Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Adrian’s presence filled his office even when he wasn’t there. His scent lingered in the leather of his chair, the wood of his desk, the very air she breathed. It was like being surrounded by a ghost—intangible but impossible to ignore.
Five days until the full moon, Harper reminded herself as she settled into her corner workspace. His intensity is just… lunar-influenced. It’s biology, not interest.
But Irene’s words kept circling back. When wolves are interested in something, they watch it. Constantly. Possessively.
She pulled up her network analysis and forced herself to focus.
The meeting had gone better than she’d expected—Adrian’s support notwithstanding—and she had actual work to do.
Phase One implementation required detailed planning, resource allocation, coordination with suppliers who could deliver to a remote mountain compound full of werewolves…
Her fingers flew across the keyboard, slipping into the familiar rhythm of problem-solving.
This was her comfort zone, the place where her brain worked best. Code didn’t have complicated social hierarchies or lunar cycles or scents that made her pulse race.
Code just was logical and predictable and infinitely more manageable than one frustrating Alpha.
A knock at the door interrupted her flow.
“Come in?”
The wolf who entered was one of the younger ones from the meeting—the cocky one who’d questioned why a human should advise them. Up close, he was handsome in an obvious way, all sharp cheekbones and confident swagger.
“Coleman sent me. Said you might need help setting up equipment.”
“Coleman?” she frowned. “The second-in-command?”
“The very same.” The wolf leaned against the doorframe, his posture deliberately casual. “I’m Jared. We weren’t properly introduced earlier.”
“Probably because you were too busy questioning my qualifications.”
“Professional skepticism.” He gave her an unrepentant grin. “Nothing personal. You handled yourself well, though. Most humans get all nervous and submissive when the elders start posturing.”
“I don’t do submissive.”
“I noticed.” Jared’s gaze drifted down over her legs. “It’s refreshing. Most human women who visit the pack are all wide-eyed and trembling, waiting for the big bad wolves to pounce.”
“Should I be trembling?”
“That depends.” He pushed off the doorframe, taking a step closer. “Do you scare easily?”
She opened her mouth to respond, but before she could speak, a low growl resonated through the office.
Jared went very still.
She turned to find Adrian standing in the doorway, his expression thunderous. The growl continued, a rumbling warning that seemed to vibrate in her chest, and she watched Jared’s cocky posture dissolve completely.
“Alpha. I was just—”
“Leaving.” Adrian’s voice was barely recognizable, roughened by something that sounded almost feral. “Now.”
Jared left. He didn’t quite run, but it was close.
She stared at Adrian, her analytical mind cataloguing data points—the way his hands had clenched into fists, the gold flickering at the edges of his eyes, the heavy rise and fall of his chest as he breathed through whatever emotion had him so close to the edge.
“Was that necessary?”
“Yes.”
“He was just—”
“I know what he was doing.” He strode into the office, and she was suddenly very aware of how small the space was, how thoroughly his presence filled it. “It won’t happen again.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve made it clear that anyone who approaches you without professional justification will answer to me.” His eyes locked onto hers with an intensity that stole her breath, still glowing gold. “You’re under my protection, kitten. My pack will respect that, or they’ll face the consequences.”
“I don’t need—”
“I know you don’t need protection.” He moved closer still, close enough that his scent wrapped around her like a physical embrace. “You’ve made that abundantly clear. You’re independent, capable, not intimidated by wolves or elders or any other obstacle.”
“Then why—”
His jaw tightened. “Because I can’t help it.”
“There’s something about you,” he continued, his voice dropped to something barely above a whisper. “Something my wolf recognizes. It’s… inconvenient.”
“Inconvenient?” she whispered, shrinking into herself. How many times had she heard that before? Except that despite his words, his eyes were still fastened on her mouth, hot and hungry.
“Very.” His gaze snapped back to her eyes with visible effort. “I’m trying to maintain professional boundaries. I’m trying to remember that you’re here temporarily, that involvement would be complicated, that I have very good reasons not to trust—”
He cut himself off, shaking his head sharply.
