If someone had told me the very first day I arrived in Calamitous that I'd have the pleasure of witnessing Vincent smile whenever we were alone, I'd laugh in their face, then claim they were pulling my leg. Even now, it was a hard concept to grasp. And if I caught him smiling, he'd wipe it off his face as though it were never there. Ha, jokes on him—the image was clear in my mind.

"I'd appreciate it if you stopped staring at me while I work," Vincent rolled his eyes and grumbled from his office chair behind his desk. I sat cross-legged in the chair beside him so that I had a front-row seat to whatever he was doing.

"Staring?" I gasped dramatically. "Excuse you, but I'm admiring."

"More like you're being a pain in my ass." He shook his head.

"You haven't kicked me out of the room, though. Now have you?" I asked with an eyebrow raised. He grunted, to which I assumed, was his way of calling this argument quits. "Admit it, my company is appealing to you. You don't have to deny it anymore, Vincey-boy. I get it."

"If you call me that God-awful nickname again, I am never speaking to you again."

"Fine, fine. I'll leave you alone." I made a zipping gesture across my lips, tossing the imaginary key away afterwards. Vincent rolled his eyes yet again before cuffing his hand under my chair and yanking me closer to him, earning a small yelp out of me. He hummed what sounded like a noise of content, then his eyes were back on the papers in front of him.

I said nothing, only watched in silence. Even if I wanted to comment on his actions, I didn't think I'd have much to say. The frantic beating in my chest and the obnoxious smile on my face had enough to say for me, and I was sure Vincent heard every word loud and clear.

For the most part, things were the same between us. But we both knew there'd been a change. Every once in a while I could feel a faint pull—something reminding me that our relationship had officially gone in a different direction—between us. To anyone else, Vincent's actions might have seemed normal. Maybe even lackluster, dare I say. After all, we weren't lovey-dovey.

We didn't seem like we had any feelings for each other, other than pure acknowledgement. Possibly in the friendship sense. But to someone like me, who'd been observing him since day one, learning his traits and habits, it was the little things he did that solidified this strange bubble we'd built around ourselves; whereas we were comfortable with how things were without needing to set a label on it just yet. Not at least until we both had a better understanding.

Besides, I didn't expect either of us to dive head-first into this, knowing fully well we had little to no experience in whatever the hell this was going to be. It was a little unnerving, to say the least, I'd admit. Oh boy, I couldn't wait for Amaury to talk to me about this. He was going to have a field day with me and Vincent. Speaking of Amaury, he'd been on my mind a lot lately.

Nearly an entire week had passed since our last encounter; the day Vincent and I spoke with him in the tunnel. Still no sign of that fifth spell book anywhere. And on top of that, Vincent and I were the only two who knew of Amaury's presence. I was hoping to avoid another surprise reveal that wasn't planned. But that meant Vincent and I needed to come clean ourselves. I imagined there were many ways that conversation could go—both good and bad.

We wouldn't know if we didn't risk it though.

"Vincent, I've been thinking. . ."

"What about?"

"Don't you think we should tell Lady Teresa and Amaruq about Amaury? And then, maybe, just maybe, we should tell everyone else? At least those in this little close circle you've got."

Vincent flinched. "Well, it is an option that I do want to explore soon. But I don't know if now is the best time," he said, his voice gruff.

"When do you think will be the best time?"

A sigh passed through his lips. "I don't know. But my parents will be pissed if they find out I've hidden it from them for long. So, it'll have to be a lot sooner than I'm ready for."

"Well, if it helps any, I think Lady Teresa already knows."

"What? She does?" he asked, taken aback.

I scratched the back of my head, smiling sheepishly. "She sort of hinted that she was onto me a little while ago. But she hasn't brought it up since then. I figured she hasn't forgotten though."

"Of course." He sighed and massaged his temples. "She's as intuitive as ever."

"That sounds about right." I chuckled.

"Then, it's probably best that we tackle this now rather than later," he said.

"Are we also going to tell the others about what happened last week? With the shadow?"

"Not yet. . . We'll tell them when we tell them about Amaury. I believe that's our best course of action right now. I want to avoid mass panic again too. This may certainly be connected to old man Wilfred's death. I'm sure of it now. And is connected to the Erebus wolves somehow."

"Vincent?" There was a knock on the door.

"Finish talking about this later?" I whispered. Vincent nodded, then turned to the door.

"Come in," answered Vincent. I folded my arms on his desk and leaned forward, resting my head on them at a tilted angle. Bennett slowly entered the room, his eyes landing on Vincent, then me. His eyebrows furrowed at the close proximity between us but he didn't bother pointing it out. He wasn't the first person to notice and he surely wasn't going to be the last.

"Vincent," Bennett greeted him, "we have a message from Grimfur."

"Grimfur?" Vincent frowned.

I scooted closer to him, whispering, "What's Grimfur?"

"Grimfur is a fairly large pack in Georgia. Think about the size of a city. That's how big they are. They're a lot more significant than us too," he said, then looked back at Bennett. "What did they say?" Bennett's eyebrows flung up, his eyes shifting between Vincent and I as if he couldn't believe Vincent was allowing him to talk so openly about pack business in front of me.

Bennett cleared his throat, continuing, "They've invited Calamitous to their pack grounds. Their leader, Alpha Merrick, has called upon all the packs directly involved in the current crisis and requested that we be there. Apparently, they may have some important information.

