Celeste wished she could figure out what had her all pissed off. It felt like someone was rubbing her against the grain and all it did was make her want to run. She had no idea where but if she didn't figure this out soon she'd probably end up biting someone. And not in the fun way.
"You gotta get this together, Cuz!" Tyler muttered after the last applicant left shaken and perplexed.
To be fair on the woman, Celeste had not said a word to her all interview. She'd sat there, arms and legs crossed and ground her teeth. Not exactly the kind of impression one of the owners should leave an applicant, but Celeste couldn't help it. What ever was riding her had her patience thinner then usual.
"She was ok, wasn't she?" Kyra asked, scratching her head. "Her references are pretty amazing."
"I didn't like her," Celeste growled, offering no tangible reason because there wasn't any. She just wasn't right to work with Hunter.
"Maybe it'd help," Tyler drawled, becoming more and more frustrated, "if you could tell us what you were looking for?"
Celeste didn't know so she just ground her teeth until Tyler sighed, cracking his neck. "We'll take five before the next one."
Kyra stood as quickly as her body would allow. "Pee break!" she crowed. "Don't start without me, I'm keen to see how Sally handles her highness." With a maniacal cackle Kyra hobbled off to the bathroom.
Tyler also stood, stretching and glaring at her a little, testament of how irritated he was. "Sally Smith is our last applicant before I force you to go have lunch with Hunter. Get your shit together so we can finish this up today."
"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, also standing and stalking out of the room. She stopped when she got to a kitchenette tucked away on this floor, grabbing a glass and some water while she fumed. Maybe she'd take a run after this last applicant. Worst case scenario they could interview the rest tomorrow after she got over what ever this was.
She wasn't sure how long she stood, trying to calm the agitation, but she gave up eventually, certain it’d been five minutes and headed back into the interview room. Tyler and Kyra would be back by now and she could get this over with.
The moment she opened the door it all clicked solidly into place.
The woman before her was the most bewitching creature she had ever seen. Cream skin dashed with freckles, hidden beneath a charcoal suit. A scarlet wave of hair pulled tight against her head and curls left cascading down her back. A small slightly turned up nose and a sweet pout of lips. Wide, innocent eyes flecked with emerald watched her, the same feelings reflected in her gaze.
Mate!
Everything in Celeste screamed it out and she fought the urge to just grab the small human and take her from the room. And she was human, Celeste could smell it when she breathed her in. She smelt like the bush land, heady and natural and every fibre of Celeste's being wanted her. She could also smell that she wanted it too. Her arousal spiked as her eyes fell on Celeste and she preened beneath the weight of it. Her mate was aroused just from looking at her.
Then the moment hit her like a bowling ball.
She had another Mate.
Hunter had to know.
Celeste looked straight at Tyler.
Keep her here. Do not let her leave.
Celeste did not like to make use of the clan’s connection around outsiders. It was rude and just because they weren’t part of the family didn’t mean she shouldn’t be polite. But right now she was sure if she opened her mouth it would either come out as a growl, or declaring the girl as her mate in front of the company’s two biggest gossips.
To Tyler’s credit the only thing that physically changed was a lifting of his eyebrows.
What?
Don’t let her leave, Celeste repeated. Tell the other applicants the position is filled. I have to see Hunter. Now.
She didn’t wait for a response, turning and closing the door firmly behind her.
She took the stairs through the fire exit at a gallop. She had two mates. She couldn’t even begin to phantom it. And one was a little slip of a human girl. How was she going to be able to explain this? She had never had to explain herself, or her life, to anyone before.
No wonder she had been so agitated for the last hour. Her mate had sat out in that waiting room the whole time and she had had no clue. But she had felt her there, like an itch under her skin that wouldn’t go away.
The shear amount of turmoil that ran through her had her pausing before the last floor, trying to compose herself.
What the hell would Hunter say?
Other’s scuttled out of her way as she strode towards his office. Even the temp at Kyra’s desk didn’t try to stop her as she entered his office without knocking. Celeste could only imagine how wild she must look right now.
Hunter had three financiers working with him on something. They all looked at her as she entered unannounced, varying degrees of outrage and reprimands on their lips.
Celeste was not sure what they saw in her eyes but every one of the suits straightened within moments, and left the room with little more then promises to email later. The door clicked shut behind them with a echo of finality.
Hunter lent forward as Celeste crossed the room to take one of the seats in front of his desk. “Please hold everything,” he murmured into the intercom for the front desk before muting the machine. His golden eyes did not leave Celeste’s as he sat back in the chair, watching her closely.
Just seeing him relaxed something tight in her, but not completely. For the last seven years she had thought her life was complete. Only now did she realise she was missing a large part of it.
And this was something she had to talk to Hunter about before anything else happened.
“I have just met my Mate interviewing as your new PA.”
