"I'll be damned," Audrey spoke to her wolf with a frown as she shifted the chair toward the new table, she had brought into the Alpha's office.
She placed it a good distance away from Alpa Lake's table. She needed to stay away from him the best she could; especially, after what transpired between them at the lake earlier that morning.
Audrey was currently at war with her wolf. She was angry and disappointed at Avery for allowing them to get swayed by that monstrous Alpha.
"You knew all he's done to us, yet, you almost gave us away like all those sufferings did not matter." Audrey continued but Avery just kept mute, brewing in her bubble of anger and worry in Audrey's head.
She knew all Audrey said was true, but who could blame her? She was just a wolf who recognized her mate and wanted to bond with him, and if possible...mate.
She did not want to go by Audrey's feelings, she had her strong beliefs that would overshadow Audrey's willpower with time.
"Answer me, you crazy wolf," Audrey murmured, not wanting her voice to be heard outside the office.
'He's our mate.' Avery defended.
Audrey was exasperated.
What was so hard for Avery to understand? Was she so horny that she could easily forget the past?
"He hates us, we hate him. That's how it has always been Avery, and how it would remain." Audrey said, determined.
'Well... I don't hate him.' Avery retorted.
"You..."
'Just listen.' Avery cut Audrey off.
'You forget I am the wolf of the moon goddess, She created the mate bond because of me, even when I tried, I can't help but want him. I'm sorry, I really can not help you this time, Audrey. I can't go against my own rules and nature.'
"Oh watch me help myself, oh wolf of the moon goddess! By the time I reject him, it'll be the greatest help of all time, wouldn't it?" Audrey threatened.
'You dare not.' Avery challenged.
"Oh, watch me," Audrey replied, smiling evilly.
'Are you threatening...'
"Shh!" Audrey shut out Avery as the strong Pinewood scent wafted through the closed door to her nose.
He was coming.
She quickly logged into the computer on top of the table and pretended to be busy.
The moment Alpha Lake entered the office, he paused. He did not smell it, but he felt it.
He felt the lingering presence of his mate; his wolf mate. He stood in front of the door and watched as Audrey kept her eyes locked on the screen, not looking up to acknowledge her boss.
He knew she was purposely avoiding him and it irritated him.
Now, she would feel so full of herself after rejecting him back at the Lake.
Flashback...
"A lot of things, Little Kitten." He whispered into her ears, sending shivers down her body.
"What?" Audrey's voice trembled.
She tried to look away from his eyes but he held her chin.
"I hate you. You know?" Alpha Lake whispered close to her face, his voice was laced with hatred and managed to drip sex appeal at the same time.
"I hate you, too," Audrey replied. She made to step back from him but he hooked an arm around her waist and dragged her plush to himself.
"Uh!" It was meant to be a painful grunt from the impact of her face landing on his hard chest, but it was more like a purr, Audrey was not expecting the sudden skinship and she felt Avery go ballistic. This situation was not favorable for her.
How did she end up in the Alpha's arms?
"I hate you, but, unfortunately...I want you." Alpha Lake sneaked his hand behind her back and cupped one of her cheeks.
He felt her hot breath against his chest, making his dick grow harder beneath the waters, he squeezed her cheek and blew hot air on her earlobe before biting it gently.
"Mm!" A soft moan escaped Audrey's lips.
"I can grant those dark desires of yours, little kitten. I know you want me." He whispered.
"S-stop, i-i don't w-want you." Audrey's voice trembled. Her nerves were on fire and her brain was not quite functional anymore.
"Liar." He said with conviction.
"Your body says otherwise." He whispered.
He slid his fingers between her thigh, but before he could reach her core, he felt a strong wave of water tear them apart, causing Audrey to fall into the water.
He searched the suddenly calm surface of the water but there was no sign of Audrey, panic overtook him and he immediately dived underneath the water but he still could not find her.
He resurfaced and wiped the water away from his face, he was about to call out her name when he suddenly saw a fully clothed Audrey standing beside the lake.
"I'd rather willingly offer myself to a dead chimpanzee than have anything to do with you." Audrey's voice was cold as ice, she picked up her shoes and walked into the forest, leaving the egotistic Alpha standing naked and alone in the middle of the lake.
