Page 16 of Daughter of Garnet

CHAPTER 9

Zoe

“Are you okay?” My voice is barely above a hiss. Some base part of me is worried that Cameron is following behind us, listening in.

Cliff rubs his neck again, but there isn’t a mark for him to soothe. It’s more like he’s feeling the ghost of the other man’s hand.

“Yeah. I could have knocked him off, but he caught me by surprise. What the fuck was that?”

Cameron is significantly smaller than Cliff, and I found it odd that he could move him around like a rag doll. If it weren’t such a dangerous, impulsive move, I might have found it attractive.

“I don’t know. We were talking about the Gods, and he seemed nice. He invited me to dinner. And then you showed up.”

“And he flipped out.” He exhales sharply, pulling me to the side of the Hub. Our hands are clasped, that warmth from the first time I touched him grounding me. People are filtering in and out of the building, but no one pays us any attention. “Zoe, that Alpha is dangerous. You probably shouldn't spend time with him, especially not alone.”

“He’s an Alpha?”

“You couldn’t tell?” I had faith in my ability to identify designations until now.

The man was slighter than I expected Alphas to be. He was delicate. What kind of beast could a man like that have? If anything, I would’ve pegged him as an Omega.

“No, I couldn’t. But I haven't met many Alphas."

“With a reaction like that, I'd wager that man does not have good control of his beast. I'd feel better if you avoided him."

Cameron did just hold Cliff to a wall by his throat. That doesn't inspire confidence in him being a safe person. I’m not trying to get torn apart by an Alpha without any control.

I don’t expect the question that falls from my lips. “Will you walk me home?” I’m not afraid, not exactly, but I also don’t want to get caught alone by the Alpha.

The Beta’s smile is shy as he ducks his head with a nod. I never would’ve expected someone as large as him, who looks so tough, to be shy.

“Yeah, sure. We’re going in the same direction.”

We walk without speaking, enjoying the mild evening. The sun has fallen below the horizon, but the sky is still full of the remnants of its descent. People walk lazily around us, in their own worlds as much as Cliff and I are in ours.

He's the first to break our comfortable silence. “How did you meet Warren?”

“Oh, we’ve known each other since we were babies. Our moms are best friends. We’ve done everything together our whole lives.” I shove my hands in my pockets to keep from wrapping my arm through Cliff’s. I want to touch him again, to feel the strange warmth run through my body, but I don't have a reason to, so I keep my hands to myself.

“So you’re together?”

The question doesn’t sound entirely innocent. There’s an edge to Cliff’s voice that I don’t quite understand.

“Why?”

I don’t know why I don’t tell him right away that we’re not. Maybe it’s because, in the back of my mind, I always assumed that Warren and I would end up together, so saying no feels like it's not the whole truth. But there is nothing happening between us now. There’s no rush between us. At this point, we're pretty much a forgone conclusion.

“Just… Are you?”

“No. We’ve never gone there with one another.” I stop walking and place my hand on Cliff’s chest, halting his stride. “Why?”

“I wasn't in the library because I'm working tonight. Warren asked me to give him the room.”

For a moment, there is a swirl of hurt in my chest. But I’m not allowed to feel that way. We’re not together. Nothing is stopping him from dating someone. Shit, I agreed to dinner with Cameron before we went off the rails.

But still.

This is the first time I’ve been told about his dalliances directly. When we were at university, it was a topic of conversation we'd avoid. It felt almost taboo to discuss.