Chapter 5

• Keera
• "I'm glad everyone's here," Trevor started once everyone had been comfortably seated. I had a feeling he'd informed the Alpha that the meeting was starting at a later time so we could get to know each other first as a team. It was a move I admired. "So, this is Keera and Lexi," He introduced, referring to Lexi and me. "They're the best forensic scientists in the state." We waved at them modestly, already used to how Trevor introduced us.
• "That's Joe," He said, referring to the buff bald guy seated two seats from Lexi. "He's our firearms and weapons expert," He explained, returning Joe's nod of acknowledgement. "That's Josie, she's a top profiler and that's Kathleen, bio engineer and CEO of Neptune labs." He said, introducing the two females. Josie and Kathleen were sitting side by side.
• I studied all of them, trying to see if I could guess the kind of personality they had. I could already tell that Joe was a very strong minded person. He obviously had to have taken his line of work. I had a feeling he could also be very soft on the inside though. When he wanted to be, that is. Josie met my eyes, smoothening her hair. She was a thin brunette. I had barely been in her presence for ten minutes but I could already tell she was an extremely perceptive and observant woman.
• Kathleen, the blonde sitting beside her looked to be a bit more friendly. She smiled warmly, raising her hand up in a wave. I relaxed in my chair, somehow knowing that Trevor had really been thoughtful when he'd been putting the team together. I didn't think we were going to have much trouble working together. He cleared his throat, staring at each of us straight in the eye. "You already know why you've all been gathered here. I made it extremely clear in the files I sent you," Trevor addressed.
• "Yeah," Kathleen echoed, her attention fully on him. Her gaze left him then, as she studied the people she would be working with. Her eyes met mine and held for a few minutes before she gave me a smile that seemed a little respectful. It dawned on me then that she already knew I was going to head the team. It looked like she didn't have any problems at all with it.
• "Keera's going to be leading the team," He informed calmly. I watched them for a reaction. Their eyes seemed to focus on me all at once and I made sure to meet their stares. I couldn't have them thinking I wasn't feet to head the team or that Trevor made me leader as a result of something other than my abilities. We studied each other for a few minutes before they seemed to silently back down. Apparently, the staring contest was over and I had won.
• In more ways than one.
• Trevor's phone beeped twice, signaling an incoming text. He looked down at it and his eyebrows lifted. Before he could so much as get a word out the door was pushed open. The room fell silent as all eyes turned towards the door. I felt the hairs on my arm stand and I was very sure if I looked down at my skin, I would find goosebumps. The Alpha of the werewolf pack we were supposed to be helping out walked right in.
• I studied him from my seat, mentally noting that he hadn't changed that much. For one, he still had the extremely intense almost suffocating dominating aura around him. Unlike the other time I'd been in his presence when he'd been angry and venomous and saying shit, he appeared to be so calm now it was deadly. He seemed a little more mature.
• And more attractive.
• He paused for a second, his eyes instantly latching onto mine. I barely held back the malicious smirk that overtook my face. He stood rigidly, like I was a surprise he hadn't been expecting and I had the feeling that he was trying to contain both his surprise and confusion. I was willing to bet Trevor hadn't divulged any personal details about me from the way he was pegging me with his stare. It was actually quite funny how the tables had turned. I managed a small wicked smile in his direction, conveying an unspoken message.
• Hello, Grayson.
• *Grayson’s pov*
• I felt all the air leave my lungs the second I locked gazes with those familiar light brown eyes. I blinked once, trying to make sense of what exactly was happening. I'd been standing at the entrance of the building when my wolf had gone mad shit crazy of a scent. Over my mate's scent. I hadn't been able to believe it at first. I had already lived a good number of years searching for my mate and she had seemed nowhere to be found. What was the probability that the first visit I made back to human territory would bring me to her? But then like any other werewolf I'd been hopeless not to follow the scent of the one the goddess had made for me. But it had led me to her.
• Keera.
• I cleared my throat, moving my gaze away from her cold and calculating one. I had to get it together in front of these humans. I walked to where Trevor was seated and shook hands with him before taking a seat beside him, making me find myself seated directly opposite to Keera. As Trevor made the introductions, I let my gaze roam the team of five, taking them in and trying to get a read of what they might be like. They all seemed to be in an expressionless professional mode of some sort. Like they had been in such meetings hundreds of times.
• They probably had.
• I tried to match their names to their faces and commit it to memory as quickly as I could but it was a little hard to do coupled with the way my wolf seemed to be going off the bat being so close to it's mate. I let my eyes meet Keera's just as Trevor introduced her. My fists tightened when I realized she was the team leader I'd given my word to be personally protective of for his sake. I loosened the only fastened button on my jacket and leaned back into the seat, taking Keera in.
• The last time I'd seen her she'd been a couple of years younger. Her eyes looked a little bigger. Her lips were more pronounced. Her cheek bones were high. Overall her facial structure was just about symmetrically perfect. For some reason that angered me. I knew better than anyone what exactly she was like under that whole tough exterior. I knew how sharp her tongue could get and how her eyes seemed to glower when she got pissed.
• Not for the first time I wondered if the goddess was trying to play some kind of trick on me. There was no way Keera could actually be my mate. Aside from the fact that she was human and it was strictly forbidden for a werewolf to mate with a human, I knew exactly how she felt about me. She'd told me to my face that I was a sorry excuse of a human being and my existence was a huge insult to human beings everywhere. There was no way she was going to give up her human life to become my mate.
• Not when she hated my kind so much.