Protected by Artemis (Gods and Beasts #3)

3. Artemis

Chapter 3

Artemis

A rtemis rubbed her hands together as she admired her handwork.

“Hmmm.” She tapped a finger on her chin. “Not quite there yet but?—”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

The familiar baritone made her heart stutter. Composing herself, she turned to face the door. “Ah, there you are.”

“Answer my question.” Cade stalked toward her, dressed in his usual jeans and flannel shirt, though his hair was tousled like he’d been running his hands through them.

Or he’d just gotten out of bed.

The thought sent a small thrill through her.

“I’ve been preparing for our meeting. And you?”

“Our meeting?” A dark eyebrow went up. “And what in the world is that ?”

“Oh, this?” Whirling around to admire her handiwork, she said, “It’s our suspect board.”

Artemis pointed to the large whiteboard behind her. The first thing she did when she had any project was to get organized. However, she wasn’t satisfied with having just a plain, boring whiteboard. No, that wasn’t quite good enough. And so, she added her own flair to it. First, she added the title “Bombing Suspect Board” in big block lettering on top. Of course, it was pretty much empty for now, but she was prepared. Aside from the different colored markers—each suspect would have their own color to make it easier—she had magnets to put up suspect’s’ photos, string to tie them to pieces of evidence or other persons of interest, and a variety of sticky notes in different colors to write notes on. Using her magic, she could also expand the board as needed.

“How did it get that…?” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Never mind. But what exactly are you doing here?”

“I thought shifters had good hearing?” she challenged. “Or is this a memory problem? You said we were meeting first thing in the morning, remember?”

“I recall saying those words…to Xavier.” Circling the large oak desk by the window, he sat down on the worn leather chair. “You should go before he gets here.”

“Excuse me? Go?” She walked over to the front of his desk. “I’m supposed to be helping you find out who blew up your barn.”

He turned to his computer monitor and tapped on a few keys, the screen lighting up. “I didn’t think you were serious about that.”

“And why would you think I wasn’t serious?”

“We don’t need your help. This is pack business.” His gaze remained fixed on the screen.

“Then why did you say ‘let’s work on this together’?”

Cade blew out an impatient breath. “Because I didn’t want Geri to worry. And as I said, I didn’t think your kind would be interested in what goes on outside Olympus.”

Our kind?

“Now, that’s just silly.” When he didn’t look up, she rapped her knuckles on the desktop. “Don’t you think I love Geri as much as you do? I promised her I would stay and help, and I would never break my promise. Besides, how do you think Geri will react when I go to her and tell her you won’t let me help? She’ll insist on coming back right away.”

His head snapped up, those emerald green eyes once again holding her hostage. “Alright. I guess you can stay for the meeting.”

“Of course I can.” She sat down on one of the chairs in front of his desk, and this time, she stared right back at him, refusing to be the one to break their eye contact first.

A knock on the door made them both start. “Come in,” Cade called out.

“Alpha, I—oh, apologies. I didn’t realize you weren’t alone.” Xavier glanced at the whiteboard and then at Cade. “Am I interrupting?”

“No, you weren’t.” The Alpha gestured to the chair next to Artemis. “The lady Artemis will be joining us.”

The shifter nodded at her in acknowledgement, then sat down.

Cade folded his hands together. “Did you find anything new?”

“Not much more than what I’ve already told you last night,” Xavier began. “Just a few more key pieces of information and evidence that only solidifies the fact that this bombing was deliberate. The bomb was likely hidden in the decorations that arrived yesterday morning.”

“And how did we miss that?”

Xavier continued. “Hannah said there was nothing unusual about them except that an extra two rolls of burlap had arrived. When we checked with her supplier, they said that someone had called them the day before and canceled the entire order.”

“And someone else sent the bomb, concealed in the burlap,” Cade concluded. “Any more leads on that?”

“Working on it. Checked out the van from our security cameras, but they’re our usual courier. I called them, and they’re working on finding out who sent it.”

“If it’s a professional job, I doubt they’ll leave a trace. But, good job. We will need every piece of evidence we can to prove this was a deliberate act. It’s the only way we won’t get any blowback from the other packs.”

“Blowback?” Artemis piped in. “Blowback from what?”

“When we get justice for what they’ve done.” Cade’s tone was deadly.

