My phone buzzed and I stopped the movie that I was watching. Checking the screen, I saw that it was my bestie, Gabriella calling.
“Hey Freda, it’s Gabby,” she shouted joyfully.
“I know, I have your number, so the caller ID told me already. And please, not too loud. My head hurts when you yell like that, girl.”
Gabriella, also known as Gabby to her many friends, comes from a wealthy home. They were old money as our university batch mates called it
I wonder why of all the people in school, she chose me to be her best friend. We met on my first day in college, I was looking for my first class then. Speed-walking down the hall because I thought I was going to be late, I accidentally collided with her, scattering all our books and notes on the marble-tiled floor. After apologizing for not taking care of where I was going, I realized we had the same classes after comparing her timetable with mine.
“So, Gabby,” I began. “What’s up, bestie?”
With a loud voice, her best friend asked, “Did you see the hot new lecturer that just got assigned for the “critical thinking course?”
Rolling my eyes, I replied in a complaining voice, “Is that why you called me early this Saturday morning? Gosh, girl. I’m already done with my PhD so I don’t know, OK. Just because you’re still taking your master's and share stuff with me about the university, doesn’t mean I’m still aware of everything that happens there!”
“OK, OK…” Gabby said on the line with a softer voice. “You need to see him before you begin complaining, Miss Grumpy!”
Slowly shaking my head, I said, “Alright bestie, when I find the time from work,” I sighed in defeat just to end that particular subject matter. “So how have you been?”
It’s been two weeks since I saw her last. After I received my PhD and started working, I hardly saw her anymore.
“I’m good”, Gabrielle responded cheerily. “As always.”
For the next one and a half hours, we caught up on things we had missed about each other’s present lives.
I’m just very grateful to have a friend like her who does not concern herself with social status…
After the call, Freda took out a fast-charging data cord from one of her office desk’s side drawers to recharge her phone. It took only ten minutes to fully charge her mobile, so she sei it back on the stylish holder beside her LED screen to finish my movie while completing my pet project’s upgrades.
DAMIEN’S POV
Waking up late on a Saturday after a stressful week at work is one of life’s perks that I always look forward to.
Slowly dragging myself out of bed, I took a hot shower in my enormous bath’s etched-glass shower stall. After that, I brushed my teeth with the latest model of self-dispensing electric toothbrush in front of the dressing-room style mirror and sink set-up that was installed along one-half of one of my bathroom’s walls.
My beta, Lyon stepped forward, “Alpha, some humans were spotted hunting for animals within our forest property. They shot one of our pack mates, Kira,” he reported.
I was so shocked that I lost my words for just a moment. “And?” I asked exasperatedly after I found my voice.
Kira’s twin who is just a year younger than Damon stepped out with tears running down his eyes was the one explained, “We were only running outside Alpha, as we usually do in our territory Sir. Those human hunters were the ones who trespassed into our property. It was too late when we saw them, Alpha. I was able to escape their rain of bullets sir but sadly, my twin sister got hit.”
“And Kira, where is she now? I asked with concern.
The pack nurse chose that moment to join the pack meeting. She responded before Lyon could answer me.
She is fine now, Alpha. Kira was shot in the leg but I’m sure she can run again when she finally heals. The bullet just scratched her and did not penetrate her skin or broke any bones.” she concluded her report.
“Thank the Goddess for that,” Lyon sighed in relief.
With a deep breath, I ordered all the pack members to only shift at noon and go out in groups if they transform to their wolf forms so they can avoid more incidents like this.
“I do not want the human world to know of our existence so there is little else I could do to avoid what had happened to Kira and her twin brother, Kael. The men should stay behind and continue our assembly while the women and children can go on with their business.”
It took some time until only the pack’s males in their human forms were left facing their young Alpha.
“What do you all suggest can be done now? I asked those left behind. “Lyon, any suggestions? This must
not happen again if we are truly intent on keeping our pack’s existence a secret!Bren, one of the rogues we saved a year back replied, “How about we build a big fence around our territory’s edges?” he asked
“That will make humans more suspicious and their curiosity will bring them closer to investigate,” Henkjan, an older member quickly pointed out.
