CHAPTER 5

"Nooooo....," his wolf growled in frustration as Armando ushered the woman out the door and closed it gently. He was ready to go after the innocent bodyguard just doing his job and rip him to shreds for even laying a hand on her arm to guide her out the door. She was his.

He shook his head to bring himself out of his unprovoked rage and he noticed the return of his headache.

Just what his wolf needed to convince him they had to have the woman.

Great.

He did not even know her name. All he knew was that she had the cutest brown eyes he had ever seen with a rare shade of auburn hair and the most awful fashion sense. Not enough to search for a person in the city. But he knew her scent, it was imprinted in his memory and he was sure he could sniff her out if she was anywhere close to him.

"Mr Anderson?"

"Yes?," he answered sharply, turning his quelling gaze one of the humans at the table who had been insistently calling his name.

The man seemed to shrink, forgetting what he was going to say.

"Do you approve?," his Beta finally asked, rescuing the man. But he was giving Asher a speculative look, just like every other wolf at the table who could sense the tension radiating off him like hot lava.

"Approve what?," he asked looking back at Mark levelly.

"The proposal!," Nathan replied with a hurt look in his bespectacled eyes. The geek felt hurt that all his talk for the best part of an hour meant nothing to his Alpha.

"Of course I approve," Asher replied succinctly.

Seeing as his friend had zoned out of the meeting since the woman opened the door, Mark knew it could only mean one thing but he would not an admit that in his head.

"Of course. And I think we can all call it a day," he pronounced and raised lazily from his chair, trying to mask his urgency as he exited the room.

He dialed Armando immediately he was out the door.

"Who is the woman?," he asked as soon as the call was connected. He was certain of Sawyer's efficiency and he was sure he had all information on her already.

"Her name is Shana Jackson, twenty three and she was here to interview for the post of your temporary secretary."

"How did she end up in the conference room then?," he asked but just to confirm if his suspicions were right.

"Miss Thompson."

Armando didn't have to  say more than that. In all his thirty and two years, he had never seen a woman more spiteful than Adele.

Looking back, he couldn't believe he had ever fancied himself in love with her and actually dated her with the intention of marriage.

But his wolf had never wanted her for itself, just for the pleasure the beast could get between the sheets and he was forever grateful he had not ensnared himself to her.

He was not the least bit surprised by her latest childish and spiteful move. She had done worse in the past, believing he was still in love with her.

"Should I report her to the disciplinary committee?," Armando asked him hesitantly.

"No." He was only going to prolong things by doing that. He didn't need her given a chance to explain herself. Knowing Adele, she was going to cry her way out of it. He was just going to do what he should have done from the beginning.

Fire her with immediate effect. Why had he not made her termination effective immediately he decided on it?

"Where's the woman?"

"In the interview."

"Contact the head of human resources, she's hired."

"OK sir."

"She resumes now."

"Oh." He had taken Armando by surprise, and his astute bodyguard was rarely ever surprised.

"Have Miss Thompson dismissed right away. If Mark has anything to say about it, tell him to talk about it with me." He disconnected the call and went to the private elevator, going to his office to await the alluring Shana's arrival.

He usually never mixed business with pleasure. He had dated Adele when she wasn't under his employment. In the past, he had different secretary who had been crazy about him, both the young and the old and when they become obsessive, he replaced them. So, all he did now was make the position temporary. Although it sometimes disrupted his work flow, he did not mind as long as he did not have to enter his office to see a woman the age of his mother lounging on his desk stark naked or one who would always want to touch him unnecessarily.

But in Shana's case, he was ready for the office distraction she was going to create.

His wolf couldn't resist moaning in pleasure.

★★★★★★★★★★

"Now?!," Shana couldn't resist screaming the question at the old man looking as perplexed as she was when he delivered his message.

"Yes, Miss Jackson. Your employee's identity card is not ready but you can pick it up before closing hours today. See you then." He turned his gaze and started typing furiously on his computer.

She had done her interview and it had seemed gloomy because she had next to nothing in experience and no good referral. Only her grades had been worth anything. Her interviewer had given her a bored look, then asked her outrightly why she had bothered coming in the first place.

Then he had gotten a call, looked at the caller ID and picked the phone, muttered a halfhearted hello down the line. But his attitude had changed the next second.

He had sat up straight in his chair, his gaze coming to focus on her and he had given her a dubious look as he ended the call.

"Who are you?," he asked, his tone loaded with suspicion.

She had no idea why she was asked to introduce herself again but she did nonetheless. "My name is Shana Johnson."

"No. I meant who are you? Do you know someone at the top?," he asked, but seeming to know the answer as he surveyed her and he must have reached his conclusion when he muttered, "Like hell you do."

Now, that was a question she was not expecting and she was happy he answered it himself.

Then he had told her to go to the head of HR's office where the man had told her she was hired and she had to resume immediately.

Where was that ever done?

"But why do I have to resume immediately?," she asked, on the verge of hysterics. She was going to be Asher's secretary and after their encounter that morning, she was not sure if she wanted to meet him again so soon.

