Ex-con Alpha (Alpha Meets Omega 3)

He’d been clean since he got out and planned to stay that way. It was tough being back in his old pack among some of the old gang who’d not gone down for their part in the mistakes that had landed him behind bars. They’d already tried to rope him back in but weren’t giving him any flack for telling them he wasn’t interested. As far as his pack was concerned, he’d earned the right to say no when he’d taken the fall for at least a dozen of them.

Leaning against the bar, he opened his phone and went to the Alpha Meets Omega app again, pulling up the photo of the Omega who’d shown interest and sending her a short message. He was still a bit leery of using an app to meet strangers, but that’s where working in a bar came in handy.

“You got another beer over there, Travis?” John asked

“Sure thing,” he told him, slipping the phone back in his pocket and getting John a fresh pour before again busying himself with polishing glasses at the other end of the bar to avoid further conversation. He didn’t have to work to avoid him long, as the flood gates seemed to open, and the bar went from dead to full capacity.

He didn’t even have a chance to look at his phone again, or he’d have gotten a head’s up that his entire life was about to change in an instant.CHAPTER FOURKat

“What’ll it be?” he asked the blonde slipping onto a barstool at one end of the bar.

She looked up, and her heart seemed to stop. It was him, and he was even more gorgeous in person than he had been in his Alpha Meets Omega bio. His dark hair was a little shaggy, framing a pair of gorgeous green eyes.

“A cosmopolitan?” she asked uncertainly, looking around at the crowd: a beer and whiskey shots crowd from her quick assessment.

“Coming up,” he said.

There was no indication that he knew who she was, but he seemed busy, so perhaps he just didn’t have time to talk. She tried not to take it personally but couldn’t help feeling out of place in what was obviously a bar meant for Alpha wolves and partying Betas.

“Hey, gorgeous. Haven’t seen you around here,” one of them said, approaching the bar and leaning against it, far too close for comfort.

“Here you go, Kat,” Travis said as he walked back and sat down her drink in front of her.

He said nothing to the Alpha that had saddled up beside her, but he didn’t have to, as he suddenly disappeared without further comment.

“Sorry about him. He’s a dog in every sense of the word,” Travis told her.

“I thought maybe you didn’t recognize me.”

“Oh, I recognized you. I was just a bit stunned. Your photo didn’t do you justice.”

“Neither did yours,” she said with a slow smile.

“Hey, bartender. You got time for us two-tailed dogs?” a guy called from further down the bar.

“Sorry. It was pretty dead in here when I suggested you drop by for an informal meeting. It’s gotten a little crazy since then.”

“No problem. I’ll be fine.”

He nodded. A broad smile showed off incredibly white, straight teeth that stood out even more against his dark skin. Though she got a good bit of sun out playing tennis and running, she was pale in comparison to him. He wore long sleeves, but she had seen a number of tattoos in his profile picture, though she hadn’t been able to make out what they were.

As busy as the bar was, it subsided by the time she’d finished her first drink. It was a Thursday, so she’d been surprised to see so many people in the first place.

“That’s me done for the evening. Want to get a table and chat a bit?” Travis asked after returning from a brief disappearance.

“Sure. That’d be great,” she told him.

“I’ll get us a round while you pick out a table, if you like,” he told her.

“Sounds good.”

It was only a couple of minutes later, as he walked toward the table, that Kat realized how tall he was. The bar was apparently a bit recessed, but as he stepped up from it and approached her, she could see he was easily six-two and would tower over her five-six frame.

“So, Kat. What’s a nice girl like you doing on a dating site?” he asked.

It was cheesy, but also kind of cute. He seemed nervous, an odd trait for an Alpha. He had stripped off his long sleeve shirt, and she could now see the full sleeve of tattoos that ran down one arm. The other displayed only a single flower, a colorful orange and red calla lily on his inner forearm. It seemed a stark contrast to the black inked lines and scroll work running up the opposite arm, but she wasn’t sure if she could ask.