“You mean when you report them to the police, right?” The question was met with silence. “You can’t mean?—”

“Shifters have their own brand of justice.” Cade’s expression turned hard as steel and just as cold. “When one pack wrongs another, they can seek retribution without getting the human authorities involved.”

Artemis swallowed, thinking of what retribution could mean.

“Too much for you, my lady?” Cade inquired, his face remaining stoic. “Perhaps you should rethink?—”

“No, I’m fine.” She sat up straighter in the chair. If Cade thought he could scare her away with violence, well, he had another thing coming. After all, she was a goddess, not to mention a veteran of a bloody war between the gods and their enemies, the Titans. “But surely there’s some kind of balance and checks in place? Otherwise, shifter society would fall into chaos?”

“That’s why we need evidence, my lady,” Xavier said. “Solid, incontestable proof before accusing anyone, or the other packs will come after us.”

“But why would you immediately assume it’s another pack? Is this a common occurrence among shifters?”

“Who else would it be?” Cade’s nostrils flared. “The humans don’t know about us; we hardly interact outside the pack or our general area. This was personal. They targeted us, possibly Geri in particular, since they chose to bomb us during her mating ceremony. Unless your brother has an enemy we don’t know about?”

“No one hates my brother enough to send him a bomb. Besides, Apollo doesn’t mingle in affairs outside Olympus, and another god wouldn’t think to use an explosive to kill another god.” No, they would definitely be more precise and elegant than that.

“In any case, other packs are a logical place to start,” Xavier reasoned. “Once we rule out any obvious suspects, we can start expanding our search.”

Artemis quickly got to her feet and walked over to the whiteboard, picking up a blue marker. “And who’s your main suspect so far?”

“It has to be Asher, right, Xavier?”

“He’s on top of the list. Makes most sense that?—”

Squeak.

“Oops!” Her hand stopped in the middle of writing the H, the marker poised on the surface of the whiteboard . “Sorry, keep going. But who’s Asher?”

The two men exchanged meaningful glances before Cade spoke. “He’s the Alpha I arranged for Geri to marry.”

The marker hit the floor with an audible plink . “Excuse me?” she said, her voice filled with indignation. “You tried to get Geri into an arranged marriage?”

“It’s a pack thing, you wouldn’t understand.”

She waited for an explanation, but it didn’t look like either man would oblige her.

“Besides, it didn’t happen anyway.” Cade placed both his palms on top of his desk.

“He didn’t take it too well, I’m guessing,” Artemis said.

“At first, he wouldn’t take no for an answer and kept demanding to meet with her to change her mind. Then when he found out she left pack territory, he tried to get me to reveal her location. Ever since then, he’s been a thorn in my side.” Cade gritted his teeth. “We do a lot of business down in his territory, and he’s been doing whatever he can to interfere.”

Artemis tapped the back of the marker on her chin. “But would he go as far as trying to bomb her wedding?”

Cade shrugged. “Who knows? But so far, he’s had the most motive.”

“Ah.” She scribbled down ‘motive – failed arranged mating to Geri’ next to Asher’s name. “Hmmm…do the other wolf packs know about the whole Asher thing?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Well.” Replacing the cap on the marker, she spun around to face them. “Then it would be easy to pin the crime on Asher, right? Since everyone knows he pretty much has it in for you and your pack.”

“True.” Cade’s mouth twisted.

“But that could mean any of the Alphas could be responsible and hoping that you’d look at Asher first. Are there any other packs who might want to do this?”

“A few,” Cade conceded. “Which is why we’re here. We need to narrow it down.”

“How many shifter groups are there?”

“In total? About three hundred or so all over the world. And that’s just the wolf packs. It would be logical to start with the ones in the US, since we do a lot of business with them,” Cade suggested. “And they would have the most to gain if something happened to our pack. Or to me.”

“Why so?”

“Cade doesn’t have an heir who can take over if something happens to him. We’d be sitting ducks without an Alpha,” Xavier said, which earned him a glare from Cade. Quickly, he lowered his head. “Alpha, forgive?—”

“No, you’re right. And the packs closest to us would have the most to gain. Including Asher’s.”

“So, we’ll have to consider all of them suspects.” Tapping the marker on her chin, Artemis glanced back at the suspect board. “I’m going to need more markers. And a bigger board.”

Xavier spoke up. “Alpha, have you thought about the conference?”

Cade’s dark brows slashed together. “I have.”

“It’s the best opportunity we have.”

