Chapter 86
Logan
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I scanned the weekly reports in silence, each page delivering more of what I already knew but didn’t want to read again. Production numbers were stable. Trade routes secure.
Morale among the staff? Less so.
Buried in the margins of the personnel notes were things no one sd outright but still managed to find their way to paper.
Uncertainty around Emily’s authority.
Perception of distance.
Reluctance to engage after the latest press fallout.
It wasn’t the first time her name had shown up between the lines. I doubted it would be the last.
But it was the first time I found myself gripping the edge of my desk so tightly my knuckles went white.
It wasn’t just her reputation they were gossiping about–it was her very presence. Her silence. Her slow withdrawal from the rhythm of this place, and from me.
And maybe I deserved it.
The printer clicked off another page I wouldn’t bother reading. I shoved back from the desk and stood, needing movement. Action. Something.
I found her near the central corridor, walking fast, tablet clutched to her chest like armor. Her hair was pulled back in a quick knot, strands loose around her temples. Efficient. Controlled.
Everything she thought she needed to be here.
She didn’t see me until we were nearly shoulder to shoulder.
“Emily,” I said, gentling my tone. “Got a minute?”
She paused, polite but already tense. “Is this about the export chain corrections? I sent an update to Julian’s inbox this morning.”
“It’s not about that.” I tried to offer something like a smile, not too warm, not too forced. “I was thinking we could take a break from all this. Just dinner. You and me.”
Her eyebrows lifted just slightly, guarded. “Dinner?”
“Nothing formal. No press, no planning committee. Just a meal,” added, too quickly. “Figured we’ve both earned one.”
She blinked once, then smiled–but it didn’t reach her eyes. “That’s kind of you, Logan. But I’ve got a backlog of department evaluations to finalize tonight. Maybe another time.”
Maybe another time. Not no, but close enough.
She shifted the tablet in her grip, already angling to move past.
“Emily-” I started.
She stopped, barely turning her head. I caught the tight line of her jaw, the way her spine stayed perfectly straight. Waiting for whatever justification I might try to make next.
I didn’t offer one. Instead, I nodded and stepped aside. “Let me know when the timing’s better.‘
She walked away without another word, leaving me staring after her like a lost pup. I watched her go, each step more certain
Chapter 86.
than the last, like the moment had never happened.
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And I let her. Because pressing harder wouldn’t have helped. Because maybe she was right to keep some space between us. And maybe I’d been the one who taught her how to build the walls she now kept me out with.
I stood there for another minute, alone in the corridor, wondering how the hell I’d become a man who didn’t know how to reach the woman sleeping ten feet down the hall.
She hadn’t flinched when I spoke. Hadn’t rolled her eyes. Hadn’t shown a single crack. But I’d seen the flicker behind her gaze. Something inside her was still raw. And I didn’t know how to make it better.
I turned back toward my own office, my own s
But I wasn’t sure how long I could.
silence. The reports could wait. Dinner could wait.
The day dragged on until I called it quits long after the sun set. The air had turned cold, and I wandered the house just trying to distract myself.
I hadn’t been looking for her.
That was the lie I told myself, at least, as I crossed the courtyard and noticed the faint glow of garden lights still lit despite the hour.
Most of the pack had already turned in. But someone had left the path lights on, casting long shadows between rows of herbs
and vines.
Emily stood barefoot on the stones near the greenhouse archway, arms wrapped around herself.
She was staring up at the sky like it might have answers, like the moon could talk her down from whatever ledge she was on.
She didn’t hear me at first. Or maybe she did and didn’t care.
Her hair was loose, catching the lights like threads of silver. She wore only a soft sweater that barely reached her thighs. No coat. No shoes.
I didn’t announce myself. I just stepped close enough that the crunch of gravel drew her attention.
Emily flinched—barely. She turned toward me, blinking once like she wasn’t sure I was real.
“It’s cold,” I said, softly.
She nodded. “I know.”
I looked at her feet, the way her toes curled slightly against the chilled stone.
“You’ll freeze.”
“Maybe,” she murmured. “I just… needed to breathe.”
I hesitated, then shrugged out of my coat and crossed the last few steps. “Here.”
She didn’t move right away. But after a long moment, she let me drape it over her shoulders. My hands brushed her arms, and she stiffened–but didn’t step away.
Her skin was icy. And all I wanted to do was warm her.
Emily pulled the coat tighter around herself and looked up at me. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Why are you out here?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” I said.
She huffed something close to a laugh, but it cracked at the edges. Couldn’t sleep.”
Chapter 88
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“Neither could 1.”
The silence between us stretched, softer than before. Not comfortable, but not brittle either.
“I meant what I said earlier,” I offered. “About dinner.”
She looked down. “It’s not about dinner, Logan.”
“Then tell me what it’s about.”
She didn’t answer. Just pressed her lips together and stared at the greenhouse, as if the rows of tomato plants might save her.
I moved beside her, close enough that our shoulders touched.
“You’ve been doing this alone for a long time,” I said. “But you’re not alone anymore. You don’t have to carry it all on your own.”
She looked up at me again, and this time I saw it–something fragile under the surface. Not weakness. Just bone–tiredness of someone completely out of their element.
“I don’t know how to do this,” she admitted.
“Neither do I.”
The words surprised us both.
“I’m not good at–this,” I said, gesturing between us. “But I’m trying.”
Her eyes searched mine, and for a second, the tension between us shifted to something softer.
“I’ve been thinking,” I said. “It might be time to start putting you forward more… officially. The other Alphas are asking. It’s what’s expected.”
She tensed again, but not entirely with resistance.
“As Luna?” she asked carefully.
“As Luna,” I confirmed. “Publicly.”
She took a breath, then nodded–just once. “Then I’ll host a dinner.”
!
Our eyes met. No smile. No warmth. Just a quiet agreement forged under moonlight.
“I’ll let the staff know,” I said.
“Not yet,” she replied. “Let me pick the date.”
“Anything you want.” I meant it more than I probably should have
Emily turned away then, stepping slowly back toward the house, wrapped in my coat and shadows.
And I watched her go. Because I knew she needed space.
But I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take not closing the distance.
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