The Interview

CHAPTER 4

The room was dead silent. The kind of quiet that made it hard to breathe.

I stood there on the edge of the fancy rug, gripping the straps of my backpack so my hands wouldn’t shake. My head was spinning. Alistair Vance. I had kissed Alistair Vance. The most powerful Lycan around. The man who controlled my scholarship, my parents’ jobs, and pretty much my whole future.

He didn’t move. He just sat behind his big mahogany desk, watching me with those cold golden-amber eyes. Like a wolf staring at something small that wandered into its territory.

Behind me, the elevator doors closed with a soft click. Gideon had stayed outside.

"Sit," Alistair said.

His voice was deep and rough. It carried through the whole room and settled heavy in my chest. It was the kind of voice that expected you to obey without question.

I made myself walk forward. Every part of me wanted to turn around and run, but I couldn’t. I had already died once. I wasn’t going to let fear stop me now.

I pulled out the chair across from his desk and sat down, back straight.

Alistair leaned back a little. His big hands rested on the stack of files in front of him. He didn’t say anything about the kiss. His face stayed completely blank, like a mask.

"Evangeline Cross," he read from his tablet. "Eighteen. General work-study scholarship. Good grades in history and magical theory." He looked up at me. "And yet you’re already the biggest topic of gossip on campus before classes have even started."

"I didn’t mean to cause trouble, Principal Vance," I said, keeping my voice steady.

"Didn’t you?" One eyebrow lifted slightly. "You rejected the Vance Alpha heir in front of everyone. You broke the mate bond publicly. Then you kissed a stranger just to humiliate my son."

His eyes flashed with something dangerous. He was testing me. Waiting to see if I would lie or crack.

"Cassian was crowding me," I said, not looking away. "He thinks the mate bond means he owns me. I needed to make it clear that I’m not his property. Kissing someone else was the fastest way to show him I meant no."

"By pulling an innocent person into it?" Alistair’s voice got lower. A chill ran down my back. The memory of his hand on my waist from last night flashed through my mind. He knew he wasn’t innocent.

"He didn’t seem to mind," I muttered before I could stop myself.

The air in the room got colder. Alistair’s jaw tightened. His power pushed against me, heavy like a weight on my chest. A sharp pain throbbed behind my eyes, my hidden magic trying to push back. I swallowed the taste of blood in my throat and forced it down.

"Watch your tongue, Miss Cross," he warned. "You’re a scholarship student here by permission. Your spot at this academy is a privilege. My son may be difficult, but he is the heir. Your little stunt last night created problems."

"That’s exactly why I’m here," I said. I leaned forward and put my hands on his desk. "I’m applying for the maintenance and administrative assistant job in your executive suite."

Alistair looked down at my hands. He noticed the small tremble I couldn’t hide, leftover from last night’s panic. Something changed in his face for a split second. His eyes softened just a tiny bit, like his wolf had picked up on the trauma I was carrying.

"You want to work for me," he said flatly. "The father of the boy you just embarrassed."

"I want to work for the Principal," I corrected. "The one person on this campus who outranks all the rich students. I’m a hard worker. I know the campus. I’m careful. I’m not scared of high standards. If I’m working directly for you, the elite kids will think twice before messing with me or my family."

I needed to be close to the center of power. I needed to watch the records and stop whatever Cassian and his cohorts were planning.

Alistair stared at me for a long minute. The silence stretched until it felt like it might break. He was studying me, trying to figure out what I really wanted.

Finally, he tapped his tablet.

"Your application for the executive suite is denied," he said.

My stomach dropped. "Principal Vance, please…"

"However," he cut me off. "The facility department needs help in the restricted archives and lower tower corridors. You will handle basic maintenance there. You report to Gideon."

I blinked. He was keeping me away from his private areas. Probably because I made him uncomfortable after last night. But it was still something. The lower corridors would give me access to important parts of the building.

"Thank you, sir," I said. I stood up and put my backpack on.

"Do not make me regret this, Miss Cross," Alistair said, eyes back on his files. "Bring any drama into my tower and you and your family will be gone before the day ends. Understood?"

"Perfectly," I said.

I turned and walked to the elevator. Right before the doors closed, I glanced back. Alistair was still looking at his screen, but his hand gripped the pen so tight his knuckles were white.

I let out a long breath once the doors shut. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start. I had a small shield now.

The elevator brought me down to the main lobby. The moment I stepped into the bright atrium, a dark shadow blocked my way.

I looked up. Cassian stood right in front of me, with Marcus and two other big Alpha guys from the football team behind him. His golden eyes looked wild and furious. The whole lobby went quiet. Students backed away, making a wide circle around us.

"Did you think you could run, Eva?" Cassian hissed. He stepped so close his chest almost touched mine. "Did you think kissing some old bastard would make me leave you alone?"

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I didn’t need to check it. The game had started.