Page 19 of Forsaken Desire
“The Alpha doesn’t sound too bad.” Hopefully, he would be lenient with me, too.
“Eh.” Karol cleared her throat. “I mean, he does his job as Alpha and keeps pack members safe. He provides a harbor, but I think your statement is a stretch. The man is a bit crazy.”
“Oh . . . fun.” I wrinkled my nose. That didn’t sound as promising. She propped the door open for me, and then we were crossing the lobby.
“You could say that.” She laughed. We approached Ms. Zhao, and she pierced me with a dark, searching gaze. I forced the corners of my lips up, and she turned to Karol.
“She will shadow you today, Karol. Show her the system and the login procedures.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she replied in a professional tone, losing any emotion from earlier. Ms. Zhao gave me another look as she walked away.
Karol waited until she disappeared.
“I know she’s human, but she scares me.”
I snorted and followed her behind the granite counter. The girl to the left gave me a derisive look and turned back to her computer. Another two girls on her other side were concentrated on phone calls as they spoke in a high-pitched, extra-friendly tone. That customer service voice was going to be a challenge for me. Karol pulled out a drawer beneath her keyboard, and her cell came into sight.
“I thought we couldn’t bring our phones?”
“Pft, don’t stress, just make sure you store it here and don’t let Zhao see it out and you’ll be fine.”
Oh. I was so used to following instructions and following them to a tee, but now I had more choice. “This is the first time I’ve seen you smile.”
I quickly smoothed my expression out, but the giddiness didn’t stop. I’d left my new sage-colored cell phone in the locker. I loved the color so much, especially since it came from him. Lucian told me I could call or text him whenever I wanted, and he would be available. I was looking forward to testing that.
A rolling bag echoed through the lobby, and a human approached the desk.
“The check-in rush is about to start. Just watch me and make note of any questions you want to ask me later.”
And that was what I did, I watched her go through customers and check them in with ease and a smile, even the curt asshole ones. I was used to ignoring that sort of behavior, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
The line eventually dwindled as time ticked on. The monitor stated an hour and a half had passed, yet it’d felt like nothing.
“Finally,” the girl beside us groused with a sneer on her face. She turned the other direction to talk to the other two girls.
“Ignore the three of them, they always get like this with new girls. Galina is a chosen mate, so you’ll see her around often. The other two are Sasha and Jun. They’re also pack members.” Except the last two were clearly wolves based on their scent.
“But Galina is human.” I kept my voice low.
“Yeah, it happens.” Karol shrugged.
“Why are you talking about shifter stuff with an outsider?” Sasha suddenly whirled mid-conversation. “Karol, you need to be careful.”
Karol dropped her eyes immediately.
“She’s a shifter too, Sasha.”
The pale girl approached me, breathing in pointedly as she pinned me with her stare. I met her glare, and the corners pinched slightly as if she didn’t like that, it was made clearer by the flaring of her nostrils.
“You shouldn’t look a shifter more dominant than you in the eyes.” She encroached on my space, which I really didn’t like. “Are you new to the pack?” My neck tensed, and my teeth crunched together as I stilled at the challenge. “Where did you come from?”
I kept my lips firmly shut. One, I didn’t owe her an answer, and two, I didn’t know because I had yet to meet the Alpha and ask him to join the pack.
Her eyelids thinned, and she growled. Aggression marred every line of her body.
My hands fisted, and I waited for her attack. I could take a beating, but I could also give it back.
“Ladies.”
