“Yeah, that’s either a mate bond or some seriously intense horniness. Hard to tell the difference sometimes.”
“Helpful.”
“I know,” Elise said sympathetically. “So what are you going to do?”
She stared at her laptop screen, currently displaying a half-finished security analysis she couldn’t care less about. What was she going to do? Pine pathetically from afar? Pretend nothing had happened and maintain a professional distance? That seemed like the sensible option, the responsible option, the option that wouldn’t lead to her getting her heart broken by an emotionally unavailable Alpha werewolf who would almost certainly end up mating with some beautiful, powerful she-wolf.
But she was tired of being sensible.
She’d spent her entire life being sensible. Being careful. Being the smart, dependable girl who never took risks, never reached for things she wanted, never let herself need anyone or anything because need was vulnerability and vulnerability was how you got hurt.
And where had sensible gotten her? Alone in a pack house pining after a male she couldn’t have, already more invested in this stupid assignment than she’d been in anything for years.
Maybe it was time to try something different.
“I think,” she said slowly, “I want to see where this goes. Whatever ‘this’ is.”
“Good for you!” Elise’s enthusiastic response made her smile. “Just… be careful with him. He’s carrying a lot of baggage, and he’s not going to make it easy.”
“When has anything worthwhile ever been easy?” she countered, feeling a spark of her usual defiance returning. “But I need to finish up here. The security breach won’t investigate itself.”
“Call me if you need anything. And I mean anything, Harper. Even if you just want to complain about werewolf idiocy.”
“I will,” she promised, and meant it. “Thanks, Elise.”
After ending the call, she sat for a long moment, staring at the beautiful, ancient forest outside her window. A week ago, this entire situation would have terrified her. A remote pack of werewolves, an Alpha with trust issues, a job with political minefields at every turn.
Now… Now she just felt determined.
She returned to her desk and pulled up the backdoor code, her mind shifting from romantic confusion to analytical focus. The breach was her entry point into pack security, the leverage she needed to prove her worth beyond Adrian’s support. If she could trace the breach back to its source, identify who was trying to compromise the pack, she wouldn’t just be the outsider with pink hair and strange ideas about security.
She’d be the person who had saved them.
Chapter Fifteen
For Adrian, the day began with a restlessness that had him pacing the confines of his quarters like a caged animal. Every sound was too loud, every scent too potent. The pack’s normal bustle felt abrasive, the casual interactions of his wolves grating on nerves stretched taut as piano wire.
His wolf was a constant, demanding presence at the edge of his consciousness—pacing, snarling, pushing for release. It wanted the hunt. It wanted to run. It wanted Harper.
And she was everywhere.
He stood at the edge of his office—his office, in his pack house—and watched her work at what used to be his desk. She’d commandeered it that morning, claiming the positioning was optimal for the new network installation. He’d meant to object. He’d opened his mouth to remind her that an Alpha’s workspace wasn’t up for grabs.
Then she’d looked up at him with those intelligent grey eyes, pushed her glasses up her nose, and asked if he had a problem with sharing.
He hadn’t been able to form words.
Now she sat cross-legged in his chair—her shoes kicked off somewhere, probably under the desk where he’d have to look at them every time he walked past—typing at a speed that shouldn’t have been humanly possible. Her pink hair was piled on top of her head in a messy knot, secured with what appeared to be a pencil. Her shirt, a vintage Led Zeppelin concert t-shirt, had a small tear near the collar.
Just a tiny rip in the fabric. Nothing significant. Except that it exposed a sliver of collarbone, and he couldn’t stop staring at it.
Mine.
His wolf stirred in his chest, pressing against his control with increasing urgency.
“Hey, you okay?”
He realized he’d been standing in the doorway for an embarrassingly long time. She was watching him now, head tilted, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
