Chapter 56

Grace

I hadn’t seen it in ages. It had probably been hiding in the laundry room in that corner of stuff I hadn’t ever bothered to get through. Surprisingly, it looked clean. It's looked practically brand new.

He smiled. “It is. Eason said it was the only luggage you had, which I’ll be fixing ASAP. Cecil and Eason helped me pack a bag for you, and since I couldn’t find Maggie’s go bag, I figured she’d already brought it.”

“How is Richard?” I asked.

“In good spirits,” he said as he unpacked the cooler. “He wants to try pasta sooner rather than later.”

I shook my head. “He told you that?”

“More or less.”

The other bag was full of hot food. He loaded the refrigerator full of packed containers of food and dropped a bag of disposable silverware in the drawer. Then, he was filling the cabinet with snacks. I stared, amazed, and touched that he’d come without being asked, without hesitation. He seemed happy to be here. I was happy to be helping, and Margaret’s words rattled around in my mind. My eyes stung as some well of emotion seemed to break. I tried not to think about Devin and all the times I had asked for help when I was pregnant and how unhelpful he had been.

Every time he’d drag his feet and complain, every time he made even the smallest bit of help seem impossible to provide. I swallowed past the tension in my throat.

I had deserved so much better. Cecil and Richard deserved better. How was it that I was just now seeing it?

“If you have requests, let me know. I brought known favorites. George should be back soon, so he’ll be available if you can’t reach me,” he looked at me and smiled as he stuffed the empty bags into one and grabbed the cooler’s handle. “If you’re in dire need of a break to see Cecil and Richard, just call.”

“Where are they now?”

“Eason’s at the house. Richard’s asleep, and when I left, Cecil and Eason were dueling over the last breadstick.” He laughed. “I think Eason might have caved and split it with her even though she ate four of them already.”

My heart warmed at the thought. It had been so long since Eason had been around the house so frequently. I couldn’t get my hopes up that he would move back in, but it was nice to think that Eason’s scent would linger in the hallways the way it used to.

It was nice to know that Devin’s scent had already faded so much beneath Charles’ scent. Charles cupped my face, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Don’t worry so much. You’re not alone, and they’re more than taken care of, okay?”

I nodded. “Thanks, Charles.”

“Any time. You two are the stars of the show. Let me know if you want anything else.” He smirked. “Even if you just want me to wash beakers.”

“What about the business side? The investigation?”

He snorted. “Easily managed with a laptop and a phone. If you want me to take over negotiations on your assistant’s contract, let me know.”

“That… would actually be a lot of help, but I want to sign off on the offer before she sees it.”

“Done.”

He left with a wave and headed back to the elevator. I stared after him. When I turned back, Dr. Thompson was eating out of a container and peering at me with an intensity I hadn't seen in years. She spoke bluntly, cutting through the air like a surgical blade.

"Grace, you need to stop dancing around him and just let the man have you before you both combust.”

I blinked, my jaw nearly hitting the floor. How had she noticed? "Dr. Thompson, I—"

“You’re far too old and far too near to being family to be calling me that. It’s Margaret. Margo, if you must. Only Charles calls me Maggie. “

“I-I, well,--“

She waved a dismissive hand, her tone exasperated. "Don’t combust now or implode. You’re obvious to anyone who is lycan, and he’s obvious to anyone with eyes. He was practically envisioning you in his bed and promising to protect your den.”

I flushed. The sound of it sounded so good that my heart fluttered.

“Providing food, stability, support: it's a lycan thing, my dear, an alpha lycan thing. Spending time with him, your lycan side's surfacing more, so be careful. It's a good thing.”

“It’s…” My shoulder slumped as I grabbed a dish. “It feels like I’m in uncharted territory."

“You followed your stupid heart with Devin. Your instincts are much smarter. So listen to them.”

The weight of my past choices hung heavily between us. "I know you haven’t forgiven me yet. And honestly, I'm not sure if I will ever forgive myself for walking away."

She snorted. “I don’t hold grudges. I’m merely speaking the truth. Eat, and let’s get back to work.”

The following days had me in and out of the lab, but it felt different than I remembered. I wasn’t hungry, for one. I couldn’t even remember how many nights I had shuffled out of a lab, starving at some ridiculous hour in the morning.

I could, however, remember Devin never being there with a kind word, a meal—not even a bag of chips. Every time Charles came in with more food, an offer of assistance, or even just an encouraging word, I wondered how I could have been so stupid to think that Devin had ever loved me.

Charles, as promised, answered whenever I called to check on the kids. I took my lunch and dinner breaks on video calls with them. It didn’t feel so lonely, and more than that, Cecil seemed perfectly okay with just being with Charles and Eason while I was here.

All my fears about leaving my children seemed so unfounded. Neither of them were crying, demanding me to come home, wailing as if I had abandoned them. Hell, it almost seemed like Charles and Cecil had more fun when I wasn’t there. Richard seemed practically euphoric in Charles’ arms.

“And we built a snowman, mommy!” Cecil said, bouncing in the view of the camera. “Uncle Charles says we’ll build a snow wolf next time that’s as big as he is!”

I had no idea how big that was, but I smiled. “That’s great, Cecil. Won’t you send mommy a picture?”

“Yeah!”

The picture was a little out of focus, but Charles sent me a follow-up with her standing between the snowman and the snow wolf dressed for winter and beaming. If that was as big as Charles got when he shifted, I couldn’t imagine why anyone would think to challenge him.

The days crawled on. Today, I was enjoying lunch with Margaret in the labs, going over the financials of the project after meeting with Charles, when there was a knock at the door.

Charles appeared with a tray of sandwiches in hand and a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"Lunchtime, scientists."

Margaret glanced at me with a knowing look as I blushed and followed her out of the room to the break room. Charles bustled around, grabbing the empty dishes out of the dishwasher to take back home. Margaret kept her gaze on me, but I didn’t look at her.

I couldn’t.

“So, care for some good and bad news?” Charles asked. “I’ll let you choose which one you want first.”

I winced. “I’d rather only have good news.”

“Not an option.”

I sighed. “Good news first, then.”

“I updated that contract. It’s in your email for your final approval before she gets a chance to look at it.” He smirked. “I took the liberty of talking to the boyfriend, too. He’s not opposed to living in Mooncrest City. I think your speech did a lot for that since he was planning to basically kidnap her as soon as her lease was over.”

My eyes widened. “Kidnap her?”

He laughed. “As he put it, it was the only way he was going to get to go to sleep and wake up next to her if things kept going the way they were. Her little efficiency bedroom isn’t big enough for him to walk in, let alone sleep in.”

I blinked. “He must be large.”

He laughed. “No bigger than me. Nice. Young. From a good family. A good track record. He’s new to the forces, but he’s on the path to moving up the ranks quickly.”

“You like him,” Margaret said. “Must be a hell of a kid.”

“He’s honest, and his eyes lit up like stars when I brought her up. Should have heard him gushing about his plans.” He grinned, his eyes turning wistful. “Ah, young love. He’s smitten with her. She’s in good hands.”

I eyed him. “You seem invested.”

“A happy Enforcer with something to go home to is more careful in the field,” Charles said. “A lot more mileage out of Enforcers who care about coming home. Makes them efficient and cautious. I think they’re mates even if they don’t seem to know that yet.”

I frowned and tipped my head.

“I thought lycans and werewolves could never be mates.”