Aria

“I-I’m so sorry about last night. I was drunk, and—”

“Lucas. Come.”

The man didn’t even look at me as I tried to explain myself—he just snapped his fingers. Laughably, the affectionate husky with eyes that looked an awful lot like his owner’s whined and sat down next to me.

“Lucas…” The man seemed to be growing frustrated, and I had to choke down a chuckle as the dog cocked his enormous head and whined again.

“Is he a show dog?” I asked, nodding toward the husky.

The man finally looked up from his dog, but only to glare at me. “Excuse me?”

“A show dog.” I felt heat creep up my neck, even though it was supposed to be an innocent question. “He’s really beautiful. And quite large, even for a husky.”

“Oh.” The man shrugged and said, “No. He’s just a… rare breed.”

My eyebrows shot up at that. “What breed?”

The man opened and closed his mouth for a moment, little puffs of white air escaping, clearly not in the mood for small talk. Finally, he responded, “Part wolf.”

“Wow!” The exclamation slipped out of me before I could stop it. “No wonder he’s so big! Purebred wolves are enormous—I spent a summer once working at a wolf sanctuary and—”

“Lucas. Let’s go.”

My mouth snapped shut at that, and I felt my face turn what was sure to be a brilliant shade of crimson. Clearly, my attempts at small talk were unwelcome.

But the dog just sat there.

And yipped at his owner as if in protest.

I had to cover my mouth with my hand to hide my smirk. Finally growing impatient, the man turned on his heel and began to stride away. “I’m leaving, Lucas. Unless you want to find your own way home, you should come with me.”

He talks to the dog like he’s a human, I thought to myself, but I couldn’t blame the guy. I often did the same with animals. But shockingly, the dog barked and whined once more as if responding, pawing at the grass with one foot.

The man’s back stiffened, and he stopped in his tracks.

“Lucas…”

The dog growled softly and nuzzled my hand, clearly not wanting to go. By now, the other dogs had relaxed somewhat and were sniffing him curiously, although he didn’t seem all that interested in them.

“I guess he likes me,” I joked.

“No. He doesn’t.” The man turned, placing his hands on his hips, and continued to stare at the dog. “I’m not sure what you did to make him come to you, but he’s not usually this friendly.”

I frowned, cocking my head. Was he implying that I’d given his dog treats or something to make him come to me?

“He just ran up to me,” I remarked, and placed my hand on Lucas’s head. “Seems friendly enough to me.”

Sure enough, the husky nuzzled into my hand. His owner looked a bit surprised, creases forming between his dark brows. A slight breeze ruffled the loose hairs around his face, and even though he was being a bit standoffish—for good reason, I supposed—I couldn’t help but blush at how handsome he looked.

“How did you manage that?” the man asked. “Lucas is… particularly picky with who he likes.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Dogs have always liked me, I guess.” Suddenly having an idea, I pulled my business card out of the pouch at my hip and held it out to him. “I’m actually a professional dog walker. If you ever need someone to walk him when you’re busy—”

“I don’t need to pay someone to do something so frivolous.” He didn’t even glance at my business card.

I quickly looked away, feeling embarrassed beneath that piercing gaze. Right; he still hated me for what I had done last night. “Sorry,” I managed, pulling my hand back. “I just thought…”

Suddenly, as if a dog whistle had gone off somewhere nearby, the husky began to howl and whine miserably. The man sighed, staring at the dog with his hands on his hips. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that the guy and the dog were in the middle of some kind of battle.

Finally, the man shook his head as if giving up. “Alright, fine.” Before I could react, he took my card and studied it. “It’s rare to find someone who Lucas accepts, so I guess I’ll take it. Just in case I need a babysitter.

My eyebrows shot up again. “You mean a dogsitter?” I quipped.

The tips of the man’s ears reddened slightly. “Right. That’s what I meant.”

I let out a tiny breath of relief. More work was always a plus for me, especially with wealthy businessmen like this guy, and dogsitting made even more money than walking. I watched as he studied my card, and those mismatched eyes glanced up at me.

“You’re Aria?” he asked.

I nodded and stuck out my hand. “Aria White, at your service. And you are…?”

The man looked at my hand for a moment, as if considering, then sighed again and shook it. “Darren Avarise.”

