The Beta's Witch

Chapter 3: The Mysterious Stranger

Stepping out of the elevator I headed towards the elaborate double doors to Lucas Grey’s office and knocked.

“Come in,” a deep voice sounded through the door.

I walked in to find a full house. Elijah was sprawled across the sofa, in his signature fashion, holding a chunky little toddler. Lucas sat behind his desk rocking his infant daughter, Alice, absently, while focused on his computer. The lone figure on the floor making me pause. Mr. Grey’s oldest son, Darius sprawled in the middle of the carpet enraptured with his frog decorated iPad.

My eyes widened. Mr. Grey, and his wife Aerin, had some beautiful babies. I couldn’t help but abandon my mission, and dignity, to play with them. Mr. Grey smoothly passed me Alice, never once taking his eyes off the screen.

“They’ve gotten so big!” I gushed, ignoring the men as they chuckled. Babies were my weakness. I lowered myself to the floor next to Darius. I quickly began cheering him on in a game I didn’t fully understand, but it made him chuckled, so I was happy.

“Their Nonna is coming to pick them up soon. So, don’t get too excited Dri,” warned Lucas, making me pout.

I began to play with Alice, making silly faces and sounds, before Elijah cleared his throat.

“Did you need something, Pumpkin? Or did you just come up here because your baby senses were tingling?”

“I revised the Ford deal, It’s right there on the floor.” I didn’t look up from the baby in my lap.

“He agreed to this!” he exclaimed. Tearing my eyes from Alice, I looked at him. He had little Anthony on his hip, while holding the contract in his other hand. He passed the toddler to Lucas before sliding the contract across the desk. I flinched slightly as Mr. Grey studied it.

“Yep.” I said innocently, turning back as a chubby hand grabbed my hair. I made a silly face at her.

“I’m a little lost here, Adriana.” Mr. Grey said in a chiding tone, it was hard to take him seriously while he was swiveling back and forth to entertain the toddler in his lap.

I sighed, directing my response to Alice, “Little Ford was acting like a silly little piggy,” I said using baby talk, “So Auntie Adri decided to teach him a harmless little lesson.” The girl cooed in my lap, while her father chuckled.

I looked up to see Elijah scowling at me. “He wasn’t paying attention to the contract at all, Mr. Thomas.” I explained, “He was more focused on other things.”

I knew it was a trick of the light, but I swear I saw his eyes darken.

The doors to the office opened unexpectedly, revealing two very obvious members of the Grey Family, and another man I had never met. Lucas’s mother immediately went for the cutie in my hands.

She lifted Alice from my arms, while Lucas’s father took the chunky toddler from him. I gently placed a kiss on Darius’s oblivious head.

Elijah offered a hand, helping me off the floor.

“Mr. and Mrs. Grey,” I greeted politely, “I’m Adriana Ryder. Your grandchildren are absolutely perfect.” I had met the infamous pair on more than one occasion to hand off these sweet babies, but it had been more than a year since I was Lucas’s assistant.

“I remember you dear. And thank you,” Mrs. Grey returned my smile. Grabbing my hand with her free one, she continued, “Please call me Evelyn.”

I was about to respond when I realized everyone else in the room had gone quiet. I didn’t understand why until I turned and saw the third visitor looking very tense. I searched his face; nervous he was having an episode.

My heart skipped a beat as I stared into the eyes of the most gorgeous man I had ever met. The man easily towered me, like almost all the men here. His black suit did nothing to hide the bulging muscles that threatened to tear the material. Thick dreads were tied neatly at the base of his neck, falling down to his back. His flawless dark skin made me wonder what it would be like to run my hands under his . . . 

I shook myself slightly. What the hell was I thinking?

“Are you okay?” I asked, concerned.

“Uhh yeah, he’s fine.” Lucas said. He waved the contract in my face, disturbing my rude ogling. The contract, that I had completely forgotten existed.

“Oh snap!” I blurted, “I have to go. I got distracted by babies” I grabbed the papers from Lucas then rushed out of the room. Slipping passed the sexy stranger, being held back by the Elijah. I didn’t have time to wonder what was happening, I needed to get downstairs.

