by Alisa Woods
What she, Nova Wilding, wanted didn’t matter. That did.
Nova tore herself away from the window and sunk down into the oversized leather chair at her desk. She’d locked up her father’s office right after the funeral—his chair was the only thing she had pulled out before sealing it off. She couldn’t even begin to think about going through his things. As far as she was concerned, they could leave everything as a shrine to the way he had built this company from scratch. The darkened, shade-pulled windows of his office reminded everyone, including her, why they were pressing on with the release of Domination on schedule. The chair she was sitting in reminded her even more, every day, that he was still there in spirit with her, holding her up, encouraging her. She knew he would have released this beta on time if there was any way possible to do it. She was just as sure that he planned for her to pick one of the fine wolves he had collected into his pack over the years as a mate so she could take over his company someday.
It just wasn’t supposed to be this day. Or any day soon.
The screen in front of her blurred with sales projections, social media management, advertising budgets, a shitload of other stuff… why couldn’t she just stick to coding? Or game development? That she understood. This, the business part… she grew up with it, but the details were all still new to her.
She dropped her head into her hands. How was she ever going to pull this off? It had been a month since her father was murdered, the deadline for the release was looming, and she had never felt more lost.
That’s what kissing Owen really was about—forgetting all of it for a moment. Now she was back to reality, and somehow, she had to make reality work. She was trying to sort through and figure out the spreadsheets on her screen when a tap came at the door.
It opened, and Brad strode in, not waiting for permission. Owen was stationed out outside her door, like normal, and the icy glower he had for Brad surprised her a little. Normally, Owen’s face was army-stoic, except for that fire in his eyes when she had pushed him away…
Brad closed the door behind him, cutting off her view of Owen’s dark look.
“Hey, hot stuff.” Brad moved swiftly around her desk and took her by the hand, pulling her out of her chair. He had her in his arms before she thought to push back. He peered at her and frowned. “Are you okay? You looked pretty shook up for that two and half seconds you spent in the office yesterday after the attack. I called your cell a bunch of times, but you never picked up.”
Nova just shook her head and stepped back, well out of reach. “Just needed some time to… sort things out.”
He looked pained. “God, Nova… I told you that was a bad idea going to the VA.”
She squeezed her eyes shut—that was the last thing she needed to hear right now. She opened her eyes to glare at him. “You think I don’t feel bad about what happened? My driver died, Brad. I could’ve died.” She opened her mouth to say more, but she couldn’t force the words out to describe all the jumbled feelings inside her.
He came closer, his large hands reaching for her shoulders. “I know,” he said softly. “It’s been killing me, thinking about it all night.”
She wanted to pull away, but his dark magnetism drew her in. He held her tight, and it was times like these that she wondered why she worked so hard at pushing him away. Of all the wolves in her father’s pack, he was the natural pick. He was good-looking, but that wasn’t it. He had a strength about him that enveloped her. He was such an alpha’s alpha—sometimes she felt lost in his presence. And she hated that feeling. It smothered her, and if she was his mate… the magic would make that feeling overwhelming. And permanent.
“You don’t need to worry about me,” she said, even though it felt reassuring that he did.
“All I do is worry about you.” He moved his hand up from her shoulder to run a finger along her cheek. “You know how I feel about you.”
He’d made no secret that he wanted her for a mate and would fight anyone in the pack for her. Which was completely barbaric and ridiculous… and also pretty damn hot.
“I told you, I’m not ready for that.” She leaned away from him, but he didn’t let her go.
“It’s been a month, Nova.” His strong hands eased her close again, and he slipped his hand into her hair, around the back of her head. “I know you’re still mourning… but I also know you need what I have to offer.” Then he leaned in, and before she could protest, his lips were on hers, firm and demanding. He had kissed her before, during times of weakness when his attention broke her down, and her body always betrayed her, responding to his… as if her wolf couldn’t resist his overwhelming alphaness. His tongue swept across her lips, then pressed inside, demanding that she let him into all the dark corners of herself. Her wolf had been begging her to take Brad to bed forever—to let him run those rough, strong hands all over her naked body—but now she was just whimpering off to the side, waiting it out, suddenly cold to the charms that normally had her panting.
Brad must have felt it because he pulled back and frowned. “I know you’re scared, baby. Anyone would be. I’ll get Riverwise to send us more security. I’m sure they’ll want to after yesterday, anyway. And I don’t want you leaving the office for any reason other than to go straight home.”
She pulled away from him, untangling completely from his arms. “You don’t give me orders, Brad Hoffman.” She turned her back on him and stalked to the window, clenching her fists at her side.
She felt him come up behind her. “Those aren’t orders, Nova. They’re just common sense. You’ve got to protect yourself—”
“I am protecting myself!” She whirled back to him. “I can’t stop living my life just because there’s someone out there who wants to end it.”
“It won’t be this way forever,” Brad said, a truly pained look on his face. “Don’t fight me on this, Nova, I’m just trying to look out for you. Like your father would have.”
“My father is dead because of these people.” The fire was rising in her voice. “I’m not giving them what they want by cowering and hiding.”