“The point is,” he said, stepping back with obvious difficulty, “Jared will not bother you again. Nor will any other wolf. You’re here to do a job, and I’ll ensure you can do it without… interference.”
Her heart was pounding, her body flushed with a heat that had nothing to do with the office temperature. Her mind screamed warnings about professional boundaries and power imbalances and the thousand ways this could go wrong.
Her body didn’t seem to care about any of those things.
“What if I don’t mind the interference?” The words escaped before she could stop them, and his eyes flared gold.
“Don’t say things like that. Not with the moon so close to full. Not when I’m already—” He broke off again, running a hand through his dark hair in a gesture of pure frustration. “Just… focus on your work. I’ll be on patrol.”
He was gone before she could respond, leaving her alone with a racing pulse and far too many questions.
What is happening to me?
She turned back to her laptop, staring at the code on screen without seeing it. Her skin felt too tight, her senses too sharp—she could still smell him, that forest and spice scent, lingering in the air like a promise.
This is insane, she told herself firmly. He’s a werewolf Alpha with obvious trust issues. I’m a human consultant who’s leaving in two months. There’s no logical scenario where this ends well.
But logic had never made her pulse race. Logic had never made her want to run from someone just to see what would happen if he caught her.
She pulled her laptop closer and tried to focus on network architecture. Phase One implementation. Security protocols. Things that made sense, things she could control.
Two months, she thought. Survive two months. Stay professional. Don’t do anything stupid.
The memory of Adrian’s golden eyes made the last promise feel very, very difficult to keep.
Three hours later, she finally emerged from her work trance, driven out by hunger and a pressing need to find Irene.
The older woman was in the kitchen, supervising dinner preparations with the same capable efficiency she seemed to bring to everything. She looked up as Harper approached, her sharp eyes knowing.
“You have questions.”
“How did you—never mind. Yes. I have questions.”
“About the Alpha, I assume.”
Her cheeks heated. “About wolf behavior in general. Professional interest only.”
“Of course.” Irene’s small smile suggested she didn’t believe that for a second. “What would you like to know?”
“The moon cycle thing. You said it affects your moods, your… responses. What does that mean, exactly? How much does it change them?”
“It varies by individual. Some wolves experience the pull more intensely than others.” Irene added spices to a simmering pot without looking away from Harper’s face.
“Alphas in particular can become more primal. More driven by instinct. The closer to the full moon, the harder it is for them to maintain their human restraint.”
“And what kind of instincts are we talking about?”
“The usual. Territorial behavior. Possessiveness. The drive to protect what they consider theirs.” Irene’s gaze didn’t waver. “The drive to claim it.”
Claim. The word sent an involuntary shiver down her spine.
“I’m not anyone’s to claim.”
“No? Then perhaps you should tell the Alpha that, because from where I’m standing, he seems to have different ideas.”
She opened her mouth to protest that she hadn’t asked for his protection or his growling or the way he looked at her like she was something precious and frustrating in equal measure, but Irene was already continuing.
“Pack males are simple creatures at heart. They respond to instinct more than logic, emotion more than reason. When they want something, they pursue it. When they feel threatened, they fight. When they find their—” She paused, seeming to reconsider her words.
“When they find something valuable, they protect it with everything they have.”
“What were you going to say?”
“Nothing important.” Irene smiled enigmatically. “Just that you should be careful, Harper. Not because you’re in danger, but because the next two months might change you in ways you don’t expect.”
She wanted to press further, but a commotion in the doorway announced the arrival of several hungry pack members, and the moment was lost. She grabbed some bread and cheese from the counter—too hungry to wait for the full meal, too unsettled to stay and make small talk—and retreated back towards the office.
Change you in ways you don’t expect.
The words echoed as she settled back into her corner workspace, as she stared at her laptop screen and tried to remember why she’d come to Monster island in the first place.
To get away from my computer. To have a more active social life. To stop being the girl who only felt comfortable with machines.
She’d wanted change, wanted to be pushed out of her comfort zone. She just hadn’t expected the push to come from a golden-eyed Alpha who smelled like forests and made her body respond in ways she’d never felt before.