Chapter 37
Conrí
It was a struggle to leave her.
When I got home the penthouse felt hollow—empty in a way it hadn’t before tonight, as if something had been subtracted from the air. All my sage green and dove grey and duck egg white suddenly looked exactly like what they were. Careful. Considered. Devoid of anyone else’s colour.
What if she isn’t missing us? Kael fretted.
I thought of her leaning in and inhaling before I left. The small, unconscious give of it.
No. She is.
Why can’t we go back and sleep in the car?
Because I’m not a psycho.
Pah. He scoffed. Humans. You’ve forgotten your true nature.
The trouble was I was genuinely tempted by the idea.
That was the thing I couldn’t quite get past—I wanted to be close to her too.
There was no pretending otherwise after tonight.
She had been right beneath our noses for three years.
Three years of her existing in the same building, breathing the same air, and we hadn’t known.
I began to unbutton my shirt, surrounded by all that careful grey.
Was she in bed? Was she looking at the plant on her nightstand? Was she thinking about us the way we were thinking about her?
We were due a run in Hyde Park. I wondered if Nika would come—whether she’d even done this yet, shifted willingly, run for the pleasure of it rather than in reaction to something.
Yes, Kael sighed, with the contentment of a wolf already planning it. I could chase her. I don’t mind if she bites me for doing so.
So you admit that you’d like to frolic with her?
I chuckled when he pondered the question.
Can you imagine her racing around the park? Leaving a trail of her scent for us to follow. Call it what you will, I would follow her and so would you. By the Gods, she was designed for us. For me.
I heard him and understood.
Tonight had been exemplary. Like no other interaction that we’d experienced. It was addictive. She was the source of our addiction.
I pulled my phone from my pocket.
Unlocked.
Her name was at the top of my messages.
Me: I had the best night tonight. Would you like to take a run in Hyde Park tomorrow? It's an amazing feeling running under the cover of the moon.
Nika: We had a great night too. The run sounds interesting. Is that something you do with your pack?
She said yes, Kael gushed.
Me: Excellent. We can come and pick you up. Yes, we do run together but we do so in small groups to avoid detection. You will love it. Good night.
Nika: See you tomorrow. Goodnight.
That's when we relaxed. When we could breathe easy.
Later when I lay in my empty bed, I knew that she was becoming my obsession.
Everything she said. The way she softened. The taste of her lips.
I smiled as I began to drift off to sleep.
??
??
??
The moment she sat in my car the tension arrived with her.
Almost electric—the kind that gathered in small spaces and waited. If we touched, the static would shock us both.
All night and all day we’d waited for this moment. As if my brain required any additional stimuli, her scent began to fill the car the second the door closed. Warm and layered and entirely unavoidable in an enclosed space.
My response was automatic and uncomfortable.
She was busy fastening her seatbelt. I made a quick adjustment beneath my shorts and refocused on the road.
“Why didn’t you tell me Dáire Financial Services was owned by your brother? I was on his company website today.”
“It never came up. I initially kept it quiet because I wanted his project worked on the same as every other one. He is a pushy client.”
“Bad Girl called him an abomination,” she said, followed by a soft chuckle.
“An abomination.” I grinned, carefully pulling out of her street. “He would be beside himself if he knew. Probably take a brandy or three to recover.”
“It must have been nice having each other growing up,” she said.
Something in her voice made me set the joke aside.
“You had your sister.”
“For a while.” She glanced out at the passing city. “You’re raised with responsibilities to prepare you for the world, but once you step out everything changes.”
“One must change and adapt. But it’s easier with support.”
She could become part of our pack if she chose us, Kael said softly.
It’s our job to show her what could be. But her heat may—confuse matters.
Everything went quiet between us.
The city carried on regardless—lights still blazing, people milling around through the night in that distinct London way, unhurried and purposeful at once.
Natives, tourists, everything in between.
The endless melting pot of it. Hyde Park rose ahead of us by contrast, dark and serene, the gardens opening out beyond the gates, and the Serpentine would catch the moonlight if we were lucky.
“We used to sneak out when we were younger,” I said. “Shift and run through Buckingham and Kensington Palace gardens on a dare. The Irish and English history isn’t pretty—we’re rebels by nature.” I glanced at her. “I think you know something about rebellion yourself.”
She turned to smile.
Bright. Joyful. Completely unguarded.
“I guess I am,” she said, and patted my hand.
We both felt it. My wolf and I.
That hesitation before she took it away.