Page 6 of Mating at Midnight: Book 1

Looking Blake square in the eyes, I say, “Blake, everything you just said might’ve worked on Mr. Harris, but I’m not Mr. Harris. If he kept on, then I can only assume he knew about your bullshit too. I don’t care if you have the best damn department in my hotel, I will not tolerate illegal activities in my business. If I were you, I would go ahead and leave.”

I glance over to my guards, then nod for them to remove Blake.

“You’ll regret this, Hillard,” Blake shouts, pointing his thin finger at me. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer and when we’re finished with you, this hotel will be mine.”

“I look forward to the call,” I counter as the guards take him out of the room. Addressing the others at the table, I declare, “Tomorrow there will be auditors, inspectors, a special team I’m bringing in to evaluate each department. I hope there will be no other surprises like today. You are free to go.”

As they stood, I called Nyah’s name.

“Ms. Lightfeather, come to my office in one hour to discuss your notes.”

“Yes, sir,” Nyah says, picking up her purse and briefcase. As she walked off, my eyes were glued to her ass.

My mind was totally on getting Nyah alone to get more personal information from her. Twice this woman has made me want to let my wolf take over. That never happens unless a wolf feels disrespected, or a shifter has found its mate. Looks like it’s the latter in my case.

I’ve traveled the world. Met and bedded many female wolves, and never thought about a mate. I’m going to take this as a matter of my wolf getting a tizzy because Nyah thought she put me on blast in front of everyone.

Levi sits on the corner of the table, laughing. “New city, new conquest.”

When Nyah disappears in the elevator as the doors close, I glance at Levi. “Not a new conquest. Did you not hear her last name?”

Levi frowns, hunching his shoulders. “Yeah, Lightfeather.”

“Exactly. The same last name of the Midnight Pack’s Alpha.”

Levi rises from the table and begins to pace. “Fuck, the same Alpha Lightfeather of the Midnight Pack here?”

Dropping my head, I confirm, “The same one and I think she’s my mate.”

Chapter 5

Nyah

“Damn, damn, damn,” echoes in my head as I make a beeline to my office.

Not only was that arrogant son of a bitch my boss, but also the wolf who was on our land. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Because Mr. Hillard is my boss and I need my job, I can’t let daddy, and his men tear him to shreds even though he deserves it. Then the craziest part is my wolf clawing beneath my skin when he grabbed my wrist. What threw me off is she wasn’t trying to get out to attack his ass, but as if she wanted to give him a love tap. As if?!

Daddy always told me I should bridle my tongue at times but there was no way I was going to let Mr. Hillard get away with what he said to me. Even if I knew at the time he was my boss, I would have responded the same way.

Flustered by his dominance and touch and to quiet my wolf, I left him standing there and went to the ladies’ room. My skin felt hot to the touch, so I rolled out several paper towels, then put them under cold water before laying the cool material on the back of my neck. While my temperature began to go down, I slowly breathed in through my nose and exhaled from my mouth. Yes, he’s an ass but I would be lying if I didn’t say the man was finer than baby hair. Down to those sexy blue eyes surrounded by long eyelashes, neatly cut brown hair, tanned olive skin, and a muscular body hidden under his tailored suit. I’m five feet seven, so I know he had to be at least well over six feet the way he towered over me. And his smell, no it wasn’t an expensive cologne but his natural scent. It was spicy, woody, and herbaceous. Whoever he was, I knew it would be in the best interest of my wolf and I to steer clear of him.

Once my wolf and I were back to normal, it was time to go to the conference room. After throwing the paper towels away, I glanced at my watch. The meeting was already five minutes in progress. Hopefully, my new boss wouldn’t blast me for being a few minutes late.

I gently opened the conference room door and snuck in like I was entering church after the services had already started. I made my way to the closest available empty seat. I wasn’t really paying attention to the man speaking but once he announced Mr. Hillard as the new owner of the hotel, my eyes diverted to the asshole sitting at the head of the conference table.

My first instinct was to grab my shit and get the Hell out of there, but my ego wouldn’t let me. New boss or not, I wasn’t going to let him think I was one of those weak employees who’s afraid to be in their presence. Alpha female wolves raise their heads high through any situation. I went to the seat, sat down, then pulled out my pen and pad.

As the meeting went on, I felt his eyes on me as I ignored him. I listened to the other managers until it was my turn. When I introduced myself, I noticed from the corner of my right eye Mr. Hillard’s bewildered expression. I wanted to give him a smug look while telling him, “That’s right, Mr. Asshole. I know it was you trespassing on my family’s land yesterday,” but I kept it professional. We were in a room full of humans and shifters and the last thing I wanted to do was out our kind in front of those we felt superior over. After saying what I needed to, I politely re-took my seat.

When it was Blake’s turn, I can’t say that I was surprised at what happened with him. I had suspected something funny was happening in his department, but they were so good at keeping it hidden. Now that Mr. Asshole had sniffed it out, I know with me being the new General Manager, he will expect me to be the first to find any problems and form solutions before he does, whichI planned on doing before meeting Mr. Hillard. I knew what my job entailed and even though I have a rapport with the hotel staff and some I have hung out with after work hours, that wouldn’t stop me from disciplining or firing them. When I’m on the clock, it’s all about the hotel.

I have so many notes, I can’t wait to hear what Mr. Hillard has to say about them. Just thinking about being in his office alone with him makes butterflies flutter in my stomach. My wolf whines in my head. What is up with her?

I don’t know why she’s acting this way towards his cocky ass. We’ve attended many coupling ceremonies held by my daddy for mates to find each other and at the end of each one, I walked away, alone. Thank goodness daddy wasn’t one of those Alpha’s who pushed their daughters off on any available male wolf who sniffed around them. Most of the males in the Pack I grew up with and never saw myself being with any of them. They chose other females, except for Corey Clydell.

Corey is the son of daddy’s Beta, Horace. We’re the same age and we were in diapers together. I’ve always thought we had like a brother-sister type of relationship, but once we entered High School, Corey started seeing things differently. For some reason he had it in his head the two of us were destined to be together.

He wasn’t a bad looking guy. Actually, Corey was very handsome and very charismatic. He reminds me of a modern-day woodsman with his tanned skin from working in the sun, sandy blonde man bun, long rugged beard, always in jeans and a flannel shirt whether long or sleeveless. Corey’s built like one of those thick trees in the forest. He could have any girl out of the Pack, but he ignores them as he continues to try to claim me. That shit will never happen because neither my wolf nor myself have any type of attraction to him.

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