Chapter 14

Aurora POV

A white jar appears in front of my face, making me jump. My knee smacks against the underside of my desk, and pain sprouts there.

“Sorry,” a deep voice says.

When I look up, I find Thorne’s Beta standing there. He has the white bottle in his hand and a sheepish smile on his face. He nods to my knee, “Didn’t mean to make you hurt yourself, but I was told to buy this ointment for your neck, and I guess now for your knee too.”

He puts the jar on my desk, and I look at it.

“You were told?” I ask, glancing at Thorne’s office door. The Beta nods and smirks.

“Yes, I was sent to all the way to the Human Quarter to retrieve it,” he tells me. Surprised, I unscrew the lid to find a white ointment in the jar. The Human Quarter is on the smallest town on the outskirts of the pack. It’s so far out that from here, it would take at least an hour to get there by car.

Why would Thorne waste Beta Jace’s time to go that far out?

“I don’t think I should—”

“It’s alright, Aurora,” he says, making me look up again. “There’s no need to hide anything from me. I already know about everything.” He motions between me and Thorne’s office, where Thorne sits behind a computer at his desk.

Heat flames my cheeks at his insinuation. He knows about the contract.

“Thank you, Beta Jace. I’m sorry you had to go out of your way for me.” I bow sightly to show my thanks, but he only smiles.

“Make sure to use it well,” he says, and with that, he leaves me with more questions than I care to think about. Thorne already said we’re keeping this purely physical, so I push any thoughts of true care out of my mind and try to convince myself that he’s just being a kind boss.

After quickly applying some of the ointment to my neck, I set it in my purse and get back to work.

Thorne comes out of his office a few times to set files on my desk, but he doesn’t say anything to me. There are sticky notes on each stack with instructions to organize, file, or retype the edited physical documents.

I’m in the middle of retyping one of the files that Thorne gave me when a man walks by my desk. He walks past me once, then twice, and as he goes by a third time, I look up. What is he doing?

“Can I help you?” I ask.

“Oh, no,” he says, shaking his head. “I just wanted to get a look at the little human that somehow wormed her way into the Alpha’s assistant position.”

His smile is kind but his words and eyes are anything but nice. The little snicker that shakes his shoulders tells me he’s happy to bother me.

“How did you get this job, human? The Alpha is…” the man looks me up and down, smirking, “He has much better taste, so it couldn’t be that you’re fucking him. Did he take pity on you?”

I try to ignore the man, focusing on the document in front of me, but he continues to harp on me.

“Are you upset? I guess that means you won’t make it her much longer if you get irritated easily.”

Chewing on my bottom lip, I type the next few sentences as he keeps demeaning me. I can’t do anything about it because I have no grounds to argue with him. I am sleeping with the boss. I am human. I am weaker than them. I am irritated.

He’s not entirely wrong, though, I still wish he would leave me alone to do my work.

“Andrew, leave the human alone,” a familiar voice says. Isla walks up and pins Andrew with an annoyed glare. “She’s trying to work. Do you want to be the one in trouble when Alpha Thorne asks for this document, and she tells him that you were keeping her from completing her job?”

The man stutters then excuses himself. Isla rolls her eyes.

“Andrew is one of Ivy’s little spies,” she tells me, and I freeze. “Yes, Ivy has planted people around the company so she can know everything that happens.”

“Why?” I ask, curious and slightly confused.

“She’s a control freak. Ivy holds a high position here in the Alpha’s office, but that position is almost a ghost position. It doesn’t come with much power, and it doesn’t have much substance to it, so she’s not around often,” Isla explains, only making me have more questions.

I don’t know much about Ivy, other than the fact that she’s entitled and territorial of Jackson.

“Then why did Alpha Thorne give her the position?”

Isla chuckles, “To placate her. She comes in when she wants, makes sure she’s seen, makes a few unimportant decisions, and then leaves. However, she has her spies around to keep her updated on everything happening here. You should keep a low profile and stay away from them. If they set their sights on you, it’ll be over for you.”

I already want to stay away from Ivy after the other night. She hates me enough, that I don’t need anymore of her ire directed at me.

“Thanks for the warn—”

Before I can finish my words, people rush past us, talking loudly and waving. I turn to see what the commotion is about, and I immediately duck down in my seat.

Speak of the devil and she appears.

Ivy is surrounded by employees greeting her happily. I guess whoever is cursing me thinks I haven’t had enough trouble for the day.

“Aurora, come here.”

Thankful for the distraction, I jump up at Thorne’s command and rush to his office.

“How are the documents coming along?” He asks, looking up from his monitor.

“Good. I’ve finished organizing the new papers, and they’re ready for your next meeting,” I answer. “I filed the completed documents, and I’m working on retyping the ones you edited.”

He nods and rests his forearms on the desk, revealing his rolled-up sleeves and muscular forearms. I swallow and raise my eyes to stay focused on his words.

“I want you to throw out the files pertaining to the Human Cooperation Project. I have decided to put it off indefinitely—”

“Why? Cooperation between werewolves is becoming more and more important as our worlds merge further,” I say, stepping forward.

Thorne’s eyebrow ticks up at my interruption. “I don’t trust humans. Each interaction I have with a human makes things worse.”

“But that’s just because we don’t fully understand each other, yet. The only way to get past that is to learn how to cooperate with each other,” I argue, shaking my head.

Thorne’s intense gaze follows me across the room as I busy myself with making his iced Americano while I talk, “If you want peace between the two groups, you can’t shut the other side out. I know you’re stronger and more powerful, and yes, there are so many bad humans, but not everyone should be condemned for the actions of a few.”

Turning, I face him, not knowing what to expect in response. I slowly walk toward him as he mulls over my argument.

Just as I stop at his side, there’s a knock at the door.

“Big Brother, did you hire a human? How can a human have qualifications to be your assistant?”

I startle, jumping, at the sound of Ivy’s voice. My grip on Thorne’s Americano slips, and it falls, spilling all over Thorne’s pants.

My heart drops as his eyes darken. Panicked, I pull my jacket off and immediately launch myself forward, wiping at his pants to clean them.