After almost two weeks, the attacks on Summer had finally ceased. Caleb sat on the couch of his office with his head laid back and his eyes closed. A drink in his hand as his only companion. He was tired. During his time back home, he had barely gotten any rest.

There was little time for sleep, whether it was planning for attacks, maneuvering rescue and repair teams around active battles, or even just handling the basic goings-on of his people. The precious few hours he did get were filled with dreams.

Dreams that refreshed him until he was awake long enough to remember they were only dreams and could never be reality.

He missed her so much that it hurt.

He would return to Winter in two days, and he would see her again. Though Caleb knew and accepted that these were likely to be the last times they would share. Ashleigh had made her choice clear. She wanted to be married and mated to Granger.

He lifted his head and brought the drink to his lips, emptying the contents of the glass into his mouth and swallowing the burning liquid down.

‘Does she ever think of me?’ he wondered to himself.

He was sure he knew the answer, and it pained him. He sat forward, placing the glass on the coffee table in front of him. He sighed as he rested his elbows on his knees and held his head between his hands, pulling his hair slightly.

‘Have you done your duty?’ her voice called out to him.

He squeezed his eyes tightly and let out a soft, pained breath before relaxing back into the couch. Though he knew it wasn’t real, it wasn’t her. His heart ached to live in this dream, for even just this one moment.

“Yes,” he whispered.

Caleb felt her hands on his shoulders, delicate yet firm. They slid down over his chest, coming to rest over his heart, which had already quickened at her touch. Her chin found its place on his shoulder.

‘Of course, you did,’ she whispered in his ear, a smile in her voice.

He closed his eyes and turned his head slightly toward her, leaning against her. He brought his hand up and wrapped his fingers around her hand, feeling her warmth and tenderness.

“I miss you,” he whispered.

She smiled and leaned into him, her honey blonde braid falling forward over his shoulder._.

‘Then come back to me,’ she whispered back to him. ‘I’m waiting.’

His heart ached.

‘I wish that were true,’ he thought to himself sadly.

Caleb brought her hand to his mouth, kissing it softly. Then, letting her go, he turned, and they locked eyes. His silver met her hazel, and she smiled. A warmth spread through his entire being at the sight.

She leaned towards him, their mouths so close he could feel the warmth of her breath. Then, just as their lips were about to touch, he squeezed his palm roughly.

Ashleigh faded away before his eyes. The room was still and quiet as though she had never been there. Caleb leaned his head back once more and breathed a heavy sigh.

After a silent moment, he pushed himself up from the couch, grabbed his glass from the table, and walked to the small bar. He poured himself another whiskey and drank it in one swallow.

Caleb reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He hit one of the programmed numbers and held it to his ear as he waited for the person on the other side to answer.

“It’s Alpha Caleb,” he said, “tell Raj that the guided imagery augmentation works.”

‘Too well,’ he sighed in his mind.

“Mmhmm,” he absently answered the survey questions that always came with trying out a new system or program.

“Great, thank you,” he said as the other side was wrapping up the call.

Caleb glanced back at the couch, seeing her standing there smiling at him, reaching her hand out to him. He shook the image away.

“Wait,” he quickly added, “tell him that it might be too intuitive. Of course, we want it to be able to predict the patients’ needs, but we don’t want to create a confusing reality or build a dependency.”

The assistant asked a few more questions and ended the call.

Caleb straightened himself up and shook away the emotional weight he had allowed to settle over him. He sat down at his desk, spending the next hour reviewing the reports on the last few attacks, nothing unique. But, over the last two days of fighting, there had been fewer and less aggressive attacks against them.

One of the science teams had even found a way to collect the black ooze left behind from the dead rogues. So far, there were no conclusive results to shed any light on why it was happening, but they had only just begun their research. Nevertheless, Caleb had every confidence in his people.

As he looked over the maintenance reports, it looked like most of the border was well underway to being fully repaired. So his prediction of leaving in two days was holding firm. Short of a sudden emergency, he saw no reason he would need to put off his return any longer.

He sighed with relief as a memory of sparring with Ashleigh played in his mind. He wanted to enjoy what little time he had left with her.

A knock at the door interrupted his memory.

“Enter,” he called out.

The door opened, and a young woman stood on the other side. Looking much more confident than the last time he had seen her.

“Little Clara,” he whispered to himself with a hidden smile. He looked back down at the papers he had been reviewing.

Clara had returned from her training in Spring with enthusiasm and excitement. She was directly placed into the Strategic Planning program as Caleb had requested. She was also put into an Intel and Reconnaissance course that she had asked about on her own.

