Page 56 of Destined Mate

“Callie,” Dad warned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Zeke continued as if I hadn’t interjected. “Wanting to make amends, I visited the coffee shop where she’s worked a few times, and they informed me she’d been let go.”

That was something I was already well aware of. I’d called off on five of the ten nights I was to work, and then I’d informed them I was sick and couldn’t come back for a week. There had been no hesitation on their end to fire me, and rightly so.

Smiling, Zeke waved a hand to Charles and Trevor. He said, “Last night, Trevor was telling me they need a part-time receptionist to work during the lunch hour and evenings, which gave me an idea. There’s no reason it shouldn’t be you.”

I stiffened. I didn’t want to work for them. There were so many things I’d rather do, like gouge my eyes out, but this would be a way to get myself out of here, especially if Zeke wouldn’t impede me from leaving. With human laws, the company would have to pay me. My pride said no, but pride didn’t pay the bills. Besides, if I said no, it would backfire on me.

Maybe that was what they were hoping for.

Zeke’s eyes brightened faintly, and a moment later, Trevor frowned and cleared his throat. “Yes, Callie. We were wondering if you’d like this job.”

My blood warmed, but I fought to remain calm. This was purely a controlling tactic. They wanted to keep an eye on me, but I wasn’t sure why.

Well, money was money, and I’d be stupid to let this opportunity pass by. “When do I start?”

Trevor scowled. “How about tomorrow?”

I was certain he’d hoped I would turn down the job. But if Zeke was going to pretend to be lenient with me, even if temporarily, I would take advantage of it while I could. “Sounds great. Anything I need to do ahead of time to prepare?”

He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. “I’ll have the human girl get the paperwork to you today, so you’re ready to go. It’ll give you access to our online portal to upload everything you need to get verified and on the payroll. Just jot down your email here.” From behind his back, he brought out a binder and a pen.

Pearl fidgeted in her seat and leaned toward Charles, pouting. “Is there another job there that a fellow pack member could fill?”

“Nope,” Charles answered, his tone dripping with disdain. “Just one position, and it’s forCallie.”

As I wrote down my email address, the room fell silent. When I handed him back the folder, Trevor bit out, “Seeing as it’s almost nine, we’ve gotten off to a late start, so Charles and I should be going. We already rescheduled a meeting this morning so we could have this conversation with Callie.”

Yeah, this was clearly Zeke’s doing, but Trevor couldn’t resist his alpha. Now I wondered what the hell I’d gotten into. Out of all the people in the pack,thiswas the wolf Zeke wanted me to work for?

He strolled to the door while Charles walked over to kiss Pearl on the cheek. Her body sagged slightly from his attention.

“I’ll see you later, right?” Pearl pouted.

“Yeah, I’ll pick you up from work.” Charles nodded at my parents, then turned around and stalked past me. He paused to pat Theo’s arm and say, “Later, man.”

I was the one person he hadn’t acknowledged. This was going to befun.

Trevor paused at the door. “Oh, Callie. Make sure to dress business casual at a minimum, and please be there at noon tomorrow.”

As the two of them opened the door to leave, Pearl glared at me with more hatred than ever before. The door shut, and she jumped to her feet. “See you guys later. I have to get to the restaurant to prepare for the lunch crowd since my future isn’t working a desk likesomepeople here.” She huffed and marched to the garage, leaving my parents, Zeke, Theo, and me in the living room.

I hung my head. “Maybe she should take the position instead of me.” I didn’t want her to resent me more than she already did.

“Absolutely not.” Zeke shook his head. “We already discussed it being you. You’re the one without a job.” He came over and placed both hands on my shoulders.

I hated feeling Theo behind me and Zeke in front of me. I wanted them to stop touching me immediately, so I bit the inside of my cheek again.

“Rest. Fill out the paperwork. Get better.” He dropped his hands and smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Let me or Theo know if you need anything. I need to head out since the coronation is soon, but I want you to know youaregoing to feel like a member of this pack now. Theo talked to me about his hopes for your future, and it validated that I need to make this a priority…make things right between the two of us.”

Could this day get any worse? Theo must have told his dad that he wanted me to be his mate. I wanted to disappear right then and there. “Thank you,” I whispered, unable to speak loudly. Somehow, the words still sounded flat.

As soon as Zeke left, my parents stood and smiled. “We’re glad you’re home.”

Taking a step back, Theo cleared his throat. “I’ll let you three have a moment while I bring your stuff in.” He bounded out the door after his father, leaving me alone with my parents.

Mom smiled. “I’m so glad that things will be better for you and us. We were worried about what happened, but it’s been a wake-up call for Zeke. He even apologized to our family.”

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