Page 17 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

Kiss. I trace the line on her back, the one hidden by the blouse that I want to rip from her body.

“I’m back for you.”

Kiss. I suck her bottom lip, living off her taste like I need it for survival.

“I’ll never leave you.”

I’m about to lean in for another kiss when her hand crushes down on my cheek. It takes a second to understand that she just slapped me.

“You bastard!”

She wipes her lips with the palm of her hand. An action that arouses anger in me.

“Winter.”

Taking one step forward toward her makes her take one step back.

My lungs are on fire, my lips watering and throbbing for more. I learned the hard way that the kiss meant nothing to Winter as her green eyes stab me with hatred.

“I hope the kiss was enough for you to consider my resignation, Mr. Cross. If we are done here, I’ll take my leave, hoping that we don’t ever run into each other again.”

Her pretending that I was the only one who enjoyed the kiss bruises my ego much more than I would have anticipated. Her indifference and that dead-cold gaze of hers leave a bad taste in my mouth, but I endure it. I’ll endure everything till she forgives me.

Winter turns around to leave, but she’s sorely mistaken if she thinks I’ll let her walk away from me again.

“Be my personal assistant, and I’ll triple your salary. I’ll give you forty-eight hours to think about my offer, and for that reason, I’m not accepting your resignation letter, Ms. Cavanaugh. Not until I have your answer.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

WINTER

Keep walking.

Keep walking.

Everything’s okay.

The five-inch heels adorning my feet are one step away from breaking and shoving me to the floor, but I hold my head high. I’ll be damned If I let a single kiss and a man who has no right being back in my life weigh me down.

Bitter memories from the past rattle my chest in discomfort, and angry tears sting my eyes as I make my way outside the new boss’ office, or should I say my ex’s office, or better yet, maybe I should add the word baby daddy in it too.

I’m going crazy. I can feel it in my bones. I can feel it in the way my wolf growls inside me with a temper.

Several questions rack my brain, and they are all directed at the Goddess.

Why now? Why would the Goddess bring him into my life when I’m happy, stronger, and better off than when I was back in Moonstone City, believing in naive things like fated mates and unbreakable mate bonds?

Getting into the elevator offers me some sort of relief that I’ve put enough distance between me and Deacon. Uttering his name in my mind when I haven’t done so for seven years leaves a subtle burn in my chest.

Getting out of the elevator, however, makes the relief bubbling in my chest frizzle out. The minute I step out, several pairs of eyes land on me, all of them questioning why I was the first employee to be called to the boss’ office. All of them were trying to connect the dots of whether the boss and I knew each other.

I hardly make it to my workstation, where Luka and Julie must be waiting for another scoop of gossip when Ashley and her minions block my path.

She flicks her blonde hair from her face, her eyes scrutinizing me from head to toe.

I dyed my blonde hair brown when I came to Bracken City, and seeing Ashley’s hair reminds me that I’m better off as a brunette than a blonde.

“I get that you are making hay while the sun shines, but fraternizing with the boss when he has hardly settled in is not a good look, Cavanaugh.”

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