Caleb had been pleased when he saw the request and approved it immediately.

“My Alpha,” Clara saluted him properly.

“Did you need something?” Caleb asked, keeping his eyes down.

“I have come to deliver the results of the investigation,” she answered.

He noted that she didn’t stutter or stumble over her words.

“I don’t remember assigning you any investigation,” he replied coolly.

“No sir, you didn’t,” she stated, again without a stutter or a stumble, “But the report needed to be delivered, and I volunteered.”

‘Ah, trying to show me you aren’t scared of me, huh?’ Caleb grinned behind the cover of the paper in his hand. ‘Be careful what you wish for, Little Clara.’

He let the paper he was holding drop to his desk. He sat back in his chair and raised his head. He noticed how she adjusted her posture, straightening her back and holding firmly to the documents in her hands.

‘Careful little one, you must walk before you can run,’ he chided her in his mind, her hands beginning to shake as his gaze slowly rose.

He lifted his eyes to meet hers. Clara let out a gasp and quickly ducked her head, directing her eyes to the floor.

“I’m waiting,” he said.

“Yes…” she said, her voice shaking, “…my Alpha.”

Clara stepped forward, stumbling over her own foot but catching herself before she fell. Her heart fell into the bottomless pit of her stomach. Heat crept up her throat. Embarrassment, anger, frustration all fought for dominance.

She straightened herself out and quickly covered the distance between her and the desk. She congratulated herself on staying on both feet, taking deep breaths to keep her lunch from coming up.

“Are you going to hand me the report, or just stand there admiring my floor?”

Her head shot up as she realized he was standing in front of her now. She quickly looked away.

“No… I mean, yes. Yes, my Alpha!” she stumbled with her words, “I mean, yes, I have the report here!”

Clara quickly shoved the papers towards him, too quickly. She hadn’t thought about the distance between them. When her hand flew out towards him, the report hit his chest and scattered to the floor.

“I’m so sorry!” she shouted, dropping to her knees to gather the papers quickly.

“Clara,” he called to her.

She was embarrassed and angry. She had lost. When she had taken the assignment, even when she knocked on the door and first spoke to him, she had felt so confident. But within minutes, she had completely fallen apart and made a fool of herself.

He had beat her again.

She reached for another paper but found it was grabbed by someone else first.

Clara looked up; he was squatting down in front of her. Again, she met his eyes, but this time they didn’t hold the same fierce coldness as before.

“I am not your enemy,” he whispered.

“I didn’t say—” she began to deny it.

Caleb laughed.

“You didn’t have to,” he replied. He reached a hand to her and helped her up.

“You are an omega, right?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

He nodded.

“Your role, in any pack, is to aid. As an alpha, mine is to lead. It is who we are deep within ourselves.”

Clara looked away, dejected. She had been told many times before that she was reaching beyond her position.

“When you entered this room, you came ready to fight. To show me that you weren’t scared of me. As an alpha, I couldn’t let you get away with that,” he smiled.

She looked back at him, listening.

“You wanted to prove yourself today, right?”

Clara nodded.

“Good,” he grinned, “you have great potential, Clara. Don’t see me as an enemy, don’t try to fight me, help me.”

Her brows knitted together; he saw potential in her?

“You found the weak points in our defenses, yes they were created for a purpose, but the point is you found them. Do you know why?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” she answered.

“It’s your nature,” he smiled, “I said it already. The role of the omega is to aid the pack. You have instincts that lead you to solve problems. You were sent to Spring to hone those instincts. Then, you were placed in Strategic Planning to help you understand how to use them.”

“You arranged that?” she asked, shocked.

“You should get back to work,” he replied as he finished gathering the papers and smiled at her.

“Yes, my Alpha!” Clara nodded happily and hurried to the door, turning back just before she exited the room.

“Oh!” she called back, “please pay special attention to page sixty-two subsection three dash A. We didn’t resolve this question, but for some reason, it sticks out to me as irregular.”

Caleb looked down at the report. He was surprised. It wasn’t the report he had expected. He quickly turned to the page and section she had mentioned. He read the passage out loud.

“Outgoing data packets read as game tokens spent and purchased for a mobile game, size exceeds normal parameters. Cause unknown.”

He was confused. He looked once more at the cover of the report. It was, in fact, a report on the system-wide analysis of the bug search. His eyes widened as he suddenly heard Galen’s voice calling out through memory.

‘….She uses her phone to play games during her allotted time. A mix of puzzle games and those choose your own adventure love story ones…’