Tristan rounded the desk in two seconds, grabbing the man by the scruff of his collar, lifting him out of the chair. “Apology. Now.”
“Yes, yes, I’m so sorry Dr. Williams. Don’t worry about a thing. Dr. Kepler can take over your caseload, and everything will be in order when you return.” He actually looked like he was about to cry.
Kalli’s eyes widened at the display of her Alpha’s protection. Her Alpha. Her wolf wanted to roll over and bare her throat.
“Glad that’s settled. Thanks so much for your understanding, Dr. Cramer. We’ll be leaving now,” Tristan snapped at him, taking Kalli’s hand and gently helping her to her feet.
As they walked down the hallway, Kalli said nothing. She wasn’t so much upset about what Tristan had done as she was about her reaction to it. To say she was aroused was an understatement. She swore silently as she felt the dampness in her panties.
“Tristan, I have to grab a few things from my office. Right here.” She pointed to an open area, with several cubicles. “Um, I’m in here…over in the corner. Oh hi, Lindsey.” She waved to a young woman whose cube was directly across from her office door.
“Hi, Dr. Kalli. Where ya been?” Lindsay, a pretty young graduate student shuffled papers behind her desk. Her long blond hair, streaked with bright red highlights, fell into her face.
Kalli had befriended Lindsey when she’d started interning over a year ago. She taught her how to help with research projects, and also the basics of day to day animal care. Kalli admired Lindsey’s determination and strong work ethic. Her compassionate attitude toward the animals had her convinced Lindsey would make a fine veterinarian someday.
“Hey, just wanted you to know that I’m going to be on leave for a few weeks. If you need something, call my cell. Also, expect a call today or tomorrow for a pickup on the yellow boa. I signed the release.”
“Okay, Doc. Is there anything I can do while you’re gone? I can work on compiling the statistical data for you on MAO36, but I’d need access. Is your laptop here?” she asked cheerfully.
“No, all research will go on hold until I get back. I don’t want anyone messing with my data. You know how it is,” Kalli called through the opening of her door. She was shoving a few files into a bag, looking through her stuff to see if there was anything she really needed to take with her. She was hoping to be back in the office within a couple of weeks, but she wasn’t entirely sure when things would be back to normal. Looking over at Tristan and Logan who both seemed to be studying her overflowing bookshelf, she was pretty sure things would never be the same for her again.
“I scent wolves. Stay back,” Logan directed, as he pushed open the door to Kalli’s apartment. Kalli had insisted on getting a few things to wear, since she was going to stay at Tristan’s. But as soon as they entered the building, the smell was so strong that even Kalli had recognized its deathly scent: wolf.
“Hey Tris, maybe you ought to take Kalli back down to the car,” he suggested, eyeing the disheveled mess they’d made.
“No,” she cried, pushing past Tristan. “Goddamn fucking wolves.” She could not believe they’d torn her apartment apart.
“Don’t hold back, Kal,” Tristan joked, slightly amused at her temper. Good, she needed to get mad, pissed even. This fight wasn’t going to be easy.
“Why the hell did they have to do this? I mean, if they wanted me, they could have just opened the door, had a looksee and left. Why tear everything up?” she huffed.
The sofa was torn apart, knifed. Her bookshelf had been dumped. All the kitchen cabinets had been opened; the dishes and canned goods were strewn all over the counters and floors. She sighed, looking around at the mess. Sitting on a kitchen table chair, she put her head in her hands, while Tristan and Logan poked around in the bedroom and guest room.
She couldn’t believe her world was coming unhinged. Why had they made this mess? It was as if they’d been looking for something. Something important. In a split second, Kalli’s heart began to race in panic as the reason for the mess became altogether apparent. No way. No one knew. They couldn’t know. All her research had been secret. She’d told no one. No one even ever saw her take the pills. Sure, in the beginning stages of her research, she’d taken her laptop to work. She printed only a few things off, but always on her private printer and always making sure there were no copies, shredding any remaining trash.
Since the actual development of CLI, she’d stopped carrying her laptop completely. After memorizing the composition and deleting all the data off her computer, she’d stored all the information on a flash drive which she kept hidden. But if someone knew….if they knew of CLI’s existence or even suspected it was possible to devise a like drug, it’d be disastrous. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t gone through the scenarios during its creation: its possible use by the unscrupulous as a punishment by preventing a wolf from shifting, or worse, deriving the compound into a weapon. In the wrong hands, wolves everywhere would be vulnerable.
But she couldn’t be sure that’s what had happened. At this point, she had to assume that the wolves most definitely had seen her leaving the fire, and knew where she worked and lived. They could have just been on a power trip, trashing her apartment to scare her. There was only one way to find out if they knew. The only other supply of pills besides what she had left at Tristan’s was her emergency supply, which she also hid. And she had to look for it now without alerting Tristan and Logan.
She jumped, startling as Tristan laid his hand on her shoulder. “Kalli, the bedrooms are a mess. I’m really sorry. Do you want Logan and I to help you get a bag together?” he asked softly. No matter how tough she was, this intrusion was bound to shake her.
Standing up, she pulled away from him. The impending lie felt like a lump in her throat. If the pills or thumb drive were missing, then she had to come clean. There was just no other choice.
“Can I just have a minute alone in my room?” she asked.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I can do this. I have to do this.”
“Hey Logan,” Tristan called.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Logan answered, walking back into the kitchen.
“She’s going back to get her things. Alone.”
“I just need some privacy. A minute to think.” She gave them both a small smile, which didn’t reach her eyes.
“Hey Doc. I’m real sorry about this. Assholes,” Logan remarked, taking in the mess all over the kitchen. Cracked eggshells and dried yolk stuck like glue to every surface.
“Yeah, I won’t lie. It feels like such a violation. Strangers going through my house, tearing it up. Really, really sucks. But you know, this stuff,” she gestured to her torn books, cracked pieces of china and knickknacks. “It’s all just…well, it’s all just stuff. As opposed to animals or people, it can all be replaced.”
Logan set a comforting hand on her shoulder. At the same time, he shot Tristan a nod, careful not to overstep his boundaries. Logan loved his Alpha. He knew things were changing. He’d dreamed of Tristan’s mate. But unlike his Alpha, he’d had time to mentally prepare. However, he never imagined the sense of protectiveness he’d feel toward her. Confusion swept over him as he tried to resolve why. Considering she was human, not pack, it didn’t make sense to him that he felt so compelled to shield her from danger, hurt. He’d first noticed it at the hospital. While he always enjoyed watching his boss dominate, hearing Tristan attack her nasty boss had given him unusual delight. He’d known that if his Alpha hadn’t intervened, he would have been the one to do it.