Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
bloom
Maverick’s goons started moving around the room to question people at their desks while the Alpha began one-on-one interviews. He started with the most powerful people in the company, while they handled the rest of us.
Time crept past slowly.
So slowly.
I kept looking between the clock on the top of my computer’s screen and the list I’d started.
Everyone who worked closely with Steven and was technically his subordinate had issues with him, but some of us had bigger issues than others.
10:06
Me
10:07
Phyllis (the head of risk compliance)
10:08
Carter (the head of trading compliance)
10:09
Celeste (the head of operations)
10:10
Harper (his personal assistant)
10:10
Why was time refusing to move?
My heartbeat was fast enough and loud enough to tell any werewolf—or vampire—exactly how I was feeling.
Stressed.
Very stressed.
I added one more item to my list.
Everyone else
Because literally everyone hated Steven.
Another glance at the clock followed.
10:11
A text message flashed at the top of my screen. None of us were technically allowed to connect our personal phones with our computers, but everyone did it. Even me, and I was the biggest stickler for rules in our office.
Our top tech guy had even created a program or something to prevent our personal messages from being recorded or tracked by whatever system the company used. The shit he’d texted me about Steven over the years was enough proof to me that his hack worked.
Harper
What number am I on your list?
You’d better have put me above you
Me
5
Harper
Are you kidding?
Me
Your arguments with Steven aren’t that bad, you just assert yourself strongly
Harper
Tell me you didn’t put yourself at the top
Me
Everyone else will, so anything else would be suspicious
Harper
BLOOM.
Not putting yourself at the top of a murder suspect list is EXPECTED
Me
But putting yourself at the top is basically a statement that you’re comfortable with the knowledge that you didn’t do it
Which I am
Harper
You’ve officially lost your mind
I started typing a response.
“What are you doing?” a low, male voice growled.
My head jerked to the side, and suddenly I was face-to-face with Goon #1. He was a big, burly bastard with buzzed blond hair, light skin, and dark blue eyes.
I definitely should’ve heard him coming.
I was losing my damn mind.
“Is that a text?” the goon demanded.
My body stiffened as he leaned over my shoulder, knocking my hand off my computer’s mouse so he could take over. “How did you get past the firewall to install this?”
“Um,” I started. Then paused. After a beat of silence, I decided just to leave it there. Nothing I had to say was going to help anyone’s case.
The whole office was tense as the werewolf read my conversation with Harper.
Or maybe that was still just me.
Harper and I knew better than to mention anything related to vampires over text, so at least I was safe on that front.
The goon finished reading the conversation and clicked over to my list to scan that too.
Finally, he straightened.
Maybe I would actually survive the day.
“You’re Bloom Sharpe,” he said.
“Yes.” There was obviously no point in denying it. There was a nameplate on my desk that declared it in bold letters. Beneath the title, it said, ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR OF COMPLIANCE.
He spun his finger, a clear message that he wanted me to turn around. I reluctantly did, meeting his dark eyes.
Crap, he was huge.
I was fast, but I was pretty sure the guy could still rip my throat out before I could get to safety if I tried to run.
“What was your problem with Steven?” Goon #1 asked. He seemed calm, but he was watching me like he was a predator.
I tried not to shiver.
Yeah, technically I was a predator too… but as a whole, vampires had been forced to train ourselves out of that in the century since the war ended.
“I’m the assistant to the Director of Compliance, which means I’m the one who has to get Steven’s information, approval, and signatures to fill out paperwork.
Everything I do is in an attempt to comply with the applicable laws and regulations.
Steven made that as difficult as he possibly could, and got us fined at every turn,” I explained.
“So you hated him.”
“Hate is a strong word, but yeah, kind of. Do you usually like people who make your job impossible?”
Goon #1 narrowed his eyes. “I usually kill them.”
Oh.
Wow.
In all fairness, I should’ve seen that coming. Werewolves were significantly more violent than the average human. Or vampire.
I tried to recover. “Well, I don’t. I get my revenge through strongly-worded emails and the occasional tense discussion.”
The goon’s eyes remained narrow. “Don’t get comfortable. Maverick will meet with you next.”
Might as well get my inevitable death over with.
“Alright,” I said.
Goon #1 moved to my desk neighbor.
“Bloom does always go with the peaceful approach,” Carter put in. He was a few years older than me and tall for a human, with dark eyes, curly black hair, and olive skin. He was clumsy, and ridiculously sweet.
