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And he’s asking if I want things from my apartment.

Okay.

I sit up straight as I push the closet door open, letting in light from my room. Someone —probably Jorge— closed the curtains last night, so it’s not too bright.

‘Give me a couple of minutes to wake up. How quickly do you need an answer?’

Nathan sends me a laughing emoticon. ‘We won’t leave for another couple of hours. I don’t know the details. Mum and Logan are calling around to see who might be able to take in some of the kids. I don’t think we’ll leave until they’ve at least finished calling around.’

Logan is one of the other Alphas from Nathan’s pack, a good kid, and a very sociable one too. He’s a lot like Jorge, always ready to diffuse any situation and try to make people smile. He’s a good counterbalance to Nathan’s intense emotions.

Though, Nathan also relies on him a little too much at times. With their past, that’s not unexpected.

As I watch Nathan’s messages come in, I finally feel like I’m waking up. I’ve not had enough sleep, not at all, but my stress levels have lowered and I’ve got some more energy than I did before I fell asleep.

‘Can you check something for me?’ Now I’ve got him anyway, I can ask him something I’ve been meaning to ask Erika for a couple of days, but hadn’t gotten around to yet.

‘Sure. What do you need?’

‘What do you know about a plant-based pheromone compound that can be used to influence Alphas and Omegas? Probably used in the clubs, but it might be used in other locations too. At low levels, it lets Alphas and Omegas feel like they’re surrounded by the pheromones of their mates, but at high levels it can be used to mate Alphas and Omegas who aren’t scent matches.’

With how far the research was that we saw last night and how interested the Hearts have been in it, I’m sure the others from the Suits Syndicate have also been interested in it.

‘I haven’t heard about something like that. But I’ll ask my dads and check if there might be something in our databases. Sounds fucking creepy though.’

‘Thanks. It might be quite new, so I don’t know if it’ll be easy to spot. But I would appreciate it if you could send me anything you find.’

‘Of course. I’ll let you know anything I find. If you let me know what you want from your place.’

I would like to get our databases synced up so that I can search both Mathew’s database and Erika’s database at the same time, but I feel like that might be too much to ask. At least at this moment in time.

Maybe we can discuss it when everyone is here and has finally met face-to-face.

And nobody has killed anyone…

Nathan and the two other guys from his pack have been helping Erika more and more over the last years. Nathan grew up always being aware of what his parents did for a job, saving people from the Suits Syndicate, and he’s always wanted to follow in their footsteps.

He met Logan when they were teens and Logan pretty quickly became part of the whole mission too. And, finally, Jace, he’s been with them for less than a year but when you see them together, it feels like it was never any different. He’s kind of their big brother.

Erika and her pack saved me from the Diamonds and one of her pack’s family members took care of me until I was old enough to start living on my own.

I owe my life to Erika’s pack.

Nathan and his siblings are like cousins to me, and being the eldest of twelve, it was easy for me to fall into the older sister/cousin role.

For years, after Nathan and Logan lost one of their other Alpha pack members —mere months after Logan joined them— I feared that they would never recover, that they would never be able to move forward again.

But, for the last year, Nathan seems to be on a better path. And to see him interested and excited about life and the world again feels good.

I quickly wipe at my cheeks, trying to get the tears from my eyes so I can reply to him. ‘I don’t have the energy to think what I might want or need. Sorry.’

‘It’s okay. I’ll take Jace to check out your apartment and see if something stands out. Don’t worry about it. You’ve got other things on your mind.’

‘Thanks.’ I pocket the phone and stand up, checking myself.

First step, change into clean clothes.

Second step, check on the kids.