For one moment after I arrived in the garden, the sun blinded me, and then my eyes cleared. Before me spread an amazing event: the wedding of our country's princess.It still hadn't fully sunken that I was that princess.The guests sat in orderly rows of brilliantly white chairs festooned in lovely shades of blue and lavender. I had chosen them because they most reminded me of the moon, and I wanted to honor the goddess at this event, as well. Without her, I would not only not have been at this wedding, but I wouldn't have been alive. She had done so much for me. The least I could do was throw a little recognition her way.I clutched the bouquet in my hand, and Theo hooked his arm through my elbow. “Are you ready?” he asked.“I'm ready.”We took a step toward the altar on the red carpet spread out in front of me, and the music swelled. The quartet played a beautiful melody full of promise and love.I didn't see the people looking at me, specifically, only that all eyes were on me. My
"There will be a twenty percent reduction in staff," my manager Craig announced to the group in our emergency staff meeting. My stomach immediately turned into nervous knots. Craig paused, waiting for the collective gasp to settle down, a small smile quivering at the corners of his mouth. Is that sympathy, or is he enjoying this? I wondered. As if to address my thoughts, Craig's face switched to a mask of regret as he looked around the room. "I'm not happy about it either. Each of you is important to this department in my opinion. But, since the new CEO believes differently, I'll be conducting performance reviews with everyone this week and reporting my findings." My heart sank. I knew my work was good. But if it was going to be a popularity contest, I had no chance. After all, I am “scentless”. In a world of werewolves, scent was just as vital a sense as sight. Werewolves had a built-in system to rate every scent they encountered. Alphas were born with B grade scent minimums
It was true what Cathy had said. Charles was my high school crush. But it was also true that it was so much more than that.Years had passed since high school, but the feelings I had during that period of my life were as strong as if they'd happened yesterday. Back then, no one in my high school didn’t like Charles Rafe. He was the only student, except Cathy, that would smile to me and say hi. He even said my name correctly every time. Gradually, he became the reason I got out of bed and went to class in the morning, just so I could sit silently behind him. His casual smile was the factor that made or broke my day. There was no way he would remember me even if he was my new boss. Still, the idea of it made me smile into the night sky and wait for the screen to loop the interview so I could see his face one more time. I gazed up at the screen, watching the commercials tick by. The programs usually looped at least a half-dozen times before they moved on to the next thing, giving peo
"You know, Elena," Craig began, letting the pointer finger of his hand drop to my shoulder. It began to draw small circles there. "This is really stressful for me." I fought the urge to shrug his finger away, and tried to lean back slowly, as if to see his face better. "I mean, I genuinely like all of my employees. You are all so good, so valuable." His finger became the back of his fingers and he brushed them up toward my neck. "I've had a headache for days straight. Can you believe that?" "Yes," I said, thankful for the opportunity to pull away and look into his face. "I have, too. It's hard for all of us." He smiled. "That's one thing I like about you, Elena. You're sympathetic." "What's the question you had for me?" I asked. To my dismay, he scooted closer, undoing the slow, few inches I'd managed to put between us. "You know, Sandra, my wife?" "I met her briefly at a party, yeah." "We've been having problems." "That can't be helpful at a time like this." "See? There y
I hardly slept and I looked it. Despite my efforts with the concealer, the bags under my eyes were evident and the stress was manifesting in overly frizzy hair. Still, I did my best. I wanted to look good for my execution, but had to settle for being on time and not looking like a puppy caught out in the rain. My hands shook on the lobby door handle. I needed to get some tension out and decided to take the stairs up the four flights to our division. It was a popular choice. My colleagues liked to stretch their bodies before and during a day sitting at desks, and I could hear a few people a few floors above me. Getting the blood flowing and my legs pumping helped my nerves. I began to breathe deeply and felt it relax my muscles. Then I heard my name echo down through the concrete stairwell. "I don't think Elena would do that," came the first voice. "She's kind of a sheep." "That's what she wants you to think. She plays all demure, but underneath all that mildness she's sharp. Sh
There was a simultaneous gasp around the room.I looked around at the stunned faces. Craig's was beginning to turn purple. Even Charles' assistants looked confused, giving each other quick glances, but then looking to their boss for instruction."Do you think you'll need help packing up your desk?" Charles asked."I ... I'll be fine."He nodded. "Great. Then I'll be by to get you in a few minutes."I went to my cubicle in a daze. People were giving me a wide berth, looking at me with open confusion as I passed.I looked around at my things.There was very little. A photo of me and Cathy. A small mint plant I used to clear my nose when things got overwhelming, (an old werewolf trick).I put an external drive into my computer and began to make sure I had back up files of any work I wanted to keep, then opened drawers and began to pull out office supplies and paperwork.There were a few awards for pieces I'd helped work on, and articles I'd written for other journalists with their names
I was uncomfortable. I could feel the eyes of Charles' assistants on my back as I gestured and talked about the departments.Equally awkward were the stares of colleagues that quickly dropped when we neared and then came back as soon as I'd looked the other direction. I tried to point out as many people as I could, forcing them to look up and smile. Some waved or dipped their heads deferentially to the new boss.I knew they were all wondering the same thing that I was.What the heck was I doing there?The penthouse was reserved for upper management and Charles had his own smaller conference room. The assistant's desks sat out in the open floor in front of his office, a barrier of gatekeepers.I'd never been up this high in the building before, and the view of the city below was vast and dizzying. I put my box down on my empty desk and followed them into the glass-walled conference room.Jessica and Amy stood on either side of Charles as he sat at the head of the dark, polished wood ta
“Don’t get me wrong, I immediately said no,” Amy quickly claimed after seeing my stunned face. “The police won’t spill your private information.”“Sure,” I replied with a smile. “I guess…I just didn’t expect him…”"Don't you two have work to do?" Jessica entered the room, another binder in hand. "I don't think she needs anymore praise, Amy. She's already paid just to have a nice lunch and hang out in the copy room.""I'd love to do more," I said. "Please, let me take some responsibilities off your hands.""You wouldn't have the first idea of what to do.""You're right. It's my first day. I'm willing to learn. And just so you understand, I didn't ask for this job. I only wanted to keep my old position.""Please. We all know what position that was."I felt my anger flare. "I have no idea what you're implying, but it sounds ugly."Jessica learned forward and pointed at me. "Sleeping with your boss is a bad idea in general, but keep it at home for crying out loud.""What?""That is totall