Page 89 of In Control

“And yet, when it came to it, it didn’t make a difference, did it? Pack or not, we still failed to protect him.”

The happy memory that was shining in Roman’s eyes fades to something darker. He scrapes back his chair. “Stop being a dick and come home tonight, OK? We all miss your sorry arse.”

I push off the desk and nod.

* * *

It takesme half a fucking Goddamn hour to find her, scouring the labs, all the offices and even the faculty library. Finally I find her in one of the smaller common rooms, brewing a cup of tea. She has her back to me and I halt in the doorway soaking up the shape of her. So small, so soft, so delicious.

“Have you just come to glare daggers at me?” she asks, not turning around. “Or are you actually going to start lobbing knives into my back?”

I wonder how she knew it was me. My scent? A beta’s sense of smell is pathetically weak compared to an alpha’s or an omega’s.

“No, I came to talk.”

“Talk, yell, growl. They all sound pretty similar coming from you.”

“Who’s the stalker?”

She spins around and frowns at me, the usually haughty expression gone. “Roman told you?”

“We’re packmates. We tell each other everything.”

She snorts. “Really?”

And now it’s my turn to frown. Shit. I don’t mean to. I don’t want to be this pissed-off arsehole around her. I want to be civil. I want to be indifferent.

“Just because you’re fucking around with my packmates, don’t think that means you know them better than me.”

She spins back around to her tea, scooping out the soggy tea bag with a spoon and dropping it in the bin.

“Whatever, Esra. I’m tired, OK. I’m not interested in starting a fight with you.”

She does sound tired. Weary almost. It’s not like her. She’s usually so full of life, she makes everyone else in this department look like a walking corpse.

Something inside me softens. My spine? My hard heart? My resolve? Fuck knows.

“Sophia, if you know who it is, we can do something about it.”

“Why do you care?”

Her words hit me like a tonne of bricks.

Why do I care?

Because, despite all my best efforts, I can’t stop thinking about her, and the thought of something bad happening to her makes me so sick I can barely stand upright.

But I can’t say any of that. I can’t admit any of it.

“You need to take it seriously.”

She turns back towards me, her dark tea untouched beside her. She crosses her arms over her chest and leans back against the counter.

“I can handle it. It’s fine. This isn’t the same as–”

“Tell me who it is,” I say, trying to keep my voice level, hearing it come out as a snarl through my teeth. I can’t let this happen again. I can’t. “And I’ll sort it for you.”

“Roman already offered.”

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