A delayed flight then a dump of a hotel is the last thing I need before a meeting. But clearly, things do not seem to be going my way.
But I promised my father I would go and get this business deal completed and that is what I intend to do. It should not be too difficult, most of the deal has been discussed and dealt with online and over the telephone, so just the finalisations have to be done in person. And it meant I got to do a little bit of travelling, at the expense of my Dad, so I was most definitely not going to complain at that!
Though he could have at least booked me a better seat on the plane. Sitting next to a screaming kid the whole way was not my idea of fun. Jeez I hate kids. Sick to death of that fucking baby by the time we got to the airport. Surely she could have just put a fucking bottle in it’s mouth or something to shut it up. Or just choose not to fly with it. Instead of torturing everyone else on the plane, having to listen to it wail incessantly for the entirety of the flight.
And then the dive of a hotel my Dad had booked me into was truly disgusting! It is not somewhere he would stay, so I planned to find somewhere else to stay after this meeting. Find some recommendations from the staff here. I am sure they could help with that. You would like to think they would have some idea.
The building for the business looks pretty nice, though from what I can gather Winters Business Associates are a pretty successful company, so I would expect nothing less. Their property company is beginning to do pretty well now too. Quite impressive from some young guys choosing to set up a business on the side while waiting to go into their roles in pack.
I am met in the foyer of the building by a receptionist, who leads me up to the conference rooms, and as we walk toward the conference room I am getting a sense of nervousness. I have no clue why. I am never nervous with regards to business or meetings. I am usually confident and sure of myself. So why did this feel so different? I feel on edge. Like something did not feel right.
My wolf, Mina, was unsettled in my mind too, which was unusual. So this was truly making me feel on edge. Yet I have no choice. I can’t walk away. This meeting has been planned for months. They are expecting me. This business deal is something my family are relying on for our future success. I cannot fail them.
I continue to follow the receptionist. The long corridor feels like I am walking to a torture chamber not a conference room, yet I can’t place a reason as to why. Then a door down at the bottom of the corridor opens and a scent hits me. A musky, strong scent of pine and coconut. No. This cannot happen. Not here. Surely not.
We walked into the room and my eyes were drawn instantly to the source of the tempting scent. It is drawing me in, making me want to go to him. I need to resist. I do not want this. I am here for a meeting. That is all.
‘Mate! Mate!’ Mina is screaming in my mind. “Look how handsome he is!’
She isn’t wrong to be fair. He is tall, muscular. With a headful of dark hair, short at the sides, but flopping into his face. His eyes are a piercing grey. And such a strong jaw, defined further by the stubble dotted along it.
“Jake this Rose Cartwright” the woman next to him smiles “Rose, this is our Beta and business partner, Jake Joseph. I am Lilah Winters. My husband Knox is back at the pack at the moment, but is able to come along if you should need him to attend”
He has not stopped staring at me, which, to be honest I am finding it quite hard to tear my eyes away from him too, yet him staring is making me quite uncomfortable. And I have not travelled across the world to meet my mate. I am here to finalise this deal for my Dad, and go home. I do not have plans for a mate. No, not at all. This can't be happening!
Oh shit, he has offered me his hand, all puppy dog eyes at me too. Not a fucking chance. He will know for definite then. Because I am guessing that is why he is all soppy eyed at me, because he can smell me like I can smell him? Knew I should have worn my de-scenting spray. Fuck it! I should have been better prepared. I was too tired and disorganised after the flight, so I just wasn't with it, or else I would have been wearing it. Dammit! Not a chance in hell am I touching him.
Mina is whimpering, desperate for me to touch him, to have me confirm he is ours. But I am not doing that. I have a life back home in England. I am not turning that upside down for this. I am not here for a mate. I am here for business. Like planned. So I simply nod coldly and walk past, finding a seat at the desk they have set up for us.
Praying this meeting is done as quickly as possible and I can get the hell out of here. I do not need to be around him too long. The longer I am with him, the harder this will be. His scent is already becoming unbearable! Why do things like this happen to me?!
