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Caius dropped the stack of encrypted briefs on Logan’s desk with more force than necessary. “A secretary? Of all roles, you give the human that one?”
Logan didn’t flinch. He signed the cover page and set the pen aside. “It keeps her close. Close means safe.”
“Safe?” Caius nted both hands on the desk.
“Secretaries follow you into Council sessions, treaty audits, field inspections. Any one of those can explode- sometimes literally.”
“That is why I want her in the room I am in,” Logan said. “Not waiting in some hallway while grenades roll past.”
Caius pinched the bridge of his nose. She couldn’t understand this logic. “She is pregnant. She should rest, not juggle my inbox overflow.”
Logan’s eyes cooled.
“Your inbox is not my priority”
The door opened before Caius could reply. Emery stepped in, tablet tucked under her arm.
“Your hallway echoes,” she announced. “If you whisper louder, the omegas on the north stair will take bets on who wins.<b>” </b>
Both men fell silent.
Emery shut the door behind her. “I gather the problem is me.”
Caius straightened. “You heard enough to know my concern.”
“That you think I’m unqualified.” She moved closer, met his stare. “I ran operations for three subsidiaries at once. I bnced five time zones, ny employees, and an IPO roadshow while fielding press leaks. I can manage one overworked werewolf.”
Logan’s mouth twitched, almost a smile.
Caius folded his arms. Why was this bastard acting so proud? Those aren’t his achievements! “You handle data, yes. But our data includes pack treaties, troop rotations, code phrases. One mistake—”
“Encrypted folders,” she interrupted. “Split–key authorization. Real–time checksum logs. If your systems still use ‘wolf‘ as a root password, I can upgrade them before lunch.”
Logan sat back, interested.
Caius lifted one brow. “Field test. Three tasks.” He tapped the briefs. “Hydro expense report needs a fifteen- percent cut with zero downtime. Patrol rosters must rotate so no unit works back–to–back full moons. And I need a speech draft for Logan’s Council address by sunrise.”
<b>9:23 </b><b>Mon</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b>15 .
Emery set the tablet on the desk, opened a nk board, and typed.
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“Cut non–critical well pumps to half capacity, reroute greenhouse irrigation to storage tanks, install flow governors onundry circuits. Saves neen percent. Patrol rotation: shift Bravo to dawn runs, Charlie to dusk, Delta holds mid. Each team <b>gets </b>two nights off around the moon. Speech draft…” She paused, looked at Logan. “Tone?<b>” </b>
“Unapologetic,” Logan said.
Emery nodded, typed twelve lines, then rotated the screen to Caius.
“Opening hook, three policy points, exit line.”
Caius read, eyes narrowing, then exhaled.
“One spelling error,” he said.
“I will fix it,” Emery answered.
Logan rose, circled the desk, and stopped beside her.
“Question answered?”
Caius gave a slow nod.
“She can try the job for a week.”
“Indefinite,” Logan corrected.
Emery lifted her tablet.
“Indefinite works. Now, whose calendar is the nightmare–yours or his?”
“Mine,” Caius said, but a reluctant smile edged in.
“Wee to admin hell, Ms. Vaughn.”
For some reason, Emery wanted to correct him–tell him to call her Mrs. Hayes instead–but she chose to smile.
“Seen worse<b>.” </b>She turned to Logan.
“First task?<b>” </b>
“Stay near me,” he said. His hand settled at the small of her back, guiding her toward the door.
“We start with the Council brief<b>.</b><b>” </b>
Caius watched them leave, shaking his head but already sifting through how to integrate a human savant into a house full of wolves who still forgot to carry smartphones. Maybe, he decided, the secretary post wasn’t the worst idea Logan ever had–just the riskiest.
<b>9:23 </b>Mon<b>, </b><b>Sep </b>15 <b>d</b><b>. </b>
Caius let out a <b>sigh</b>.
:
He knew that Logan waswless, but how could he bring his own wife into this<b>? </b>
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Logan guided Emery through a side corridor that cut from administration to the infirmary route. He kept a brisk pace, yet she matched it easily, tablet bnced on one forearm.
“Status,” he said.
She scrolled.
“About the rogue attack: Lucille forwarded all sensor logs to security. I gged three gaps in drone coverage and drafted an asset request to patch them. Mr. Adam contacted the county sheriff’s liaison at dawn. He med themotion on illegal hunters, offered to fund road repairs, and arranged a meat donation for the local food bank. Public mood is calm for now.”
Logan stopped mid–step.
“How do you know this? I told you about the jobst night.”
“I spent the night sorting documents.” She looked up, not winded.
“Lucille let me into the data vault. Adam handled phones. I wrote talking points so they spoke with the same story.”
<b>“</b>You worked all night?”
“I slept two hours.” She shrugged. “Caffeine exists.”
Logan’s gaze drifted over her charcoal pantsuit, fitted zer, and low–heeled boots. Her hair was pulled back, a pen clipped at the nape.
“Is this how you worked before we met?”
“Yes. Is there something wrong with it?”
He shook his head once.
“Nothing at all.” He resumed walking. “When did you gain clearance for the vault?”
“Lucille gave me her override, but only after I solved a file–tree loop she’d been cursing for weeks. She said anyone who can tame that mess has earned a key.”
Logan’s lips twitched. “She will never admit you impressed her.”
“She told me her coffee tasted less bitter. I took it as praise<b>.</b>”
They reached the infirmary doors. Emery tapped the door panel to announce them and slid her tablet into a side pocket. Inside, Dr. Morrow updated a chart while Raul and Jenna slept under monitoring nodes. The poisoned fightery in <b>the </b>ss bay, color better than before.
