"Did they believe you?" Matthew asked as he drove them back to his own office.
"Isn’t that the question that I should ask you?"
"What?"
"Did they believe you?" she asked. "I mean..." His acting was good but for them to believe that she would bleed after using magick? Well, Broody might believe them but Marylis was a witch. But she was left with no choice but to believe Matthew.
Ava didn’t know if this was something that happened because of his acting skills? Or because of his good looks.
As if sensing her thought, Matthew snorted. "Good Looking people have certain privileges that the mediocre don’t have."
Speechless, she rolled her eyes. How could this man suddenly act like a child in front of another man?
She stared at Matthew’s smiling face before her lips lifted into a kind smile.
"From now on... there is no need for you to act strong." Matthew said. "I will take care of you."
"Huh?" How did it become like this? She remembered telling him that she would pretend to faint during the tracking. "What are you talking about?"
Instead of answering, Matthew just started humming a tune until they arrived in the office.
....
MATTHEW
"You seem to be in a good mood," Marko said as he handed him his coffee.
"I am in a good mood," Matthew confirmed. He was feeling more than good. In fact, this was the first time he realized how fun it was to irritate people. Apparently, irritating people was better than scaring them with his aura.
Did that even make sense?
He took a sip of his coffee and looked at the view from his office. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"Ava?" he asked.
"She’s... blending well."
"And by blending well you mean she’s created a storm?"
"Yes, sir."
"Wonderful," Matthew smirked. "It is time to threaten those old folks with a witch that is more powerful than anyone else in this country."
"I believe Miss Woods will do well. After all... she is the mate of the most powerful Lycan in this country."
Matthew snorted. "And the others?"
"Ah... I have eliminated a total of three werewolves who had been trailing you and Miss Woods since that incident."
"Almeru is really hell-bent on teaching my mate a lesson," Matthew said. "Should I just kill him?"
"I suggest you let Miss Woods decide on what to do with Mr. De Cene."
"And why is that?" Matthew looked at the man who followed him out of that castle that night. Marko Calida.
The man had been a friend, an enemy, and the closest Lycan to Matthew since he lost his mother. Unlike other Lycans. Marko didn’t follow Matthew because he was the future King of Lycans. No. Marko would never care if he was a weakling or the strongest Lycan. The man followed Matthew because they had long considered each other brothers.
They grew up together. Though Marko was older than him a few years, they had trained together and fought against each other countless times. Marko had been protecting Matthew from assassins since Matthew turned ten.
"In fact, I believe that you should stop killing the assassins after Miss Woods." Marko continued.
"Explain yourself."
"Miss Woods is strong. There is no need to act overprotective and cradle her like an infant. She’s not. She’s killed shifters before."
Matthew froze at Marko’s words.
On the outside, Marko looked indifferent. However, Matthew knew how Marko had despised the witches. Especially the ones from Europe.
Moreover, Marko especially hated witches who had killed shifters in the past. No. He didn’t just hate them. He loathed them. Though, the man had always been good at hiding his emotions.
"Is that going to be a problem, Marko?" Matthew sighed. Just like Marko, Matthew hated witches too. Aside from the fact that witches were powerful and could bind their wolves, a witch killed Matthew’s mother to make another woman the real Luna. The real Queen of the Lycans.
This was only one of the reasons why Matthew hated the politics of his kind.
"No sir," Marko said. "I was just saying my thoughts about the fact that you have been overprotective lately."
"And you think this isn’t logical?" Matthew narrowed his eyes on Marko. Yes. He had been protective of his mate. But this was his normal instinct! His instinct to protect what was his!
"If Miss Woods would come to know how you have been interfering... "
"Interfering?"
"Trillium. Fighting against those people who had been following her. The enemies that she had in the past years. If Miss Woods would know about this matter..." Marko hesitated for a few seconds. "She wouldn’t like it."
"Explain."
"Miss Woods is a capable woman. She’s confident. She can fight and can take care of her opponents. She’s sharp and smart. And yet you are trying to create this safe environment for her. That environment is a lie, sir. With all due respect, Miss Woods isn’t someone who would thrive in an environment like that."