“Wait, what conference?” Artemis asked. “And what do you mean by opportunity?”

“To gather evidence from the other alphas,” Xavier said. “All the alphas on the west coast—about thirty of them—are gathering for their annual conference tomorrow in the Turks and Caicos. Since all the alphas and some members of the pack will be there, you might be able to glean some information from them or even find our bomber.”

“Yes, that’s what I was thinking,” Cade said. “Everything’s all set, I’m leaving first thing in the morning. Xavier, I need you to check on all possible leads before then.”

“Of course, Alpha.” With a respectful nod of his head, Xavier stood up. “I’ll get to work right away.”

Once Xavier left, Cade turned to Artemis. “So, as you can see, we don’t really need?—”

“What’s your plan, exactly?” She strode back toward his desk. “What kind of evidence do you need, and how do you plan to get it?”

“Anything solid and factual. A confession, witnesses, something traceable or documented. Something I can document or prove.”

“So,” she began, tapping her fingers on top of his desk. “What you’re saying is, you don’t have an exact plan.”

His scowl deepened, which if Artemis were honest with herself, made him look even more attractive. “The bombing only happened yesterday, so I haven’t exactly had time to come up with something. I’ll talk to the alphas and see if any of them act suspiciously. Use my instinct to narrow down the suspects or maybe even make someone confess.”

She rolled her eyes.

“What? You got a better idea?”

“Of course,” she said matter-of-factly. “For starters, if you need solid evidence, then you’ll need some kind of paper trail or electronic paper trail.” She pointed to the phone sitting on top of his desk. “You conduct most of your business over that and your computer, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.” Taking her phone out of her pocket, she waved the hot pink device studded with crystals.

“Wait—you have phones? What do gods need phones for?”

“To communicate, get news, scroll social media, what else?” She opened up her Hellenagram app and showed him the latest photo on her profile, which was a selfie of her and Geri from last night’s reception with the caption, “My new sister! #bestSILever”.

“See? And we even get reception on Mount Olympus.”

“How?”

She smiled smugly. “I’m glad you asked because I was going to introduce you to someone who can help us gather your evidence. One sec.” Tapping on the envelope icon on her screen, she scrolled through her contacts before finding the right one and sent off a quick message. “There. That should do it.”

“ What should do it?” Cade asked, sounding exasperated.

“Not what. Who. It’s?—”

“And what’s this emergency?” a gruff voice interrupted.

Artemis clapped her hands together as she whirled around to face the newcomer who had materialized behind her. “ Kalos ton ! I’m glad you’re here.”

“You said it was an emergency, Artemoula,” Hephaestus, the god of fire and forges, said as he approached her. Strapping and imposing with rugged features, messy dark hair, scraggly beard, and piercing coppery eyes, most people would have been struck by his striking figure —except it was difficult to ignore the mechanical grinding and whirring coming from his cybernetic right calf and foot.

Artemis had seen many versions of his prosthetic over the last thousands of years, improving with each iteration, which did not really surprise her. After all, Hephaestus was a genius with technology and was fascinated by everything and anything related to machines and gadgets. If it had cogs, mechanical parts, or a microchip, he could make it do anything he wanted.

“Well?” he groused. “What is it?”

Unfortunately, he wasn’t very good when it came to dealing with actual living beings.

“We need your help, H,” she said.

“We?” He glanced behind her. “Where the hell are we anyway?”

“H, may I present the Alpha of the Alaska wolf pack, Cade Andersen.” She gestured toward the desk, but to her surprise, he was already right behind her. “Wha—oh, there you are. Cade, this is Hephaestus, God of Fire and Forges.”

Cade said nothing as the two men sized up each other, their fierce gazes locked on each other as if in a silent battle of wills. Sensing the tension, Artemis cleared her throat. “Gentleman, we don’t have all day, can we get to business?”

“That’s what I’ve been waiting for,” Hephaestus said, his eyes never leaving Cade.

Artemis blew out a breath. Too much testosterone around here. “It’s simple, really, I need your help.” She quickly filled him in on what happened yesterday and their plans to find the suspect.

“You were nearly blown to bits, and you only called me now?” Hephaestus roared.

“Don’t you yell at her,” Cade warned, taking a step forward, effectively placing himself between Artemis and Hephaestus. “And why would she need to call you anyway?”

