Stacy hadn’t seen Kalil in three days.

  Not that she was counting.

  But she was.

  She kept her head down during shifts, took breaks in different areas, and somehow always managed to miss him in the hallways. It wasn’t hard- Kalil was good at disappearing. Still, the air felt different. Thick with tension. Every room she walked into felt like it might contain him, and when it didn’t… disappointment settled in like fog.

  She was tired of thinking about that moment. That touch. That heartbeat where her body fit against his like it had always belonged there.

  It meant nothing.

  Right?

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  “Earth to Stace.”

  Matthew’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.

  They were sitting at a coffee shop in Maraval, her untouched iced mocha melting beside her phone. He’d been telling her about his work audit, but she hadn’t heard a word.

  “Sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t sleep well.”

  “You haven’t been sleeping well all week,” he said, leaning back. His voice was light, but his eyes watched her closely. “And you’ve been weird. Distant.”

  She looked down at her straw, twirling it. “Just… tired. The hospital’s been intense.”

  Matthew tilted his head. “Is it your new supervisor? The tall one you mentioned-Kalil?”

  Stacy’s stomach clenched. “What about him?”

  Matthew’s jaw tightened, just a bit. “You said he was cold. Kinda intense. But you’ve been...off ever since that accident shift. Did something happen?”Yes.

  No.

  Maybe everything.

  “He’s just... hard to work with sometimes,” she said finally. “I’m learning to handle it.”

  Matthew reached across the table, taking her hand. His thumb brushed her knuckles gently. “You know I trust you. I just don’t like the way you look when you talk about him. Like... you’re trying not to feel something.”

  Stacy looked away, throat tight. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

  But that night, back at home, she dreamt of silver eyes and warm hands catching her mid-fall. Not Matthew’s.

  Matthew’s.

  Kalil, meanwhile, sat in the dark of his apartment, shirtless, tense, moonlight tracing his bare back. His wolf was restless. Agitated. Every instinct clawed at him to go to her. Claim her. Protect her. Touch her again.

  But he couldn’t afford it.

  Not with the bond awakening.

  Not with the danger it could bring her.

  And not when her scent was starting to haunt even his dreams.