I should back off. Should slow down, let her get ahead, give her space. That was what a rational person would do.
Instead, my foot caught on a raised crack in the sidewalk and I stumbled. Not badly, just enough to make noise. To make obvious, human-sounding footsteps echo through the quiet street.
Riley started running.
My wolf whined, distressed and guilty. We didn’t mean to frighten her - That’s when my phone buzzed. Thessa.
Thessa:I’m watching from across the street. Did you just trip?
Thessa:Did you just trip and SCARE YOUR MATE INTO RUNNING?
Thessa:This is the worst surveillance I’ve ever witnessed
Thessa:And I once watched Uncle Brennan try to spy on the Noctherion ambassador
So I was following Riley, and Thessa was followingme? I would’ve laughed of this shitshow if I wasn’t stressed the fuck out for making my mate scared. I saw Riley burst through the door of the tattoo shop on the ground floor, disappearing inside,and I was left standing in the shadows feeling like the worst kind of monster.
Thessa:She’s inside. She’s safe. Now GET OUT OF THERE before someone sees you
I retreated to an alley across the street, pressing myself into the shadows. I watched through the tattoo shop window as three large men immediately surrounded Riley. One of them went outside, scanned the street, and I held my breath.
I moved to a mailbox, pretending to inspect it with great interest, angling my body away from the shop. The man looked right at me, but his gaze slid past without recognition. Humans had terrible night vision, and I was just a guy checking his mail. Nothing suspicious about that at all.
He went back inside. I retreated deeper into the shadows.
Thessa:Did you just pretend to check a mailbox?
Caelan:It worked.
Thessa:You looked like a man who has never seen a mailbox before.
Thessa:I’m going home for real now. You’re on your own. Don’t get arrested.
I watched Riley spend the next two hours in the shop, playing cards with the men, slowly relaxing. Her color returned. Her hands stopped shaking. She laughed at a story one of them told, her whole face lighting up with genuine amusement, andI wanted to know what was so funny. I wanted to be the one making her laugh.
This was good, though. She had people who cared about her. Who protected her.
But they weren’tme, and that fucking bothered me.Iwanted to be the one to care for her and her needs.
***
The next morning, Thessa found me in our rented apartment, surrounded by sticky notes.
“What the hell,” she said from the doorway.
I didn’t look up. I was on page one hundred and forty-seven of Riley’s book, and I had questions. So many questions. The sticky notes were color-coded: yellow for “things humans apparently do during courtship,” pink for “things that seem anatomically improbable,” blue for “questions about wolf accuracy,” and green for “scenes that made my wolf lose its mind.”
There were a lot of green sticky notes.
“She’s talented,” I said, still reading. “The emotional depth of the protagonist is remarkable. And the alpha’s obsession is portrayed with nuance. Though I have concerns about the heat cycle mechanics.”
Thessa walked over and peered at my notes. Her eyebrows climbed toward her hairline.
“Did you annotate her entire book?”
“I’m on chapter twelve.”
“There are sticky notes on every single page.”
