Ariel told him all she could manage to tell him before the guilt began to tug at her heart.

It wasn’t like she had a choice; she had been staying here for two days now, and this was some sort of compensation for housing and feeding her.

But she suddenly erupted into a violent fit of coughing, her body convulsing as she hacked up phlegm from the depths of her throat, and the alpha's eyes widened in alarm, his germaphobia triggered, and he shifted uncomfortably.

“Excuse me.” Ariel croaked out, and she ran in the direction of the bathroom, making a show of puking her guts out.

“Are you alright?”...