Page 20 of Falling for My Shifter Defender

I finish my lunch, brush crumbs from my jeans, and head back to the office with a new sense of purpose.

???

By four o'clock, I've finished updating the patrol schedules for the next week and organized the incident reports from the weekend. The office is quiet, with Theo out on a site visit and most of the security team either on patrol or in training.

I pull out my phone and scroll to Jenna's contact. We met a few days ago at the Whispering Pines pack community center, and she'd given me her number "just in case." I hadn't planned on using it so soon, but here I am. My finger hovers over her name for a long moment before I finally press call.

The phone rings twice before her cheerful voice answers. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jenna." I clear my throat. "This is Grace Connelly. We met at the community center the other day."

"Grace! It's so nice to hear from you. How are you settling in?"

Her warmth catches me off guard. "Fine, thanks. I'm actually calling because..." I take a deep breath. "I'd like to enroll my sister in the elementary school. Willow."

The words hang in the air for a moment—a commitment I can't take back.

"That's wonderful!" Jenna's enthusiasm is genuine. "We'd love to have her join us. She's seven, right? Why don't we schedule a time for you and Willow to come tour the school? You can meet the teachers, see the classrooms, and we can talk about any specific needs she might have."

"I'd like that." My voice only trembles slightly.

We set up an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, and as I hang up the phone, I exhale slowly. My hands are shaking, but I feel... strong. Like I've just crossed an invisible line I've been afraid to approach for months.

I look around the office, at the maps and monitors and filing cabinets. At the space I've already made my own in just four days. And I realize something that stops me in my tracks:

I'm not just existing anymore. I'm building a life.

And I can't wait to tell Eli.

Chapter 7

Grace

The scent of melted cheese and buttery bread wraps around me the moment I push open the front door. For a second, I pause in the entryway, letting the domesticity of it wash over me—Willow's excited chatter, the soft sizzle of something on the stove, the golden light spilling from the kitchen.

It feels like a movie scene. Like someone else's life.

"Grace!" Willow spots me and comes barreling across the living room, a piece of paper clutched in her hand. "Look what I drew! It's the Sanctuary when it's all done, and maybe we can have a garden and—"

"Whoa, slow down, squirrel." I laugh, kneeling to her level as she thrusts the crayon drawing into my hands. It's a colorful mess of buildings and stick figures. "This is beautiful."

"Dinner's almost ready," Eli calls from the kitchen.

When I look up, my breath catches slightly. He's standing at the stove, flipping what appears to be the most perfect grilled cheese sandwich I've ever seen. His sleeves are rolled up, revealing tanned forearms dusted with dark hair, the muscles flexing as he works. The faded jeans he's wearing sit low on his hips, and there's something about the casual way he fills the space thatmakes my mouth go dry. He looks... at home. Comfortable. Like a man who knows exactly who he is and what he wants.

"Hope you're hungry," he adds, glancing over his shoulder with a crooked grin that sends a flutter of warmth from my chest to my belly.

My stomach growls in response, and Willow giggles.

"I'll take that as a yes," Eli says, his eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that makes him look both boyish and impossibly masculine at once.

I hang up my jacket and follow Willow to the kitchen, where she climbs onto her chair—the one with the booster seat Eli found in town yesterday. The domesticity of this moment feels both wonderful and terrifying. I've spent so long running that the stillness makes me twitchy.

"So," I say as Eli sets plates in front of us, the scent of his cologne—something woodsy and clean—briefly enveloping me as he leans close, "I talked to Jenna today about school."

Willow freezes mid-bite, her eyes going wide. "School? Like, real school?"

I nod, smiling at her excitement. "You start Monday. Jenna says there's a spot in her class—she teaches second grade."

---