"Are they..." I begin, unable to keep the possessive edge from my voice. My hands flex at my sides, claws threatening just beneath the surface of my humanity.
"Colleagues, nothing more," she cuts me off and yanks open the window, revealing the metal fire escape platform just outside. "Go. Please."
That last word. The plea in it. That's what does it. I see fear—not for herself, but for me. It strikes deeper than any weapon could. My pride means nothing if it endangers her. My territorial display is worthless if it leads to her ruin within GUIDE.
I pull on my shirt and jeans. What she needs is more important that how I feel.
"Mathieson! Did you fall asleep in the shower again? The food's getting cold!"
Before stepping through the window, I pull her to me. One hand tangles in her hair, the other at the small of her back, pressing her body against mine.
The kiss is neither gentle nor brief. It's a statement, a claim, a promise. Everything I can't say with words, I pour into this moment. The centuries of loneliness. The desperation of finding her. The terror of losing her.
I taste her deeply, thoroughly, ensuring my scent will linger on her long after I've gone. Let her colleagues catch the edge of it. She belongs to another now. My wolf rumbles with satisfaction, knowing that even as I retreat, I leave evidence of my claim for any with senses sharp enough to detect.
Her heartbeat races against my palm. Mine echoes it, reluctant to break this connection even as knuckles rap against wood again.
When I pull back, her pupils are dilated, her breath coming in quick bursts. The flush spreading across her skin is my handiwork—visible proof that will remain after I've disappeared down the fire escape. The thought curls my lips into the barest hint of a smirk.
"I'll be back tonight," I tell her. "We need to plan our next move. Those people in the warehouse can't wait."
She nods, the mention of the captives grounding her back to reality. "I'll talk to Hayes today. Make the warehouse our priority."
"Be careful," I warn, already halfway through the window. Fear for her safety claws at my insides. "The Enclave is more dangerous than you realize. They have connections everywhere."
"I know how to handle myself."
"Yes," I agree, allowing myself one last look at her—hair wild from sleep and my hands, lips swollen from my kiss, cheeks flushed. The sight burns into my memory, a talisman against the hours of separation ahead.
Mine.
"You most certainly do, Agent Mathieson."
I scale the fire escape with ease, leaping the last ten feet to the alley below. Easy landing.
From this position, I can see her bedroom window, watch as she takes a deep breath, smooths her hair, and composes herself into the formidable GUIDE agent her partners know.
The connection between us pulses like a second heartbeat beneath my skin, a painful reminder of what I'm walking away from, even temporarily.
My wolf paces. Already missing her proximity. But there's determination now rather than rage. The hollow ache of separation sits heavy in my chest, but it's different now. There's hope mixed with the pain. Purpose with the longing. She’s accepting me… us.
Now we must save the captives, expose the Enclave, and protect our mate above all else.
The hunt continues. But this time, Astrid hunts with me, not against me.
CHAPTER 28
We’re Back!
* * *
Astrid Mathieson
I catch my reflection in the bathroom mirror and freeze. My hair looks like I've been through a wind tunnel—or had someone's hands tangled in it all night. Fen and I really just slept. It was comfortable and amazing and I shouldn’t look like I had wild sex because I didn’t. But my lips are still slightly swollen from his kiss, and there's a flush to my skin that has nothing to do with the morning light filtering through my blinds.
But surely it can’t be from the mind blowing orgasm he gave me in the shower? Can it? Has it really been that long? I dismiss the thought.
"Shit," I mutter, grabbing a brush and attacking my hair with more force than necessary. The knocking continues, accompanied by increasingly creative threats about eating all the breakfast.
