Amber eyes clashed with a pair of silver, sharp and icy. She gasped, not at the cold-faced Adonis standing in front of her, but because of a sudden vision that flashed across her mind’s eye. Red eyes. The ones that she had seen a few weeks ago.
Dorian looked at the employee with ill-concealed ire after the momentary daze that had convinced him that the girl was his mate. He glared at her. She was practically gawking at him, which annoyed him further. Who recruited her? He wondered. His wolf was another story. He was purring at the sight of his mate, the suppressants barely keeping him from taking over. He looked down at his now spoiled shirt. He’d have to go back and change again.
“Watch your steps,” he gritted, continuing to glare at her. He glanced around. A sizeable crowd had gathered. His employees tried to be inconspicuous as they watched the scene unfold. No one dared to come close to him or offer him any help. Dorian didn’t need any, but he felt angry at their lack of decorum. His eyes zoned on the person he had been looking for. “Trevor, in my office. Now.” Not sparing another glance at his mate, he stormed off.
Summer’s eyes remained on his retreating figure before she heard someone mutter, “Damn, she was lucky.” Someone commented, “Why is she so clumsy. Freak.” Se almost flinched at the word.
“Boss must be in a good mood today,” another male voice muttered. Her eyes widened when she finally realised her mistake — spilling the tea on your boss’ expensive suit and spouting nonsense is not what one wants to be their first impression. How did she not recognise him in an instant? Working for the past three weeks, she heard about him and had seen his photos on some old brochures, but today was the first day she had the bad luck to collide with the silver-eyed devil himself or say they said. For some reason, she had always felt something...unexplainable when she had seen his photos. She had written it off as a mere attraction. But just now, just a few moments ago, the vision that popped up jarred her being.
“Summer!” Hannah’s worried voice cut through her daze. She felt herself being guided by her colleague. She plonked on the chair. “Are you okay?” she asked again, handing her a bottle of water and some tissues. “Yes,” she finally mumbled and started to clean the remnants of tea. Her skin had become an angry red. Hannah sighed in relief. “That was close. I mean...facing the devil himself can be quite traumatising.” She shook her head. Summer thought, ‘Trauma? Not really.’
Hannah turned to look at her as Summer took a sip of water, realising just then how parched her throat was. “You were quite lucky though, he usually doesn’t spare these mistakes.” She huffed out a laugh and said, “But that collision. Dayum, it felt like a scene straight out of rom-com.” Summer could just offer an answering smile because she never got to taste the simple privileges of a teenager, such as watching movies, hanging out with friends, or going out with someone. Until 15 she was too busy hiding her scars from her classmates. She was a freak in the school, a loner. But the day she turned 16 was the day she had started getting those dreams. Dreams that could be called nightmares.
If she was a freak before, she became even weirder to everyone after that. She rarely slept properly, not that anyone noticed at home. At 18 she learned to put on makeup to conceal her eye bags, to blend in the scars. At 20 everything had changed.
“Hey!” She was startled by Hannah again. “Earth to Summer,” she said, waving a hand in front of her face. Then she placed a paper bag probably containing sandwiches on her white work desk. “They were making the special today,” she said and turned back to her screen. When did she get up and go to the canteen? She wanted to shake herself vehemently. ‘Get a grip!’ she chided herself.
~~~~~
“Alpha, please forgive me,” Trevor pleaded in a shaky tone. Dorian looked up from the laptop screen. Interlacing his fingers, he asked, “Why should I?” The tea stain had started to dry on his shirt and his mood had taken a sour turn. He wasn’t feeling very forgiving. “I…I didn’t know that it was our rival...they—” Dorian held up his hand, effectively shutting the other man’s mouth.
“So, you are saying that, while giving away some of the most important details about our new tech which you are not allowed to do, by the way, you had no clue who the other person was?” Trevor shook his head vigorously, his face turning paler by the seconds. The black high-back chair creaked as he got up and approached the beta wolf. Gripping the lapels of his cheap suit, he growled, “You will not turn into your wolf for the next fortnight.” His firm voice left no room for argument. Trevor collapsed on his knees and pleaded earnestly, “Alpha, mercy! You know we can’t…” Oh Dorian knew the pain alright. He knew what it felt like to suppress one’s wolf. He was well-acquainted with the pain, not that anyone knew.
He smirked. “Should have thought about it when you were leaking information. I hate spies, more so the ones who act like cowards.” He called his beta through the mind-link. Kyle entered immediately. “Take this scum away.” His derogatory tone made Trevor whimper. Kyle hauled him up and dragged him out. Dorian scoffed under his breath and went back to his seat. His thoughts drifted back to that amber-eyed girl. Leaning back on the chair, he wondered, ‘She can’t be a wolf, but she isn’t a human either.’ He struck off the third option. Bile rose in his throat just at the thought of his mate being anything else. He didn’t need her, anyway. His head throbbed. He could feel Kai’s frustration and anger. His eyes fell on a glass paperweight. Taking it in his hand, he threw it across the room. The glass shattered against the white wall, its pieces scattering on the tiled floor.
He was breathing heavily, trying to reign in his wolf. Mates meant nothing to him. They were predestined, but that doesn’t mean that he has to shackle himself with that girl. He didn’t need anyone. He was fine this way.