“Guys, please!” She sent Cade a warning look; she didn’t need him to fight her battles. Besides, Hephaestus wasn’t furious at her. He was like an older brother to her, after all, so she understood why he was upset when he heard she was in danger. “I’m fine, H, thanks to Cade, actually. But we really need your help. Are you still working on that app we talked about when I last came over to your place?”

Hephaestus snorted. “I’m done with the prototype, actually.”

“Great, then we can test it out for this trip.”

“Wait a second.” Cade waved a hand in the air. “What the hell are you talking about? What app?”

“Show him,” Artemis urged. “It’s phenomenal.”

“Here. I call it KLonos.” Hephaestus held up his phone, showing the Greek letters kappa and lambda on the screen. “All you have to do is place it near a phone or laptop, and it makes copies of any device and then stores it on my cloud server.”

“Isn’t it genius?” Artemis grinned. “Stick it next to our suspect’s device, and voilà! We’ll get to see what they’ve been up to.”

Cade glanced at it with a skeptical expression. “For how long does it need to be in contact with the other phone?”

“Depends on how much data it has to transfer and how fast your phone’s processor is. But even with older phones, it shouldn’t take more than five minutes.”

“See, Cade? We’ll have the evidence we need to identify the alpha threatening your pack in no time.”

Cade’s nostrils flared. “You keep saying ‘we’ like you think you’re coming with me.”

“Of course, I’m coming with you.” She planted her hands on her hips. “Who else is going to help you suss out our bomber.”

“ My bomber,” he said. “I told you; this is pack business.”

“And I told you ”—she took a step toward him—“that I promised Geri I would see this through.”

“You promised to help,” he pointed out, his voice raising. “And you have, with this app.”

“Technically, it’s H’s app.”

“Why do we even need an app?” Cade scowled at Hephaestus. “Don’t you have magic? Why can’t you just…magic the data I need? Aren’t you a divine being?”

“Stupid mortal,” Hephaestus muttered. “It’s complicated.”

Cade flashed the god a menacing stare. “Try me.”

“Let me try to dumb it down for you, wolf.” Hephaestus put his phone away. “Computers and machines are complicated pieces of technology made by man. It existed after us gods, so we can’t just wave our hands and make it do our bidding.”

“See? We need his tech, Cade,” Artemis said.

“But that doesn’t mean you have to be there,” he protested. “You can’t come, and that’s final.”

“Final?” This time, she let just a little bit of that rage out. “Who do you think you are? You’re not my Alpha. You can’t tell me what to do.”

“I can certainly tell you where you’re not needed—or wanted.”

“Why you?—”

“Stop!” Hephaestus’s booming voice reverberated across the room. “Just lemme know what you need, okay? I don’t need to be involved in”—he gestured between her and Cade—“whatever this is.”

A blush crept up her cheeks. “This? What do you…there’s nothing going on. Why would you…”

Cade snickered, but said nothing more.

Hephaestus huffed. “Yeah, whatever. Just text me, Artemoula. I’ll install the app, no prob.” And with that, he disappeared.

“You’re still not coming with me.”

Stubborn wolf. She spun around to face him. “And why not?”

“For one thing, it’s too dangerous for you. If anyone discovers what we’re up to?—”

“Ha!” She threw her hands up. “Immortal, remember? I can magic myself out anytime. Besides, there’s another thing you don’t know about me.”

His nose wrinkled. “And what’s that?”

“I can tell when wolves are lying.”

“What?” Cade actually looked surprised. “How?”

“Goddess of the hunt, remember? Actually, I can tell when most shifters are lying. Kind of.”

“Kind of?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “What do you mean?”

“I just…know, okay? It’s not exactly an ability I use all the time.”

In ancient times, when divine beings and beasts had more freedom to roam the earth, Artemis often accompanied shifters and other creatures on their hunts, as well as helped them settle disputes. It was during this time she discovered she could actually discern when a shifter was lying. She didn’t know how exactly, but a feeling told her, and she was right 100 percent of the time.

So, one could say she was the perfect goddess for this job.

“Just trust me, I can do it. Besides, do you think I would give false information, knowing you might kill someone over it?” Her chest tightened, wondering if he did think her capable of such deception.

“I—of course not.” His nostrils flared. “You still can’t come.”

“And why not?” She stamped a foot like a petulant child. “Tell me.”

“You just can’t, okay?” he bellowed. “You’re not allowed to be there.”

