Page 7 of What a Wolf's Heart Decides

She swallowed. “I should probably point out I always hated group projects in school. Actually, I hated school in general.”

“Yes, I know,” Max said. “I still have your report cards.”

Yeah, and he’d given her hell each time her grades slipped below a C average. What good was being a badass supernatural creature if you had to worry about your GPA?

But Max didn’t see things that way. Whereas some Alphas believed in isolating their packs from the human world, he was all about integration. Most of the New York wolves had college degrees and regular jobs.

She glanced at Remy. She’d get no help there. He put up a good front, but underneath the charm and jokes was a sharp mind—and one he’d used to earn his master’s in accounting from Syracuse. As the pack’s CPA, he made sure the territory had enough wealth to last several centuries.

Max stepped back and swept an arm toward his office. “At least hear me out. As I said, I think you’ll enjoy this particular project.”

It was nice of him to couch it as a request, but they both knew it wasn’t. When the Alpha asked you to step into his office, it wasn’t really an ask situation.

It was an order.

She tickled Posey’s cheek, prompting a giggle from the little girl, then gave Remy a wave before turning and heading to Max’s office.

He murmured something to Remy behind her back, then followed, his long strides letting him easily catch up to her.

At the door, he motioned her in before closing the big double doors behind them.

“Let’s sit,” he said, already walking to his desk. In a blink, he was behind it.

A faint breeze tugged at her hair—the aftermath of him using his Gift to cross the room faster than even a supernatural eye could track.

He steadied himself with a hand on his desk. “Moved too fast that time,” he murmured. Then he lifted his gaze, his pale eyes meeting hers.

Apprehension zipped down her spine. For all his assurance she wasn’t in trouble, it was hard to feel at ease with the Alpha. It didn’t help that his “office” was more like a library—or maybe a throne room in a czar’s palace. According to Lizette, the inlaid floors and ornate woodwork weren’t really Max’s style. But it didn’t matter what Max liked. The room wasn’t built for comfort.

It was built to impress. Specifically, it served as a reflection of Max’s power in the North. When other alphas and their wolves visited the New York Territory, they needed to feel the weight of Max’s influence. To wolves, appearances were everything.

Haley bit back a sigh. For a species of supernatural creatures with kick-ass powers, werewolves could be such mean girls.

“Haley?”

She looked up. Max stood behind his desk, an expectant look on his face. Yeah, keeping the Alpha waiting was a bad idea. “Sorry,” she said, bustling forward. As she went, she couldn’t help looking toward the floor-to-ceiling windows along the room’s back wall. The forest stretched beyond it, the view outside even more impressive than the room itself.

When she reached the desk, Max waved her into one of the two visitor chairs. “Have a seat.”

Her stomach tightened. How many times had she heard those words before? Usually after she’d skipped class or failed to do her assigned chores around the Lodge.

Oh, and there was that one time she slugged Calvin Ketterby in the face for calling her “Haley the Giftless.”

Actually, that might have happened more than once.

She perched on the edge of the chair and put her hands in her lap. There. She was reserved. Respectful. Whatever Max had to say, she was fully prepared to hear it.

He sat and rested his hands lightly on the arms of his chair. For a moment, he regarded her in silence, his pale stare steady.

It was hard not to squirm under that stare. Instinct wouldn’t let her gaze directly into his eyes, as that would be a challenge to his authority.

Her wolf most certainly didn’t want to go there.

But he’d said she wasn’t in trouble—that he wanted to talk to her about a “project.”

Seriously, how bad could it be? It was probably something silly.

She offered him a tentative smile.

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