew wasn’t into scaring little humans but he

wasn’t going to let anyone near his mate either.

As the two men went over to the counter to ring up the sale,

Matthew heard Ben whisper, “Who’s the bodyguard Dean? You

sure you’re not in any trouble?”

Dean looked over at Matthew and Matthew saw Dean’s throat

work, and the smell of arousal hit the air. Yep, the attraction

factor was still burning hot. “…Kane’s cousin,” he heard Dean

whisper back. “House sitting while the boss is away.”

“So how long until you’re back at work,” Ben asked. “Kinda

miss seeing you around.”

Dean shrugged and looked over at Matthew. “It’s up to the

boss, and you know how he is.”

The answer seemed to pacify Ben who just laughed again.

Dean gathered up his purchases and waved goodbye, before

heading out of the store. Matthew couldn’t resist giving Ben

one last glare before following Dean. Even in baggy pants,

Dean’s walk was quite enchanting. He didn’t stride like so

many bigger men did, but rather he glided along with a grace

that Matthew was so damn attracted to. What made it all the

more appealing was that Dean clearly wasn’t aware of just how

attractive he was, although Ben clearly knew and was trying to

cash in on it. Matthew growled under his breath at the thought.

The two men crossed the road and Matthew held the door open

for Dean as they headed into the diner. At the counter was a

blond woman in her mid-30s with a friendly smile on her face.

“Hi Dean, who’s your friend?” Dean smiled back, the first

genuine smile that Matthew had seen. He barely held back a

small gasp. His mate was truly beautiful with his face all lit up

like it was in that moment. Vaguely he heard Dean introduce

him as Kane’s cousin, giving the woman the same story as he

had given Ben.

“Any cousin of Kane’s is welcome, although how you boys all

get so big is beyond me,” Trisha said with a ready smile. “You

boys take a seat and I’ll come over and take your order in a

minute.”

Smiling to her, Dean lead them to a booth at the back of the

diner. Looking around Matthew could see the place had a rustic

charm – kinda like the soda jerk places from the mid-1970s.

But the floor and tables were scrupulously clean and the smell

of good food wafted around the room. Matthew’s stomach

rumbled and he remembered he hadn’t had anything to eat

since breakfast. Hopefully the food tasted as good as it

smelled.

“So what’s good here?” Matthew asked, hoping to ease Dean’s

nerves with some small talk. He had his mate, sitting with him

at a table, and for all intents and purposes they were on their

own. He needed to take advantage of the opportunity while he

had it.

Dean looked surprised that someone wanted his opinion, but

he thought for a moment and then said, “Well if you like

chicken, that is really good. Fried, with mashed potatoes and

gravy. Or Trish does a great beef stew which comes with

homemade bread. Or you can get the all-day breakfast, which

is what I’m having. That comes with bacon, eggs, sausages,

mushrooms and tomatoes. If you’re hungry, it pays to order a

double portion.”

Matthew smiled his thanks and noted how Dean’s eyes glowed

when he did so. That had to be a good sign.

/~/~/~/~/

Dean was nervous but he couldn’t deny that he also felt

unbelievably happy. He was doing something normal. Sitting

in a diner, waiting for his meal. Considering he hadn’t eaten

anything in three days except some protein bars he had in his

room, Dean was more than keen for some real food. But the

lure of the decent breakfast Dean knew was coming his way

wasn’t why he felt so good. He was sitting with his mate,

doing something completely ordinary like having this meal, and

he wasn’t freaking out!

While Matthew was placing their order, Dean surreptitiously

checked him out. Matthew was beyond good looking and Dean

had known that from day one. But what Dean had suddenly

fallen for, was that wonderful smile that made Matthew’s face

come alive when he did it. Even though Matthew was bigger

than Kane, he seemed really gentle and more importantly for

Dean, he didn’t have the overbearing ‘you must do as I say’

attitude that Dean had found with other Alpha’s before he

joined the Cloverleah pack. Despite his reservations, Dean

started to relax.

The feeling improved as the meal went on. Matthew chatted a

bit about his interactions with the San Antonio pack and how

he had often challenged Damien for his Alpha status. Dean had

heard about what had happened the last time Damien had held

one of the challenges. A rogue pack member had taken Scott

hostage with a gun while Damien was in the middle of fighting

somebody. If the challenger hadn’t yielded when he did then

Damien would have lost his pack, because nothing was going

to stop him from getting to his mate. Dean was surprised to

learn that it was Matthew who Damien had been fighting at the

time.

“If you wanted the pack, then why did you yield?” He asked,

curious to learn more about how his mate thought about his

Alpha status.