“Alright, for now, how about we take turns protecting the boundaries? We can form shifts to watch our properties per four hours,” Lyon suggested.
I agreed with my Beta’s suggestion and we concluded the meeting. However, a part of me felt that this precaution wouldn’t be enough but the alternatives can place our existence as werewolves in an alarming state.
If father wasn’t so stubborn about my business and the absence of my mate, I would really want to hear his advice about this…
Late that afternoon, Damien and a few of his pack members gathered at the end of their territory, contemplating on how to pair the pack men in twos to ensure they have enough man power when their boundaries is trespassed.
“Who will take the first shift?” the young Alpha asked loudly. His voice was being affected by his anger because his wolf, Thorn was still keeping quiet for this long.
“You and you, follow me,” Damien curtly commanded as he chose the frailer-looking men among those with him.
They were ordered to gather wooden branches and large stones to line where their territory starts and ends. They looked like a very rough demarcation line/fence for their territory but it will have to do for now.
With the rest of the male assembly, the young business owner also mounted several “Do Not Trespass” signs on a few spots on their boundary’s edge.
“That’s enough for the time being”, he decided half-heartedly as he viewed everything that they had done.
Let’s hope and see if these ‘barriers and warnings’ can stop any more humans from entering our lands…
“The shift starts today. We cannot let any trespasser into our territory!” he bellowed.
“Yes Alpha”, the first batch of guards answered in unison.
I need to get back to work soon. I trust Lyon and Basil, my Gamma will know what to do without me, he said to himself.
FREDA’S POVAfter the long weekend, Freda felt like a new being, ready for more stories about Damien’s unforgiving temper and hard-lashing tongueShe quickly rushed to her compact dinette to prepare a bowl of corn flakes, sliced fruits, crushed nuts and almond milk, so she would use the fewest minutes possible to prepare and finish breakfast.I better get out of my freight house fast just to be sure I could submit my proposal later this morning. Now that Milo had told me everything about Mister Pseudo-Grouch, I should do my part to show Damien’s dad how big my employer’s company really is.” She re-considered dressing up again in the same outfit as she wore last Saturday and after a few minutes of thought Freda eventually decided to do so. After all, Housekeeping had laundered and pressed her black body-hugging dress, and even added a tear-dropped shaped backless design to it. To be honest, the gorgeous programmer/engineer was dying to find a chance to wear her contour knee-high dress
Looking shocked, Engineer Damien sat back in his overstuffed executive office chair and was silently looked at Moriah and then at me.He waited for me to stop laughing, then did the unthinkable…“Doctor Davis, Moriah… I hope you can forgive this misunderstanding. I never meant to look down on your work, Freya. Did I get your first name right? I seem to remember receiving an abstract of your project last month, and your full name was there. Nor did I intend to jump the gun on you, Moriah.He apologized?! I wordlessly gasped, my eyes as big as china saucers. I still find it hard to believe that the almighty annoying and haughty Damien Travolta apologized to me… Worse, TO US!I thought he meant to give me an earful of a lecture for my misplaced mirth at his mistake. Talk about an awkward version of Shakespeare’s comedy of errors! But rather than doing that, he apologized… humbly and sincerely.I lounged back on his office’s guest chairs where I had been sitting on from the first time I en
Damien shook his head as he chuckled, “Are you always this compassionate to people you’ve just met?” “Well, I can also easily tell if they're telling the truth or not,” confessed the girl genius as she ate a piece of salmon sashimi that she handled with her dainty fingers instead of her chopsticks. “Call it a gift, that saved my hide many times over in my life.” “You don’t know how to use chopsticks?” the unknown Alpha asked as he picked up a piece of seared scallop and unagi roll with the restaurant’s provided enamel-coated chopsticks. “Excuse me, I happen to know you can eat sushi or sashimi with your hands just like how actual Italians do it in their own country when it comes to spaghetti!” Freya countered indignantly complete with a cute toss of her head and an adorable pout. Damien couldn’t help but feel fuzzy all over with his unknowing mate’s endearing reactions, and Thorne felt the same way… She’s such a far cry from Elena, even in the looks department, Thorne. I mean it
