Chapter 62

Claire’s POV

By some miracle, the only thing Sophie did when she found out she could do nothing about my new position and couldn't also get the Alpha to move me to another room that was nowhere near his, was throw me dirty looks anytime she saw me.

I couldn't believe my good fortune. It was so much better than her laying her hands on me. I wondered what the Alpha had done to keep her from bullying me.

The first few days of working as Kelvin’s Personal Assistant weren't as easy as I had imagined.

I realized that there were so many things I had to learn. During those days, it also occurred to me that I was supposed to be applying for college admission.

Throughout high school when my stepfather’s behaviour towards me became intolerable, I had dreamt about leaving his house and my only escape route was college.

Applying to a university that was quite far from the town where I grew up was one of my topmost priorities. That was until I was raped and everything spiralled out of control.

Now that I even had a revenge plan on the way, college was going to have to wait until later even if the opportunity to apply came that minute.

“You have nothing to worry about, Claire. I am going to teach you all that you need to know. And just let me know whenever you are ready to apply to a college,” the Alpha said to me.

“Why are you being so kind to me?” I queried. I hadn't meant to say the words out loud but now that they were out, I couldn't do anything about it.

He arched an eyebrow. “Would you prefer if I was mean to you?”

I shrugged and kept my gaze fixed on my meal of chicken Caesar salad.

We were having lunch in one of his offices downtown. It's not like we couldn't work in his office back at the Castle but Sophie had adopted the bad habit of purposefully walking in every opportunity that she got just to disrupt things.

She couldn't just show up at the other office like that and that was why he had chosen to bring his work there.

“It's good to give your employer an answer when they ask you a question, Claire,” he said, amusement lacing his tone.

“It just feels weird,” I murmured.

“Look at me, Claire,” he suddenly snapped and I obeyed without thinking twice.

He looked offended. “You shouldn't feel weird when I'm kind to you. I'm your mate and I'm not supposed to treat you with wickedness.”

“I see,” I replied. “Then I think you should know that not rejecting me is the most wicked thing you could ever do to me. You have a partner and I don't. It's very unfair, don't you think?”

A muscle in his jaw jumped dangerously. “Haven’t I warned you not to speak of anything relating to rejection ever again?”

I shook my head in disbelief. “You are so selfish and that is why you are unwilling to see how this stubbornness of yours is just plain cruelty.”

“You had better stop talking now, Claire, or I am going to do something we are both going to regret,” he replied.

A sudden rush of anger filled me and I was on my feet before I knew it.

“Do your worst, Kelvin. I dare you. I'm not going to stop talking about it until you do what is right.”

He leapt to his feet too and walked around his desk to where I was standing.

“You are mine forever. You signed a contract, remember?”

At that moment, I couldn't help but see his father in him. His selfishness was maddening.

“I signed that damn contract because you forced me to. You accused me of a crime that I didn't commit and chose to punish me that way. And wait a minute, didn't you say you were going to order a reinvestigation to be made?”

“Yes, I know I said that and it is already in progress. But you are mine, Claire. Even without that damn contract. And I am yours.”

I shook my head. “You belong to another woman, Kelvin. And it's so unfair that you have chosen not to let either of us go.”

He raked his fingers through his hair. “You know what? I'm done having this conversation with you. You can meet me at the Castle when you are done here.”

The Alpha turned on his heel and started to walk towards the door.

“So you are just going to run away like a coward, huh?” I called out angrily.

He ignored me and slammed the door really hard behind him.

In anger, I flung my remaining meal at the wall but that didn't help.

I was still seething when I heard a knock on the door.

“Please come in,” I called and carefully arranged my expression into a more friendly one.

What walked through the door wasn't what I had been expecting at all.

It had to be a crime for anyone to look that beautiful.

In a daze, I got to my feet as the stranger approached the desk.

His features were mostly feminine, giving him that androgynous look, but that only served to increase his allure.

I was certain that he had both men and women falling over his feet.

It took me longer than necessary to realize that he had his hand stretched out for a handshake.

My face heated up in embarrassment as I shook his hand with both of mine. I wasn't surprised by how soft his palm was. It was expected.

“Hi. I'm Alfie. I was hoping to meet Alpha Kelvin here,” he said in a surprisingly deep voice that could certainly command attention.

“You just missed him,” I replied. “Would you like me to pass on a message to him?”

His full lips quirked in amusement and I wondered what he found amusing until I brought my gaze lower and realized with horror that my hands were still holding his captive.

“I'm so sorry about that,” I said, knowing that my face had to be as red as a tomato at that point.

“It's okay,” he replied with a smile, his eyes roaming my face. “It's a good thing that the colour red looks good on you.”

Oh. He was also a wicked teaser.

I didn't know whether to say thank you to that so I just did the best thing I could – kept quiet.

“About the Alpha, I guess I should just wait for him at the Castle,” he said. “What I have to tell him can wait anyway.”

“Then we should leave together,” I replied. “He is headed towards the Castle as we speak. He might even be there already.”

“Alright then,” he murmured and then suddenly leaned closer to me and took a deep sniff.

My eyes widened in a mix of horror and surprise.

He quickly returned to his former position and said. “I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist. What is the name of your perfume? I need to get my hands on it.”

I cleared my throat and without meeting his gaze, replied. “I do not use perfume.”

“Interesting.”