Estelle and I head to the kitchen while Zara gets a shower. Half an hour later, Zara drags herself out of the bedroom and leans heavily against me while I stand against the kitchen counter. “Tired, Pocket?” I kiss the top of her damp hair and wrap my arms around her to pull her close. “Exhausted.” She yawns and wraps her arms tighter around my waist. I move her hair off the back of her shirt and rub slow circles to help soothe her. I can feel how tired she is through our mate bond. “Too exhausted for dinner?” Mom asks from her spot at the breakfast bar. “And we’re all dying to hear more about your development for the sigma cure, Zara.” “I would love some dinner. Thank you, Mom.” Zara pulls away from my hug and smiles at Mom. I pick Zara up and sit her on the counter so she doesn’t have to stand up. I hand her a plate of food and watch as she takes a few bites. She nods happily at Mom and gives her a thumbs up. Her face brightens up when Mom hands her a tall glass of apple juice.
“You think there’s something wrong with me?” I can’t stop the defensive tone. “What the fuck? There’s nothing wrong with me, Zara.” “Hey, dummy. Haven’t you learned your lesson yet?” Rocky growls. “Stupid human ego. Don’t be a jerk to our mate.” “Keller, stop it. No one is saying there’s anything wrong with you.” Estelle steps forward, stopping me from saying anything else, and puts herself between Zara and me. “What she’s saying is, something about you is different from other male werewolves for you to have a sigma for a mate. What if figuring out what that unique thing could help Zara or girls like her? What if there was a way to identify if a wolf is actually a sigma’s mate, not just manipulated or obsessed with one? That would help everyone. Right?”. Behind Estelle, Zara is looking down at her hands in her lap. She swallows hard, trying to fight back tears. All the excited energy is gone, and she looks self-conscious, blinking rapidly as her eyes become watery. The change in he
It takes another hour before we can get everyone to leave, except for Estelle. She and Zara go back into Zara’s office and make a long list of tests Zara would like done on the blood and sweat samples. I keep myself busy in the kitchen, pretending to wipe the counters down and shuffling things around in the pantry. “What are you doing?” Rocky huffs at me. “You’re making me nervous?” “What if things are different once we’re alone with Zara, Rocky?” I confess my worries to him. “What if she doesn’t trust me anymore? I wouldn’t blame her, but the thought of it hurts.” “Since when are you this guy?” He asks me in a tone that makes me think any way I answer is going to be wrong. “What do you mean by ‘this guy’?” I stop what I’m doing and lean back on the counter. “The guy who has zero confidence with a woman?” I can feel him pacing as he becomes more irritated with me. “Okay, but this woman is our MATE, or have you forgotten?” I say, as if I need to remind him who Zara is. “All the
I dream about Rocky and Lavender. They are happy about being reunited and getting to romp around in the deep snow. They play chase and scare fishers and from their burrows, but the rodents disappear from the dream before the wolves can catch them. Lavender’s beautiful tawny fur glimmers in the bright sun beaming against the cloudless blue winter sky. I can feel Rocky’s admiration and love for her. When she lays down next to him and stretches out against his belly, a feeling of contentment doesn’t just fill him, I feel complete as well. “WAKE UP!” Rocky roars in my mind. The sudden jolt of being pulled awake disorients me. “NOW! GET UP!” “Where am I?” I rub my eyes and look around. I’m still in the guest room. The clock says it is seven fifty-seven a.m. My heart is pounding painfully in my chest. All the contentment I was just feeling fades away as Rocky’s anger rises. “What’s wrong, Rocky?” “There’s someone at the door.” He snarls. “Go send them away. We need to protect our mate.”
“Well, think about it rationally. Have you ever heard of someone being salty and still able to be in love?” Heph wipes a few symbols from the board and writes something else. “No. It doesn’t happen. Love isn’t just a chemical, dear girl. It causes a physical reaction that is the opposite of salt. Salt may be a neutral compound, but it has a bitter taste. It destroys love. Chemistry isn’t my strong suit, but even I know that. You need something to strengthen your compound… like… I don’t know… gallium, I guess? Small particles of it. Ever heard the expression, ‘make him melt in your hands’?” He points to the new symbol with the butt of the marker. Zara nods her head at him, too afraid to speak, but curious about what the man is getting at. “Well, that’s love, beta-carotene, and hemoglobin.” He writes another chemical structure with some letters on the board. “I assume you are trying to get this inside someone’s body, right? If there’s one thing I am an expert on, it’s metals. There’s
Zara’s POV Once the temperature in the penthouse is under control, Keller gets the step stool for me, so it’s easier to reach the tall parts of the whiteboard. He even helps me take pictures of the new information Heph gave me with the tablet. He emails everything to me, so I have access to it on the computer. When I finish transcribing the photos to my spreadsheets and documents, I will have to ask Estelle if she has any results from the tests I asked her to run. We are so close. This could really be the missing puzzle piece. Where did my pen go? It’s okay, I have another. How great would it be to let Lavender out and get to test a physical solution basically at the same time? I can’t wait to talk to her. She’s probably going to be really mad at me, but she’ll get past it. I have so much to tell her. I hope she can see past her temporary imprisonment to be happy for me and proud of what I’ve accomplished. She’s going to be excited that she gets to be part of the experiments. I be
I’m vaguely aware of Keller coming in and putting a sandwich in my hands. I may have even eaten a few bites, but I can’t remember for sure. The words move from the computer screen into my brain and nestle in, making themselves comfortable until it feels like my head is full of alphabet soup. My eyes are dry and itchy from staring at the computer for so long. I save my documents and lean back in the chair to rub my eyes. The clock behind the whiteboards says it’s four-thirty. I take time to stop and look out the window for a moment. The snow in the dying light of the day makes me smile. Serene and quiet. It's a beautiful sight. How is this my life? I thought it would take years to prove myself in scientific circles to work independently on a project. Let alone one that helps me. What would Mom and Dad think if they could see me now? I think back to my last conversation with Mom. She said she and Dad had orders from Alpha Williams. Were they just following orders my whole life, or did
Sometimes, I lose track of time, but Keller keeps me grounded. I swear he can sense when I’m getting frustrated. He comes into the office and pulls me away from work, so I don’t get burnt out. I’m so grateful to have him. He wipes my tears and pulls all the pens out of my bun. I don’t even remember putting them there. Sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself. He never complains, and he never gets mad at me anymore. Sometimes I swear I can hear voices coming from the nursery. Keller can’t hear them. He checks every time I tell him someone is in there, but the room is always empty. He even had Phil come over to make sure there were no hidden cameras or speakers or anything in there that could make the noises. They found nothing. I don’t think they believe me. Sometimes, I lose track of what I’m doing. It doesn’t bother me that much, but I think it scares everyone else. One night, Amy and Phil came to hang out with me while Keller was working. I showed Phil how far I ha