If I hadn’t been a vampire, I might’ve been interested in him at some point. Because I was, I knew he would hate me if he found out the truth.
And I needed to mate with another vampire if I ever wanted a permanent blood source. Which I did.
A fact which my mother knew and constantly used to set me up on surprise dates with the four single male vampires in the city. One of which was Velour, the asshat who my best friend was in an enemies-with-benefits situation with.
The dates had been annoying before, but I had much bigger problems now. I’d take an awkward dinner with a vampire over an interview with an Alpha any day.
“She spends every day chasing him for information and signatures. The last fine the company was hit with because of him was over five million dollars,” Carter added.
The goon didn’t look impressed by Carter’s attempt to defend me. “Give me your list.”
He sighed as he handed it over. “She didn’t do it. She’s not capable of hurting someone.”
Guilt tightened my lower belly.
Sure, I’d trained myself not to be violent, but it was literally my nature.
And I was most definitely capable of hurting someone. The fangs constantly waiting to descend could attest to that.
The goon moved on.
Carter whispered, “I’m sorry.”
I gave him a small smile that I hoped said I didn’t blame him.
I didn’t.
I did belong at the top of his list.
The goons continued to make their rounds.
I tried to keep myself busy with paperwork, but my gaze still kept flicking to the clock every minute or so.
10:21
10:22
10:23
Was my clock broken?
I liked the idea of that a lot more than the possibility that time was actually moving so slowly.
10:24
10:25
10:26
I didn’t have to look up from my computer to know the moment Maverick emerged from Steven’s office with whoever he was questioning. The air changed. A few people took nervous breaths.
I looked anyway. I needed to seem just as human as everyone else.
The Alpha only paused for a moment at the beginning of the hallway. His narrow-eyed gaze swept the room. I wasn’t sure where his megaphone had gone, but I appreciated its absence.
“Bloom Sharpe.”
A shiver rolled down my spine with the sound of my name in his low, commanding voice.
Despite the goosebumps breaking out on my arms, I knew he was calling my name for one reason:
Questioning.
I let out a slow, steadying breath and rose to my feet.
Maverick’s forehead creased slightly, just for a heartbeat, before it smoothed again.
He gestured toward Steven’s office
I side-stepped my chair and crossed the room at a pace that would’ve been just slightly quick for a human. Every single one of my coworkers’ eyes were on me.
I didn’t blame them for staring. If one of them was in my place, you’d better believe I’d be doing the same.
The gorgeous Alpha didn’t budge as I approached.
His scent grew stronger, and I tried not to react to it even though it confused the hell out of me.
And made my fangs descend immediately.
He smelled sweet. Like vanilla, and cinnamon.
What the hell was going on?
Why did the Alpha of the Alpha Pack smell so good? Wasn’t it enough that he was stupidly attractive? Not all werewolves were that gifted in the physical department. The majority were only slightly bigger than humans.
I was just going to have to find a way to ignore it. And try not to let him see my fangs, if they refused to retract.
Maverick gestured toward the office across from Steven’s. His nostrils flared as I stepped past him, and his shockingly bright, emerald eyes began to glow for some reason.
He grabbed my upper arm, and his chest met my back before he took my chin in his other hand.
His skin was blissfully warm. The shock of the sudden physical contact caught me off guard for a moment—until he went for my throat.
I jerked to my left just in time to avoid a set of wickedly-sharp teeth. They barely grazed the side of my throat, scraping my skin without drawing blood.
Maverick took me to the ground with just a little pressure to my right shoulder. His arms absorbed the impact of my collision with the floor, making the fall painless as he caged me in.
His lips brushed my throat, and instinct had me throwing a leg over his hip, trying to roll us over.
It worked.
Or he let me roll him, for some reason.
His back hit the fancy tile.
I was under him again a heartbeat later, the cold stone chilling me through my sweater while my fangs throbbed because of his insane scent.
His teeth were buried in the side of my throat a second later.
Heat blazed through me along with the moment of pain. Then, he was releasing my throat as he yanked me to my feet. His eyes were glowing as he basically snarled, “You’re a vampire.”
My chest heaved, but I just stared up at him. My blood painted his lips, a bead of it rolling into the copper shadow on his chin. He was basically a wall of muscle, and the smell of him. Good lord, I could bathe in it.
“You bit me,” I said, the words slightly muffled as I spoke around my still-descended fangs.