"I don't know young lady. I'm as surprised as you are but it was an order. You should report to the last floor now. That's where you'll be working."

He seemed like he wasn't going to say anymore so she stood up and left.

In the elevator to his office, she took deep breaths and gave herself motivational talks on how working with him and completing her assignment was going to be a piece of cake.

Like hell it was.

Then she started pondering on how she had gotten the job to start with.

It definitely had something to do with that one call but what the call was about, was a mystery she could not wait to unravel.

Then the ding of the elevator signalled she was at her location and she felt like she was going to hyperventilate. The unfamiliar thumping of her heart made her hand go to her chest, hoping the action would contain the erratic pounding and maybe stop her heart from jumping out of her chest.

She trudged through the large, elegant empty space on the last floor, the receptionist smiling at her and already motioning her towards her office like she had been instructed to wait for her.

Maybe that was the case because she was led into his office immediately. The woman excused herself and Shana was left with him, shaking in her old shoes.

If she had entered and he had been by the window with his back towards her or reading a file or doing anything to occupy him, she would have had more time to prepare herself mentally to face him. But none of that. He was seated not in his chair but relaxed lazily against his desk, facing her with his hands in his pocket.

But man was he tall with the white shirt straining against his broad chest.

He aroused in her feelings she had never felt in her life. And it scared her.

He was her enemy, one she had been sent to ruin. She had no right feeling like she had finally found happiness.

She had to get her head in the game but she was having difficulty doing that as he continued to stare at her, his oh so sinful gaze roaming over her generous curves.

Shana stood demurely before him, lowering her head to gaze at her feet

He was a wolf, and an Alpha of a large pack to boot. If there was one thing wolves loved, it was submission and at that moment, she was playing the submissive female who was too shy to meet his gaze.

Asher watched her gaze lower to stare at her feet. He did not like that a bit. He had loved their staring contest in the conference room. It had been the most stimulating thing he had done in years.

She had entered the room and again, his pounding headache had ceased. His wolf had purred in contentment when he inhaled her scent.

This time around, with her head lowered, he took his ample time looking her over from her reddish brown hair sticking all around her face to her slim, shapely legs. He could picture those legs wrapped around...

He stopped the thought process as his wolf was already going wild in anticipation of getting laid. He was not going to come on too strong on her first day.

No.

He had to take his time to break her in.

Make her want everything he was going to be doing to her as much as he did.

Shana got so nervous with the tensed silence permeating the room. She decided to drop her submissive act and looked up, her gaze clashing with his once again but this time, she could find her voice.

"You called for me sir. Urgently," she said quietly, watching the vein in his neck tick when she spoke. Oh my God! Was he pissed? Was he supposed to wait for him to speak before she did? She knew nothing about the rules of shape shifters or bossy CEOs at that.

Asher realized it was the first time he heard her voice. His wolf had relaxed, the ever present agitation dying in slow motion as he quieted down for the first time in years. The vein in his neck had ticked in his effort to swallow.

Shana Johnson was definitely bad for his peace of mind. He hoped he did not get more than he was bargaining for by hiring her to be in such close quarters with him.

"Really?," he drawled lazily, standing away from the desk to stroll behind it and he sat on his chair. He needed to hide the growing evidence of his desire.

"Yes." She was confused. There was obviously nothing urgent she had to do but she had more or less been bundled into his office by his staff.

Asher thought he was going to have to fire those staff. He had told them to hire her and send her to him, not tell her it was urgent. He had nothing urgent he had to attend to but now, he had to come up with something fast, thanks to his over competent staff.

Or he could just be his daredevil self and not come up with anything.

"Why were you in the conference room?" He needed to keep her talking to take his mind away from his wild thoughts of her hair spilling all over his dark satin pillows. But her voice seemed to have the opposite effect as she answered him.

"I'm so sorry about that. The receptionist gave me the directions," she replied in remorse, replaying the scene in her head and cursing the woman for the embarrassment. She was going to pay better heed to her instincts next time.

"Oh. But she did not tell you to keep standing there after realizing your mistake right?" He wanted to know for sure if she had also felt what he felt or if he imagined it. The question had blood rushing to her very pale skin.

She wasn't a vampire but she had the palest skin, almost like his mother's...

No. It couldn't be.

She couldn't be a Crier.

He hoped to the moon goddess she was not but her translucent skin reminded him so much of his mother's. But where his mother's had revolted him, hers had a kind of rosy hue that made him want to take a bite from her neck.

Asher slammed his hand down on the table, making Shana jump.

For goodness sake, it was just their second meeting but his wolf was already fantasizing about a lifetime.

One thing was certain tho. Her beating, rather pounding heart was loud enough for his senses to pick up from across the room.

She was no Crier

He took another look at the object of his imagination and his desire went erratic.

"You can stop blaming me for fantasizing about a lifetime," his wolf purred with satisfaction.

He was definitely going to love every part of playing the boss while she played the secretary but she did not know it yet.