Abraham stuffed his keys into his jean pocket as he stepped out from his car. On instinct, he did one quick scan of the busy crowd around him. People were rushing around. A few were shopping and doing their daily business leisurely.

The sun shining brightly above them and there was a hint of cold air from last night that still lingered in the early morning.

Easing his fingers through his hair casually to smooth back the strands that escaped because of the light wind, he turned to look at the restaurant behind him. Mary worked in the small-town restaurant and she was a damn superb cook. In fact, he has been dreaming about the steak he had the other night that she made.

Breakfast this morning was amazing, but that steak, it was something else. It literally melted in his mouth and seasoned to perfection. Just thinking about it made him salivate for more. He shook off the picture of the steak in his mind and walked up the curb and sidewalk to the entrance.

The front door was an old cherry oak door with three vertical rectangular glass windows in the middle. He grabbed the metal handle and opened the door. Immediately, spices invaded his senses. His mouth began salivating.

"Sir," a female voice said from his left.

He turned his head to look at the adolescent female hostess. She blushed immediately once Abraham locked eyes on her. It was a natural reaction from women. He was used to it and barely paid attention to it.

"Would you like a seat for lunch, sir?" she inquired meekly.

Abraham walked over to her and watched the blush climb up her cheeks and to the roots of her hair. He knew he was intimidating and wasn't too bad of a looker, but damn this woman's reaction put a smile on his face.

Unfortunately, his lopsided smile only made her even more flustered. She began muttering all kinds of phrases until she realized she was making a fool of herself. Understanding why she was feeling this way, he put her out of her misery.

"Actually, I'm here to meet a friend. Mary? Do you know her? She works here," Abraham interrupted her mumbling.

"Yes, does she know you are here?" the hostess asked.

"I'm afraid not, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind seeing me," Abraham added with a smile.

"Oh? Y-you are her boyfriend?" she stuttered, and he could hear the disappointment clear in her voice.

"Yes," he lied smoothly and knew if Ryker was here, he'll probably punch Abraham all the way to the other side of the room, but he wasn't here.

"You must be the boyfriend she has been telling us about. The one that lives in Normandy. She talks about you all the time," the hostess stated with a smile.

For a minute, what she said took him by surprise. Did Mary have a boyfriend? Then what the hell was doing at the Mating Ball in the first place?

Shit, Abraham could already see Ryker's reaction already. The hostess led Abraham towards the kitchen. He glanced around the dining area and found a ton of people sitting around chitchatting while eating. It wasn't even close to lunchtime yet, and the customers almost filled the restaurant.

The door to the kitchen flapped open. A waiter came out with a tray of food. He skillfully maneuvered around them without spilling the content of the food. The hostess opened the door and Abraham took in the silver colors of the decently sized kitchen.

Several people's head shot up from their workstation. Narrowed at the hostess and then slid over to Abraham. The hostess tapped Abraham's arm to get his attention. He looked down at the tiny woman before following the direction of her pointed finger.

Mary was working behind a work station. Her arms were deep inside a big metal mixing bowl. Her hair tied neatly back to allow her to work.

"Mary!" the hostess shouted.

Mary's head shot up. She looked towards the entrance of the kitchen. Waiters came in and pushed both the hostess and Abraham to the side. Abraham waved his hand while shoving the other in his pockets.

In his mind he was chanting, please don't kick me out.

Mary washed her hands and wiped her hands quickly on a towel while walking over to them.

"What are you doing here?"

"He's your boyfriend, aren't you excited to see him?"

"What?" Mary nearly shouted her surprise. Her eyes moving to Abraham to find out what his motive was.

"You know, the one from Normandy? Aren't you happy to see him?"

"He isn-"

"Oh, love, how I missed you!" Abraham exclaimed and yanked her into his arms. He squeezed the breath out of her, so she wouldn't be able to squeak out the truth.

"Aw, you two look so perfect together," Naira cooed.

Abraham wrapped one firm arm around Mary's shoulder and gave it a good squeeze. He looked down at her with a fake fondness and adoration that everyone who saw would believe except for Mary.

"Did you miss me?" Abraham asked.

"Aww," Naira cooed again.

"Naira, go man the front," Mary snapped.

Naira pouted but did as she was told. Turning to Abraham, she removed his arm from around her shoulder.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked.

"I wanted steak," he replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"I just cooked for you!" she growled angrily and walked away.

Abraham followed with a skip to his walk. His hands in his pockets, he looked around the kitchen and walked around to where Mary resumed her cooking. Leaning over her shoulder, he looked down at her bowl. She was kneading dough.

"Ok, I'm not here because of your cooking skills," he started but winced when she threw him a death glare. "Ok, ok, partly because of that but mainly because I wanted to talk to you."

She stopped her kneading to look at him with a questionable look.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"What are you making?" he redirected.

