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Lounging on the padded swivel chair at her station, Raya looked up from her phone. “She just worries. About you, that is. Me, she couldn’t give two fucks about.”
“That’s not true,” Adaline objected. “I care. I just don’t need to worry about you, because you have Lori.”
“And Quinley now has Isaiah.”
“I don’t know him well enough to be sure he’ll properly take care of her.”
Raya jerked up her chin in challenge. “Just admit that she’s your favorite.”
Rolling her eyes, Quinley let the quarrel become background noise as she crossed the space. She said a quick hi to Lori, who was pottering around the hair washing station. Black leather chairs reclined toward the row of sinks behind them. Cubbies were stacked with burgundy towels and hair products.
She headed through an arch and to the pamper room on her left. The scents of herbal shampoo, fur, chlorine, and almond oil greeted her, familiar and comforting. She placed her purse in its usual spot in a corner cubby and hooked her coat on a wall hanger.
The large space was fitted with a grooming station, jacuzzi, leather swivel chair, supply cart, and a desk on which a heated lamp and other equipment rested. Different shifter breeds required different “luxuries,” and she strived to cater for all.
Before long, clients began to trickle in. They were quick to notice her brand, especially her ex-pride mates. They nosily asked for details about Isaiah, the claiming, and the Olympus Pride. As always, Quinley was stingy with her answers.
Throughout the day, Isaiah popped into her mind often. Mostly because her cat wanted to know where he was and what he was doing. It left them both with a vague feeling of uneasiness that had no real rational source. It was just all tied-in to being bound to someone whom she hadn’t yet imprinted on. It messed with your mind on an elemental level.
As such, she was grateful when the end of her workday rolled around. The sooner she got home, let her cat see for herself that he was alive—and, yes, gave herself that same assurance—she’d feel a whole lot better.
“Right, I’m off,” she told her sisters and Lori, who were all gathering their stuff together.
Raya lifted her hand in a brief wave. “Later, sis.”
“See you tomorrow,” Lori called out.
“Say hi to—” Adaline cut off as her eyes darted to something behind Quinley.
In the process of zipping up her coat, Quinley turned… just as a tall figure pushed open the glass door. Her cat hissed, her hackles rising.
Zaire breezed inside, his face neutral, his body tense, a strange energy coming off him. His eyes locked on hers, and something flickered in their depths she couldn’t quite name. He slowly planted his feet, his jaw tightening.
It was straight up weird being this close to him, having his attention so firmly on her. It hadn’t happened since the night she’d tried to make him see what he’d refused to even consider.
He cleared his throat. “No one told me you were planning to enter an arranged mating.” The words were low. Stiff. Emotionless.
She shrugged. “I guess they thought there’d be no need. It’s not like we were ever friends or anything.” Her cat thought him insane for thinking anyone should tell him anything that related to Quinley—he’d lost the right to know.
“True, but I’m due to be made Alpha soon. Harlan has been keeping me apprised of all pride business so I can slot more easily into the position when the time comes. This, though, this he kept quiet.” There was a distinct bite to Zaire’s voice that said he was not pleased to have been kept out of the loop.
“Maybe he thought it wasn’t something you needed to be made aware of, considering he knew I’d be gone from the pride before you ascended.”
“And you wanted to be gone because of me, didn’t you?” Not a question, but rather a tightly spoken statement. “You wanted to be away from me.” There was a sort of rueful resignation in his words.
God, she did not want to have this conversation. Really, what would be the point anyway? “I think you should go.”
He arched a brow. “Do you now?”
“Nazra wouldn’t like that you’re here.”
He grunted. “Since when do you care what she likes?”
“Since when do you not?”
He looked away, his lips flattening.
“I don’t know why you came—”