"A lie?"
"When the Lycans ... when his majesty would force you to mark another woman. You will have no other choice but to reveal your mate’s existence and..."
"I am prepared to face the consequences of what we have." Matthew interrupted him.
"But they would try to kill her. If you continue to create this false sense of safety, she wouldn’t survive."
"She will survive."
"Says you. The man who is trying to put a collar around her neck and make her follow his words."
Matthew’s face reddened. He finished the coffee and sat on his chair. This wasn’t the first time that Marko warned him about the possible consequences of his actions. And he was sure that this wouldn’t be the last time either. But does he really have another choice?
He wanted her safe.
He wanted her near him.
He wanted to be with her.
All the time.
Yes. He was selfish.
That was a fact.
But he and his wolf believed that this was the best course of action. At least until they figure out a way to understand the prophecies and their mating. He needed to know what was going on. He needed to keep her safe.
"Sir. I don’t think... Miss Woods would appreciate all the secrets."
Matthew clenched his jaw. He had been trying his best to hide his real beast in front of Ava. He had been trying his best to act sweet and gentle and funny and everything else that could make a woman fall for any guy! The research that he read was supposed to have a ninety-nine percent accuracy of making any woman fall for any man.
Plus, he wasn’t exactly lying to her.
He wanted them to fall for each other. He wanted them to stay together not because they were mates but because they genuinely loved each other. He wasn’t exactly lying by hiding a few things from her, right?
Besides... he was only doing it for her. For them.
He didn’t want to harm her.
"Ah... I smell trouble." Marko suddenly said.
Matthew’s back straightened. He immediately got up and walked out of his office. And just as he expected, a red-faced Ava was already walking towards his office.
....
A few minutes ago. Ava.
Walking in a tight pencil skirt can be very uncomfortable. Especially if you are wearing five inches heels and walking around in a large building like Graydon Pharma.
Ava eyed the files in her hand.
This wasn’t her first rodeo in the corporate world. But... this was her first time working with shifters.
Yes.
Most staff working in this place were shifters. Werewolves, weretigers, werebears, and werelions.
In the past few months, she was so busy hunting their kind, that she didn’t know how to work with them anymore. Ava looked at the information in her hands.
"You are the new assistant?" a man with chocolate brown skin called out to her. Ava smiled then she nodded in response. This was the first time that a shifter hadn’t openly shown animosity towards her.
Weird.
"I am Joseph. You can call me Jo. I worked in the research department. Would you mind giving these files to Mr. Henny on the fifth floor? I know this is not your job but..."
Anxious and nervous.
Those were the two things that the shifter in front of him was feeling. Joseph looked to his right and left before he lowered his gaze. "Mr. Henny isn’t exactly the best one to talk to when you are... you know..."
"You know?"
"People of color."
"Oh?" Ava’s lips twitched. The man was lying. But why?
What was this?
Ava wondered.
Was this some sort of initiation?
Marko assured her that no one would pick on her even though she was a witch. Marko even said that they already hid the fact that she used to work at Trillium. So... what’s going on now?
"Just these files?"
"Yes. I really hope you don’t mind."
Ava smiled.
"Sure..."
She accepted the files and immediately went to the elevator. In a few seconds, she arrived at the fifth floor only to discover that the hallways were... not lit.
It was dark and it looked like the place was under renovation?
Ava lifted an eyebrow.
But before she could close the elevator the lights flickered.
She frowned.
So... they wanted to scare her?
"Who is there?" she said when she heard a low growl. "I— I am warning you. Mr. Graydon wouldn’t want you to play a prank on me!" she made sure her voice was shaky, scared, and weak.
Another growl echoed.
This time, Ava knew where it came from. She snorted and uttered a spell that would give the man a headache. It was a simple spell to torture shifters.
"Since you don’t want to reveal yourself then... you can stay here all you want." Ava held the elevator and used her own magick to control it. But when she opened the door, two guards were already waiting for her outside of the elevator.
"Miss Woods... will you please follow us to HR? We just received a report that you assaulted a coworker a few minutes ago."
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