Page 45 of Silver Claw

“Always,” I whispered. But then I sucked in a deep breath and straightened my shoulders. “I’m going to the office,” I said. “I’ll see you when you get back.” I paused, then, “Jared.”

“Yeah?”

“Please be careful.”

Dammit. I had to stop freaking out. But Zach was right. This was different. And I was worried about all of us.

“Sam will find you,” he said, and then he was gone.

I called Zach as I was leaving the parking lot. Even with the Iron Fang alpha fixating on me, I was pretty sure surrounding myself with backup would be overkill. So I didn’t call Remy Simon. Zach and I would be plenty enough to handle Gavin if he showed up at my office in the city, which I absolutely did not believe he’d do.

There were too many humans. And if he wanted to fight, he’d have to do it in his human form. I had a feeling Voss only liked to fight if he could use his shifts and his magic to do it.

“Where are you?” I asked Zach when he answered.

“Driving to Mason’s to meet a potential client,” he said. “You need me?”

I hesitated. “No hurry, but when you can, meet me at the office. I’ll catch you up then.”

“I’ll reschedule with the client,” he said. “I’m on my way.” He ended the call.

I thought again about calling Remy, but Zach was coming, and Jared was sending Sam to me. So in the end, I didn’t call Remy. I wanted to be cautious, not crazy.

Even worrying about a troublesome alpha wolf, part of my mind remained on the council, the coming meeting, and the tentative hope of a beautiful what if.

Chapter Nineteen

I missed Joe. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be dark for around six more hours. I parked on the street and walked down the sidewalk toward my office, smiling when I saw that Zach was already there.

He leaned against his car and watched the people walking by him, his arms folded, deceptively relaxed. But I knew him. Zach was on high alert, and as always, he was ready for anything.

I didn’t ask him how he was feeling or if he was fully recovered from his recent fights, and he didn’t ask me. “Jared is sending Sam back to us,” I told him as we walked into the building.

He held open the door to my office, then followed me inside. “Why?”

But as we walked into the outer office, both Max and Gracie Dawn looked up and interrupted our quiet conversation.

They’d been huddled over Max’s computer screen, probably playing a video game or watching a trailer, since that was how they seemed to spend the majority of their time in the office.

Gracie jumped up and squealed as though we held a basket of puppies. “Kait! Zach! Come in, come in!”

“Like we’re visiting her house,” I muttered.

Zach laughed. “She’s different.”

“What are you doing here, Kait?” Max asked, much less exuberant. “You barely come to work when you’re supposed to.” He narrowed his eyes. “You are coming to work tonight, aren’t you?”

“For a little while,” I told him. “I figured I’d start early since I have to leave before midnight.”

“Oh,” Gracie Dawn gushed, “just like Cinderella.”

“Yeah,” I said drily. “Like that.”

“My question stands,” Max said.

“Why areyouhere so early, Max?”

“I asked you first,” he pointed out.