Mason spent a generous half hour showering and rubbing his body with special scent removal shampoo that lots of people used in order to remove the scent of a heat or rut from their mate when going out in public. Even if heats and ruts were standard parts of their lives, the general public felt uncomfortable when someone walked out drenched with the smell.

He finished by clothing himself in fresh clothes that he sprayed with a scent blocking deodorant spray so no one would smell the remnants of his heat and instead get a sour scent in their nose.

"Stupid Alphas," Mason muttered to himself, debating whether or not to email his doctor and request scent blockers so no one would assume he was an Omega at work and would leave him alone.

He went downstairs and found the police in his cafe, and it took all of his self control not to tell them off when he saw that Paul wasn't even in handcuffs. In fact, they looked more irritated with Terrance!

"You're the owner of this establishment?" one of the officers asked, leading Mason to a booth with Henry and Lucille. "And these are your employees?"

Mason nodded stiffly. "Yes, and that guy has been coming in here and harassing me and I told him to stay out! Why are you questioning us when he's the one who should be in handcuffs and out of my cafe?" he asked as Henry put a strong hand on his shoulder in attempt to calm him down.

"Has he physically harassed you?"

"Yes, he started publicly scenting me without consent and he's not even my mate!" Mason snarled, slamming his fist on the table. "And he's always bothering me while I work and trying to seduce me!"

The officer hummed and wrote something down. "And why haven't you reported this before?"

"I'd be laughed at for calling 911 and telling them that some guy was trying to seduce me," Mason said bitterly, hating how the officers were acting like he was an incompetent child.

"What's your biological status?" the officer asked, lifting his nose slightly. "You don't have a scent."

Scowling, Mason crossed his arms and glanced at Henry who nodded in encouragement. "I'm an Omega."

"When was your last heat?"

"Why is that relevant? It's not my job to make him control his stupid Alpha instincts!"

"When was your last heat?" the cop repeated, growling slightly and trying to intimidate Mason, but he didn't react.

Henry urged Mason to answer, but the latter wasn't having it. He hated the stupid questions because he knew that he'd get blamed for working a day after his heat ended.

"Just tell him to stay out of my cafe!" Mason snapped as the officer sighed and nodded at the other officer who handcuffed Terrance. "Wait, not him! He didn't do anything wrong!"

"He assaulted someone so he's just as much at fault as the man you're accusing."

Mason bit his tongue before rushing over to Terrance and stopping the cops from pushing him out the door. "He's supposed to protect me!" he growled.

The officer narrowed his eyes.

"Well, he's my mate and my heat ended yesterday so when someone else touched me and harassed me he got defensive, obviously," Mason said in a 'duh' tone, grabbing Terrance's arm. "So you can't take him away. I need my mate, don't I?"

Terrance eagerly nodded in agreement, but with one look at Mason he could tell that the Omega was just playing along to keep him out of jail. It should've hurt, but Mason could've let him be taken away so Terrance supposed he should be thankful.

The officers looked at Terrance in disbelief. "Is this true?" he asked, glancing around the room. "You should've started with that."

Mason barely managed to keep himself from snarling. There weren't laws that stated that Alphas would be left alone if their mate was an Omega, but most law enforcement officials thought that way, especially if the Omega was or had recently been in heat.

"Well, I'm not smart in tense situations," Mason said innocently, knowing that he had to act like the stupid Omega that they thought him to be. He hung his head in a shamed way, leaning his head on Terrance's shoulder. "Sorry."

The cops quickly took the handcuffs off and escorted Paul from the cafe, warning him to not step foot in the building again or he'd be answering to the Alpha in the building. It pissed Mason off that they clearly didn't think he could handle himself, but he knew better than to complain around the cops and ruin his work he'd just done to make sure the idiot of his mate didn't get arrested.

Once they left and it was just Mason, his coworkers, and Terrance, they decided to keep the cafe closed for the rest of the day.

Henry and Lucille went to the back to clean up. When Mason tried to follow, Henry told him to go back and sit at a table with Terrance to apologize.

"You're not in charge of me," Mason had growled, but Henry's growl was a lot more impressive.

"You're going to apologize to that man. He protected you and he's trying to figure out what you want so he can be whatever you want," Henry said, glaring and towering over his friend.

Mason raised an eyebrow. "What if I want a sugar daddy?"

Henry just snarled at him. "Go. Now."

