Page 187 of Red Marked

“I wouldn’t dare.” He shakes his head.

I walk past him. His eyes get even wider. His nostrils flare, and he takes a second, deeper sniff.

“You might want to put on some cologne today.” He rubs a hand over his mouth, and it doesn’t hide the grin. “Half a bottle should do it.”

Then the fucker chuckles.

“Not a word!” I point at him. “Not one fucking word.”

I get inside and shut the door.

I shower three times with the water turned up as hot as I can stand it. I go through half a bottle of body wash. When I’m dry, I dress, and then I spray on some cologne. I even put some on my dick. It stings a little.

I deserve it.

Then I head to work, walking fast because I need to stop by Pryce’s office. I hope he’s in.

I look through the glass window as I pass. Quake and a heavyset male are talking.

I do a double take, stopping in my tracks.

They’re talking with each other now.

No! Fuck!

Quake spots me, and he lifts a hand and smiles.

I lift mine back.

“There has been such progress.” Dr. Pryce walks up to me on his way to his office. His cheeks are flushed. “Look at that. We’ve started group sessions. From here, we’ll move them to a facility in Mistveil City, and after that, it’ll be full integration. It’s happening far quicker than we ever could have hoped. Six males are talking. Isn’t it wonderful?”

I make myself smile. “It certainly is.”

I wish I meant it. I want to mean it. It is great, and I’m standing here wishing the whole thing would slow down.

We really need to find that male who caused this shit.

That fucker needs to go down for what he did.

“I need to submit requests for offsite leave for a couple of us tomorrow.” We start walking toward his office. “From my team, it would be me, Rift, Pearl, and Razor. I’ll put through the paperwork today.”

Razor has been on my team since the start. He keeps to himself but is a good male.

“Hmm.” Pryce taps a finger to his chin. “I’ve been thinking about that. New recruits shouldn’t be able to leave the clinic until they’re fully qualified. We could make it across the board, so they’d be able to leave from their second rotation onward. It would help them get into the swing of things around here.”

Fuck!

Why does he always have to come up with these wonderful fucking ideas?

“It’s something we can implement in the future,” I say. “It won’t work for Pearl, unfortunately. Her mother is sick. She’ll need to return home on every cycle. We discussed it in her interview.”

He frowns. “She mentioned that her family had no issues with her being away. She said they were used to it.”

“They are. They’re also used to having her home between rotations. I would prefer to brief newbies before they have expectations. If it’s something you want to implement in the future, I will do that from now on. It would be unfair to put that on Pearl now since she isn’t expecting it.”

“Fair enough.” He nods a few times. “What’s wrong with her mother? I didn’t think shifters got too many ailments.”

“I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to pry into things that don’t concern me.”