“Excellent,” Daegan said with a wolfish grin. “Maybe it’s time to finally claim our beautiful mate.”
“Or,” Isaac said with what he hoped was the right amount of enthusiasm, “we could head home and take care of business while Xavier spends some time with Andrea.”
Daegan didn’t look happy, but thankfully after a rushed telepathic explanation understood why Isaac was making the offer. Xavier looked surprised by the words, but didn’t say anything.
“You’re leaving?” Andrea asked, sounding a little lost.
“Only for a few days,” he assured her. “We’ll be back before Xavier needs to leave.”
She glanced at Xavier, then at Daegan, and then turned her gaze on Isaac. She looked like she was going to be belligerent, but then her determined expression faltered. Andrea dropped her head into her hands. “Shit, I don’t even know what you two do for a living,” she said through her fingers.
“We design computer games,” Isaac told her as he pulled her into his arms. He could feel her genuine distress over not having asked them earlier and wanted to assure her that they hadn’t minded. Their lives would change a little now that they’d found their mate, but it was nothing compared to the impact becoming a werewolf was having on hers.
“Games? You’re computer geeks?” She asked the question with such genuine confusion that he couldn’t help but laugh.
“I suppose we are,” Daegan agreed as he also wrapped his arms around her.
“I dated a couple of geeks in high school, and they didn’t look anything like you two.” She ran her hand over Isaac’s abdomen, and he laughed as he realized what she’d meant. The sheer number of hours they spent sitting at a desk would certainly have affected their physiques if they hadn’t already been werewolves. They still made time to stay in shape, but their werewolf DNA made it a whole lot easier.
“We’ll be back Wednesday lunchtime,” Isaac promised as he held her close and tried not to think about how hard the next few days would be. He glanced at the stunned expression on Xavier’s face and knew that their leaving was necessary. Andrea and Xavier needed to spend some time together, and it would do Xavier good to realize how much Andrea cared for, and was respected by, the people in this small town.
* * * *
Xavier watched his woman work. All day she’d alternated between helping her customers and creating or repairing jewelry, and it was becoming quite obvious why the fates had chosen her to be an alpha’s mate.
She knew people. She was quiet and sensible with old Mrs. Keaton, loud and boisterous with Mr. Jackson from the hardware store, and knew exactly how to handle Jonathon Yates’s rude manners. Quite simply she knew people—how to treat them, when to say what was on her mind, and when to back away. He had no doubt that she’d handled the robbers who’d almost killed her with the same amount of skill.
He’d almost leapt the counter when some guy named Jed came in to let her know that he’d joined AA and wanted to apologize for trying to rob her the other day. But his woman had even known how to handle him. She’d sent a single word to Xavier’s mind—“Stay”—but had put just the right amount of humor into it that he’d hesitated long enough to realize the guy was genuinely remorseful and truly had no idea he’d actually nearly killed her. He’d even had tears in his eyes as he’d explained how relieved he was that the drunken memory he had of shooting her had been wrong.
Andrea had been kind but firm. She’d encouraged him to give up the alcohol, congratulated him on his progress so far, and explained what would have happened to him in prison if he’d “really” had a gun. Xavier shook his head in wonder. He couldn’t imagine anyone brave enough to drink after being given a talk like that.
“You’re not Daegan,” an elderly woman accused as she moved closer to the counter. “Where’s Daegan?”
“He had to go home for a while, ma’am. He should be back in a few days.”
“That’s good,” the old woman said as she assessed Xavier from head to toe. “Who are you?”
A little astounded to be spoken to so bluntly, Xavier glanced around the shop. Maybe being the alpha really did shield him from some people’s behavior. Nobody in the pack would have the audacity to speak to him in this way. He spotted Andrea, but she was busy with a young couple wanting to buy wedding rings, so he really didn’t have a way out of this conversation. “I’m Xavier. Daegan’s brother.”
“So he left you to look after her?”