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His mate stared at him like he’d grown a second head. Finally Tabby gulped. “Is that Bunsun with an ‘e’ or a ‘u’?”
He smiled. He was surprised. She didn’t look like someone who would have dealings with corporate landscaping. Maybe she had a relative working for him?
They had branches all over the United States, and he’d pegged her accent as Deep South right from the begi
“Holy hell.” Tabby sat back and stared at him. “I thought your name sounded familiar.”
Bu
He put his hand down. He’d been thinking about this for a while. “And not even that right now. I’ve decided I don’t want to do corporate anymore. I want to start working residential.”
Tabby stared at Bu
“I’m surprised you’ve heard of us.” Most people not in the business didn’t even know who Bunsun Exteriors were. From the sound of her accent, she had to know his name from someplace other than their Oregon branch. They had some southeastern branches, but they were small. His father was looking at expanding further up the east coast, but it was going to take time.
Tabby’s face closed up tight. “I have an uncle who works for your company.”
Bingo. From her southern accent, she had to be from Georgia, or one of the Carolinas. Maybe Te
She blew her bangs out of her eyes. “Guess you should know. I’m Outcast.”
Bu
She bit her lip, that small hint of vulnerability waking every protective instinct Bu
She shrugged. “Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. I liked to dye my hair different colors, I had some trouble in school, and I had a tattoo.”
She had a tattoo? He couldn’t find one on her arms, legs or shoulders. He’d definitely have to explore that later.
“But I never broke anything that belonged to someone else,” she continued, “I never hurt anybody who didn’t throw a punch first, and I never stole anything.”
The fierce way she said that last had Bu
She winced. “Yes.”
Bu
Her eyes went wide. “You believe me?”
“Yes.”
Her hands covered her mouth, those brown eyes of hers filling with tears. “Oh, God. How can you believe me? You don’t even know me.”
Bu
She was his mate. He’d tell her the sky was orange if it would make her smile.
“Tell me what happened.” Maybe he could find out what had happened and clear her name for her.
Tabby took a sip of her water. Her hand was visibly shaking. “Um, I was seeing Micah, like I said. Well, he asked me to come over to his house when his parents were out. I did, and we wound up in his room. His parents came home before we got too far, though, so I tried to sneak out of the house. Of course, the Alpha caught me trying to leave, but instead of asking me what I was doing there, he assumed I was there to rob the place.”
“What?” Bu
Where had the Omega been during all of this?
She nodded. “He was fed up with me. So he gathered the Pack and asked if anyone would speak for me.” She swallowed hard enough for Bu
“What about your lover?” And didn’t it just bite his ass to say that?
She laughed. “Are you kidding? Micah couldn’t stand up to his father. The Alpha was furious, I mean scary angry, and if Micah had tried to defy him I don’t know what would have happened to him.” She rubbed at her wrist. Bu
“So he declared you a thief and threw you from the Pack.” Bu
“Fifteen.”
“Fifteen? ” Bu
“I ran mostly in Wolf form, lived off the land, avoided everyone and everything, for fear they’d be able to tell what I was. I wound up in Mrs. Anderson’s backyard about six months ago, and I’ve been here ever since.”
“How old are you now?” Bu
“I’m twenty-three.”
He felt his eyes turn brown. Bu
He walked out into the cool spring air and took some deep breaths, hoping with everything in him that he’d be able to calm himself before he did something stupid. Because Bu
Tabby would have enough to deal with when she found out exactly what he was capable of.
Tabby watched Bu
Totally humiliated, she waited for the waiter to come and give her the check. She hoped she had enough credit to cover the cost.
How could she expect anyone to understand what it was like to be unjustly Outcast? She was lucky the Pumas had taken her in. At least she hadn’t made the mistake of going to the Poconos Alpha. If her own mate reacted like this, she could just imagine what the Pack Alpha would have been like.
A warm hand covered hers. “Tabby?”
She stared at Bu
Who had she been kidding? Bu
“Shit.” Bu
“What?” She sniffed.
“No matter how many times I ask, don’t ever tell me the name of your ex-Alpha.”
“Why not?” Her Wolf snapped to attention as his hazel eyes bled slowly to dark brown. A predator looked out at her through them. He looked lethal, ready to take out the world if she asked him to. It was strange to see that look in the eyes of a Bear. She’d thought Bears were more like her friend Julian, soft and sweet with a quirky humor, but Alex’s eyes were those of a hunter. Maybe they were only that predatory where a mate was concerned? “Oh. That’s why.” She knew her mouth was trembling. Hell, all of her was trembling. No one had stood up for her in years, other than Cyn, Glory, Julian and Gabe.