Personal Assistant to the Alpha (Book 9 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 16

A moment later though, he was shifting back, and a very naked Malachi Remington was standing in front of her.

She immediately looked away. She could not stare at her boss naked. No matter how much she wanted to, and boy did she want to now that she'd determined he wasn't nuts. She'd been right. The man was gorgeous naked as well as in a designer suit.

"You're going to give a girl a heart attack doing that," she muttered to herself under her breath.

Apparently, he'd heard her. "Shifting into my wolf?"

"Parading around naked." He could do it every day though. She wouldn't mind watching him shift into his wolf. The man was incredibly sexy. 

He snorted. "I'll keep that in mind."

Several moments later she heard him sit down. "So now do you believe me?"

"You made it a little hard not to. And you're telling me that everybody that works here is a werewolf?" She now had to wrap her head around the fact that werewolves were an actual thing and apparently living in New York City. Who knew?

"Most of them, but not everyone." He was still tense she noticed, but slightly less than he'd been before.

"You don't even work here, so how do you know? Is there like a list?" Now she was just curious, and very glad he wasn't crazy. She still had no idea why he'd told her though. That was the one thing she had yet to figure out. Why did he feel it necessary that she knew. This seemed like something that would be a huge secret, and not to be shared with just anyone.

"I can tell when someone is a werewolf and when they're not. Werewolves have a distinct scent." He was sitting back in his seat now, his blue eyes watching her closely.  Which he seemed to like to do all of the time.  

"So, you know I'm not." It was kind of dumb for her to even say. Obviously, he knew she wasn't, or she wouldn't have asked him to prove he was.

"Yes, I know you're human." He still wasn't smiling and she kind of hated it. She wanted to see him smile again.

She sat down herself, letting him know she was still comfortable with him. She was. She'd realized that very quickly. She'd seen his muscles and knew he could easily overpower her if her really wanted to, but he was sitting across the table from her, giving her space. "So, is this what werewolves do, run multi-billion-dollar businesses?" Hopefully he'd smile at that.

He did. "Not necessarily. Big Apple is unique, but we've always done a lot of business with them for years now, many years. You're not going to find a werewolf pack in every major city. Most prefer to live out in seclusion. I'm not a huge fan of the city myself," he admitted.

"Packs?" There was so much to unpack from that one statement, but that was the biggest thing that had caught her attention. That and the fact that he didn't like living in the city. She found that rather intriguing. He fit in so well here. Maybe he wasn't what she'd assumed he was.  

She realized at that moment how little she knew about him. Except perhaps his biggest secret. The one that defined him. Malachi Remington was a werewolf. And apparently werewolves were very good looking because she'd been attracted to every one of them. Him most of all.

"Yes, we tend to live in packs. Our own small communities," he said.

"So, this is like a huge pack of werewolves?" And she'd been right in the middle of it. Not that she'd felt unsafe at any point. She realized she didn't now either. Somehow, she knew instinctively that he would never hurt her. It was weird, but she just knew it.

"Yup and Alejandro Ramirez is their leader. Clay is the second in command," he said.

Along with CEO and COO of Big Apple Industries. She supposed that made sense. "But you're not a member of this pack." She knew Remington Enterprises was based out of Pennsylvania and had assumed that's where he lived.

"No, I'm not."

She sat back thinking for several long moments about what all he'd said to her. She could understand the need for secrecy now. No one had told her so far that she was basically in a den of wolves, until Malachi Remington thought it necessary for her to know. She wondered if Mr. Abbott would have ever told her. "Is it a werewolf thing to be so good looking and muscular?"

He smirked at her question. "Yeah, it is. But we do tend to enjoy working out."

I bet, she thought, though she didn't say it out loud though. She shouldn't have even asked him that question. It had popped out of her mouth before she'd given it any serious thought. "Why are you telling me this?" It was the other big question in her mind. Mr. Abbott hadn't found it necessary for her to know their big secret, but Malachi Remington did. Why? The only thing she could think of was that it had something to do with this acquisition, and she would need to know. Maybe it involved another werewolf pack? But then she still wasn't sure why she needed to know.  It felt like one of those, I'll tell you, but then I'd have to kill you, moments.

He sat back in his seat, and she watched his shoulders tense up again. "Well, that's where it gets complicated."

She didn't say anything this time. She would think the werewolf part was complicated enough, but apparently not. Whatever he was about to tell her, this was the part he was nervous about. That was pretty obvious. She decided to remain quiet and let him speak. After the bomb he'd just dropped on her, she couldn't imagine what else he could have to say that could have him this tense. The urge to go over and touch him was really strong too, surprising her.

"I don't know what you know about wolves, but they mate for life. We werewolves do as well. There is one person out there who is our soul mate, and when we come across them, we know it instantly. There's a bond between a werewolf and their mate, a very close, intimate bond that is absolutely amazing," he said softly.

She was intrigued by what he was saying. Very intrigued. She couldn't imagine knowing instantly that the person before you was the one you were supposed to be with. Your soul mate. Werewolves were lucky. "So is your mate here, and that's why you're working here?" That made sense though she still had no idea how she fit into the picture, until a thought occurred to her.

He smiled. "Yes. So I can get to know her."

"Is it Candy?" It could explain why she'd been all over him last week, though she had yet to show up in his office this morning.

He frowned in bewilderment. "Who's Candy?"

Maybe not. "The blond woman. Mr. Ramirez's personal assistant." She found it rather interesting that he seemed to have no idea who she was talking about.

He was quiet for a moment and then a look of disgust crossed his face briefly. "No. She's not my mate."

She wasn't quite sure what she thought of his reaction. Had Candy lied when she'd said she'd slept with him? He really seemed rather disgusted by her and he had ignored her the other day. "So, who is it then?" She hadn't met any other women here, except Lori who no longer worked here and was pregnant. She wondered if Mr. Abbott had a mate. She guessed not from what he'd said the one day.

Her gaze darted back to Mr. Remington and found him staring at her again, something he seemed to like doing. All of a sudden, it clicked in her head. She remembered her dreams, when he'd told her over and over again that she was his soul mate. Before he'd had sex with her. She swallowed hard. Did he think that she was? "I'm not a werewolf," she muttered under her breath. There was no way. She couldn't be mated to this beautiful man. She was so far out of his league. She looked back at him. Was this why she'd felt that connection to him? Why she'd been obsessing over him? Why he'd been staring at her so much since the first time they'd met? Why he'd told her his big secret? 

He gave her that sexy smile of his.