Chapter 91 I’ll Pick It Up Myself

Eira ended the call.

The receptionist pulled up her file, confirmed payroll had nothing outstanding. No unpaid PTO, no reimbursements sitting in limbo.

Eira had never filed an expense report the whole time she worked there anyway, so that part took all of thirty seconds.

Handover dragged on for hours.

Kate was running point. They sat together going through the offboarding doc Eira had put together, access badges, laptop, anything tagged as company property.

Eira barely had anything to hand back. No laptop bag full of gadgets, no company car keys, nothing. She slid her badge across the table, and that was pretty much it.

Kate glanced at the desk, then back at her, brow raised. "That’s it? Nothing else?"

"That’s it." Eira shrugged. "Never really brought much in."

Kate scanned the desk again, empty, bare, not even a plant or a mug with some corny slogan on it. "Girl, I’ve seen interns with more stuff on their desk than you. How do you even function in here?"

"Don’t need much to get through the day." Eira had planned this exit since day one. Only personal item she’d ever kept around was a water bottle, long gone now, already packed. Everything else on this desk belonged to the company, and she made sure it stayed that way.

Kate shook her head, half impressed, half done. "No wonder your corner looked like a ghost town."

Doc wrapped, laptop closed. "That’s everything on my end. Go find Alpha Killian, need his final sign-off before Vanessa can close your file."

Eira glanced toward his office. Phone glued to his ear, deep in some call. Couldn’t catch a word, but when he turned, she caught that sharp profile dead on.

Waited him out. Walked over. Knocked.

"Come in." He set the phone down, stood by the window, one hand in his pocket, watching her walk in.

Hair pinned up with a pencil today, loose strands framing her face, same rimless glasses, same understated look, white blouse, dark jeans. Five-eight, lean, but there was something unbendable about the way she carried herself. No makeup, and her eyes still cut through the room anyway.

"Just need your sign-off on the final paperwork. Should be sitting in your queue." She stopped a few feet from his desk.

His eyes lingered on her a beat too long before he walked over to his computer, pulled it up, clicked approve without blinking. Same speed as Monday’s resignation approval.

"Done." He glanced back at her. "Vanessa Cole’s got the rest. Only one cleared to close out your exit. Go find her."

"Got it." She turned to go.

"Hold on."

She stopped, looked back. "Alpha Killian?"

"You got tight with Miles, Kate, Natalie." Even tone. "You need a real send-off. Tomorrow, seven thirty, Eden Garden. Already got the reservation."

She wasn’t great at this part. Paused, then nodded, actually thrown. "Thanks."

"Mm." She turned to go again. One step out, stopped, turned back. "Alpha Killian."

"Yeah?"

She hesitated, then looked him dead in the eye. "That chip project you’re bidding on, the Sovereign Processor thing. Dig into why the government’s pushing so hard on it. There’s more going on than what’s on paper."

Beat.

"Hope it works out for you."

Didn’t wait for a reply. Walked out, shut the door behind her.

She hadn’t planned on saying any of that. Just slipped out anyway.

She figured Alpha Killian was sharp enough to connect the dots himself. Whether Sterling actually landed the deal came down to what the company brought to the table, and whatever call the research institute made in the end.

His eyes stayed on the door long after she’d gone.

--

Vanessa had her paperwork ready in HR. Badge killed, system access pulled, credentials wiped. Fifteen minutes, done.

"Keep the badge." She waved off Eira’s hand. "And hey, you ever need a way back in somewhere, I’ve got contacts. Just say the word."

"I’m good, but thanks."

"Your loss." Vanessa grinned, swapped numbers with her anyway. "See you around, Crawford."

Eira cleared her desk fast. Wiped the laptop, straightened everything, gone in five minutes flat. Kate and Natalie caught her on the way out, quick hugs, a reminder about Eden Garden tomorrow at seven thirty.

"Don’t you dare bail," Kate called after her.

"See you tomorrow night," Eira said instead of goodbye.

Outside, the air had gone cold. Her phone buzzed before she hit the sidewalk.

Sebastian.

"All done?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I’m crashing at the office tonight, don’t wait up. Get some sleep, skip breakfast tomorrow." A pause. "Once the bid wraps up, I’ll get you something. Name it."

"You already gave me what I wanted."

Silence on his end.

His chest went warm. She really does love me. Every time he asked, it was always something like that.

He smiled to himself. "Nothing you want, huh? Guess I’ll surprise you, then."

She didn’t answer. Flagged a car, gave the driver an address low under her breath. "Southridge Estates, Number Nine."

He hung up, turned to his assistant before the screen even went dark. "Sign Eira up for driving lessons. And get her a car, nothing flashy, something practical. A sedan, decent trunk space for groceries and stuff."

In the back seat, Eira was already dialing someone else.

Two rings. Pickup.

"Alpha Roger." She skipped the small talk. "The Mate Status Dissolution Certificate came in already, right?"

A beat of silence.

"It’s here."

"And the mate registry the Hale family’s been sitting on, all pulled together?"

"All set." Alpha Roger’s tone stayed flat, even. "I can have someone run it over."

"No need." She glanced out the window, city lights sliding past, voice dropping low. "I’ll pick it up myself."