Page 19 of The Alpha's Grave Secrets

“I need to go get this to evidence and talk to the boss about the plan moving forward. There’s a television in there, a bathroom, bunks, and extra blankets in the metal cabinet. I’ve got two agents assigned to you. They’ll just be outside the door, making sure you are safe. If you get hungry or need anything, let one of them know, and they will arrange it for you.”

Elara chews on her lips as I set down her bags in the room. I’m about to shut the door behind me when she says, “Wait.”

I stop in my tracks and look back at her. Hesitantly, she steps forward. She smells heavenly as she wraps her arms around me and pulls me into a hug.

“Thank you,” she whispers, burying her head in my chest. I take a deep breath and wrap my arms tightly around her waist.Goddess, she’s too skinny.

“I will always be here for you, no matter what, until I take my dying breath,” I say low enough that the agents just down the hall won’t hear me. “I won’t let you down again.”

Her heart races against my torso as she holds on tightly, up on her tiptoes. She trembles, and I can’t tell if it’s because she’s scared, weak, or because of what I said.

“You didn’t let me down,” she whispers. She released me from her embrace and took one of my hands in hers. My skin tingles at her touch. Gently, she places a chapped kiss on the back of my hand. “Thank you,” she says again before dropping my hand and walking toward a small bed on the bunk.

I leave the room and don’t look back. I don’t look back because I’m afraid that if I do, I won’t have the strength to walk away from her ever again.

Chapter 10

Elara

My lips still tingle from kissing Kato on the hand. This is a dangerous game that I’m playing now. The ghost of Kato’s arms wrapped around my waist still haunts me, tingling flesh teasing me as I sit here all alone.

I want him to hold me again, his scent flooding my nostrils. His strength and warmth remind me that no matter what, everything is going to be alright. That someday I will feel like myself again.

Guilt clutches my chest as I remember Ezra, home alone, stubborn, and perhaps a little stupid.He’s not perfect,I remind myself. Actually,he’s far from it.

To keep my mind off Kato, I reach for a stack of pamphlets about the SPIU, leafing through them. The SPIU office is modern. Nicer than the other parts of the FBI we passed through on the way here.

I can’t imagine how that makes some of the other agents feel about their worth to the FBI, or the worth of the new branch of the agency that was formed a decade ago.

It’s not that there isn’t a need for a paranormal investigative unit. Over a hundred years ago, once supernatural were understood to be more than the stuff of nightmares, it took time for society to move through the stages of denial to acceptance. However, in the last fifty years, there have been some major advancements for us all around.

At first, supernatural were segregated. But eventually, politicians and ordinary people alike realized that that did more harm than good, and slowly, we’ve been integrated. There used to be hospitals solely for supernatural care, but now we have rooms and specialty services within the same hospital that serves humans.

These pamphlets explain the importance of accepting our new integration and unity,the FBI’s bright new future. I throw the pamphlets aside, and they scatter to the floor.Oops.

Sighing, I hop off the bed and pick up the pamphlets, looking around this room once more. My skin prickles, and the smell of leather, rain, and home floods me once more. Kato’s back.

My spin tingles. Reaching into my bag, I slide a layer of vanilla lip mask over my chapped lips. The tender cuts in my bottom lip sting slightly but ultimately succumb to relief.

I find myself pulled towards the door without thought. Kato’s presence on the other side is magnetic. The more time I spend around him, the more I remember who I am underneath it all. After all this time fighting to change myself, I think I like that old me the best.

To be this near to him, not to see him, not to speak to him, I can’t quite explain it, but it feels like a crime. I’m twisting open the door handle before I realize what I’m doing. A goofy grin like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar spreads across my face when the door opens, and Kato is standing right there.

“I had a feeling you’d be up to no good,” Kato says, a half-smile on his gorgeous lips.Goddess.

“You should know since you were always the resident troublemaker.”

“Sorry that I brought you here and left you alone most of the day. It was a bit of a fight with the boss to allow you to stay here, and between that and waiting for forensics, we were a bit caught up. Now that you are awake, I heard you didn’t eat dinner. I’m ordering Chinese food, and I’m not taking no for an answer to you eating.”

“I’m not hungry,” I protest as my stomach growls.

“You might not be, but your body is, and you are wasting away.”

I glance down at myself. I haven’t looked in a mirror in days, but the pajamas I packed fit looser than usual, and they are hanging low on my hips. I fight the urge to wrap my arms around myself to cover my figure.

“Besides,” Kato says, a trace of pain glimmering behind his eyes, “if you want to help with the case, I need your brain nourished and in tip-top shape.”

“Okay, but I want a whole order of crab Rangoon for myself.” I nod, I don’t have the energy to fight, and if eating is what it takes to get Kato to show me the evidence, I’ll eat.

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