The Dark Thrall Mating Olivia

Chapter Sixteen

I stepped in front of Jay, pulling my hands from my pocket before I tilted my head to the side in a show of submission. I wasn't going to have my thrall mate submit to anyone. Even if I knew that he had no problems playing the role he needed to for the sake of shifter politics.

"Good morning, Alpha." I said, letting out a trickle of my own beast.

"Please, call me Micheal." He said, stepping out of the way before leading us over to an empty booth. "I wanted to speak to you about Olivia. We can talk now or later in my office."

"Now is fine, Micheal." Jay said and I moved to sit in the booth. The leather creaked beneath my legs as I scooted into the booth. Jay slipped in beside me and Micheal sat down across from us. The waitress, Shana, came over. Bringing us our menus, she sat down two glasses of water before giving us both a wide smile. Her eyes flicked back to her alpha. I could practically taste the nervous energy that surrounded her, she wasn't used to being around bigger predators than her. I could tell that they weren't involved, by the way that Micheal gave her a tight-lipped smile. "What can I get you guys started with?" She asked, fidgeting with the hem of her apron. "We'll start with some coffees." Jay said and I nodded, shooting her a smile. He was hoping to ease some of her worries, it didn't work. We were just here to eat and talk to her alpha, nothing more worrisome than that. When she walked away, Micheal dragged a hand through his long black hair before pressing his lips together.

"I'm not just Olivia's alpha," Micheal said and I felt my throat tighten. I didn't want him to block our pursuit of her. "She's my friend and I don't want to share too much of what has happened to her, but if you hurt her..."

"If you hurt her, I'll skin you alive." Micheal finished, his eyes moved over Jay and then to me. "Both of you."

I mulled over her alpha's words. Wondering what had happened to her that made him so

protective of her. It wasn't just that he was her alpha and she was his packmate. My stomach felt tight and I wondered if maybe he had feelings for her.

"We plan to take her as our mate, we wouldn't hurt her," Jay said. His words were even but I could feel his anger. He was having the same worries that I was. "I'm not sure how things are done in your pack, but our females are treasured."

"As are ours." Micheal said, his blue eyes darkening. I could see something flashing in his eyes but it wasn't a possessiveness.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized that I was holding. He didn't want her the way that we did. "I'm glad to hear that."

Micheal dipped his head and I knew that we had an understanding. "You two should get the brunch plate. Shana here will see to it."

"We'll do that, thank you." Jay said, his voice still had that same evenness to it.

Jay and I moved to sit on of the booths. We watched Micheal get up and leave the dinner. He dragged his long fingers through his auburn hair. Looking over at us one last time before he made his way out to an older, silver truck that sat in the parking lot.

The waitress came over and we both looked up at her. She fidgeted with her notepad, eyes darting between the two of us before she took our order. The dinner wasn't busy and I was glad

that Jay and I could have a few minutes to talk about our interaction with Micheal.

"So, what are you thinking?" I asked, bouncing my leg beneath the table. If I had my way, we would skip eating and go get Olivia and be out of town before the sun set.

"I'm worried about what happened to her to make him so protective of her." Jay said, clasping his hands together on the tabletop as his dark eyes pinned me in place.

"It doesn't change anything for you, does it?"

"No, and I know it doesn't for you either. I just worry that it may be something we have to help her work through later."

I knew it wouldn't change things for him, just like it didn't for me. He did have a point. What if it was something that we would need to help her move on from? We would do it because she was ours. At the same time, I could feel my dragon in my head and I had to fight down the urge to go after her alpha. To demand that he tell me what had happened to her. To have him tell me who had hurt her so much that he was willing to threaten my thrall mate and I.

Shana brought over our drink orders, pulling me out of my thoughts. I smiled at her, trying to make her less nervous. It wouldn't do for Olivia's pack to be scared of us, not when we wanted one of its members. She sat our coffees down before I stopped her. "Do you know what time Olivia works today?"

"She um, she's off today." The wolf in front of me shifted from foot to foot, looking between my mate and me. I nodded my head in thanks and she ran off to the kitchen.

My lips tilted into a slow smile. If we called her and asked her out on a date tonight nothing could keep her from going out with us.

"What are you thinking?"

"Where do you think she wants to go?" I asked, answering his question with one of my own.

"I'm not sure, but wherever she wants to go, we'll take her." Jay said with that twitch of his lips.