I climbed out of bed, careful not to wake him, and found my discarded dress. After sliding it over my head, I took one last look at Fen, exhaled a deep sigh, and left.
The walk of shame back to my house was blessedly uneventful. I didn’t run into anyone, which thankfully, gave me more time to come up with an excuse to give my brother. But Mill wasn’t an idiot. If his best friend and little sister went missing together for three days, he would undoubtedly know what had happened.
Deciding I would be honest when the time came, I let myself into my house, stalked to the bathroom, and climbed into the shower to scrub off Fen’s delicious smell. Admittedly, it was a shame to wash it down the drain, but the same reasons I wouldn’t entertain the idea of dating him before still remained in the cold light of day.
He was Mill’s best friend. A playboy. A heartbreaker. And I didn’t have time for any of that. I had given my life to the pack, and silly things like mates and love had no place in my orderly routine.
What about a baby?
That was always a possibility. I’d been serviced during a heat, and most of the time, that would result in a pregnancy. I’d certainly thought about becoming a mother before, even on my own. But I wanted that with a mate, with someone who desired it as much as I did. Fen had raised Lyra on his own, and she’d turned out okay. If it came to it, I could co-parent with him. It wouldn’t be ideal, but we’d work it out.
Like the rest, I’d cross that bridge if the time came. I’d probably bleed anyway. It wouldn’t stick.
But what if it did?
What if…
I touched my stomach, imagining a little version of Fen and me growing in there this very moment.
No.
Don’t worry about that now.
I shoved it to the back of my mind and finished getting ready. Once I was dressed, fed, and refreshed, I went to the infirmary to check in on Briggs.
“There you are,” they said with a smile and a knowing look. “Feeling okay?”
I steeled myself against the mischief dancing behind their eyes. “Of course. Why?”
They rolled their eyes. “C’mon, Wyn. We all know what happened.”
Damn it.
“I lost track of time,” I said. “I didn’t realize it was about to come until it did and?—”
“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Briggs said. “But I don’t know why you didn’t come here to get knocked out. You didn’t have to suffer through it.”
Suffering wasn’t the word I’d use. My time with Fen had been…more than satisfactory. Thinking about his dark gaze and capable hands pulsed hot desire straight between my legs.
“By the time it hit, it was too late,” I explained.
“Was it—” They’d been about to say Fenris, but I cut them off before they could.
“How are we doing?” I glanced around, noting the few occupied rooms. “Did Justine deliver the pups?”
“All safe and well,” they said, and they went through the rest of the patients, catching me up on everything I’d missed. That was the thing I appreciated the most about Briggs. They knew when to pry and when to back off.
The day went on. I did my rounds, helped where I could, and made my way back to my office to go through charts. After that, I headed to the lab to continue my research on Mill’s blood. The relationship he had with his mate fascinated me; their blood bond was more delicate than anything I’d ever seen before. It almost seemed symbiotic. He changed, she changed. He moved, she countered. It didn’t make sense, though magic rarely did.
I could spend my entire life studying it only for it to mutate and upend everything I thought I knew. Was it unique to Mill and Maeve? Or would these traits start to show up in other shifters, as well?
My thoughts started to spiral, and when my eyes burned with exhaustion, I gave it up for the day. I went back to my office and settled behind my desk, running my fingers over my temples as I went through my mental checklist of everything I still had to do. That settled, I returned to my reports, scribbling notes and reading through medical histories on my computer. I let myself be so consumed in my work, I didn’t sense him coming.
“You know,” Fen said. “It’s not often a female runs out before I’ve had the chance to make her breakfast.”
The deep tenor of his voice skated down my spine in a gentle wave, the caress similar to the way his fingertips pet me in between bouts of heat. I tensed to hide my tremble and glanced at him, steeling myself against his gorgeously smug smile and incredulously raised eyebrow. He crossed his arms and leaned against the jamb, the muscles in his forearms on display. Now that I knew just how hard those arms were, I reminded myself it had only been the pheromones. This meant nothing more to him.
“I can imagine that must be very detrimental to your ego,” I said, returning to my work.