Brad shook his head and gazed out at the city, biting his lip like he was trying to summon the tremendous patience he needed to deal with her.
She was very tempted to tell him to fuck off and get out of her office. “Did you just come here to see if I was still alive? Or did you have some actual business?”
He looked wounded, but she didn’t care—he should know better than to order her around. That was the fastest way to piss her off. The only time she had ever butted heads with her father was when he tried to tell her where she could go and what she could do. Which was part of why he always made it clear that choosing a mate was her decision, not his.
Brad took a deep breath. “Actually, I came in to talk about the new offer from the console guys.”
A fresh fire rose up inside her. “No. Way.”
“You haven’t even heard the offer, Nova.” He gave her a patronizing look.
“I don’t need to, Brad. You know how I feel about that. Wylderide is strictly PC gaming. We’re not going to consoles now, or ever if I have anything to do with it.”
They had fought this battle many times, and it was just one more reason why she couldn’t take him for a mate. He was a fantastic game designer, but his ambitions always outran their core philosophy as a gaming company—they would stick with the PC gamers who had always stuck with them, even in the early years when they were just a tiny startup before they were winning awards and getting featured in Wired magazine. If Brad were alpha and CEO of Wylderide, their games would be on Xbox, PlayStation, Wii U and even Nintendo, for Christ’s sake.
Brad looked even more frustrated. “You have to think of the future, Nova. You’re not the only person who works at Wylderide. We’ve got employees, now. People to think of—going to consoles will expand our market triple-fold.”
“And betray everything we are to our current loyal c
ustomer base.” She jabbed a finger at him. “Next thing you’ll be saying we should add in-game purchases to AfterPulse.”
His jaw muscles worked. “Actually, I was thinking that if you didn’t go for porting the games to Xbox, or one of the other consoles, that in-game purchases was the only way we were going to grow—”
Nova threw up her hands. “Oh for fuck’s sake! Get out of my office.” She turned her back on him and crossed her arms over her chest. Now he was just trying to piss her off.
Brad was silent for a second behind her. “Nova.”
“What part of get the fuck out did you not understand?” Her rage was boiling over, even more than she normally felt when he suggested taking the company in a completely different direction than her father ever intended. Brad had fought endlessly with him over these issues, and now that he was gone… couldn’t Brad see she was desperately trying to preserve her father’s legacy? How could he not realize these things would be a complete betrayal of everything her father stood for?
She heard Brad move quietly behind her, then his hand landed at the small of her back. She flinched away and gave him a glare.
“You’re right,” he said.
“Damn straight, I’m right.” She refused to look at him again.
“You’re right that it’s too soon to talk about this,” he said softly. “I’m not going to say you’re right about the business side of things, but you know what? I don’t care. All I care about is you.”
She let her head fall forward, the anger boiling off with his words. The truth was that Brad truly did care about her—she knew that—even if they fought like wolves and witches sometimes.
“Someday you’re going to take a mate, Nova Wilding,” he said softly at her back. “And when that day comes, I want it to be me.”
And it always came back to that.
Brad and the other wolves… they were all waiting for her. She could feel it. The eyes that followed her every morning when she showed up for work. The whispers behind hands. She wouldn’t be surprised if there were a company pool going about who she would pick. Only Brad had alpha-muscled his way to the front of the line, just like he always did. He’d been her father’s favorite ever since he joined the pack five years ago. She’d only been a kid then, but Brad had always had his eye on her, she knew that.
And now… now fate had intervened and pushed the Question of Brad to the forefront. Now probably was exactly the right time to see if he was the alpha she could pledge her life to… and that Wylderide needed to move forward.
She just couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“Nova,” he said, voice still soft, conciliatory. “Let me take you to dinner. We’ll start out slow, okay?” His warm fingers brushed the hair from the side of her neck. He leaned in, slipping an arm around her waist and holding her gently from behind.
She didn’t resist.
He bent his head to whisper against her neck. “My wolf sings to you every night. All he dreams of is sinking his teeth into that beautiful neck of yours.” Then his lips brushed her skin, sending gooseflesh racing across it. “You belong with me. You know you do. Let me in, and I’ll make every fantasy you’ve ever had come true.” Then he kissed her neck, only it was more of a nibble. He was feasting on her neck when she hadn’t said so much as a word.
She cringed away from him and twisted forward, her back to the city. Her hands went to his chest to shove him away, but he captured them and trapped them against him. He backed her against the glass.
“Stop pushing me away.” His dark eyes bored into her, and he pressed one hand against the glass behind her head, leaning his body into hers. She could feel his erection straining through his pants, pressed into her side. “Do you see what you do to me? Stop fighting what you know is right. We belong together.” Then he moved in to kiss her again… the hard feel of his hands on her, his body pressing her tight, his cock ready for her… it almost made her want to give in. To simply say, yes, take me. Claim me. Make all of it go away. It had been so long since she’d had a man, anyway…
But even as his lips fumbled around hers, she knew it was all wrong. Kissing Brad was like being swallowed by a hurricane, whereas kissing Owen…
She pushed Brad away and resisted the urge to wipe the residue of him off her mouth. Then she squirmed away from his hold and strode back to her desk. “I told you, I’m not ready.”
