KENNA:

I exhale with relief when Chaney leaves the room. My eyes lock on the bed where Kaden and I had our first icebreaker. I don't think sex is a standard team-building activity nowadays, but I sure got to know my boss better.

Kaden was my second patient of the day. I have one last person to see, and then a mountain of paperwork. Sex relieved some of my stress, but it didn't lessen my workload.

I pull up the next patient's file. She's eighteen, pregnant, and healthy. I saw her last week and referred her to the pack's OB-GYN since I'm not a specialist in women's health. I'm not sure why she's returning to my office, but I'm hoping nothing is going wrong with the pregnancy.

For lunch, I have a granola bar. Crumbs fall over my paperwork, creating a mess, but I want to finish work on time. I've been staying in the clinic until eight at night every day this week. Today is Friday. I'd rather be alone and depressed in my bed than in my office.

Anja, my patient, shows up right on time. She wears baggy clothes over her frail body; too baggy for a hot summer day like this one. She wore the same thing last appointment, which makes me suspect she's hiding her pregnancy.

I smile at her, wanting her to feel welcome. Whether she wants to hide her pregnancy is none of my business. As a professional, my only concern is her health.

"Hi Anja, how do you feel?"

She smiles and sits on a metal chair beside the bed. Her body faces me, but her feet point towards the door, as if she's hyper-aware of the exit. Body language doesn't lie. She doesn't feel safe in here.

"Hi, Kenna. I'm okay. I uh, I didn't go to the OB-GYN."

"Why's that?"

She crosses her arms over her mid-section. "I think I want an abortion."

This doesn't surprise me, because she never seemed too excited about the pregnancy.

"I see. I'm not licensed for that procedure. Did you want me to refer you to another doctor if you don't like your OB-GYN?"

She looks at the door, and then back at me. "I really don't want my condition to be disclosed to anyone else in the pack. Professional or not."

Her hesitation is bothering me. She's so skittish that I'm wondering if someone is coercing her.

"Anja, how are you doing at home? I know this is a difficult stage in your life, but I want you to know that there is a support system for you regardless of what you choose to do. Are you doing this because you want to, or does someone want it for you?"

Her eyes flood. "No. My mate loves me, but I'm too young. He said he doesn't want to ruin my life and he'll stay with me even after I abort."

I can smell the bullshit in this promise as clearly as I can smell Alpha Kaden's scent lingering in the room.

Don't get crazy, Kenna. Don't get involved. Stay professional.

"I want to recommend that you speak to a counselor. Or if you want to be referred to another—"

"Nevermind." She stands up. "I have to go." Her baggy clothes flutter behind her as she rushes out.

My heart sinks when she leaves. I sigh. While I'm worried, it's not like I can just chase her down.

I dive into the first pile of paperwork, and my stress multiplies. I need another dose of Kaden dick. Can I write my own prescription?

Hours later, there's a knock at my door.

"Come in."

"Hey, boss." Chaney greets. "The other nurses left already. There's a party at this new bar downtown. Do you want to pull up with me?"

"Chaney, did you hit your head today like Alpha?"

She plops herself on the bed. Right where Kaden scrambled my guts. The memory is still so fresh that my belly clenches.

I look at the paper in front of me like it has the next l ottery winning numbers on it, too nervous to look at Chaney.

"What are you talking about?" she scoffs.

"You know I don't do clubs or bars. I barely do the outside." I shrug. "Besides, I have work to do."

She groans. "I know you enjoy funerals more than parties, but I need you to go with me."

"Shoo!"

"How about tomorrow? Will you come then?"

"Yes, sure," I cave to get rid of her.

She jumps off her seat. "Great! Don't show up wearing scrubs or I'll wipe the floor with you."

I wouldn't put it past her.

The rest of my day is spent just how I planned— in bed. I nearly orgasmed when I finally slipped under the cool covers. My cabin is small, minimal, and placed at the edge of the woods. I chose it for being isolated from the pack. Maybe Chaney was right. I'm the grumpiest, most introverted werewolf in existence.

Saturday comes and goes too fast for my liking. One second I'm reading a smutty novel and taking notes for what positions to try with Kaden, and the next I'm being dragged out of my cabin by Chaney.

Sometimes I think I should just move across the country and not tell her.