“Nice to meet you, Darren.” His palm was warm and large against mine, practically dwarfing my fingers. I was taller than most women—standing at five-foot-nine—and it was rare for me to feel so small next to a man.

But with Darren… He had to have been at least six-five, maybe more. I almost had to crane my neck to look up at him.

“Ahem.” Darren cleared his throat, and I quickly pulled my hand away, realizing I had been shaking his hand for far too long.

“Sorry,” I managed, turning away in the hopes that he wouldn’t see me blush again. “I should get going—these guys need their playtime. It was nice meeting you.” I paused, swallowing, and added over my shoulder, “I really am sorry about last night.”

Darren didn’t respond, and so I went to leave.

But before I could take more than two steps, I felt something tug at the hem of my sweater.

Stopping, I looked down to see that Lucas was biting my sweater. His mismatched eyes stared almost pleadingly up at me, and a soft whine escaped his throat as if he didn’t want me to go.

“Oh, uh… See you too, buddy,” I said, patting his head. The dog still didn’t release my sweater, and I let out a small chuckle and glanced over at Darren. “I guess he really does like me.”

Darren just stared at his dog, looking shocked. “Lucas.”

Only then did the large dog, albeit reluctantly, release his grip on my sweater—leaving a big, wet mouth print on the fabric. Whining, he tucked his tail between his legs and hung his head as he returned to his owner’s side. Darren walked away without a word, and Lucas shot me one last sad look before following him.

I couldn’t decide whether to laugh again or feel bad. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded adding the big softie to my list of clients, although I doubted that Darren would actually call me. I shook my head to dispel the notion as they disappeared over the hill and returned my focus to the other dogs.

…

By the time I returned home that day, it was past noon. I’d spent more time than usual at the park, savoring the fresh air, and had also chatted for a while over coffee and more oatmeal cookies with Anna.

I kicked my boots off by the door, tossing my keys onto the counter as I trudged back into my apartment. Home sweet home…

I need to clean today, I thought, glancing around at the unwashed dishes in the sink and the full hamper in the corner. It was a small apartment, just about all I could afford, which meant that it got messy quickly.

First, though, I grabbed my laptop and settled cross-legged onto the sofa to get some writing done. I hadn’t even opened Word, however, before a new email notification was popping up.

“RE: Job Application to Lunar Labs — Application Accepted.”

Aria

“Dear Aria,

We are pleased to let you know that your job application to Lunar Labs has been accepted. Are you available to come to our head office for an interview today at 2 PM?

Best,

Adam (Hiring Manager)”

I rubbed my eyes, wondering if what I was reading was a figment of my imagination.

The advertising department job I’d applied to months ago at Lunar Labs, the top canine nutrition company in the country, had finally gone through. I thought that my application had been ignored, seeing as how I had no formal degree, but…

“Dear Adam,

I would be honored to come for an interview today. See you soon!

Best,

Aria White”

I typed out the response before I could even think twice; this was a huge opportunity, after all. To have a position at Lunar Labs, regardless of position, was basically a ticket to financial security.

A quick glance at the clock revealed that it was almost one o’clock, and Lunar Labs’ head office was on the other side of the city, so I’d have to move quickly.

Slamming my laptop shut, I bolted to the bathroom for my second shower of the day—just to make sure I wasn’t covered in dog hair—and quickly rinsed off. Once I was clean and dry, I picked out a smart outfit consisting of a pair of tailored trousers and a clean white button-down that I saved specifically for interviews, and then I was out the door.

As I ran for the subway, I still couldn’t believe that I was even being considered for the job. I had never been able to afford college due to a… rough upbringing that resulted in emancipating myself early and living in youth homes/communal situations for years.

So because of that, I was usually passed over for full-time jobs. Applying for this job was even a bit of a stretch despite my experience with animals and freelance writing, so when I hadn’t heard back for months, I didn’t think much of it.

But now, I was finally getting my chance. I just hoped I would make the right impression.

I made it to the Lunar Labs head office with ten minutes to spare after taking two different subways, and smoothed down the front of my slightly-rumpled shirt as I strode in through the front doors.

