it. He had to know she was experienced enough to watch her own back, but Calla had a feeling Taze was going to insist on taking her and picking her up from the office.
“Calla,” Talon paused to pinch the bridge of his nose. Calla knew him well enough to know his action meant he was torn. “If I let you go into work, the other pride members will expect to go about their daily lives. I know you are capable of defending yourself, but I cannot risk your life again.”
The punch to her gut was sudden. She cast her eyes toward the ground and gritted her teeth. “I also have my therapy appointments,” she reminded him with a whisper.
“You are allowed to go to them,” he said as he pushed away from the desk. Gods, his magic was intense as it wrapped around her body, giving her strength.
With his alpha powers, she straightened her spine and lifted her eyes. The odd sensation felt like a shot of adrenalin to her system. “Thank you, Talon.”
“I want you to find happiness, Calla,” he said, changing the subject. Even with his powers, she felt the pain of her secrets weighing on her. Of course, the alpha now knew, along with the healer and Taze.
“Actually,” she began, giving him a bright smile, “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Taze. He makes things…better. I feel like I can breathe normally when he’s around me.”
“That’s good,” Talon praised, echoing her smile. “That’s what a mate is supposed to bring into your life, Calla. Taze is a good male, and he will cherish you.”
“I’m starting to understand that,” she said. They could sit there all day and talk about her mate, but she needed to know where she fit in to this new lockdown. “As far as work, though?”
“I will allow you to go to work, but a Protector will be placed there with you,” he offered. She breathed a soft sigh of relief. “I’ll send Hope with you.”
“Thank you, alpha,” she replied with a nod.
She hurried out of his home and jumped in the shower. By the time she was putting on her shoes, Hope had arrived to ride with her.
“I’m not going to come inside and bother you while you are working,” Hope promised. “Talon wants me to be hidden. There’s no reason to give away that a member of our pride works in the building in case there is a wolf sniffing around.”
“Good idea,” Calla agreed. “We can leave for my lunch. I usually take the full hour and grab a bite to eat at a restaurant near work.”
“That would be nice,” Hope cheered. “I haven’t been out to eat in forever.”
“Then it’s a plan,” Calla nodded.
Their conversation was light on the way into the office, and by the time Calla got out of her car, handing over the keys, she wished she’d stayed home to wait for Taze to wake up. She missed their morning runs, and she felt bad about angering him that morning.
Her panther was pushing at her more and more each day to finally touch him. While she was still scared of what would happen during the actual mating, there was a part of her that was growing, changing into a female who wanted to go through with it. In the depths of her heat, she had imagined so many times what would happen when they completed the mating. Sex was emotional, and the gods knew she was iffy on her stability, but it was Taze who’d be there with her.
He had shown so much compassion toward her over the last several weeks, and he didn’t push her to make the connection, promising to let her make the first move.
She wanted to try more now than she ever had. It’d been discussed during the last session with her therapist, and while she blushed the entire time, their conversation had helped. A lot. There would come a time in her life when she could move on from the things done to her and the memories would fade enough to give her back the life she deserved. Calla understood, because they were, in fact, getting easier to ignore. She would never forget her time there, but she could let it stop ruling her future.
Her future with Taze.
The day turned into afternoon, and the two females grabbed lunch like they’d planned. There were no issues all day, and by the time she came out to the car after work, she waved