Chapter 2 - Miles
I yawned and stretched out. Ayden smacked me from behind, and everyone busted out laughing. I scowled as I rubbed my head, looking at my alpha. "What was that for?"
Ayden narrowed his eyes. "You're yawning. When out of all of us, you slept the most."
"That doesn't mean I'm not tired," I said. "Maybe I was kept up."
Owen snorted. "I doubt that."
"Maybe I was up all night banging a woman."
"Were you?" Weslie asked, raising an eyebrow as he flipped through the newspaper.
I didn't feel like answering that. To be honest, I slept like shit last night. I tossed and turned, feeling something was off, but I didn't know what it was. It was bothering me because I still had that feeling.
"You're just jealous I can get some," I said, smirking at Weslie. "How long has it been since you've last been laid."
"We aren't talking about that this morning," Ayden said, grabbing a pan from under the island. "I'm not listening to you guys go on and on about who's been laid the most. I hired all of you for specific reasons, and they weren't, so I could feel like I worked around a bunch of teenagers."
"No, you hired us to make you feel young," I quickly added, smirking.
Owen snorted.
The thing was, I was a couple of years older than Ayden and Owen, but you wouldn't think it. I think their stressful positions put a couple of years on them, but of course, I was going to keep that remark to myself this morning.
Ayden rolled his eyes. "Owen is cooking, and I'll be in my office if anyone needs me."
Everyone nodded when Ayden turned me. "I would like to speak to you in my office."
All the guys made a noise, and I scowled. "Is this for calling you old?"
Ayden didn't say anything; he just marched toward his office. I pulled myself up, following after him. I shut the door as we got inside and sat in a chair.
Ayden sighed as he sat down in his chair. "So, we have someone new starting today."
My eyebrows went up. "I didn't know we were even hiring."
Ayden shrugged. "We need an extra hand around the fire station. It's come to my attention that we don't have enough fundraisers, and we sure need the funds.”
I raised an eyebrow. "Who said that?"
"My wife," he said, leaning back. "And she has a point. The last bake sale we had wasn't great."
I snorted, thinking back to that. It was a dumb idea to begin with. Why he thought any of us could bake was beyond me.
"Did Wendy also come up with that?" I asked, a smirk plastered on my face. "Would explain why your baked goods sold and none of ours did."
He blushed before answering my question.
"Anyway, I hired a gal to help out. She will be the coordinator and administrator. So, when we aren't here, someone can still answer the phones and take care of things."
I understood his point. We had been lacking over the past couple of months since he and Owen spent more time at home.
"Why are you telling me?" I asked. "Not that I can't do whatever it is you're going to ask, but you and Owen are both here today. Shouldn't one of you be showing her around?"
"We are leaving for a meeting," he said, his face shifting. I felt the hairs on my neck rise.
"Is this about Logan?" I asked, knowing it was. He'd been becoming a problem a long time ago, but after his latest decision to kidnap Ashley, the guys had been on edge.
"We are having a meeting with a few other alphas, asking if they have been experiencing anything as well. He's pretty much cut all ties with us, so things are becoming tense around here."
Everyone knew this. He never showed up at the last meeting where he and Ayden were supposed to talk. Ayden was pissed.
"When do you leave?"
"In an hour," he said. "She should arrive around noon, so show her around and give her whatever she needs. We told her we would give her the room down the hall so she could turn it into an office. I haven't gotten to cleaning it out, so if you could just move a few things, that would be great. And since you've been the one doing extra work around her, I figured you could help guide her better than the others."
"Anything else I need to know?"
He shook his head. "I don't think so. Just behave. I would like her to stay a while. She was the best candidate we had, and I wanted it to work. She has an impressive resume, and I have several letters of recommendation for her."
"I can behave," I said with a snort.
Ayden raised an eyebrow. "I'm just saying. She comes from a different state and a different culture. She's also human, so I don't know if she's ever really been around shifters. Let's get her comfortable before you start cracking jokes."
"Fine," I said. "Anything else, boss?"
"Yeah, I'm leaving you in charge, so make sure everything goes smoothly today."
"Understood."
An hour later, Ayden and Owen left for their meeting. I went down to start on some chores and make sure things looked good.
I watched as a little white car pulled into the parking lot. I raised an eyebrow, taking in the plates, and saw they weren't from around here.
"Must be the new girl," I said, turning the hose off.
The car door opened, and a woman stepped out of the car. She was wearing jeans and a white blouse. She had on some tan boots, and her hair fell freely. It was a nice, deep red, and a shiver went down my spine. I hadn't seen hair that red since college.
The door shut as she turned, and my eyes widened. It was Laura.
"Oh, shit."
She started walking towards the building, her eyes looking around as she moved. I stood stiff, feeling my heart skip a beat and that sudden snap of recognition clicking in as my wolf realized who she was.
This had to be a sick joke, right? She couldn't seriously be the person starting work here, right?
She smiled, and then her eyes snapped towards me. She stood a few feet away now, and her eyes widened. "Miles?"