<b>9:23 </b>Mon, <b>Sep </b>15 <b>d</b>..
Logan moved to the foot of Raul’s bed. Emery remained at his side, already drafting a note.
“Doctor,” she said, “I logged a requisition for fresh antitoxin. Delivery arrives by midnight.”
Dr. Morrow lifted an eyebrow.“We were down to three vials.”
“Not anymore.” Emery replied.
Logan folded his arms, watching the exchange.
“Vitals?”
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“Raul’s red count up six percent, no internal bleeding. Jenna’s sutures holding. Wolfsbane patient holds ny–two percent oxygen on room air.” The doctor flipped the chart toward Emery. “I updated his dosage<b>. </b>schedule.”
She scanned, nodded, and typed.
“Logged.”
Logan ran a hand along Raul’s nket edge, then turned to Emery.
“Next on our schedule?”
“Council call at eleven. Lucille blocked thirty minutes beforehand for final edits to your speech. The revised hydro budget slides into the same packet. After lunch, drone supplier pitch in the north wing. They confirmed safe transport protocols.”
He studied her face, seeing only steady focus.
“When do you n to rest?<b>” </b>
“After I clear the backlog, or when I tip over, whicheveres first.” She smiled slightly.
“I prefer the first option.”
He leaned closer, voice low.
“Remember the condition of the deal. You stay healthy.”
“I track my blood pressure better than the doctor,” she whispered back.
Dr. Morrow sighed. “She does. She logged her own metrics before my morning rounds.”
Emery lifted her pen in quick salute.
Logan’s mouth curved.
“All right, Secretary Hayes.” He nced at the monitors onest time and gestured toward the door.
“Show me the drone proposal. Then you sleep for at least three hours.”
…
<b>9:23 </b>Mon<b>, </b>Sep 15 ..
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“Two,” she bargained, falling in beside him.
“Three,” he countered, hand settling at the small of her back as they exited.
“Non–negotiable.”
She typed the new entry into the schedule.
“Fine. Three. But that means you answer emails while I’m out.”
Logan huffed a shortugh.
“Then maybe two and a half.”
“Logan,” she warned.
He raised both palms in surrender, yet his eyes stayed on her with open admiration.
“Three hours it is. Lead the way.”
Not long after, Emery was given her own table inside Logan’s office–something that surprised her. Sadly, she wasn’t able topletely work for the rest of the day because Logan forced her to take a two–hour nap.
While she was sleeping, Logan leaned back in his chair, smiling.
“You look like you won the lottery,” Adam said as he walked in. “Did something happen?”
“My backlog is empty. Color–coded folders, filtered feeds, auto–archived briefs. She did it in one afternoon.”
Adam’s eyebrows rose. “Efficient, yes. But she is pregnant. You really want her chewing through your workload at this pace?”
Logan’s expression shifted, pride sliding into something harder. He closed theptop.
“She insisted on learning everything. Limiting her would insult her.”
Adam stepped closer, lowering his voice out of habit, though Emery slept soundly.
“Learning is fine. Exhaustion is not.”
“I watch her vitals. Dr. Morrow checks twice daily. She logs her own readings.” Logan crossed his arms.
“She pushes, but not past the line.”
Adam studied him.
“You think she might be something other than human, don’t you?”
Logan’s jaw flexed.
“I do.”
…
9:24 <b>Mon</b><b>, </b>Sep 15 <b>.. </b>
“Evidence?”
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“Blood panels run hot–higher metabolism than baseline human. Sleep cycle is shorter, yet she wakes clear. She handled wolfsbane residue with no skin reaction.”
Adam whistled softly.
“And you have not told her.”
“She has enough on her mind. If she istent, she will feel the shift when the babyes.” Logan nced toward the couch. Emery’s chest rose in steady breaths.
“I want her to discover it at her pace, not because I lectured her.”
Adam leaned against a bookcase.
“So you fold her into every meeting, every crisis, hoping familiarity beats shock.”
“She learns best by immersion,” Logan said.
“If I shelter her, she will feel like an outsider. She needs to stand beside me, not behind.”
“And if she proves entirely human?”
“Then she remains exactly who she is.” Logan’s shoulders eased. “But the signs point elsewhere.”
Adam nodded slowly.
“You think this exins why your bond feels one–sided.”
Logan looked away, lips thinning.
“The pull hits me like iron hooks. She feels it less, or not at all. If she is another breed–witch, sidhe, something hidden–the bond rules differ.”
“Time will tell,” Adam said.
“Time,” Logan echoed, a small smile returning. “And patience.” He took a folder from the inbox, already tagged with Emery’s script handwriting.
“She set rms for my Council call. If I ignore them, she will scold me when she wakes.”
Adam chuckled.
“I almost want to stay to see that.”
Logan nced at the clock.
“Fifteen minutes until she stirs. If you value your peace, finish your rounds before then.”
Adam pushed off the bookcase, heading for the door.
<b>9:24 </b>Mon<b>, </b>Sep 15 <b>d </b>
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“Understood. But remember–give her rest or she will copse. No victory in an empty backlog if she ends up in bed for a week.”
“<b>I </b>really don’t appreciate you talking like that to my wife, Adam.”
That made Adam pause. Then he chuckled.
“I didn’t think you were the jealous type, Logan_” He made a deliberate pause. “It suits you.”
<b>AD </b>