Chapter 62

Aria

The next morning, as soon as I stepped into the office, the atmosphere felt… different than usual. It was sort of like it was my first day all over again; like I was the strange human outsider that didn’t belong.

And my fears weren’t just in my head. When I walked through the room, I caught odd glances, overheard snippets of whispered conversations.

“...No degree…”

“She’s not qualified…”

Hearing those words made my stomach clench. Instinctively, I glanced up at Darren’s office, but he wasn’t here today. Liam had mentioned something about a wellness check-up for Lucas today, so both Darren and Lucas were gone.

But even if Darren was here, I wasn’t sure if I would bother him with something like this.

And if I did, would I just be labeled as not only unqualified, but also a tattle-tale?

No, I couldn’t have that—so I kept my head down instead. I made it to my desk without a word and was just starting to settle in when I heard footsteps approaching.

“Hey, Aria,” Melissa’s voice came from behind me, “do you have a minute?”

I forced a small smile, looking up. “Sure. What’s up?”

She glanced around, then gestured for me to follow her, which I did. A moment later, we stepped into the breakroom. To my chagrin, we weren’t alone. Brandon was leaning against the counter, coffee mug in hand. Lily was eating a bagel at the table, but she didn’t look up at me.

Oh, Christ, I thought to myself, honestly debating turning around and running away. I knew what this was about before any of them even spoke.

“We have to know,” Melissa said softly, “is it… Is it really true?”

“You don’t have a degree?” Brandon finished for her.

I felt my cheeks heat up, and suddenly I felt rather sick. But I managed, “That’s right. I don’t.”

Melissa exchanged glances with Brandon. “Oh. It’s just… surprising,” she said. “I mean, you’re not bad at your job or anything, it’s just… unusual, right?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way or anything,” Brandon said, scratching his head thoughtfully, “but we’re all just a little confused as to how you got the job. Because everyone who gets hired here, beyond assistants and interns, is required to have a degree. Even the receptionists have to have two-year degrees.”

“And yet Mr. Avarise promoted you from intern to full-time employee,” Melissa said.

I clenched my jaw, swallowing down the discomfort rising in my throat. “I… know how it looks,” I replied. “Honestly, I… I don’t know how it happened. I guess Mr. Avarise was just pleased with my work.”

Melissa snorted, although not necessarily unkindly. “Either that or he has a soft spot for you after all.”

My face burned, and instinctively, my gaze flicked to where Lily was sitting. I half-expected her to jump up from her seat and announce that Melissa was right—that I was Darren’s mate, his human mate, and he was giving me special treatment.

But to my surprise, she remained silent, just eating her bagel without looking up at me.

In fact, she remained silent for the entire day.

She barely looked my way, even when I walked past her desk throughout the day. When I tried to ask her about a file I needed, her responses were short, like she couldn’t even be bothered to speak with me—or maybe she didn’t trust herself to speak with me.

Finally, by noon, I’d had enough. I couldn’t stand the cold shoulder, couldn’t shake the feeling that I had somehow done something wrong. So I approached her desk and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hey, Lily,” I said with a small smile. “Want to grab lunch together later? I forgot to pack mine today and I was thinking we could go to the—”

“Actually, I have a lot of work to do,” she interrupted tersely. “Maybe another time.”

“Oh,” I said, the smile fading from my face. “Alright. Maybe tomorrow, then?”

She just nodded vaguely, her attention already back on her screen. It was so unlike Lily to act like this; she was always so bubbly and vibrant, like sunshine on a warm day.

I was so stunned, in fact, that I lingered there for a moment, hoping she’d look back up and say something else. But she didn’t. It was like I wasn’t even there.

With a soft sigh, I turned to head back to my cubicle. But my footsteps slowed before I could leave, and I paused, glancing at her over my shoulder.

No. I couldn’t take this anymore.

“Lily, what’s going on?” I blurted out, my voice shaking a little. “I thought we were friends, but you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder for days now. Did I… did I do something wrong?”

Lily’s slender shoulders stiffened in her chair. Slowly, she pulled her hands away from her keyboard and swiveled around to look at me. Her eyes, normally so vibrant and happy, were dark and narrowed. “It’s not that you did anything wrong, Aria. It’s just… frustrating.”

“Frustrating?” I echoed, frowning. “What’s frustrating?”

She sighed, running a hand through her short hair, before standing and grabbing my wrist. I let her pull me away, out of earshot of the others. A moment later, we found ourselves in the copier room with the door firmly shut behind us.

“It’s frustrating that Darren would hire you—a human, without a degree—when there are werewolves in the pack who would love to have your job,” she said brusquely. “People who actually have the qualifications.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and I felt my face flush. “Lily, I didn’t… I didn’t ask for any special treatment.”

She gave me a hard look. “I’m not saying you asked for special treatment. But from my perspective, it feels like he hired you because you’re his mate.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words caught in my throat. Because the truth was, I didn’t know. Maybe that was the reason he had hired me, even if he didn’t realize it at the time. And maybe that was the reason why he had promoted me from intern to full-time.

And deep down, a part of me had suspected it all along, even if I had tried to ignore it.

Lily’s expression softened a little, but the hurt in her eyes remained. “Look, Aria. It’s not even about you being human. I don’t care about that. I really don’t.”

She took a deep breath and looked away, folding her arms across her chest. “But when I found out you didn’t have a degree… it just felt unfair,” she murmured. “There are pack members who work so hard, who have the credentials for your position, and yet you’re the one who got hired. It just doesn’t sit right with me.”

I swallowed, my throat tight. “I… Lily, I never meant for this to happen.”

Lily opened her mouth, then closed it again. If there was more she wanted to say, then she didn’t say it; she just shook her head, turned on her heel, and strode out of the room.

I watched her go, hating the way that tears began to prick at the backs of my eyes. I shouldn’t have been so bothered by not having a degree—I hadn’t been in the past—but Lily was… She was my friend.

And seeing her walk away hurt badly. Really badly.

When lunchtime finally came around, I found myself sitting alone at my desk, my appetite gone. I could see Lily laughing with Brandon and Melissa across the room, and a fresh pang of hurt shot through me.

I’d hoped that maybe she’d come around, go out for a bite with me like we had done on numerous occasions before, but… no. Not today.

I sighed, deciding to just work through lunch, when a shadow fell over my desk. I looked up, surprised, to see Tracy standing there with a soft, almost sympathetic smile on her lips as she held up her jacket.

“Want to have lunch with me?” she asked.