Twice Tempted: Between Two Alphas (Mia and Cameron)
Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Five Years Later

"They're moving up the launch date. Can you finish before the beta testing goes into effect?"

I stare at Alex across the conference room. He's a good boss. Honest. Hard-working. He calls it like it is, and has never coddled me.

I do the math in my head. If I pull all-nighters and work through the weekend... "Yes."

"Are you sure?" he asks.

"Have I let you down yet?"

One corner of his mouth tilts up. I've worked for Quest Studios for four years-that's a very long time in tech.

I'd had very little experience and only the knowledge I brought from my high school coding team. And there was the little fact that I was pregnant. Only little wasn't really accurate, because I'd started showing pretty quickly.

Twins will do that to you. Apparently.

At first I'd been so upset at the thought of having babies. I was alone, with no idea how I'd be able to support them or care for them. I thought about ending the pregnancy.

Now, I can't even begin to imagine my life without them.

My children are everything to me.

Jacelyn and Aaron.

They inherited Cameron's looks and my temper. Alphas, both of them, if their wolf spirits are to be believed.

"Shit," Alex mumbles.

"What?"

"They're here."

I glance around the conference room. We're on the 16th floor and I can see into the reception area and straight through the open-room office setup. The desks are mostly empty at this time. Employees work remotely and the ones who don't are all about the California lifestyle. They cut out by five every day.

The doors at the far end of the hallway open and I watch as several very large men walk in.

Even before they're more than ten feet into the building, I know they're wolves.

"Shit," I say.

Alex looks at me sharply. "What are you cursing about? You haven't even met them yet."

I fumble for a quick excuse. "These are the new clients, right?"

He nods. "Good guess."

The men don't stop and their Alpha's eyes narrow as he approaches the boardroom. They don't knock or wait for an introduction, but walk right in.

Alex jumps to his feet. "Mr. MacPhearson, we weren't expecting you in person."

He ignores Alex and eyes me. "Seems you weren't expecting us either."

Alex looks between us.

My stomach lurches into my throat, but I force myself to stay calm. My scent is masked, but up this close... they'd know. Wolves can sense other wolves. Even as I'm analyzing their human forms, my wolf is taking stock of theirs. And their wolves are sizing up me.

My wolf bristles but otherwise is quiet.

I keep my expression bland. "Your plans are impressive, Mr. MacPhearson. I'm delighted to have the opportunity at Quest to work on creating more secure and sustainable technologies for your company." He grunts.

The man is several inches over six feet, and his men are equally burly. His hair and eyes are dark, so is his beard. His hair is longer, brushing over the collar of his shirt. He's the kind of Alpha most females would fall over themselves for.

Been there. Done that.

If I never see a d*ck again, it'll be a day too soon.

But more importantly... I'm a rogue.

It would be within his right to kill me.

He sniffs the air, scenting. Wolves in packs tend to have some residual smell of their packmates from shifting and running together and the communal elements of living as one pack community. "You're not from around here," he says.

The wolf next to him, his eyes flutter and I know MacPhearson is talking to his beta.

"Not originally, no," I agree.

The beta takes out his cell phone and snaps a photo of me. Then he walks out of the room, his hand flying over the screen.

Alex looks nervous, but he recovers quickly. "Mia is an authority on-"

"Mia, is it?" the Alpha interrupts. "Where are you from originally?"

The other three wolves have fanned out; they block the door. The only way out of this room is through them, through the glass-plate conference room wall, or out the window and down sixteen stories. "Montana. Northern country."

He smirks. "I used to know someone from out that way. Healmsworth."

Cameron...

My hands start shaking and I shove them under the table so they won't see. Not that it'll matter, they can smell my fear.

"Yeah. I know him too," I say neutrally.

MacPhearson leans forward. His eyes flash gold for a fraction of a second. I jerk my gaze to Alex, but if he sees he has no reaction. I can shift. I won't stand a chance against an alpha and four of his underlings, but Alex... as a human. He's a dead man walking.

"Alex," I force myself to smile at him. "I left some of the projections for this project on my desk. Can you grab them for me?"

Never in all my years have I asked Alex to fetch me anything.

His brows shoot up into his hairline. I think it's just the shock of me asking him that has him agreeing. "Uh, okay." He pauses at the door, some inkling that things aren't quite right, and looks back at me. "If you're sure-"

"They're printed out. Top drawer. Left. I think."

I have no such printouts, but I need to buy time and I need to get him out of the room and any immediate danger.

"That was stupid," the Alpha drawls. "Sending away your only insurance policy."