Chelsea shook her head even as he spoke.
“Please . . .” She swallowed again, the ragged emotions brewing inside her and filling her voice. “Please give them my regrets. I have to go.”
“Chelsea, you’re still welcome here, always,” Rule protested, coming quickly to his feet, a frown creasing his brow.
Chelsea shook her head.
Turning, she hurried from the office, not bothering to close the door behind her, terrified she would slam it instead.
She walked quickly down the hall, her head down, unaware of the door opening down the hall.
“There you are.” Ashley’s voice was filled with laughter as she met Chelsea at the elevator. “Oh, bad girl. Coffee.”
Chelsea pushed the cup into the other girl’s hand, ignoring her surprise, and stepped into the elevator.
“Chelsea?” Ashley pushed her hand against the frame, the pressure holding the doors open as confusion and worry filled her normally happy voice and dove gray eyes.
“I have to go.” Chelsea forced the words past her lips.
“But we have a girl date, remember?” The faint hurt in the Coyote female’s voice had Chelsea forcing back her tears.
“I was fired, Ashley,” she whispered, meeting her wide, shocked gaze. “Rule just fired me.”
Ashley dropped her hand slowly, allowing the doors to close, still holding the coffee Chelsea had pushed into her hand.
Seconds later the doors slid open again, Code’s curious gaze easing away when he saw her. “Everything good?” he asked.
Chelsea only nodded before rushing through the lobby and back into the parking garage. Reaching the relative safety of her truck, she gripped the steering wheel, pressing her forehead tight to her hands as she fought to get her emotions under control.
She had been fired because of that damned scent thing?
She could feel the bars of the invisible cage moving in closer, her knowledge that the Mating Heat just might have given Cullen exactly what he wanted causing her breath to hitch.
Chelsea locked away from life, safe and protected.
And it hurt.
Cassie stepped into Rule’s office and closed the door quietly before walking across the soft cream carpeting. She ignored the director’s wary look but sat down in a chair across from him and leaned back into her seat slowly.
She didn’t make him wait long to learn why she was there. She folded her hands in her lap and met his gaze firmly.
“I’ll be returning to Colorado once I’ve packed. I’ll require a heli-jet for the trip.”
His expression went from curious to brooding rather quickly, his dark blue eyes narrowing in surprise.
“This is about Chelsea,” he finally sighed heavily. “She’s a danger to herself as well as the operation . . .”
“Do you think I was unaware of her mated status, Director Breaker?” she asked, trying to force herself to be calm. “I knew even before it became a status. Where have you been for the past sixteen years to ever consider that I was unaware of such a thing?” Her extrasensory knowledge was well-known to him, and she knew it.
He knew it.
“She’s Bengal,” he stated softly. “One of the most sought-after mates in our society. She endangers herself as well as you . . .”
“You gave me control of this operation.” She could feel her calm beginning to unravel. “Complete control.”
“Not in this situation. The risk is too high and you should have known it,” he stated firmly. “Reorganize your team. It’s not dependent on her.”
He sat forward then, dismissing her as he p