by Zoe Chant
"Anyway, we all came to the same conclusion," Martha continued. Jessica squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and braced for it.
"We've decided to make you junior partner effective immediately, with the goal of moving you into full senior partner position when Ecclestone retires in August next year."
The world went very quiet. In the echoing stillness of it, Jessica played and replayed Martha's words in her mind. She knew she'd heard it right, and yet she couldn't shake the irrational conviction that there must have been a misunderstanding somewhere.
Junior partner, effective immediately. Senior partner in under a year. It was everything she'd ever worked for.
"I, um. Really?" she said, wincing at herself even as the words left her mouth. That wasn't how you graciously accepted a promotion. "I mean. Thank you!"
Martha laughed, a friendly laugh, nothing malicious in it. "This can't be coming as a shock to you," she said. "I know how hard you've been working for this. You've cleared more cases than any other senior associate. You're quick, you're meticulous, you're willing to come in nights and weekends whenever we need you. I don't think I need to tell you how few people have the work ethic it takes to succeed in a firm like ours. And then you go and snag a contract with a giant like NavTec International on your vacation! I mean, do you see any other associates bringing Fortune 500 clients to the firm in their free time?"
That wasn't what happened, Jessica almost said, and managed to swallow the words down just in time.
"Now, don't get me wrong, you really should have talked to us before running with a contract on your own like that, and we're going to have a serious talk about what the hell you were thinking when you get back here," Martha said. "Ecclestone almost torpedoed your promotion over this. You know how he gets about people bucking the hierarchy."
But she didn't look angry; she was smiling. "For my part, I know you're smart, I know you work harder than anyone, and I like that you're not afraid to take professional risks. Frankly, that was the one thing I've always been worried about with you. You're too nice, you play by the rules. But this time you saw a chance and you went for it. I respect that."
That's not what happened! Jessica thought again. Alan had needed her; she'd helped out where she could. That's all it was. She'd done it for Alan, and she'd done it for Mountainville, and she'd done it because it had been the right thing to do. Somehow, thinking of it as nothing more than another business accomplishment seemed to cheapen it.
But that wasn't what Martha wanted to hear, and it was her promotion on the line.
"Thank you," was all Jessica said.
Martha nodded. "I know you might need a bit of time to think about this, but here's the thing. Ecclestone's leaving on vacation on Monday, and after that, Seaborn's flying to Tokyo. My secretary already had a look, there's a flight leaving Mountainville airport at noon. I know this is cutting your vacation short, but do you think you could make it? I'd like to have this contract signed and done with before Ecclestone flies out."
"Yeah, of course," Jessica said numbly. She was still reeling. It felt like the Earth was shifting beneath her. Senior partner.
"I'm glad you had a good vacation, by the way!" Martha said. "You look so much better. Honestly, I was getting a little worried about you, the last couple weeks. I thought you might be heading towards a bit of a burn out."
"Well, you know how it is," Jessica said weakly.
"Sure! And it's not like things really get any less stressful once you make partner," Martha added. "I mean, that's what I kept telling myself when I was a junior associate. 'Just a couple more years till you make partner, and then you can take some time to relax.'"She laughed. "And now here I am, it's eight thirty on a Saturday, and I've been at work for two hours already. I haven't seen the sun in a week. Good thing we love our jobs, right?"
"Yeah," Jessica said, forcing a smile.
"Anyway, I should leave you to get your stuff packed so you can make your flight. We thought we could meet around seven tonight—we'll all be working late, anyway."
"Sure," Jessica said automatically.
"Have a nice flight! I'll see you tonight!" Martha said. And then the screen went dark.
Jessica slowly unclenched her hands. Her fingers tingled. Senior partner. She still couldn't believe that had just happened. Everything she'd worked so hard for, all the late nights and early mornings, all the free time she'd sacrificed. This was what it had all been for. But right now, she couldn't feel anything but numb.
She stood up on shaking legs and opened the door just in time to see Alan on the other side, his hand raised to knock. Jessica took a startled step back.
"Jessica, hey!" Alan said, smiling. And then his brow creased in concern. "Are you okay? What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"My boss just called," Jessica said. "They want to make me senior partner."
The words felt strange, as if her tongue couldn't quite wrap around the shape of them.
Alan was quiet for a long moment, his face gone blank, and then he gave himself a visible jolt. "Well hell, congratulations!" he said, and yanked her into a hug. "I know how hard you've been working for this."
Jessica burrowed gratefully into his warm solidity, breathing in his scent.
"I'm going to have to fly back early," she said quietly. She hoped Alan wasn't going to be mad. This was going to cost them their last weekend together, and she'd said yes without even talking it over with him. "I'm sorry. I know this sucks, but—"
"No, of course you have to go," Alan said immediately. "Senior partner! That's a huge deal! I'm so proud of you."
"I can come back out here next weekend, maybe," Jessica said. God, she couldn't think about this now or she was going to cry. From now on, she'd only see Alan on the weekends, and probably not even every one of those.
"We can—we can make this work, right?" Her voice cracked.
