Tempted (Two Marks 1)

“Well, we have our answer now. It wasn’t Caitlyn. She was only a pawn. We can show Gib.”

“We need to prove Caitlyn didn’t know about this connection,” Landry said.

I shook my head and glared. “Fuck that. We both know she didn’t. I mean, we believe in our mate, don’t we? And Gib needs to trust our judgment on this.”

Landry nodded, looking energized for the first time since we woke up. “So, let’s go get her.”

I held up my hand. “Hang on. As much as I want her back, she’s not ours to go and collect.” I hated saying those words, and they tasted like acid on my tongue.

“Right. Fuck.” Landry sank back into his chair.

“We owe her a major apology, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she made us grovel. The wound we made was deep, and I’m not talking about our marks. It won’t heal just because we’ve cleared her guilt from our own minds.”

Landry cursed again. “What should we do?”

I was way out of my depth. Relationships with females was not my specialty, and obviously not Landry’s. We needed advice. I stalked to the door, grabbed my keys off the hook beside it. “Let’s go talk to Shelby.”

22

CAITLYN

Even though I told Andrews I’d be in, I hadn’t gone into the office on Monday—fortunately, the class I taught didn’t meet at the beginning of the week—choosing to work on my paper from home so I wasn’t disturbed. I had my laptop and the latest draft. The focused time had worked because I’d made a big dent. In fact, the paper was pretty much finished. Maybe it was my motivation that had pushed me through. Maybe it was the fact that the more I worked, the less I thought of Landry and Wade. But as I’d typed and tweaked the draft, I thought of nothing but them. How my work impacted their lives. How it could expose them. My goal was to protect the wolves, but I hadn’t understood the why of it fully until they showed me. These weren’t just numbered animals. They weren’t just silly names like White Paw.

I was going to make an impact on the current ecosystem of the Rocky Mountains. I just had to ensure the effect I had was truly my goal all along, regardless of Dr. Andrews or Gibson West.

I got a text from Landry that afternoon. When I saw his name, my heart leapt into my throat. I put the phone away several times before I gave in and read what he sent.

Caitlyn, we know you had nothing to do with the wolf getting shot. Please let us apologize for everything in person. Call or text one of us to let us know it’s okay to come and see you.

Hot tears rolled down my face. I was glad they at least believed I was innocent, but it was too little, too late. I definitely didn’t want to see them. Okay, I did. Desperately. But I wasn’t ready to talk. I turned my phone off and didn’t reply. Instead, I put my nose in my laptop and got back to work.

Tuesday, I showered and put on fresh clothes—clothes that weren’t sweats and didn’t have food stains on them. I still felt as if someone had cracked open my chest and ripped out my heart with a spoon, but I had to teach my class. I went into the science building early, hoping to avoid Dr. Andrews for as long as possible. I knew he was angry about my decision to stop tagging, and he constantly threatened my funding, holding it over my head like a black cloud. A guillotine that would chop off my funding and my ability to study wolves further—at least at Granger State.

I’d told off my mom the day before, but I couldn’t do the same for my boss, and I wasn’t in the mood for another round of threats or a lecture.

As I approached his office, voices carried down the hallway.

“...shooting fish in a barrel.”

“I’m glad I made it easy for you.”

“Worth every penny.”

I stood in the corridor and listened. It was Dr. Andrews and another man.

“Except she’s not tagging any more.”

My ears perked up like a wolf’s, instantly knowing my boss was talking about me.

“Get her back on it. Using those trackers makes it much easier to finish those fuckers.”

Did he mean—

“I don’t think I can. She’s got enough to publish.”

I tiptoed closer to the open door, knowing if they came out of the office, I’d be found. There was no place to hide in the long corridor. Except, I had to know who Dr. Andrews was speaking with. Two students came down the hall from the other direction, talking and not paying me any attention. When they walked past, I followed behind them, going down the hall to the first open door. The break room. There, I waited. It didn’t take long. The man who’d been with Dr. Andrews walked by, not even noticing me.