Chapter 5

Willow POV

When Osiris mentions the burning warehouse, I keep my face neutral and scroll through the apps on my tablet.  It is not the first time I have sat in this office and pretended like I don't know what is going on.  Osiris and the King stare at one another.  Neither one of them is willing to speak first.  The tension between the two men is palpable.  So much so that when my phone rings in my pocket, I fall off the desk with a yelp. 

Osiris catches me by the shoulders before I hit the ground in front of him.  Even through my shirt, I can feel the electricity between us.  Our eyes lock onto one another for a moment, and it is as if the rest of the world dissolves away.  My arms go weak for a moment, and the tablet slips from my hands and lands on my foot. 

The corner of the tablet hits the bridge of my foot, and hiss out in pain.  I begin to hop up and down on my foot, holding my other as I try to breathe through the pain. 

"She is a graceful one," Osiris says jokingly as he lets go of my shoulders. 

"I think you would be surprised," Uncle Faris doesn't crack a smile.  Instead, he glares at me angrily.  "Don't you have something else you could be doing, Lo?" 

"Lo?" Osiris says with a smirk on his face. 

"It's a nickname," I say shortly.  I can tell by the look on Uncle Faris's face I need to get out of this office right now, or I will be punished at training later.  "I will go get this fixed," I say, pointing to the cracked tablet and scurrying out of the office. 

I can feel Osiris's eyes on me as I fumble with the doorknob of Faris's office. Why can't I get this fucking door to open? Tucking the tablet under my arm, I tug on the doorknob, but the door still doesn't open. The tablet slips out from underneath my arm and slams on the floor, cracking the screen even more.

Picking up the tablet from the floor, I glance at Uncle Faris, and he is glowering at me. "The door is locked, Lo," he says with an edge to his voice.

"Right," I say as I flip the bolt above the door and quickly slip out of the office.

Once I am outside, I lean my back against the door and try to catch my breath. "What the hell was that?" I mumble under my breath.  I have never been so flustered by someone’s presence.  I need to pull myself together.  

"What's your problem?" Chad asks with a strange look on his face.

"Nothing," I say as I run my hands down my skirt. "I just broke the tablet. Twice."

"That is coming out of your pay," Chad yells loudly at me.

"Whatever," I glare at Chad. "You have no say in what happens with my pay."

I push past him and head toward my desk. "Don't walk away from me," Chad says as he follows me.

"You aren't my boss," I yell at Chad.

"Yes, I am," Chad laughs. "For some unknown reason, King Faris likes to keep you around even though you are nothing but a dirty human."

"I am getting ready to go outside," I whisper as I turn to Chad. "If you want to continue this conversation out there, I would be more than happy to."

This seems to shut Chad up. Even though he is a Beta, he knows that I would put up one hell of a fight against him. Chad turns to walk away, and I snicker under my breath.

"See you later, Fatso," I laugh, and Chad does something that I don't expect. He spins around on his heels and punches me right in the face.

“It is time that someone puts you in your place,” he growls as he advances on me.  

I stumble back and land on my desk. Dark spots consume my vision as I try to fight for consciousness. My nose and my cheek sting with pain, and my ears are ringing. Clutching my nose with my gloved hand, I try to stem the bleeding. "You dumb son of a bitch," I hiss at him. "I am going to fucking kill you."

Chad storms toward me, and I wipe the blood from my face and prepare for him to strike me again. But instead, he grabs me by the back of my head, tangling his fingers in my hair. Leaning in close, he whispers next to my ear. "Careful, Princess. You would hate to give yourself away in the middle of a workday. Faris would have no choice but to kill you. Now apologize for calling me Fatso."

As much as I hate to admit it, Chad is right. As far as anyone here is concerned, I am nothing more than Faris's weird, human niece that he decided to give a job. If I fight back, it will blow my cover. Glancing around, I can see that a crowd has gathered, and everyone is waiting for me to apologize to Chad. Only that is not what they will be getting from me.

"This isn't over," I say through gritted teeth, and I rip my head out of Chad's grip.  I feel a chuck of my hair pull from my scalp as I break free.  

"Now, now," Chad says as he looks at me with a hint of humor in his eyes.  He dangles the lock of hair that he pulled out in front of my face. "Is this any way to speak to your superior?"

"Fuck you," I say as I spit the blood that is flooding my mouth into my trashcan.

Chad rears back his fist to hit me again when he is stopped by a large hand. "Is this what packies are doing these days? Hitting women."

I look to my left and see Osiris holding Chad back. "Stay out of this rogue," Chad spits at Osiris. "She needs to learn her place in this pack is at the bottom."

"Last I checked, I am not part of this pack," I say angrily in Chad's direction.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Faris calls from the other side of the office, and I can't help but smirk in Chad's direction.

Faris comes forward and looks between Osiris, Chad, and me. He looks at my bloody face and Chad's bloody knuckles, putting two and two together.

"If you will excuse us, Osiris," Faris says. "I need to take care of these two."

"I don't think so," Osiris says sternly. "She needs a doctor."

Embarrassment flashes across my face. I don't need anyone to fight my battles for me. "I will be fine," I grumble, not daring to look in Osiris's direction.

“You are a human, and you were punched in the face by a lycan.  I can assure you that your nose is broken,” Osiris says.  There is a softness in his voice that I was not expecting.

Faris pushes Chad and Osiris out of his way and lifts my face toward the light so he can get a better look. "Your nose is broken," he says simply. "Go to the human hospital on the outskirts of the city. I will let them know you are on the way."

"Yes, Your Highness," I say, keeping my teeth ground together.

"I will accompany her," Osiris says quickly, offering me his hand.

I look at Faris, and he nods. Refusing to take Osiris's hand, I hop off my desk and storm toward the elevator, with Osiris following quickly on my heels. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I find a message from Faris, 'Find out all you can,' is all it says. I can't help but wonder if I got punched in the face so Faris can get more information about Osiris.

"That son of a bitch," I mumble under my breath as the elevator doors close, trapping me with Osiris for at least the next two to three minutes.