SUBLIMINAL.

Adora's pov.

"I'll only stop if you let me in." His deep voice spoke from the other side of the door, and I rolled my eyes at that, I wasn't ready to deal with him now, Derek was a part of my past that I never wished to revisit, He had been my saving grace once, my light at the end of a very rough and dark tunnel, the only person that I had ever let in and opened up to without any fear whatsoever, he had been my safe space, my best friend and lover all in one, but even he had not been enough to help save me from my own self, and in the process he had gotten burnt, just like they all did, I ruined him without even knowing it, he was the reason I chose to run, from everyone and everything that I loved, I chose to save him instead.

"Adoraaa" He growled lowly enough for me to hear, his knockings had gotten a tad louder now and I could hear his heavy breathing from my office, I knew Derek would wait for as long as it took, he had always been a patient man who always got whatever he wanted, and right now I was what he wanted.

I stood up and dragged myself to the door, opening it with a big dramatic sigh as I leaned on the wall, denying him any space to get in, I tried to act as casual as possible, not allowing this man to think that he still had any effect on me.

He stood firmer now, gently pushing me away from the door as he locked it, and went to get comfortable on the couch, "Please, make yourself comfortable alpha." I said, my voice laced with heavy sarcasm as I waved my hands in the air and bowed exaggeratedly for hos royal highness, He nodded his head in gratitude, clearly ignoring my statement as he motioned for me to take a seat, in my own office.

I took another deep breath, to calm my nerves and my heart, "Why are you here Derek?" I asked genuinely in a low voice, as I sat on the table, wanting to get all this cleared up before we started working together, his face scrunched up in confusion, and he looked up at me as if I was some kind of fool. "You did say long enough in the meeting to know why I'm here." He answered, searching into my eyes to see if I had just understood what he had said.

"Ok" I nodded, good for everyone then I guess, I wouldn't pry much more than that, I was satisfied with the answer he gave me, even though we both knew, how big and fat of a lie it was.

"And here, in my office, I'm sure the meeting is still on, why did you follow me here then?" He stared blankly at me, before he let out a dry chuckle as if I had just said the most incredulous thing he'd ever hard, "You will not be staying at my pack.", he said, as he stood up and came to stand in front of me, and looked down to where I was sat as his tall frame now towered over my seated one.

My breathing shallowed as I took him all in, This was the first time I was getting a good look at him, His lavender scent was stronger up close, mixed with an even stronger cologne that made me want to tear his clothes of him and take them home, only the clothes. He was dressed in a white tee that hugged his buff muscles tightly and black jeans with a pair of white converse, his arms were crossed together, making his arm muscles pop out more and look bigger than they already were, I swallowed tightly as my eyes moved to now scan his face, his sharp striking jaw was still present, and he still had some light freckles on the sides of his nose which were not as visible as they used to be, and his eyes were different too, cold and unwelcoming, and the scar on his temple, looked like a small tattoo now.

"As I was informing you Adora, you both will be staying at my private villa, which is only three hours away from my pack, I will be coming to you and not the other way round, The villa is safe and in it is everything you will be needing from your personal things to the business stuff, you do not have to worry about that, Otherwise you are not allowed to set foot in my pack, are we clear on that?"

"Is that all?" I asked, mirroring his cold tone, "That is all for now," he answered, staring intensely at me, as if challenging me to deny his orders.

"I'll let Tony know then, no need to worry Mr. Nicholai, if there's something my partner and I do best then it's respecting boundaries," I stood up, and brushed past him to go and text Tony, I took my phone from the bottom drawer and pressed Tony's contact before I felt my head begin to get heavy, I started feeling hot again, and my palms instantly became a sweaty mess causing the phone in my hand to slip off my hands, I tried breathing in and out slowly but nothing seemed to work, I shut my eyes tightly for a few seconds, willing myself to calm down, hoping that this was just my body over reacting and it would soon be over.

My concentration was all over that I didn't even notice Derek come over until I felt his hand feeling my fore head to check if I had a fever. I brushed it away weakly and tried to stand up on my feet, before I came crashing down, and he caught me just before I could fall, His scent became stronger now, and my body was tingly with excitement as he held me, I began to carve his touch, wanting to be devoured with his full pink lips, I wanted....... My eyes grew wide in embarrassment as It slowly dawned on me, I was on heat, how was I on heat? Why was I on heat? I thought.. but I haven't ......I quickly stumbled out of Derek's arms as I moved to search for my phone.

"Calm the fuck down woman." Derek scolded gently as he moved to help me up, "What do you want with your phone?" He asked confused, "Tony, "I answered quickly, noticing how his eyes became colder at the mention of his name, his grip on my hand tightening a little bit, Ï need Tony to take me home, he's the only one I trust to take me home, home, I have to go home right now, what the fuck is happening, Tony, call Tony to ........." Derek's loud growl cut off my mumbling, "I will take you home, me, got that,?" He growled deeply as he moved to pick my phone up before scooping me up and carrying me outside, and then everything went black.