chapter 8

An honest, quiet child- this was Stan's first impression of Avery, and his tone softened. He had seen too much of the darker side of human nature, and Avery was a breath of fresh air.

Avery watched as he brought out a sleek, new iPad and handed it to her. She took it, assuming he wanted to show her something, but his next words nearly broke her calm facade.

"This is yours. Important files and documents will be sent here. Guard them well," Stan's said seriously. He explained everything thing she needed to know about the job as the car drove deeper into the estate.

From his explanation, it was clear that she was almost like the right hand of the CEO. She would be Scheduling and organizing the CEO's appointments, meetings, and travel plans- the normal PA duties, but why does she have a feeling her work would be more demanding and hellish?

She nodded along with a focused gaze, showing she was absorbing everything he said.

"If you have any difficulties, let me know," he added patiently, noting how seriously she taking in his words - unlike those ark members who wanted the position but carried themselves as if they knew everything. Ignorant but proud, the lot of them.

"Before I forget, you won't be living here. This is where Mr. Lucas stays on weekends. You'll be taken to your residence after seeing Mr. Lucas," Stan said as the car pulled into the garage.

They got out, and Avery tried hard not to gawk at the mansion in front of her. Her heart was gripped with anticipation and unease as she followed Stan into the house. She was about to meet the mysterious, ruthless CEO of the business world.

She discreetly adjusted her shirt collar and checked her appearance with her phone camera.

Satisfied, she turned her attention to the house interior. The decor had a darker theme -simple, and elegant, but lacking a homely feeling. She summed it up.

She sat on the black sofa and waited patiently.

Her head turned at the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and at that moment, the air seemed to freeze. Her heart skipped a beat, pounding erratically in her chest.

Her fangs painfully extended from her gums, and she salivated. For the first time in her existence, she felt an overwhelming urge to sink her fangs into a person's artery and feed on his warm blood.

She bit her tongue, drawing blood, and she regained control of herself.

"What the hell just happened?" She thought, sweat soaking her back as the most handsome man she had ever seen appeared before her. His black hair, tipped with silver, fell in curls over his face. His broad shoulders hinted at mouthwatering muscles hiding behind his clothes.

He was dressed casually, his firm hands typing furiously on a tablet with a focused expression.

He didn't look up but paused when he caught a whiff of peaches coming from his new PA. He ignored it assuming it was just his choice of cologne.

"We'll be working together, Mr. Graves. I have my rules, and I expect you to comply with them," he said, his authoritative husky deep voice sending sharp tingles down Avery's spine. She dug her fingers into her palms to maintain control and replied, her voice trembling slightly.

"Hello Sir, I will be in your care. Please direct me," she said calmly.

Hearing her voice, Lucas paused in his steps to the chair and looked up from his tablet.

"Mate!!!" His wolf, Silver screamed in his mind, throwing his heart in disarray. He barely held back his emotions.

"It's not possible!" Lucas snapped and his wolf, stealing one last glance at Avery before leaving.

Avery wasn't bothered by his abrupt departure; she slumped weakly into the chair, at this moment she realized her job just become more complicated on another scale.

Lucas slammed his study door shut and threw the tablet on the chair. He ruffled his hair, arguing fiercely with his wolf as he paced the room.

"Don't just see any random creature and call them 'mate.' I'm not that desperate."

"Stupid human, that's our mate you're calling random...mark her," Silver growled urgently, it had been thirty years without a mate

"Not to dash your hope, but I'm straight, and in no way am I going to let something like a mate disrupt my life," Lucas retorted, ignoring the fact that Silver had referred to Avery as ''her.''

"Growl! I'll mark her myself if you won't!" Lucas Black's pupil changed to silver, showing that his wolf was fighting for control.

"Quiet! Even if he is our mate, we can't mark him against his will, and he isn't my sexual preference." Lucas rubbed his brows in frustration, trying to reason with his wolf.

"It's a female," Silver muttered fiercely before succumbing to Lucas's reasoning.

He sat across from the desk, unscrewed a whiskey bottle, taking a large gulp. As his mind calmed, he began analyzing the situation more logically.

Being a silver breed, the last of his kind, it was documented in the history of other silver wolves that it was impossible to find a mate of the same kind, and if other creatures, it was still rare to find his mate if not already dead. It was futile to search.

But now, suddenly, there was a mate. Did he spray something to confuse his wolf? Who sent Avery to him? Was this some new underhanded method from his enemies?

"Why do you keep calling him 'her'? He is a man." He asked his wolf thinking it was not like his wolf to make such an obvious mistake.

"Human! Don't doubt my sense of smell. My mate is a woman, and I don't why you keep doubting me," Silver snapped feeling underestimated and thought foolish.

Feeling Silver's firm and serious emotions, Lucas believed him. Why had she disguised herself? Was she sent by his enemies to get close to him? And her identity is so perfect that even his people couldn't find anything wrong. Who is she?

Propping his chin on his hands, Lucas's black eyes flashed with cold calculations.