I shake my head as the elevator dings, ejecting us onto our own floor. “Do you have another job offer? Where are you going?”
Hale shoots me a look like I’m an idiot. “Wherever you’re going, Callisto.”
I jolt to a stop. “Hale, I told you I’m going into advocacy. I’m starting a housing system for feral alphas and attempting to get an entirely new justice division for rehabilitation. It’s going to be uphill all the way.”
He leans back on his counter and gives me a side-eye that makes me feel instantly guilty, although I don’t know why. “Andwho is the only paralegal in the country with experience on cases involving getting feral alphas out of prison?”
A laugh bursts out of me. He may as well polish his chest with his knuckles. “You, Hale Johanssen.”
“Exactly. You’re going to need me to write the new code of conduct and draft the facility’s operations standards. Do you even know how to format sub-subclauses in bullet form?”
Relief and joy burst through me like a geyser, stripping away the last of my nerves over stepping into the unknown. Tears burn behind my nose as I reach out and hug him. “I didn’t even ask,” I mutter into his collar.
“And I’m most offended,” he says, pushing me away. “Why would I work for any of these soulless pricks? Fuck. Just make sure you give me a pay rise, you hear?”
“I will,” I say through laughter.
“Good.” He smooths one hand over his hair. “I’ll see you in five weeks.”
“Five?” I ask.
“Yeah. Technically, I just gave my three-week notice. Then I’m gonna take two weeks of holidays.”
“Okay.” I flash him a grin. “I’ll have a desk ready for you by then.”
He nods. “Good. Now get out of here. Your alpha scent’s stinking up the room.”
I swing into my office—former office—with a light step to collect my belongings. It’s a relief to know I won’t be handling the legal mountain ahead on my own.
“Holy shit!” Hale crows from the next room. “Are these treasury bonds?”
I chuckle under my breath.
Hale swings in through my door, using the frame to pivot. “See? This is why I follow you anywhere.”
“Ha!” I cry. “You submitted your resignation before you even saw the gift.”
He pulls up shorts and crosses his arms. “It’s called trust.”
I laugh and shake my head. Shouldering my bag and picking up the box with my few possessions, I stride past him. “Well, ItrustI’ll see you in five weeks, ready to work hard. We have a massive proposal to write to upend the entire justice system.”
“I expect nothing less.”
I smirk. “Text me immediately if Aden tries any more of that alpha shit.”
“Will do. Seeya soon, boss.”
I whistle as I walk out of the building that held my soul captive for the past six years, and I don’t look back. The future calls to me with its endless possibilities and the sweet promise of a pack to share it with.
Chapter sixty-four
Red
“Are you sure you’re okay to do this?” Callisto asks for the third time since we left home.
I nod silently and hold out my hand. He passes me a wooden box the size of a cooking tray. The box itself is light, weighing barely more than a bag of apples, but we all know it holds an invisible heaviness. The intangible burden drags on my arms as I walk forward under the pine trees.
Butterflies flit through slanted sunbeams, the summer heat trapped around the roughened trunks sending sweat trickling down my breasts. My gaze flits like the winged insects, tracing the steep hillside. The last time I was here, I ran for my life from Ray only to be dragged by my hair back up this incline.
