Chapter 25

"Your job is pretty simple, read the file, and manage the human accordingly," Dante says, handing me a thin file from his neat wooden desk.

I open the document, skim reading the pages. The picture of the girl I have to take care of makes me tilt my head. I've seen her somewhere.

"I'm confused at what I'm supposed to do to the human," I say, walking around his office at a slow pace.

"Everything should be in there. You'll have my Beta by your side to guide you," he explains with his eyes already reading something else.

I halt my steps, frowning at him. "Your Beta?"

As if on cue, the door bursts open, and a tall male makes his presence known. A broad smile appears on my face. Of course, he's his beta. "Michael!" I can't help but yell as I hug him tightly.

The blonde wolf laughs, hugging me back. "I had a feeling we'd see each other again," he says.

Now that I think about it, Michael was with that human girl at the airport and looks like it's the same as the picture: black hair, blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and a small smile on her face. Damn.

"Michael, I'm leaving Alexa in your hands to handle the human," Dante says from behind.

"That's fine," the Beta says as I break our hug, soon following him outside.

"So, how does it feel to be doing illegal stuff?" I casually ask.

Michael's eyes size my appearance. "Cute maid uniform."

I roll my eyes smiling. "Thank your Alpha, and don't change the subject."

He shrugs his shoulders. "What can I say? It is what it is."

"How did it come to that, though? I mean, I knew the pack was always known to not follow the rules, but human trafficking is a whole new concept."

"It's not really human trafficking when they're the ones volunteering."

Looks like I found the person who can put an end to the mission.

"Werecats as well, right?" I ask.

Michael laughs. "I wish! Werecats are—" he stops abruptly, leaving us in the middle of the dining room filled with the long dark tables and chairs around this time.

"How do you know about werecats?" he asks, his chocolate-colored eyes squinting at me in disbelief.

I smile innocently. "I'm a werecat. Voices travel around pretty fast. So, what were you saying?"

Michael shakes his head. "Nothing important."

I didn't have time to ask more because of the black-haired girl walking inside the room in awe. Yep, that's the girl Xavier liked back at the airport. After that, the day passes in a blur. Michael tells me what I should do, which is making sure the human acts a certain way when she'll be off to meet a vampire.

By nightfall, a fancy car comes to pick her up, disappearing through the dark woods. She was a peculiar human. Of all the possibilities I had in mind of her volunteering, I've never expected that kind of answer.

"Why are you here, exactly?" I asked her just a few minutes before the car's arrival.

Michael was glancing at me from the other side, leaving the human in-between us. The girl, which I remember was called Rose, winked at me. "Because I want to meet a vampire, of course."

My eyebrows knitted. "You're doing all of this just to meet a vampire? Not even a particular one?"

Rose nods her head, grinning. "Does it matter? A vampire is a vampire. I've been dying to meet a real one. I wonder if they're how Hollywood makes them out to be."

Michael chuckles, shaking his head. "Oh, you have no idea," he says, making my frown deepen.

He notices my confused look and does the zipping mouth sign with his hand behind Rose's back.

That's when the car arrived, whisking her away from us. She'll be so disappointed when she'll meet the vampire. Leaving that aside, I didn't have a chance to snoop for more clues, but I'm starting to have a theory thanks to Rose.

If she's willing to go through all of these etiquette lessons to meet her dear vampire, what happens when clients want the werecats, no matter what? They offer a large amount of money. Dante kidnaps them because of it, probably raising the price since it would go against his business of voluntary humans. 

If I'm right, I'm buying drinks for the Clowder, even though I still have to figure out why they want us.

Perhaps Xavier will back me up on this. He should be back here tomorrow. The thought of Xavier ignites something within my heart that clouds my mind with different possibilities of our upcoming argument.

Did he really sleep with another girl?

Although I've been busy since that phone call, that question has been hidden deep in my thoughts. The mental picture of Xavier pleasuring another girl as he does to me makes my blood boil.

I can feel Foxy purring at the sudden possessiveness I have toward Xavier.

The color on my face drains as realization makes my mouth go dry. No— A hand touches my forehead. "Are you okay? You're paler than usual," Michael points out.

I swallow a lump as I push his hand away. "I might have eaten something my body can't handle. I'll go rest in my room. Please, report it to Dante for me," I say.

The wolf nods his head. "Of course, don't worry about it. Now, go."

I give him a small smile before turning around and walking upstairs.

Of course, it happened again.

My hand goes over my heart. I grasp the fabric of the uniform as it turns into a fist. My eyes are fixed on the end of the hallway where the stairs leading to the attic are located. I fasten my pace.

I'm falling for Xavier.

But why? For his kindness? His honesty? The sex? Or for how concerned he becomes when I'm not feeling well?

Foxy meows rings in my mind.

Yeah, you're right. It's for all the above.

I sigh, slowly climbing up the stairs. I go for my luggage and crouch down, fishing out the ruby ring.

The crystal is blinking at me as I roll it down my middle finger. I have to be honest, I don't want to return the ring for how beautiful it is.

I crawl up to the bed. My eyes are unwavering from the piece of gold that's making me feel all kinds of things for Xavier.

Should I tell him? The thought of it makes me nervous, afraid to hear his answer. I nervously start biting the inside of my cheek when a creaking noise coming from the stairs perks my ears up.

"Who is it?" I ask.

"Who do you think would come? I heard you aren't feeling well," Dante says, his voice gradually becoming louder.

Shit.

I quickly take off my shoes in a very unladylike way before sliding under the creme sheets and feign a painful expression on my face. I don't even know why I'm faking it. It's not like he'll kill me if I finish working earlier of my own free will... Right?

Dante's footsteps get closer until a pair of dark, suspicious eyes are looking at me from above. "Your face really is a bit paler," he states, getting a closer look.

I give him a sour look. The bastard thought I was lying. "And here I thought you came here because you were worried about me."

"Well, of course, but then again, I had to see with my own eyes how fake you're being," he says, sitting down on the edge of the mattress.

My face is on fire from the embarrassment that doesn't pass unnoticed by him. Dante laughs as I sit up, my face inches away from him. "How did you find out?"

The wolf locks our gaze perfectly as he grabs a lock of my hair, twirling it around his fingers. "You always knit your eyebrows upward when you're faking to be ill. Like this." He mimics my expression, making me feel even more embarrassed.

My eyes wander elsewhere. "Will you kill me now?"

Dante chuckles. "Of course not. Michael told me how it went today. Not gonna lie, I thought you'd fail since following etiquettes isn't your style."

I roll my eyes. "I come from a farm, but I learned how to behave around stuck-up people."

His unexpected sincere smile makes my breath hitch. "I know. How's your dad, by the way? It might sound weird, but I miss shovelling pig shit with that old cat."

My laugher echoes in the room as I remember Dante's face the first time my dad made him work at the barn. "He's alive, and I think he met a new woman since he stopped his monthly calls."

We spent the next few hours reminiscing about the past, and all my mind kept doing was comparing Xavier with Dante.

Yep, I'm definitely whipped.

Other two chapters coming up as soon as I'm done editing them. 

Edit: my friend is asking for some attention at freaking 3 am to binge watch an anime, so I'll edit and publish the other two chapters tomorrow afternoon.