Page 14

Nadia

“Hey, Cole,” Rose says, laughing and twisting her hips as she says it. She wrinkles her nose at him and my hands clench in my lap. God, this girl thinks she’s so cute.

And I mean, she is. But…whatever. I hate her anyway.

“So?” Rose asks, lifting her chin again after my dad. “Updates?”

“Sorry,” Cole says, smoothly standing from his spot next to me on the log. “That’s classified information, Rose.”

Suddenly aware of being the only one sitting and peering up at the rest of the group like a toddler, I stand too.

Rose scoffs, I think genuinely surprised to be denied. Suddenly, she turns her head to glare at me. “Well, why does she get to know?”

“Hi, I’m…Jeanie,” the therapy student says, giving an awkward wave and attempting a smile that doesn’t stick as she looks around at us. I glance at the girl, taking in her dark eyes and her cute chin-length bob. I mean, she seems perfectly nice, but I don’t have time to deal with her right now.

Cole smirks at Rose. “This is Nurse Nadia,” he says, nodding to me. “She has clearance.”

Rose scoffs again and turns to me, looking me up and down like I’m nothing. “Why?”

I realize suddenly that Cole has been quite clever in not dropping my last name, which would have let Rose in on my connection to the mission’s General.

“That’s above your paygrade,” I say, quite cool, cutting and casual as I deliberately turn to Jeanie and give her a sunny smile, reaching out a hand. “Hi! I’m Nadia. I love what you’ve done with the therapy area – I think patients are going to be really comfortable here.”

Rose takes a second to stare at me in shock before stepping to Cole’s side and glaring up at him, asking something in an angry whisper I can’t hear. He sighs and turns to her, lowering his voice and responding to her frantic hiss.

“Nice to meet you!” Jeanie says, smiling at me even as she glances anxiously at Rose. “Um, but was Rose right? Did you guys get any news that you can share?”

“Yeah,” I say, giving another casual shrug, quite liking this Jeanie girl despite her absolute crap choice of companions.

“The General was just letting us know that things are moving along on a faster schedule than we expected. We could begin seeing our first patients as soon as this evening or tomorrow.”

“Oh, wow,” Jeanie says, her sculpted brows going up in surprise and gratitude. “Thanks, that’s really, really useful to know.”

“Anytime!” I say, grinning at her. “Have you seen the nursing resources yet? I’d love to give you a tour of the tent, see if we can come up with a system for referrals and stuff to share information without violating patient privacy.”

“That would be amazing,” Jeanie says, nodding eagerly.

I grin at her and nod towards the tent. She immediately links her arm with mine, heading off with me. I don’t look behind me as we go.

Jeanie does, though. “Wait, so,” she says, her voice low. “Was that just…Cole Kincaid?”

“Yeah,” I say, shrugging casually, as Cole deserves. Honestly, I don’t get why everyone flips out about him so much. He’s just some guy.

“Like, the Prince ?” Jeanie whispers, a bit awed, leaning closer to me.

I turn my head to give her a glare that’s only moderately withering. “No, he’s a knockoff generic version of Cole Kincaid,” I say, dry. “Completely unprincely but just as dumb.”

Jeanie busts out laughing and gives me a little smack on the arm, friendly already. I grin. “Do you like…know him?”

“Just as part of the mission,” I say, shrugging and turning my attention back to the nursing tent, hoping to make Jeanie drop the topic as soon as possible.

“I think maybe Rose has something going on with him,” Jeanie murmurs, glancing again over her shoulder.

I don’t bother to look. “Great,” I say, ready to move on from any and all discussions of Cole Kincaid’s love life. “Those two seem to deserve each other.”

Jeanie turns back to me and grins, perhaps intuiting that there’s more beneath my words than I’m letting on. But she doesn’t push me, instead heading into the nursing tent with me so that we can make a plan to treat our mutual patients.

Cole

“Who is that girl, Cole?” Rose asks, her voice low and cold as she glares up at me.

I sigh and look down at her, studying her face, realizing that this riled-up jealousy used to be precisely the thing that worked my wolf up into a frenzy. But now my wolf just studies Rose with his ears pricked, more curious than anything else. Then he yawns, placid, and turns away.

I smile, pleased at this relative freedom from the power Rose has traditionally held over me. “You already know the answer, Rose,” I say. “She’s one of our nurses. Their representative, actually.”

She scoffs. “But she’s just a human, surely she doesn’t have the capacity –“

I tilt my head, glaring hard at Rose, and she stops mid-sentence, her lips still parted. “Don’t go there,” I say quietly. “Things are different in Oseania, but you’re in Clythera now, where humans are equal in rights and respect. You know better than that.”

