The Devil's Favorite

Scent

Caleb's POV

By the time Elara finished reviewing the documents, the clock had already passed ten.

She closed the folder carefully.

“I think I understand everything.”

“Good.”

She stood.

“So I'll start officially tomorrow?”

I nodded.

“Tomorrow. Eight in the morning.”

She adjusted the strap of her bag.

“Understood.”

She paused at the door.

“Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Vale.”

I looked at her.

“Caleb.”

She blinked.

“What?”

“If you're going to work directly for me, call me Caleb.”

For some reason, saying it felt more intimate than it should have.

She gave me a small smile.

“Okay. Caleb.”

My wolf slammed against my restraint.

I clenched my jaw.

She didn't notice.

“See you tomorrow.”

The door closed behind her.

Silence returned.

Finally.

I released the breath I'd been holding.

For several seconds, I simply stared at the closed door.

Then something inside me snapped.

My vision was blurred.

A sharp pressure spread through my skull, followed by an instinct so powerful that it nearly knocked the breath from my lungs.

My eyes burned.

I walked toward the window.

The reflection staring back at me no longer had human eyes.

Golden.

Bright.

Predatory.

My wolf had surfaced.

I gripped the edge of the desk.

“Calm down.”

A low growl answered from somewhere inside my chest.

I closed my eyes.

And there it was again.

Her scent.

Still lingering in my office.

Warm.

Sweet.

Addictive.

I inhaled before I could stop myself.

My wolf reacted immediately.

Her.

My fingers curled into fists.

“No.”

Another growl.

It wasn't listening.

I had spent years mastering the beast inside me.

Years of learning how to suppress instinct, anger, hunger, every primitive urge that came with being an Alpha.

But Elara had walked into my office for less than an hour.

And somehow, she had undone years of control.

I could still smell her.

On the chair.

Near my desk.

In the air.

Everywhere.

I turned away.

It didn't help.

The scent had already settled into my senses.

I was becoming aware of every trace of it.

Every memory of her standing across from me.

Her voice.

Her eyes.

The way she had said my name.

Caleb.

My wolf wanted her closer.

It wanted to follow her.

It wanted to know where she was.

Who she was with.

My jaw tightened.

“This is ridiculous.”

I reached for my phone.

I almost called Daniel.

Almost asked him to cancel the arrangement.

Then I remembered her face.

The exhaustion behind her eyes.

The scandal.

The way she'd tried to remain composed despite everything happening around her.

I couldn't send her away.

Not yet.

My eyes shifted back to gold.

I stared at my reflection

.

“What are you doing?”

The answer came from the wolf.

Protecting her.

I swallowed.

That wasn't my decision.

But my wolf had already made one.

Elara Sawyer was human.

She didn't belong in our world.

She didn't know what I was.

She didn't know what my pack was capable of.

She didn't know that the man she had just agreed to work for wasn't simply a billionaire CEO.

He was an Alpha.

And something about her had awakened an instinct I had never experienced before.

Hunger for something deeper.

Something terrifying.

Something that felt dangerously close to possession.

I closed my eyes again.

Her scent flooded my senses.

For one brief moment, I allowed myself to breathe it in.

My wolf went completely still.

Satisfied.

I hated how much I liked that.

Tomorrow, she would return.

Eight in the morning.

A slow realization settled over me.

I had thought hiring Elara Sawyer would help me uncover the truth behind her scandal.

Now, I wasn't sure which would be more difficult—

discovering her secrets...

Or resisting the need to keep her close.

My golden eyes remained fixed on the door.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

I want her already.