"You have nothing to be sorry for." I tighten my hold on her. "Taking care of him after everything he did just shows what a good person you are. Better than me. Better than any of us."
She presses closer.
We stand there in the damp morning air. My purr steady. Her warmth against my chest.
Behind the window, I see a shape step back into the shadows of the cabin.
Rhys, giving us the room.
The fear doesn't go away.
Drake is still inside. Still a problem I don't know how to solve. Alex's flag is still a wall between us and the future I want. The registry could still take her from us.
But right now Vee is here.
Choosing to be close to me.
And through the window there's a packmate who is glad she has this. Who watched her grieve last night with what looked like wonder. Who stepped back from the window this morning to give me space I needed without being asked.
I'll take what I have.
I'll take whatever she gives me for however long I get to have it.
And for the first time since Drake walked out of the rain last night, the shaking in my hands finally stops.
Chapter 22
Jasper
Arden's office is on the third floor of the Omega Protection Agency building. It’s a corner office with big windows. The kind of space that says he's good at what he does.
I stand outside the door for a full minute before I knock.
My phone has seventeen missed calls from him and twenty-three unread texts. The most recent one just says:Please.
I've been avoiding him since Vee's heat. Since she ended up on that porch alone, burning up, vulnerable, while I was fifty feet away doing nothing.
I knock.
"Come in."
He sounds steady. Professional. The tone he uses with clients.
Not with me.
Never with me.
I open the door.
Arden is behind his desk. Dark hair pushed back like he's been running his hands through it in frustration, eyes focused, button-down with the sleeves rolled up and no tie.
He looks tired.
The tension in the room is immediate. Thick enough to choke on.
"Jasper." He says my name like a statement. An accusation.
"Hey."
