THE ALPHA'S DEBT

Luna

The idiot just stared at me, blinking.

“What?” he asked, a weird smile overtaking that ridiculously handsome face I’d dreamed about every damn night since he’d “died.”

To my abject horror, tears of frustration burned behind my eyelids.

Oh, no. No way. I’m not shedding one more goddamn tear over this. No.

But the throb of the golden arch over his heart was impossible to ignore in Leo’s presence, our mate bond unmistakable, even after all this time. He wasn’t dead, and I was elated—and simultaneously horrified.

“What. Are. You. Doing. Here?” I asked again, this time through clenched teeth, enunciating every word deliberately.

“Am I in your way?” he drawled cockily without a hint of shame.

Dumbfounded, I gaped at him for a second. He looked so different than the last time I’d seen him and yet the same. Like me, he hadn’t aged a day in two centuries, his light sepia skin smooth but for the scruff that indicated a few days of travel.

The green of his eyes pierced into my soul, bringing me back to a thousand memories I had no interest in reliving in that backwoods bar—or anywhere else. But there was a certain emptiness in his gaze that I didn’t recognize as if the Leo I had once known was no longer in there.

“A-are you playing coy with me?” I sputtered.

His grin faded, a slight perplexity overcoming him.

“Do you want me to?”

I suddenly became aware of all the eyes on us, and I grabbed his arm and moved him toward a nearby table.

“I would have arranged for a more romantic first date,” he told me slyly, and I again stared at him, wondering what the hell was wrong with him.

“Is this funny to you?” I rasped, sliding into a chair.

He leaned forward, unperturbed by my mounting agitation, which only infuriated me more.

“Not particularly,” he replied slowly. “But the way your lower lip drops into a pout is extremely sexy.”

Drawing in a breath, I sat back in my chair, shaking slightly.

“What’s your name?” Leo asked.

I gasped aloud, the question stabbing me directly in the lungs. Of all the things he could have said, I couldn’t have imagined a more hurtful query.

“What?” I choked in disbelief.

“Your name. You have one, don’t you?” he pressed, leaning forward to extend his long hands toward me. I found myself transfixed on his fingers, ageless and fine, exactly as they’d always been.

A mishmash of conflicting emotions warbled through me as I tried to make sense of what was happening.

“Stop it!” I growled, eying the neighboring tables. Did they recognize him? No, of course, they couldn’t—could they? Leo hadn’t been in Nampa City for generations, but some of them might be old enough to remember.

“Stop what?” he laughed. “You’re the one who brought me to the table.”

Is he joking? Is he acting?

But when I stared at him, I could see that he was genuinely looking at me like we had never met before. Humiliation burned at my cheeks, and my tears burned up as my hands closed into tight fists.

“Are you drunk?”

“Not yet,” Leo replied. “But now that I have such beautiful company, I could go for another beer.” He winked. “But only if you tell me your name.”

I shook my head—hard like I was trying to shake sense into myself. No, this had to be some kind of act. He was trying to pretend like nothing happened as he could just walk back into my life after having me believe that he was dead and yet, as he stared at me, I saw no recognition.

“Hello?” Leo pressed. “Is that a yes to the drink?”

I jumped to my feet, shaking angrily. I wasn’t going to let him break my heart again. He had rejected me once and left me to fend for myself.

I wasn’t about to let him do it again, especially not when Leo was pretending he didn’t even know who I was.

“Where are you going?”

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll go back to wherever you’ve been hiding and stay there,” I hissed, glowering at him.

Oh, but it was hard, so hard to glare at him when all I wanted to do was throw my arms around him and sob into his shoulder.

“Hey!” he protested as I spun around.

I still had to make my last drop of stow at the back of the restaurant, but all I wanted to do was run as far and fast as I could. I didn’t respond to his call, but he yelled out louder, forcing me to acknowledge him before he caused too much of a scene.

“What?” I barked.

“Why is everyone so hostile around here?” he demanded, losing the flirtatious act, a deep expression of annoyance overtaking him. “What is this place?”

I didn’t even know how to respond.

He’s determined to keep up with this babe in the woods routine, huh?

Scoffing, I whirled around again and headed into the back, fighting to regain my composure. Why now? What could he possibly want after all this time?

Two hundred years was a long time to keep a low profile, and what if Orson finds out that my mate had returned from the dead… He is definitely going to feel threatened as he will not like to relinquish Leo's estate to him.

I shuddered and swallowed, trying my best to forget what I’d just seen. Maybe he had just come back for me, and he’d take a hint now and go home.

But I didn’t believe that for a second.

Trouble was brewing in Nampa City, and I had a terrible feeling that I was going to be caught up in the middle of it.