Page 6 of Assisting the Alpha
But Zaiden’s been able to talk me into bad ideas since the day we met when we were eight years old. Sometimes they even work out.
“You know what?” I tip my head back and swallow the last of my drink, then slam my glass down on the table. “I’ll do it. I’ll apply.”
Zaiden whoops and hugs me hard. “Best idea ever.”
I laugh into his shoulder. I really hope he’s right.
Chapter Two
ETHAN
I tug at the starched collar strangling me as I leave my flat and head back down the stairs to the office space I rent in the same building. As the owner of a security company, wearing a suit for important meetings is sometimes a necessary evil, but knowing that doesn’t make the shirt and tie any less restrictive.
I swipe my pass to open the office door and quickly shut it behind me again as a sleek black jaguar streaks down the corridor, chased by an enormous Bengal tiger covered in glitter.
Fuck, I could really do without this today. I fold my arms across my chest, beyond done with these two.
“Jet! Raj!”
The pair skid to a halt, Jet crashing into the potted plant outside our open-plan office space and spilling soil everywhere. He picks himself up, shakes off his black fur, and bounds over to me, ignoring Raj’s snarls as he stalks after him.
I glare at the pair, letting out a little of my alpha power until they both sit on their haunches, eyes lowered and heads tilted to expose their necks. Jet lets out a low whine.
“Which of you is going to explain why my second-in-command, who is about to go to anextremelyimportant meeting with me, is covered in glitter?”
They both shift back to human form and start talking at once.
“It’s his fault! He?—”
“It was an accident! I thought?—”
I hold up a hand and they shut up. “On second thoughts, never mind. Get some fucking clothes on, the pair of you. What if one of the others brought a customer back here? Did you forget the meeting where we talked, at length, about no shifting in the office?”
They lower their heads again and tilt their heads, genuine remorse in their scents.
“Sorry, Ethan,” Raj says quietly. A lock of his glitter-coated black hair flops onto his forehead and he quickly pushes it back, glancing up at me with embarrassment in his brown eyes. His brown skin is still entirely covered in sparkly stuff that shifting didn’t do anything to dislodge.
Jet nods his agreement, making his already large eyes wide and innocent, his messy black hair and youthful looks adding to the butter-wouldn’t-melt impression.
I exhale my irritation, rein in the alpha power that’s leaked out, then reach out and place a hand on each of their napes. I brush my thumb over their scent glands and get glitter on my right hand in the process.
My wolf side is not impressed. He hates glitter.
Jet relaxes a little. Raj leans into my touch the way he always does; my poor touch-starved best friend.
“Raj, you can use my flat to get that shit off you. Make it fast.”
“Absolutely. Will do.” He rushes towards the office we all share, shedding glitter as he goes, then stops partway there. “Oh, that interview yesterday? I hired the guy. Kit should have emailed you the details.”
I raise my eyebrows, pleasantly surprised. Due to my sheer size as an alpha wolf shifter, not to mention my perpetual scowl, I make a shitty first impression and tend to scare people off even when I make an effort to be nice. Therefore one of my first tasks when I started my company was to put Raj in charge of things like recruitment, if it were ever needed. Raj, with his posh accent and love of Armani suits, makes a much better face for the company than I do.
Even so, he’s been having a hard time recruiting a local liaison in the supernatural community here—something we only realised we needed after months of us all struggling to get any kind of cooperation from supes across the city. Since having someone in the role is a crucial part of the bid we’re putting together, it’s a relief to have it sorted.
Before I can read up on the person’s CV and background though, I have a wayward jaguar to deal with.
Jet shifts from foot to foot as we wait for Raj to throw on the clothes he was wearing and head out with the suit he brought held at arm’s length, thankfully still free of anything sparkly. How Jet got Raj to strip and shift before pranking him, I’ll likely never know, but at least they both have something to wear.
Raj glares at Jet as he passes, which Jet responds to by wiggling his fingers in a stupid wave. As soon as the main office door closes behind Raj, Jet opens his mouth.
