Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Instead of taking the elevator, Adrian ran up the stairs to the sixteenth floor, hoping the exercise would calm his wolf, but he was still frowning when he reached Derek’s penthouse.
The penthouse occupied one corner of the roof, surrounded by formal terraces.
The rest of the roof was given over to a huge enclosed garden where Derek’s wolf could roam freely.
“Outside,” Derek said quietly when he met Adrian at the door. “Julie’s still sleeping.”
His brother’s voice was soft, protective of his pregnant mate, and he nodded, following Derek out onto the pool terrace. In the distance, the range of mountains that bifurcated the island were outlined against the morning sky. The mountains where he belonged, not this noisy, crowded city.
There was a carafe of coffee on the table where Derek had clearly been working—a table right outside the bedroom where he could keep an eye on his mate. He would have done the same if Harper were carrying his pup…
Fuck. What the hell was he thinking? He’d only just met the woman.
“Harper Bailey,” he said, and the words came out as a growl.
Derek raised an eyebrow, then grabbed the coffee and an extra mug and led the way over to the far side of the terrace. His brother poured him a cup and handed it to him, studying his face. “You ran into her.” It wasn’t a question.
“What makes you think that?”
“I can smell her on you. Why is that?” The question was reasonable enough but there was a protective note in Derek’s voice that made Adrian’s wolf bristle.
He knew his brother was completely devoted to his mate and that his protectiveness was for his employee rather than for personal reasons, but he still didn’t like it.
Derek’s wolf was also an alpha. He would almost certainly have been the Alpha of the Moonstone pack if he hadn’t left at eighteen, leaving a twelve year old Adrian behind with his father and his treacherous stepmother.
Their relationship had healed since Derek had returned but it could be difficult having two such dominant wolves in close proximity.
He forced himself to take a deep breath.
“Like you said, I ran into her. Or more accurately, she ran into me. Why the hell is she alone in the building at this hour?”
“This building is completely secure, in part due to her. She’s brilliant, absolutely brilliant. She rebuilt our entire threat detection system in two weeks. The previous team couldn’t manage it in six months.”
“That doesn’t mean she isn’t fragile,” he snapped, stalking to the railing that overlooked the city. “She needs to be protected.”
“Are you volunteering?” Derek asked mildly.
Yes, his wolf growled, every instinct he possessed confirming it. Ours to protect. Ours to cherish. Ours.
“She’s human,” he managed to grind out. “And she’s my brother’s employee. What the hell do you think?”
“I think I know exactly what that feels like.” His brother came to stand next to him, not challenging him but simply being there.
“That was different. You don’t have the same… responsibilities.” Or the same memories of what Vivienne, his stepmother, had done to his father and to his pack. “The Elders are still fighting our investment tooth and nail. They’d never accept a human ma—”
He couldn’t quite catch the word before it escaped.
“Mate?” Derek finished for him.
“No,” he growled, despite his wolf’s immediate protest. “I have no intention of taking a mate.”
“Ever? As you said, you have responsibilities.”
His brother was right. The Pack expected him to take a mate. The Elders were already pushing him to do so, but he’d shut down the discussion every time it came up. They wanted an alliance, a political match that would strengthen their position on the island.
Harper wouldn’t be a political match. She wasn’t even a wolf. He couldn’t think about how small she’d felt in his hands, how her scent had burrowed into his brain like a burr, how his wolf was still whining softly in the back of his mind, urging him to turn around, go back, find her—
“We should discuss the investment,” he said flatly, changing the subject.
A little to his surprise, Derek accepted it. “Yes. We should.”
Thanks to Derek, the Moonstone Pack had a ten percent stake in TalkToMe.
Shares. Dividends. A permanent income stream that would provide financial security for generations.
In exchange, the pack would participate in an internship program—sending their young wolves to work at the company, learn human business practices, and integrate with the broader Monster Island community.
On paper, it was a good deal. A great deal, even. The pack’s traditional industries—logging, hunting, the seasonal tourist trade—were declining. The young wolves were restless, chafing against traditions that no longer served them. Something had to change.
But knowing something needed to change and accepting that change were two very different things.
“The Elders aren’t happy,” he said.
“The Elders are never happy.” Derek took a sip of his coffee. “What specifically are they unhappy about this time?”
“The internship program. They’re calling it ‘corruption.’ Saying we’re ‘selling our young to the city.’ Elder Howard gave a two-hour speech about ‘evil pleasures’ and ‘the seduction of human technology.’ I had to physically stop Coleman from walking out.”
Derek frowned. “Howard’s still on the council? I thought he would have retired by now.”
“He thinks retirement is a human weakness.”
“Of course he does.”
Elder Howard was a problem, and had been a problem for years. The old wolf had been one of Vivienne’s staunchest supporters before her fall, and while he’d never been directly implicated in her schemes, Adrian had always suspected there was more to his loyalty than mere traditionalism.
Vivienne.
The name surfaced like a corpse from dark water, dragging memories with it.
The woman who had destroyed his father with her schemes and her betrayals.
And even then his father had made him promise to take care of her after his death.
She’d remained in the pack, spreading poison and creating divisions, until she’d finally gone too far and kidnapped Derek’s mate.
He’d exiled her, but the lessons of those years had carved themselves into his bones.
Never trust a beautiful woman. Never let them get too close. Never forget that beauty and intelligence can mask a poisonous heart.
