During the morning, Lara managed to do half of the work. She left what she wasn’t sure of for a later time, so she didn’t need to call for help just yet. She would have asked Samantha the day after about that.

At midday, she left the office and greeted the few men in the department with a stiff smile. She didn’t care to look polite anymore.

Before she could get out, though, she was stopped.

«Miss… Lara?» one of them asked, reaching out to her elbow. «Is it your name?»

«Yes,» she said, stepping back out of instinct. She retreated her arm and waited for whatever that man wanted to say.

He was handsome, indeed. But that didn’t mean he had the right to look down on her just because. Or to waste her time.

«What’s your full name?»

«Lara Clayton.»

«Where do you come from?»

She frowned.

«Is this an interrogation?» she said, annoyed. Firstly, they stared at her. Then, they wanted to… What? Check her story?

«Oh, no. Just curious… Hmm, it doesn’t happen so often to see someone like you here, so we were surprised.

«Someone like me?»

«You’re… young!»

«I’m the same age as Samantha,» Lara pointed out. «And there are many girls younger than me working at LY Corp.»

«Yes, sure… That… Ehm…»

Another man walked past her and stopped next to the first one.

«Miss Clayton, right? Sorry, my colleague here is a little tired and doesn’t know what he’s saying. Please, forget him. Have a good day.»

He stretched out his hand.

«My name is Jordan. If you need anything, you can ask me.»

She shook the hand and stepped back again, settled on leaving. Her cubs were waiting. She crashed into the wall with her back.

Oh, what wall in the middle of a room?

She turned and saw another of the agents. She gulped in fear, startled.

«Sorry,» he said, stepping to the side to let her pass.

She walked towards the door without looking back, a little too nervous.

She pressed the button of the elevator a few times before it finally opened. She reached the ground floor and flew out. It took her a minute or so to calm down.

In the end, nothing had happened. Yet, she felt strangely on defence.

She rubbed her hair, trying to think of something calming.

Her cubs. Right. They were with Nate, and he wanted to bring them back in the afternoon. She had a few hours to relax alone.

She could take a long bath and clean the house.

When she turned to walk home, though, she saw Nate’s car. In front of it, her cubs were standing and waiting.

«Mommy,» Scarlet shouted, and she ran to Lara. «Finally! I can’t believe they make you work so much!»

Before she could hug her mother, Scarlet sensed new scents on her.

She stopped, confused and lost. She walked back to Jaden and pulled him closer until the little boy could sense it as well.

They looked at each other and exchanged thoughts in silence as Lara observed them amused. They were twins, no surprise they could communicate by just exchanging glances.

What surprised her, though, was that Nate had a similar expression at the start.

Instead of staring confused, though, his face turned dark.

«Hey, how was it at work?» he asked after regaining some composure.

It lasted short because he walked to her and lost his aplomb once again.

«It was fine,» she replied.

«Did anyone make problems for you?» he continued, bowing forward and inhaling the air around her.

«No. It was fine.»

«I see…»

He moved a lock of her hair from her forehead, and Lara blinked surprised. She wasn’t expecting it.

Also, her body reacted before she could stop it. Her head bowed to the side, exposing her neck a little. She sighed, and her spine was crossed by a thrill.

She didn’t step back, contrary to a few minutes before.

When Jaden and Scarlet noticed that their moment of confusion allowed their father to get closer to their mommy, they forgot all about the scents on their mother and grabbed her hand.

«Mommy, mommy, let’s go eat!» Jaden said.

«Yes, we’re soo hungry!»

«You were supposed to eat with your father,» Lara pointed out.

«We prefer you! We missed you so much!»

«Oh, come on, kids. It’s not the first time you stay without me for a couple of hours. You weren’t even alone this time!»

«No, mommy, don’t leave us again,» they cried.

Lara sighed, bowing down to pick Scarlet up.

The little girl shook her head and walked away.

«I am a big girl. I don’t need to be carried around,» she said.

Lara turned to Jaden, and he confirmed with a nod.

«We grew up, mommy.»

«All right,» she chuckled.

Why was everyone acting weird that day?

The people in the company would stare at her. Her cubs were acting all grown up. And Nate didn’t think twice before shortening the distance between them.

«Let’s go eat,» he said, in fact.

He bowed down and picked up Scarlet as nothing happened. This time, the little girl didn’t complain.

For the moment, the three wolves seemed to be getting along. Lara thought it was because they spent the day together. She couldn’t imagine their real thoughts.

They just figured that there could be a bigger opponent out there. They could fight for Lara’s attention among themselves, but they were so connected that they would still have a chance regardless of the outcomes.

Yet, if she were to be taken away, they would have no way to get her back.

Nate knew already that the pups were her number one priority. As for the kids, they just realised that Nate might have taken their mommy away, but he wouldn’t have been able to split them for long.

Another man, though, might have wanted to get rid of them.

«Let’s go eat,» said Jaden.. He grabbed his mommy’s hand and dragged her towards Nate’s car.