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Chapter 5

Asya

But I have to admit that Owen looks calm and polite despite the grumpy frown on his face that makes him look like someone has stolen his ice cream. He talks to Rorie in a low voice, and her original wariness quickly turns into confusion. She eases out of her tension, and after a few nods and surprised glances, I can see her calling someone. Not hard to guess whom.

I purse my lips and huff to myself, taking dirty dishes from the first booth into the kitchen. I can't believe Rorie trusts them so easily. Maybe I should give her a proper lecture afterward.

When I turn around again, I catch Carter waving his hand at me, and I smile and walk over. "Are you ready?"

"Just for a moment, yeah. I want, uh, I want you to meet someone," Rorie says awkwardly into the phone from where she's standing next to Owen. I perk up, listening to her carefully. In the meantime, Carter points at the menu.

"Coke and BBQ burger for me, Detroit pizza and juice for him." He nods at Gray.

"Apple, orange, something else?"

"Apple."

"Got it." I nod, note the order down, and after a moment of reluctance, turn to Owen. "What about you?"

He meets my gaze again and I can feel the corners of my lips turning down while the look in his eyes immediately turns colder. Well, good to know it's mutual.

"Carter, what did you get?" Owen turns to his brother and I can see that he’s ignoring me on purpose.

"Burger and Coke."

"Same thing for me," he drops, barely talking to me, and I scoff quietly but nod before turning to Carter as well.

"Okay. Your order will be ready in a few minutes."

I take my notes to the kitchen, repeating everything for Sam through the opening, and go to prepare the drinks. A minute later, Rorie joins me—her break time was over some ten minutes ago—and goes back to work, greeting a new customer. She looks a little off, but when I catch her gaze with a silent question Rorie only shakes her head with a tight smile and looks away. Not reassuring, but okay.

Their order is almost ready when the door opens again and Abel walks in, looking just as confused as I am. He probably came straight from work, what with the stains of dust on his t-shirt and big gloves in his hands. As soon as Abel steps in his eyes focus on Rorie by the kitchen window and he heads straight to her, but—

"There he is. Abel!"

It's almost funny to see Abel freeze in his tracks. He's usually relaxed and keeps his emotions to himself, so I've never seen him so surprised. He looks at Rorie—who has already turned to look at him anxiously—takes a deep inhale, and turns around with wide eyes.

"Owen?"

"Good to know you still remember me." Owen walks over with a wide grin that looks barely genuine and pats his shoulder. "Long time no see, huh?"

"Yeah," Abel mutters, too shocked to react properly, and looks behind his back at the other two. "Gray? Carter?"

"Surprise!" Carter grins, cheerfully and way more openly than his brother, and jumps up to pull Abel into a quick hug. "You didn't expect us, did you?"

Gray only nods in greeting but gets up to shake Abel’s hand too.

"No, no, of course not." The original shock starts to wear off and Abel finally grins, following Owen back to the booth. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to visit you! Aren't we allowed?"

Their voices get too low to distinguish behind the drum of music, and I only exchange glances with Rorie before going back to work. Well, it looks like they’re brothers, and Abel may even be one of them. He’s mentioned a big family before, but three brothers? I shake my head. Yeah, no wonder he sometimes tenses up without a reason.

I can't hear their conversation over the next few minutes until their order is ready. I take it to the fourth booth, pretending to not be curious, and only catch a hint of

Owen’s voice. "So, how does it feel like…"

But they all fall silent as soon as I step closer. Carter thanks me in a hurry and immediately digs into his portion while everyone else remains quiet.

"Enjoy your meal," I say with an automatic smile, unloading the trays. "Abel, anything for you?"

"No thanks, I can't stay for long."

"I have to talk to you," Owen says suddenly and gives

Abel a more serious look. "Today."

"Let's go now then," Abel shrugs, although his look toward Owen turns more serious too. "I have work to finish."

They get up and move to leave the booth—past me because I still have to gather the trays into a stack. Abel walks away without a hint of cautiousness, but when Owen moves close enough to step into my personal space, I tense up. He lingers too, and for a second we just stand there, way closer than I would like to, until I look up at him. Damn, he may be a douchebag but his eyes are too pretty to be true.

"Would you like to order something?" I look him in the eyes and straighten up, to make up for the ten inches difference in our height. It barely changes anything, except for a wave of heat that runs through my body, but I'm pleased to see how he tenses up in response.

"No."

"Good."

I nod and walk away, frustration prickling on my skin. Yeah, no, I don't care if he is hot as hell and Abel's brother at that, I want him out of the diner, Raywald, and my sight.