. . . . 

AIDEN'S POV

I didn’t have anything better to do after getting back from Naples, Italy. 

Well, that was technically a lie, I should be reaching out Sofia to completely end things between us. Elijah let me know she had showed up at the Pack House, regularly, asking where I was.

Yeah, I didn’t really want to do that.

Instead I was back at the office. I had run into Uncle Xander and Aunt Evelyn on my way in and decided to escort them up to the top floor. I followed them to Lucas’s private elevator. The moment I stepped onto the office floor, I could feel my wolf, Tobias, begin to stir in my head. I was halfway across the floor to Lucas’s office when he started howling.

Dude, what’s up?  He didn’t answer but continued to get more agitated. He was usually more calm than this. 

When Uncle Xander pushed open the doors to Lucas’s office I was hit with the most glorious smell of caramel and roses. If you had asked me before if I thought the two smells should mix I would have disagreed, but now it was my most favorite scent in the world.   

MATE! Tobias howled.

I froze as I laid eyes on the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was sitting on the floor holding my niece.

My heart melted when she smiled up at Evelyn, carefully transferring the baby to her before turning and placing a soft kiss on my four-year-old nephews head. I felt an overwhelming urge to kiss the subtle pout off her thick lips.  

She hadn’t noticed me yet, I felt that I would die soon if I didn’t catch her eye. When Elijah offered her a hand, Tobias went nuts, fighting to push forward. A low growl escaped my clenched teeth. She didn’t seem to notice.

Xander, Lucas and Eljiah’s eyes all snapped to me. I saw the realization dawn on Elijah, as he took a step back from her.  

Then her eyes found mine and the world stopped. I knew then I would do anything for this woman. My whole body began to shake as I tried to restrain myself. Tobias was seconds away from breaking my fragile control and rushing at our mate. I didn’t want him to scare her.

Chill out man! You’re going to scare her away. I yelled at him. He began to whine, and I felt him start pacing in my head.

“Are you okay?” the most angelic voice fell on my ears, bringing me back.

All I could do was stare. She was perfect. Her long chocolate brown hair fell down her back in thick curls, complimenting her olive skin. Her heart shaped face held beautifully high cheekbones, soft pouty lips, and the cutest button nose. I wanted to run my hands along the curves her pantsuit did little to hide.  

“Uhh, yeah he’s fine?” I heard Lucas say.

“Oh Snap!” her sudden exclamation made me jump towards her protectively. Elijah easily intercepted my, casually placing a hand on my chest, preventing me from moving. Everything in me screamed to fight my way passed him, but he was like a brother to me and I trusted him with my life. If he was stopping me it was for good reason. 

Then I realized just what that reason was. 

She hadn’t reacted to me the way I expected her to when I entered the room. Meaning she was human. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her away, but when she left the room all I wanted to do was rush after her and claim her wherever we landed.

 It wasn't until the door clicked shut that Elijah stepped back, his ridiculous grin coming into view.

“You good man?” Lucas asked, smiling.  I most definitely was not.

“Oh s**t! Little Aiden finally found his mate!” Elijah yelled. Scaring Alice and Anthony, earning glares from everyone in the room.

“Congratulations son.” Uncle Xander’s heavy hands slapped my back, making me wince.

I turned to Lucas. “Who is she?” I wanted to know everything about her. It was Elijah who answered.

“Adriana Ryder. She currently works under me, one of the best negotiators I’ve got.”

Lucas nodded his head in agreement. “She was my assistant about a year back before I transferred her to Elijah’s department. She can be pretty cutthroat when it comes to closing deals for Grey Enterprises, but she’s one of the sweetest women you’ll meet.” He frowned, “Unfortunately outside of the office I don’t really know much about her.”

“What do you mean?” Evelyn asked, wrapping Alice up and putting her in the car seat.

Every part of me wanted to go find this woman, but I needed to know how to approach her without scaring her.

