Page 99 of Toxic

I stared at the announcement, feeling something in my heart twist like a knife. I got fixated on it, and then, with shaky hands, I clicked the link that led to the application form.

I automatically started filling it out, but the whole time, I was trying to stop myself.What are you doing? Are you crazy? This is the dumbest thing you could do.Yet, my fingerskept moving across the keyboard, entering data after data. And finally, I just clicked submit.

I felt a wave of heat rush through my body.

Oh my God, was I trying to mess with myself? Did I really want to see him just to get rejected again? He made it clear he’d never be with an alpha, so what did I want—to torture myself? Was I some kind of hidden masochist?

But I just didn’t understand why, even after eight weeks, my feelings for Soren hadn’t faded. It should. I mean, my affection for Martin fizzled out after a few months, but with Soren, there was no sign of that happening. So I came to the conclusion that I needed to try something—fix something, or ruin it even more.

A few days passed, during which I nervously refreshed my inbox.

Even though I had other things to do, it felt like I was hanging by a thread, waiting and hoping. My life felt like I was going through the motions in some dream, where nothing made sense.

Then, a few days later, I got a response:

"Thank you for your interest, blah blah… Unfortunately, we regret to inform you that our list of interns is already full, but please stay alert because similar offers appear regularly on our site. We encourage you to reapply next time, blah blah…"

I cursed under my breath. However, the person who responded left their name and phone number. Hands trembling, I grabbed my phone and dialed the number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Skye Nolan. I submitted an application for an internship…"

"Oh, yes. Unfortunately, our list is already full. But you ranked high, and you had a good chance, but we simply can’t take anyone else. Our teams are full—"

I knew interns at the company got paid, and this was my shot.

"I’d like to offer to work without pay. I’m really just looking for experience with your company. I can use my own laptop. It’s really important to me to get this internship."

The person on the other end laughed, sounding a bit uncomfortable.

"Oh, well, it’s nice to hear you hold our company in such high regard, and we appreciate your enthusiasm, but unfortunately, all the spots are taken. We wouldn’t even have a place to put you, and we don’t offer remote internships. But try next time, you have a good chance…"

I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere with HR guys.

So, I went to their website to check out their structure and see what departments they had.

From previously talking with Soren, I knew which department he was in. They only listed the director’s name for that department—no managers or employees, since that info was confidential. But the director’s name was public.

And of course, no surprise there: Winter Nolan.

I already knew that Soren was in contact with him while working remotely for DevApp, as I had seen his emails to Winter. Now, I had confirmation that Winter was indeed the director of the department where Soren was employed. There were no other possibilities, since the other departments (and I checked the list) weren’t hiring programmers with Soren’s qualifications. It was the only one that fit.

And just like that, full circle. I cursed under my breath, knowing I only had a single option left.

That same day, I went to talk to my parents.

They were sitting on the terrace, cuddled up and whispering to each other like they usually did. They chatted animatedly about Rain and Kay’s impending birth.

Snow was there too, sipping on mineral water with a tablet on his lap, being ignored, as usual.

"I wanted to talk to you guys about something," I said, feeling pretty tense.

Dad looked up at me with those turquoise eyes—I got that color from him, though I inherited everything else looks-wise from my alpha father.

"What's up, sweetheart?"

"Lately… I haven't been feeling great," I mumbled vaguely.

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