“I was?—”
“Ignoring me.” The words came out as a growl. “Completely shut off. Like I wasn’t even here.”
Guilt pricked at her chest, immediately followed by a flare of defensiveness. “There’s a massive cyberattack happening. Millions of users’ data is at risk. Your brother’s company?—”
“I know what’s at risk.” He released the wheel, turning his body fully towards her. In the confined space of the truck cab, he seemed to fill every inch of available room. “What I don’t know is why my mate can’t spare me a single word.”
“I was working.”
“You were somewhere else entirely.” His voice dropped, rough with hurt as much as anger. “One minute you’re in my arms,agreeing to be mine. The next, you’ve vanished inside your own head and I can’t reach you.”
She opened her mouth to argue, then closed it. He wasn’t wrong. She’d done exactly what she always did—retreated into the comfort of logic and code when emotions got too big, too overwhelming. It was her oldest defense mechanism, honed over years of being the orphan who didn’t quite fit, the genius who related better to machines than people.
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want your apology.” He reached out, his hand cupping her jaw with surprising gentleness given the tension radiating from his body. “I want you to tell me what’s going on in that brilliant head of yours, kitten. I want you to let me in.”
“The attack on TalkToMe…” She swallowed, forcing herself to meet his intense gaze. “It’s connected to the security vulnerabilities I found in the pack’s systems. Same attack signatures. Same patterns. Someone is targeting both.”
His eyes flared gold. “You’re sure?”
“Ninety-three percent certain. I’ll need to do a full analysis to confirm, but?—”
“That’s not what I meant.” His thumb stroked across her cheekbone. “I meant, why didn’t you just tell me that instead of shutting me out?”
Why didn’t she? Because sharing her thought process felt vulnerable. Because she was used to being alone in her head. Because letting someone into the messy, rapid-fire chaos of her analytical mind felt more intimate than anything they’d done in that bedroom.
“I don’t know how,” she admitted quietly. “This is how I’ve always been. When there’s a problem, I go inside myself to solve it. I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”
Something in his expression softened, though the intensity remained. “You’re not alone anymore, kitten. Whatever this threat is, we face it together. You’re my mate. Your battles are my battles.”
“Adrian…”
“I know the city world, the tech world, that’s your territory. I know I’m out of my depth there.” His jaw tightened like the admission cost him. “But that doesn’t mean you leave me standing outside while you fight. You let me stand with you, even if all I can do is watch your back.”
Her throat tightened. No one had ever wanted to stand with her before. Not really. She’d always been the useful one, the clever one, the one people came to when they needed problems solved. Not the one people wanted to simply be with.
“I don’t know if I can change overnight.”
“I’m not asking for overnight.” His hand slid from her jaw to the back of her neck, pulling her closer. “I’m asking for right now. Tell me what you need.”
What did she need? The question felt odd. She was so used to figuring out what she needed on her own and providing it for herself.
“I need to stop this attack,” she said slowly. “I need to find out who’s behind it and why they’re targeting both TalkToMe and the pack. I need…” She took a breath. “I need you to not be angrywith me when I get lost in my work. Because I will. It’s who I am.”
“And I need you to at least try to come back to me.” His grip tightened. “To let me know what’s happening. I can handle you being focused. I can’t handle you disappearing.”
“That’s fair.”
“Also.” His voice dropped to something darker, more dangerous. “I need you to understand that watching you slip away from me twenty minutes after you agreed to be my mate made my wolf want to tear this truck apart.”
Heat flooded through her, cutting through the analytical fog that had dominated her thoughts. “Your wolf?”
“He’s very possessive.” His eyes gleamed gold. “He’s wanted you since the moment we met. Tonight he finally had you, and then you were just… gone. He didn’t like it.”
“And what about you?” The question came out more breathless than she intended.
“I liked it even less.”
