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out and take Gage with you. I can smell him stinking up my office. I will handle this."
    This time, Calder shoved her behind him and as hard as she tried to struggle to see around him, he blocked her. "Where ever she goes, I go."
    This must be part of the protection that Calder had been talking about. But why would he need to protect her from his leader? Didn't he trust this Bhric?
    Now she didn't know what to think. There were so many rumors surrounding the neural zone leader. He was mean. Cold blooded. A killer. He helped people and then punished them. The stories went on and on. But as scary as he was, her gut told her something different. If for no other reason than Calder belonged to his crew.
    There was good inside Calder. She'd seen it in the way he interacted with the women. First Sienna at the bakery and then the two female shifters here at the bar. He apparently had an endless protective streak.
    So it made no sense that he would stay here if his boss was evil incarnate. Although he certainly had that look down pat. With his dark hair, dark eyes and slash of red lips compressed in a deeply lined frown, she got the impression there wasn't a lot of happiness in his life. Or if there was, he didn't know how to show it.
    "Not this time, Calder. You're going to have to wait downstairs. She'll be safe."
    "I don't think you understand," Calder growled, the fierceness of a bear coming through loud and clear.
    "Really? You think I couldn't see it the minute I saw you two?"
    "Then you know I have to stay. I'll go insane waiting downstairs."
    Jessa looked back and forth between the two men. She didn't understand what the hell they were referring to. But she didn't like seeing Calder in such distress and had to do something.
    She reached up and cupped his cheek. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
    His fierce expression softened and he nuzzled her palm. "I'm staying."
    "No, you're not." Bhric's words came out cold and flat. She didn't need to be a shifter to know that there was something extra in those words. An Alpha exerting his control.
    She again felt the need to diffuse the situation and comfort Calder. She stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I do trust you. I'm not sure why, but I do. Now you need to put that same faith in me. I can take care of myself."
    A rumble sounded from his chest, making her press her other hand over the source. A tingle shot through her at the contact, something warm and exciting.
    She'd spent enough time with shifters to get an idea of what this might be. Was it possible? Did Calder think her his mate?
    No. It couldn't be. She'd failed one pack. And she wasn't about to do it again. Lust. That's all it was. It had been a long time since she'd had sex. Let alone a boyfriend. This kind of attraction may feel exquisite, but she couldn't let it go to her head.
    Shifters wanted mates so they could have little shifter babies. Something she could never do.
    She dropped her hands and pushed all of those emotions out of her head. "I came here to talk to Bhric and that's what I'm going to do. Please don't mess that up for me."
    It was difficult to read Calder's reaction when she wasn't touching him. He kept his face blank as he stared at her before finally turning to Bhric.
    "Just this once," he said.
    Fortunately, Bhric nodded and Calder walked away from her. By instinct she knew he wouldn't go far, but that didn't stop her from feeling that twinge of sadness that she had to push him away like that.
    "Gage, you too," Bhric said, his voice bellowing down the hall and probably into every crevice of the building.
    A second later, another gorgeous man specimen emerged from a partially open door. Would she ever get used to the fact the men around here were ridiculously good looking? Despite the scary, or maybe because of it, they'd been blessed with all the best physical features known to man and whoever created them.
    Jessa sucked in her lips to keep from smiling. She had a feeling the imposing Bhric would not