Page 132 of Citius

A well-built man with tight coils of black hair and askin tone similar to Audra’s stepped in, scooping up the child and tossing her twice into the air before turning his piercing green eyes on me.

His scent was pervasive, yet oddly insubstantial. Sandalwood mixed with something richer and nuttier than coffee, with an off-putting caramel cream undernote. How could an alpha’s scent manage to be bland and unbalanced?

“This him—the pheromone stud?” he asked, his tone as direct as his stare.

Morgan let her head fall back as she tried to stifle a sigh. “Allow me to introduce Ethan, my older brother. You can tell he’s Audra’s twin by their matching lack of manners.”

So, this was Ethan, the menace lurking behind Wyatt’s discord with Morgan. I was inclined to share my brother’s poor opinion of him. He projected a degree of dominance his alpha couldn’t back up.

Ethan looked at Audra, still swinging the little girl about. “So, it’s not him?”

“Apparently not,” Audra replied.

“Excuse us.” Morgan pinched the corner of my runner’s bib and gave it a firm tug, guiding me around the stroller and away from her siblings. “Go finish your cool down. Eat something. Ice when you get home. Let me know if—”

“Tell me,” I cut in, “what’s the latest update from yourpheromone stud?”

Morgan pursed her lips and took a sharp breath through her nose. A delightful crack in her polished façade. She could endure hours of executive-level interrogation without flinching. Yet, a few teasing remarks about Cal ignited her inner spitfire.

“Still at the hospital,” Morgan said.

“But they’ve stabilized Charles?” His grandfather suffered a cardiac event late last night.

“Yes, for the time being.”

I glanced over my shoulder, unsurprised that the Van Daal twins were still surveilling me. “You told your family about Cal?”

“No.” Morgan channeled her irritation into fussing with her hat and tucking her windswept hair behind her ears. “They already knew about him from work. My siblings like to gossip. The fact that we’re dating is a secret from everyone he doesn’t trust, which is basically your pack—and Kelsey.”

I nodded, though I couldn’t help but remain skeptical of their relationship. The timing, at the very least, was problematic. Nor could I comprehend being so enamored with another person that it overruled common sense and made the risk seem justifiable.

No. That wasn’t the entire truth.

It was hard not to appreciate Morgan. She had charged into near-freezing rain to rescue Alijah without a second thought for her own well-being, then pulled him back together with even more skill than Joaquin.

She also held her own against my aunt during a forty-five-minute interrogation disguised as a conversation.

And she’d already booked an appointment for Wyatt with Cal before I could even think of requesting a house call—though I suspected Wyatt was so enthralled with her that it had manifested as a pheromone disorder.

Not that Wyatt would ever answer a direct question about what hisbloodwork had revealed. At least his condition had improved of late.

Yes, Morgan had a perplexing ability to disrupt my pack by being herself. A stoic yet persistent force who refused to back down from even the most daunting challenges, who gradually enticed you to accept that her perspective wasn’t just valid, it was the only logical way to think.

Even I wasn’t immune.

After all, Morgan’s tenacious arguments had breathed new life into PheroPass. With every email and well-cited rebuttal, she reminded me why I wanted to work for Redwing in the first place. Thoughtful innovation could change lives—but only if you fought for it.

I’d forgotten that. My need for results and promotions had dulled my idealism. Now that we’d filed the pack registration and secured a permanent residence, I could afford to ease up. To reevaluate my priorities.

But did said priorities include courting an omega?

While Joaquin’s hypothesis about Morgan’s suitability for our pack wasn’t as meritless as I’d first thought, we had nothing material to offer her.

And that’s what I found most unsettling about Morgan Van Daal—she already had everything.

A coveted spot in the state’s best medical fellowship program, financial stability, a supportive family, an enduring athletic legacy, understated fame, and undeniable beauty.

What could a pack offer her by way of enticement?

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