The day I returned to work had come and it seemed like my mind hadn't been notified.

The inn did not occupy even the minimum portion of my thoughts, it was replaced completely by Almec. During the whole previous night and every single minute of my breakfast, thousands of questions about him spun through my head.

Why was he so good with us? Why did I feel safe next to him? What was the meaning of the last words he told me before leaving the art room? I could not solve the mystery, and until I did, I could not stop thinking about it.

At least I managed to prepare to go to work in the midst of so much confusion, which did not mean that Almec stopped chasing me. If I could awaken my wolf once again I would have someone to help me organize the chaos. That was another mystery that was added to my busy life. How could I hear my wolf as I had the previous day?

I had so many questions and not a single indication of how to answer them.

Concentrate Valentina, you have to go to work.

I shook my head as I reached the bottom of the stairs. I needed to stay on track, my main objective was to show the pack members that I deserved to be part of them, and I couldn't do it if I was distracted by thinking about the alpha.

"Are you leaving for work?"

My conviction faltered as soon as Almec entered my field of vision, a single look into his eyes was enough to make me doubt.

"Yes," I replied. "I'll be back before dinner."

Almec kept his hands in his pants pockets and approached me. "Feinid is going to be near the area to make sure everything goes well. He will walk you back when you're done."

"Are you sure it's necessary to put in so much effort just for me to go to work? I'm inside the pack's territory, it can't be that dangerous."

"I prefer to be cautious rather than sorry, although it is true that nothing should happen. Bear with me on this one." He took one of his hands out of his pocket holding a cell phone. "This is for you.".

"No, it's okay, there's no need." I tried to push his hand away from me but Almec was much stronger than me.

"Take it, it's for your safety," Almec insisted. "You shouldn't be outside without being able to communicate with anyone. If something happens, let me know immediately. I've already added my number, Geldra's, and Feinid's just in case."

"But you said Feinid is going to be around, isn't that enough? I can buy one later." I didn't want to add more favors to the list, it seemed like every day the list was getting five times longer.

"I don't think you're understanding, I'm not going to let you leave until you accept the cell phone. It's your choice, take my gift or stay home."

"I respect you as my alpha but you do not have the authority to control every aspect of my life."

Almec sighed. "I'm not trying to control you, that wasn't the best way to put it but we have a deal. I'll help you with what you asked for but you have to let me take care of your safety. I'm not asking you for something difficult, take the phone with you, that's all. "

"With one condition." I put my hand closer to his.

"You have a lot of conditions." He looked down at me.

"Once I have enough money, I'll buy one myself and return this one to you."

Almec held my wrist with his free hand and with the other he placed the cell phone on my palm. "Do whatever you want later but now take this with you. Send me a message once you get to the inn so I know you're okay."

"Are you always this overprotective?"

The question escaped from my mind. I didn't want to question his personality or his principles, it's common knowledge that alphas tend to be more protective than the other ranks but as far as I knew they don't act that way with every member of their pack.

His grip on my wrist increased, it wasn't enough to hurt me but it was enough to make sure that I wouldn't be able to escape. "Only with people who are important to me."

The sincerity in Almec's voice took me by surprise. I couldn't understand how he considered a rogue without her wolf that he found lost in the forest as someone important. Nothing about his interest in me made sense, nothing about the way he treated me and Faustina made sense.

"I'm going to be late if I don't leave now," I whispered, ignoring the tension that had grown between us.

Almec let go of my wrist but he didn't move out of my way. "Right, good luck."

"See you at dinner, I guess," I said and without waiting for his response I walked past him toward the front door.

***

Something that Almec forgot to mention is that Feinid was not only going to take me back to the mansion, but he was also going to accompany me to the inn.

He didn't shut up the whole way, telling me about his day, the new antiques he bought, and how tired he was of acting as a mediator with the members of the Blue Moon Pack that were visiting us. I didn't understand the politics between the packs of the area, and to be honest, I didn't care either, so I just nodded and let Feinid continue with his monologue.

"You look like someone sucked all the energy out of you," Wina commented as soon as I entered the kitchen through the back door.

"Feinid wanted to talk today."

"Feinid always has a lot to say, there's a reason he's in charge of relations with the other packs. That and because he can be very charming when he wants to."

"How is the public today?" I asked, reaching over to grab my apron.

"We have a full house, it's normal to have a lot of customers on the weekends and today we have guests so I'm barely surviving, and the day has just begun," Wina responded, without stopping cooking. "As if that wasn't enough Octavia is sick so I'm going to need you to fill in for her as a waitress."

"Don't worry about it, I have experience so I think I can manage."

"You're an angel, Charlotte will explain the details to you, she's the other waitress."

Charlotte, or Lottie as she insisted I call her, never sat still. She showed me how to do my job while she served the food, chatted with the regulars, and fixed her black hair. She was kind, apparently all the people who work for Wina were, she corrected my mistakes with a sweet smile that revealed her dimples, and she gave me words of encouragement when I needed it.

