Chapter 3

*Keera*

I'd agreed to it.

It was a shame really. I'd had such an iron clad resolve to not let myself be talked into helping those beasts but in the end sheer curiosity and sympathy had won against my initial determination. Trevor had set up a simple team of five. Two forensic scientists , Lexi and me, one retired firearms and weapons expert, one profiler and one bioengineer. I was a bit surprised he was willing to go to these extents just to help them out.

There was something he wasn't saying.

I walked into the conference room and took a calculative seat at the right side of the table. We were all having a meeting with the Alpha of the pack, and I wanted to be in a place where I would feel the most comfortable. I had spent barely ten minutes in his presence a few years ago but it had been more than enough for me to form a strong opinion about him.

A strong hateful opinion.

I looked up at the door when it burst open. Trevor walked in, his strides long and confident. He frowned at the emptiness of the room and then stared down at his wrist watch. His eyebrows lifted. Probably when he realized it was still thirty five minutes early. He narrowed his eyes on me then, as if to ask why I had also arrived here so early.

"Hey," I said in greeting, managing a small smile. He walked over to where I sat and placed a kiss on my head. I jerked back and frowned at him, a bit irritated by his actions. I hated when he treated me like I was still a little child. I was willing to bet he wasn't going to greet anyone with an affectionate kiss. I met his eyes as he sat down at the head of the table, loosening the top button of his jacket.

Sometimes I wondered if he had more than platonic feelings towards me. The few times I've thought about bringing it up, I always end up letting myself formulate one excuse or the other. I saw Trevor as nothing more than a brother figure. Lately I was starting to wonder if he saw me as something more. He held my gaze, looking like he was daring me to say something. I drifted my eyes away from his, once again taking the cowards way out.

A part of me was almost afraid of what I might find out if I chose to pursue that line of conversation. I didn't think it was something I was ready for yet. The corners of his lips lifted as he obviously sensed that I wasn't confronting him today. Soon, I thought. I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt a few more times and then I was going to bring it up. Even though I might very well regret ever doing so.

"You're here early," He pointed out , gesturing towards the wall clock that stood off to the side at a corner of the room. I looked at the time, realizing we were only just about twenty minutes to the actual time we had arranged for the meeting to start. I'd been sitting all alone in the conference room for almost thirty minutes. Calculating. Thinking. Preparing myself.

I shrugged my shoulders, trying to appear casual. "Not exactly," I pointed out, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I drummed my fingers silently on my lap, staring at him. "We're only about twenty minutes from the start of the meeting." I highlighted politely. I guess we were both supposed to be bothered that the others haven't shown up yet but neither of us were. For one, they still had time to burst in through those doors and rightfully say that they had come early for the meeting.

Plus I wasn't sure I wanted them here yet.

The truth was that I was simply trying to prepare myself mentally. I was about to come face to face with an old acquaintance's arrogant domineering werewolf twin. I released a deep soothing breath, angry that I still hadn't moved on from her betrayal after all these years. Once upon a time Ginny and I had been best friends. We'd been inseparable. Our friendship had been the kind that people envied and could only dream to have.

My hands fisted by my sides.

It had been the worst day of my life when I'd found out it had all been built on a big fucking lie. I hated that I could still remember the day so clearly. Every damn detail. We'd been graduating from college. Ginny hadn't wanted to introduce her brother to me but he'd introduced himself. He'd already formed an opinion about me even before he met me. From Ginny's apparent change of behavior it seemed.

He made it very clear that he blamed me for her recent stubbornness and deceptiveness. I was a bad influence. I was the devil. I was like the leech who had simply refused to unlatch herself from his precious twin. He had a lot to say to me that day. He'd mentioned something about her losing her touch with her werewolf side with each passing day because of me.

