Olson stopped in the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb. He looked conflicted. “Did something happen that I should be aware of?”
“Um, no?”
Olson raised an eyebrow. “You’re being unusually happy and cagey about it, is all. The last time that happened, you had just gotten together with Ballus. And we all know how that’s going. So I’m worried about y—”
He stopped talking and sniffed. His eyes widened.
Here it comes,Aaren thought.
“That’s another alpha’s scent.”
Heat surged through Aaren’s face. “Um, yes?”
Olson scrunched up his forehead. “I don’t understand. You said you haven’t dumped Ballus.”
“I can’t. There’s a contract involved and everything.”
“So you just...” Olson opened and closed his mouth. Then he sighed heavily, rubbing his face. “Aaren, for your sake, I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Not really?”
Olson thumped his forehead against the doorjamb.
Aaren felt bad. He didn’t want his boss-friend to hurt himself! “He—The new alpha, he knows about Ballus.”
“And he... doesn’t care?” Olson asked carefully.
“He says he’s going to make me forget about Ballus.”
Dark eyebrows crawled up Olson’s forehead. “Huh.”
“He’s an ex-con, he’s big and scary. So I think we’ll be okay?” Aaren waved his hands, trying to convey just how big and scary Hades was.
“Ex-con, huh? Anyone I know?”
“His name is Hades.”
An odd look crossed Olson’s face. Then he pulled out his phone, tapped a few buttons, and held it to his ear.
Who was he calling?
“Hades,” Olson growled. “Aaren just told me about you. What the hell do you think you’re—” He paused for a long while, listening to whatever Hades had to say. His scowl didn’t ease, though. “If you hurt a single hair on his head—” More listening. Finally, he said, “Fine. But I’m keeping an eye on you.”
Olson ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket.
“You just yelled at an ex-con alpha,” Aaren whispered, awestruck and a little intimidated. “I want to be you when I grow up.”
Olson huffed. “I have to be fierce, dealing with all the drunk alphas in this place.”
Aaren made a face. He didn’t envy Olson for his job. “So, uh. You’re okay with Hades and me...?”
His boss sighed. “Hades is a good person. He and his Brothers have been teaching Rex some self-defense. I just don’t want your whole...” He waved his hands around. “Your whole thing to come back and bite you in the ass. What are you going to do if Ballus finds out?”
Aaren grimaced. “I hope he never does.” Then he paused. “I didn’t just jinx myself, did I?”
Olson sighed. “I don’t know. Be careful. Ballus is a nasty piece of work.”
“Don’t I know it.” Aaren drooped. “Hades followed me here all the way from Mount Hood.”
