Considering Koios’s attention had already been recaptured by the information on his monitors, Bailey’s reminder was well-timed. “I suppose I should go…stretch or something.”
“I’ll come with you, if you want,” Bailey offered.
“That depends,” Koios said as he rolled back his chair and stood. “Are you planning on providing my sisters with any scoop?”
“I would nev—oh, who am I kidding, I totally would. But I won’t if you ask me not to. You can trust me.”
And Koios did, which was one more thing to add to his list of confounding events from the past few months. Not the least of which was him sitting through the entire pack dinner the night before.
“Then yes, I would appreciate the company,” Koios said.
Bailey’s eyes brightened and his mouth widened into one of his beaming smiles. Koios hadn’t been on the receiving end of one of them in a long time. He’d forgotten the alpha-mate’s power.
“The warehouse is closed,” Bailey said as Koios reached for his cloak. “Eric is working his shift out front, but he won’t let anyone but Ben inside.”
Koios dropped his hand and turned to look at Bailey. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Bailey asked.
He looked genuinely confused.
“For reminding me that I’m safe here.”
Bailey’s mouth twisted and he wrinkled up his nose as they walked down the hall together. “Was that what I was doing? I suppose so. I want you to be comfortable here, and I know you aren’t so…yeah. But you did stay for dinner last night, which was awesome.”
“Ishouldtell you how much I enjoyed it, but then you’ll make me attend more of them.”
Bailey laughed. “Probably so. I’m glad you enjoyed pack dinner. It means a lot to me to have everyone together at least once a week. We’re all so busy, but we’re family. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I like the idea of having us all together for at least one meal a week. It keeps us connected.”
Koios agreed. He’d learned more about the pack at that one meal than he’d discovered in months of being an onlooker.
“Are you really going to teach Emily your system? She seemed really into the idea. I didn’t even know she was interested in computers and security.”
“I didn’t either,” Koios replied. “But I’ve learned recently that having backup plans is important.”
“As Logan always says, one is none, two is one, and three is better.”
Koios couldn’t argue with the logic. It gave him one more thing to think about. He opened the door to the training room and found Gideon setting up a pair of unusual tables on either side of the massage bed. The pack’s resident vampire and primary training guru hadstrongopinions about the need for massage. Who knew vampires cared so much about blood flow?
“Cut it out,” Gideon threatened. “I know what you’re thinking, and it isn’t funny.”
“What’d I do?” Bailey asked.
“Not you.” Gideon flicked his wrist in Koios’s direction. “Him.”
“I’m so confused.” Bailey glanced at Koios, then back at Gideon. “What’s he thinking? He never gives away anything on his face.”
“I’m stoic,” Koios said.
“Stoic, my ass,” Gideon replied. “And he finds it amusing that I am a proponent of massage as it involves increasing blood flow.”
Bailey’s eyes widened. “Oh my goddess, is that really the reason? That’s so interesting. And terrifying because you did that thing when I hurt my knee, and you were kinda obsessed with?—”
“Bails,” Gideon said, cutting Bailey off before he could babble his way to oblivion.
“What?”
“Come help me. I need to secure these bolsters to the tables for Ben. Koios, you should get changed.”