Alan held her tightly against his chest. "Yes. Of course we can. Whatever it takes, Jess."
Jessica pressed her face against his soft shirt until the urge to cry receded.
"I'll leave you to pack," Alan said. "I should go check on the bees."
***
Alan sat down heavily on a moss-covered tree stump beside the farthest of the hives. His chest ached; a dull, heavy pain, like taking a fist to the solar plexus. The little box in his jacket pocket felt as heavy as lead. He pulled it out with numb fingers and flipped the lid open.
Even in the dim light of the overcast sun, the diamond seemed to shine with an inner fire. He must've looked at a thousand rings before he'd settled on this one; he'd wanted it to be perfect. It had been in his pocket for two days now while he hesitated, torn between conflicting impulses. The cautious, sensible part of him knew he had to be patient. He couldn't scare Jessica away by getting too serious too quickly. But the bear inside him hadn't wanted to wait.
Jessica was the one, and every day he spent with her only made him more sure of that fact. Her intelligence, her humor, her stubborn drive, her kindness; she was everything he'd ever wanted in a woman. What was the point in waiting, the bear asked him. It wanted to roar their love from the rooftops.
Today he'd woken up and finally made his decision. He couldn't bear to let Jessica go back to New York without making his feelings clear. He wanted her, and he wanted her for forever. He wanted her here with him. She likes it here, she's happy! We can make her happy! the bear inside him insisted, thinking of her dull exhaustion when she'd arrived, and looking at her now, content and smiling and relaxed.
Alan had planned to do it today. He'd make her breakfast, and then he'd ask her.
But when he'd come into the room, it had only taken one look to know that something had changed. The smiling, relaxed Jessica he'd spent the last two weeks with was gone, as if the suit she was wearing was physically weighing her down.
And yet, when she'd told him about her promotion, he couldn't help but be happy for her. This was her career, this was what she'd w
orked so hard for. And he was viciously glad her bosses had finally realized what a treasure they had in his mate.
He'd never want to stand in the way of her happiness, or take away something she'd worked so hard to achieve. Alan thought of the way she'd looked when she'd been working on the injunction, the fierce joy she took in research and her delight at doing the job she was so good at.
No. He'd known, in that moment, that he couldn't ask her to stay. He couldn't ask her to sacrifice the job she loved for him. But he couldn't bear the thought of only seeing her on the weekends, either, of spending five days out of every week without his mate.
Alan gently pushed the lid closed on the jewelry box and tucked it securely into his pocket. It'd have to be him that moved, then.
He'd have to find a manager for the farm. Someone to look after his animals, his people. The thought stung and burned, like a splinter beneath a fingernail. This was his territory. Giving it to a stranger….
Alan looked up. The sun had come out briefly from a gap in the layer of clouds, lighting Sally's garden with a golden glow. The air was thick with the scent of flowers and pines. A few bees had landed on his bare arms, drawn in by the faint scent of magic that clung to every shifter's aura. Alan gently shooed them off.
The thought of exchanging all this, the wide-open nature, the animals around him, the fresh smell of mountain air, for New York City's crowded noisiness, made him feel claustrophobic.
But it would be worth it to be able to live with his mate. He could learn to love the city, if it was Jessica's city.
Alan let himself take one last deep breath of fresh air and then got to his feet. Jessica had one hell of a day ahead of her. The least he could do was make her a good breakfast before she left.
***
Jessica drove to the airport in a daze. She still couldn't quite believe everything that had happened this morning. Her entire life had been upended. Everything she'd worked for was finally coming to fruition. So why couldn't she feel more joy?
Well, she was probably still processing. It had all happened so fast. And then of course she'd have to get used to spending time without Alan again. They'd been by each other's side almost constantly for two weeks now, and she felt painfully aware of the empty spot by her side where he should be.
You'll get used to it, she told herself. He'd come visit, or she'd fly down. Having someone to come home to on the weekends, someone she could call at night, was already so much more than she'd ever had.
So why did it feel like there was suddenly a gaping hole in her life?
There was a huge line at the car rental place. Some guy at the front of the line was arguing loudly with the desk clerk about something Jessica couldn't quite make out, although from the direction of his emphatic gesturing it was almost certainly related to the little silver convertible parked out front, the one with the enormous scratch running down its entire side.
Jessica lined up at the end of the queue, leaned against the wall, and let her eyes close for a moment. She took a deep breath. To-do lists were already unspooling in front of her inner eye. First there was the meeting with the partners tonight. Then she'd better get up early tomorrow, if she wanted to review her new contract before Ecclestone left tomorrow at noon. And then she'd have to check on the progress of the cases she'd left with other associates when she'd left for her vacation.
Her inbox would be full to bursting after this much time away. And then she'd need to start reviewing the firm's recent cases.
Jessica's shoulders tightened. It was going to be one hell of a change, going back to trademark law after the Octane case. She'd only worked on that injunction for a few days, but it had felt so good, knowing she was working on something that would make the world a better place, that every minute of effort she put in meant a little more security for the people around her, a slightly better chance at protecting something that was worth saving. And now she was going back to the world of trademark violations. Back to working 16 hours a day on things that, in the end, were nothing more than corporate pissing contests.