Owen

What's wrong with her?

I stare after Asya with a frown, feeling my wolf spirit grow restless with confusion and displeasure. My blood is still running hot and fast from the agitation—neither I nor my wolf likes strangers in our personal space.

So first, Asya wants me to be all sweet and courteous after a whole day on the road even though I've never seen her before in my life. What if she's one of the local wolves? Sorry, but I'm not the type of person to fall for someone at first glance. Or ever, for that matter.

Second, she keeps looking at me with such cold annoyance like I have personally offended her and her family. What am I supposed to do, take it as a compliment? Of course, I'm gonna return Asya's glares, she annoys me quite a bit too.

And finally, instead of moving out of my way like any tactful person would do, Asya acts all tough and ready to fight. I saw the glimmer of challenge in her blue eyes, her shoulders tensing up—and that was enough to make my wolf's instincts ring in alarm. Honestly, if she was a man, I have no idea where it could end.

So again, what's wrong with her?

The wolf in my chest raises its voice with a grumble bubbling in my throat, a low noise growing under my breath. It's still too quiet to be heard by any human—but Carter and

Gray pick it up. Carter only raises his head in surprise while Grayson clears his throat, attracting my attention, and points at the door.

Right, Abel. I didn't come here to argue with pretty waitresses, after all.

"Looks like you have funny company here," I can't help a sarcastic comment as I close the door of the diner behind me and walk toward Abel.

He’s waiting for me on one of the benches that line the parking lot on the right. They're facing the highway that skims past Raywald, only lingering by Till Dawn before disappearing into the woods leading between the two mountains. The road is flat and straight, but on the other side of it the land slopes down again; the trees are more scattered there and I can see the sunset piercing through the crown as I sit down next to Abel.

"Yeah, it's nice here," he says with a shrug and glances at the diner. "I'm almost used to it."

The sarcastic undertone clearly went past him, but I let it be. If Abel doesn't have any problems with Asya and the likes of her, good for him, so I just smirk and nudge him a little. "Used to having a mate?"

Abel chuckles, but the smile lingers as he nods. "Yeah, that one too."

For a moment I just let myself think about it, looking mindlessly at the trees across the road and the birds getting ready for sleep. So, little Abel who I used to patch up after every full moon really does have a mate now. Even when I heard it for the first time, it didn't feel as ground-shifting as now, when I can see it all with my own eyes and smell the light shade of Rorie's scent on him even from such a distance.

"How is it?" I ask after a moment of thoughtful silence, still staring at a couple of starlings jumping around their nest.

"What?"

"Having a mate."

Abel hums and says nothing for long enough to make me look at him—and when I do, I see the small smile on his face. He's staring at the ground under our feet, but his eyes are unfocused and the expression on his face is almost dreamy. Abel can feel my eyes on him though, so he looks up and catches my gaze.

"It's good," he says with a shrug, and something in the simplicity of his statement makes me laugh. Abel laughs too, although he sounds happier than me, his voice still giddy when he continues, "But I mean it. I've never felt as

good as when I'm with Rorie. It's like we’re our own pack, you know?"

I don't know, but I can imagine, especially now. Especially when I'm ready to start a pack of my own. The thought makes my smile falter as I search through my mind for a good word to push the conversation the right way. There are so many questions I wanted to ask Abel— questions about Raywald, the local pack, and his own plans for the future—but now, I don't know where to start.

"Is that why you're here?" he asks all of a sudden after the silence stretches for too long. "To start your own pack?"

I can't help but chuckle and turn to him. So it's quite easy to change the topic, after all. "Is it that obvious?"

"For years, you argue with the Elders about our life as a pack, and then you come to a small, remote town with two younger packmates? Yes, it is pretty obvious." Abel raises his eyebrows, and yeah okay, when he puts it that way it does sound crystal clear. He looks at me for a beat of silence before asking in a lower voice, "Have you really left the pack?"

"Yes." I shrug. What else can I say? But Abel doesn't respond, looking at me as if waiting for a better explanation, and I guess I owe him one. So I take a breath and get up to walk around for a moment in search of better words.

"Is it so bad living here? Being with people?" I look at Abel before looking away, staring at the asphalt with a frown, thinking of the family I've left behind. "The world is changing—but we keep living like we did two hundred, five hundred years ago. My Dad agreed to buy a phone only last year, can you imagine? I know wolves have to stick together, but it doesn't have to involve living like outcasts on the edge of the world."

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