Chapter 101
Logan
I’d dismissed the staff an hour ago, claiming I needed uninterrupted time to review the latest budget packets and inter–pack proposals.
Truth was, I needed space. But not from work.
The reports lay scattered across my desk, but my eyes kept circling back to
set of updates, specifically a new
software acquisition tied to data security improvements and resource fra
Sounded useful. Looked expensive. But what bothered me wasn’t the cost. It was the ion attached to it.
Three of the bullet points mirrored language pulled from an internal meino I’d reviewed with Emily two weeks ago. A memo that hadn’t been circulated widely.
tank given juliau temporary access to while Emily was compiling her team’s
recovery analysis.
I tapped the side of the tablet with my thumb, a slow rhythm building as I scanned the digital logs Julian had appended to the latest system request form.
Routine access. Multiple late–night entries. One timestamp stood out–two hours afte
Coincidence?
Possibly. But I didn’t believe in those.
Emily logged off.
I minimized the report and opened Julian’s employee file. No formal red flags. Above aver respectful. Efficient. Maybe even a little overeager.
But that eagerness had always been toward Emily. And now it was creeping int
many shared points of data between him and my stepbrother.
My jaw tightened.
other
performance metrics. He’d been
places–too many aligned entries, too
I wasn’t angry yet. But my fists curled up, tense and ready. It was the same instinct that had protected my Pack since I was old enough to carry my father’s name.
I scrolled back up and flagged the logs. I just wanted the timestamps. A record.
Once I had what I needed, I closed the files and leaned back, pinching the bridge of my nose. The tension b become familiar lately.
Emily was putting distance between us again. It was like seeing her ex had reopened a scar she thought had healed.
veves had
Maybe it was the media. Maybe she knew about the surprise meeting with
my
fath
Hells, maybe it was just me.
I stood, shoving the chair back with a low scrape against the floor and left the just needed air.
roo
without turning off the lights. I told myself I
But my feet took me home, towards the other offices. Toward her
The room lights were low, sensors dimming them to amber. The door was cracked slightly, lamplight spilling out in a pool. I slowed.
Emily was inside. Standing by her desk. I could see her profile through the opening: head slightly bowed; brow furrowed in
focus.
Her hand slid something into the bottom drawer. A folder, thick and bound. She locked the drawer quickly and slipped the key back into the side pocket of her coat before turning to gather the rest of her things.
I stayed still, just beyond the edge of her vision.
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Chapter 101
+25 BONUS
I was spying. But I didn’t want to interrupt her if she didn’t want nie to see whatever it was she just tucked away like it burned her fingers.
After a beat, I stepped back into the shadowed hallway. Let her hav It. Let her keep it. Whatever she needed
But I stored the moment, quietly, the way I did when I didn’t yet know which direction the threat might come from.
By the time I made it back home to my rooms, the thought of sleep evaporated. I stripped off my shirt and dropped it across the foot of the bed, not bothering with the rest.
The window overlooking the yard had fogged slightly with the temperature shift, mist clinging to the glass. A few lights still glowed across the grounds, but most of the Pack had turned in.
Except her.
I knew Emily well enough by now to recognize when she was restless. She didn’t flinch often, but when she did, it was quiet. Subtle.
She’d been pulling back ever since Silverroot. Not all at once–just small steps, each one invisible to the untrained eye. But I saw them. I felt them.
And tonight, watching her lock something away… that was another step.
My fingers curled into a loose fist at my side.
It wasn’t just that she was hiding something. It was that she didn’t trust me with it. And the worst part? I couldn’t blame her.
There were too many reasons for Emily to protect herself. Her Pack had turned on her. Her family used her. The press tried to dissect her, and I… I had let hesitation and inaction overtake active protection of her.
She’d given me pieces of herself. The sanctuary. Her rare smiles. Her truth during late nights when she wasn’t quite guarding it.
But what had I given her?
I crossed the room to my tablet and opened the proposal packet Julian had submitted earlier this week.
Reid had initialed a note in the margins, something about future scalability, referencing a potential media database
Odd. That wasn’t part of the original brief.
I skipped to the last page. A signature box. Julian’s handwriting. Neat. Formal. But rushed. The timestam at hed one of the late–night logins I’d flagged earlier.
I sank to the edge of the bed, letting the facts settle in my chest.
Emily trusted him. Or at least she wanted to. I’d seen them walking together, heads bent low over shared screens. Her posture eased around him in ways it hadn’t around me lately.
I didn’t think she was naïve, but I also knew how lonely she’d been And Julian was convenient. Attentive. Always nearby.
I hated the thought.
Another text pinged on my phone. “Final courier batch came through. You wanted the press overview tonight?”
I stood, thumbs tapping a quick response. “Tomorrow.”
I peeked my head out into the hall and could just make out the faint glow beneath Emily’s door.
I didn’t need to know everything she was holding back. Not yet. Bu part of me itched to knock. To ask. To pull whatever truth she was hiding into the light and make it mine.
But that would be the wrong move.
Emily didn’t respond well to pressure. She met it with silence or fire, depending on the day. And I wanted neither. Not tonight.
Chapter 101
+25 BONUS
So I watched her shadow pass by the door once. Then again. Then vanish entirely.
There was a knot in my chest that hadn’t loosened in days. A familiar feeling, but unwelcome.
I didn’t know what she was hiding. I didn’t know if it had anything to do with Reid. Or the case. Or her past.
But I knew one thing with bone–deep certainty: Something was sitting between us again. And I needed to make sure she shifted towards me, and not away.
