His Unidentified & Untouchable Mate

Watching the Same Sun Rise

Zahraa POV

Dawn found us sitting on the base of a merry-go-round, both truly spent and unwilling to actually go home. We watched in weary silence as the sky changed from a dark royal blue to that of a cornflower, and the rising sun painted the clouds beautiful shades of pink and orange, tinged with a deep, rich purple. The sun began its ascent with a sliver, gradually filling out until the bright orb conquered the horizon and vanquished the shadows of night.

When the display had concluded, I turned my attention to him. “Don’t you have training to oversee?” I asked. He’d mentioned before how his pupils were less than enthusiastic about training sometimes, and about the work he put in to keep them on track. He acted aloof, but I could tell he was passionate.

That had been the first night I met him. I had found that passion to be charming, the aloofness to be cute.

“Not today,” Jacob yawned. “Alex is taking the shift this morning. Besides – everyone is still in an uproar.”

It wasn’t an understatement, either. It was only 6:40, but his phone had been going off nonstop. The yawn was infectious; I covered my mouth as it gaped wide, and I shuddered with exhaustion. Like yesterday, I should’ve been on shift, yet I no longer had a shift to go to. I was no longer sure I wanted to go back, even if I could.

“You look more stressed than I do,” he said, his arm snaking around behind my back. He rested his head on my shoulder and looked up at me with big, brown eyes. “What’s on your mind?”

I tried not to think about how I’d come out without even a light dusting of makeup and hummed thoughtfully, wondering how much truth I should inject into my words. “I’m thinking about how I miss work. About how they treated me, and if I want to go back, even if I had the opportunity.”

His brow creased, revealing a little line between his eyebrows. “Because of those girls?”

Those girls.

They weren’t girls to me – they were monsters. How they could treat someone like that, someone they’d worked alongside for years at that, was beyond me.

“Yeah,” I replied, staring at the colorful support of the playground equipment. I sighed, “I just wish they’d find those wolves. I feel a little uneasy myself. I mean, how can that many people just disappear?”

“They can’t. They don’t – there’s a logical explanation, someone just has to uncover it.” Jacob sighed, falling back, and laying on the cool steel, kicking his feet up. I joined him, relaxing onto the hard surface, kicking one leg up and leaving one down to rock us gently back and forth.

The swaying was so rhythmic, I almost started to drift off. Then, Jacob’s voice brought me back.

“Why don’t you come work for me?”

My eyes opened, and when I turned my head to face him, his were already fixated on me. “What?” I asked, feeling dumb for asking, but so shocked I didn’t know what else I could say.

That seemed to shake his confidence, if only for a moment. “Oh. Well, I mean, you don’t have to. But the omega girl that usually works as my secretary has gone missing, and I just thought… if you want to work…” he turned his head away and chuckled. “You know what? Never mind. That was a silly suggestion – I mean, I just…” he trailed off, and I wondered if he was going to finish the sentiment. To my surprise, he turned his head back to me, showing me the blazing cheeks and beet-red ears of his blush. “I just wanted the excuse to have you near.”

My face blazed, and my heart skipped a beat. Was he just that skilled at flattery, or…?

I smiled. “I’d be honored. At least while this is going on, I mean. I’d hate to steal that poor girl’s job.”

He sat up quickly, seemingly full of energy again. “Then it’s settled!” He pushed himself off the merry-go-round and held a hand out to me. “Get dressed and meet me in my office at 8:30.”

Once again, I felt his warmth through my glove, and I longed for the feel of his hand in mine. On my feet again, he kept a tight grip on my hand, and pulled me in closer.

I worried we’d have a repeat of our dreadful first kiss, but instead, he took a deep breath and let me go. “Sorry. I’ll let you get changed and do whatever you might have to do.”

I nodded, stepping back, and feeling like I could breathe only when I was out of his orbit. I paused, realizing we’d been walking around the pack all night, and I wasn’t sure if he had a ride at all. “Need a lift back home?” I asked, my lips quirking into a grin.

Jacob looked at me with surprise, then, as if he’d remembered what I was capable of, laughed. “That would be the quickest way home, wouldn’t it?”

“Quickest I can think of,” I replied with a small laugh. The pack house wasn’t far, and it was always unlocked. Without needing to voice where we were going, we both headed in the same direction.

A silence fell between us. It was peaceful, sure, but I could tell that Jacob was pensive about something. As we entered the lawn of the pack house, I risked a glance to find his lips tugged into a frown. “What is it?” I asked, finally.

“Can I confess something to you?” he asked.

Curious, I nodded. “Of course. What’s on your mind?”

“I want them found as badly as anyone else,” his steps slowed, and when we came to a stop, he was looking at his feet. “But I can’t help but wish I’d be the one to find them – to prove to my father that I’m worth something. Tonight… searching for them… I can’t pretend my motives have been pure this whole time. And I feel… gross about it.”

I watched the lush grass sway under our feet. I wasn’t sure what to say either. I put a gloved hand on his shoulder. “Everyone has gross feelings sometimes. It doesn’t make you a bad person.”

He smiled at me, but it was tense and didn’t reach his eyes. “Thanks,” he said.

We trudged to the door in a tense and awkward silence. I put a hand on the grooved face of the heavy oak door, and the spaces around it began to glow soft golden. I opened it, and it revealed the front door of Jacob’s floor. “I’ll see you in a bit,” I said, standing there with a sympathetic smile plastered on my face. I felt fake and ingenuine, but I simply didn’t know what else to do or say.

When Jacob walked through the door, he offered me a matching expression laced with exhaustion and gratitude. “Thanks for coming out with me tonight, Zahraa.” He hesitated a moment before adding, “I don’t think I realized I needed the company.”