They Thought My Mate Chose Her novel · Chapter 8 of 24
Chapter 8: Alpha Voice
His fingers touched the edge of my phone case.
"Clement."
One word, from the doorway.
It didn't sound loud. It sounded like the floor had spoken.
The cold went out of my spine all at once.
My hand closed on my phone.
Behind me, the oldest widow gasped and grabbed the doorframe.
Clement snatched his hand back across the counter.
Cador stood in my front door with the bell still swinging over his head.
He was in his navy work jacket with sawdust on the shoulders.
His chest was going like he'd run the last part from the boatyard.
The youngest widow was on the step behind him, breathing just as hard.
He didn't look at me.
He looked at Clement.
"Alpha," Clement said, and he smiled. It came out crooked. "Just a misunderstanding about a bill."
Cador's eyes went to the counter.
The receipt book, open to the H page.
The three hundred and twenty dollars in twenties.
The coat.
"You put your voice on a woman in her own shop," Cador said.
"A tenant reaching for something that wasn't hers."
"It's her phone, Clement."
The widows in the doorway didn't make a sound.
I could hear the clock over my mother's machine.
"Take your coat," Cador said. "And the next time you use your voice on her, or on anyone at that table, you'll answer for it in the hall in front of the pack. Not to me. To them."
Clement picked up his coat.
He folded it over his arm with great care, the zip pocket inside.
At the door he stopped beside Cador, close, the way he'd stood beside him at the funeral.
"Your father trusted me," he said quietly.
"I know he did," Cador said. "Goodbye, Clement."
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