Mmmm, no, given Riley was with us. Riley. We needed to take her somewhere else. Due to the late hour, all I could think of was the sister pack.
“I think it would be best to let us go. Or at least let myself, Brennan, or Wes leave with her. She needs to be at home. Grace can be… delicate and she needs an alpha.” I wasn’t sure if telling anyone that Grace was in heat would mean anything. Certainly, I didn’t want to explain specifics about her health to strangers.
“Many like her are. Let me check and see where things are,” she replied.
“Could we have our phones back, please? Or could I at least have mine?” We needed to be prepared.
“I will.” She closed the door.
“Well, that was reasonable,” Jett muttered.
I got the feeling that if you weren’t breaking their laws, they could be quite cordial.
“Spence?” Grace’s hand reached out, searching for me.
“Darling?” Taking her hand, I kissed it. “You’re not feeling well?”
“My heart hurts.” She started to cry.
Leaning in, I kissed her temple, Brennan still right there under her. Not that I had an issue with it, I just wasn’t used to it. But they were my packmates, my family. Given she’d made no secret of wanting all of us, it was time to adjust.
“Someone is checking to see if we can leave.” I smoothed her hair. Her forehead burned, and her scent was still cloyingly sweet, but not sickly.
“I want to go home.” Tears pricked her eyes. “Rosalind hates me so much that she risked her own life because she didn’t want me to be happy.”
“Fuck Rosalind,” Brennan told her. He was naked from the waist down, and possibly still knotted to her.
“Don’t let her live for free in your head, she’s not worth it.” Jett knelt by the couch.
“That’s good advice,” I agreed.
The door opened, and that same woman handed me a bag with phones and purses. “I can give you your communication devices. They’d very much like to keep everyone until we can corroborate stories.”
“I’m unsure that Grace will be okay for that long,” I replied. If this relied on Rosalind talking, we’d be here for too long.
“Noted. I’ll do what I can.” She closed the door.
Jett looked up at me from his spot on the floor. “Um, a weird space agency literally took over the Bureau of Investigation’s building. Peoplewillnotice as they show up for work in a few hours.”
“If they’re giving us our phones, they either have no idea what we can do with them here, or they’re about ready to let us go and not erase our memories.” Brennan put his pants back on.
“Not erasing my memories would be nice,” Jett agreed.
“Call out of work for tomorrow, and probably Monday as well.” I took out my phone, put the bag on the conference table, and sat on the other couch.
Grace got off the couch and climbed into my lap. “Can I have tomorrow off? I’m tired and want knots and crepes.”
“Anything you wish.” I kissed the top of her head, as I went into the program on my phone and marked Grace, Wes, Riley, and me off. At least today was Friday, and we’d have the weekend. Though who knew how long it would last? I also marked us off for Monday.
Grace curled in my lap and went to sleep, smelling of sex, Brennan, and very ripe peaches.
“We’ll need someone to watch Riley and the chickens,” I said as I rescheduled my meetings.
Brennan grabbed his phone and looked at me. “Don’t the Chicken Tender people come and get them? Like dog boarding, only with chickens?”
“Usually, they come to your house twice a day. Given the chicks are not in the coop yet, it’s best to ask the sister pack to take them.” I added a few basics to my online grocery cart for immediate express delivery. We’d worry about the post-heat feast later.
“Why are we doing this?” Brennan was on his phone.