I'd asked Ginny what he'd been on about but she denied knowing. Things became tense between us afterwards but we were still at the graduation party so we couldn't properly talk about it. Instinctively, I'd decided to keep a tab on her. A few minutes later and I was convinced her supposed brother had only been trying to throw me off with the werewolf thing because he didn't like me. At least that was what it had seemed like.

Until I caught her shifting.

The door opened again and the rest of the team walked in. All at once. I smiled at Lexi as she came to sit beside me. She was the only one I was already familiar with in the team since we worked together. She wiggled her eyebrows at me, successfully conveying her excitement at the task once again. I gave her a slightly dry look, patiently waiting for her to come off her high horse. I guess in a way it was understandable. She'd only recently found out that werewolves actually existed.

"I'm glad everyone's here," Trevor started once everyone had been comfortably seated. I had a feeling he'd informed the Alpha that the meeting was starting at a later time so we could get to know each other first as a team. It was a move I admired. "So, this is Keera and Lexi," He introduced, referring to Lexi and me. "They're the best forensic scientists in the state." We waved at them modestly, already used to how Trevor introduced us.

"That's Joe," He said, referring to the buff bald guy seated two seats from Lexi. "He's our firearms and weapons expert," He explained, returning Joe's nod of acknowledgement. "That's Josie, she's a top profiler and that's Kathleen, bio engineer and CEO of Neptune labs." He said, introducing the two females. Josie and Kathleen were sitting side by side.

I studied all of them, trying to see if I could guess the kind of personality they had. I could already tell that Joe was a very strong minded person. He obviously had to have taken his line of work. I had a feeling he could also be very soft on the inside though. When he wanted to be, that is. Josie met my eyes, smoothening her hair. She was a thin brunette. I had barely been in her presence for ten minutes but I could already tell she was an extremely perceptive and observant woman.

Kathleen, the blonde sitting beside her looked to be a bit more friendly. She smiled warmly, raising her hand up in a wave. I relaxed in my chair, somehow knowing that Trevor had really been thoughtful when he'd been putting the team together. I didn't think we were going to have much trouble working together. He cleared his throat, staring at each of us straight in the eye. "You already know why you've all been gathered here. I made it extremely clear in the files I sent you," Trevor addressed.

"Yeah," Kathleen echoed, her attention fully on him. Her gaze left him then, as she studied the people she would be working with. Her eyes met mine and held for a few minutes before she gave me a smile that seemed a little respectful. It dawned on me then that she already knew I was going to head the team. It looked like she didn't have any problems at all with it.

"Keera's going to be leading the team," He informed calmly. I watched them for a reaction. Their eyes seemed to focus on me all at once and I made sure to meet their stares. I couldn't have them thinking I wasn't feet to head the team or that Trevor made me leader as a result of something other than my abilities. We studied each other for a few minutes before they seemed to silently back down. Apparently, the staring contest was over and I had won.

In more ways than one.

Trevor's phone beeped twice, signaling an incoming text. He looked down at it and his eyebrows lifted. Before he could so much as get a word out the door was pushed open. The room fell silent as all eyes turned towards the door. I felt the hairs on my arm stand and I was very sure if I looked down at my skin, I would find goosebumps. The Alpha of the werewolf pack we were supposed to be helping out walked right in.

I studied him from my seat, mentally noting that he hadn't changed that much. For one, he still had the extremely intense almost suffocating dominating aura around him. Unlike the other time I'd been in his presence when he'd been angry and venomous and saying shit, he appeared to be so calm now it was deadly. He seemed a little more mature.

And more attractive.

He paused for a second, his eyes instantly latching onto mine. I barely held back the malicious smirk that overtook my face. He stood rigidly, like I was a surprise he hadn't been expecting and I had the feeling that he was trying to contain both his surprise and confusion. I was willing to bet Trevor hadn't divulged any personal details about me from the way he was pegging me with his stare. It was actually quite funny how the tables had turned. I managed a small wicked smile in his direction, conveying an unspoken message.

Hello, Grayson.