Chapter Fifty-Three #2
Brandon watched me from behind my desk before he finally nodded and then walked back towards me at the door. “I respect that.” He leaned over and kissed me again. “I’ll handle it. Give me some time.”
I just nodded and took a deep breath when he turned to leave. Nix snorted. You are really selling the idea that you want him. I smiled, and Brandon thought it was for him.
I have to. His ego won’t accept anything other than devotion. Which works in our favor.
“Okay.” I nodded at him. “But…”
He hesitated. “What?”
“Don’t hurt Shannon too much. I don’t want her to hate me. We have become so close these last few months and I don’t want to lose her.”
Brandon smiled, but I saw the look in his eyes. He thought he could figure out a way to keep us both. Shannon just had to play along. At least until I give birth and he could use our pup to drain me of my power. “Of course. Shannon is my best friend too. I never want to hurt her.”
“Good.” I smiled and looked out at Alannah, who was hovering at her desk, unsure of what to do. “Did you need something?”
Alannah bowed. “Sorry to interrupt, but there is an issue on one firewall. There was a breach, and Rick still isn’t in. I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation, but it’s protocol.” She tried to smile but her eyes danced to Brandon.
Brandon smiled. “I’ll let you get back to work.” He kissed me once again and I shivered again. “I’ll call you later.”
I nodded. “I have a call at nine, so if you don’t call before that, I won’t be able to answer.”
His eyes flickered for a moment, but then he nodded. “Of course.” Then he left. I turned to Alannah.
“There was a breach?”
She nodded and sat back down. “I sent the alarm to your desktop. The protocol is to go to Rick, but he’s not here.”
“All good.” I went back to my desk and I clicked on the alert in the system.
An alarm popped up, notifying me that someone had breached the first firewall from outside.
“Interesting.” Was all I said and then I got to work.
In minutes, I had shored up the breech and traced the attack to the college IP address. Interesting.
Alannah came in and smiled. “The alert went away, so I’m assuming that you fixed it.”
I nodded. “It took me a minute because I hadn’t been in the firewalls for a few months. But I got it done.”
Alannah smiled and shot me a thumbs up. “Rick told me to tell you to finish the list and then focus on the last task. He really drilled it into my head. He said it was the most important.”
I smiled at her and winked. “Will do.” I turned back to my desk and saw the cold coffee. “Alannah?”
“Yeah?” She looked up from her own screen.
“With the conversation and the breech…my coffee went cold. Do you mind ordering me another? Have a kitchen Omega bring it to me. Tell them I need you here to watch for alerts, and the order came from me.” I wanted a fresh coffee, but there was no way I would ask Alannah to watch around.
I needed to keep her in my line of sight the entire time.
No one was going to find out she was pregnant. At least not for another week.
She nodded as she picked up the phone. “Will do.” I turned back to my desk and got to work.
I finished the task sheet in an hour. Then I went to work on the trojan. “Hey Alannah?” I called out.
She showed up at my door. “Yeah?”
“I’m getting to work on the last task. Can you tell me if there are any alerts for a breach while I work?”
Alannah nodded, and I saw understanding on her face. “Of course.”
I started in on the first firewall, which I breached with no issue. But the second firewall blared the alarm.
“Amy!”
I sighed. “Got it.” I fixed my breech and tried again. And again. And again. I wanted to bang my head off the screen by mid day.
I groaned in frustration when I heard Alannah call out again. “Amy.”
“Seriously?” I slammed my keyboard in anger. I had made it halfway to the mainframe undetected, but I was stuck around the ninth firewall. I stood up and started to pace.
Alannah came to the door. “Why don’t you take lunch? Take thirty minutes to regroup and then come back and attack. You will still have three hours to get rid of the virus once you settle.” She smiled and handed me the menu. “Maybe you’re hangry.”
I huffed out a breath and then nodded. “You are probably right.” I sighed and dropped back into my chair. I looked over the menu and decided I needed meat. A lot of meat.
Is everything okay? I called back to my wolves.
Nix looked at me with wide eyes. I think we are going to have a problem soon.
What do you mean? I turned to focus on them, my eyes glazing over.
Megan stepped out of the forest, and even she looked a little shook. Erubus was just here.
Okay… I looked around. He’s gone, obviously…so what’s the issue? I might not like that he comes to see you two, but I’ll get over it.
They both shook their heads. You don’t understand. Nix huddled next to Megan.
Just tell me. I threw my hands up in frustration.
Megan looked at Nix and sighed. We are going into heat.
I froze. What do you mean we? I looked between the two of them. When? How?
He said we have maybe a week or two if we can delay it. Nix jumped in. But…
But what? I looked at my wolves, and I could feel the fear building. I couldn’t go through that again alone.
Megan pressed against Nix, drawing strength from her. We are both going into heat…at the same time. The words hit me in my chest. Panic was in full force, and I had no way to stop it.
I slid my chair back, slamming it against the wall, and I started to pace. How is this happening? We haven’t met our mate. We only went into heat because of the kudzu. How is this even possible?
Both my wolves looked away. But Nix looked back almost guiltily. Once a wolf goes through a heat, it is possible for them to go through another. There are just circumstances that add to the likeliness of it happening.
Which are? I grabbed the menu again. I needed meat. Now. “Alannah?”
“Yeah, Amy?” She was at my door in a second, looking a little confused.
I handed her back the menu. “My brain won’t let me focus. Can you order me some steaks? Rare. I just need meat.” I turned away. “And carbs.”
She looked at me for a minute and obviously realized there was something off, and she agreed. “Of course.”
I turned my attention back to my wolves. Now spill. How did this happen? They both dropped down and looked at their paws. They were guilty of something. Talk to me!
Megan sighed. We are sorry; we didn’t realize it until today and now it is too late, it’s already building.
What happened?
Erubus happened. Nix finally met my eye. Erubus caused it.
I staggered back to my chair and sat down. What do you mean? What did he do to us?
Nothing. Megan surged to her feet. He didn’t do anything but be our friend.
I looked at my two wolves, and I was at a loss for my words. I’m confused. Help me understand.
Nix nodded. After a wolf goes through her first heat. It can be triggered again, even if it was forced on us. But usually only by meeting our mate…or more herbal intervention.
Like more kudzu.
Exactly. But… Nix looked away. It can also happen if the wolf is around another wolf they like…like a chosen mate.
If I wasn’t already sitting, I would have fallen to the ground. But we don’t have a chosen mate. We don’t have any freaking mate.
Megan nodded. We know that…but our hormones don’t realize it.
Because… I looked at my two wolves and I shook my head. You guys…you can’t be serious. He already hurt us.
They both nodded. We know. And it wasn’t intentional. Nix looked back to the trees and sighed. We didn’t want this to happen, but without Rowan interfering with him, Erubus is-
Amazing. Megan finished for her. She looked at me with sad eyes. After Brandon, I was set on never having another mate. Not one I would love. I would do it for you two, but I was going to hold myself outside. Away from the feelings, the emotion.
Then what happened?
Erubus happened.