Page 22 of Citius

No, of course not. Dr. Sethi had a sterling professional reputation andhadn’t steered me wrong thus far. Yes, she was exacting and overly critical sometimes, but she treated everyone that way. She would never involve an unrelated medical fellow in her family business.

But what if her pack son got too close to said medical fellow…

Jacobi set a new world record for betrayal, replying to Rory’s text before we’d even left the parking lot.

“Dr. Cal Carling, famous pheromone hunk.” My brother squirmed in delight. “Tell meeverything.”

Maybe Cal was right, as per usual. I might have been better off as an only child.

Eight

Wyatt

Resigning after the start of the school year was a power move, especially when you’re defecting to a gymnastics archrival. So what if my co-workers froze me out at the end? It didn’t bother me. I’d be jealous of myself, too.

I couldn’t get on Northport’s pirate ship fast enough. Something about my current life weighed on me. Not sure if it was the dead-end job or the distance from family, but I felt drained. Scraped too thin.

Which made everything about my new job even more perfect. Northport had better results and better funding. There was a clear path for advancement in the future. I could finally live near Owen, Aunt Tabitha, and her pack.

Ahoy, Captain Tusker, set a course for glory.

Or at least spare a chest of buried treasure. My finances were tapped out.

Breaking my lease and getting a moving pod at the last minute cost a small fortune. I crunched numbers for days, but the conclusion never changed, even after selling as much of my stuff as possible. Anything decent near the university was out of my price range. What I could afford was too far from campus, and the public transportation commute times were hellish.

My old car was in okay shape but couldn’t withstand a 2,000-mile road trip. Its sale earned a pitifully small amount. I could live without a car, but not without a roof over my head. There was only one way to make the move work.

I called my brother.

Unsurprisingly, Owen didn’t pick up. My brother didn’t do phone calls, at least not with me. I texted him the gist and asked him to call me when he had a minute. His emailed invitation for a video meeting was even less of a surprise. I don’t exist unless he can look me in the eye.

When our video chat connected, Owen skipped the empty pleasantries, as usual, and solved all my problems in less than three minutes. I didn’t even have time to say hello.

“What fortuitous timing. We’re closing on our new place the weekend before you arrive.” A link for a real estate listing popped up in the chat window—converted industrial building, fancy staging, lots of concrete, shocking price tag. “Joaquin and Alijah took the studio upstairs. Pick whatever room you want.”

“Shouldn’t you go first?”

Owen’s steely gaze warmed for a split second. “I’m the head alpha. My needs are secondary to those of my pack.”

“I’m still not sure about the whole pack thing, Owen.”

“That’s for the best.” His crocodile smile never failed to creep me out. “I would hate for you to think any of my prior offers afforded you the luxury of joining at will.”

It took everything in me not to laugh. If it kept a roof over my head, I could put up with his displays of dominance.

Owen had asked me to join his pack at least two dozen times over the years. The first time he asked, I was nine years old. So young that my designation hadn’t even been confirmed. He wasn’t about to deny me now, not if I was a good fit with the rest of his pack.

“Send me your flight details. One of us will collect you from the airport.”

“Thanks, I really—”

Really hated it when he logged off in the middle of a sentence. Didn’t even give me a chance to say goodbye.

Or thank you.

***

I made my connecting flight from Chicago to Northport with minutes to spare. The plane was fuller than I expected, so I had to jostle for room in the overhead bins for my carry-on.

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