The tense silence of his non-response spoke of his anger. She kept her head ducked, her hands busy tracing keys on her keyboard.
“I can wait, Nova.” She could hear his breathing from across the room. “I’ve waited this long. But the pack can’t wait, not forever. And I’m the right wolf for you—you know that.”
She shook her head, still not looking at him. Not a definitive no, but one she hoped would at least get him the hell out of her office.
He stood there, waiting for an answer from her… then finally huffed his frustration and left, leaving the door propped wide.
Owen’s scowl followed Brad as he marched away, then he turned an inscrutable expression to her through the open doorway. Heat rose in her face, and she hurried over to slam the door shut. Then she closed her eyes and leaned back against it.
Damn Brad and his demands. He didn’t have a claim on her. No one did, not unless she chose it. And the mere fact that she could have Brad’s lips on her while thinking thoughts about Owen… and how his kiss had charged her body like nothing she’d felt before… the whole idea of being with Brad, of giving up and giving in, turned to ash in her mouth.
Even her wolf agreed.
Kissing Owen was everything she wanted and everything she could never have. And she liked it way too damn much for her own good.
Or the good of her father’s company.
It was late, going past ten o’clock, and Owen was pretty damn sick of sitting in his chair. He was waiting for Nova to finish out the day and come out of her office. But she was locked up tight and hadn’t said a word all day to him. Owen hadn’t heard a peep out of her since the throw down she had with that asshole Brad who works for her.
Owen was sure she hadn’t eaten either, which was why he’d ordered up a sandwich to be delivered to the office. When it arrived, he decided it was time to drag her out and talk some sense into her, if not some dinner as well.
He tapped on her door and waited. There was no response. He knocked again, louder this time, and heard a muffled something through the door that he took as permission to enter.
Nova was buried behind her screen, her little form lost in that oversized black chair. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and headphones covered her ears. She stared at the screen, and the light of it flickered across her face.
She didn’t even look up. “I said, go way.” Her voice was way too loud with the headphones on. He wasn’t entirely sure she was talking to him and not the screen.
He strolled up to the desk and dropped the bag of food next to her keyboard. She jerked back and gave it a strange look, as if she’d never seen take-out before. Then she tapped something rapidly on the keyboard, and the flickering stopped. She pulled her headphones off and set them on the desk.
Her cute, scrunched-up face peered up at him. “You brought me food?” As if that was the most unexpected thing he might do. Little did she know he’d been thinking of a whole lot of other unexpected things he could do with her—like bending her over that wide desk of hers. Or throwing her down on that rumpled cot she kept in the corner, obviously there for camping out late at night, working, like she was now. But those were thoughts to keep in his head, not spill out his mouth.
Instead, he shrugged one shoulder. “Unless you’ve got a secret snack bar in here, I figured you hadn’t eaten all day.” He glanced around the room for the tale-tell Doritos bags and Red Bull that a lot of coders at Wylderide used to decorate their desks, but hers was pristine. Just her keyboard, mouse, cell phone, headphones and… he finally caught a look at what was on her screen
.
Shit. She was watching the video again—the one the hate group put up that listed all the names and locations of the Wilding pack. That video had tipped off whoever murdered her father and now was after her as well.
He shook his head at her. “Believe me, I understand losing yourself in work…” He flicked a hand at the screen. “But this is straight-up destructive what you’re doing.”
“It’s not destructive,” she protested, pushing back from the desk and rising to her feet.
He gave a non-committal hmpf and scrutinized the video, even though he’d seen it a hundred times. The star of the thing was a man in a metal-looking armor mask, like something a medieval knight would wear. It completely obscured his face. He called himself The Wolf Hunter in a modulated voice that made it untraceable—Owen and Riverwise had given it a shot, but came up with nothing. What was clear was the scrolling names and addresses of the wolves he had doxed—exposing them to a world that already hated shifters. But this was all old news, and there was nothing to be gained from her spending hours alone at night in her office going over it.
He dragged his gaze from the screen and back to her dark eyes, watching him… then he gestured to the video. “This isn’t helping anyone—it’s just going to tear you up some more.”
She scowled at him. “I’m trying to figure out what we’re really up against.” Then she pursed her lips and turned away, marching to the window to stare out at the nightscape of the city.
She was dressed in one of those costumes again, the kind from her futuristic combat game. Most of the characters wore the same stylized black gear she had on the day before, but today, she was wearing a skimpy camouflage tank top, a pair of olive-drab cargo pants, and heavy black boots that probably weighed as much as she did. Her long black hair cascaded down her back, but he’d already noticed her perky little breasts holding their own under the tank. She wasn’t wearing a bra as far as he could tell, and he shouldn’t have noticed, but he did. He cursed himself for having thoughts like those when she was obviously still rattled by yesterday’s attempt on her life. But that scorching hot kiss was still on his mind—in fact, it had played on an endless repeat throughout the day, as much as he tried not to let it.