“Are you going to back out?” Derek asked, pulling him back to the present.
“Of the deal? No. No matter how much they bitch, we need this.”
“Good. Then we need to start on some upgrades. The pack’s technology is prehistoric.
You’re still using dial-up in the main lodge, for God’s sake.
If we’re going to make this partnership work, you need proper connectivity.
Secure networks. Digital infrastructure that can support modern business operations. ”
He sighed. “I know. We’ve been meaning to upgrade for years.”
“Then we’ll take care of it.” Derek eyed him over the rim of his coffee cup. “I need Harper to do it.”
“Absolutely not.” The refusal was instantaneous, visceral. “I’m not bringing a human woman out to the pack lands. Especially not her.”
“Why not her?” Derek’s tone was dangerously mild.
“Because…” Because she’s tiny and fragile and smells like wildflowers and my wolf wants to roll in her scent until it’s all over us.
Because she has giant grey eyes behind those ridiculous glasses and a voice that makes me want to do things I haven’t wanted to do in years.
Because one encounter in a hallway and I’m already thinking about her in my bed.
“Because she’s not pack. She’s a city girl.
She wouldn’t last five minutes out there. ”
“She’s tougher than she looks,” Derek said calmly. “She grew up in the system. Bounced from foster home to foster home until she was old enough to fend for herself. She survived MIT. She can handle a few grumpy werewolves.”
He winced. Bounced from home to home. No family. No pack. The wildflower scent suddenly seemed less like a meadow after the rain and more like something fragile that had somehow managed to bloom in the cracks of a hard world.
“She’s the most qualified person I have for this job,” his brother added. “And frankly, she’s the only person I trust to set up your security systems properly.”
“Find someone else.”
“There is no one else.” Derek’s voice hardened. “Harper is good at her job, she keeps to herself, and she won’t cause problems. She’s not Vivienne, Adrian.”
The name hung in the air between them like smoke.
“You don’t know that,” Adrian said quietly.
“Actually, I do.” Derek leaned forward, his expression intent.
“She’s not going to seduce your pack into rebellion.
She’s going to hide in whatever room you give her, build you the most secure network on the island, and probably never make eye contact with anyone for the entire two months she’s there. ”
Two months.
Two months of that scent. Two months of big eyes and nervous rambling and pink hair catching the morning light. Two months of his wolf straining at its leash, wanting things he couldn’t afford to want.
“The Elders will fight it.”
“Let them fight. You’re the Alpha. Override them.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It is exactly that simple.” Derek turned to look out at the harbor below.
“The pack is dying, Adrian. Not dramatically, not quickly, but dying nonetheless. Your young wolves have no future in logging and hunting. Your traditions won’t pay their bills or give them purpose.
You need this deal, and you need it to work, which means you need Harper. ”
He closed his eyes. His wolf was pacing in circles now, confused by the conflicting signals—the draw of Harper’s scent warring with the deep-seated fear of beautiful women, the demands of his pack battling with the instinct that screamed mate, mate, MATE—
No. Not mate. Never that.
“Two months,” he said finally. “She stays two months, sets up your systems, and leaves. No socializing with pack members. No—” No touching, no scent-marking, no making my wolf lose his goddamn mind. “No unnecessary interaction. She does her job and goes.”
Derek turned back towards him, his smile returning. “Agreed. Though I think you’ll find Harper doesn’t want unnecessary interaction. She’s practically allergic to people.”
“Good.”
“I’ll send her up to Moonstone next week.”
“Fine.”
He started moving towards the doors, suddenly desperate to get out of this building, away from his brother’s knowing eyes and the faint traces of Harper’s scent that still clung to him.
He needed to run. Needed to shift and let his wolf chase deer through the mountains until this restless energy burned itself out.
“Adrian.”
He paused at the door.
“Give her a chance. That’s all I’m asking.” Derek’s voice was softer now, the businessman giving way to the brother Adrian remembered from childhood. “Not every clever woman is Vivienne. And not every attraction is a trap.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he snapped and left before his brother had a chance to respond, taking the elevator down to speed his exit.
He stood rigid in the center of the car, watching the floor numbers tick past, trying to breathe through his mouth to avoid her scent. It didn’t help. The memory of it was already imprinted, already wound through his neural pathways like ivy through old stone.
His wolf was nearly purring now, the bastard. Contentedly reliving the moment when Harper had pressed her hands to his chest, when her pulse had jumped under his fingers, when she’d looked up at him with those enormous eyes and her lips had parted slightly, unconsciously—
The elevator doors opened and he stalked out. The orc at the security desk looked up, clearly aware of the barely contained aggression rolling off him in waves.
“Sir? Is everything—”
“Fine,” he growled, not slowing.
He pushed through the front doors and into the cool morning air. The harbor stretched below him, boats bobbing gently, seagulls crying overhead. Normal. Peaceful. Monster Island going about its day, oblivious to the storm building in his chest.
Two months, he reminded himself. She’ll be in pack territory for two months. Working. Keeping to herself. Nowhere near me.
He could handle two months. He’d handled eight years of leading the pack, of fighting off challengers and navigating council politics. He’d handled loneliness and responsibility and the constant, grinding weight of being Alpha.
He could handle one small human with pink hair and too-big glasses and a scent that made his wolf want to howl.
Couldn’t he?