Page 105 of Toxic

"You and… a beta. Who would have thought? After you once called me a barren half-human, now you want to get involved with one of us?" His voice was like a whip crack.

I clenched my fists behind my back, trying to keep my emotions in check. Yeah, I had called him that once—but in my defense, it was right after he called me a mindless alpha blinded by testosterone.

"Well, I guess that just proves I was never really prejudiced against betas. I only said it because I was pissed off."

Winter's face twisted slightly, almost like he was in pain.

"You picked a very… particular person. I’ve got nothing against his talent or work ethic—they’re spotless—but that whole edgy bad-boy style? It’s so… immature. Those tattoos, piercings? Are you really into that?"

Clenching my jaw, I shot back, "He's also very… special, passionate, intense. And, yeah, his look is sexy. Guilty as charged, I’m into that."

Suddenly, Winter turned to face me.

"Snow did half the work for you, Skye. He called me last night."

I froze. Snow called him? The only alpha Winter tolerated in our family besides Father!

"What did he say?"

"He made a case for you, Skye."

Unbelievable. I felt stupid for not even trying to visit Snow’s basement in the past two months, just to… hell, just to say hi! Maybe I was a shitty brother after all.

"You’re putting me in an incredibly tough spot."

"Wait! Does that mean you agreed?"

Winter's expression didn’t change—still icy.

"Snow said the exact same thing you did. 'I’ve never asked you for anything'. And I can’t refuse him. He's the only brother who hasn't been a jerk to me."

"Probably because he hardly ever talks…" I muttered, though too quietly for Winter’s beta ear to catch.

"How… will you handle it? What about the CEO’s relative, the one he tried to force you to hire?"

Winter shrugged slightly, his aura unreadable.

"I have to hire him now."

Silence fell between us. I swallowed hard and took a step toward Winter, then another, until I stood right in front of him. His pale gray eyes watched me with an unreadable expression.

"You know," he said suddenly, "I talked with Soren about you. He found out we’re brothers. I sensed something was up, but I didn’t dig—it’s none of my business. But when I criticized alphas as programmers, he got really red and defended you right away. Praised your talent, said how fast you learn. When I kept pushing, I could see on his face… He looked mortified, like he couldn’t believe I had such views on alphas. But he held back, probably didn’t want to argue with his new boss."

I felt a strange wave move through my body. Soren… thought that highly of me? Defended me? My eyes started to sting, but I blinked the feeling away.

"Are you really agreeing?" I whispered, trying to keep my emotions in check.

He nodded, watching me analytically.

On a dumb impulse, I grabbed him in a hug and squeezed him tight. He stayed stiff in my arms, and as soon as I let go, he turned away and headed back toward the second window, his face as expressionless as ever.

"It can be hard for you to separate your emotions from your work. I hope it’s worth it, Skye," he commented.

"I hope so too. I was actually going to offer to work for free, just for the experience. Half-time, because I’m working for Nathaniel the other half, and I make enough there to get by. I could even bring my own laptop—"

Winter waved his hand dismissively.

"No, I can take you on as a full, paid intern for the ByteBites project. I’ve been planning to split the team working on it for a while now, as it’s gotten too big. I’ll need to appoint two team leaders. What stopped me before was not having an adequate candidate for the role, but that’s changed. The problem is, after the split, one team will be smaller. You could fill that spot. That’s how I’ll justify it to Jacob… the CEO. Since the internship enrollment is closed, this will be easier to defend—you were late applying, but you’re next on the list to hire. Actually, top candidate, based on your educational merit, you graduated with honors after all. Honestly, you’re a stronger applicant than some of the interns we’ve already hired."

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