Hazel looked at the older brother of the Ashdown family, Jaxon Ashdown. He looked more handsome and hotter than how those business magazines pictured him.
Well, she was a girl, it was normal to have these kinds of thoughts in the presence of the Ashdown siblings. To have Archer here alone was already a shock for Hazel, let alone having his older brother.
However, her fascination toward Jaxon was interrupted when Archer cleared his throat. "Uhm… Pardon me, you can kill my brother with what you are thinking right now," Archer said carefully.
At first, Hazel didn't know what he was talking about, but when she felt the temperature of the room drop as a chill ran down her spine, she turned around to see Micah's ashen expression.
This stranger pinned her with an intense glare and for a moment, she thought his eyes flickered from dark blue to black, or maybe that was only her imagination.
"We will leave now," Micah said in a cold voice, as he walked ahead of them, but then he added through mind- link, which could only be heard by the royal beta and gamma that Jaxon had a lot of things that should be done by the end of the day.
Which meant, he needed to be stuck in the company for the rest of the day, as if those matters were urgent issues that couldn't be done any other time.
It was a rare occasion for Micah to care about the company and all of them knew the reason behind this 'punishment'.
Knowing how his alpha was, Jaxon said nothing and left silently, without complaining, since there was no point in making a scene out of this.
"Your name is Hazel, right?" Archer asked Hazel to make the situation less awkward after Micah and Jaxon left, while Hazel kept staring at his brother's back in awe.
Archer was afraid that he would be an only child in the future if this girl kept ignoring the direness of the situation that she had put them in.
"Yes." Hazel finally shifted her attention from Jaxon and looked at Archer. "Are you really Archer Ashdown?" she asked carefully.
There was still fascination in her eyes when she looked at Archer, but less than what Jaxon received. It hurt Archer's pride, but in this case, he really didn't want this girl to find him attractive at all.
Well, no one wanted to mess around with the alpha's mate, especially when she didn't seem to be aware that they could read her mind like an open book.
"Yes, I am. Nice to meet you, Ms. Webster." Archer wanted to keep this formal, but Hazel frowned when he called her by her family name.
"You can call me Hazel," she said.
"I don't want to disrespect you…"
"You are already disrespecting me by trespassing into my house with your strange friend." Yes, Hazel was fascinated by the Ashdown siblings, but she still didn't forget the fact that they entered her house without her permission, especially the first man.
Hazel was tempted to ask whether Archer knew that his friend was able to shift into an animal or not, but even in her mind, it sounded so weird.
"Yes, I know," Archer replied without thinking twice. "Actually, me and my brother and a few people are from the same kind."
"What?!" Hazel was frustrated. She didn't know which one shocked her the most, the fact that Archer could read her mind or the fact it was not only the stranger that could shift into an animal, or the fact that the Ashdown family were actually non-human beings.
======================
Hazel massaged her temple when she was in the car that was driven by Archer Ashdown.
No one would believe this. Not even herself would believe this. She was sitting in the back seat, while Archer Ashdown was driving her to her family house.
How could someone like Archer Ashdown drive the car for her? With whatever reason, it was only justified if she was the one who drove the car for him. Their social statuses were far too different.
Even the most successful person in her family was barely in his social circle.
Based on what Hazel heard from Stefan and her father, it was already a pain in the arse whenever they tried to submit a proposal to engage in business with the Ashdown family.
"Do you want me to look at your family's proposal?" Archer asked her, as he glanced at the girl through the rearview mirror. He knew why he was the one who drove this car, because the alpha wanted to emphasize his position.
In their realm, there couldn't be a soul that didn't know Micah Donovan, but in the human world, people only know the Ashdown family name. Literally, everyone knew the prestigious Ashdown siblings and their company.
"Stop reading my mind!" Hazel shrieked. She pressed her back against the backseat, as she glared at Archer through the rearview mirror. "Who are you exactly?"
"I told you we are shifters."
"You can turn into a dog, too?"
"Wolf, not dog, wolf." Archer felt his frustration go through the roof.
"So, what do you do aside from shifting into animals? Is all the money you make from using some magic in it?"
"Of course not, I am a businessman. That money is real." Archer felt odd when he had to have this argumentation.
On the other hand, Micah kept silent during this trip, since he had a lot of things to think about. He had to figure out the first step that he had to take to prevent whatever thing that would happen in the future.
However, it only took a single glance at him for Hazel to start having more judgmental thoughts and questions about Micah inside her mind. She still didn't know what his name was and who he really was to be able to order around the Ashdown siblings.
"He is…" Archer started, but Micah and Hazel spoke at the same time.
"Stop reading her mind."
"Stop reading my mind!"