He barely tolerated me on the days he remembered I existed.
So whatever that flicker in my chest was, whatever my wolf thought he sensed, it didn’t matter. It couldn’t matter. Not with everything at stake.
Cooper studied me, eyes sharp.
“Is there a problem, Chris?” Cooper asked.
I straightened. “No, alpha. I’m just processing,” I answered quickly.
“Then process fast.” Cooper’s voice softened. “Look, I’m not blind. I know this assignment is unusual, and potentially uncomfortable. But you’re a strong trainee. Smart. Dedicated. You’ve been showing promise since the day you stepped into this pack. And Jaime…” He glanced at the other wolf. “Jaime has the skills we need on the canine side.”
Skills, sure. But could we convince people we were a couple? Could we work together without strangling each other?
Could I spend days next to him without my wolf reacting like someone had just dangled destiny in front of its nose?
“Chris.” Cooper’s tone sharpened.
I snapped to attention. “Yes, alpha?”
“If you can’t do this, tell me now. Early enough that I can find a replacement. No shame in backing out if you’re not ready,” Cooper said.
His words hit like a punch. Disappointment, sharp and bitter, rose before I could stop it.
This mission, this chance, might be exactly what I needed to prove myself. To earn my place. To make sure no one ever thought the mountain-boy-without-a-pack was weak or uncertain.
I looked at Jaime again. His storm-gray eyes met mine. Steady and unblinking. Jaime was cool as cucumber.
But just for half a second, although it was barely there, I felt something flicker in the air between us.
Recognition? Curiosity? A spark? Or maybe that was just me, wanting something I had no business wanting. Still, my wolf pressed forward. Insistent.
Almost like he sensed something deeper. Something old and important. I drew a breath, let it steady me, and closed my hand into a fist at my side. I made up my mind.
“I can do this,” I said. “I want to do this. I won’t let you down.”
Cooper’s mouth curved into a satisfied smile.
“Good. Then pack your bags, gentlemen. You’re going undercover,” Cooper said.
“Guess we’re partners, then,” Jaime said.
The word scraped warm across my nerves.
Partners. Pretend partners. Fake spouses for a mission. A cover story. And yet something in my wolf stirred like it had been waiting for those words all along.
I ignored it. Mostly.
But as Cooper began outlining the mission details, I couldn’t shake the feeling that stepping into that dog show beside Jaime wasn’t going to be simple.
Not professionally or personally, and definitely not in the way my wolf reacted whenever Jaime so much as breathed near me.
Something was waiting for us. Something dangerous. Something tangled up in human-shifter tensions. But something else too. Something I didn’t dare name yet.
Something that felt suspiciously like fate.
2
JAIME
