Rena's PoV
There's never a smoke without fire, and I know now that those rumors about the Rogue Alpha were not groundless.
The man is a roguish, ruthless, and cocky bastard.
Just thinking about the small smile he had on his face brought another fresh wave of anger.
I should leave, but I have come this far already, so I went to the central office he had described, and I saw a lady there.
She had glasses on with her hair packed in a tight ponytail. She looked up and gave me a wide smile and I think she just might have been hired because of her smile.
"Miss Mirel, please wait here for Mr. Braun," she said while pointing at the couch that was just across her.
Aside from the sound of typing, the entire lounge was completely silent, so I laid my head back and closed my eyes.
Joining Alpha Rhys' pack was not a bad thing. It was tempting even because for the longest time, that had been my biggest wish.
To belong to a pack.
Also, if I joined his pack, maybe Lily would wake up.
But right now, I needed to be careful. If the ball went well, then maybe I could convince him to give me a year to decide.
I guess within a year, I would be able to tell if I wanted to tie myself to this place.
Goddess help me.
The receiver in the office rang out suddenly, and I flinched at the noise.
"Ruby Martin. Executive Secretary, Carter Pharmaceuticals. How can I help you?"
I couldn't hear the other side, but I suddenly felt my body go tight.
"Appointment time and name, please?" Ruby said after a while.
"Okay, the appointment for Miss Mirel is for 10 a.m."
"You would like to know when Miss Mirel comes in for the appointment?" Ruby asked as her gaze met mine.
I sat up instinctively and waved my hands together while shaking my head frantically.
Ruby nodded and gave me a small smile.
"Unfortunately, while I can confirm appointments, I'm unable to give you updates on how the appointment goes."
After another second of the other party talking, Ruby spoke up again.
"Let's do this then, how about I tell Miss Mirel to call you once she comes in for the appointment?"
The call ended shortly after, and Ruby sighed dramatically.
"Was that okay?"
I nodded immediately. "Yes, it was perfect. Alpha Rhys has not made his final decision on our collaboration, so until then, they can't know that I came here."
She looked like she was thinking for some seconds, then said, "Well, since they know you haven't come in, once they call again, I'll just let them know you couldn't make it for the appointment."
A smile came to my face immediately.
"That's just perfect." Luckily, I was here at the right time.
Ruby returned my smile with her dollar-winning smile, then returned to work.
I pulled out my phone and called Nancy immediately.
The call must have been from Jamie or Vanessa. If they were trying to track my movements and found Nancy, I would have no choice but to go to them.
Nancy picked on the first ring. "Hey princess, I was just about to send you a message."
"Are you okay?" I asked immediately.
There was a small giggle on the other end, then a beep, and finally the sound of a door closing.
"Yes, just got inside our new hideout for the next few days."
"How is it going on your end?" She asked.
"Going okay. Discussed with Alpha Rhys, but things are not as smooth as expected."
"He would only be able to give me his final response tonight, which means I can't come to you until tomorrow."
Nancy scoffed.
"I'm a big girl. I'll be fine here for the night."
"And I'll turn off my phone once I send you the address," she added. Almost as though she knew what I was about to say next.
I sighed deeply. "Just be safe, okay." Once Jason knew that she had taken those samples, he might even forget about me and focus on chasing her.
"Don't get lost in those thoughts. I'll be fine here. It's a really safe place."
"Besides, you know I have been on the run before. I most certainly have more survival skills than you do."
Even though she tried to make light of it by laughing, I still couldn't help but worry.
However, she was right. Nancy had been on the run from her Pack for three years before she finally lost the connection and became a rogue.
She even had scent changers and other things to keep her tracks clean.
After reminding her to turn her phone off until midnight. I ended the call and I turned my phone off immediately.
It was only when I looked up that I noticed that Beta Jamie was leaning against the wall behind Ruby and watching me.
I gave him a small nod in greeting.
He gestured for me to follow him, so I waved at Ruby and hurried after him.
"Sorry, I had to catch up with Rhys to know what contract you needed."
"Nothing for now," I replied, and he chuckled.
"Yes, I figured."
He handed me a thick file. "You can go through the documents here and our onboarding guide to help you decide if you would be joining us."
I nodded.
"Let's go then."
I stuck close behind him until we got to the first floor and came out through the back of the building.
Right behind the office building was another similar skyscraper.
However, this one was backing the building we just came out of, so I couldn't see what the front looked like.
Jason probably sensed my confusion and explained.
"This is one of our hotels. We always make sure that an entire floor is always free for our Staff to use for any emergency stay or late work nights."
Leaving an entire floor of a five-star hotel free for his staff?
Jamie was probably trying to convince me to join them, but I was past the point of believing empty promises.
I kept my thoughts to myself and followed him through a staff entrance and into the elevator.
"Since you don't have a staff card, Alpha Rhys has loaned you his access card," Jamie said. He stretched a black card at me.
I stared at the card without accepting it. "What would he use then?"
"He doesn't need the access card."
I shrugged, took the card, and turned it over in my hand.
Aside from the gold-encoded place, the rest of the card was black, while the front had two words embedded into the card in gold.
Rhys Carter.
The font was beautiful and catchy. I kept running my fingers around the tip as the elevator kept climbing up.
Was there something I missed? Or was Alpha Rhys the type of Alpha who didn't care about ranks?
The elevator finally stopped on a floor and Jamie walked to the first room opposite us. He stretched a hand towards the door.
I swiped the card and heard the door beep.
Jamie stood at the door and waved at me to go in, but I stood there and waited until he got into the elevator.
As the doors started to close, Jamie suddenly said.
"By the way, someone will drop by later today to help you get ready for the ball."
The elevator doors closed before I could ask any questions, and I simply stared at the numbers that were quickly descending.
After a minute, I entered the room.
Goddess be damned.