She'd heard me. She knew I was there. She didn't need to look because she'd already identified me and decided I wasn't something that required her attention to shift.
I kept walking.
'She didn't check,' Vorak said.
'No,' I said.
'She knew it was you and kept watching her screen.'
'Yes,' I said.
'That's different,' he said.
'Yes,' I said. 'It is.'
The afternoon went on. I signed documents and reviewed the formal charges Pryor had completed and sent two responses to pack alphas regarding territory matters that had been waiting since before the Ashcrest visit. The work was substantial and I gave it what it needed and when I looked up and the light through the window had moved to late afternoon I stretched and set the pen down and thought about Isla.
Not with urgency. Not with the par
