“Why are you up so early?”
I shrug. “Couldn’t sleep.”
“No. No news on Carson, but we’re looking.”
A hum falls from my lips.
“And from what I’ve investigated, it seems he was working alone. I’m still going to keep an eye on everyone, but I think now they know you have the same powers as Ryker, they’re shitting their pants.”
I press my mouth into a thin line. “I don’t want my powers to be something they’re terrified of, like I’ll turn into him, or for them to abide by orders just because they don’t want to get on the wrong side of me.”
Felix crosses his arms. “You’re a good Alpha, Caleb,” he states earnestly. “You’d never use them for anything unless you needed to.”
“Yeah,” I murmur. “Not to scare them and get them to fall in line.”
“And soon enough, they’ll know that.”
There’s a knock at my office door as Aimee steps inside.
“Alpha, Evan is here.”
I place down my pen and stand up. “We’ll talk more later,” I say.
As soon as I make it to the front door, I find Evan standing there with an oversized jumper that covers his hands. I drink him in with my eyes. We’ve been seeing each other as much as we can, and I want him to move in with me again, now that we don’t have to hide. But Evan has a new routine he needs to stick to for now, which I respect. I don’t want to disrupt his recovery when he’s been coping alone.
“Hey,” I say softly as I walk towards him before pressing a kiss to his lips. “How are you?”
“I’m okay,” he admits. “Just…taking it one day at a time.”
My hand brushes across the side of his head. I flick my gaze down to his nose to find a ring sitting through his nostril. “Did you change your piercing?”
“Yeah, about time I finally got a ring,” he says as he adjusts it. “Do you like it?”
I release a grunt as I nod. “Fuck, yeah. It’s hot. It looks so good on you.”
He flashes me a grin. “I’ve wanted to change it for ages.”
“Are you hungry?” I ask. “I can make us lunch.”
Evan’s eyes light up as we head towards the kitchen.
“How are you?” he asks.
“Better,” I confess. “Like you, taking it one day at a time.”
The corner of his lip twitches.
We get to work making sandwiches before sitting at the counter, thigh to thigh, as we eat.
“You have colour back in your face,” he says as he strokes my cheek. “You were grey for a little too long. I’ve been worried about you.”
“I’m coming round,” I murmur as I kiss his palm before he drops it onto his lap. “Eating better, getting back into training, and building up muscle. I never want to feel that weak again.”
“Your body went through a lot,” he says softly. “At least you can heal properly. Give yourself time. It’s not a race.”
I nod at his wise words. “You’re right. It’s not.”
Once we’ve finished lunch, we head up to my bedroom, where we sit on my bed, and I wrap him up in my arms.
