It was only when they had arrived at the mechanic that he breathed a sigh of relief.
Only to realize he had made the wrong decision.
This was a shop he had never used before. When the alpha mechanic got Linus’ Jeep up on the car lift, he began to list several other things that needed fixing.
Linus cringed at the price tags. “That’s not what I usually pay for a coolant line.”
The mechanic shrugged. “That’s what it costs here.”
“But that’s daylight robbery!”
By then, the tow truck had driven away.
“Do you want your Jeep fixed, or not?” the mechanic asked.
Linus sagged. He was going to be so late for work. But what other option did he have? This shop happened to have the spare part his Jeep needed. If he moved it to another shop, what if they had to order the part and wait for it to come in? “Fine, fix it. But only the thing that made it stop in the first place.”
The mechanic scoffed. “Your Jeep is going to fall apart without these other fixes.”
Linus pinched his mouth shut to hold in his retort.It isn’t going to fall apart right now, and I’d be damned before I come back here again.“No, skip the other fixes. I’ll deal with them another day.”
The mechanic shot him a disgruntled look. “Fine.”
Linus didn’t want to stick around, but he also didn’t want to trouble his friends for a ride. He headed to the shoddy waiting area, where a few plastic chairs crowded around a small TV. He sat down stiffly.
Minutes later, the growl of a motorcycle grew louder, before cutting off right outside the shop.
From his spot in the waiting area, Linus couldn’t see if it was similar to the bikes he had seen today. He heard the low rumble of alpha voices, though.
Some minutes later, a receptionist came over with a sheet of paper. “Um, Dr. Bentham? Here is the revised bill for your Jeep.”
Linus cringed and warily accepted the folded sheet.
Only to find that the repair cost had been halved.
He stared. “What changed?”
The receptionist looked embarrassed. “Ah, your alpha came in and told us to give you the alpha discount.”
MY alpha?Linus wanted to ask. He usually begged Kieran to come in and growl about discounts—Kieran was an omega who looked like an alpha, and he was Meadowfall College’s soccer coach—but Kieran had been tired out by childcare lately.
Still, Linus wasn’t going to argue with his good luck. “Thank you.”
“We’ll also expedite your repairs,” the receptionist said with a small bob. “He said it was critical.”
Linus nodded woodenly. “What name did my alpha, uh, provide?” he asked, forcing his brain to think. “He, uh, he likes switching names and I never know which he uses.”
“Oh. He didn’t leave a name. He said it wasn’t necessary.”
“Did he ask for my address?” Linus blurted, suddenly nervous.
The receptionist looked oddly at him. “No. Here, sign this new estimate so we can process it.”
“Okay.” His panic easing, Linus signed on the sheet of paper and watched as she bustled away.
It wasn’t fair that some shops grossly overcharged their omega customers. But to think that an alpha had stepped in and done this for him...
Linus thought about reaching out to say thanks, except... he didn’t want to give some weird alpha the wrong idea.
