Chapter 3 #2
She sounds absolutely furious beneath the corporate jargon. I can hear the hurt underneath it, buried deep but not deep enough. I put it there. And I’m putting more there now.
Good. If she’s angry, she’ll keep her distance. Anger is safer than the alternative.
“You were just promoted yesterday,” I point out, hating every word even as I say them. “This merger represents billions in combined assets and affects thousands of pack members across both territories. Perhaps someone with longer tenure would be more appropriate—”
“Are you questioning Alpha Darius’s judgment?
” Her eyes are blazing now, and despite everything, despite the disaster this is, part of me responds to that fire.
“Because he chose me specifically for this role. He trusts me to handle it. Do you have an actual concern about my qualifications, or is this just age discrimination?”
“I’m questioning whether someone with two minutes of experience as chief strategic advisor is the right choice for—”
“You don’t even know me.” She leans toward me slightly, and the movement brings her scent more strongly. My wolf nearly breaks free. “You’ve never seen my work. You have no basis for doubting my abilities except, apparently, my age and the fact that I was recently promoted.”
She’s right. She’s absolutely right. And I have no defense that doesn’t involve explaining things I can’t explain.
“I think someone else should be assigned to lead the assessment team,” I say flatly. “Someone with more experience in merger operations.”
Before either of them can respond, I get up and head for the door.
Disbelief colors Darius’s voice when he says, “Lucas, we—”
“I have calls to make,” I interrupt him. “We can discuss staffing later, after we’ve both had time to consider the options.”
I’m out the door before he can stop me, striding down the hallway toward the elevators. My heart is pounding, my wolf snarling with fury at me for walking away from our mate again, for hurting her, for being a coward.
It’s all true. I know it is.
I press the elevator call button and wait, forcing myself to breathe normally. Count to ten. Get control.
I hear footsteps approaching and recognize the sound instantly.
Fuck.
“Running away again?” Her voice is sharp enough to slice even the toughest hide.
I don’t turn around. “I’m not running away,” I say to the elevator doors. “I’m leaving. There’s a difference.”
“Not when you’re doing it to avoid a conversation.”
The elevator dings, and the doors open. I step inside and turn to face her, keeping my expression neutral even though everything in me is screaming to reach for her.
She remains standing in the hallway, hands clenched at her sides, eyes intense with anger and something else. Something that looks like betrayal.
“Why do you keep doing this?” she demands, and I can hear the frustration bleeding through the professional facade now. The pain I caused. “Last night you shoved me away like I disgusted you, and just now, you tried to have me removed from my first project. What the hell is your problem?”
She is fuming. She is also justified.
“You know we’re fated mates,” she continues, her voice dropping lower but somehow cutting deeper. “Don’t even try to deny it. I felt it. You felt it. So, why are you ignoring me? Why are you treating me like I’m—”
“Be professional,” I interrupt her, making my voice sound cold. Hard. “This is a workplace. Act like it.”
Her mouth snaps shut. The hurt that flashes across her face makes my heart sting.
“Stay away from me,” I add. Because I need her to.
Because if she keeps being in my presence, keeps demanding answers, keeps looking at me like that, I’m going to break.
I’m going to claim her, and she’s going to die because of it.
“Whatever you think you felt, whatever you think is there, leave it alone.”
I hit the close button, and the doors start to shut in her face—in her shocked, livid, upset face. She takes a step forward, like she might actually try to stop them, might force her way in and demand answers I can’t give.
The second she’s out of sight, I lean against the elevator wall and close my eyes, my nails digging into my palms again.
My wolf is in agony. Howling. Clawing. Demanding I go back, claim her, mark her, make her ours the way she’s supposed to be.
The elevator reaches the ground floor. I walk out to my car on autopilot, get in, close the door. I sit there in the silence, hands gripping the steering wheel so hard, my knuckles turn white.
I wanted to touch her. When she was standing there by the elevator, demanding answers and looking at me with those eyes, I wanted to go to her.
Pull her into my arms. Bury my face in her hair.
Breathe her in until her scent replaced every thought in my head.
Wanted to kiss her the way I should have last night instead of shoving her away.
To let my hands roam over that perfect curve of her ass…
I wanted things I can’t have.
My wolf snarls, pushing against my control, demanding to know why we’re denying our mate.
I ignore him and start the car. I pull out of the parking lot and get away from her.
My phone rings a few minutes after I hit the road. It’s Darius. I stare at his name for a moment, then answer. I owe him that much.
“Hello.”
“Hey.” Darius’s voice is careful, almost tentative. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
I pull over on the side of the road before replying. “Yes.”
“I wanted to check in about what happened in my office.” He pauses. “Did Sienna do something to upset you? Say something inappropriate? I know you two just met, but if there was an interaction I’m not aware of—”
I stop him. “No. She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Okay.” Relief in his tone. “Good. I was worried there might have been some incident at the welcome party that I missed.”
Guilt twists my gut. He’s being so careful, so diplomatic. Making sure his employee didn’t offend a visiting alpha.
“There was no incident,” I assure him. “This is entirely on my end.”
“Can I ask what the concern is?” He sounds confused. “I’m not trying to question your judgment, Lucas. I just want to understand.”
I quietly bang my forehead against the steering wheel a couple of times. “I’m just worried about how well she can do the job.”
Silence for a moment.
“I see,” Darius says slowly. “Here’s my problem, then. Sienna has been working on this merger framework since we first discussed the alliance. She knows every detail, every projection, every contingency plan. She’s been building this from day one.”
I close my eyes and lean back against the seat. I know where this is going.
“If I reassign her now,” Darius continues, “whoever takes over would need to start from scratch. Even with her notes, even with her files, they’d need weeks just to get up to speed on what she has already done. We’re looking at significant delays. Possibly months.”
The merger timeline plays out in my head. What he’s talking about would push everything back. Assessment phase, planning phase, implementation. It could derail the entire project.
“I didn’t realize she was that involved already,” I admit quietly.
“She’s been the point person for this merger since the beginning,” Darius says. “She was already working on it before her predecessor retired. She earned that promotion, Lucas. Not just in general, but specifically because of this project.”
The guilt gets worse.
“I’m asking you as a partner in this alliance,” Darius continues carefully.
“Could you give her a chance? One meeting. Let her present the merger framework she’s built.
See how she works. After that, if you still have concerns, we’ll figure something out.
But at least give her the opportunity to show you what she can do. ”
It’s a reasonable request. More than reasonable, considering I just tried to have his chief strategic advisor removed for no cause. My head drops in defeat. I can’t think of any valid justification to refuse.
“Alright,” I agree.
“Thank you.” The relief in Darius’s voice is clear. “I appreciate you being flexible on this.”
I feel like an asshole. “I apologize for springing it on you,” I tell him, meaning every word.
“We’ll figure it out,” Darius says. “See you tomorrow.”
The call ends, and I throw my phone onto the passenger seat.
Just my fucking luck.
I didn’t have a good excuse. I said the first thing that came into my head in a lame attempt to discredit her. I just needed to get as far away from her as possible. Before I did something I’d regret.
I start the car again, and the city blurs past my windows as I drive. My wolf howls inside me.
I can’t afford to be with Sienna. Not if I want to keep her alive.