***
Author's Note: Whelp, half a day late. Hopefully I don't make a habit of it
“I see.”When Celeste had stalked in Hunter wasn’t sure what was wrong. Part of him hadn’t known what Tyler had meant earlier, what 'off' could have really meant. Walking in to the office she had been wild, her golden eyes flashing in a way he hadn’t seen in years. He couldn’t even imagine what might have caused his wife to shake with so much pent up energy. But now he understood.Another Mate. Hunter wondered what they might be like.“That’s it?” Celeste was distressed and confused, he could see that she her body trembling with the energy that pulsed through her. “I tell you I have a second mate and you say ‘I see’?”Hunter stood and came around to her side of the desk. Her foot tapped with nerves but she paused as he pulled the chair closer to him. From here he could reach out and take her hand. He felt her still instantly, which made him smile, he could still calm
When the beautiful woman left, Sally couldn’t quite explain the sudden sadness that filled her. It was like the light went out of the room. She also had no idea what it meant in the context of her job. Was it an automatic disqualification if one of the interviewers took one look at her and left the room?Probably, she thought, even more downhearted. She had thought it had been going well till now.Tyler and Kyra looked alarmed and surprised as well, so she thought that was a better sign then straight up pity. For a moment they appeared to flounder before Tyler turned to her.“Could you give us a second, Sally?” The two stood without waiting for answer. She watched in surprise as they moved away from her, whispering in hisses that, try as she might, Sally couldn’t make out. Finally Kyra shot her a short wave before shuffling out of the room to the hallway Sally started in with the other applicants.Tyler moved his seat around
Celeste was glad she’d decided to take a run before trying to head back to try and do work. Even though she couldn’t get out of the city, parts of it were still green enough for her. Coupled with some decent headphones she was able to zone out and clear her head.Being away from Sally’s scent helped too.One day soon she would take all three of them out of the city, somewhere on a walkabout. It’d make her mother insanely happy if they went up to her sheep ranch for a while and just be for a bit.Between North Industries and Clan business she was becoming run down. Now the addition of a new mate added it’s own level of stress to her exhausted body.Yes, once Sally was hers they would take some down time and she would show her the bushland she had grown up in.With her mind calmer she headed back towards the building. She had run far, but less then she thought she’d need to to calm it all down.She
Hunter was furious with Luna, but it was really nothing new. It didn’t matter that it might be the 20th century, some people would always treat it like they were still tribal. The shear intimacy that came with Clans, Packs or Prides made things worse of course.Celeste and Luna’s mother didn’t live with the clan for a reason. Her and Celeste’s father owned their shearing ranch and were happy away from the politics. But when Celeste’s Nona had left, the Matriarch was always a direct descendant. Either Celeste or Luna had to take her place. Celeste had won every challenge thrown her way. The Clan was her everything.It hadn’t stopped those who didn’t like Celeste’s changes though. To mate with someone out side of the clan had been a sticking point, as if she had chosen her fated partner to spite them.North Industries was another, though they were hard pressed to argue that. In fact, Hunter taking the Clan&rsqu
Sally was exceptionally grateful that her apartment was just far enough away that she could comfortably angry walk home. Cause she was so, so very angry.Kyra had been confused at her change after returning from her toilet break. Sally had been tight lipped, she still had a lot to learn about the politics of the place before she would feel comfortable ragging on the boss.Thankfully Mr North stayed in his office all afternoon, only paging through to Kyra when he needed anything. It made Sally mortified to realise he’d only been visiting them all those times before to scope her out.As such Sally gave him no extra reason to spend time with her. At 4:20 on the dot she picked up her bag, said thank you to Kyra, and stalked home.How DARE he do that. She didn’t care how young, pretty and seemingly unattached someone was. He was married. His wife was one of her bosses. She worked at the same fucken building as they did. What had he thou
Even if she hadn’t been able to smell her, Celeste would have known the moment Sally stepped into the office space. She could feel her presence all the way down to her bones.Hunter was enamoured with her; he had spun the tale of Sally defending her virtue into a story of epic proportions. After the roller coaster of the last few days, Celeste was delighted to see the joy Hunter got out of this, even if it painted him as the bad guy in Sally’s eyes.Celeste wondered what the girl would tell her when they finally got a moment to talk. As she approached her, Celeste smiled to herself. Her little mate was brave considering the conversation she’d had with Hunter yesterday,“Mrs North?”Celeste bit back a groan. The light, warm way she said her name was addictive, Celeste could listen to her all day. She turned from the photocopier, taking in her black pants and turquoise, long sleeved top as well as the waves of red curls falling
It had been a most amusing day.At some point around lunch Kyra pulled him aside. “Do we need to worry about her mental health?” She’d hissed and Hunter only managed to not laugh by shear force of will.He could understand Kyra’s point. Sally had been walking around in a daze for most of the morning, yesterday she had been competent and fun till Hunter had asked her out, and then she had been short and cool with everyone. Without any context, Kyra must have been getting whiplash from the changes.“I’m sure it’s just new job jitters, the retail position she was in did not let her reach her full potential.” That had been painfully obvious when Hunter had contacted them Monday after the interview. While they were quick to be angry about him poaching their worker, they were quicker to accept compensation. If nothing else came of a relationship between the two of them, he was happy to get her out of there.
Sally certainly hadn’t expected their night to be as fun as it was. Hunter was attentive and interesting. She could hear his passion for environmental architecture and understood instantly why north industries had flourished so.The pub was cozy even if Hunter was a dirty fish eater she hadn’t had a date like this in a while.The underlining current of what was to come couldn’t be denied and Sally realised she wanted to be with both of them. It felt surreal to her. Maybe in her wildest dreams had she thought of having two lovers at once. But here she was, actually contemplating a relationship with a married couple.It was something so far out of her comfort zone that she probably should be worried. Instead she was excited.“Would it be too early to ask for one kiss?”Fucken Hell, the man was sin on legs. Her knees practically went to jelly and she had to close her eyes to get some form of cohere