“Well she’s worked here for almost 6 years now,” Elijah mused. “In that time, she’s worked under Oliver, Lucas, and now me. She’s conversational and easy to talk to. She loves all the kids and they all know her. Taylor and Aerin have met her as well."

"Now that I think about it, she knows almost everything about us, besides the fact that we’re wolves. While we know almost nothing about her,” Lucas continued. 

“Lucas and Oliver have worked with her a lot longer than I have, but I'd have to agree."  

....

Uncle Xander and Aunt Evelyn left with the kids, while the three of us worked to solve the mystery of Adriana Ryder, my mate. The thought made me smile.

I had been with Sofia for five years and never once felt like this. Sure, I was drawn to her, I was almost convinced she was my mate, but Tobias was never fooled. He wouldn’t mark her and refused to interact with her or her wolf, Jasmine. It had put a serious strain on us over the years before I finally decided Sofia and I needed space. Whatever connection we once had was gone, we could barely be near each other without arguing now.

Lucas hummed thoughtfully, pulling me back to the present. “I usually make it a point to get to know my employees, and thinking back on it now, I realize that Adriana skillfully evaded answering any questions about her home life. I wonder if Oliver had the same problem.” Lucas’s eyes went out of focus for a couple of seconds.

Luckily, Oliver was also a wolf and a member of the Midnight Pack. He wouldn’t question why we were looking into Adriana when he realizes she is his future Beta female. 

“He says he’ll be here in a few minutes.”

Five minutes later Oliver strode in settling down in the visitor’s chair next to me.

“Alpha, Beta, Gamma," he addressed us formally.

"You wanted to talk about Adriana?” he asked curiously, “Is this about what happened this morning in the elevator?”

“What happened this morning?” Elijah asked quickly. Oliver looked from Lucas back to Elijah before responding.

“Uhh, Jeffrey Anderson, from my department, cornered her in the elevator.”

“What?!” I growled. Tobias was going crazy. FIND HIM, he howled viciously, No one touches our mate!

I was still fighting for control when Oliver continued.

“Yeah I reprimanded him already. He’s a bit of a flirt, but I’ve never actually seen it before. Jeff is a good employee, but I’ve heard of more than one instance where he hasn’t kept his hands to himself. Adriana was holding her own pretty well before I stepped in, from what I saw.” He sounded impressed.

Pride and possessive anger fought for dominance in my head. I was proud my mate could take care of herself. But she was mine and I couldn’t allow that bullshit to slide.

“I need to find her.” I rose from my chair, but Elijah beat me to the door. "Move Elijah."

"No," he challenged. 

“Huh?” Oliver looked lost.

“Adriana is Aiden’s mate," Elijah explained briefly, never taking his eyes off me. 

“Are you sure?” Oliver, along with way too many other members of the pack, knew all about the scandal that was Sofia Evans.

Shit! I had completely forgotten about her.

“She’s mine,” I growled, focusing my anger on him instead. 

He put his hands up in a placating gesture before elaborating, “I was only thinking of how worried you were a few months ago about Ms. Sofia.”

Hearing her name aloud sounded like nails on a chalkboard. I was two seconds away from ripping this dude apart for how casually he mentioned my ex, but Lucas beat him to it.

His low growl echoed fiercely. I watched with satisfaction as Oliver’s back straightened.

“If you ever,” he stated slowly, using his Alpha tone, “Question your Beta again, I will rip you apart Oliver.”

Oliver lowered his eyes in submission “Yes Alpha.”

“You’re dismissed.”

We didn’t give the man a second glance as he scurried out of the room.

Elijah sighed dramatically. “So, what’s the game plan?”

I plopped back down on the couch as I considered how to approach her.

“From the sound of it, Adriana is used to men approaching her at the office. The last thing I want is for her to see me as one of those guys.” I sighed.

“Yeah you don’t want to be one of those guys,” Elijah chuckled, “She will eat you alive.”

He and Lucas began to laugh, and I was caught staring at the both of them as they shared in whatever inside joke they had involving my mate. Lucas caught my glare and began to explain.