The building was sleek and modern, with tiled white floors and walls that were mostly comprised of windows. It was situated right along the river, lush gardens that were gorgeous even in the dead of winter lining the walkways. A koi pond sat in the middle of the lobby, gold and red fish flitting about beneath the serene surface as vines in hanging pots swayed from the ceiling.

It was so… nice.

I knew that Lunar Labs was an extremely successful company, but I’d always pictured a cold and industrial office building, not contemporary white chairs and lush plants and enormous abstract art pieces.

“Hi,” I said, somewhat out of breath, as I stopped near the sleek front desk. “I have an interview. The name is Aria White.”

The receptionist, a freckled redhead, looked up and eyed me up and down over the rim of her glasses.

“Human?” she asked, looking confused.

“I…” My eyebrows shot up in surprise, and I let out an awkward chuckle. “I mean, what else would I be?”

The receptionist didn’t reply, instead furrowing her brow as she typed on her keyboard. A moment later, she pushed her chair back and stood, leading me over to a set of frosted glass doors behind the desk. “Right this way.”

Still puzzling over that strange question, I followed the receptionist—who was just as tall as I was, if not taller, and her heels made her even more so—through the doors and down a bright white hallway.

As we passed by employees and rooms with big windows that revealed meetings going on inside, I couldn’t help but notice that people seemed to be… staring at me.

I glanced down at my shirt, wondering if I had developed some nasty pit stains during my mad dash across the city. But my outfit was just as neat and clean as before, my hair pulled back into a tidy bun at the nape of my neck.

Maybe they’re just not used to newcomers, I thought. Or they can tell that you’re poor as hell just from one look.

Finally, the receptionist opened a door at the end of the hall and gestured for me to enter. “Adam is just inside,” she said, shooting me a terse smile. “Good luck, human.”

And with that, she was striding away, her heels clicking rapidly on the tiled floors.

Human…?

“Come in.” I looked up to see a man with brown hair and a neat beard gesturing for me to enter, and I managed a smile, shutting the door behind myself. He glanced at me up and down, just as the receptionist had, as I took my seat.

“You’re human?” he asked.

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I laughed, wholeheartedly believing that this was some kind of inside joke at this point. It was a company for canine nutrition, after all. “Very funny.”

The man, Adam, smiled tightly and shuffled some papers on his desk. “Haha, yeah,” he said, confirming my suspicions—albeit weakly. He gestured to me and leaned back in his chair. “So, tell me about yourself.”

Even though I had applied to this job months ago, I had come prepared. Without missing a beat, I launched into an explanation of my past experience.

“I began volunteering at various animal shelters at the age of twelve,” I began, sitting up straight. “Every weekend, I would help care for and walk the dogs. At sixteen, I spent an entire summer working at a wolf sanctuary outside the city, and—”

“A wolf sanctuary, you say?” Adam cut me off, cocking his head.

I nodded. “Yes. I helped care for the sick and elderly wolves. It was an amazing experience.” I went on, “After that, I took on a job at—”

“Hold on a second. You said you are human, correct?”

Frowning, I stopped mid-sentence. What the hell…? If this was a joke, it wasn’t really funny anymore. If anything, it was just becoming downright weird. “Yes,” I replied, trying my best to sound unbothered.

“I see.” Adam stood, stroking his beard as he looked down at me. “I’m afraid you won’t be cut out for this position,” he said after a moment.

I felt my stomach drop. “But I thought my application had been accepted,” I managed. Why would they invite me for an interview, only to tell me that I wasn’t ‘cut out’ within the first two minutes?

“Yes, well… I’m afraid our application system is run by AI,” Adam explained, looking a bit apologetic now—although not as much as he should. “Sometimes it makes mistakes.”

“But—”

“I’m sorry, Miss White.” Adam moved some papers aside and picked up what looked to be a copy of my resume. “I see here you have no formal education. The position requires a bachelor’s degree at minimum.”

“Oh.” I felt my shoulders slump. I did recall that the job listing had said as such, but I had applied anyway, figuring that there was no harm in trying. I did have extensive experience in animal care and freelance writing, after all.

Adam tossed my resume back down on his desk. “My apologies, Miss White. You can see yourself out.”