Rose has the grace to look guilty. She’s always a little trouble with human/wolf politics.

Oseania has always been a staunch ally of Clythera and supports our equal rights policies; but unlike some other countries which actively aggress against humans, Oseania just doesn’t have any humans amongst their all-wolf population.

This absence has bred its own kind of prejudices amongst their people.

Rose has unlearned many of her biases against humans since she’s spent more time in Clythera – but clearly, sometimes they shine through.

Quickly getting over her guilt, Rose narrows her eyes at me and then quickly flicks her gaze up and down my body, perceiving that her old tricks and charms aren’t working. “What aren’t you telling me, Cole?”

I sigh, pity and frustration mingling in me because Rose obviously thinks that we’re playing our same old game when things have changed for me.

But…I’ve also promised Nadia that I won’t tell anyone that she’s my mate. I’m intent on keeping that promise – not only because my mate’s comfort has to be my priority, but also because I’m well aware that if I break trust with her again, she may leave forever and cut off all contact.

And honestly, I’m not sure I’d blame her.

“Leave the nurse out of it, Rose,” I say quietly, my brows knitting as I wonder whether this is the right tactic. After all, Rose is sexy and exciting, but she’s also unpredictable, which is usually part of her charm. But today? In this situation? Unpredictability is not what I need.

A little growl builds in Rose’s chest. “No,” she says, stepping close, sniffing at me like she can smell the secret lurking beneath my skin. “Tell me, right now. What does that human have to do with anything? Why is she getting classified status and information?”

“Is this a journalistic question?” I ask, putting a hand out flat when I see her move. My palm smacks into Rose’s chest just beneath her throat, holding her back as she advances on me, trying to get close.

Rose bares her teeth at me. We both know the answer - that it was not at all a journalistic question and that I’m just reminding her of her job to get her to fall in line. But she sees through me, as she usually does. Clever girl.

I shift my tactics, my mouth drawing to a thin line.

“Rose,” I say, allowing some of my Alpha command to come into my voice. Her eyebrows rise as she notices the change. “We can’t interact the way we usually do. We’re here under military command for a project. Nothing more.”

I see it when her body language shifts too, adjusting and changing strategy just like I did. Suddenly, she’s no longer rigid with rage but is instead soft and sweet, pliant and coy. She leans more fully against my hand.

I twist my lips when I see that she’s trapped me, because if I pull my hand away, she’ll stumble against me. Which is probably precisely what she wants.

So now I’m just standing here with my hand pressed to my ex’s chest.

Chess. God damn it, but every interaction with Rose is a game of chess.

I grit my teeth and resist the urge to look after Nadia, hoping desperately that she’s not seeing this. But I manage it, keeping my eyes on Rose and willing her to keep her focus on me and leave thoughts of Nadia behind.

“Rose,” I growl, getting frustrated with her.

“Rosie,” she begs, her eyelashes fluttering.

I just shake my head. “You know that I value our friendship –“

She looks up at me, her expression devastated.

“But, Rose, I’ve –“

“Cole,” she whispers, her face falling with devastation. She shakes her head at me. “Are you…Cole, don’t tell me you’re seeing someone else!”

I clench my jaw, not really sure how to respond to that. Because Nadia and I…no one would claim that we’re actually dating, considering that she loathes me. And she’ll probably kill me if she hears I made that claim.

So, I say nothing, just staring hard into Rose’s face, letting her draw her own conclusions.

She drops the cute girl act and stands up straight, crossing her arms over her chest. She glares at me now, her mood shifting again as she becomes an ice princess. “Oh, come on, Cole. Some other girl is not even going to be able to pretend to be an adequate substitute for me .”

I allow my mouth to curl into a smirk.

“Dump her,” Rose snaps, lifting her chin, all haughty and sure. “You know that she can’t do what I do to you when –“

“Rosi-,” I snarl, stepping closer. But then I catch myself falling into old habits, sealing my mouth shut.

Rose grins, pleased to see my temper break loose enough for me to call her something at least close to her pet name.

But I just shake my head, backing off, seeing that she’s luring me into a battle like she always does – pushing my emotions to the brink and then just giving me a little flick so that I fall off a cliff and into a fight with her.

A fight that usually ends up with us in bed.

Or, at least in the nearest utility closet with her skirt up around her waist.

Crap, but she’s good.

I study my ex, feeling like I’m standing on thin, fractured ice, not quite sure where to take my next step.