Artemis focused on him. Ah, there you go . There was that familiar tingling in her chest. “You’re lying. I can tell.” The brief flash of pure surprise confirmed it. “See? I told you. Now, just tell me why you’re hellbent on excluding me from this trip.”

“You just…I can’t…” With a frustrated groan, he raked his fingers through his hair. “I won’t be able to come up with a reason to bring you.”

“Why not? Xavier said members of the other packs would be around. I could pretend to be your assistant or something.”

“Because of the nature of these gatherings, alphas are not allowed to bring just anyone.”

“And who would you be allowed to bring?”

“Xavier could come or anyone else in the direct chain of command. Or my appointed heir. Or even my mate or wife.”

“Oh.” But she could feel there was something else he was not telling her, and she didn’t even need her powers. “And who else?”

“My…bedmate.”

“A what?”

“A bedmate,” he repeated. “Someone who provides services. Sexual services.”

Heal engulfed Artemis’s cheeks—her entire face, neck, and possibly other parts of her as well—scorching her. “I…oh…”

“Shifters have powerful libidos, much more intense than normal humans. We need touch and?—”

“Sex,” she finished, though how she even managed to say anything when her tongue felt like jelly, she didn’t know. “You need sex.”

“Yes. I mean…” he cleared his throat. “Since the only other women at the conference would be other alphas or their mates, who would be off limits, they’d allow me to bring someone whose job it is to?—”

“I get it.” She raised a hand to stop him because she wasn’t quite sure she could take any more of this embarrassment without praying for the ground to swallow her up whole. “So…I could come—if I pretended to be your bedmate?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. That’s easy then.” She managed a casual laugh. “We just tell everyone that I’m your bedmate.”

“It’s not that easy.” His eyes darkened. “Anyone there would instantly know if we weren’t bedmates.”

“Th-they would?”

“Yeah. Much like that magic instinct of yours, in a way. Wolves, alphas especially, will be able to tell. For one thing, if we were fucking, you’d have my scent all over you.”

The crude words should have made her feel revulsion, but somehow, it had the opposite effect. “Okay, so you just…rub your scent on me.”

“I suppose that would work.” He paused, rubbing his chin with his fingers. “But they’d be suspicious nonetheless.”

“But how?”

“An alpha is usually very handsy and affectionate with their mates and bedmates. If we truly were having sex, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands or mouth off you, if only to keep other males away. If the others even sensed any hesitation in you, they’d know.”

“And what makes you think I can’t play along?”

“That stick up your ass, for one thing,” he said without missing a beat.

“I beg your pardon?” She balled her hands into fists at her sides as she stalked toward him. “What do you mean stick in my…my…my?—”

“See? You can’t even say ‘ass.’” His gaze raked over her. “Can you even say dirty words, my lady?”

“I certainly can.” Her mouth clamped shut. “Not in public, of course.”

“But you do, don’t you? With your other lovers?”

“I–I…” she stammered. “That’s none of your business.”

It was also none of his business that she was, in fact, a virgin.

Yes, in all these millennia, Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, had never slept with a man. And it wasn’t just a goddess thing, like those others in Mount Olympus who chose to remain a virgin. While she wasn’t completely inexperienced, she just hadn’t done the actual deed.

“This is exactly what I mean. One look at us, and you’ll be outed as a fraud.” He tsked. “And I can’t risk that. The only way I’ll even get close enough to finding out who sent me that bomb is if I keep the other alphas’ trust.”

Artemis chewed at her lip. “I mean…if that’s all…” She shook her head. “If that’s all it takes, then I don’t care. We have to do what we have to do.”

“And that is?”

She snapped her fingers. “We’ll practice.”

“Practice?”

“Being, uh, lover-like.” Gods, that sounded stupid, even to her ears. “I mean…” She sidled toward him until they were mere centimeters away. “How hard can it be?”

“We’ll have to play it like we’ve been together for a while. You can’t flinch or look even the slightest bit uncomfortable.”

“I won’t,” she said. “Try me.”

“So, I have your consent to do anything, my lady?”

Now, that honorific definitely didn’t sound anywhere near honorable. “Of course,” she said, trying to sound confident. “This is all just practice. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“No, it doesn’t.” An arm snaked around her middle and then hauled her up against his chest. “Not a thing,” he said before his mouth came down on hers.