"Do you see those four men at the table by the window?" she asked me as we waited for the food.

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Don't you notice something different about them?"

"Apart from the fact that they're too loud for my liking? No. "

"They're not from here," she whispered to my ear. "They're here to make an alliance with our pack. Apparently they reached out to Feinid to ask for it but I don't like them, from what I saw they think they're doing us a favor by being here."

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because you're going to take their food to their table. I don't want to get close to them, please." She looked at me pouting. "They were rude to me when I took their order."

"Alright I'll do it. Take it as a payment for your help."

The men stopped talking when I approached them and their gazes focused on my body. I was beginning to understand why Lottie didn't want to serve them. Without saying anything I placed the food on the table, being careful to keep some distance from them.

"Enjoy your food," I told them with a fake smile.

"I would enjoy it a lot more if you keep me company, what do you say, precious?" the tallest of the four asked me and leaned towards me.

"Entertaining customers is not part of my job," I replied sweetly and took a step back.

"But I'm not just any customer." He stood up and his green eyes went to my chest. "I'm a guest of honor, what would your alpha say if he found out that the deal with Blue Moon pack was ruined by your rudeness?"

"I don't care who you are, I have a job to do and I'm not interested in cocky men, so you better back off before I call security."

"The inn has no security, don't take me as a fool, sweetheart." He placed his hand on my shoulder and leaned his face next to mine. "Don't play hard to get, I know you want me."

"The inn doesn't have security but I do. I am protected by the alpha, so unless you want to ruin your chance of making an alliance, I would recommend that you stay away from me."

"Honey, it's not good to make up lies."

I took my cell phone out of my pocket. "Let me give you proof."

I looked up Almec's number and started the call on speakerphone. Only two rings were needed before Almec responded.

"Valentina, is everything okay? Do you need anything?"

The Blue Moon pack men stopped smiling and the one who was harassing me immediately walked away. He put his hands together to wordlessly beg me not to say anything.

"Yes, I'm fine, just a misunderstanding but everything is settled now, don't worry," I replied.

"Are you sure?" Almec sounded worried.

"One hundred percent sure, I'm sorry I bothered you." I hung up the call and gave the guests a disgusted look. "You're lucky I was in a good mood today."

I returned to work without any further inconvenience. The rest of the customers were not nice to me but at least the pack members knew that messing with me would get them in trouble. As long as they didn't interfere with my task I didn't care what they whispered.

"I need you to go to your old room," Wina whispered to me as I approached to place an order.

"Can I at least finish serving table eight?" I asked.

"No, go now before disaster strikes."

The steps creaked under the pressure of my trembling feet. Wina seemed really scared by the possible outcome, it was the first time I saw her this nervous and that scared me. What could I do to solve the mysterious threat?

By the time I reached the door of my old room my stomach was already completely upset, still, I took a deep breath and turned the doorknob.

In the center of the room, Almec walked from one side to the other with so much force that he could leave a mark on the floor. It surprised me that he didn't hear the sound of the door opening, whatever was bothering him had isolated him from the world.

"Almec," I said his name gently as I approached him.

The alpha stopped walking and turned his body towards me. He closed the distance between us, held my shoulders, and leaned his back so that our gazes were at the same level.

"What happened? You can't call me and hang up the phone without giving me an explanation. Are you okay?" An overwhelming storm broke out in his eyes.

"I'm fine, I just needed to scare some men a little, as soon as they heard your voice they stopped bothering me."

His hands slid from my shoulders to my forearms. I tried to focus on his words and not on the warmth that spread through my body because of his touch.

"What did they do?" Almec asked, his voice beginning to fill with anger. "Who was it?"

"It was nothing serious."

I gave his arm a gentle squeeze, then tried to continue speaking but my words got stuck in my throat when Almec brought his face close to my shoulder and took a deep breath. He let out a growl and continued to sniff where the Blue Moon wolf had touched me.

"I can smell Brandon's scent. How dare he touch you?"

I turned my head and met his red eyes. Almec was furious.

"It was just a second and I already took care of it," I tried to explain.

Almec's breathing accelerated, he remained silent for a moment as if he were thinking before speaking. "Can I scent you?"

A shiver ran through my body as my mind went blank. My desire acted taking advantage of the confusion of my reasoning, and I nodded in response.

"Thank you," Almec whispered in my ear.

He nuzzled my shoulder with his nose and a tingle grew across my skin. Slowly and delicately he continued towards my neck, his breathing felt warm and caused my heart to speed up.

I couldn't smell the pheromones that Almec was releasing, but still my entire body relaxed at his touch. Something inside me told me that I was safe with him, something told me that I needed this as much as he did. I felt like he had fallen into a deep trance.

"That'll do for now," he said after turning his face away from my body.

"For now?" I opened the eyes that I hadn't realized I had closed.

Almec released my arms. He walked past me and opened the door.

"After experiencing it I don't think I'll be able to hold back anymore," he whispered before leaving the room.