2

VIENNA

“Who the fuck are you?”

I scowl at his tone, folding my arms over my chest. “Vienna Vega, who the fuck are you?”

“You know who I am,” he scoffs cockily. “You knocked on my fucking door.”

Of course I know who he is, I’m not an idiot. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give this arrogant bastard the satisfaction of acknowledging that.

Chase Walker, the new Alpha of the Norbury pack. I’ve seen him before from a distance, but never up close like this. I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t nice to look at. He’s just as big as the other alphas, but not quite as bulky- though the sleeves of his hoodie are pushed up to the elbows and from the taut muscles of his forearms, it looks like he’s well on his way. He’s got a jawline sharp enough to cut stone and eyes so dark I could drown in their depths, framed by dark lashes beneath his furrowed brow. His chocolate brown hair is messy atop his head, peeking out from under the hood of his sweatshirt, though somehow his lack of grooming only adds to his rugged appeal. Damnit, I hate that I’m instantly attracted to this douchebag.

His reputation precedes him. Even before he was thrust into the role of Alpha when his dad passed a couple months ago, Chase was known to have a big ass chip on his shoulder. And from what I hear, since his father’s death he’s been insufferable.

I roll my eyes hard in response to his arrogance, cocking out a hip. “I’m not here for you,” I say with the flippant wave of a hand.

His eyes drop down my form, tongue darting out to wet his lips. “You sure?”

The fucking nerve of this guy! He’s still standing in the doorframe blocking my entry, taking up the whole damn thing. Seriously, does this dude have some form of giantism or something? He’s fucking massive. I’m only five foot two, so I’m used to most people being bigger than me, but if Chase doesn’t get out of my way soon I’m going to strain my damn neck from the effort of looking up at him.

“Is that Vienna?” I hear my friend Fallon ask from somewhere inside, footsteps quickly approaching. Her blue eyes peek from around Chase’s hulking form, meeting mine before she swats at his arm with the back of a hand. “Let her in, Chase…”

He begrudgingly takes a small step aside, but his dark eyes don’t leave mine. It feels like they’re searing a hole through my fucking soul.

I look away before he can steal a piece of it.

“Thank you, Fallon,” I breathe, stepping forward to cross the threshold into the packhouse. Chase is still blocking most of the doorframe and I feebly attempt to shoulder his big ass body out of the way as I pass. The dickwad doesn’t move, forcing me to rub up against him as I squeeze past. As expected, he’s a wall of solid muscle- though I try my best to ignore the way his body feels against mine.  Right now, my annoyance outweighs my attraction, and that’s saying something.

I swear Chase presses closer into me as I squeeze by, narrowing the gap, and I snap my head up to glare at him. I’m met with a cocky grin, dimples sinking into his cheeks on either side. My heart stutters in my chest. Damn, I’m a sucker for dimples. Why does he have to have sexy as hell dimples? My wolf suddenly perks up, thoroughly enjoying the close proximity with this mountain of a man. If it were up to her she’d have me humping his leg right about now.   

Nope. I don’t need his drama. I’ve got enough on my plate as it is.

I grunt in annoyance as I squeeze past Chase, springing free on the other side and taking in the interior of the packhouse. It’s huge, as expected, but it’s also incredibly stark looking, with dark walls and furnishings and very little in the way of décor. You can tell that a bunch of dudes live here- this place is starved for a woman’s touch.

It stinks of stale alcohol and weed; the surfaces cluttered with evidence of a rowdy party. Two people are hard at work with trash bags and cleaning supplies, trying to get the mess under control, but they’ve got their work cut out for them. Though I’m sure they’re being paid handsomely for their service, I don’t envy them one bit.

“C’mon,” Fallon urges, waving for me to follow her.

I feel the weight of Chase’s stare on my back, goosebumps rising from my flesh in response, but I don’t turn around to meet his eyes again. Instead, I follow Fallon away from the main area of the packhouse, stopping when we reach the open door of an office.

“Vienna’s here,” Fallon announces as she steps inside, gesturing for me to enter behind her.

Gray is seated behind a large desk at the rear of the room, a folder of documents spread on the surface in front of him. “Hey, Vee,” he mumbles in greeting as I enter behind Fallon, not looking up from the paperwork he’s perusing.

“Alpha Gray,” I reply respectfully, pausing in the doorway.  

Gray and I are familiar with one another- hell, I’d even venture to say we’re friendly at this point. I’ve been close with his mate, Fallon, since the two of us were in the same class of recruits going out for the squad last summer. Even so, I’m trying my best to remain professional today, given the purpose of this meeting that I requested with him.  

I’ve made it a couple of steps into the room when Gray finally glances up from the desk. “Sorry we had to meet here. I’m knee deep in trying to sort through Vaughn’s shit.” He gestures to the chairs in front of him on the opposite side of the desk. “Have a seat.”

I do, and Fallon falls into the chair beside me, turning sideways and throwing her legs up over one of the arms. She looks totally relaxed, in complete contrast to me- I’m sitting rigidly on the edge of my seat, swallowing past a lump in my throat as Gray returns to the paperwork and a heavy silence falls over the room.  

“So you want on the squad, huh?” he finally asks, closing the folder in front of him and looking up at me.

Fallon must’ve tipped Gray off about why I wanted to meet with him. There goes the speech I was practicing.

