Chapter Two

"You're a dick," Hallie gritted out behind him.

Captain stopped chopping brisket and slowly turned to see who Hallie was talking to. If it was Shane, he was going to pop at him. Shane had been slacking all day.

Him. She was staring at him .

"Me?" Captain asked. "Why am I a dick?"

"Whatever you did to that woman, you're a dick for it."

"What woman?" he demanded.

Hallie rolled her eyes and made a chh sound behind her teeth, then turned back around and began to take the next order.

Captain stared at the back of her head for a two-count, then shook his head and returned to chopping the brisket he'd just removed from the smoker. Women were crazy.

But for real, what woman was she talking about?

Captain frowned down at his work. Hallie had been fine until he'd brought the mud pies for her customer, which, by the way, wasn't even his fuckin' job. He'd just heard a woman order two of them and thought it was cool that a woman had an appetite like that, and he'd brought it to her out of the fridge so Hallie didn't have to go get it, because he was a freakin' nice guy. Fuck Hallie. She was probably on her period or something.

But for real…what woman?

He wiped the long blade of his knife off on a rag, glaring at the back of Hallie's head. "The lady with the mud pies?" he asked.

It was Corey who was glaring at him with her rude little scrunched-up face from over at her own cash register. "You don't even remember her, do you?"

"What in the ever-loving fuck are you two going on about? I didn't do anything."

Corey's face went slack, and she looked at him with an exhausted expression.

"Today," he amended. "I haven't done anything bad all day. I can't get in trouble if I'm not doing anything bad."

"How many hearts have you broken this month, Captain?" Hallie asked.

"None! I've been too busy fighting your fuckin' mates to hunt for a mate of my own, so zero. I have broken exactly zero hearts!"

"This month," Corey murmured.

"Mmm-hmm," Hallie said.

"I hate working with you two," he muttered, and went back to chopping brisket. When he finished, he pulled a foil-wrapped rack of ribs onto the cutting board and flicked the foil open with the tip of his chopping knife. "You know, there should be rules against this," he told the girls. "I am over here feeling guilty over something, and I don't even know what you two are talking about."

"Table seven, dickshit," Hallie blurted out.

"It's dip shit!" He shoved the knife back in the slot where it belonged and jammed a finger at Shane, then at the ribs. "Finish this up. I'm taking a break."

"You mess with her, I'll gut you," Hallie called as he pulled at the tie of his apron and made his way through the dining room toward the outside-seating patio. Table seven was around the corner and against the wall. Hardly anyone ever sat there because it was right by the trash cans, was high traffic and sequestered away from the other tables, and had the worst views of the forest surrounding Moosey's.

Good and pissed off, he rounded the corner and spotted the woman eating at table seven. He came to a stop and studied her.

She wore her dark hair in two little French braids along the crown of her head, and then had long curls cascading down her shoulders. She had blonde highlights in her dark hair. Looked cool. Her cheekbones were sharp, and she had thin lips, and bright blue eyes. She was petite, even for a human. Five foot even, maybe, if she stood up. She was staring at the wall across from the seat she'd taken, which meant she preferred that view over the gorgeous forest that was partially visible if she'd only sat across the table on the other side.

Captain frowned. She did look sort of familiar.

He scratched the back of his head and checked to see if Hallie and Corey were watching him. They were. Annoying. He made his way to table seven. The woman glanced over at him, and then quickly down at her food. He hadn't missed it though. There was a flash of mortification there in her bright-blue eyes.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

She slipped her hand over her mouth and shook her head, eased her blue gaze up to him. After a couple seconds, she removed her hand and said, "Mister, I don't even know me. I don't blame you for not remembering."

Fuck. He must've known her then. Confused, he slid onto the bench seat across from her and studied her face.

She was a looker. Tired, though. She had bags under her eyes, and her nose was red like she'd been crying or something. Unsure of how to proceed, he offered his hand for a shake. "I'm Captain."

"Captain Walker. I remember." She offered a sad smile, and her cheeks blushed up. "It's good to see you again." Lie. He was a shifter, so he could hear if there was a lie just by someone's tone. She didn't like seeing him at all. One-night stand, maybe? He'd gone on a streak of those for a while during a drunken spiral. Fuck.