"And he is offering . . . an alliance. Or I should say, he is asking of all the packs invited that an alliance be formed. There will be several other packs there to my knowledge, including Lichen. I thought I'd confirm with you. Are we going?"

"An alliance, you say, huh. . ." Vincent pushed himself back, rolling a pen in between his fingers as he rotated his neck. "Tell Alpha Merrick that we accept his invitation."

I stroked my chin, my lips curling the slightest bit. "Isn't Lichen the pack that was here not too long ago? What were their names again?"

"Yes, you're thinking of Alpha Kai and Beta Odin," Vincent replied.

I nodded, asking a follow-up question, "Do packs often form alliances?"

"If a situation calls for it. It isn't as often as you might think though."

"It's been a long time since an alliance like this has been called forth though," Bennett added.

"That is true." Vincent sighed, no doubt, stressing over the intense amount of weight on his shoulders. I could only imagine how pressured he felt being that this was just his first run as alpha, and there was already so much happening at once. "Bennett, when is this pack gathering going to be held? Set a reminder please."

"It'll be over the weekend. This weekend. But Georgia is quite a ways away from us. It'd probably be best if we head out earlier than intended," said Bennett.

"Yes, you're right. We'll head out Thursday morning. Notify the others and tell them to be packed and ready to go by then. We leave bright and early so that we can at least make it there by Friday morning or Friday afternoon, in case of any delays," Vincent said.

Bennett nodded. "Understood." As Bennett made way for the exit, he paused and cocked his head back at us. "You two have surely gotten closer."

"What makes you say that?" Vincent asked, absent-mindedly. He was too busy flicking the finger I'd been using to read along to his documents. Bennett watched us bicker, his suspicion most likely at an all-time high now. Still, he didn't comment any further.

"Nothing," he said, chuckling. "If there's any more news or any last minute changes, I'll report back." His last words before he excused himself out of Vincent's office.

"So, does this mean all of you are going on a retreat to another pack?" I asked as soon as I heard the door click back into place. Vincent arched an eyebrow, looking over at me.

"You mean we're going on a retreat to another pack," he said.

"Huh?"

"As in you're coming along with us."

"I am?"

"You didn't think I was going to leave you here alone for the weekend, did you?"

"Isn't that what you usually do when pack business is involved?"

"Well, you're our number one suspect at the moment . . . and besides, I want you there where I'm able to keep an eye on you at all times. Leaving you by yourself in this house for three days isn't an option. Have I ever left you alone for that long? No, definitely not."

"Hmm, that sounds a lot like someone's worried about me. . ." I teased. When Vincent didn't respond, I pursed my lips and tilted my head further to get a better look at him. "Wait, are you actually worried?" Again, I received no response except for his shoulders tensing.

So, he hadn't meant to give himself away. Well, it was too late for that.

"Geez, I wonder how many times a day you worry about me," I murmured, shifting so that my body was sitting upright again. This time, my legs were folded under my butt.

"A lot more than I'd like to admit." His reply surprised me more than his silence. My brain had been slower to process his words, but when it did, my eyes flew wide open.

"What?" I blinked.

Vincent shrugged. "Might as well be honest now, right?"

"Oh." I stared down at my lap so as to not let his words affect me too much. If I thought too far-ahead, it'd only lead me to my demise. Oh hell, who was I kidding? This was going to be on my mind for the rest of the day. He just had to go and admit that.

It was often during times like these I wondered to myself: When did he start to care? Was it before or after he started to recognize us as mates? When did I start to care? It was nearly impossible for me to pinpoint where the turning point was for him or myself. I remembered us hardly getting along in the beginning only for us to bond in the strangest of circumstances. I sometimes imagined myself asking him these questions but I didn't know what to expect.

It was weird, wasn't it? To be at someone's throat, then look at them in a different light. Then, to think, how did we get here? My mind was a jumbled mess trying to think about the logistics to all of this; constantly wondering if I was fucked up in the head for getting attached to him, even after all that'd happened between us. It must have been weird. Or maybe it wasn't.

"I can see your mind working overtime already," he grunted. "Relax Genesis, you don't have to think too much about it. I worry, okay? Just like anyone else. That's all."

"Yeah . . . but you worry about me," I stressed.

"You're going to make me say it again, aren't you?"

"One more time," I begged.

"No. Shoo." He used his signature gesture, waving me off.

"Please?" I stuck my bottom lip out.

"Stop pestering me and let me work. Here, hush and watch." He fixed my chair so that I was in the same position he'd yanked me into before. I groaned, but nonetheless, obeyed his orders.

"You know, for what it's worth . . . I think it's sweet that you worry about me. I've noticed it before but I've never said anything. When you bought me those coloring books to help with my anxiety, or when you held my hand to calm me before the crowd. . ."

"Is that so?" he hummed.

"Mhm-hmm. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I've always noticed."

"I guess," he paused, inhaling sharply before shrugging, "I don't always notice because these things just become a natural instinct for me. I don't think about it. . . It just happens."

"Is that a bad thing?" I whispered.

"Not exactly. It comes in handy sometimes," he mumbled. "Now can I get back to work?" I nodded and turned my head, leaving him to it.

Just when I prepared to lay my head back on his desk, I felt something warm on my arm. I realized it was his hand, gently closing around my wrist, while he rubbed his thumb over my bone, feeling heavenly on my skin. Whether he was using this as a means to distract me or himself from whatever thoughts were invading his mind, I didn't know. But we stayed like that for the rest of the evening in silence.