“Yes, sir,” I nod. “I know this isn’t how you typically do things…”

“No, it isn’t,” he says bluntly, cutting me off.

I swallow hard. There’s that damn silence again. Hopefully he can’t hear how fast my heart is beating right now. I’m not easily intimidated, but formal stuff like this makes me anxious, especially when I’m asking for favors.

I really hate asking for favors.

When I went out for the squad last summer, it wasn’t because I had my heart set on being a warrior. It was a means to an end; a way to get out of Riverton with a steady salary plus room and board. I grossly underestimated how grueling the training camp would be, though, and underprepared in comparison to the other recruits. It wasn’t a surprise when I got cut a few weeks in and sent packing.

I was fortunate to get another opportunity a couple of months later when the reserve squad was formed. I eagerly joined and moved back up to the squad complex, trained hard, and ultimately fought in the battle against the shadow pack. But when the war ended, so did the reserve squad- and once again, I was sent packing.  

Now I’m hoping for another shot. Third time’s the charm, right?

Gray sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face and leaning back in his chair. “It’s not that I don’t want to let you in, it’s just that we’ve had recruitment processes in place for years now, and if I let you bypass that because…” he trails off, his gaze sliding between Fallon and me. “Well, you can see how it might appear to others.”

I know what he’s insinuating. “You think it’ll look like you’re playing favorites since I’m friends with Fallon.”

Gray nods, folding his hands on the desk in front of him.

“Well that’s bullshit,” Fallon blurts as she twists the end of her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder. “This has nothing to do with me. And besides, you make the rules, Gray… so why can’t you bend them just this once?”

He sighs again, looking to his mate. “If I bend them for Vienna, I’d have to bend them for everyone, babe.”

We both know he’s right, and Fallon folds her arms over her chest in defeat, pressing her lips together tightly. The three of us sit there in silence for a minute and I swear I can see the gears turning in Gray’s head before he speaks up again.

“Tell you what,” he says, swinging his gaze back to me. “I’ll take it up at my next meeting with the other squad leaders. There are some unique circumstances right now that may lend to taking on more squad members without the usual processes… we lost some of our fighters in the war, plus we’ll have some going off on missions to track down splinter groups from the shadow pack. Both leave us short-handed, so the reserve squad seems like a good pool of candidates to fill those positions from.”

“Yeah?” I ask, brows shooting up. I quickly realize how tragically hopeful I sound and rein it in a bit. “I mean, just let me know either way. I’d have to give notice at the lodge, so the sooner I can give them a heads up, the better.”

Gray nods. “For sure. We’ll be in touch.”

“Cool,” I breathe, lips spreading into a smile. Hope blooms in my chest, though I know better than to let myself get too excited before knowing whether this is going to happen or not. It seems I’ve had a string of bad luck lately.

“Well thanks for meeting with me,” I say as I push up from the arms of the chair to stand. Gray is already reaching for another folder on the edge of the desk, getting right back to work.

“I’ll walk you out…” Fallon chirps as she moves to swing her legs down.

I stop her with a hand on her shoulder, shaking my head. “No need, I know the way.” I smile, leaning over to give her a hug. “Always great seeing you, Fal.”

“You too,” she sighs, throwing an arm around my neck and hugging me back.

I leave Fallon and Gray behind and head out of the office, sliding my phone out of my back pocket and opening up a message to my friend Nessa. I wasn’t sure how long this meeting would last, so I asked her to cover for me at work. I’m looking down, typing out a text to give her a heads up that she won’t need to fill in for me after all when I collide with a hard chest, the air whooshing from my lungs and my phone slipping from my hands and clattering to the floor.

I’m so caught off guard that it takes me a second to even register what- or who- I’ve run into, and when I stumble back and look up to meet those dark eyes from before, my brain short-circuits.

“Leaving so soon?” Chase asks smoothly as I blink up at him, the corner of his mouth tugging into a smirk and a dimple sinking into his cheek.

Damn those dimples.

I bend down to pick up my phone, collecting myself in the process. “Gotta get to work,” I mutter, scowling when I clock Chase checking out my ass as I straighten. The guy’s shameless.

I turn my phone over in my hand, heart sinking when I see a large crack across the screen from the impact it took with the hardwood floor. Looks like the bad luck streak continues. Snapping my head back up in annoyance, I’m ready to pop off when my eyes meet Chase’s and the intensity of his stare gives me pause.

Something takes flight in my belly, though I’m not sure if I’d call it butterflies- more like a swarm of angry hornets. My throat tightens as I nearly tumble into the depths of those dark eyes. I manage to pull myself back before I drown, shooting him a glare instead. “You owe me a new phone.”

Chase arches a brow in challenge. “How do you figure? You’re the one who ran into me.”

“Only because you were in my way,” I fire back.

He chuckles lowly. “Maybe you should watch where you’re going, shorty.”

“Maybe you should take up less space, stretch!” I shove my phone into the back pocket of my jeans, shouldering past him and fleeing the packhouse.

I throw myself into the drivers’ seat of my car, slamming the steering wheel with the heel of my hand and releasing a frustrated groan. I don’t have anyone to blame but myself- both for the cracked phone screen and for letting a cocky prick like Chase get me riled up. I’ve got zero time or tolerance for fuckboys.

And Chase Walker is the definition of a fuckboy.