Chapter 3: The Board Meeting from Hell

Elara

.

.

I arrived at Kael's office at 7:45 AM, determined to prove I was more than capable. Professional. Untouchable. 

I'd chosen a navy suit that was conservative enough to armor me against his heated stares but tailored enough to remind him I wasn't some frightened girl he could intimidate.

His executive assistant's desk—my desk now—was positioned directly outside his office like a sentinel post. I'd barely set down my bag when his door opened.

"You're early." Kael leaned against the doorframe, looking unfairly devastating in charcoal gray, his tie slightly loosened like he'd already been working for hours. "Good. We need to go over the board meeting strategy."

I followed him inside, notepad ready, determined to be the perfect assistant. Professional. Competent. Absolutely not thinking about how those hands had—

"Stop it." His voice cut through my thoughts.

"Stop what?"

"Whatever you're thinking that's making you blush." He rounded his desk, those silver eyes pinning me in place. "Sit. Pay attention. The board members are vultures, and they're going to test you."

"Test me? I'm just taking notes."

His smile was sharp. "You're my assistant, that makes you a target especially when they find out who you are. The disgraced Sterling heiress working for their CEO? They'll eat you alive."

Pride stiffened my spine. "Let them try."

Something flickered in his eyes, approval, maybe, or hunger. "That's the spirit. Now listen carefully, board members you need to watch: Richard Crane, old money and older prejudices, Margaret Voss, brilliant but ruthless and James fucking Sterling."

My blood froze. "My father is on your board?"

"Majority shareholder, actually. Didn't I mention that?" His casual tone didn't match the intensity of his gaze. "This should be interesting."

The meeting room was intimidating, thirty floors up, glass walls overlooking Manhattan, a table that could seat twenty. I took my position behind Kael's chair, tablet ready, and tried not to notice how every eye tracked my entrance.

My father sat at the far end, his expression carved from ice. Beside him, Richard Crane whispered something that made them both smirk.

"Gentlemen, Margaret." Kael's voice commanded instant silence. "Let's begin. Q3 projections are—"

"Excuse me." My father's voice sliced through the room. "Before we start, I think we need to address the elephant in the room. Your new assistant was my daughter, the one who just went through a very public, very messy divorce."

Heat crawled up my neck, but I kept my expression neutral.

"Your point, James?" Kael's tone was dangerously soft.

"My point is that she's a liability. Hiring her shows poor judgment. She couldn't even keep her husband satisfied, how is she supposed to handle the demands of this position?"

The room went silent. I dug my nails into my palms, willing myself not to react, not to give him the satisfaction—

"Careful." Kael's voice dropped to a growl that raised the hair on my arms. "You're talking about my employee. Question my judgment again, and we'll discuss if Blackwood Enterprises still needs Sterling capital."

My father's face turned purple. "You can't be serious. Over some girl—"

"Miss Sterling has more intelligence and integrity in her little finger than half this board combined." Kael stood, and something about his posture made even my father lean back. "She graduated top of her class from Columbia. She managed a portfolio that outperformed this company's investments and her personal life is none of your goddamn business. Are we clear?"

No one spoke. The tension was suffocating.

Margaret Voss broke the silence. "Well. That was illuminating." Her sharp eyes assessed me with new interest. "Miss Sterling, I look forward to working with you. Shall we continue with the actual meeting?"

The next hour was brutal. Financial reports, hostile questions, corporate warfare disguised as polite discussion. I took notes, pulled up data when requested, and tried to ignore my father's burning stare.

Then Richard Crane dropped his bomb.

"One more thing, Kael. The rumors about your extracurricular activities, some of our investors are concerned. They're asking questions about your private estate, the security measures, the NDAs you require from all employees." He smiled like a snake. "They're wondering what you're hiding."

Kael went very still. "My private life is private, Richard. As stipulated in my contract."

"Of course. But when your private life involves strange behavior during certain lunar cycles, when security footage shows impossible things, when employees disappear without explanation—well, investors get nervous."

Ice slid down my spine. Lunar cycles? Impossible things?

"Careful," Nyx's voice came from the doorway. I hadn't even heard her enter. "Spreading unfounded rumors about the CEO could be considered slander. And Blackwood Enterprises has very aggressive lawyers."

Richard paled slightly. "I'm simply voicing investor concerns."

"Then voice them in writing so our legal team can address them properly." Nyx smiled. "Unless you'd prefer to retract them now?"

"Meeting adjourned." Kael gathered his materials, then looked at me. "Miss Sterling, my office. Now."

I followed him out, aware of every eye tracking us, my father's most of all.