“I told you, Adriana Ryder is cutthroat when it comes to negotiations." he affirmed, "She’s downright ruthless when some of our clients turn their focus on her.” His eyes began to darkening slightly. “If I could pull her out of negotiations I would, but she loves what she does.”

“In fact,” Elijah continued smoothly, “She’s had her eye on that new VP position in the International Relations Department.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

“Looks like I’ll be in the office a bit more gentlemen.” I smiled at the thought of working closely with my mate. Nothing screamed romance more than a trip to Spain with a beautiful woman. Maybe this would be easier than I thought. 

…. 

ADRIANA'S POV

The rest of the meeting with Jonas Ford went as smoothly as expected. I gushed over our brand-new deal while ignoring his not-so-subtle staring at my cleavage. He signed the contract with barely a glance, and I sent him on his way. Though not before letting him know he should personally deliver the documents to his father before asking me out again. Mr. Ford would be blowing my phone up within the hour.

Luckily, there wasn’t much work that needed my attention, so I quickly grabbed my bag and made my way to the elevators. I rapidly pressed the button, knowing it wouldn’t make the doors open faster but it was cathartic.

When the doors open, I threw myself forward and bounced off a wall of hard muscle. I felt myself begin to fall when strong hands closed around my upper arms, catching me before I hit the floor.

My eyes met the intense stare of the stranger from Mr. Grey’s office. His eyes flashed with surprise, then concern as I gasped pathetically.

“Are you alright?” His deep melodious voice made me shiver slightly. I managed to get my balance and took a shaky step away from him.

“Uhh” Oh god I was speechless. When have I ever been speechless?

I cleared my throat and tried again. “I am so sorry! I’m not usually this clumsy. I usually have a lot more grace than that. I should have been watching where I was going.” I faltered slightly when I saw the amused expression on his face.

“Please forgive me,” I finished softly. I hated how small my voice sounded. For some reason, this man had me flustered and I didn’t like it.

“No harm done,” he chuckled, eyes never leaving my face. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I paused to gather myself before I responded.

“Yes I’m fine. Thank you,” I paused squinting at his face, “I’m Adriana Ryder.” He shook my hand and grinned. Holy s**t I didn’t know teeth could be that white!

“Aiden Matthews.”

I think I felt the blood drain from my face. Aiden Matthews. I just threw myself into the man I aspired to work for.

Unfortunately my internal freak out didn’t go unnoticed. The panic on his face was almost comical as he reached for me.

“Woah! Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” he asked quickly. Warm sparks shot up my arm from where he gently grabbed my elbow, making me jump.

“No! It’s just that I was hoping to run into you. Figuratively. Not literally, I didn’t mean to run into you literally.” I doing a really bad job and I knew it. I took a deep breath and tried to salvage the shreds of dignity I had left. “I was following the progress of the Bianchi Contract in Naples. It was very well organized.”

This elevator needed to hurry the hell up. He looked a little shocked, he opened his mouth to respond when the ding of the elevators interrupted. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and rushed out of the elevator.

“it was nice to meet you Mr. Matthews. Sorry again.” I threw the half-assed farewell over my shoulder.

Then suddenly he was in front of me. And for the second time during this strange encounter I found myself bouncing off of his deliciously chiseled frame. He caught as easily.  

It took me a moment to register what had happened. How the hell did he get ahead of me so quickly?

“Hi,” he chuckled.

“Hi,” I said breathlessly.

He was blocking my escape and I could do nothing but face him. I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks knowing they portrayed exactly how I was feeling. Traitorous body.

Aiden smiled down at me. “Can I take you to dinner?” That wasn’t what I was expecting.

I looked into his dark brown eyes, twinkling with hidden laughter. They drew me in. Everything in my body screamed yes! His smile widened and I knew he knew it too. I opened my mouth to form my acceptance when the same torturous words forced themselves into my head.

You’re not safe. Don’t let anyone get close to you.

“No.” I heard myself say. The disappointment on his face was too much for me to handle.

I didn’t look back to see if he was still behind me. As soon as I got into my car I crumbled in my seat, taking deep breaths to calm my shaking limbs.

 Looks like I wasn’t getting that promotion after all.