Rolling his eyes, Mason walked out to the dining area and slid into a booth across from Terrance. He fumbled with his fingers for a few seconds, not looking up at the Alpha but feeling Terrance's eyes set on him.

"You don't have to sit with me if you're uncomfortable," Terrance said, his voice deeper than Mason had thought. "I don't care what your friend said."

Mason cringed. "You heard that?"

Terrance didn't offer a direct answer. "I'm not a sugar daddy either. Sorry."

"So you did hear," Mason mumbled to himself. "Well, I'm sorry for being rude when I was in heat and I'm sorry you almost went to jail. However, I'm going to say you're welcome for playing the innocent Omega card and not letting you go to jail. So sorry, you're welcome, and I guess thank you for knocking that guy out."

Terrance laughed at him, resting his head back on the booth. "That was by far the worst apology I've ever heard, but it was also really cute so I won't hold it against you," he said.

A blush began to creep up Mason's next and warmed his cheeks, making him scowl at his inner wolf for being so dazed and smitten for their mate.

"No, my wolf's mate. Not mine," Mason said in his head, looking back down at his hands. "So, uh, where are you from?"

"My bitter mate trying to make small talk?" Terrance asked in mock-awe. "Am I dreaming?!"

Mason glared at him. "You will be when I knock your lights out if you don't stop being a smart ass," he growled.

Smirking, Terrance rested his chin on his hand. "I'm from Concord. Moved to the bigger city for work," he said, surprised that Mason was actually paying attention. "My best friend moved here with me, too. She was the one you... almost interviewed?"

Scoffing, Mason stood up and walked over to the register. "Yeah, until you showed up and messed up my day," he said, pulling out a mug for himself and one for Terrance. "Do you want some coffee?"

"Sure!" Terrance called back, standing up and rushing to where Mason was. "Do you need help?"

"You have no clue what you're doing," Mason deadpanned, turning on the machine and making shots of espresso.

Terrance frowned, wishing he knew what to do so he could please his mate. He sat sadly on the stool behind the bar, playing with the pens in the cup for signing receipts as he watched Mason prepare them both coffees.

"Sugar?" Mason asked, grabbing Terrance's attention.

"Yes, babe?"

"That wasn't a pet name, stupid," Mason shot back, slightly irritated by Terrance's lighthearted attitude and attempt to emotionally connect. "You get black coffee."

Terrance whined like a pup, pouting his lip. "No! I need some sugar and cream please!" he exclaimed, falling to his knees and clasping his hands together as if he was praising Mason.

Which he totally would, if Mason would allow him to.

Mason rolled his eyes and added a little bit of cream and a spoon of sugar, topping the whole thing with coffee foam and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

"Thank you," Terrance said, flashing a toothy grin. "Best coffee on the east coast!"

"Obviously," Mason emphasized, putting only a bit of cream in his own coffee and leaving off the cinnamon.

Terrance found himself memorizing that order. He may not know how to make coffee, but he'd learn so he could bring Mason breakfast in bed.

"Can I take you on a date?" Terrance suddenly said, making Mason choke on his coffee.

Mason coughed as Terrance patted his back to get him to get up whatever went down the wrong pipe. He eventually was able to catch his breath, gaping at Terrance.

"Wh-what?!"

"Will you go out on a date with me?" Terrance asked again, managing to still sound confident. "Not as mates. Just... two guys trying to get to know each other?"

Mason narrowed his eyes slightly. "What's in it for you?"

"Getting to go out with a beautiful man is a reward in itself," Terrance said. "I mean, Henry talked to me and said that you're not for getting into a relationship with an Alpha who thinks they own you or are in charge of you and I'm not like that."

"What if Henry hadn't talked to you? How would you be approaching me then?"

"Probably would've just asked you out without the 'I'm not a crazy dictator' piece because I wouldn't be aware that you're scared of that."

Mason pursed his lips. "Fine," he said, figuring if he was uncomfortable he could just say he wanted to leave.

Besides, he couldn't deny his wolf's desperation to be with his mate and decided to cut his inner beast some slack.

"Okay, let's go!" Terrance said, grabbing Mason's hand.

Mason pulled his hand away. "Wait, right now?!"

"Well, you have the rest of the day off and I figured it's a good way to get your mind off of this awkward day."

Reluctantly, Mason nodded and allowed Terrance to take him away from the cafe.