She drives me to the bar. I'm wearing ripped jeans, pink flip-flops, and a white tank top, but I still hold my head high as if I planned what I'm wearing. This bar is full with drunk, bored, soul-searching, horny wolves. R&B music and the familiar faces of my pack members fill it.

This isn't my scene. I prefer a book on the weekend over clubbing with friends. I hate having to ask people to repeat themselves a million times over the loud music, how the ice in my drink melts because I sip it too slow, how my heels uplift my confidence for only one hour before decreasing my comfort, how the only intimacy I get is from the wall I press my back against.

I smile at three pack members that greet me, and decide that I've reached my daily quota of socialization. I unlock my phone and open my reading app. When the story reaches a sex scene, I raise my head as if my mother is looking over my shoulder and reading my screen. Reading smut in public is so taboo.

I dim the screen brightness, minimize the font, pull my phone close, and hope no one can smell my arousal.

The sex between the characters is mediocre. Kaden fucked me way better than this.

"Kenna!" Chaney hisses and slams a beer on the table. "Turn that off and relax!"

"Relaxing is above my paygrade." I grumble and toss my beer back. I look around the bar, this time studying the tables. What I find in the furthest corner makes me do a double-take.

Kaden is here, and he's staring hard enough to burn a hole into me. How long has he been looking? Did he see me bite my lip, swallow hard, grip my phone tightly, and smash my thighs together as I flipped through my novel?

My belly warms. I'm not sure if it's because of the alcohol or this intoxicating man.

He's not alone. A female sits across him— short black hair, and the beginnings of a tattoo on her right shoulder. I can't see anything else.

Hours ago, he was with me. Now he's with another? Whatever. I knew that casual sex is what I signed up for.

I look away, not wanting to be caught staring by Chaney. Kaden has other plans, it seems. The man stands and b-lines for me. Through my peripheral vision, I can see the crowd parting like a sea to make space for him.

I glance back. He has me hooked.

He stops a foot away. Tall, strong, sturdy. His flannel button-up and jeans fail at constraining his strength. Those shoulders are too broad, veins too stark on his forearms, eyes too confident.

"Doctor." He regards. "May I have a word outside?"

He doesn't give me time to respond. He walks off, expecting me to follow, and I do.

Outside, I cross my arms over my chest. My body temperature has dropped; my primal instincts trying to drive me into Kaden's arms for warmth.

"You must have questions," he says, voice bored as if he's had this conversation a million times.

"Regarding?"

"The woman I'm with," he answers. "I want no complications, so I will clarify your doubts. I have no other sex arrangements or romantic ties with other women. If you see me with female company, it's because I brought them along for appearances. They know better than to expect anything else from me."

I tap my flip-flop on the gum-stained concrete. This is such an unnecessary exchange. I'd much rather be reading my smut in that boring bar.

"There must be a misunderstanding, Alpha. I have no interest in other arrangements you may or may not have, and I trust that you won't complicate this by getting romantically involved with another woman. We're entertainment to each other; that's it. I know better than to get attached. I hope you do, too."

That last sentence was necessary, but my tongue doesn't know when to stop flapping.

Kaden raises an eyebrow and takes a stop forward. "Have you done this before?"

No, I haven't been in another friends-with-benefits arrangement, but that's an irrelevant question. His only concerns should be how to fuck me better.

I tip my head toward the entrance. "I should head back. My friend must be looking for me."

He looks behind me, as if something in the distance caught his attention. "Yes, go. I'll see you soon."

See me soon? I shudder, liking the thought of him visiting my insides once more.

He walks around me and disappears into the darkness to investigate whatever distracted him. I take a step toward the entrance, but a female walks out, blocking it.

It's the female Kaden was with. She doesn't look happy.

"And you are?" she demands.

Goddess. I just want to read my smut in peace. Why does everyone in the pack want to get in between me and the kinky, mediocre sex in chapter thirty-six?

I give her an irritated look.

Seeing that I'm not answering, she adds, "you know I'm Kaden's lover, right?"

Perhaps a past lover. She should take a seat, because she's talking to her replacement.

"Congrats. When's the wedding?" I reply sarcastically.

"Soon."

I raise an eyebrow. "Shame. Because of you, the poor priest will have to complete both a wedding and exorcism in one day."

"What!"

I hear a chuckle— the deep, thundering, suave laughter of Kaden.

He heard all of that? Whoops.