Page 24 of Alpha’s Possession

How the fuck did I miss that detail and mess up so spectacularly?

I’m about to quickly wash the mug and fix my stupid mistake, but I stop in my tracks when I hear footsteps coming from the elevator lobby. God damn it, they arrived already!

Rhen walks in first and retrieves his mug as my heart hammers against my ribcage. I quickly make Leon’s coffee, fully aware that if I wash the mug in front of Rhen, he might suspect my doings. What’s done is done; I can’t take away the stupid mistake I made.

The men file in one by one, retrieving their coffees, and Leon plucks his mug from my hand just as Thane walks in, as grumpy as ever.

“The files,” he demands. Oh, that means there will be no ‘good morning, sunshine’ now? I’ll show him! One day he will regret ever thinking about messing with me!

“On my desk,” I stutter out, and he looks at Raidon.

“Don’t you live on the other side of town?” Thane asks as he brings his hand to his face and pinches the bridge of his nose. What got him so worked up?

I nod my head, unsure if I should say anything at all. I was here to sign for the documents. Isn’t that what he wanted from me?

“How did you get here so fast?” Rhen asks, and I blink at him as this shitstorm clicks together. They are looking for a reason to fire me. How dare they? I’ve been an outstanding employee. Do they not remember the state of that damn filing room and the clusterfuck they left the kitchenette in!

“I always arrive early to work,” I lie, shrugging my shoulders to make my words more believable. “Early bird catches the worm,” I grit out, infuriated by the thought that these four men are trying to sabotage me.

“Good. You can get the mail every morning,” Thane growls at me and snatches his cup. As Thane brings the mug to his lips, my eyes dart to Leon’s right as he sips his coffee.

My heart does a double, no triple, backflip as I restrain myself from showing off the devious smile that tugs on the corners of my lips. I grab my mug and walk out of the kitchenette, suppressing my laughter. Maybe I didn’t get to hit my actual target, but Leon deserves this after what he did yesterday anyway, so it’s not all bad.

“I think our dishwasher needs deep cleaning again. My coffee has a funny taste,” I hear Leon whine behind me.

I don’t bother to turn around and observe my small victory, but I can’t help but smile as I walk back to my desk. I reach for the envelope that turned my entire morning into a catastrophe and turn around to find the devil himself standing directly behind me. By the devil, I mean Thane, because if the devil actually walks the face of the earth, there is no more precise representation of the source of evil himself than one of my bosses.

Thane snatches the envelope from my hand, turns on his heel, and storms off toward his office. Well, good morning to you too, asshole! I think as he slams his door, making the windows rattle.

Chapter Eighteen

~Harlow~

It seems like the following week flies by in a blur. All four of the asshole Alpha-gang keep dumping ridiculous tasks on my shoulders, but the one I’m stuck on now is definitely the icing on the goddamn cake.

Apparently, there is another package coming in tonight for Thane that is so damn important, and I’m the one who has to deliver it to their packhouse before the clock hits 7 p.m.. Those morons never promised to pay me for overtime hours, yet gladly use every chance to make my work experience as miserable as possible.

“Here is the key you can use to lock up when you leave. The delivery will be at the loading docks behind the building,” Rhen says with a chuckle as he passes me the key. This is so unfair! I have to stay behind for an hour after the workday ends.

I watch him leave with the others before I make my way down to said loading docks. The place looks like what one would expect to find—down here, it’s a dimly lit area, but I still manage to find a few staff areas, a cleaning supplies closet, and some kind of storage area packed with packs of printer paper of various sizes and broken computer parts.

This week, the four men have done everything and sought any—even the stupidest—reason to fire me. Too bad for them, because they’ve actually taught me a valuable lesson about myself—I’m damn amazing at working under pressure, and each time I complete one of their ridiculous tasks successfully, I swear, Thane looks like he is about to blow up or murder me. Ah, the sweet, silent taste of little victories.

As I wait by the loading dock, I glance at the key in my hand and the security password. I’m back to sleeping in the plaza stairwell, and the last few nights I had barely any sleep. I have also reached a dangerously low amount of my suppressants, which only makes matters worse.

I dread running out of them because Thane and Raidon have me running ragged all day long; I’m too tired to even walk to the strip club and beg Tal for some work.

Oddly enough, Leon was AWOL today and yesterday. The rest of them are tense and acting out of character, making me wonder what is going on with the fourth asshole.

Nevertheless, this is not the time for me to dwell on something that is not even remotely related to the task at hand nor any of my business. So instead, I watch the time tick by and grow annoyingly impatient. Where the hell is this delivery person?

My eyes are once again drawn to my phone as I glance at the time. I have fifteen minutes until the delivery arrives. Honestly, I still don’t understand why Thane didn’t let me leave work and return around the time I am supposed to pick up his delivery. And what really confuses me is why he couldn’t get it delivered to his packhouse if he needed it there, not at the office.

A chuckle leaves my lips as I shake my head at the silly thoughts. Of course, I know why Thane is doing this. He wants to break me and have a reason to fire me or push me out of the company by driving me to quit. I guess that’s the reason why he and the rest of the assholes have been doing nothing but killing me with one impossible task after another for the past week. God, do I hate them. I hate them with passion.

My eyes dart in the direction of the storage locker behind me. I have a master key to the building. For a brief moment, I contemplate skipping across the street to the smoke store where I know they have a key cutter. I pass by the building so many times that it’s impossible to miss the sign. Besides, the store is only open for a few more minutes, so technically, I have enough time to run there and back before the delivery person arrives.

In spite of my better judgment, I succumb to the temptation as I chew on my bottom lip. At least it sounds a little better than spending my nights on the stairwell at the plaza.