There's a long silence.
Finally: "Fine. Bring him. A consult. That's it."
Jasper hums. "I'll set it up."
"He doesn't get to make decisions for my pack."
"No. But he can tell you whether the choices you've already made are sustainable. Or salvageable."
My head buzzes.
Specialists. OPA. Salvageable.
I've heard enough.
I ease back from the wall, heart thudding dully. Marie does too, mirroring me without taking her eyes off the door.
"They're talking about you," she whispers.
"No. They're talking about a version of me they thought they had."
Her mouth twists. "He's just trying to—"
"I don't care what he's trying to do. I'm tired of being a project. Why can’t they just leave me alone?"
We stare at each other. For one second there's something like understanding between us—two women orbiting the same black hole.
Then her chin tips up, defensiveness sliding back. "You really scared him at the zoo. He's not going to let that go."
"I didn't push you." The words are flat now. Worn.
"I know what I felt. But..." Her eyes flick toward the office. "Maybe he went too far with the nest. I think it would have broken me too."
The understatement is almost funny.
"Maybe."
I step around her carefully, pick up the laundry basket, and walk away before the conversation can turn into anything else.
In my room, the chair waits. The bed is a blank slab in the corner.
I sink into the chair, dragging the thin green throw over my knees. Outside, Finn's silhouette moves around his kitchen window. Somewhere in their house, someone laughs.
"Help," I mutter to the empty air. "They want to help."
The thought makes my skin crawl.
What I want is to be left alone long enough to figure out what parts of me are mine.
I tuck my feet under me and stare at the dark glass until my eyes sting.
***
The specialist arrives two days later.
I know because the whole house changes shape around him.
I'm in the kitchen, rinsing coffee cups, when a new scent threads through the air—warm amber, cedar, something clean underneath. Alpha, definitely, but not a blunt impact. More like a steady heat.
