Page 19 of The Heart of Winter

But Skye had fallen for a DevApp employee and was desperate to work there to patch things up with the guy.

I had a lot of doubts about it, but my other brother, Snow—the only one I actually got along with fairly well, called me and convinced me to let Skye in.

Snow seemed to know something extra about this whole situation, something that didn’t sound all that believable. Reading between the lines, I got the feeling Skye might be on the path to finding his True Mate. But as much as I trusted Snow’s instincts, that just seemed too unlikely.

Our family already had two such cases: our parents were True Mates, and one of my brothers, Rain, had found his fated mate.

That was already crazy lucky. Perfect mate relationships only happened in, what, five percent of the population? No way it would hit our family again. It sounded too much like a fairy tale. And I wasn’t a fairy-tale kind of guy.

But whatever.

If there was one person I actually listened to, it was Snow. Even if it was just a maybe, I wasn’t going to be the one to take away my brother’s chance at finding his ideal mate.

I walked into the room I’d turned into a home gym. I hated public gyms. Too many alphas, too much testosterone. Since I loved working out, I’d set up a nice space with high-end equipment.

After quietly shutting the door behind me so I wouldn’t wake Finn, I turned on the treadmill, deciding to start my day with a thirty-minute jog to loosen up and get ready for whatever was coming.

The problem was, my brother wasn’t the only headache waiting for me today. There was more.

Also… I had to hire my boss’s son.

And from what I’d heard? The guy wasn’t exactly impressive.

Jacob, who wasn’t just my boss but also a good friend, was always complaining about him. Said the kid had no direction, couldn’t pick a career, just drifted aimlessly.

Even though he had a degree and all his friends had already landed jobs, he spent the whole summer doing absolutely nothing. And now September had rolled around, and he still hadn’t gotten his act together.

It was keeping Jacob up at night.

So when I went to him and said I’d take his son on, knowing damn well I’d be a hypocrite if I asked to hire my own brother while refusing to hire another alpha, I saw the flash of satisfaction in his eyes. Like he’d been waiting for this. Now he had more leverage to push Sariel into working in my department. And I knew for a fact the guy wasn’t excited about it.

I cranked up the treadmill speed.

My footsteps echoed loudly in the room, my breathing quickened, my heartbeat picked up. I’d always kept my body in top shape. It gave me a sense of control, a rush of satisfaction. I liked feeling sharp, liked the adrenaline that came with exercise. I worked out five times a week, at least an hour each session, usually more than that.

By the time I was finishing up, the door swung open, and Finn walked in. He looked like he’d already showered—his hair was damp, and he had a towel slung over his shoulder.

"Up at 6:30? Must be a rough day ahead," he said with a teasing smile.

I grimaced, hopping off the treadmill and wiping my face with a towel.

"Two alphas at the company. Hardly something to celebrate. The whole office is gonna be buzzing about it, staring, getting distracted instead of working."

Finn scoffed. "Oh, come on, Winter. You and your anti-alpha sass, it’s ridiculous. Admit it. You wish you were one. Half of betas do."

Irritation flared up in me. "Speak for yourself," I shot back, brushing past him toward the shower. Unfortunately, he followed me, which I was not thrilled about. I started undressing, and he just stood there, watching my ass.

"You know why I don’t want them at the company," I said flatly. "I don’t need to explain it to you. You’ve seen how it is on campus, every time an alpha professor gets hired, it’s a mess. Affairs with staff, love-struck students, it’s just better if they stick to other fields and stay out of ones where a lot of mental discipline is required."

Finn leaned against the bathroom wall, still watching me. I shot him an unimpressed look before stepping into the shower and turning on the water—cool. I needed to catapult myself into this day.

Through the fogged-up glass, I could see Finn was still standing there.

So I dragged my shower out longer than usual, hoping he’d finally take the hint and leave already.

But nope.

When I finally stepped out, he was still there. His manly, handsome face looked… thoughtful.

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