One Night

Chapter 212

Audrey

The security office at Brooks Designs was dimly lit this late at night, the city block outside quiet and empty. It was almost surreal being back here; I hadn’t come here since last summer, when I was interning here.

As Edwin and I stepped inside, the security guard behind the front desk jerked awake, nearly knocking over his lukewarm coffee in his haste to stand up.

“O-Oh! Mr. Brooks…” he stammered, his face flushing red. “What brings you here at this hour?”

Edwin didn’t even bat an eye at the guard’s obvious embarrassment. “We need to see some CCTV footage from the design department. From last summer.”

The guard’s face fell slightly. “Ah, I’m sorry sir, but we archive our footage every six months to save disk space. Anything from last summer would be down in the basement archives by now.”

“Can you take us there?” I asked. “We really need to see the footage.”

The guard nodded quickly, his keys jangling as he fumbled for the ring at his hip. “Of course, of course. Follow me.”

As we made our way down to the basement, Edwin gave my hand a squeeze and sent a reassuring nudge down the mate bond. We would find the evidence we needed to prove that Mr. Black had some part in foul play surrounding my thesis.

Or at least, so I hoped.

But if we didn’t find anything… A single clip on my own security camera footage of someone photographing my project though the window wouldn’t be enough.

The basement hallway that the security guard led us to was cool and slightly musty-reminiscent of the abandoned room that Edwin and I used to meet in. In an attempt to get my mind off of my nerves, I sent an image of those days-or rather, nights-down the bond.

A moment later, Edwin jerked his hand and coughed, his face reddening.

“Minx,” Edwin’s voice echoed in my head. I suppressed a smirk.

Finally, the guard unlocked a small door at the end of the hallway. He pushed the door open to reveal a large storage room, tall metal shelves stacked high with cardboard boxes. Filing cabinets lined the walls, the single fluorescent light buzzing and flickering as it came to life.

“Here we are,” the guard said, gesturing to the room. “The security archives.”

Edwin nodded, his eyes already scanning the shelves. “Thank you. We can take it from here.” Then, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some cash and handed it to the guard. “Why don’t you go get yourself a coffee from the vending machine? To help you stay awake on the job.”

The guard’s face turned an even deeper shade of red as he took the money, his ears practically glowing. “Oh, uh… Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.”

As he scurried away, his footsteps fading quickly, I couldn’t help but chuckle. “You didn’t have to embarrass him like that, you know.”

Edwin shrugged, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Consider it a gentle reminder to stay alert. Now, let’s

*

find that footage.”

With that, we set to work, carefully combing through the boxes and hard drives. The task was tedious, and I found myself growing increasingly frustrated as the minutes ticked by. There were so many files, many of them stored somewhat haphazardly, that it was difficult to find the right dates.

“This is hopeless,” I muttered after what felt like hours, shoving aside another useless box filled with footage from five years ago. “We’re never going to find it.”

Edwin didn’t look up from the box he was rifling through-didn’t even respond, he was so focused.

I paused for a few moments, just taking in the sight of him. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his sinewy forearms. His hair was mussed, dark strands falling into his eyes. His jaw was set hard, determination etched into his face.”

In those moments, I felt another pang of guilt. To think that he had a ring for me sitting in his nightstand back home… How many nights had he sat up, looking at it and wishing he could propose while I was-

“Focus, Klein.”

The sound of Edwin’s voice ripped me out of my reverie; he’d noticed how distracted I was. Blushing, I quickly muttered an apology and pulled another box off of a nearby shelf.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I spotted a box labeled with the dates we needed. My heart leapt. “Edwin! I think I found it!

He hurried over, and together we pulled out the hard drive containing the footage we needed. My heart raced as Edwin connected it to his laptop, the blue glow of the screen illuminating our faces in the dim room.

“Here we go,” he said softly as the video began to play.

There I was, a version of myself from last year, working diligently on my ‘Life Cycle’ gown. I watched as I carefully attached the luna moth to the bodice, my face set with concentration. It was strange, seeing myself like this, almost like looking at a stranger at work.

“You’re so cute when you’re focusing,” Edwin muttered, shaking his head.

Smirking, I nudged him in the ribs with my elbow. “Focus, Brooks.”

“Sorry, sorry…”

As we continued to watch, my form eventually left the room-and just moments later, we saw Linda enter the frame. My fists clenched involuntarily at the sight of her; I remembered that day all too well.

And, just as I had suspected, I saw her rip the luna moth off of my dress and smash it beneath the heel of her boot.

“I knew it,” I hissed. Edwin shook his head, clenching his jaw, and sped through the next stretch of footage-me returning from lunch, finding the mess, dealing with the aftermath. We kept sk**ing forward, and nothing else happened. I began to lose hope; maybe nothing else had happened to my dress after all.

Maybe-

But then I saw him. Leo.

He was locking up the design department late that night, or so it seemed. But then he stopped and glanced around furtively before pulling out his phone and snapping several pictures of the gown. When he was finished, he scurried away as if fearing getting caught.

*

“Ba**rd,” I growled as Edwin quickly saved the footage to a flash drive. “He must have sent those images to Mr. Black. I wonder if they held onto them all this time knowing that they were going through with this new plan, or…”

My voice trailed off, and I shuddered at the thought. It seemed ridiculous, impossible, but… Perhaps they really just hated me so much that they planned this far in advance.

Or perhaps, back then, they knew who I was-what I was. The Silver Star.

Suddenly, I felt Edwin’s hand on my cheek, gently turning my face toward his. I could tell he had sensed my whirling thoughts down the bond, just from the look in his eyes.

“Don’t worry,” he murmured, his thumb brushing away a tear I hadn’t realized had fallen. He dipped his head, pressing a kiss to the damp spot on my cheek. “We’ll handle it. You’ll handle it. They’ll regret messing with the Silver Star.”

I nodded, sniffling, and returned my gaze to the laptop screen. Unbeknownst to me, my elbow had mistakenly hit a button on the keyboard, and the camera had sk**ed forward several days.

To Edwin marching into the design department, long legs striding quickly across the floor, face set with furious determination-no doubt to unleash his anger on those who had tampered with my internship.

And then I watched, in awe, as he came to a screeching halt in front of my ‘Life Cycle’ gown.

And he just… stood there. Eyes wide, chest heaving, mouth hanging open.

With nothing but love and awe in his gaze.

་་་་་,

+5

At that moment, my wolf suddenly roared to life inside of me. Heat flooded my body, weeks of pent-up desire rushing to the surface. Before I could stop myself, I was suddenly surging forward, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him deeply-so deeply, in fact, that he went stumbling back and crashed into a nearby filing cabinet.

I didn’t know why it hit me now, why it hit me here-maybe it was his tenderness or the look in his eyes or seeing that old footage of him or knowing that there was a ring waiting at home for me–but I knew I needed him. Desperately.

“Audrey,” my mate groaned, his hands finding my waist. His fingers dug into my hips, pulling me impossibly closer. “Where is this coming from?”

“Is it bad that I want you right now?” I breathed against his lips, the words coming out h**se. “Here?”

Edwin huffed a low chuckle into my mouth. “No. No, I want you too.” He raked his teeth across my ear, “Now. Here.”

down my neck.

And then we were kissing again, more urgently this time. My fingers tangled in his hair, tugging him closer. His hands roamed my back, leaving trails of fire in their wake. I began ripping at the buttons on his shirt, desperate to feel skin, desperate to feel him against me, inside of me, around me.

As we slowly slid to the floor, filing cabinets creaking and slamming against the wall, I hoped that the security guard had already fallen fast asleep at his desk.