“You have dinner with family at 7,” Kyle said as he flicked scrolled through the schedule in the tab. Dorian grunted. He scoffed internally as he thought about how his ‘family’ put up so much effort to meet each other once every week, but in reality, everyone wanted to kill the other, everyone especially wanted to kill him. As his eyes skimmed through the papers, that Kyle had brought for him to sign, he couldn’t help but chuckle. Oh, how they thought that appeasing him would help them be in his good books.“Alpha?” Kyle’s tentative call made him look up. His beta’s eyebrows had drawn together, maybe because he puzzled as to why he had suddenly huffed out a chuckle. Dorian plucked a silver pen, gifted by his grandfather from the pen stand and said, “I am just amused by this pretentious family dinner.” Kyle frowned but refrained from commenting on his view.Once alone in his office, Dorian&rsq
“How is work?” Clara asked primly, while gracefully twirling the noodles with the fork. The others subtly looked at them, he could feel it. Dorian stifled a sigh. He was utterly bored and they weren’t even halfway through the dinner. Among the family members, only his grandpa and Clara were the ones who made an effort to talk to him. Clara used to be his closest cousin and confidant, but somewhere along the journey of adulthood, they had drifted apart.“Good,” he replied, not looking up from his plate. He just wanted to be out of this facade of a dinner. For the next few minutes, only the clinking of plates and glasses could be heard. Dorian sometimes wondered why they bothered to arrange this when no one wanted to talk with another, and they all walked on eggshells around him. It always irked him to see his father’s empty seat, left as a stark reminder of the past. Grandfather never let him forget it fo
It was dark and gloomy. She could hear the rumbling thunder outside. She could smell the damp air, could hear the constant dripping of water from the leaking roof into the room where they were trapped. Why? She didn’t know. How? She didn’t know that either.“‘Don’t hurt my daughter...don’t...please. I will...I will tell you...I….” the faceless woman pleaded as she tried to drag her blood-soaked body back until her back hit the wall. She was cradled in her arms, unable to see who it was that addressed her as their daughter. Was she her biological mother? Possibly. She peeked a look at the man who stood not too far away from them. Was it a man? Or a dog? What species was it? It was growling...it always did. Its red glowing eyes made her shudder. And then…There was blood, dark and thick. She sat shivering in one corner of the room, trying to blend into the wall almost as she watched the c
Her eyes fluttered open to an unfamiliar room. She was familiar with this type of ceiling. She had been to this place countless times. And then everything came gushing back, making her sit up for the next moment. Red eyes….red eyes...her mind chanted and then the voice which had said her to beware of the red eyes…“Finally, you decide to grace the living world,” a timbre voice says from her right. Her gaze snapped towards its origin. Her eyes widened when she found that none other than her boss was lounging on the couch, staring at her, or rather scowling back at her. He was fully dressed in a suit now, thankfully.She swallowed nervously and averted her gaze. How on earth was she so unlucky? Just when she had thought that life was going to be mundane, she had multiple encounters with her all-too-unhappy boss and all in a span of
She heard a sharp intake of breath. She did not look up from the porcelain bowl. The white countertop made her feel dizzy before she resumed, “I don’t know much about my time at the orphanage but I can say one thing that I could live and breathe freely there. One day, I was adopted by the Whites, a childless couple who seemed to be lovable and cheerful in the beginning.” Her lips twisted slightly at the words ‘cheerful’ and ‘loveable’.She pushed back the bowl slightly and glanced at Barbara who was staring back at her. Her face was an open book, painted with a plethora of emotions. “I was taken care of initially,” she said, furrowing her eyebrows and remembering the days when they actually cared for her like parents would for a child. “But then...things started getting worse,” she continued. Summer gripped the spoon tighter. “Financially they weren’t stable and bringing me into their li
‘So she knows how to thank people, but doesn’t know how to reply back, ’ Dorian thought as he glanced at his phone which remained silent. He did not expect any reply after he sent one, yet he felt a twinge of disappointment when his phone did not light up.He tore his gaze from the unsuspecting device to his laptop screen. The emails were starting to give him a headache. He was about to type yet another response when the doorbell rang. He knew it was his beta, Kyle.“How many times did I tell you to just use the damn key,” he groused as he let him in. Kyle ambled in, two take away packets in his hand, and walked straight to his study. Dorian shook his head and closed the door. Kyle placed the takeaway packets on the desk and said sheepishly, “I keep forgetting about the key.”
The dried leaves crunched under her feet as she made her way to the office. She stifled a yawn as she trudged her way to the building. ‘I should have taken a long way,’ she thought. She couldn’t sleep properly last night. ‘I will go back to my apartment today,’ she decided as she watched her steps. “What are you doing in this area?” a gruff voice made her jump. She whirled around to find a blond man glaring at her. His eyes conveyed nothing but violence. Fear seized her body. His expression was almost familiar to that — the molester. She swallowed nervously, her throat dry. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her eyes tracked the blond’s movements. He prowled towards her. “I asked you a question, girl. Answer me!” he boomed, making her shudder. She clenched her tremblings fists, keeping them to her side. The man snarled. What will she do? Where will she run?
Her eyes welled up as she gathered her things and turned off the computer. Why was she so unfortunate all the time? Why did she always get the short end of the stick? Why couldn’t she stand up for herself? Why was she so pitiful? She sniffled before making her way out of the building. There was a distinct ache inside her chest, a dull throbbing pain that started after she was reprimanded by her boss. She blinked away the blurriness and looked around. Why did she feel so humiliated? He was only telling the truth. By now, she was well aware of the fact that he was neither lenient nor forgiving. However, he let her off the hook this time as well. She screwed her eyes shut, her cheeks heating up with embarrassment. All of a sudden, she tripped. She opened her eyes and instantly felt stupid for having closed it earlier. She let out a shuddering breath and started walking again. Melham was a small town, which is why the streets nearly became deserted by 8. Two years ago, she would