Page 125 of Toxic

His words sounded like an enigmatic message from another planet. What did he say again? I truly did not expect the conversation to be work-related, I thought he was going to chew me out!

"What training are you referring to?"

"Advanced courses in C# and Kotlin."

I stayed silent, unsure of what to say.

He continued, "I’d like to send two people from your team to these training sessions. One of them I’ll suggest myself, and that person is you. You’re one of our most talented programmers, and I want you to expand your horizons. But you can choose the second person—anyone you think would benefit, even an intern. If we invest in our people, we’re more likely to retain them and turn them into valuable employees," he said calmly, his words well-thought-out, measured.

What was he implying? I blinked in confusion, studying him closely. Why was he ignoring what happened?

"Aren’t you going to say anything about what you witnessed?" I blurted out. It was eating me up inside, and I needed to get it out.

His face didn’t change, nor did his posture.

"Skye told me how he feels about you. He said you rejected him because he’s an alpha. Has that stopped being a problem for you?"

I shook my head nervously. "Absolutely not. As I told you before, I'm in a relationship with another beta. I can see how you might misinterpret what you saw, but I assure you, it’s not whatit looks like. Skye asked me for one kiss, and I agreed to that, but that’s all. I’m with Liam, and nothing's changing that… for now."

His white eyebrows raised slightly. "He asked for just one kiss? How romantic—typical Skye. So, he still hasn’t gotten what he really wants?"

"Um, no. I’m still with Liam."

Winter Nolan wandered slowly toward the large window overlooking the city.

"You know, that kiss was something. I thought you two were going to suck each other’s faces off…"

This remark was rather unexpected, I felt my cheeks burn bright red. "Skye and I have always had this insanely strong chemistry, but that doesn’t change anything. He’s an alpha, and I’m a beta. It could never work. Relationships like that don’t have a good track record; the stats are brutal."

Director Nolan's face remained expressionless, as he slowly spoke, "Well, I understand you perfectly. Many betas avoid alphas, never date them. They're… unstable and obnoxious, after all. But, on occasion, I wonder if they're missing something."

I was stunned by his statement. Who was I—some random guy his brother was infatuated with? And his employee, for that matter! Why was he sharing his thoughts with me?

"Well, yes, they are intense. But sooner or later, they’ll leave us for some cute omega with a sweet scent. I’ve been through that once before, and I don’t want to go through it again."

"Intense, yes. That's the word I was looking for." He stared far into the city skyline.

Something nudged at me, tempting me to ask him a question, even though it seemed inappropriate and very private. And he was my director, for fuck’s sake!

"Have you ever dated an alpha?"

Now, his pale eyes bore into my face. "No."

Wow, that was a curt and dry answer. I still couldn’t read his face—his features could belong to some elven king or a damn ice sculpture.

Then unexpectedly, he tilted his head and added in a low tone, "My relationships have been… safe. My emotions never really went beyond a certain point."

His candor was truly surprising.

For a moment, I studied his still face, but as if sensing my surprise, he turned his eyes back toward the window and fixed them on the horizon. Clearing my throat, I responded, "You were very wise doing that. You protected yourself."

Winter blinked slowly, almost robotic. Maybe the association with the elf king wasn't so accurate, maybe an android would be a better fit?

"Were you ever in love, Soren?"

"Yes."

"How does it feel?"

---