I didn’t move right away. “I can’t even complete the interview?” I asked, starting to feel a little frustrated. “I mean, your system was the one that made the error, and I came all the way here—”

“I guess I need to repeat myself,” Adam chuckled wryly. He spoke slowly, as if speaking to a child. “You. Are. Not. Qualified.”

“But my experience—”

“You lack the education. Plain and—”

“What are you doing, Adam?”

Adam and I both jolted at the sound of the familiar voice. Eyes widening, I turned, and there he was: Darren.

Before I even had a chance to process what was happening, Lucas was bounding into the room and nuzzling my leg, whining as if he hadn’t seen me in a hundred years. Meanwhile, Adam stammered incoherently and Darren placed his hands on his hips.

“I’m the one that accepted her application,” Darren explained, striding into the room. “Unless you’re implying that I’d be so careless as to make a mistake in the hiring process at my own company.”

Oh No.

It was then that it hit me.

Darren was the CEO of Lunar Labs—therefore making him one of the richest people in the country.

And I accidentally kissed him last night.

Aria & Darren

Aria

“M-My apologies, Sir.” The interviewer’s previous haughtiness suddenly seemed gone, replaced by an intense eagerness to leave. “I didn’t know it was you who accepted her application. I would never question the Alpha’s decision.”

That word—Alpha—stuck with me. This was certainly shaping up to be the strangest interview I’d ever attended. What was this place, some kind of weird cult?

“See yourself out,” Darren said dismissively. The interview dipped his head and slipped out without another word.

Darren and I stared at each other in silence for a few moments before I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“You’re the boss around here?”

“Indeed.” Darren circled the desk and took Adam’s seat.

“So you did want to hire me,” I said, standing. Lucas yipped and nuzzled my leg, his large body almost blocking me from the exit.

Darren simply shrugged and gestured to the dog. “As you can see, Lucas is quite… taken with you.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He’s been quite restless since he met you. So just name your price, and I’ll hire you as my full-time nanny.”

“Nanny?” I almost spit the word out—why use such a word in reference to a dog? “The position I applied for was ‘marketing assistant’, not full-time dogsitter.”

The raven-haired CEO’s mismatched eyes seemed to darken a bit at that, but he quickly composed himself.

“You’re not interested?” he asked. “Not even if you could name your own salary?”

“$200,000?” I asked with a smirk, not really expecting him to accept.

Darren merely raised an eyebrow. “That’s all?”

My eyes widened. “You’d pay more than that?” I glanced down at Lucas. “For a dog?”

“My… dog is important to me,” Darren replied simply.

I placed my hands on my hips. “What about upward mobility?” I asked. “I don’t want to be a dogsitter forever.”

“I never said anything about a job in the company. I’m only interested in hiring you as my nanny.”

I paused for a moment, considering as I stared down at the dog. He was still leaning against my leg, wagging his tail as those big mismatched eyes stared up at me. Normally, I would have found it sort of cute and funny that a man like Darren had picked a dog who shared the same eyes as him, but right now I had other things on my mind.

The offer was tempting, to say the least; if Darren didn’t even think that $200,000 was a lot, I could name a salary of a million dollars a year if I wanted, and all just to watch a dog all day. I loved dogs, and it would basically be like taking a vacation year-round.

But money wasn’t everything. I had dreams; I didn’t intend to be a dogsitter for the rest of my life, no matter how much I earned.

Still looking down at the dog, I was suddenly struck with an idea. This dog clearly held a lot of importance in the CEO’s life; perhaps I could use it to my advantage.

“No.” I turned, grabbing my purse off the back of my chair.

Darren raised an eyebrow. “No? You do realize this is the opportunity of a lifetime for a—” His words cut off, as if stopping himself, before he continued, “a person like you.”

I scoffed. “That’s precisely why I’m not interested.” I stuck my chin out at him as I slung my bag over my shoulder. “I may not have a degree, ‘Alpha’, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have dreams. Sure, I couldn’t afford college, but those factors were outside of my control, and it doesn’t make me any less deserving of a bright future. And even if I had gone to college…”

I gestured around at the office, at him, at the dog that he insisted on treating like a human.

