Page 44 of Chosen Beta

“Excellent,” I reply, heading to my office.

I find out I forgot to lock the door again, but considering Erika’s out here now I probably don’t need to worry about that. I head inside, closing the door behind me.

I lean back against it for a couple minutes, just letting myself breathe until I feel normal again.

It wasn’t as intense as I think it was. It couldn’t have been.

I’m just seriously overdue for a hot and heavy fling.

It’s been too long since I got laid.

Pushing away from the door, I’m ready to get back to the chaos of my inbox.

The thought of a dozen angry emails I’ve missed since I’ve been away from my desk makes me want to sigh and take an impromptu coffee break, but if I did that, I’d only come back to even more of them. There’s no avoiding the monotony of the predictable onslaught.

I’m halfway to my desk when a knock on the door makes me turn back.

“Just a minute,” I call out before I take the few long steps toward the door.

I don’t expect to see Pete standing out there in the hallway when I open it.

Despite catching my breath and letting go of the overwhelming feelings of lust I was just drowning in when I left him with his Omega in Dr. Clarke’s suite, my heart starts to race all over again the moment I set eyes on him.

What the hell is wrong with me today?

He’s taken, Lana. Cool your jets.

I seriously need to think about getting on a dating app. Weeding through creeps and losers to find a guy I might want to sleep with at some point in the near future doesn’t sound like much fun, which is honestly why I’m not already doing it, but it’s got to be better than developing crazy crushes on every sexy unavailable person I meet.

“Oh, Pete. Hey,” I manage, as his intense gaze settles on my face. “Um, what can I do for you?”

“I need a list of names, of your existing security staff.”

I raise an eyebrow at his demand.

No please or thank you, and it’s not a request.

I’d bet good money he doesn’t know how to make one of those.

He crosses his arms when I don’t immediately invite him in or answer his demand.

“I’m happy with the staff I’ve got. Dr. Clarke said your pack’s company might be able to provide some extra support. That’s all we need here. I’m not firing my existing staff.”

“Our company is superior to whoever you were using before. Your existing staff let a threat get past them. Someone in this building is looking to target you …”

“We don’t know that. You’re making something out of nothing.”

He smiles, in a cold way that doesn’t reach his dark eyes.

“There’s a camera in that hallway. It’s active. Someone on your security team either saw who unscrewed those light bulbs, or one of them did it themselves.”

I frown as that information sinks in.

“No. That’s not … It can’t be.”

“Whatever. I’ll be keeping you in sight until we know who the threat is, either way.”

“There shouldn’t be a camera up there.”

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