PROLOGUEThe sound of crickets and chickadees could be heard in the air as she kept running. Her deep breaths and panting sounded sharp in the night. The wet grass continued scraping her feet and ankles as she kept running away despite being barefoot.“I can hear you,” Alpha Damien of the Greek Olympus pack loudly shouted at her. “You are my mate and you have nowhere to run!”Slightly breathless, the petite 17-year-old blond shouted back at the Alpha, “LET ME BE, you big ANIM…” Out of breath, she rasped in exhaustion and terror as she hit a dead end.In front of the poor fleeing maiden was a sheer and steep cliff, several miles high, with hardly any protrusions and vegetation to hold on to…“You are mine,” the dark-haired Alpha replied with an assuring tone and his signature sly smile on his handsome face.CHAPTER ONEDamien is now twenty-five years old and he’s the only one in his pack who still has no mate.His best friend Lyon got his mate when he hit eighteen years on their way to
After Moriah finished ranting to Freda, she went back to her desk in the penthouse floor, her pout still visible on her slightly freckled face.“Oh, there you are, Moriah! I just received a text from Elena that she’s about to get here. Please send her in, when she arrives,” Her bossy superior ordered as he stepped outside his executive office while checking his branded special edition watch.Shaking her head, the sniffing, swollen-eyed brunette walked towards the outer halls of the penthouse office where the elevators were. One of the mirrored lifts dinged and slid open to reveal an almost skeletal slim pale-skinned 5’7 redhead in a loose French twist and make-up that was better worn in a dark nightclub.“Hello, ma’am,” Moriah sullenly greeted the scantily dressed female.Extremely short leather skirt with a slit on the side… a red tube top showing off her navel… black 5-inch strappy stilettos… is she planning to audition at a strip club later?Hi, girl. Is Damien in? I have a two o’cl
FREDA’S POVLaying on her murphy bed, her phone buzzed a recorded message in her own voice…It’s six o’ clock! It’s six o’ clock! It’s six o’ clock! It droned on and on…Groaning, the bedraggled blond dragged herself off her unmade bed and went straight to her compact but highly automated bathroom. After undressing, the dainty girl took a shower in a small light frosted green glass cubicle located next to her action-activated pastel green john. Later she went straight to the sleek mint green sink and began brushing her teeth in front of the dark green-lined oval mirror on the wall. Upon placing her toothbrush on a small gadget on the sink, toothpaste was gradually on top of its firm charcoal bristles. As soon as Freda placed the tip of the toothbrush under the silver-colored tap, warm water began flowing out.“I would have required a rechargeable electric toothbrush from Supplies but I can’t find any charcoal-bristled electric toothbrushes in the catalogues that we get from Inventory!
“Hey, Mavis! Hold up a minute there… I ordered us lunch so you don’t need to buy a meal at the cafeteria. It will arrive any minute now.” “Oh, then that must be the delivery Security asked me to pick up. It’s billed to you and they already paid for it. They’ll just reimburse it with Accounting on Monday, Freda.”“Whoa, that’s very nice of Security, paying for my orders even if they haven’t met me yet,” the Beta testing Division head said in an impressed tone.“Well, we’re all like that here at Greek, miss. Even Boss Damien was like family to us before…” stated the Olympic swimmer-bodied and thoughtful housecleaning staff male member before fading at the end of his sentence.“Before what, Mavis ?”“Uhhh… You know what, let me get your orders downstairs first then we can talk about that thing with Sir Damien over lunch, OK?” Replied Mavis as he swiftly stepped into the open elevator in front of him, as if he was trying to escape replying to the brown-eyed former university scholar.As F