APEX

Ch. 11: On the Edge

I scowled at my screen. She'd given me an order like I was an unpaid intern instead of an Alpha with his finger on the pulse of his company. I brushed away thoughts of what else I'd like to have my finger on and lingered at the edge of the rooftop for a few minutes without answering her text, or the next five that came in after it.

Fuck this, and fuck Calla—not literally because that would be my downfall. It was bad enough she had control over my work life; I could not give her an inch when it came to my personal existence. If that meant keeping my distance and her always assuming I was a guilty wilding shifter, then so be it.

"I thought I'd find you up here."

Her floral, honey scent floated towards me like a swarm of bees ready to attack.

God, I hated this.

"I got your litany of texts, Calla. I was on my way."

"It doesn't look like it."

I turned toward her but kept myself near the plexiglass wall. "Lots of things don't look the way they really are to you. Nothing I can do about that."

She forced her cherry red lips into a tight, glossy pucker. I focused my gaze on a potted fern to avoid being lured in by them.

"What's your problem, Alpha? We have an important press conference in less than three hours, assuming your family hasn't murdered me before three o'clock."

I widened my stance as my brain replayed the missing best friend side plot that had helped propel me to this new level of consternation. "My family doesn't know anything."

"But they will if you tell them."

"I'm the one who warned you that they couldn't find out!" And then it hit me...there was a part of Calla that feared me. I knew something that could get her killed if my family found out. It would take me all of two minutes to set in motion her demise.

"It's better if she fears you," Aamon's imagined voice whispered to me. "It's the natural order of things."

My own nature said differently, however. Her fear triggered something primal within me.

I took several long strides until I was standing in front of her. I could so easily have folded her into me, placed her head on my chest and wrapped my arms around her. The urge to reassure her, to make sure she knew she was protected, was damned near uncontrollable.

But I did control it. What would I get in return if I didn't? I hated that she was afraid of me, but I was also afraid of myself when I was around her. I stopped before I could touch her, closed my eyes so I couldn't see that bruise on her forehead, and breathed through my mouth to lessen the intoxicating effect of her scent.

"I can't make you trust me," I told her. "So, I'm done trying. Let's just try to get through the press conference without incident."

Narrowing her eyes, she placed her hands on her hips and matched my defensive stance. "Make sure your brothers don't fuck this up."

I snorted. "You're the boss. That's your job."

"As your boss, I'm ordering you to keep your brothers in check."

"What are you going to do if I don't?"

She opened her mouth and then closed it again. I had the leverage here. I could throw her to the wolves—literally—if I wished. And yet...was that really the sort of Alpha I wanted Calla to believe I was? Was I like Aamon, or did I make my own rules?

"Look, Calla, we both know things about each other we'd prefer to keep from my family. Your little investigation into Vicki's disappearance, for instance, and my..." I paused, hoping she'd finish my sentence so I wouldn't have to say it myself.