He scratched the back of his head again and looked around for inspiration on how to continue this conversation and jog his memory.

…I don't even know me…

Something about the conviction in her tone as she'd uttered those words pulled at the numbness in his chest.

"Look, if I was rude after a one-night-stand—"

"Sloane," she said, offering her hand. "For a while I was married and my name was Sloane Hage, but now I'm back to Sloane Middleson."

He froze.

Sloane Middleson.

Well, that name brought back a mountain of memories.

Slowly, as he studied her face and clicked all the familiar parts of it into place in his memories, he shook her hand. "High school."

She nodded her head and smiled the kindest smile he'd ever witnessed on anyone's face, human or shifter. "Sometimes I wish I could go back."

"Do it all over again?" he asked softly, gripping her hand gently.

She shrugged and released his hand. "Do it differently maybe."

He couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe he'd forgotten Sloane, but in his defense, "You look so different now."

She huffed a laugh and pushed some fried okra around her tray with a fork. "Been through a lot."

"No, not in a bad way. The Sloane I remember had short, bleach-blonde hair, and…"

"I was curvier. I lost weight after graduation."

"You didn't need to," he assured her. "I mean…fuck, I'm not trying to insult you. I don't know about women's feelings. I just mean…" He inhaled deeply, muttered another curse, and looked out to the woods like he often did on work breaks. "You looked fine to me. You look fine now too."

That kind little smile was back. "Thank you for saying that." She gestured to her face. "I know I look different. You look great though. The bear got big, huh?"

He studied her face. How could he have forgotten the arctic blue in her eyes? They still had green middles that seemed to glow from the inside out—a rare thing for a human. She'd seen his bear once, after the homecoming dance. He'd never talked to her again. "The bear got big," he agreed softly.

She seemed to search for something to talk about. "I've heard amazing things about this place, and here you are. Working here."

"Yeah, I've been running the barbecue side of Moosey's over in Saratoga for years. We opened this one up six months ago. I moved up here with a new Crew. Actually, do you remember Gunner?"

"How could anyone on this planet forget your brother? He's terrifying."

He chuckled and nodded. "He's my Alpha now."

She frowned. "From what I remember, you two hated each other."

"That hasn't improved a bit. Hey, I heard you moved." He frowned, trying to jog his memory on who had even told him that. Maybe one of her friends, after graduation? It felt like a hundred years ago. "Are you in town for a visit?"

She pressed her fists onto her lap and locked her arms, looked uncomfortable. "I moved back to the area. I found a little place between here and Saratoga. I just came to get out of the apartment. And out of my head. It's a lot being back."

There was so much more to those admissions than what she was saying.

He wanted to ask questions. He wanted to know why she was back and why she needed to get out of her head, but things had ended weird between them, and this was a lot. He didn't want to push her too hard. "Have you seen any of your old high-school friends?"

"Frankie." She had a smile in her voice when she said his name. "And Sabrina. We all went out to catch up when I got back to town. It's strange though," she said softly. "I lived a whole life outside of this place. Feels like I'm an outsider now."

"How long have you been back?"

"Five weeks."

"Trust me, that outsider feeling will pass. Go to the general store in our hometown. You'll see five people you know, and you can make all your connections again. You can leave Damon's Mountains, but Damon's Mountains never really leave you."

"With my luck, the second I stepped foot into the general store, I would see my ex and his new wife. I didn't really want to move right back into the same town. It feels like their town now. You really didn't recognize me, did you?" she asked suddenly. She still wore that sweet, shy smile, and he hated himself as he answered her honestly.

"No. It was all a long time ago." He wanted to say more. He wanted to make excuses and talk about how much joining the new Crew took up his headspace, or how much he worried over the upcoming war with the Holland Pride. Or how he had moved on so thoroughly after high school, he rarely even visited it in his memories. He also wanted to say he was sorry for the way things ended up, but that would be a lie.

Things had ended up exactly the way they were supposed to.

Sloane sat up straighter and forced a smile. "I'm glad I saw you here. I wondered what came of you over the years. I hoped you ended up in a good spot. Looks like you're doing just fine."

