Chapter 57

Angeline’s POV

My irritation grows as I walk through Thorne’s building. He hasn’t come to see me since he sent me away from the office yesterday, and I want to know why. I haven’t been able to meet up with him outside of his workplace since I arrived a few days ago.

First, Thorne was away visiting another Alpha, and now, he’s at work. He isn’t answering my calls, and I have a feeling he’s avoiding me. It’s upsetting that Thorne isn’t readily available like I want him to be. Even last night, when I showed up at his house, he wasn’t there.

I don’t know where he was at midnight, but clearly, he wasn’t home. Not to mention the fact that he wasn’t receptive of me when I kissed him yesterday. I’m not sure what was up with that, but Emma and Ivy had both told me I needed to clearly display my intentions so he and other people would know who I am.

Ivy was insistent, saying that Thorne needed a reminder of who he should be with.

As I pass the assistant’s desk, I notice she’s not sitting there like yesterday. The human smelled plain, yet somehow, she ended up working for my man. Ivy had mentioned something about the human woman, but I wasn’t paying attention.

Though, maybe I should have because when I glance through Thorne’s office window, I see him and the human holding hands.

“What happened?” Thorne asks, turning her hand over.

“It’s nothing. I was carrying too much and spilled my tea,” the human woman says. “It was freshly made, so it burned.” I scoff at the woman’s clumsiness. Humans are so fragile and weak. I expect Thorne to respond similarly, but he growls and moves to the other side of the room.

He reaches into a cabinet, pulls out a first aid kit—that he would never need—and guides the woman to the couch.

“You should be more careful, Aurora,” Thorne says softly. His actions and tone surprise me because he always claimed to hate humans. I’ve never seen him be kind to one before, especially a female.

Since when is Thorne soft toward women? He was never even this soft with me, and as I watch him pull out medical supplies, I feel my anger growing. Ivy was right. I have to set things straight around here because there’s no way I’m letting a pathetic human take my man from me.

My gums begin to burn as my fangs try to descend, but I bite them back while watching Thorne apply burn cream to his assistant’s hand. Then, he takes her legs and lifts them into his lap. He gently applies the cream to the burn on her ankle, pausing to check on her when she whimpers.

The man who never focused on anything other than work has willingly stopped working to help a human apply medicine. My suspicions rise as I watch the scene in front of me. It makes me sick. The tenderness he displays.

Where was that tenderness when we were dating?

Where was the willingness to stop working?

Clearly, it isn’t that Thorne is incapable of such compassion, as I’d originally thought.

The Thorne she knew had always been distant and focused on work. He was cold, but this man is almost an entirely different person. What had happened in the few months since we broke up to change him so much?

“Thank you, Thorne,” Aurora says, and it sends a wave of anger through me. I can’t let this go on any longer. There is no way I am losing Thorne to a human.

Pushing the office door open, I walk in, plaster a smile on my face, and watch as the human jumps away from Thorne. That’s right. Get away from him.

“I’ll have those files ready for you soon,” Aurora tells Thorne before scurrying out the door.

Once she’s gone, I turn to Thorne who is cleaning up the first aid kit and speak, “Let’s go to lunch. I would love to catch up with you.”

“Of course,” Thorne says, a tight smile pulling at his lips as he glances at the door. The slight movement catches my eye, irritating me more. Would he rather be with her?

“We know my brother has a mistress, but we have yet to figure out who she is,” Ivy had told me over the phone a few days ago. Was that why she called me back? To keep her brother from being with this human? But, she said they didn’t know who the mistress was.

I’ll have to ask her and see if she has any ideas of who it could be.

Currently, this little human assistant is at the top of my suspect list.

Thorne’s POV

Honestly, I would rather be back at the office eating lunch with Aurora than be sitting here across from Angeline as she recounts a story from her travels. However, I need to set some things straight with Angeline. I have a feeling that the reason Aurora left work early yesterday is because of Angeline.

I didn’t miss how she hurried out of my office with a random excuse when Angeline barged in. I wanted to make sure her burns were alright after I applied medicine, but she left too quickly.

Again, it was because of Angeline.

First, she kissed me without permission, and now she’s barging into my office without permission. I’d let things like that slide when we were dating, but we aren’t anymore. Angeline will have to understand that if she wants to stick around.

I don’t want something like this to happen again while Aurora is around. She deserves better than seeing my former girlfriend all over me, especially since I promised her I wouldn’t be in a relationship with someone while I’m with her.

“The man was so sweet to his finance,” Angeline coos, pinching the air like she’s pinching someone’s cheeks. “It was the perfect end to the day, and it just reminded me of how much I love you, Thorne.”

I look up from the steak on my plate, clearing my facial expressions to listen.

“I’ve wanted to apologize for how we ended things, Thorne,” Angeline continues, reaching out. I don’t let her take my hand, which I can tell irritates her. Her eye twitches. “The argument was my fault, and I was foolish. I should be more respectful of how busy you are because your work is important.”

Is she serious?

“I want to make it up to you and—”

“Angeline,” I interrupt. “I’m not looking to renew our relationship.”

Internally, I know I don’t love this woman, and honestly, I don’t think I ever did. She was a good friend that turned into a convenient relationship to keep my stepmother off my back about mating. Nothing was ever truly romantic between us.

Angeline wanted my status, and I wanted to get my parents to stop pressuring me about relationships. As an adult, I shouldn’t have to worry about that, but within the werewolf community, if you’re unmated by your mid-twenties, everyone starts thinking you’ll be alone forever.

So, I look up at Angeline and tell her the same thing I told her when we broke up, “I have no intention of dating or marrying you, Angeline. I’m too busy with work and with my Alpha duties.”