The force of the kiss caught her off guard, her hands planting themselves on his rock-hard shoulders to keep herself steady. His mouth was demanding, moving over her lips with such urgency, that it was as if there was nothing more important in the world right now. A plane could crash on top of them, and he wouldn’t stop.

She found herself meeting his arduous kiss, and wanting to show him exactly how ready she was for this, she stroked at the inside of his mouth with her tongue. The thrill of triumph and excitement shot through her when she heard his low, throaty groan and his hips thrust against her.

Before she could continue her seduction, something wet swiped at the bottom of her lip—his tongue this time. Drawing her lip into his mouth, he gently grazed it with his tongue before sucking at it, making her body tingle in all her secret places.

Somehow, he had turned the tables, and his mouth was the one seducing her. His tongue caressed her mouth with masterful strokes, teasing her. When she attempted to capture it, he would pull back, evading her. Her own groan of frustration seemed to amuse him as he smiled against her mouth. Her competitive nature refused to give up, and she cupped his jaw, shot up on tiptoes, and fully fused her mouth to his so she could touch his tongue with hers. His flavor—masculine, salty, and rugged—exploded in her mouth, making her knees go weak. When he thrust his fingers into her scalp and tugged, she was a goner. If he asked her to do anything right now, she would obey.

Oh gods, pull yourself together!

Artemis finally found the strength to wrangle her raging hormones and broke away from the kiss. Pulling back from him, she took a deep, cleansing breath. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Cade, on the other hand, let out a frustrated groan, which Artemis had to admit, made her do a little victory dance on the inside. “Well…something’s definitely hard.”

It took all her willpower not to stare down at what she had obviously felt brushing against her stomach while they were making out. “Good. Then I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Tomo—hey, just wait a goddamned minute.” He scrubbed his palm down his face. “I still haven’t said you can come.”

“Too bad, because I am.” She smirked at him. “Besides, you don’t have Hephaestus’s number, and the only way you’ll get him to install the KLonus on your phone is through me.”

He let out a frustrated sound. “Fine, you can come. But you know the conditions.”

“What conditions?”

He closed the distance between them again. “You’ll have to let me touch you and put my mouth on you, anywhere and anytime I want. Even if it’s just us.”

Frankly, that didn’t sound too bad. “Of course. For practice.”

“Right.” He leaned down until she could feel his hot breath on her ear. “Just practice.” His tongue licked behind her ear, which sent a shiver down the back of her thighs, and other places on her lower body. “We’d also have to sleep in the same bed.”

“We do?”

“The staff will be suspicious if they find out we’re sleeping separately. We need to be convincing. Act like real lovers, completely at ease with other, like we can’t keep our hands off each other. Can you even do that?” His tone made it sound like a challenge.

“I can.” Oh, she would show him how much she could do it. From this point on, she would treat him like a close lover. Somehow it didn’t sound as hard as he made it seem. She closed her eyes. “It’ll help us find out who tried to hurt Geri.”

The atmosphere shifted around them as if breaking whatever spell had been in the air. He straightened himself. “Of course, for Geri.”

“I, uh…better get going then.” She smoothed her palms down her hair, which only moments ago had been fisted in his strong, rough hands. “I should find Hephaestus and get that app.”

“You do that.” There was a slight tug up of the corner of his smug mouth, and for some reason, she wanted to wipe it away.

With her tongue, if possible.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Cade’s smirking face disappeared as she transported herself back to Olympus, just outside of Hephaestus’s workshop. She braced a hand against the wooden door as her knees nearly gave out.

Ugh, that was so stupid! What the hell did I do?

She’d made out with her sister-in-law’s brother in his office, that’s what she did.

And loved every minute of it.

“Oh gods,” she gasped. After all this time, she didn’t really think she’d ever feel that way about any man. She thought that she’d put aside those feelings, those wants long ago, but?—

“Are you just gonna stand there looking like you wanna puke your guts out, or are you gonna come in?” the voice from the doorbell camera asked.

“Yes, I’m coming in,” she called. “Just give me a sec.” Get yourself together! For Olympus’s sake, you’re a goddess, not some horny teenager with a crush.

This wasn’t about her or even Cade, after all, she reminded herself. This was for Geri, for her pack. Someone was trying to hurt them, and she made a promise to help find out who it was. She couldn’t let her hormones get in the way.

Yes, from here on out, things would stay strictly professional between her and Cade.