Later, after she retreats to her room, I climb into bed beside Rowan. He sits with his back to the headboard, tablet in hand, reading security reports or financial statements, or whatever occupies the Alpha’s attention before sleep.
“Your sister said you were distracted tonight,” he says without looking up.
The little tattletale. They share everything now,forming a united front when they think I’m being difficult.
“Got an email from our old building manager.” I settle onto the pillows, watching his profile. “Repairs are complete. Our unit’s available.”
Rowan sets the tablet aside, turning to study me. “Planning to move back?”
“No.” The answer comes without hesitation, surprising me with its certainty.
His hand finds mine beneath the covers, fingers intertwining. “Good.”
I snuggle up to his side, nuzzle his hip, and close my eyes, listening to Rowan’s steady breathing. The sound lulls me toward sleep, as constant and unwavering as his presence in our lives has become.
This arrangement might really work long-term.
My fingers tighten around his beneath the blankets.
Tomorrow, I’ll delete the email about our old apartment. We're never going back there.
17
Isquint against the bright screen of the tablet, studying the security plans for my next job. The large loft windows let in gray light, the cityscape beyond blurred by snow flurries.
A mild headache throbs at my temples, but I ignore it as I drag two fingers across the blueprint, zooming into the stairwell. Rowan had finally green-lit another attempt to pull the information Danny hid from the Vartanian family, and I need to be ready to get our team in and out cleanly.
The Harmon Building is a private data center that advertises greater security than public servers offer. It took some work to get my hands on the building’s security plans and layout. The front door is mounted in a reinforced frame, which is a solid choice. There’sa panic bar over the service entrance. Code-compliant, but exploitable. Camera placement is decent, but predictable.
My brain moves faster than my hands, mapping pressure points, tracing weaknesses, and building a thousand ways in and out.
I pat the surface of the desk until my fingers bump my coffee mug, and I lift it to my lips. Lukewarm, bitter coffee dregs fill my mouth, and my nose wrinkles, but I swallow, chasing the caffeine boost needed to focus past the fog in my mind from when I woke up.
Despite the cold beverage, a slow heat coils in my stomach, and I pause, fingers hovering above the screen.
No.
I breathe in through my nose, waiting for it to pass. It’s a fluctuation, or fatigue, or anything except?—
The warmth spreads, liquid and heavy, sinking into muscle and bone.
Fuck.
I swallow and inhale again, deeper this time, and fill my nose with Rowan’s pheromones. They’re soaked into the wooden desk and leather chair, wrapped into the fabric of the loft itself. Normally, itsits at the edge of my awareness as background noise I’ve learned to ignore.
My stomach cramps, breath shortening as nerves wake one by one, as if someone flipped a switch in my womb and set fire to my veins.
Notnow.
I’ve been taking suppressants daily since we moved in with Rowan, ensuring I wouldn’t go into Heat. Rowan stocks the loft with the good stuff, too, not the cheap pills we used to buy at the gas station.
My phone sits on the desk, the screen lighting up with a text, and I squint to bring it into focus.
Lena
Going to the study group after school. Home by 7.
Panic slices through the creeping fever invading my mind. We don’t have emergency suppressants in the loft, and I’ll be too far gone before I can have them delivered. Rowan will come home, and we’ll?—
