Chapter 2: A New Employee

“Mr. Wynters?” A voice questioned from the other side of the office door, Ash sighed, rubbing his temples as he glanced away from his work. No doubt his secretary wanted to ask if she could make another coffee run, or if he was doing okay. While he appreciated the kindness the older omega provided, his patience was wearing thin. Perhaps he had let her get away with too much in recent times, he had been in a good mood and therefore let the secretaries… Or anyone else he deemed okay, make runs to the local coffee shop whenever they wanted.

“Come in.” He responded, the keys on the keyboard clicking as he resumed typing. He was trying to get documents in order to pursue another business deal that Liam had mentioned in passing at breakfast that morning. He had taken a great deal of time looking into it and found it would be worthy to worm his way into it.

The secretary, Martha, stepped into his office and glanced around nervously as though she was looking to see if any of the others were there. Once satisfied that no one else was in there, she motioned to someone behind her. Ash had paused in his typing as a familiar scent drifted into the room, the same one from the night before he had the outburst and had claimed a stranger as his mate at the bar.

“I have someone I want you to meet! This is the new girl. Her name is Thea.” Martha said cheerily as the redhead stepped into his office to greet him. He was met with the same piercing blue gaze that had captivated him. His throat dried for a moment as any words he would have said vanished when she grinned at him.

“A pleasure to formally meet you Mr. Wynters.” A voice like honey, he could listen to her all day, at least that’s what his wolf was telling him. The mongrel only seemed to bother him whenever this girl, Thea, was near him. He blamed it on what had happened, but he couldn’t deny the pull he felt to her as he merely nodded his greeting.

“Don’t take offense honey, he doesn’t really like talking to any of us.” Martha mused with a knowing smile as Thea waved the statement off. “He really isn’t that bad once you get used to working with him. He’s rather smart.”

While his wolf had wanted to growl at Martha for making assumptions, Ash couldn’t help the small swell of pride he felt when she complimented him at the same time. “A pleasure to meet you Thea.” He responded after a few moments. “Martha, if you don’t mind, why not run across the street to the cafe and get us both a cup of coffee?” He questioned, though Martha was already nodding in agreement.

“Of course! I’ll leave her here with you so you two can get to know each other better since you’ll be working together!” She chimed as she made a swift exit and closed the door behind Thea. The sound of her heels clicking against the floor disappeared as Thea had sat in the chair directly across from him, dressed in a woman’s suit, she stared at him as though he was her next victim.

Warning bells had gone off as he watched her for a moment longer before returning to his emails, reading over the latest one that was an update on a share with another business that had taken off. The profits were nearly off the charts and Ash was happy with how everything was running smoothly in the office and within his own group. “So, tell me about yourself.” He stated as he began to type, but when he was met with silence a few moments after, he turned his gaze back to her.

“Better. If I am going to be talking, I’d prefer you keep your attention on me and not your computer as it shows lack of true interest.” Thea picked at her nails as she eyed him. “For starters, I’m not just a secretary you can send off to get coffee whenever you want. Secondly… You’re not going to get information like that out of me easily. I don’t associate with many Mr. Wynters, especially the likes of you.” She sneered as Ash tensed in his office chair.

“I don’t know what you mean by that Ms. Veryne, but I suggest watching your tone with your new boss. It would be unfortunate if you were fired the first day on the job. It was a simple question.” He growled right back which she only seemed to take as a challenge as she straightened in her chair.

“If you fired me, I can guarantee you wouldn’t find another worker like me. The others that applied to this position were simply trying to get in to seduce you. I looked into it. Regardless of what your wolf thinks we are, we are not mates.” Even as the words were spoken, Thea knew they weren’t true but she had a different goal, one that didn’t involve finding her mate. Let alone her mate being the exact man she was trying to take down.

“If you weren’t interested in working for me, or anyone like me. Why go the lengths as you’ve said you have to find out what the other candidates were like?” He questioned as he propped his elbows up on the desk and rested his chin on top of his folded hands.

“Because Mr. Wynters, some of us have very different goals in life.” She warned carefully. “Some would love to rip you apart piece by piece until there’s nothing left of you. Others would love to watch you fail as a businessman and the most dangerous man in the area. I guess it really depends on what side of the sword you’re on.” Thea stood and smoothed out her black dress pants as a knock echoed throughout the small office.

“I brought the coffee!” Martha’s cheerful voice came from the other side of the door as Thea opened it and walked out, informing Martha she would meet her at the front desk.

Ash didn’t miss the way that Thea had thrown him a look over her shoulder as she walked away. He was realizing he had met his match, and was about to play one of the most dangerous games yet.