“This is all a little weird, and I’m not entirely convinced that you’re not some kind of low-key cult leader who would expect me to treat you like an Alpha male. So unless this is a real job with benefits and a chance for advancement, I’m not interested.”

Before Darren could respond, I turned on my heel and made for the door.

But I couldn’t leave.

Because the dog suddenly leapt into the doorway and howled, blocking my way.

Darren

“Cult leader,” she had said.

I almost scoffed. If only the human knew the truth…

“Please, Dad,” Lucas whined through our Mindlink. “Please don’t let Mommy go…”

“She’s a human, Lucas; not your Mommy. How many times do I have to tell you?”

I was growing frustrated at this point. Ever since my son had seen Aria in the park, he had insisted that she was his mother. I chalked it up to wishful thinking, of course, but it was getting a bit ridiculous.

Lucas whined again in protest, his furry body blocking the door.

Aria whirled to face me, green eyes flashing. They were tilted up ever so slightly at the outer corners, giving her an almost fox-like appearance—temptingly pretty, if she weren’t just a human.

“Your dog is blocking my way,” she growled, planting her hands on her hips. “Have you trained him to keep women against their will?”

“Tell her I’m not a dog! I’m a boy!”

“No, Lucas. She can’t know.”

As far as the human knew, my son really was just a dog—a big one, perhaps, but just a regular dog. Little did she know what he really was. What we all were here at Lunar Labs.

Werewolves.

“Lucas,” I said out loud, “come. Let the lady go.”

“No!” he protested, which came out as another howl. It took all of my effort not to howl back at him.

When my son didn’t move, Aria scoffed and tried to edge around him, grumbling something about cults and weirdos. Lucas, of course, blocked her way.

Truthfully, I wanted to let the human go; I didn’t appreciate the way she’d kissed me last night, no matter how tempting her lips were against mine. Likely that was exactly why my son was so obsessed with her—she still smelled faintly of me, and it confused him.

And I knew what she was doing; she wanted a real position here, not just a job as my nanny. And despite being uneducated, she was no dummy. She could tell that Lucas held a lot of bargaining power, although she didn’t know exactly why, and was essentially calling me on my bluff.

“Alpha, if I may.” My Beta, Liam’s, voice suddenly came through our Mindlink. “Perhaps you should acquiesce; you could use the help with Lucas, and you know how hard it is to find a nanny that he doesn’t scare off.”

I resisted the urge to sigh out loud. “But she’s manipulating me. She doesn’t know her place.”

“Think about all the business trips.”

My Beta’s words gave me pause. He was right; I was a workaholic, and was often away on business. No one—not my assistants, not Liam, not any of the nannies who I hired over the years—could handle my son.

But this… this human, for whatever reason, could.

“He’s going to shift into his human form for the first time soon,” I thought to Liam then. “She’ll find out what we really are. You know as well as I do how important it is to hide our existence from the humans.”

I felt a slight shudder go down the pack bond at that. It was true; over the centuries, my people had suffered at the hands of humans who had discovered our true nature. Ultimately, we had decided to pass ourselves off as humans ourselves, letting the humans believe that werewolves were simply myths meant to scare children.

That was precisely why my company, along with every other werewolf company in the world, refused to hire humans. And it was why our pack lands were kept hidden with magical wards and spells to keep humans away and oblivious.

Finally, Liam replied, “We can always… ‘take care’ of her. Just as we have done with other humans who found out about us.”

“No.” The very thought made my stomach twist. “No. Just… Ensure that no one in the company discloses any werewolf-related matters to her. I’ll figure out some sort of explanation for when he shifts, if she even lasts that long—let her believe that the dog died and that he’s my long-lost son. But no one is getting killed.”

“Very well, Alpha.”

“Ahem.”

The sound of Aria clearing her throat snapped me out of the Mindlink. I blinked, almost having forgotten she was there. Lucas still stood behind her, whimpering miserably.

“Fine,” I said, standing. “You can have an internship in the company to start; if you work hard, maybe you’ll get a full-time job. But in the meantime, I’m hiring you only as my nanny.”

To my surprise, the human girl’s face lit up. I glanced away, cursing inwardly at my body’s reaction to her beauty. She certainly was ambitious, wasn’t she?

I just hoped that our little secret would remain just that—a secret.