Chapter 180 Keeping Her Distance

After dinner, Luna Seraphina walked Lainey to the door and arranged for the driver to take her home.

"You look exhausted," Luna Seraphina told her. "Get some rest. You need to take care of yourself."

Before she left, Lainey quietly slipped a business card into Eira’s hand.

Eira accepted it to keep things from getting awkward.

Once the door closed behind Lainey, Eira turned to Luna Seraphina.

"Is Lainey okay?"

Luna Seraphina’s expression softened.

"She was born with a heart condition. It isn’t serious as long as she keeps a regular schedule and avoids too much stress."

--

A few miles from the Sterling estate, Lainey opened her text thread with Serena and typed:

[I ran into a woman at the Sterling estate. Eira. She’s a real operator.]

The word was enough to make Serena call.

Lainey answered, but cut her off before she could start asking questions. "It’s late. I need to get some sleep. We’ll talk in person."

She ended the call and slipped her phone into her purse.

--

Back at the Sterling estate, Lila put on her most innocent expression.

"Killian, why’d you suddenly go quiet?"

Alpha Killian was stretched out on the sofa, looking relaxed and perfectly at home. His half-lidded eyes slid toward Eira.

Everyone else followed his gaze.

Eira had stood in front of rooms full of reporters without blinking, but being watched by the Sterling family somehow made her feel more exposed.

She met Alpha Killian’s eyes. "You can talk now."

"If nobody pointed me out, you’d forget I was here."

Eira stared at him for a moment. "Actually, you can keep quiet."

Lila burst out laughing. Her laughter echoed through the house.

The evening wore on. Outside, members of the Sterling Pack made their rounds along the perimeter, checking the gates and scanning the tree line. The patrols had guarded the territory for generations, keeping the estate and everyone inside it safe through the night.

Inside, the mood stayed warm and easy.

When Eira yawned, Alpha Killian stood immediately.

"Dad, Mom, we’re heading out."

Then he turned to Lila. "You stay here."

"Fine." Lila slumped back against the sofa. She had not even asked to go with them to Number Nine.

Eira reached over and lightly messed up her hair as she walked past. "Good night, Lila."

"Night!" Lila called, waving with a grin.

Alpha Killian guided Eira toward the door before his sister could start teasing her again.

As they left, Eira let herself sink into the warmth of the evening. She had never experienced anything quite like it.

Her mentor had been too busy when he was alive for her to spend much time at the Thorne estate. After he died, she began visiting his widow. That house had been warm in its own way, but the Sterling estate felt different. It was louder, closer, and full of the easy affection of people who had grown up together.

Alpha Julian rarely spoke, but he always seemed to know what Luna Seraphina needed before she said a word.

Luna Seraphina was gentle and graceful, with a playful streak that Lila had clearly inherited. Lila and Alpha Killian argued constantly, but their teasing never turned truly cruel.

And then there was Alpha Killian.

Eira glanced at him as they walked. He was looking at something on his phone, but the moment he noticed her watching him, he looked up.

"Hmm?"

He lowered the phone.

Eira shook her head. "Nothing."

"Barry says the clinic came up with a whole line of herbal wellness drinks," Alpha Killian said. "He wants you to be the first one to try them."

Eira raised an eyebrow. "Did Dr. Wood actually say that?"

"See for yourself."

Alpha Killian held the phone out to her, but kept it just far enough away that she had to lean closer to read the screen.

Eira leaned in to read the screen. Her hair slipped over her shoulder, the soft ends brushing Alpha Killian’s jaw before trailing across his neck.

A clean, warm scent followed.

Alpha Killian’s breath caught.

"Dr. Wood never said anything about turning me into a lab rat," Eira said, settling back once she’d finished reading. "He just wanted you to ask whether I’d be willing to try it."

She glanced up—and found him already looking at her.

Not past her. Not out the window. At her.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing."

He looked away first, took off his coat, and draped it across his lap.

"The air-conditioning’s too high."

Eira glanced at the vents. If anything, the car was warm. But he’d been drinking, and the faint color along his jaw could have been the wine.

"Is it?" she said.

"You’re not cold?" His voice had dropped, quieter than before.

"No."

"Then leave it."

The words came out low and clipped, and for a moment neither of them moved. The space between them had shrunk somewhere along the way, close enough that she could feel the heat coming off him.

Eira held still. So did he.

She didn’t know what she was waiting for. Neither, it seemed, did he.

Then Alpha Killian exhaled and turned back toward the window, breaking whatever had just tightened in the air.

Eira looked down at her phone, her pulse a beat too fast, and told herself it was the wine on his breath, the closeness, the late hour. Anything but him.

Alpha Killian cleared his throat."So. You coming tomorrow?"

"I have work."

"You run a team of several hundred people. They’ll survive one day without you."

Before she could argue, he sent Barry a voice message.

"She’s coming."

Barry replied almost immediately. Alpha Killian ran the message through text first, making sure Barry had not decided to argue with him, then handed the phone to Eira.

"Perfect timing," Barry said. "Grandma was just asking about you."

Eira thought of Mrs. Wood. She had never properly thanked the older woman. This was a good chance.

"Sure." She paused, then asked, almost as an afterthought, "Are you going too, Mr. Sterling?"

They had been away from the estate for less than ten minutes, and she was already putting distance between them again.