Page 3 of Sealed With A Kiss (GSC In Love #5)
Milo Mikolov
“ C ongratulations!”
Cheers went up in the breakroom as my friend Vincent entered the room.
He was the latest in a long line of agents who were moving away from the Global Shifter Council now that he met his fated mate.
It seemed the GSC was experiencing a blessing/curse from the goddess as of late.
A blessing to the shifters and witches lucky enough to meet their one and only true mate while out on assignment.
A curse to the agency which was losing another agent to pregnancy and mating.
“Oh, my goddess. You didn’t have to throw me a baby shower. Thank you.” Vincent wiped tears from his eyes and began hugging everyone within touching distance. “I am going to miss each and every one of you.”
“Don’t be silly,” Marrion scoffed. “We have all seen your alpha. You are going to be too busy making adorable babies and living out your happily ever after to think twice about any of us here.”
“We couldn’t be happier for you,” I cut in before she said something rude.
Marrion was known for awkward overshares and talking too openly about things most of us kept inside our heads.
No one needed Vincent’s happy tears to turn sad because those left behind started to think we would never find our one and only. “Have you decided on a name yet?”
“Oh.” Vincent blushed and put a hand to his rounded middle. “We are going to name the boy Patrick and the girl Penelope.”
“Oh, that’s adorable,” Cynthia squealed from behind me, causing me to flinch. I hated when people made high-pitched noises. Unfortunately, that was her typical tone.
As the party progressed and my co-workers shared stories of mates and raising children, I realized one important thing. I needed a break from this place.
If I was honest with myself, I would say the realization came a few weeks ago when I started secretly wishing it was me who was meeting my mate and making cute babies.
I began to scowl when I heard of another co-worker leaving the council to live out their picket-fence dreams. I started dreading coming into the office each morning.
Those were all my cues to ask my manager for a leave of absence so I could get my head on right once more.
I loved my job. I felt fulfilled working for GSC, yet lately, I felt that I was missing out on something more.
Plus, my last few cases had been a little hard for my stomach.
Abuse of omegas, especially at the hands of their own alphas, was not the type that left my mind easily.
Having several back-to-backs wore on me mentally, physically, and emotionally.
The following morning, I scheduled the meeting with Travis to discuss my revelation.
“I need a vacation.” I practiced this speech a dozen times in the bathroom mirror that morning, but my nerves still had my leg jiggling under the desk as I spoke with my manager via video call.
He was out of the office on assignment and couldn’t meet in person but was still the man in charge of my department.
“I am at that point where if I don’t take a vacation soon, I may burn out and end up like Elliot Luxe. ”
My manager Travis O’Neil visibly shivered. “I don’t think—”
“Trust me on this.” I steeled my composure and pointed straight at the screen.
“I’m at my breaking point after that last case.
My whole life feels like a waste, and I need to get away from chasing criminals or rescuing omegas in need.
It’s just for a little bit. Put me on desk duty if you need me to still show up, but I am not going back out in the field until this feeling passes. ”
Travis shuffled through a stack of papers on his hotel room desk and smiled. “Got it. Listen, this is out in the field—”
This was another problem with the council; they didn’t always listen when we tried to tell them that something was wrong. “I just said—”
“I know what you said, Milo. Trust me, after Elliot, I won’t ignore signs of trouble again when an agent tries to come to us for help.
But this assignment has nothing to do with rescuing shifters in trouble or chasing down rogue witches.
” Travis typed something on his keyboard.
“I just sent you the file. Look it over yourself. The training center just messaged me earlier in the week asking for a few agents to test out some new training courses. I was making a list of people I thought would be good choices to send over and was going to put together a team when I came back next week. But why don’t you head down early?
I think this might be a great choice for you.
Look it over and let me know what you think. ”
Okay. We can do a training course. That will get us out of this slump.
I was a strong believer in listening to your instincts and to your shifter.
Usually, if my seal was telling me to go a certain way or to act on an offer, it was because our inner magic was telling him to follow that path.
So, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped in without even opening the file.
“When do I leave?”