Chapter 5: Heavy Air

Daliah 

8 am comes around much too quickly. I stayed up nearly all night long trying to comb through every piece of evidence in his stack of papers. After all of my digging, I only have basic information on the students. No dirt, which is going to get my kneecaps blown off with a baseball bat when I tell Ben. 

I groan in discontent while pulling my bag over my shoulder, headed to his office slowly. Undoubtedly worried about my fate. Despite all my efforts last night, I couldn't get his face out of my head. His sexy black hair is styled tightly back, but occasionally, the one front strand falls lightly over his forehead and into his eyes. It makes me want to groan in irritation just thinking of my attraction to the man who hates me.  

"Out of the way whore," one servant says while spitting at my feet on their way past. I try my best to move my foot in time, but her spit lands on the top of my dress shoe.  

In law school, it was prioritized to dress professionally. After working in the defense firm I was at, it had been drilled into me. Business formal, every day. 

"Eh-what the fuck," I murmur under my breath while shaking my foot, trying to shake the spit off. 

"What was that?" The servant says, turning on her heels with another she-wolf and a male omega at her side. My lip turns up in irritation as I look at the entitled rodents who are allowed to treat me this way, and I can't do a damn thing about it. 

"Nothing," I say through my gritted teeth, but it is not a good enough answer for them. The three of them stalk their way back to me, and I roll my eyes at their movements when they start to circle me. 

"No, no. Say what you said, mutt." The one who spat at me says with an ugly grin plastered on her face. With my irritation boiling inside of me, I give her a nasty smile back.

"I said, what the fuck? Got a problem with that?" I ask, unsure as to why I ask. It is not usually my nature to be so confrontational. Instantly, one of the female omegas has my hair tight, and the male wraps his arms around mine to keep me still as the spitter lands a punch directly on my nose. 

I don't make a sound, and I think that irritates her more as she winds her hand back for another hit.   

"What's taking you so long, Luciano? Get in here!" Alpha Ben booms from behind his closed office door. The omegas instantly drop me at the sound of his voice, and my hand wipes away the blood from my nose and teeth. I sigh deeply as I watch them scurry down the hallway before pushing open the door and setting my things on his desk, ready to receive his wrath for my lack of findings.

"So, what's your plan?" His rough voice asks, and I pause in my movements, terrified of what he will do. My heart races, and my breath is uneven while he studies me with harsh, cold eyes.

"I-I'm sorry A-alpha. I couldn't find any dirt on the students." I say quietly while wringing my hands together. This time, I could blame the stuttering on the fact that bitch gave me a fat lip with her punch, but the truth is, I am just terrified of Ben. 

"Sit down." He commands, and I let my gaze flick to him for a second. I instantly regret it when his frown deepens and his hand slams on the table. 

"Sit down!" He shouts, and I drop instantly, not caring that I wasn't landing in a chair at all. Instead, I drop to the ground and take my hands over my head when Alpha Ben stands from his chair at the same moment. 

I can't hold in the frightened noise that leaves my clenched teeth while I protect my head. My breath is hitched in my lungs with every silent moment that passes. When I hear his footsteps on the floor, I tighten my hold around myself and refuse to look up. He was going to kill me now, and I am terrified, holding my head in my hands the same way I always have.  

A light touch on my arm startles me, and I jolt out of my position to find Ben crouched down next to me with his golden eyes glowing. The touch is hot, like fire or electricity shocking through my skin.

"In the chair, Dali." Alpha Ben says softly while slightly pulling me upright and setting me backwards. I watch him in a daze as he moves back to his desk and pulls out a few new files to place in front of me.

"This is our dirt on them. I should have given you it yesterday, but I wanted to make sure you weren't going to bolt with the information I gave you already." His chair squeaks as he rocks back in it, putting his arms behind his head in a relaxed state. 

My body is still buzzing from fear, but I reach out my hand and take the file. It shakes in my grasp, and I drop it closer to me quickly, hoping he hadn't seen it. 

The file is filled with information regarding their transactions with the mafia, as well as other criminal ties they have. Both of them have been arrested for distribution of numerous substances, including some that make me turn my head away in frustration. 

"How'd they get the charges dropped?" I ask him, concentrating on the files closely and avoiding his stare that flutters my stomach. 

"We have a few connections in the PD." That's all he replies with, and I nod. Figures NYPD would be corrupt. 

"That's your leverage. Either take it to the chief personally with a list of his corrupt cops and tell him to drop the investigation, or we take it to court and expose the force. The students have enough dirt on them; their credibility is already in the mud." My voice doesn't waver as I say it, as it is what I was taught to do. Fearing an Alpha is a wolf trait, but this? This is my specialty. 

When I look up at him, he is watching me with narrowed eyes and a slight grin that is only visible for a moment before fleeting. 

"Very well. We'll handle it," he says before taking his scotch bottle out and pouring two glasses.

"Alpha, it's only 9 am," I say quietly while motioning to the clock on his desk. He glances at it, then back at me before sliding the glass across the table to me with a shrug. 

"My guards said you had a long night of work. Take it easy." He says while sipping from his glass. The man is bipolar. Does he like me or hate me? He calls me mutt, which is the biggest insult a wolf can receive, but then offers me his scotch? 

He must sense my hesitation because he lets out an irritated sigh before leaning back in his chair and unbuttoning the top button of his white shirt. The air seems to buzz around us while I watch his movements. His muscles tensing under his shirt, his pelvis sliding forward to the edge of his chair. My mind involuntarily flashes to memories of what is under those clothes.  

My eyes roam his physique without thought, but when my gaze finds its way back to his, I can see his wolf teetering on the edge. His golden eyes are bright, and his nose is flared as he studies me the same way. 

I take the scotch and sip it.

"Good girl." He says with a tilted head. Heat springs to my face, and I take my attention back to the files in front of me, trying to avoid the memories that include those words. 

"Is that all you will be needing of me, Alpha Ben?" I ask, finishing off the glass rather quickly in my embarrassment. 

"Yes, unless the chief refuses to drop the investigation." He says, but his eyes scan over me like a meal, making me wiggle uncontrollably under his gaze. 

"Daliah?" His voice is low as he speaks, pulling me into his predatory trance. 

"Yes, Alpha?" 

"Do you hate your father?" He asks, shaking his head as if to clear his previous thoughts. Whatever they may have been. I sigh in frustration. I don't like talking about that prick. 

"Do you?" I respond, placing the glass down on his desk and sliding it back to him. 

"I hate him because he's an asshole." He shrugs as he says it, and I can't help the laugh that slips past with a smile. 

"Then we have something in common, Alpha," I tell him while standing and collecting my things from his table. 

Just as I am turning to leave, his low grumbling voice rattles through me. It sends shockwaves through me that I can't explain.  

"Where do you think you're going, little Dali?"