Chapter 76

Violet

I got my tech team, led by Lily, working on getting the voting system we used for various things expanded and made available to the entire country through the internet. She’d have it done by early the next day since it was already hosted in the cloud. I made a note to shift some things around so that Midnight could have its own server hosted in Darkmoon.

My lips cracked into a smile. I had considered doing the same for Twining River, but I had never gotten around to it, and Lucas had never thought it important since we were merging the packs.

I wondered how they were faring without access to Darkmoon’s information infrastructure. I grimaced, thinking about the school I’d set up in Twining River and bit my lip. I’d have to open communication about their access, selling it to them, or contracting out to build it, if possible, but not now when the wounds were still healing.

Maybe I could use it as leverage to get Lucas to stop fighting me.

I shook my head, climbing the stairs and stretching. I considered a shower and slipping into something more comfortable for the rest of the day. Maybe even catching a nap. When I stepped into my room, I immediately noticed something was... off.

It wasn’t like there was anything obviously missing. The bed was made, the curtains drawn to let in the afternoon light, but the space felt strangely barren. Empty. The throw I’d had in my suitcase and usually left on my bed was missing. Weird.

So was the small jewelry box I’d left on the vanity.

Never mind the vanity itself being missing.

I went to the closet door, noting that my shoes weren’t in the cubbies. My stomach sank as I opened the closet and found it empty.

The drawers were all empty.

Everything was gone.

What the hell was going on?

“Theo?” I called, walking down the hall. I knocked on the door to his room.

“Come in.”

He was seated on the edge of the bed, scrolling through his phone, and taking off his shoes, looking entirely too comfortable.

He looked up and cocked an eyebrow.

“Why’d you knock?”

I scoffed. “Why would I just invade your room like that?”

He blinked. “What do you mean?”

I shook my head. “Never mind. Do you know where all my stuff went? My room’s been—”

I broke off, my eyes landing on the vanity that had been set up in the corner by the entrance that led into the bathroom.

The vanity that had once been in my room along with my jewelry box. I scanned the room and found my belongings—down to the throw blanket I kept on my bed—neatly arranged around the room like they had always been there.

“Theodore,” I said, my voice dangerously calm.

He frowned. “I really… don’t like my full name when you say it like that. What’s wrong?”

I gestured around. “Are we trading rooms?”

“No, of course not.”

“Has my room been damaged?”

“No.”

“Then, why… have you moved all of my things into your room?”

He blinked. “Our room.”

“Our?” I repeated, staring at him. “What are you….” I took a deep breath, remembering that Theodore was young, had never lived with a woman, and was not working with all his necessarily human faculties.

Instincts. Wolfish, territorial, somewhat ridiculous instincts.

“Theo, darling, honey… why is this now our room?”

He grinned, beaming at me. “We’re mates, Violet. It makes sense to share a room.”

I bit my lip and closed the door behind me, approaching him slowly. As soon as I was close enough, he wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling my stomach and breathing in deeply with a low rumbling sound.

“Theo, you can’t just decide I don’t need personal space anymore.”

He looked up and frowned. “What do you mean?”

I smiled. “I… love that you want us to be close, darling, but I need personal space.”

He frowned even deeper like he couldn’t fathom what I was talking about.

“Space away from me?”

“This is a bit like me just living in Midnight.”

“But…” He looked back towards his bed. “You mean we won’t share a bed? That’s…”

He tightened his grip on me. Then, he flinched and let go, pulling back. I lowered myself into his lap and placed a hand on his chest. His heart was thudding hard and fast beneath my palm.

“You’re my luna. My wife. My mate. I want to share space with you. You don’t want to?”

“I am okay with sharing a bed, but I still want my own space.” I smiled. “Do you really want my socks crowding yours?”

He smiled, his eyes a little dreamy. His eyes flashed. I was going to have to help him get a hold of his instincts sooner rather than later.

“Well, I don’t want your socks crowding mine.” He frowned. “They’re big. They’re probably bullies—”

“Hey—”

“Your underwear are definitely uncompromising conquers of space, and I’m not even going to think about the comportment of your shirts.”

He wrinkled his nose, and I slipped out of his lap. “We can share a bed, Theo, but I’m moving my stuff back.”

I went to the nearest dresser, pulling open a drawer to start pulling my things out. He was just behind me, about to stop me, but I paused, stunned, as the contents of the drawer came into focus.

The neat folded rectangles laid out for view were all familiar. Blouses. Sweaters. All mine. Not a single one of Theodore’s shirts in sight. Not even a t-shirt.

“Wait a second,” I muttered, opening another drawer.

Night clothes. Underwear. Scarves. I went to the wardrobe next, throwing open the doors, only to find my hanged clothing dominating the space. He had all of four, familiar suits in the corner. One of them was the tuxedo he’d worn the day after the wedding. There was quite a bit of space between his clothes and mine. I looked through the rest of the massive closet and found most of the drawer and cabinets empty save for bits of my clothing or accessories.

Then, I turned back. Theodore leaned against the door, arms crossed, watching me with a grin.

“Is there anywhere in this room that belongs to just you?”

Theodore shrugged. “The left side of the bed?”

I glowered at him and the urge to throw the cushy throw pillow that had come from my room and was not sitting on the small ottoman in the center of his walk-in closet was overwhelming.

I sank down on the ottoman and scanned the room again, my irritation giving way to a creeping sense of disbelief.

“What’s this about?”

“What’s what about?” He looked genuinely confused.

I pointed to the meager sections of the closet that held his belongings.

“This,” I gestured to his pitifully small portion of the closet. “Is this all you own?”

He glanced over, unconcerned. “What? It’s plenty.”

“Plenty?” I repeated, dumbfounded. “You’re the Alpha of Midnight. You’re supposed to have... more.”

“More what?” he asked, still oblivious.

“Clothes! Shoes! Stuff!” I threw my hands up, turning back to the closet. “I have more coats than you have shirts!”

He flushed. “So? I don’t have much of a need for it.”

I shook my head, horrified. He was a public figure, Theodore. How had no one noticed that he owned all of six outfits?

Then, I thought about it. Had he been seen in public, photographed or otherwise, more than a handful of times? Enough for anyone to notice?

I didn’t even recognize him on sight…I stared at him, baffled.

“You’re a recluse.”

He sputtered. “I am not.”

I shook my head. “This isn’t going to work.”

I went to the rod, grabbing all of the clothes of mine off the rack. He cut me off slipping some of the hangers from my arms.

“Theo!”

He put them back. “Violet.”

I set my jaw and in the time that it took me to formulate a plan, he’s already whisked my clothes back onto the rod.

This wasn’t going to work, but neither was my approach.

He turned back. “It’s fine, I– Whoa!”

I took a fistful of his shirt and tugged him forward. He followed, letting me pull him from the closet. I turned and pushed him onto the bed. He landed with a soft thump, and before he sat up, I was crawling over him.

His eyes darkened, the heat and desire flare to life on his face. I could tell he wasn’t even thinking about my clothes by the time I was nose to nose with him.

I settled my weight on his hips, settling on the hard line of his stiffening erection. He licked his lip.

“Darling…”

“Yes?” He rumbled.

I smoothed my hands down his chest, smiling down at him, finding it a bit exhilarating, a little empowering too to see the kind of power I had over him.

“I have a proposition.”