Goodbye My Alpha (Taya and Griffon)

The blood drained from my face, and the young man from the past's face came back to my mind.

I tried my best to control my emotions. I knocked on the open door and asked respectfully, "Elder Thorin, you wanted me?"

Brooks put down the coffee cup and looked up at me. "Taya, you're in charge of the welcoming of the Sterling pack, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

Brooks glanced at his watch. "Please arrange dinner for this evening. You can book a high-end restaurant for six p.m., and I'd like for you to go to the airport to pick up Alpha Sterling." "Pick up Alpha Sterling?"

We worked with packs from all over the Midwest, and most of them made trips into MPC to handle business with other packs on neutral territory, or to arrange projects between packs. Many times, a pack wouldn't have the labor force for new construction, roads, utilities, and the like, so they contracted other packs to do the work via MPC. We ensured everything was above-board and there were no side deals being made that might have a negative impact on other packs.

But the Sterling pack Alpha had never come in.

And now Mr. Thorin wanted me to pick him up...

I blurted out, "Elder Thorin, I've actually resigned from my position here. I'm here to hand over my work today. Perhaps it would be better to have someone else attend to Alpha Sterling and dinner?" The three people sitting on the sofa looked at me.

I accidentally met Griffon's deep gaze, and my broken, diseased heart skipped a beat.

I pretended nothing had happened, quickly looked away, and turned to stare at Elder Thorin.

I had no idea how old he actually was, but he looked to be around fifty in terms of human aging. Wolf shifters aged different, more slowly. I'd met wolves who were over a hundred and still looked like they were barely middle-aged in human years.

Elder Thorin always looked angry, with a hint of disdain on his face, and people either felt terrified, awed, or inspired by him. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that he was a powerful elder.

But I'd never been afraid of Brooks. Most wouldn't even dare to look into his eyes, but I did. Maybe because I was a human and didn't feel the same pull to obey that wolves did.

For me, it was as if Brooks was my family somehow. He'd never made me feel anything other than cared for, like he was somehow watching out for me to make sure I was safe as the proverbial-and almost literal-lamb among wolves.

Now, I wondered if his treatment of me had all been because his daughter was abroad, he missed her, and I looked like her.

***

Brooks's noble face gradually darkened after being looked at so directly by an assistant.

Taya looked a little like his daughter, and he was kinder to her than he was to others.

But right now, her stare was disrespectful in the presence of others.

Was it because she felt that he regarded her differently? Did she think that gave her room to behave so insolently? How dare she challenge him in front of Griffon.

But he must maintain the demeanor of an elder. And he especially couldn't lower himself to argue with a mere human.

Brooks maintained eye contract with Taya, and his wolf pawed at him, displeased with the show of disrespect from the girl. It seemed they were at an impasse, with both Brooks and Taya refusing to look away. Tara broke the tense moment by saying, "Taya, I've seen your resignation letter. I haven't had time to approve it yet, so technically, you haven't tendered your notice yet. Why don't you complete the work assigned by Elder Thorin first and then talk to Lila about the handover?"