Page 122 of Conner's Luna

"He's outside, waiting for me," I reply without a second of hesitation. It sounds so smooth, then I start to babble. "Well, Sarj isn't my boyfriend. A friend. My... I'm dating his friend, Conner. Except we haven't been on a date yet. We're supposed to go soon. Tomorrow actually."

"Haven't you been dating him for months?" Mark asks me. His frown deepens slightly.

"Not really dating," I tell him. I nervously rub my damp palms over my pants before I hear the telltale crinkle of the restriction enzyme packets.

His eyes light up a little. "So, it's not serious?"

My hands freeze on my thighs. "Oh, um... no, sort of. He's a little... we've had a tumultuous month or two." Yup.

"Well," Mark says, looking disappointed, "if you ever call it off, let me know. I'd like to ask you out."

My breath stutters in my chest. Oh no. I have a magical voice. I've stolen lab equipment from my place of employment for nothing.

"OK," I squeak embarrassingly. Judging by Mark's smug look, he thinks I'm embarrassed at the attention he is paying me and not horrified. "Well, it's time to go," I deepen my voice, trying to sound less appealing.

Mark gives me an odd look, but he leaves with a mumbled, 'goodnight.'

I throw my sweatshirt on and grab my backpack to my chest. Rushing to the front door, I don't even bother to pull my sweatshirt on before I'm outside.

A hard shiver wracks my body almost immediately. The temperature must have fallen twenty degrees in the last few hours. I hurry to Sarj's truck, idling on the curb, the building security guard eyeing him with a bit of hostility as usual.

Sarj leaps out of the driver's side to help me up into my seat. I hurry to clamber up without him, clutching my backpack to my chest. Hurt flashes across his face, but he smoothes it out and smiles at me. "Ready to go?" he asks.

I nod, "mmhm." Guilt feels leaden in my stomach. That twinge of hurt on Sarj's face feels worse than pilfering a few thousand dollars’ worth of equipment from Honekier Labs.

He walks back around the truck at a much more sedate pace. When he slides into his seat he puts the truck in gear, then pauses. "Bailey..." he eases away from the curb, "I want you to know that not one of us would ever hurt you."

I nod, sweating bullets as the truck approaches the gate. One last checkpoint to go through.

"Conner truly loves you. It's not easy to fall in love with another female, especially after being rejected by your mate."

I try to concentrate on Sarj's words, I do, but we are rolling past the guard, his eyes noting Sarj's license plate, the occupants, the time of day. Oh, Lord orMama Watior the science gods or whoever, please don't let me hear the building alarms.

We merge out onto the quiet street and I can't help but let out a tiny exclamation of relief.

Sarj's monologue about mates and love comes to a halt. We drive to the end of the road and he turns left at the stop sign. I relax a little more.

"What happened in there today?" he asks in a voice so hard and clipped it makes me jump.

"What?" I ask him, turning to see him eyeing me out of the corner of his eyes. His jawline is hard, his eyes flinty and narrowed.

"What made you so afraid of that place? Did someone do something? Say something?"

"No!" I blurt out instinctively. Is the hair on the back of his hands darkening? Is he... furring out? "Mark asked me out," I mutter, fascinated by the process of the skin layers. I wish I could do just one, tiny little biopsy. Just one small one.

"Mark, your boss Mark?" Sarj sounds astonished. "Oh, hell no, Bailey. That dude is how old?" His face screws up in disgust.

"About thirty, I'd say," I respond.

"No. Absolutely not. Listen, don't tell Conner. Keep that shit on the down-low. All we need is one of Alpha Alex's scientists turning up d-injured."

"Dead," I mutter. I sink back into my seat. I had forgotten all about all those girls. How easily I pushed the thought away when it wasn't right in front of me. I guess that's normal, but that ball of leaden guilt grows.

"He wouldn't kill him," Sarj insists. "Threaten him, yes. He wouldn't hurt a human for flirting with his mate."

"A human," I murmur. A thought occurs to me, "are there any wolves working at the lab?"

"Honekier is human, maybe half-wolf," he says. "Otherwise, it's a contracted facility. We pay to keep it running, but the day-to-day is all left to whoever owned it before Alpha Alex snatched it up."

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