Chapter 29
Chapter 28
KYLE
I knew I was pouting like a two-year-old, hiding in my office eating my lunch. I hadn't known the sting of rejection that
would hit me when she turned down my offer to lunch. I placed a call to the cafeteria, asking for a bowl of the soup of
the day. I suddenly wasn't in the mood to eat.
Pacing back and forth in my office, I tried to get a grip on myself. Yesterday when I gave her the job I had been so
excited to find her that I hadn't really thought through what it would mean to work side by side with her when she
refused to even acknowledge me in any way outside perfectly professional. Instead of soothing my wolf by, having her
near, it made him more agitated, me too.
Last night when I sat at the edge the woods near her house and howled to her, I had expected her wolf to return in kind,
but she had just stood there staring at me as if mesmerized before shuffling into her house. I had seen her through the
window as she shed her clothes. I felt terrible watching as she walked from room to room, but I couldn't take my eyes
off her. She was so beautiful and so natural. But seeing her unclothed made it even worse seeing her every time I left
my office today.
Just the thought of any other wolf strolling by and seeing her like that made my head throb and my eye twitch as I bit
back the surge of anger. Nudity wasn't that big of a deal in the shifter world, yet I could not stand the thought of any
other male seeing her like that.
Mine, I growled in unison with my wolf.
I wasn't sure how long I could stand working so closely with her and not having her. I couldn't just fire her, and I wouldn't admit to
Elise that I had made a big mistake in hiring her, or admit why I couldn't work with Kelsey. It wasn't like all the other assistants I
had managed to quickly fire. But I couldn't work with her when she continued to ignore me and our bond. It hurt too much.
I came up with a plan to work her so hard that she would quit on her own. Then maybe I could breathe again. Instantly the
thought of not seeing her every day caused a stab of pain straight through my chest, but I brushed it aside. She had made it
painfully clear she was not interested and I would have to learn to accept that.
After lunch, I called Kelsey into my office. I had her sit down and take dictation for two straight hours, then announced I needed
the report before close of business and dismissed her. It had been wonderful and harder than I ever imagined having my mate so
close and yet so distant.
Chapter 28
As soon as she settled into typing, I called her in and asked her for five different financial reports I didn't really need but thought
"Sure thing, Mr. Westin," she said with a smile that made my heart thump louder in my chest
Ten minutes later, there was a quiet knock on my door.
"Come in," I said as I hit the button on my desk allowing whoever it was to hear beyond the barrier that kept my room safe from
even the most sensitive wolf ears, wondering who it could be. No one ever knocked on my door, but when it opened, her scent
flooded me and I knew it was Kelsey.
"Here are those reports you asked for, Mr. Westin." She looked me straight in the eye with a smirk as she set them on my desk
and turned and walked away.
I was stunned. How had she gotten them together so quickly? My last assistant had taken nearly four days to find these
exact same files. I knew because they were the same five files I had used to get rid of three other assistants I didn't find
compatible.
And it did not go unnoticed how Kelsey had held my stare. My alpha power was strong. Not yet as strong as it would be
when I took my rightful place as Pack Alpha when my father decided to step down, but even still, a little she-wolf such
as Kelsey should not have been able to stand there and hold my gaze without cowering and showing submission. Her
wolf should have demanded it, yet she had defiantly lifted her chin to me even.
If I couldn't smell her wolf, if I didn't feel the mating bond pull between us, I would swear Kelsey Adams was perfectly
human. And yet, even humans felt enough of my power to back down and show submission.
A second odd thing occurred to me. My wolf didn't demand her respect. If anything, I felt as though he were bowing
down to her instead of the other way around. I had no doubt my wolf would do absolutely anything for this woman.
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