End Of Flashback...
Alpha Lake closed the door and walked in slow strides to Audrey's table. For the first time, he saw the half-moon tattoo on the side of her neck, he had never seen it on her before, probably because she never tied her in a bun as she did today, and he had been carried away at the lake to care about a tattoo, a sexy tattoo.
He imagined what it would feel like to use his tongue on that marked area, just where his mark should...
"Good morning, Mr. Aloha." Audrey greeted formally without removing her eyes from the screen.
She did not want to do anything that would prolong a dialogue with him. They had a contract and she was going to follow it up to the last damn rule.
Alpha Lake cleared his throat and forced his sight away from her neck.
"Send an email to Aloha's Wine. Tell them we'll be having a meeting by noon." He informed her and simply went over to his table.
He was going to ignore her too, he was not going to give her the satisfaction of seeing how hurt his ego was from her actions earlier at the lake.
'A dead Chimpanzee right? We'll see.'
He was the strongest and richest Alpha and every woman would fall at his feet, yet, this little human destroyed his long-built ego in a matter of seconds, he had never known this feeling of rejection...rejection? Did she just reject him indirectly?
Even as a human, he knew she had the power to reject him, she was his mate after all, but she was quite unaware of the reasons why she felt drawn to him, so she could not quite reject him without the knowledge of the mate bond, she had to acknowledge it first before she could do it.
Regardless, he felt strange hearing her deny him blatantly, he wondered if the feeling was close to being rejected.
Alpha Lake's head instinctively turned Audrey's way when he heard her chair move. He watched as she took a file and went over to the shelf to place it and get another one.
The pepper-red handless palazo jumpsuit she wore hugged her figure too snugly like a second skin leaving every curve and corner for his eyes to feast. She looked daring and sexy with her red heels.
Alpha Lake quickly removed his eyes when he saw her return to her seat. She had a killer body, he was sure all the unmated males in his pack would be vying to get her beneath them. But he would be damned to let any of them touch her before he does, she was his!
Ding!
Audrey opened the email she just received, but the content of the email was not something she expected or understood.
It read: "You have until midnight. You can choose to comply, or you will have to stick to the contract if I don't get a response before midnight."
Audrey looked from the screen to the Alpha. He was busy typing like he had not just sent something irrelevant and unprocessable to her.
She did not know what to make of the email but she had an inkling that it was something work-unrelated so she ignored him and continued working.
"Sir, it's almost time for your..."
"Let's go." He did not let her finish her statement, he wanted to see how far she could go with her professional act, she was pretending not to have seen his message, well, till midnight.
Audrey clenched her fists as walked behind the Alpha, it was as if he was purposely walking slowly down the narrow stairs, silently provoking her to lose her cool with him, but she did not, she had made up her mind never to put herself in a situation that would lead them to stand face to face to each other for any reason except work.
She endured it till they walked out of the pack house where a black-tinted car was parked waiting for them.
"Alpha, the car's ready." A tall young man in a black suit opened the back door for Alpha Lake.
Alpha Lake paused, he turned his head toward Audrey but she was quietly standing behind him, he was glad she did not hear what his driver had just called him, he was glad she was just a human with clumsy hearing, she couldn't have heard it, right?
"Get in." He told her and went over to the other side and let himself in.
Audrey reluctantly got into the car, she had planned to sit in front, away from him, but he ended up getting them seated together. She was faster than the young man in closing the door.
He just stood there, looking perplexed.
Audrey rolled her eyes at him as he stood dumbstruck. She did not need his services now that she was no longer the Push-about Audrey. She knew him quite well, and she knew he knew her too. It was clear in his eyes that he recognized her, the real her.
He had never spared a glance her way in the past anytime she was being punished by the Alpha, so he should not start now, she could close her door quite okay.
"Henry?" Alpha Lake called his driver who seemed to be lost in thought.
"Yes Alpha, I'm sorry." He quickly apologized and got into the car.
'Here we go again.' Alpha Lake frowned at his driver, he never knew he had such a daft driver.
Was he so dense not to see that the person with him was human? He knew they kept their existence a secret to humans, yet here he was, announcing his title to the first human he saw.
