Chapter 103

I was stunned for a moment. I was just an intern, after all. That seemed really important. It wasn't that I didn't know how to do it, it was just I wasn't expecting her to offer it to me.

I arched a brow. “You'd trust me with that?”

She laughed. “You’re smart, detail-oriented, and more than qualified. That’s kind of our team’s whole brand.” She gestured across the room. “Everyone's got their own project. More or less, you all work together on a bigger project in some cases, but I need to be able to see what you're like on your own."

I flushed a little, but I nodded. She gave me the binder and I flipped the binder open.

“Thanks. I promise to do my best."

"Not really something I'm concerned about, Renee. Be sure to eat lunch first, hm?"

We planned to run out for lunch to the café downstairs and eat there. As we got into the elevator, I checked my messages.

Dominic: Heard from the team lead that you're fitting in well. Glad to hear it.

Dominic: You looked really happy walking into the office today. I hope that’s because of the work and not just the kiss.

Dominic: Or maybe it’s both. Either way, I’ll take it. Let’s talk tonight?

My face heated, and I quickly tucked my phone under my elbow. Neil stepped out of line to join me, sliding his own phone into his pocket.

“Can't believe it's lunch already. Where has the day gone?”

"I'm starving," George groaned.

I chuckled and nodded. “Same."

I replied to Dominic quickly.

It’s both. I’ll call you after work.

I stuffed my phone into my pocket and followed the rest of the team out of the elevator toward the café. As we walked, I noticed that several heads turned to watch us. More specifically, to watch me. Some whispered. Some scowled.

I didn’t have to look far to find the reason why.

Vivian sat at a table on the far side of the room, stirring her soup like it had personally offended her. It was odd to see her eating something from the building's café, considering. What our taste had once been like. Odd to see her still here, but not surprising either. I could only bet that the panel had decided that because she had so few skills. And she still had a tie to Bright Claw. It was best for her to stay in her position unless she got fired for direct violations, or rather future direct violations. Her eyes locked on mine for a moment, and I saw the rage boiling just beneath the surface.

She looked thinner. Tired. But her lip curled up in a sneer like it was a reflex she hadn’t unlearned yet.

That was odd, considering. That Vivian had always been quite thin, and it had only been a few days since the hearing.

I ignored her.

The rest of the team chatted around me, pulling chairs into a circle. George took orders and he and the rest of the guys went up to place order. The noise, the casual jokes, the warmth formed a bubble of safety, and I let myself enjoy it for a moment.

Neil set my order in front of me and arched a brow when I hesitated.

“Eat before your stomach eats you.”

I laughed. “That would be awkward to explain, wouldn't it?"

“Your stomach growled loud enough to make a lion flinch,” he said, deadpan.

The woman across from us, nodded solemnly. “It was terrifying, echoing in the elevator like that.” She let out a roar that sent the rest of the table into a peal of laughter.

" That was probably George's stomach, but point taken."

I shook my head but smiled anyway. It was… nice. Neil’s easy confidence, the way he just stepped into my space without making it feel invasive was comforting. Grounding. Especially with Vivian still glaring at me from across the cafeteria.

I bit into the sandwich and let the conversation swirl around me, relaxing.

Across the cafeteria, Vivian shoved her tray aside and stood. When she walked by our table, she didn’t say a word, but her eyes locked on me again, and something in her expression twisted in rage and scheming.

She was planning something.

“You think she’s going to try something again?” I asked quietly, watching Vivian leave.

“Probably,” Neil said, not bothering to lower his voice. “But she’s not in a position to do much.”

I stayed quiet, but I wasn’t sure I believed that.

Vivian Brightclaw wasn’t the type to take her losses quietly… even though she wasn't quite a real Brightclaw, the public didn't know that.

Not yet anyway. My phone chimed with another message.

Dominic: As I understand it, it's tradition for your team to take you out on the first night. I'm hoping against hope that you'll consider staying on after you graduate. But I know that Arielle will make you. An offer you likely won't be able to refuse.

I chuckled.

It depends. Brightclaw has a few more fringe benefits that Mountainhowl won't?

Don't give your cousin. A reason to try and take over my territory, because she would.

I laughed at that. Would you let her?

For you? I'd at least consider it.

I smiled at that. I wouldn't ask that of you.

You wouldn't have to.

I chuckled at that, not sure how to take it and glanced over at Neil.

He shot me a grin. "Is that a yes?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Karaoke tonight with the team?" He said. "A re-do that's… unlikely to be interrupted."

I smiled back. "That sounds great."

Vivian

The fluorescent lights of the café's seating area felt too bright, too harsh, reflecting off the polished surfaces and amplifying every irritating sound. More than that, the sight of her was irritating, and it was even worse that Neil had deigned to sit with her when she was nothing.

She was less than nothing and Neil looked at her as if she had hung the moon.

The thought of her seemingly moving on so happily, so readily wearing those expensive, perfectly tailored clothes that she didn't deserve, clothes that hugged her fat frame irritated me.

What was worse was the blatant disrespect I was getting from everyone else in the office. Every glance, every hushed whisper, every deferential nod that wasn't directed at me felt like a deliberate slight. As if my name still wasn't Vivian Brightclaw. As if they were better than me. Like I was a temporary nuisance.

That little intern had had the nerve to look me dead in the eye. And tell me to get my own coffee and do my own work.

My own work!

I was the daughter of the alpha! They should feel lucky that I was even deigning to pretend to care about being here. My presence was a gift, a promise of future prosperity under my rule. The world knew that I was going to inherit Dominic's empire, and it was going to stay that way, one way or the other.

I wasn't going to let him try to have a kid or adopt someone else, I wasn't going to let him try to choose some distant relative to take over either.

But my supervisor looked at me as if she'd rather I not be there, her thin lips pressed into a judgmental line. She hadn’t even bothered with a pleasantry, just launched straight into it. She'd clearly been waiting for her chance.

"You have no authority, not even as a reception, since you have barely managed to do your job to date. You've been demoted to half-time."

"You can't do that."

"But I can, and I have. More importantly, the department head has determined that it's the most the company is required to offer you under the Panel's decisions. The sooner that you realize that you are hanging on by a fraying thred, and act accordingly, the easier everything else will be for everyone. Don't make me have to write you up. You only have three strikes."

"Was that a threat? Don't forget that I'm still heir to Bright Claw. I could fire you."

Her expression remained impassive, almost bored. Unimpressed and unfazed. "If the alpha dies unexpectedly, you won't have to fire me. If you become heir to everything, I will simply quit. Until then, you do your job, and there won’t be a reason for me to write you up. Or fire you."

She spoke to me like that now, but she had no idea what was coming. Everyone thought it was over, but it wasn't.

I slammed the drawer shut and opened my computer. I wasn't going to do a damn thing because I didn't need to. And when everything was resolved with Dominic, when he realized how much he did it to keep me as his heir, they would all regret it.

I would make sure of that.

Starting with Renee.