Page 18 of Power Shift

“What day is the meeting?”

“Wednesday. This one might get intense.”

“Is she on the run?”

Clover eases out of the outskirts of my nest and stands. With the new information, I’m eager to follow suit.

“As far as I know, there’s a restraining order in effect for the two members of her old pack. The pup is theirs, and her brother was adamant that Sadie wants neither of the alphas anywhere near them during the birth.”

And this is exactly why Harbour of Hope is so important to me.

The OB/GYN clinic Clover and I opened last year is accepting of all omegas in and around Rayton, British Columbia, but with an emphasis on those who may need extra support and are fleeing dangerous situations. We contract security for situations where it’s required and offer support and medical help to those who have nowhere else to turn.

It’s a project I hold close to my heart and isn’t one I plan on giving up anytime soon.

“I’ll be there,” I swear.

Clover grins. “I figured you would be.”

“Do you want to stay for dinner? We could order something.”

“How about you come to my place so I can make you a real meal. You look like you could use it, and I’m betting your fridge is empty.”

“I’m not sure if I should be offended or not,” I say, tucking my chin to stare down at my outfit.

Yeah . . . it’s a bit rough. Maybe I do stink.

Reading my mind, Clover gives me a gentle nudge toward my open bedroom door. “Go shower. I’ll be here when you’re done.”

My legs are weak when I wobble my way out of the room. I offer my best friend an appreciative smile before ducking through the doorway.

“Thank you, Clover.”

She waves me off, mouth tipped at the corner. “Thank me by returning to the land of the living.”

“Done deal.”

Starting tonight, I’m going to go back to how my life was before I ran into that alpha. It should be easy enough.

Right?

7

RONAN

The minuteI step out of the car, I’m locking the doors. Twice.

The neighbourhood my mother continues to live in has never been safe. It’s a cesspool of crime and danger that, if I had it my way, wouldn’t exist at all anymore.

Having a stubborn-as-a-mule beta for a mother makes things far too complicated than they need to be. Too similar to an alpha, she’s hard-headed and protective. There are few things that scare her because she considers herself a force to be reckoned with.

I’ve spent hours trying to convince her that playing hero isn’t all it’s shaped up to be. The world can be a cutthroat place, and we have to be hard enough around the edges to withstand each of the blows it swings at us. We can’t allow pride to put us in dangerous positions like the ones she inserts herself into every day that she continues to live in this rundown building. It’s where she raised me and now my younger sister and can’t seem to leave behind.

After searching the area for anything out of the ordinary, I walk into the entrance of the building and use the panel on the wall to buzz up to Mom’s apartment.

It’s impossible not to notice every single crack in the windows and lifted corner of cheap linoleum on the floor as I wait for her to answer. Everywhere I look, I find something else that makes my skin crawl with unease. The place is beyond saving. If I thought it would work and that I wouldn’t risk ruining my relationship with my mother, I’d petition for it to be bulldozed.

“Ronan?” my little sister says into the intercom.

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