Page 24 of Furry Equations
No idea, boss. But apparently your mom thinks Dr. Grant is perfect for you. Weird coincidence, huh?
Marcus looked up at Natalie’s window, remembering how she’d felt in his arms, how right it had been to mark her with his scent, even if just through an innocent forehead kiss. His wolf rumbled in satisfaction.
No such thing as coincidence,he texted back.But whatever game our mothers are playing... I’m not complaining about the results.
He settled back in his seat, letting Natalie’s steady heartbeat soothe his protective instincts. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, new threats to handle. But for tonight, she was safe, and that was all that mattered.
Even if he had to sit outside her building all night to ensure it.
Even if his wolf was demanding more than just protective distance.
Even if he was fairly certain their mothers had somehow orchestrated this entire situation.
Because the truth was, Marcus Vale hadn’t felt this alive in years. And if it took their meddling mothers, a dangerous formula, and a brilliant scientist with a habit of hacking security systems to get him here?
Well, he’d take it.
His phone buzzed one final time. A text from his mother:How’s the security detail going, dear?
Marcus shook his head, smiling.Subtlety isn’t your strong suit, Mother.
I have no idea what you’re talking about. Though Eleanor mentioned Natalie’s always been fascinated by wolf shifter mythology...
Goodnight, Mother.
Just saying! Sweet dreams, darling. Don’t forget to thank me at the mating ceremony.
Marcus turned off his phone, but he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. Above him, Natalie’s heartbeat remained steady and strong, a rhythm he was quickly becoming addicted to.
Tomorrow, he’d deal with the threats, the politics, and yes, probably their scheming mothers.
But tonight? Tonight he’d keep watch, letting the sound of his mate’s heartbeat anchor him in place, knowing that somehow, their paths had aligned exactly as they were meant to.
Some things, after all, were simply meant to be.
FIFTEEN
The rhythmic tapping of Natalie’s fingers on her keyboard faltered as an anomaly in her security logs caught her eye. She leaned closer to her monitor, squinting through her blue light glasses as she processed what she saw.
“No, no, no,” she muttered, pulling up additional logs. Multiple unauthorized access attempts from a familiar IP address lit up her screen in angry red notifications. “I swear, if this is like the time Chelsea tried to hack my Netflix account because I wouldn’t share my password—“ She paused, wishing this was something that simple. “At least Chelsea only wanted to watch Bridgerton. This is...” She trailed off, her throat tightening.
Her research assistant, Vanessa, had tried to breach her encrypted files remotely—seventeen times in the past week alone. Each attempt more sophisticated than the last, like a digital fingerprint of betrayal.
Natalie grabbed her phone, her thumb hovering over Marcus’s name before she caught herself. When had he become her first instinct for help? She’d gone from independent scientist to speed-dialing an alpha wolf faster than she could sequence a DNA strand.
“Get it together, Dr. Grant,” she muttered to herself. “You have a Nobel Prize. You can handle a little corporate espionage.” She paused. “And now I’m talking to myself. Perfect.”
Twenty minutes of diving deeper into the logs confirmed her fears. Not only had Vanessa attempted to access the files, but she’d also tried to clone Natalie’s security credentials. The attempts were clever—they would have gone unnoticed if Natalie hadn’t personally coded the security protocols while hopped up on three espressos and spite after the last time someone tried to steal her research.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Marcus:Everything okay? Your heart rate spiked.
We need to talk,she typed back.It’s about the formula.
His response came instantly:On my way.
You know,she added,normal boyfriends just text ‘how are you’ instead of monitoring vital signs.
Normal boyfriends don’t have enhanced werewolf hearing.