“I didn’t really want the pack,” Matthew said and Dean couldn’t

smell any deceit on the man.

“But you said yourself you challenged Damien heaps of times.

Why do it…” Dean trailed off, not sure if that was a sensitive

question. Fortunately Matthew didn’t seem to think anything

was wrong.

“I like Damien. I liked the pack there. But for me it was too

big after being on my own for so long. I challenged Damien

because I enjoyed the workout. I’m friends with both Damien

and Scott and it was Scott that told me about you guys. So

now I owe him another favor.” Matthew gave another one of

his sinful smiles and Dean felt his nervousness melt just that

little bit more.

“So what about you, Dean? Would you mind telling me a bit

about what you do here in Cloverleah? That guy from the art

shop said something about you working in a shop?” Matthew

asked.

“It’s actually a workshop,” Dean explained. “Custom Rides.

Kane owns it and we all work there in one way or another. I

do the custom paint jobs, and pretty much anything needed to

make the cars and bikes look good.”

“Wow, you must be seriously talented if you are working on

cars and bikes.” Matthew sounded impressed and Dean blushed

at the praise. Inside, his little wolf was doing a happy dance

that their mate might be pleased at something he could do.

“I really like art,” he found himself saying. “Although the

customers give me an idea of what they are looking for, I’m

the one who brings that thought to life and I enjoy the whole

process.”

“So you have control over the final image?”

“Well, I’m not allowed to go too crazy,” Dean admitted. “Some

of the cars I work on are worth tens of thousands of dollars. I

can’t run amuck on any of them. But yes, I do have control on

how the finished project will look.”

Matthew nodded, still apparently impressed. Dean realized he

had actually talked a bit too much and his food was getting

cold. He was chewing a mouthful of succulent bacon when

Matthew asked, “And what about the art you do at home. Kane

mentioned that you did art at home as well – to the point of

not eating, I noticed.”

Dean flushed a deep red then. He knew from seeing the way

his pack mates were with their partners, that not looking after

yourself was not a good thing. The fact that Matthew noticed

he hadn’t been down for food, wasn’t something Dean had

even thought about at the time. He just didn’t want anyone in

the pack to ask him what was going on in his head, so he

stayed out of everyone’s way.

“I had some protein bars in my room,” he said a little

defensively. He didn’t want his mate to think that he was an

idiot. Matthew gave him a knowing look, but said, “So tell me

what you have been working on.”

Feeling relieved that Matthew wasn’t going to push the food

issue, Dean happily told Matthew about some of the designs he

had been working on to go in his portfolio at the shop. Kane

kept all of his designs in a big folder that customers could look

through when they wanted to get ideas of their own. Dean was

really proud of his work and he felt comfortable talking about

his greatest love. To his surprise the food went down quickly

and by the time he had finished talking, Matthew was getting

out his wallet to pay for their meal.

Feeling embarrassed at having monopolized the conversation,

Dean stood up and pulled out his wallet as well. “Put it away,

please,” Matthew said softly. “I’d like to treat you to lunch.”

Dean’s first instinct was to refuse, but Matthew wasn’t ordering

him, or using his Alpha power or anything. He seemed to

genuinely want to pay for Dean’s meal, so giving him a small

smile, Dean slipped his wallet back into his jeans and said

instead, “I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Pleased to see Matthew’s dazzling smile, Dean waved to Trisha

at the counter and headed out onto the street. The day was

warm and sunny so instead of getting into the vehicle, Dean

rested against the hood or the SUV and enjoyed the sun on his

face. After three days in his room his wolf let him know that

he needed a run, and Dean thought about suggesting if

Matthew would like to run with him when they got home.

Caught up in his thoughts, Dean didn’t register another vehicle

pulling up beside his. It wasn’t until he felt big arms wrap

around his chest that he started to struggle, but then he felt a

sharp prick in his neck, and the world went black.

/~/~/~/~/

Matthew had been at the counter listening to Trisha blabbing

on something about how she appreciated the business from

Kane and his men. Given that he was a newcomer and wanted

to become a local in the area, he was trying to be polite and

listen to her, when all he really wanted was to get back to

Dean. He glanced up and through the diner window saw Dean

was resting against the hood of the SUV, his head tilted up and

his eyes closed. Smiling at the image, Matthew turned back to

Trisha and handed her the money she asked for. He was just

waiting for his change when he saw a big scruffy looking

individual leap out of a vehicle, grab Dean in one arm and

inject some substance into Dean’s neck with the other.

Before he had even finished processing what he saw, Matthew

yelled, “Keep it,” to Trisha before belting out the door. He was