CHAPTER ONE
bloom
I blinkedtears from one eye as the contact lense folded instead of going onto my eye normally.
Again.
Muttering a curse, I pulled it away and blinked a few more times. One of my irises was muddy brown in the mirror. The watering one was a red so bright it nearly glowed.
I unfolded the contact and tried again to pop it back into place. Despite wearing the things since I was a toddler, I still wasn’t used to them.
At this point, it was safe to say I would probably never adjust.
It had been an incredibly long morning, which didn’t help. The company I worked at was closing on a massive deal, which meant lots of paperwork for my boss.
My boss didn’t do paperwork. Or anything, really.
He put it all on my plate. I was technically just his assistant, but everyone I worked with knew his job was mine in everything but name and salary.
I had pulled an all-nighter to get it done. Now, I just needed to get Steven, the company’s chief of operations, to sign it.
Which would probably take all day. Our COO existed to make my life difficult.
The bathroom door swung open, and I closed my eye slowly over the contact lense. My best friend was supposed to meet me there, but I worried anyway.
Constantly.
If someone saw my red eye, they’d know what I was.
Everyone else in the company would find out soon after that.
By the end of the day, I’d be in prison just for existing. If not straight-up dead.
Vampires were hated, after all. We only survived if we stayed hidden. The werewolves who ruled human society had ensured that.
Harper’s scent met my nose.
I relaxed and lifted my eyelid. Thankfully, the colored contact lense stayed where it belonged, making my red eye look the same shade as the other one.
With my straight, dark brown hair tied up in a high ponytail, my freckled, tan skin, and my average build, the contacts made me look like a completely human and entirely normal twenty-five-year-old.
“I brought coffee,” Harper announced, as she locked the door behind her. She had drinks in both hands, and I recognized the smell of our favorite shop’s vanilla lattes immediately.
The bag hanging on her shoulder probably had the change of clothes I’d asked her to bring me.
“What happened? Are you okay?” I asked.
We only spent money on fancy coffee when something went wrong. The coffee the office provided was too good to bother.
“Okayisn’t the word I’d use.” Harper crossed the expensive charcoal flooring to meet me at the far end of the gigantic bathroom.
Werewolves preferred everything oversized, and the company we worked for was owned by some of the most powerful wolves.
“Did you feed someone last night?”
“Yeah.” The dark circles under her eyes stood out against her paler-than-usual skin as she leaned against the sink.
Her platinum blonde hair fell sharply to her chin, and the short black blazer and slacks she had on worked perfectly with her strong build.
