Chapter 43

ANASTASIA MULBERRY

“What do I owe the pleasure?” He greeted her with the deep baritone of his voice, still slightly groggy from sleep even though it was past ten in the morning and he was already at work in his office.

Not for the first time, Anastasia found it difficult to look away from the gorgeous specimen that was the Alpha of the Lupum Griseo pack. Even though he was dressed in a simple outfit which consisted of a white shirt and grey joggers – the shirt looking so creased that she wondered if he knew what an iron was – she struggled to get her mind out of the gutter, thinking back to the many times she had awoken in the middle of the night to the thought of this very Alpha doing very naughty things to her.

If Anastasia was a blusher, her face would have been beet red by now with all the less than holy thoughts running through her mind, all of them consisting of a butt ass naked Marcellus Storm.

It was just too bad that he already had a mate, though she couldn’t help but wonder where the Luna was. Surely, she should be here running the pack along with him?

But what did she know? She’d barely spent any time in a pack, let alone enough to know how the power dynamics worked.

“Mary made you breakfast so I thought I’d bring it to you.” She murmured quietly as she walked into his office and unceremoniously dropped the try down on his desk. When the water sloshed slightly over the sides, some of it even dropping into his coffee, she wanted to laugh but held it back.

“Well, I appreciate the gesture but it seems like you’re here for more than just breakfast.” Marcellus hummed quietly, watching her quietly as she huffed and nudged the tray closer to him, some of the water spilling again but by this point, she didn’t care.

“Yes.” She confirmed as she ignored the chairs in front of his desk and instead, rounded the room to head over to the sofa which looked far more comfortable and less painful on her back. “Why are you avoiding me?” She asked as she glanced around the room, taking in the minimal black and white of his office which was a little on the plain side, especially when compared to her love of colour and vibrancy.

“Who says I’m avoiding you?” Marcellus asked quietly, closing his laptop so as to give her his full attention.

“Me.” She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, huffing lightly.

“Well, it appears you’re mistaken, Anastasia.”

“I don’t think I am.” She frowned while watching him through narrowed eyes, not at all falling for his innocent act. She had experienced first hand that the big bad Alpha was far from innocent and in fact, could be sinister when he needed to be.

However, his attitude had more annoyed her than scared her, almost as if she was certain that he wouldn’t hurt her. The only thing Anastasia could pin it down to was the fact that he was an Alpha and had no interest in hurting a human like her, especially one as harmless as her.

“And why is that?”

She rolled her eyes and scowled deeply at his attempts at deflecting her questions. Frankly, he was starting to irritate her.

“I know you’re avoiding me, so don’t even try to deny it. But why are you skipping meals?”

A pregnant paused sounded between them as he stared at her, and when this continued for a further few moments, Anastasia sighed and turned her head to finally glance at him, finished taking in his office.

She was surprised to see the conflicted expression on his face but before she could ask about it, he beat her to it.

“How do you know I’ve been skipping meals?” Marcellus leaned back in his chair, a curious glint in his eyes as he watched her carefully.

“Mary told me you didn’t eat dinner last night and I’ve been eating every meal at the pack house and not once have I seen you there.”

“And how do you know I just haven’t been eating later, or earlier for that matter?” He cocked a questioning brow, his lips stretching into a small grin; teasing her, daring her to prove him wrong. “How do you know I haven’t been eating in my office? In fact, why are you paying such close attention to me? Sounds kind of stalkerish if you ask me.”

“Okay, stop trying to turn this around on me.” This time, Anastasia didn’t bother repressing her eye roll, even going as far as to scowl deeply at the annoying man. “If you could just answer my question, I’ll get out of your hair.”

“And if I don’t want you to get out of my hair?”

“Are you always this annoying?”

“And do you always work this hard to get your questions answered?”

“Question.” Anastasia was quick to point out with a snicker, willing to take any and every opportunity to poke fun of him, especially if it ruined that smirk on his face that had really begun to irk her. “I only have one question and it should have a simple answer, so I don’t know you’re avoiding it. Perhaps the same reason that you’re avoiding me?”

Not that she was all that surprised, but Marcellus hummed quietly as he continued to watch her with an intent look in his eyes, not once wavering from her heavily pregnant figure on the sofa. A neutral mask was in place over his face, almost as if he was trying to hide from her what was going on in his mind.

When this silence continued and Anastasia had finally reached the end of her short tether, Anastasia huffed and pushed herself up to her feet.