The next morning, I looked less like a woman in her twenties and more like somebody's exhausted aunt after a three-day divorce trial.

I barely slept.

And somehow my entire body hurt too.

Yawning, I stumbled into the bathroom and splashed cold water onto my face.

Then immediately regretted looking in the mirror.

Dark circles.

Messy hair.

Dead eyes.

Fantastic.

"All this because of one man?" I muttered at my reflection. "Actually embarrassing."

I dragged a brush through my hair and started getting dressed.

Then paused.

Right.

Clothes.

I'd been wearing Alina's things for two days straight.

At some point hygiene became a real concern.

Laundry officially moved to the top of today's priorities list.

Right after coffee.

Strong coffee.

The smell hit me before I even reached the kitchen.

Fresh.

Dark.

Perfect.

I followed it immediately.

Vaelor already sat at the table when I walked in.

Coffee in one hand.

Black shirt.

Messy hair.

Calm for once.

Actually calm.

Which somehow made him more dangerous.

I forced a bright smile onto my face anyway.

"Morning."

His eyes lifted immediately.

And stayed there.

"Morning."

God.

That voice first thing in the morning should honestly be illegal.

"Sleep well?"

I nearly laughed.

"No," would've been the honest answer.

Instead I lifted a shoulder casually.

"Perfectly."

Vaelor watched me for another second too long.

Then nodded once.

Interesting.

No growling.

No arguing.

No threats.

Suspicious behavior, honestly.

I sat carefully across from him and poured myself coffee.

Strong enough to resurrect the dead.

"You okay?" I asked cautiously.

That finally pulled a confused look out of him.

"Yes."

A pause.

"Why?"

I shrugged awkwardly and took a sip of coffee.

"No reason."

His expression stayed unreadable.

Like nobody asked him questions like that very often.

For a second, something about that bothered me.

Being Alpha probably meant always being the strong one.

The steady one.

No room to fall apart.

I looked at him over the rim of my cup.

Morning light caught against his face perfectly.

Sharp jaw.

Messy hair.

Sleep-heavy eyes.

Honestly unfair.

When he smiled—rarely, painfully rarely—my entire nervous system malfunctioned a little.

Unfortunately, that was exactly when he caught me staring.

Heat rushed straight into my face.

Great.

Fantastic.

I cleared my throat quickly.

"Is there a clothing store nearby?"

I bit my lip awkwardly.

"I've been wearing Alina's clothes for two days."

Vaelor went completely still.

"Yes," he said slowly. "You have."

Something about his tone made me narrow my eyes immediately.

"And?"

"And I can barely smell you under her scent."

Okay.

That sentence did things to me.

Very inconvenient things.

Vaelor leaned back slightly in his chair, studying me.

"And I need to fix that."

I stared at him.

"You need to what?"

His gaze didn't move.

"Smell you."

I nearly choked on coffee.

"What kind of insane morning conversation is this?"

"Already starting before breakfast?"

Kaelen walked into the kitchen looking deeply unimpressed.

Honestly?

Perfect timing.

"Morning, Kaelen," I said immediately.

He looked between us once and sighed heavily.

"Should I even ask?"

"No," Vaelor answered.

"Yes," I answered at the same time.

Kaelen grabbed coffee first.

Smart man.

"I need new clothes," I explained quickly. "Apparently I'm causing scent-related psychological damage."

Vaelor growled under his breath.

Kaelen immediately started laughing into his coffee.

"There's a shopping center five minutes from here."

"Good." I nodded quickly. "I can go alone."

"No."

Vaelor's answer came instantly.

I glared at him.

"I'm perfectly capable of buying underwear without supervision."

"That's not the issue."

"Then what is?"

Vaelor looked at me for a long second before speaking.

"You're walking around this pack wearing no underwear and another wolf's scent."

Silence.

Complete silence.

Then—

"What?"

Kaelen fully turned away to hide his laughter.

Vaelor looked genuinely irritated now.

"You smell tempting enough already."

My entire face burned instantly.

"There will not be fights breaking out over me."

Vaelor's eyes flashed gold briefly.

"You'd be surprised."

Oh.

Oh no.

The rest of the drive happened in silence.

Mostly because I refused to look directly at him after that conversation.

Vaelor parked outside a large clothing store near the edge of town.

The second he stopped the car, I grabbed the door handle.

"You don't have to come in," I said quickly. "I can wait for you after you finish... whatever mysterious Alpha business you apparently have."

Vaelor looked at me once.

Then got out of the car.

"You're not shopping alone."

Of course I wasn't.

He walked past me toward the entrance without another word.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

Completely unfair face.

I followed behind him reluctantly.

The second we entered the store, Vaelor smiled at the woman behind the counter.

A real smile.

Low voice.

Charming.

The woman nearly melted instantly.

And suddenly—

I was furious.

Absolutely furious.

For no valid reason whatsoever.

I turned sharply and stormed toward the clothing racks before either of them noticed.

Wonderful.

Now jealousy entered the situation too.

Exactly what I needed.