Chapter 7 A Clumsy Assistant
I pushed open the door to my apartment, looking down at my phone screen as I read the message Layla had sent me.
{Diana, I won't be home tonight. I've decided to spend some time with Mark. His hangover has gotten extreme.}
I walked into the room, dropping the keys on the table before taking a seat as I typed back to Layla. After sending the message, I dropped the phone on the table, letting out a deep sigh as loneliness seeped in. Layla had been the one keeping this apartment lively with her cool gists, but now she was off to be with her mate, leaving me to sink in the despair that I had finally found mine, and yet, I didn’t know who he was.
I brushed my hand through my hair before packing it up in a messy bun, my mind drifting back to when I thought it was Alpha Warren. A cold chill ran down my spine, but it immediately came with a sharp pain that clenched my heart. I held onto my chest.
What was happening to me? Why did I feel this sudden pain?
I laid on the couch like that for a while before going to the room to sleep.
• • •
The alarm clock kept ringing, and as usual, Layla would slam her hand on the snooze button. I had expected her to do that, but when I remembered she wasn’t there, I pried myself up from the bed, walked over to hit the snooze button, and then got ready for work.
As I stepped out of the house, I sent Layla a message asking her when she’d be back before putting the phone back in my pocket and getting into the elevator. The moment I got to the top floor and stepped into the hallway, I took a deep breath, bracing myself for another day of being ordered around by the Alpha.
I pushed myself to my office, dropped my bag on the table, and settled into my chair, but before I could even let out a deep breath, I heard my name. I looked up to see Jane walking toward me, her face filled with disgust. I guess she was angry that the Alpha hadn’t sacked me as she had suggested.
"Miss Nightclaw, Alpha Warren needs your attention in his office," she said, turning immediately to leave but stopping in her tracks. "Take a cup of coffee along with you when you’re going to see him."
Hearing the word coffee refreshed the memory of the day the Alpha had instructed me to feed him his tea, and a chill ran down my spine. This isn’t exactly how I thought my day would start.
Without waiting, I stood up from the chair and walked toward the elevator, pressing the button before getting in. As I stood inside the elevator, I started to think about what to do, if I should quit the job and look for another, or endure the torture of being punished for a mistake.
I sighed deeply at the thought of Layla. If only she wasn’t so over her mate and had come home, I would’ve discussed it with her.
The elevator made a ding sound and opened to a small confined space where the coffee mixer stood. I picked a coffee cup and walked over to pour coffee into it when I overheard the conversation of the staff in the other room.
"I heard the Alpha’s mate is a beautiful young lady," one of the ladies said proudly. "I also heard she’s from the Moon Pack."
I scoffed when I heard her say Moon Pack. During the war that happened years ago, the Moon Pack was almost destroyed, leaving just a few people left. No one had ever heard of them again, and I’m sure the people remaining were just a figment of gossip.
"The Moon Pack, does that pack even exist anymore?" the other lady asked.
"Does it matter? She’s going to be crowned the Luna at the Mating Ball. She’s so lucky to have a man like Alpha Warren," the first lady added.
I scoffed at her last statement, remembering how cruel the Alpha had been by sending me on errands just because of a mistake I made on my first day. I didn’t realize how lost I was in my thoughts until I looked down and saw that the coffee in the cup had overflowed, smearing coffee onto my feet.
"Shit," I cursed under my breath, quickly shutting off the coffee and grabbing a napkin from the table to wipe my feet. After doing that, I picked up the coffee cup and turned toward the door, but accidentally bumped into someone, the content in the cup spilling out and splashing a mixture of coffee and cream onto the person’s shirt. The cup fell from my hand, landing between us.
"Shit, shit," I muttered, reaching down to pick up the cup. "I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you."
"What is wrong with you?" a familiar voice questioned, and I knew at that moment I had just made things worse for myself. I looked up slowly at the person’s face in horror and saw Alpha Warren standing opposite me, his white shirt now covered in the remains of the mess, and his anger on full display. It was the assurance I needed to know that I had just lost my job.
"I’m so sorry," I said, reaching for the stack of tissues and pulling some out to wipe the stain off his shirt as if that would do anything. "I didn’t see you there, I swear." I tried to explain, my hand roaming over his shirt as if trying to wipe off the stain, or maybe even reverse time to before all this happened.
I gasped when I felt Alpha Warren’s hand tighten around my wrist, so tight I felt the spot burning.
"What can I do with a personal assistant like you!" he shouted, catching the attention of the gossiping staff nearby. Over his shoulder, I caught the smirk on Jane’s face as a happy smile spread across her lips.