The second his office door closed, Kael spun on me. "You can't be here."

"What?"

"This was a mistake. I can't—" He ran his hand through his hair, and I realized with shock that he looked almost frightened. "Your father is going to make your life hell. The board will crucify you and I can't protect you without exposing things that would destroy you."

"Destroy me how?" I moved closer, anger overriding caution. "What is everyone talking about? Lunar cycles? Impossible things? What are you hiding, Kael?"

"Things you're better off not knowing." But his eyes betrayed him, flickering between silver and something else, something that looked almost gold.

"Try me."

"You want the truth?" He closed the distance between us in two strides, backing me against his desk. "The truth is that you smell like heaven and taste like sin and every instinct I have is screaming at me to claim you, to mark you, to make sure every male in this building knows you're mine. The truth is that three nights ago wasn't enough, will never be enough and I'm fighting every second not to—"

His phone rang. He jerked back like I'd burned him, answering with a snarl. "What?"

I couldn't hear the other side, but whatever they said drained the color from his face.

"When? How many?" A pause. "Lock down the building. Now and get her out of here."

He hung up, his expression terrifying. "Nyx is going to take you home."

"What's wrong?"

"There's been a threat against the company, against me." His jaw clenched. "And they specifically mentioned you."

"Me? Who would—" Then it clicked. "My father."

"We don't know that, but until we do, you're not safe here." He grabbed his jacket, his movements sharp with barely controlled violence. "Nyx will stay with you. Don't argue."

"I'm not some damsel who needs protecting—"

"Yes, you are!" The words exploded out of him. "You're human and fragile and if anything happened to you, I would burn this entire city to the ground. So for once in your stubborn life, listen to me."

Human. asn't he human too?

Before I could ask, Nyx appeared. "The car's ready. Let's go, Sterling."

She practically dragged me to the elevator. In the confined space, she kept sniffing the air and muttering under her breath.

"What is your problem?" I snapped.

"You." She jabbed the lobby button. "You smell wrong and it's getting stronger. When was your last physical?"

"I don't see how that's relevant—"

"When?"

"I don't know, three months ago? Why?"

She pulled out her phone, typed rapidly. "Because either my nose is broken, or something impossible is happening. And in my experience, impossible usually means—"

The elevator lurched to a stop. Between floors. The lights flickered.

"Shit." Nyx's entire demeanor changed, going predatory. "They're already here."

"Who's here? What's happening?"

"Stay behind me. Don't make a sound. And whatever you see, don't scream."

"Nyx, you're scaring me—"

The elevator doors pried open manually. Four men in black stood in the gap, but they weren't men, not really. Their eyes glowed amber in the dim emergency lighting, and when they smiled, their teeth were too sharp, too long.

"Well, well." The leader's voice was gravel and menace. "The Alpha King's new pet. Our employer will pay handsomely for you."

Nyx stepped forward, and I could have sworn her eyes flashed the same amber. "You rogues have a death wish coming here."

"Three against one? We'll take our chances."

"Three against two," I heard myself say, grabbing the emergency fire extinguisher from the elevator wall. "And I'm having a really bad day."

Nyx laughed, wild and fierce. "I like her. Kael's gonna kill me for this, but—" She lunged.

What happened next defied reality. Nyx moved faster than possible, her hands becoming claws—actual claws—and the men responded in kind, their faces shifting into something between human and beast.

Werewolves. They were werewolves.

One of them got past Nyx, lunging for me. I swung the extinguisher with all my strength. It connected with his skull with a sickening crack, and he dropped.

"Good girl!" Nyx had two of them down, their throats torn— oh God—One more!"

The leader grabbed me from behind, his claws at my throat. "Drop your weapon, beta or the human dies."

Nyx froze, fury and fear warring on her face.

"Let her go." The voice came from above, from the elevator shaft. Kael dropped through the emergency hatch, landing in a crouch that should have shattered his legs. But he rose smoothly, and his eyes were pure molten gold.

"Alpha King." The rogue's grip tightened, drawing blood. "One more step and she—"

Kael's growl shook the elevator. "That's my mate you're touching. Let. Her. Go."

Mate?

The word echoed in my head as Kael moved, too fast and suddenly the rogue was on the ground, throat torn out, and I was in Kael's arms.

"You're safe," he murmured against my hair. "I've got you. You're safe."

But I wasn't safe. Nothing was safe. Because the man holding me—the man I'd slept with, the man I worked for—wasn't human.

And he'd just called me his mate.

My eyes felt heavy as I slowly slipped into darkness.