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“Until tomorrow, maybe the day after. For personal reasons.” I’d just have to pray that no one I knew in Sweetwater had ordered anything. I was sure that my appearance had changed enough in the last few years that anyone looking for me wouldn’t recognize me by sight.
“What’s going on?” Dakota demanded, his gaze sharp and unrelenting. I hated being around him as he gave off all of those alpha pheromones that made a room become stifling.
I found myself shrinking, retreating into a protective shell. “It’s personal,” I managed to get out, repeating the reason with no extra information.
“Leave it,” Isaac warned, and I was grateful that he’d come into the meeting. “Was that all you needed Kade for?”
Dakota glared at Isaac before relenting, “yes, that’s it. As long as Kade can take over the Sweetwater route and give us a few extra hours, then that’s great.” He looked at me, his eyes softening and his tone syrupy. “Thank you for being a team player, Kade.”
The sound of my name on his tongue made me itch between the shoulder blades, but I forced myself not to react.
A knock sounded on the door and without waiting for an answer, Shelby, a witch that worked in admin, popped her head around the door, “sorry to interrupt but I need Isaac for a second, difficult customer that needs a dose of his charm.” She grinned, but my heart sank. I needed to get out of that room now.
Isaac side-eyed me as he rose to leave and I gave a tiny shrug and started to stand, too.
“Kade, could you hold on a second, please? We can go over those routes now rather than wait until later. I’ll pay you the time.”
Slumping back into my seat, I pasted on what I thought was a pleasant smile, but Dakota’s assessing look suggested it wasn’t quite hitting the mark.
“Sorry,” mouthed Isaac as he left the room.
“Is everything okay?” Dakota asked.
“Sure,” I said evasively, “I can do those hours for you. I just need a day to sort some things out.”
Dakota logged into the system, “would you mind moving your chair closer so you can see the screen?”
I grudgingly moved closer. “Just whatever overtime is fine, I like to keep busy.” I hoped that he’d just put me in for shifts and I could escape the office. His attraction to me was unfortunate, unwelcome, and I’d hoped it would have run its course in the two years I’d worked for him. It hadn’t.
His nostrils flared as I sat closer, his foot circling the leg of my chair and pulling me virtually up against him. The heat he gave off sank into me, making me shiver. Clicking on my profile and timecard, he started adding hours in but came to a blacked-off box. “Ah —“
“Is there a problem?”
Dakota flushed, “well...uh...it’s...uh.”
“What?” I demanded.
“Your heat,” he finally choked out. “It’s your mandatory leave for your heat.”
Understanding dawned, and I tried to restrain my chuckle. They gave all omega shifters three days of leave every ninety days for their heats. Omegas like myself were precious, not rare, but coveted, male ones doubly so since, like females, we could carry young. Dakota was starting to resemble a tomato, but his pupils were dilated, the black eating up the mud-brown of his irises. Lust pheromones filled the air between us.
“I’m on blockers, so that isn’t necessary.”
Dakota frowned, the lust fog dissipating, “those are dangerous, Kade.” He clicked through my record, eyes flicking through the pages, “you haven’t had a heat since...since you started here. Goddammit!”
I flinched instinctively at his shout, my wolf whimpered, “it’s fine,” I said, trying to placate him, I rested a hand on his thick forearm, the dark hair coarse against my fingertips, “I’m fine, Dakota.”
“It’s not fine. Going without a heat can be harmful to you and your wolf. When was the last time you shifted?”
His scrutiny and the question made me squirm. I removed my hand like something had electrocuted me, “it’s been a few weeks.” I hoped he couldn’t tell I was lying.
“Weeks!” He stood and started pacing.
I needed out from his inspection. “Uh, I had a heat the last time I was on vacation.” Lying through my teeth.
“That was...” He landed in his chair and read through my file again, “five months ago. So you forced your heat? Did you use a heat club?”
My mind whirled. Heat club? What the hell was that? “Sure,” I bluffed.