I felt like I was back in college, watching her dance at a party. She was wearing a yellow dress with her red hair down. I was sitting on a bean bag, my eyes unable to leave hers. I felt that pull, the tug to be near her.
I loved her, and I'd loved her since I first met her months before we started dating. I remember she had looked over her shoulder at me, wiggling a finger and calling me to her. I swung out of the bean bag and pulled her into my arms, swaying to the music.
She was my mate, and I would give her anything she wanted. And that night was the first night we had slept together. Slightly intoxicated but hot and heavy. It was the first of many that we shared before I ended everything.
"This is not going to work," she said, shaking her head, looking defeated.
"You don't know that," I said.
She nervously laughed, shaking her head as she took a step back. "Nope, I'm pretty sure I do. We've tried this before unless you forgot."
I didn't.
I had broken up with her a few days before summer. It was my senior year, and I was moving back home, and it was her junior year.
My folks would never allow me to be with a human, and when I tried expressing she was my mate, they explained I was mistaken and that their son would never be allowed to love a human. And because I wanted to be accepted by my folks so badly, I believed them.
She looked good. She still had that soft skin and the complexion that came with caring for her body. However, her eyes didn't look at me lovingly like they used to. They looked at me with pure irritation and maybe a little contempt.
I suddenly remembered Ayden's words. You're in charge today, so make sure things run smoothly. "Laura, this is only a problem if we let it be one."
She made a face. "How is this not a problem, Miles? We slept together. We had a relationship that didn't end great."
I couldn't help but wince. I could suddenly remember how she screamed at me—accusing me of using her to have a good time. She could have been with someone who cared about her rather than someone who was using her for sex.
"We are both grown up," I quickly added, squaring my shoulder. "We can move past that."
She raised an eyebrow at me, crossing her arms. "I don't think so."
I take a deep breath in and decide to go another route. "I know how hard it is to find a decent job, much less one that pays as high as we do. You'd be stupid to leave without even giving it a chance."
She glares at me, seeming to think about it for a moment.
"Laura, what we had was a long time ago…like seven years ago. I'm sorry about how it ended, but you would be stupid to leave this job because we have history."
I watched her chew on her lip for a moment, still thinking. After what felt like forever, she took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine, but if you make things difficult, even once, I'm leaving."
I snorted. "Really? Do you know me at all?"
She glared. "I mean it, Miles. You said to yourself. It's hard to find work. If I'm staying, you need to act like we don't have a history."
I snapped my mouth shut. "Why would I do that?"
"Because I don't want to lose this, and I don't want anyone to be uncomfortable around me. So, just…act like we don't know each other."
I wasn't sure about the idea, but I got her point. If the guys knew we dated and broke up, they would want to know why and would likely pick sides.
"Fine, shall I show you around now?"
She nodded, and I pulled the door open, letting her step inside. I quickly showed her downstairs where the trucks and storage were. Once we headed up the stairs, I could hear all the other guys watching TV.
"Ayden and Owen are away at a meeting right now, but they will be back later."
"Ayden is the one who interviewed me, right?" she asked, glancing at me. "He's the head firefighter, correct?"
I nodded, "Yeah."
I whistle, making all the guys turn. Laura paused beside me, growing stiff as I waved a hand towards her. "Guys, this is Laura. She's going to be working here as the administrator and coordinator."
Everyone waved, and Laura waved back.
"From right to left, it's Lucas, Kayden, Thomas, and Weslie."
"Didn't know we were getting anyone new," Weslie said.
Laura smiled. "Ayden said you guys needed an extra set of hands around here."
"That sounds about right," Lucas snorted, looking back at the TV.
"I'll show you our office, though it's not cleaned out yet."
We headed past Owen and Ayden's offices to the room in the back. When I opened the door, my mouth dropped.
He wanted me to clean out a couple of things. Jesus Christ! The man could have warned me it was used as a fucking storage room that filled over half the room with boxes.
"Uhmmm." Laura looked around. "There is…a lot of stuff in here."
I bet that smug asshole knew what was in here and purposely left it here for me to clean up.
"Yeah, sorry…" I said, moving a few boxes. "I'll get these moved out. There should be a desk in here."
The room, minus the shit we had piled in here, was a decent sized. It used to be another office, but no one ever used it. Ayden and Owen were really the only ones who used the space, and I had no idea we had this much stuff in here.
"There is a desk in here, and once everything is moved, you'll have plenty of space."
"I like the window," she said, pointing.
I grabbed a couple of boxes, letting her step further inside. "I'll let you get comfortable. Ayden should be back soon, and I'm sure he will have paperwork for you to fill out."
"Thanks," she said, giving me a soft smile that made my heart skip a beat. I could hear my wolf growl, missing her. And after all these years, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't as well.
"I'm glad you're here," I tell her, unsure if I'm smiling normally or not. “I'm glad to see you're doing well."
She blushed, rubbing her hands together. "You as well…"