“Ok, thank you for coming.” Lilah says, bringing the meeting to a close.Thank goddess that it has finally ended. The meeting had dragged on for a couple of hours, discussing all the minute details they needed to. And while that normally does not bother me, today I was most definitely distracted and wanted to go and speak to this girl.She had avoided any interaction with me throughout the meeting. Which had irritated me. Me being here in all honesty today was pointless. I would be explaining everything to Lilah later. But right now I am ready to blow a fucking gasket, I swear!But I have sat and been the professional that I am expected to be, providing all the papers needed, giving answers when needed, making drinks and just being present. Despite being otherwise occupied on other things. Now the meeting was over, I hoped to get a chance to speak to Rose. Hopefully, she will give me that chance. Surely she must want that too? I am potentially her mate after all?I look across to wher
I watched Jake stand in the doorway of the room as Rose walks down the corridor away from the conference room. She seemed quite happy to walk away from him, relieved almost, and like there was no issue in leaving her newly-fated mate. But Jake bless him, he looks confused and unsure right now. And to be honest, I can understand why. She did not give much away. She was a truly closed book. Hiding something, I am almost certain of that.Did she want him? But at a later time? There seemed to be no instant connection like there had been with Dan and Indie, or Manny and Lola. Or any fated mates I had seen meet. It seemed so bizarre. She seemed very standoffish. Or was she simply hiding it? Fighting it because she was scared? Simply because she did not expect it to happen like she had said? It just seems so odd. There seemed to be nothing from her whatsoever. Though she had infuriated me and I wanted to rip her apart. Being so disrespectful of me and of Jake too. That is not how you act to
I ruffled her hair, knowing it would have driven her crazy. Because that’s the good friend I am. I treat Lilah like a younger sister now, and have done since she came into my life all them years ago.She loves me for it, I am sure. The death stare she is giving me right now may say otherwise, and is something I can pretend I don’t see. She is a scary gal when she is moody and I don’t have Knox here to help me out today. So pissing her off may not be in my best interest. Though I am sure today I may have the sympathy card to play given what has just happened, so that could most definitely work in my favour at least!“You wanting a coffee or you heading home hunni?” I aimed for the nice angle, hoping she would be heading home as I really do not feel like chatting.As awful as that sounds, I just don't want to be sat chatting for ages with Lilah, and have her trying to dissect everything and look at every little detail, as the girls so often do. I know it would be meant in the most suppo
I got to the hotel, glad to finally rest. Today has been far from the straight forward day promised to me by my father when he asked me to come and represent the company for them. Meeting my fated mate had only added to the disaster. Luna Lilah seemed to think she had the right to get involved with it all, when I did not see how it is any of her business.If I was Jake’s mate, then surely that would be between myself and Jake. Not anything to do with his Luna and Alpha. Yet she seemed to take serious offense at me saying I was not able to be with him at the moment. Not to mention, I have a partner back home that he does not know about yet.I get undressed, stepping into the shower, ready to wash off the dirt of the flight and meeting too. I am assuming once Jake gets back to pack I will get a phone call and we can discuss all of this. It is practical to keep your fated mate as an option. I am aware of that, and I do intend to do that. It is not like my fated mate is all that ugly, or
I came off the phone to Rose with a smile on my face and Jaxx purring in my mind. He seems happy to know that his mate is close by, yet unsettled too that she is not by his side. Ok, she is not with us, and this is definitely unsual circumstances, but we are working on it. I am hoping to sort that with time.I guess listening to everything she said I can only agree that she deserves a little time to take in what has happened, and get her things under control and in order before making any commitments to being with me. Especially when being with me means moving to a different country. It is a big change to expect anyone to have to take on, especially a young woman that is a successful business woman.So I am willing to give her that time. Give her that space and that freedom to do what she needs to get everything in order, ready to come and be my mate. Or that is what I am hoping anyway. She has not exactly agreed to that as yet, but I am hoping that is what she will do. And I am reall
I saw Jake leaving his house. I thought he must have been held up at work when he hadn't shown in the packhouse for our gaming session we had arranged. And his mindlink was blocked. So I assumed he was still in work. Like had happened in the past. So I headed up to see my sister knowing she had a day off today, or I say a day off, I mean a day doing her never ending amount of coursework she was completing now her course was coming to a close.So am I to assume that he hadn't been at work? And just didn’t want to come gaming? Surely he could have just let me know? I am a little offended by that, I have to say. I enjoy our time chilling out together. He is one of the few friends I have made since moving here. And up until this had happened, he always seemed to have time for me.I was just leaving Gabe and Esme’s after having a coffee with Esme. I had hoped to spend a little longer with her, but she looked shattered, so I decided to finish my drink and head off home. As I was beginning t
I finally let Jaxx out through the forest at the top of the packland, up near the borders where I know I won’t be disturbed. Needing to feel the pain of pushing myself to my limit running up there, loving the sensation of the breeze through Jaxx’s fur as he paces through the trees at speed. I could still sense he was on edge, but allowing him out to run helped. He could let some of the unused energy up speeding around the forest, and in hunting small prey within the forest too. The fact he was not doing well with this showed how distracted his mind must be, as normally he was a refined hunter. Meeting Rose had clearly affected him. Clearly playing on his mind. Though it was still playing on my mind, so it is understandable.This was not how we had thought meeting our mate would be. This is not how it is supposed to be. Though I know you can't plan for everything to be perfect, this was beyond strange and it has really set me on edge. Something told me it didn't feel right, but I was t
I am just settling down to relax in the hotel, though I have to say it is quite the dump. Meeting my "mate" had completely ruined my plan of asking their advice on better quality hotels in the area, so I am stuck here tonight now at least.I managed to enjoy a bubble bath to relax, which was something after the long day at least. A day of flying and then going straight into a meeting was far from ideal, though certainly bad planning on my father’s part, I have to say. I had asked that the flight was a few days earlier, though I had also asked for a better hotel. Clearly, my opinion means very little to my father right now, so long as I am out here doing his job for him while he sits at home on his lazy behind,enjoying the money I am bringing in now for him from the business.What boils my blood more than anything is my father would not lower himself to stay in hotels like this, yet he expects his own daughter to stay here and put herself at risk of catching heaven knows what, from hav