He would have used a mind-link to reprimand him but Audrey would see their eyes glazing over and would suspect something wasn't right.
The ride was quiet, only the soft sound of fabric on the cool black leather seat was heard from time to time due to motion.
Audrey had never been to any of Alpha Lake's companies, but she only knew about the wine company because she had worked in his grapevine and she knew about the car company because Sandra had told her about it.
Other ones she was not interested in, and she hoped he would not put her through the stress of visiting them with him just like he was doing now, she hoped to have lesser things to do with him so that she could finally focus on why she came back to the Grey Blood pack.
"We have arrived, Alpha." Henry bowed his head as he opened the door for Alpha Lake, and then he quickly ran over to open the door for Audrey but, again...she beat him to it. She was already pushing the door closed when he reached her side.
"Follow me." Alpha Lake told Audrey as he walked past her into the tall building.
He did not spare Henry a glance because he feared he might end up strangling him out of frustration. If Audrey did not hear Henry the first and second time, she heard it this time.
'How dumb.'
Audrey silently followed. She saw how uncomfortable he was because of how Henry called him 'Alpha' in front of her, but he did not have to worry, she did not have the liberty of time to act surprised or question why he was called 'Alpha.'
Henry stood beside the car staring at Audrey in disbelief. He was surprised at a lot of things, he thought he heard a rumor about Audrey's death, and now, here she was alive and healthy, and... In the Alpha's company. There must be a lot of chapters he must have missed concerning them.
"Welcome, Alpha!" A young woman's voice got Audrey's attention as they passed the reception area.
Without looking, she would recognize that overly loud shriek of a voice anywhere. But, she did not spare a glance at the owner of the voice, and just like the Alpha, she also ignored the young woman's greeting and kept walking past her.
"A-Audrey? You bitch! How did you come back here? Alpha, this bitch is not allowed in here! How could you let her back? After all she's done to us!" The young woman ran out of the reception counter and lunged toward Audrey.
Before Audrey could dodge, she saw a hand hold her attacker by the shoulder, stopping her from reaching her.
"You will know your place, Cara." Alpha Lake warned dangerously.
He knew Cara hated Audrey, and from what Sylvia and Angela said the other day, it was obvious she had a crush on him.
But, this was not Audrey, this was Catherine; his secretary, and his mate. He will not stand and watch anyone insult or hurt her, and certainly not someone as useless as Cara.
"I'm sorry Alpha, but..."
"Do you want to keep your job here?" He released Cara's shoulder and held Audrey's hand in his.
Audrey immediately put up her invisible defense walls, this was what she had been avoiding since morning, the tingles flowed like a slow trickling stream from her hand to her whole body.
Her powers were always useless in situations like this, they could never shield her from those stupid tingles; She never knew how to stop them from spreading, and now, she did not know what came over her, she wanted to let Cara know who the Alpha belonged to.
"Y-yes, I do," Cara answered lowering her eyes to the ground, feeling embarrassed.
"Then you will show your best respect and attitude to my secretary, are we clear?" Alpha Lake asked, glowering at her.
He froze when he felt Audrey intertwine their fingers together, and he felt as she stepped into his side, leaning her body against his.
"Yes, Alpha," Cara answered, gritting her teeth when she saw how Audrey was shamelessly pressing herself to the Alpha.
"Hi, don't worry, I'm not offended. I've been mistaken by a lot of people for this same...Audrey." Audrey smiled sweetly at Cara.
"I'm Catherine, your Alpha's secretary. You will see me...a lot. Have a nice day, Cara." She hooked her arm on Alpha Lake's arm and looked up at him sweetly.
"Shall we go?" She asked adorably.
He nodded hypnotically, and they started walking away to the elevator.
Alpha Lake was surprised at Audrey's sudden change in behavior. He smirked as they entered the elevator.
He knew the mate bond was responsible for her jealousy but she was not aware of how or what she felt yet. He looked at their joined hands and smiled, something told him she would cave in tonight.
As the elevator closed, the show was over for Audrey; she was about to withdraw her arm away from Alpha Lake's, but he suddenly pulled her into him and circled his hands around her waist.
"Shy now, no?" He asked.