I haven't seen the sun in a week, she heard Martha saying. Good thing we love our jobs, right?
She thought of working beside Alan at the large table on the porch, Squeak curled up purring in her lap, the scent of flowers in the air and the sun heavy on the back of her neck. Was she really going to give that up? And for what? To spend her days suing small businesses over meaningless trademark infringements? To come home at night to her cramped, noisy apartment in the anonymous high rise where she didn't even know her neighbors' names? Did she really want to go back to the knowledge that she'd done nothing all day but make the world a slightly more petty place? And all that just so she could tell herself that she was succeeding in her career?
Jessica opened her eyes. No.
"Miss? Do you need something?" the desk clerk asked. Jessica belatedly realized that the line in front of her had dissipated. She was the only one left. In fact, it was late enough that her flight was going to start boarding any minute; if she wanted to get on the plane, she'd have to run.
No.
"No," she said, her fingers clenching protectively around the car key in her hand, as if the clerk might physically snatch it away from her. "I'm going to need that car for a little while longer."
She walked out of the rental place, fumbling for her phone. She needed to call Alan. Of course she could just wait until she got back and surprise him in person… But no. She couldn't wait another second. The words were crowding at the back of her tongue, ready to burst out.
I've made a mistake. Alan, I'm coming home.
She didn't really watch where she was going. She didn't see the man coming out of the shadows until his shoulder knocked into hers. "Sorry," she said automatically, looking up—and it was only then that she noticed that his face was covered by a black mask. His hand closed around her shoulder in a bruising grip. Jessica sucked in a startled breath, preparing to scream.
The man pressed a cloth over her face, covering her nose and mouth. Her scream was suffocated in a cloud of sweet-smelling gas. Everything went dark.
***
Alan sat at his desk, trying to get some work done. Well, if he was being honest with himself, he was mostly brooding. The feeling started as a shiver down his spine, like ice-cold fingers trailing over the back of his neck.
She's in danger.
He knew it instantly, with perfect certainty. The bear inside him roared. For a moment his sight blurred, colors leeching out of the world. He was half-transformed before he could think to stop it.
Alan gasped in a breath that burned through his chest, forcing the bear back down inside himself. There was no enemy here for him to fight. He had to think like a man, not an animal.
Alan reached for his cell phone to call her. But no, she'd be on the plane right now. Oh God. If anything had happened to the plane…
He yanked his laptop open. There was nothing on the news sites. But if the plane was only just crashing, there might not be—
Being a billionaire had its advantages. He called in a couple of favors, resorted to outright bribery when that didn't do the trick, and finally ended up on the phone with a harried Mr. Tennyson from Mountainville air traffic control, who promised him that the plane was safe. There'd been no distress call, no problems reported.
Alan hung up the phone, almost letting it drop to the desk from sweat-slick palms. Calm down. You're imagining things, he told himself.
And yet the unrelenting certainty of danger didn't lessen in the slightest.
If I don't do something, my mate is going to die.
Alan walked down to the pasture. He needed space to pace around.
Arrow came up to nuzzle at him over the fence, pawing at the ground in concern. He could feel the agitation pouring off Alan.
Alan paced up and down the length of the fence. Arrow followed along beside him like an anxious guard dog. Mr. Tennyson had promised to call him if there was any sign of a problem with t
he plane, no matter how small. If anything happened, he'd be the first to know; and there'd be nothing he could do regardless. All his money, all his strength would be for nothing if something happened to the plane carrying his mate.
He couldn't think about this. He'd drive himself insane. He'd go for a ride, he finally decided. Arrow could use the exercise, and he could use the distraction.
He'd just finished buckling on the saddle when his phone rang. He yanked it out of his pocket with fingers gone numb. "Yes?"
"This is Carolyn Smith with the Mountainville police department."
The cold fear coalesced into icy certainty in his chest. He'd known it. Something horrible had happened.
"How can I help you?" he managed to say, knowing his voice came out strange; the bear's roar wanted to come through.
"We've had reports that a woman was kidnapped in front of the Mountainville CarSmart two hours ago. We found her purse and cell phone on the scene. Your name was the most recently called."
The world disappeared in a rush of white noise. Inside him, the bear was roaring. Kidnapped. Someone had taken his mate. She'd never even made it onto the plane. He'd known she was in danger, and he'd done nothing, he'd been pacing around out here, useless…
"Is there anyone you can think of who might have a motive to kidnap Ms. Sheppard?" Officer Smith asked.
Everything came suddenly, horribly clear.
Octane. Of course. They would have found out about the injunction by now. They'd have realized how much money they stood to lose if the lawsuit was successful. And now they'd taken her.
His mind raced. They couldn't mean to blackmail him; they'd have to actually admit they'd kidnapped her then, and of course they couldn't do that. No. This was a threat. This is what happens when you cross us, they were saying. They'd make her disappear, and the message would be clear even if Octane could never officially be linked to what happened to Jessica.