Greg had been paying more attention to her facial transmutation after hearing from the queen - through Tristan - that Sush didn’t smile a lot around anyone. He was surprised to learn that it was true. For someone who claimed to be able to extract humor from anything, she didn’t smile a lot. That entire morning, as she checked on each department and handed out orders, her lips either remained flat or were pulled to a frown. Yet he himself had witnessed her smile - even laugh - several times in the previous week.
“They’re still running through them. Nothing out of the ordinary yet,” she said, slipping her tablet back in.
Thoughts of touching her took the backseat as his protective instincts kicked in. The suspect pool - in other words, the people who knew she was headed for the ministry - was enormous. As
The mention of Enora got Greg on high alert. His pupils dilated, his claws underneath the innocuous nails ready, and his shoulders stiffened. It was common knowledge that the king and queen had pups, but it wasn’t common knowledge that Greg shared a bond with their youngest. “How do you know about my sweetheart?” his voice dropped to a deep baritone as his eyes darkened.Trying to sound bored, Sush looked out the windshield and uttered, “You took a call last week after work and rushed out after that, like you’ve been caught cheating on her.”There was one word in that sentence that smothered his defensiveness and splattered perplexity on him instead. For a brief second, he wondered if they were referring to the same person. Then, the waters of amused comprehension washed over him. So that explained
It wasn’t the mate bond, Greg knew that much. The sparks from one would be stronger, clearer, more will-bending. This wasn’t it. But the flicker warmed his skin, dilated his pupils, and made his heart beat like a pack of rogues running toward their prey.Reluctantly releasing her hands, he uttered, “Let’s go. We don’t want to be late.”Both doors lifted and Sush was forced to get out of the car when the person she wanted to scream at had already gotten out. The temptation to yell was as strong as the need to hide away for a few hours until she’d decided how best to present herself again after that debacle.She was jealous, even though they weren’t anything.
“Your Grace. This is a surprise.” Ferdinand finally yielded.“I can tell, seeing that your shock impeded your visual and auditory perception,” Greg replied monotonously, still disregarding the man’s title and position. The gears in his head continued to turn. They’d never met. He’d seen the man’s photo, but that wasn’t where Greg recognized… parts of him. This person - his energy and scent were as new as they were foreign, but segments of his features reminded Greg of someone. He just couldn’t figure out who.Ferdinand’s frown forced itself into a superficial smile as he straightened himself in his seat. Dropping the ball next to a paperweight, he stated, “I can see and hear you, Your Grace.”
“WHAT?” Sush’s voice blared in Greg’s car and his lycan was pushed back by the volume before he got back up and demanded his human to ask what was going on.Sush put Hazel on speaker as the deputy reported at a frantic pace, “...autopsy said she’d been dead for ten hours before the body was found. They took a full hour to identify her before notifying us about…” Greg double-parked as Hazel’s voice continued ringing through. “...the cause of death - multiple stab wounds to her chest, abdomen and face. No belongings were taken. Cash, credit cards, a five-figure watch remained intact and present on the property. They weren’t after money. Valor is sending four archers to retrieve her body and the defense ministry has been notified. Did Ferdinand say anything?”&ldqu
Sush and Greg were the only two at the cafeteria. Two mugs of black coffee sat between them, along with cream puffs, bagels and a chicken sandwich - all untouched, even after Greg had spread the cream cheese for her.“One thing, Sush,” Greg urged, leaning in. “Just eat one thing.”She blinked, coming back to the room. Eyes assessed her options, and she picked up half a bagel - the half with a more generous amount of cream cheese, biting into it without really tasting the flavors and texture.Greg popped a cream puff into his mouth as he continued watching her, praying Jade got the archives and correspondences fast so her mind would be kept away from the whys and focused on the hows.This
Greg’s thumb fiddling the ear of the mug paused, eyes enlarged and jaw tensed, finding no humor in Sush, who simply shrugged.Annoyance set in, and he noted pointedly, “Sush, as much as I want to, we’ve established that I can’t read your mind. Kindly elaborate.”She was going to tell him. She just didn’t know where to start. Patterson and Carter were an item for quite a while, before Sush herself joined the hunters. Greg’s impatience had put a stop to her mind that had already been slowed from the day’s events. The words “as much as I want to” did most of the magic, conjuring thoughts that Sush never thought she had.Deciding for
A day later, after taking off from work, Jade, Sush, and Hazel met at Greg’s place after Greg had completed his chat session with Enora. Only when Enora had to say a sad goodbye and utter the routine “I love you” did Greg let the three in, replying, “I love you too, sweetheart. Sweet dreams. Talk to you tomorrow.”The words drew nothing out of Jade, who - like every maverick - knew who it was at the other end of the line, so he extracted his stuff and methodically arranged everything on the kitchen counter like it was just another evening after work; it shocked Hazel, who kept up with news and gossip of all kinds yet didn’t know Greg already had someone; and as for Sush, who knew he said those words while letting them in on purpose - she shot him an annoyed glare which ea
The octopuses completed the screening Valor asked for within a week. Hunters were either relocated, given more team members or reassigned completely. They sent a formal request to the government, urging them to improve communication systems in remote areas. Once Ferdinand shared the horrors of Catrine Carter’s death, the motion to see through the hunters’ request received a unanimous vote.There was some noise made by a member of the opposition party, a young woman named Joyce Clearwater, who promptly reminded the house that her party had made those recommendations several times before but was brushed aside by the leading party, using this opportunity to argue that the leading party would never take precautions seriously until the people suffered “in the most tragic manner”. Despite the slurs that went on for a few minutes after that, the result was the same - improve