"I asked first." She frowned.

"We have plenty of time," Abraham pulled out his left arm to look at his watch. If there was something he knew about Ryker, it was that even though he was a stubborn son of a bitch, he would always bite the bait.

"I'm making biscuits," she grumbled.

"And after biscuits?" he asked.

She stopped kneading again and leaned back on one hip to look at him. Something crashed loudly in the background. Sounded like someone dropped their dish they were working on. There was a bunch of cursing coming from their left side. They both turned to look in that direction before returning their gaze back to each other.

"Seriously, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I just want to talk to you," Abraham insisted.

Suddenly, Mary looked a little uneasy. She shifted on her feet and threw her attention back to fixing her dough and putting it away for later. Once done, she turned to look at Abraham. Her eyes swept over his face and made him feel a little exposed.

"W-what?" he asked.

"Nothing. You just look a lot likes your brother," she muttered under her breath and turned to the sink to wash her hands.

"I've heard that many times before," Abraham replied.

"Have any of them mistaken you two for one another?" she questioned without looking at him. A hint of a blush touching her freckled cheeks. Abraham admitted that freckles shouldn't be attractive, but it was on her. She was attractive.

"What do you mean?" he questioned, moving closer to her.

"It's nothing," she said.

"Oh c'mon, I can see the blush on your cheek," he teased.

"It's nothing, really." She brushed him aside and changed the direction of their conversation. "So, you wanted steak?"

Mary turned away from him to look for the ingredients, but he grabbed onto her arm and stopped her from walking away.

"Hold on," he said and turned her around to face him.

She looked up at him curiously. He reached forward, and his hand grew closer to her face. Immediately, Mary pulled back. He stopped her actions.

"You got something on your cheek," he said.

Abraham was about to wipe it off but a brawny hand stopped him. Both Mary and Abraham looked at the hand and then followed it to a glowering Ryker. He threw his brother's hand away, grabbed Mary's arm, and yanked her behind him like a possessive alpha male.

"What are you doing?" Ryker hissed at his brother.

"Making friends," Abraham retorted.

"By touching her face?" Ryker growled angrily, taking a step toward his brother. His hold on Mary's hand tightened painfully. Mary grimaced and tried tugging her arm from his grasp.

"She has something on her face," Abraham argued, pointing at Mary.

Mary attempted to wipe it off but stopped when she got pulled between the two brothers. Ryker took one look at Mary and saw the streak of flour on her face. His actions were rough, but the second he touched her face, it was a gentle caress. His dark, stormy eyes connected with hers and for a moment she forgot that they were at her workplace.

Two people who shouldn't be here were making it seem like they had every right to be here in this kitchen.

Satisfied after wiping the flour off her face, he pulled back. His grip on her arm loosened a little, but he kept a hand wrapped around her arm.

"Go back to the Alpha Ian's home and prepare the others to leave," Ryker ordered.

"But I'm not finished here, I've yet still to ask- "

"Leave," Ryker roared at his brother who was unfazed. Everyone felt the effect of Ryker's command—human or not. They all cowered their heads. A shiver ran down Mary's back and her skin crawled with goosebumps. She shouldn't be turned on at all, but she was.

"Alright. Alright. I'm going," Abraham conceded after he realized he had accomplished what he wanted to do.

All he wanted to do was having his brother admit that Mary was something he wanted. By the way, he was holding onto her and protectively hiding her behind his back. He wanted her---he wanted her a lot.

Ryker watched his brother exited the kitchen before turning to look at Mary who looked thoroughly disgruntled with the two.

"Excuse me, I have work to do," she dismissed Ryker and walked away.

Ryker followed her to another workstation.

"What did my brother say to you?" he questioned, fighting off the jealous rage boiling through his veins.

"He didn't say much," Mary replied with a careless shrug.

Ryker's eyes narrowed on Mary to see if she was lying. Suddenly, Naira appeared from the kitchen entrance. She rushed over to Mary's work station.

"How was it? How was your boyfriend? Did he kiss you? Oh my god, did he confess his undying love—"

"Boyfriend?" Ryker's outrage came out as a threatening growl.

Seeing that Ryker was in no mood to hide his ability to growl, Mary quickly interrupted and slapped a hand over Naira's mouth.

"Naira, leave," she insisted.

Naira mumbled her protest into Mary's hand, but her hand muffled it. Then her eyes moved to Ryker who looked almost like a replica of Abraham except that he was much taller and broader in the shoulders. Her questioning look returned to Mary. She gestured with her finger to Mary and then to Ryker and then towards the door where Abraham left.

"Leave," Mary ordered before dropping her hand and allowing Naira to leave, but before Naira could leave, Ryker stopped her and surprised Mary with his confession.

"I'm her boyfriend," he announced.