After spending the weekend at my parents’ place, I could see Shiloh was feeling a little bit better about being in Stelline City. I hoped he was, because this was where my job was—my life was—and I wanted him to be a part of it.

Speaking of my job, it was back to work for me today. Allison called the minute she and the professor hit the Stell city limits. There was a lot of work to be done, cataloguing the artifacts and analyzing the data collected at the site. I was nervous about leaving Shiloh alone for the first time since we’d been back in the city, but excited to get to the university and start on my work.

I made my way into the kitchen to make some coffee before I headed out to work. And I found Shiloh already there, moving efficiently around my kitchen, coffee brewing and eggs cooking on the stove.

“Well, good morning, sunshine,” I said, planting a kiss high on his cheek.

“Good morning to you too, love.” He was smiling and humming under his breath.

“I was nervous about leaving you alone today, but you look like you’re in a good mood.” I plucked a piece of toast off a plate on the counter and crunched into it.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said, and quickly stirred the cooking eggs. “Rudy is coming over with Liam later. He’s going to show me around, show me how to use the train, where the shops are. Then we’ll have lunch.”

“Oh, yeah,” I snapped my fingers. “We need to get you a Blue Card so you can buy things. Here, use my extra for today.” I pulled out my wallet and handed over the spare card I kept.

“Thank you,” he said shyly, taking it from me and studying the blue plastic surface.

I could already tell what he was thinking. “Don’t worry about it, what’s mine is yours, and that includes money.”

“Okay.” He nodded again and turned back to the pans on the stove.

He quickly served up bacon, eggs, and toast, topped off with freshly-ground coffee.

“You better not go anywhere. I think I’m getting used to this,” I joked. He gave me a wan smile that made my insides twist just a little, but I pushed the feeling aside and reached over, pulling Shiloh to me. I wrapped him in my arms and pressed a long and tender kiss onto his lips.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” I murmured. “We’ll go to dinner tonight, okay? Don’t let Liam wear you out.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said and backed away, wrapping his arms around his middle. I hated to leave him, I really did, but I needed to get back to work.

“I’ll see you this evening. Have a good day.” I grabbed my jacket and the bag I used to haul my stuff to and from work, kissed him again, and headed for the door.

“Have a good day,” Shiloh called after me.

I love you, I thought to myself as the door closed behind me.

Then, through the door, I heard him call, “I know.”

* * *

I took the tram to the university and when I stepped out of the train onto the platform, Allison was waiting on me.

“You need to read the data reports on the site.” She shoved a stack of color-coded folders into my arms. “And we’re going to need you to start cataloguing the bones as soon as possible.”

“Good morning to you too, Al.” I pulled a face at her.

“Sorry, Mr. Sensitive. Good morning. You ready to work?”

“Yeah, how was the rest of the dig?”

“Good,” she answered, “we had a much better time after the professor brought in a couple of the local kids. And speaking of local kids, how’s that boy you hooked up with?”

“He met my parents,” I said.

Allison stopped, her mouth dropping open. “That moved pretty fast, didn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “Come on, I’ll tell you all my dirty laundry in the lab.”

We headed across the university quad and toward a four-story building at the back of the campus. It was the university’s sociology and archaeology building and housed classrooms, labs, and a state of the art, climate-controlled facility for storing artifacts. There was no better workspace in all of Stelline for what we did.

Allison pressed her finger to the digital touchpad at the door and pushed it open with her hip when the lock clicked free. She led the way down the hallway and into our lab, the lights clicking on automatically when we walked into the room. I headed to my large, counter height desk and flung my bags and folders onto the metal worktop.

“So,” Allison started, as she flipped on the computers, “what’s up with you and little psychic?”

“We’re having a pup. And I claimed him.” I shrugged like it was no big deal. Allison rounded the desk and popped me on the shoulder.

“Congrats, I guess,” she said. “Mating’s not my choice but more power to you. He seemed like a sweet kid.”

“He is, the sweetest,” I answered, a smile playing around my lips.

“Gag.” Allison mimed shoving fingers down her throat.

“Shut up, you asked,” I laughed.

We bustled around, setting up for the day, and started getting down to work. I was engrossed in a report on the data collected at the site when I felt eyes niggling at the back of my skull.

“What?” I turned around to see Allison giving me a wonky eye.

“Nothing. Just… do you think you making off with the local pack seer is going to interfere with our work at all? What if we need to go back up? Is the pack pissed at you? And can you be an objective researcher if you have someone local influencing you when you study his culture?”

I leveled a stare at Allison and slowly raised my middle finger.

“No, seriously,” she said. “Is it going to affect your work?”

“I don’t think so,” I finally said. “Do you think it will?”

Allison shrugged like she didn’t care anymore and turned to her computer.

“Wait, why did you even bring it up?” I smacked her lightly on the shoulder and she shrugged my hand off.

“It was just a few thoughts I had. Now do work.” She turned around again and started tapping at her keyboard.

I sat, chewing on the inside of my cheek and thinking about what Al said. I couldn’t help but wonder if she might be right. Maybe Shiloh and I being mated would affect my research and the project as a whole.

A folder whacked me across the back of the head and knocked my thoughts away.

“What the hell was that for?” I rubbed at my head and glared at Allison.

“Forget what I said. I shouldn’t have even brought it up. I never did learn when to keep my mouth shut. I was mostly just thinking out loud. You follow your heart. Don’t listen to my hardened and blackened one.” She gave me a wry smile.

I shook my head. She was right. There was no reason for my relationship to affect my work. I cheerfully zinged the folder back at Allison and got back to my reports.

A few hours had passed, Allison and I working quietly in the lab, when the door popped open and Professor Frostburg came blustering through the door. He dropped his bags, letting them stay where they fell, and peered around the room like he’d never been in here before. When his eyes finally alighted on us, he squinted and shook his head.

“Good,” he said. “I was hoping you’d be in here.” Like there was anywhere else we’d be.

“Morning, Professor,” I said.

He grunted back.

Allison looked at me, her eyebrows up somewhere around her hairline. The professor seemed to be in a particularly tetchy mood today. I shrugged and kept my mouth shut.

“So, we definitely need to go back out to Stell Valley. Who wants to come?” Professor Frostburg said.

“Um, what?” Allison was openmouthed.

“Yep, we’re not done there. I was going through the data. Those twin burials. We need to study those more.”

“I’d be happy to go back out, Professor.” I gave him a bright smile.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever,” Allison said. That was practically her jumping for joy.

“Good. Al, make it happen.” The professor turned back to the door. “Oh yeah,” he said, his hand on the knob. “Find that little psychic, that seer or whatever. We’ll need him.”

“Not a problem, Prof. He’s holed up in Marks’s apartment.” Allison smirked at me.

The professor stopped and blinked, his bleary eyes focusing in on me. “What?”

“Um, yeah. He’s, uh, with me now,” I said.

“He knocked him up,” Allison interjected.

“That right?” The professor looked me up and down, his slightly canine face confused. Then he shrugged. “Bring him with you when you come back out to the dig site.” Then he tugged open the door and stalked out.

I flung a pen at Allison. She ducked and fell to the floor, cackling and holding her ribs.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed too.