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CHAPTERONE
monday meetings
ALEX
It was Monday,and I was already regretting walking into the office this morning.
My head ached, but I ignored it as I sat at my desk. There were stacks of paper everywhere, coffee cups filling every empty spot on the desk. It was exactly how I’d left it on Friday when I’d gone home late.
This company was falling apart. Inferna had been a huge help, and we were working on fixing things, but I’d let it get too messy. Not to mention all of the terrible things that had happened.
I’d been living with the guilt. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like feeling responsible for what Alfred had done to my employees. I didn’t like feeling responsible for everything that had happened to the omegas.
In the beginning, I hadn’t known that I would cause so much pain.
Alfred was on my mind this morning. I hated him, hated everything he had done. I hated myself too.
I had made a lot of mistakes, and it was proving to be difficult to mend them. I was trying, but it didn’t help that the wolf had been nipping at my heels.
The moment we had ‘merged’ the companies together was the moment things started to change.
It had started with Inferna, Art, and Calen. Because of them, I was set free after being imprisoned. That’s when I realized the monster I had believed would never hurt me had done just that.
I had seen the terrible things he was doing when I wasn’t passed out.
Then it had been Cinder, Mich, and Lora.
A couple of the other employees around here had been caught working for Alfred too. I had foolishly believed that maybe he would let me go, to let us all go.
I should have known better.
In all the time I had known him, he had never been one to simply quit.
Then there had been Billy, Jaehan, and Charlie. They had been lucky. I had been able to use Jaehan’s magic to help us all, and for once, I had found myself feeling a little better about things.
I had helped. Kind of.
Ember, Minni, and Lea had been next. Ember’s magic was strong, and I had known that for some time.
If I had acted before all of this, then maybe no one would have been hurt. That’s what haunted me.
That’s what made me want to stop showing up on Mondays.
But I couldn’t quit. I wasn’t a quitter. I had to keep going and fix what I had broken.
A soft knock came at the door, and I looked up, not surprised to see Anne.
Her skin was golden and dusted with scales, the snakes that surrounded her head swept up into a bun. She had the lower half of a serpent, her tail stretching out behind her.
She was stunning.
She also worked for me.
I didn’t like that she was alone. I didn’t want her alone with me. Every time I saw her, I could feel my chest clench, which was a red flag.
“Good morning,” she said, giving me a bright smile. “I have the agenda for today ready for you. You have a lot of meetings. I know you just walked in, but I wanted to bring you a cup of coffee and talk you through it.”
I didn’t want her alone with me, and yet I’d somehow allowed her to become the first person that greeted me every morning.