So she'd thought of him, and he hadn't given a second thought to her. Hallie was right. He was a dickshit.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't remember—"

"Don't give it a second thought. I've got bigger stuff going on. I won't even think about that when I lay my head down to sleep tonight. It's all good." Truth. Okay, so she did have some big stuff going on.

He still felt like shit, though. Looking for a way out of the awkward moment, he gestured to her uneaten mud pies. "I like that you ordered two. I like when women eat." God, he usually had way better game than this. What a stupid statement.

"Um, I…" She shrugged, and the kind smile was back. "I have a son. I got one for him."

Captain had been about to stand, but he stilled. It was the soft look on her face when she mentioned her son that froze him in place. It changed everything about her. The tiredness disappeared for a moment. God, she was stunning.

Chills electrified the fine hairs on the back of his neck, and he scooted deeper onto the bench seat. "How old is he?" he asked curiously, hoping to see that pretty look on her face again when she talked about her boy.

"Six." She crossed her arms around her stomach and shrugged up her shoulders. "His name is Ruger. I get him back in a couple days, and I figured he would like the mud pie."

That happy, free look was back in her eyes. Aw, a good momma bear. He could spot that from a mile away. Didn't matter if she was human, she was a momma bear. Hell yeah. "Why don't you have him now?"

Her eyes ducked to the food again and the smile fell from her lips.

He'd pushed too hard. "Sorry. That's none of my business. You don't have to answer that."

"His dad shares fifty-fifty custody with me. It's his days with him right now. Him and his new wife."

"Oooooh, fuck. Y'all are split up?"

The haunted look was back, and the eye-bags under her pretty blue eyes seemed to darken. "I tried. Wasn't meant to be."

"Ruger's a cool name. Does he like barbecue?" he asked, turning the conversation back to the little boy that lifted her spirits.

"He likes chicken nuggets," she said with a laugh. "I'm trying to get him to branch out."

"Well, in his defense, chicken nuggets are awesome."

She laughed, and it was a really pretty sound. The prettiest he'd heard in awhile.

Captain had an idea. "I'll be right back."

"Oh, okay," she said softly as he stood.

He sauntered back into his work area, where Shane was currently losing his shit and floundering. Kid was going to be all right, but he had a dream of being a pitmaster. He was young, and had no support from his family, so Captain had taken him under his wing. Shane needed tough love because he was soft, but he would be all right if he stuck with this.

"I think I need help," Shane said.

Captain chuckled as he grabbed the coupon book from under the cash register. "No shit, Sherlock. Give me five minutes."

"What are you doing?" Hallie demanded, watching him scribble on the coupon.

"If this lady comes in here with her son, please honor this coupon. She's an old friend."

"That you didn't even recognize twenty minutes ago."

Captain huffed a sigh and glared at Hallie. "Not everything has to be an argument, you know?" He held up the coupon. "I never ask for anything. I come in here, work hard, and do my job. You're never low on barbecue or inventory, right? Just don't give this lady shit if she comes back in, okay? It's all I'm asking. Give her kid a sampler platter and dock it from my paycheck. Whatever they want is on me."

Hallie narrowed her eyes but muttered, "Okay," and right now, that was good enough.

Captain strode back out to table seven and set the coupon beside Sloane. "You want him to branch out? Bring him in. Have him try the sampler and see what he likes. He'll be just fine."

She looked utterly stunned as she slowly took the coupon from his grasp. When she lifted her bright-blue gaze to him, gratefulness filled her eyes. "Thank you."

Captain nodded. "My pleasure. I've got to get back to work. I've got an apprentice that is struggling in there. The sausage is about to be dried out, and no one wants to eat dried-out sausage."

"Oh, it's the worst." There was that teasing nature.

Now he recognized her.

He walked away and said over his shoulder, "The absolute worst. And also, you should know," he said, turning back to her at the door. "Two of my Crewmates enlightened me that I'm a dick. If you bring Ruger back in here, can you tell them I'm cool? I'm tired of fighting their mates."

She let off another pretty laugh and nodded. "I'll lie and tell them you're cool."

Aw yeah, there she was.

He clapped his hand on the doorframe and nodded. "Good to see you, Sloane."

She inhaled deeply, and the pretty smile was back. "It was really good to see you too, Captain."

Only this time, there was truth in her voice.