Chapter 3

She has on one of dad's old flannels and a pair of ripped paint-stained pants. She is wearing a grey tank and left the flannel unbuttoned and flowing. Her hair is in a ponytail under a paint smears baseball cap. I have given up arguing with her. We have already discussed it for over an hour. She is still mad we are going against dad and doesn't care if we lose this job.

We can not be late, so I give up. At least the wolves will see Lisa's dedication to her work. My sister is the foreman of all our jobs. She runs the jobs with ease. I am the office guy. I hold interviews, and I fire the workers she deemed unfit, I handle the bids, I handle our accounts, and I help on jobs when I can. But most of the labor is done by Lis and our employees. We are a perfect due—an ideal fit for Twin Construction. 

I grin at the memory of dad naming his company after us. When he became a single parent, he decided to run his own company so he could set his hours. His architectural background and experience led to a successful construction company. And we can't be more proud of the father our dad was. I do feel bad that Lisa is upset. She feels like we are betraying dad's memory.

As I pull our red Chevy up to the gates of Riverstone pack, I feel a shiver run down my spine. Wolves are strong. And we are meeting an Alpha. I have only ever seen an Alpha once. I was shopping for Lisa in the mall since she refuses to buy new clothes. He was huge and had an expression that reeked of authority. 

Secretly I am proud of our builds. We can pass for wolves with how much time we spend in the gym. We also both have height on our sides. The gate swings open once a wolf in just shorts appeared from the tree line. We drive in slowly, making sure not to appear aggressive. Wolves protect their homes with numbers and strength. We are about half a mile into the territory, and wolves are starting to appear everywhere. They don't seem aggressive. They seem happy. Some are even bowing as our truck passes, weird.

"What is going on," Lisa asks, voicing both of our questions out loud. All I can do is shrug. 

"I don't know, but as long as we receive this kind of welcome, I'm happy," I say while smirking in her direction. Lisa rolls her big blue eyes at my statement, and I laugh.

We continue down the gravel road and seem to approach a small community. It is like a village in the middle of the woods. We see homes, businesses, and big schools—all with an old-timey feel to them. The colossal pack house at the end faces all the other buildings. It has a similar building off to the side of it that also faces the community. Lisa and I share looks. This is a bunch of buildings and a bunch of people. And we might be the only humans here. As we approach the packhouse, we see three men waiting for us in the front.

The man in the middle is huge and is the same Alpha I once saw in the mall. He is staring at our truck with such an intense glare that Lisa breathes in a sharp breath.

"Well, we are already here. Might as well try right," I say, trying to hide my nerves. 

I jumped out of the truck and shut my door. I offer my hand to all three men introducing myself. The Alpha doesn't seem impressed. He openly stares past me and as a guy named Clint explains the details of the job. I hear Lisa's door finally shut and her boots crunch on the gravel. She takes her usual spot on my left, and the Alpha's expression darkens.

Crap. He is going to be one of those guys. The kind that isn't impressed with a female foreman. We are used to wolves and human men not thinking Lisa can hold her own. But this is a massive job with a huge paycheck; we need this. If he continues to glare she is bound to pop off and disrespect him. As strong as we both are, we stand no chance against an Alpha and his pack. I decide to break the ice. I sling an arm over Lisa's shoulders which makes the Alpha's eyes dilate and darken more.

"And this here is the other half of Twin Construction. My sister Lisa Matthews," I introduce her, letting my sibling pride ring in my voice. The Alpha's glare becomes a curious stare. 

"A woman is your business partner," the Alpha says with an amused voice. And I gulp. Crap Lisa, please, DONT, we need this money. I squeeze her shoulders, giving her a silent warning against lashing out at his disrespect. She shrugs my arm off her shoulder and glares at him.

"Yes, a woman. Got a problem, Wolf Man," Lisa asks with venom in her voice. I internally groan, but he laughs.

I'm shocked by the laughing Alpha and the two smirking men at his side. Crap, I know wolves can talk to pack members with their thoughts. Are they making a plan? Great Scott! Put your family at risk for a company. No one will harm Lisa if I have any say in it. I place a hand on Lisa's right shoulder firmly.

"Yes, she is my business partner, and to be honest, she is the one who handles most of the manual labor. We would appreciate your respect, and if that's not possible, we will take this time to leave," I say with a glare of my own.

Alpha wolf or not, my sister will never be made to feel inadequate in my presence.

The Alpha's booming laughter dies out immediately, and he finally gives me his full attention.

"No disrespect meant. Clint and I will show you around the packhouse; then we will drive you to the area we would like some homes constructed." He says, meeting my eyes directly before shifting back to looking at my sister.

LISA POV

This huge jerk better watch it. He is so lucky we are deep on his land, or I would have broken his damn nose. I might be a woman and a human woman at that, but I'm not some weakling.

Scott is angry but worried about losing the job and being surrounded by muscles up wolves. These three are probably the highest rank of this pack. I hate that they have more power and strength than we do. If we were in the ring, I would teach "mister macho" a lesson.

When I first saw him, the whole world had disappeared. His dark, almost black hair and eyes were sexy. His build screams power and strength. His face looked hard and unforgiving. Then he opened his mouth and broke my attraction to him in a second. I quickly understood proving myself would be hard here. 

. The park house is enormous. Each level is filled with bathrooms and bedrooms. The open concept first floor is modern and bright. Wolfman wants to modernize a bunch of the restrooms and extend the kitchen island to accommodate more people.

I take down notes in my spiral of supplies, measurements, and staffing. I take measurements while Scott chats about our references and past jobs. The Alpha is keeping a watchful eye on me, and it is incredibly irritating. 

"Look, I know it must be hard to believe, but I can use a tape measure by myself. I don't need supervision," I say while pushing my cap up so I could glare at him.

"You seem competent, Ms. Matthews," he says with a chuckle.

"Then why are you observing my work so closely and laughing at me," I question furiously.

"You are in my packhouse. It is my job to watch strangers in my pack member's homes. I am the first line of defense," he states calmly.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, sure," I say.

I know he is watching because he thinking I can't do it, just like every she-wolf that comes into our gym. But once again, this is my ring, and I will win.

We complete our tour of the packhouse and climb back into the Chevy. Mister Alpha sits in the back with me and Michael the Delta is upfront with Scott. Clint ditched us at the kitchen on the way out.

The land they want twenty homes built on is already cleared. The homes will be two and three bedrooms with one bathroom. The Alpha explains that they are for newly mated wolves beginning their families. I nod and write down all his wishes. Scott is over the moon with all the available work.

We climb in the truck and head back to the shop where Scott can get the bid together. He is going on and on. He even thinks we can rehire those two he had to let go yesterday.

"Scott, settle down. They aren't going to hire us. For one, we are humans. And for two, their leader deems me unfit," I mutter the last part of my statement.

I'm itching to hit the gym and demolish some opponents.

"We can hope Lis. Do you want me to drop you at home so you can run to the gym," he asks, reading my unsaid plea.

"Yes, please. I have everything that we will need listed for you," I say with a happy sigh and place the spiral in the middle console.

Sweat and bruised knuckles, here I come.