Having an affair with the assistant

Alpha Adrian Blackwood had torn asunder the primal link that bound our fates.

I, Vivian Hart, stood at the threshold of his study.

My black stilettos clicked softly against the polished mahogany floor.

After a wnineed pause, I lifted my hand and tapped the brass doorknob.

"Enter," a deep voice rumbled from within.

My fingers tightened around the folders in my grasp, my other hand turning the knob.

As I stepped inside, I offered a fleeting smile and made my way to his side.

"Swamped? Got some contracts that need your signature, ASAP."

My words feigned concern, yet I was already sliding the documents across the oak desk, flipping to the pages requiring his mark.

Alpha Adrian had returned that morning from northern clans, his presence still carrying the faint tang of mountain air.

He'd gone straight to the study, immersing himself in a backlog of pack business.

His sharp features, aristocratic as ever, were shadowed with the weariness of a long journey-yet he didn't even glance at the papers before scrawling his signature in bold strokes.

"Appreciate the promptness," he muttered, flipping through a ledger.

I gathered the signed documents and tossed out casually,

"Dinner tonight? I picked up that venison bourguignon you like."

"Plans tonight. Don't bother."

"Sure thing. I'll head out then."

I hugged the folders to my chest and turned, my heels clicking a staccato rhythm.

The moment my back was to him, my smile curdled into a sneer.

As I passed the reading nook adjoining the study, a soft sound pricked my ears-like a startled breath, quick and shallow, from behind the velvet curtains.

My gaze flicked to the side table: a half-empty glass of pomegranate juice sat beside a crumpled chocolate wrapper, and a single gold hoop earring glinted on the arm of the armchair.

In an instant, the pieces aligned.

The faint scent of jasmine perfume clinging to the air, the way his pulse had quickened when I mentioned dinner-all of it sharp as a winter wind.

My blood turned to ice.

Back in my own room, I collapsed into my sofa.

I flipped to the last page.