Chapter 224: You're Like Her

Chapter 224: You're Like Her
Evelyn's POV

Fifth day after rebuilding started, someone came with a message saying Alpha Adam wanted me to stop by his office when I had time.

I got to the office door, took a breath, and knocked.

"Come in."

I pushed the door open. Adam sat behind his desk. Room was empty except for him—even the triplets weren't there.

He saw me and pointed at the chair across from him. "Sit."

I walked over and sat. My hands went to my lap, then I realized that looked too nervous and moved them to the armrests.

Adam looked at me for a second, then said, "How're you sleeping?"

Wasn't expecting that. "Better. Way better than before."

He nodded. "Eating okay?"

"Yeah."

"Dora told me you've been putting away more food lately." His voice stayed level. "I had her make extra."

Wait. "You told her to do that?"

"You've been burning through a lot of energy. Need to eat more." He paused. "Look, I asked you here because there's some stuff I need to say."

Adam leaned forward, hands folded on the desk. "First thing—I owe you an apology."

"You already did that. In front of everyone."

"I know. But that was to the pack." He held my gaze. "This is to you. Different thing."

He stopped. His expression shifted—something complicated there.

"Some of the calls I made while I was under that control, yeah, the magic caused those. But some of them..." His voice dropped. "I already had those thoughts. Magic just cranked them up, let them out. That's what I'm apologizing for. Not the magic. Me."

I sat there. Didn't know what to say to that.

Finally managed, "I don't know what to do with this."

"You don't have to do anything with it." Adam's gaze stayed steady. "I just needed you to know—you don't owe me explanations for anything. What you did these past weeks wasn't because you owed me. It's because that's who you are."

Beat.

"Should've seen it sooner."

My throat got tight. I went quiet for a bit.

Then said, "Okay."

Just that.

Adam nodded like that was enough.

He leaned back in his chair. "Second thing. Territory's future."

I waited.

"Isabella and I talked. The boys are ready to officially take on Alpha duties." He said it calm, matter-of-fact. "We're gonna start transitioning power over the next few months. All three of them taking it on together."

"That's good."

"Yeah." Adam paused. "But there's something else. About you."

"Me?"

"Your Beta bloodline, everything you've shown lately—the judgment calls, the capability—this territory needs that." He looked right at me. "Not as a Sentinel. Something more central than that."

I stopped breathing.

"I'm not saying what exactly, because that's not my call alone. Not yours alone either." No pressure in his voice, just stating facts. "But I wanted to put it out there. You should know it's on the table. Think about it."

"I need time."

"Course you do. No rush on this. Not looking for an answer tomorrow."

He stood, walked to the window. Stood there with his back to me.

After a moment he turned around. "Go on. Those three are probably wearing a hole in the floor out there. Don't make them wait too long."

I got up and headed for the door. Hand on the doorknob, cracked it open, then stopped.

Looked back. "Adam."

He met my eyes.

"Having you here—makes me feel like the territory's gonna be okay."

Then I walked out. Door closed soft behind me.

The hallway wasn't empty.

Magnus stood closest, back against the wall. Saw me and straightened, stepped to the side.

Lucian came over fast from down the hall. "Finally. Thought I was gonna fossilize out here."

"Could've warned me you were about to turn into a fossil. Would've moved faster."

"Next time I will."

Orion walked up from the other direction. "You done?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Let's go, I'm starving."

Magnus said, "Since when?"

"Since right now."

"Alright. Let's move."

He started walking, took two steps, waited for me to catch up. We fell into step together. Lucian moved to my other side, Orion behind us.

Lucian said, "Your face looked pretty rough going in. Looks way better now. What'd he say?"

I thought about it. "A lot."

"Give me one thing."

"He said you three were out here."

"Yeah, well. We were." Lucian shrugged. "Not exactly classified intel."

"Also said you were having a hard time keeping quiet."

Lucian went still for a second. "How'd he know that?"

Orion said, "Because when you're standing in a hallway, you're usually not quiet."

"I can be quiet."

Magnus said, "You walked seventeen circles."

Lucian stopped. "How do you even know that?"

"Counted."

"Walking in circles doesn't mean I'm loud."

I laughed before I could stop myself.

All three of them looked at me.

Orion said, "You're laughing more today than usual."

"Because you guys are being ridiculous."

Lucian said, "Is that a compliment?"

"If you want it to be."

He thought about that. "Yeah, okay. I'm taking it as one." Pause. "Thanks."

Light came in from the end of the hallway. The four shadows stretched long across the floor.