CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

                                                   

"What are you doing here?" Zephyr's voice resounded in her ears causing her fears to sky rocket through the roof.

Bellona was too shocked to answer. How come he was back so soon? It wasn't up to two hours since he left and for all she knew, the site was an hour and thirty minutes away from the company.

She didn't know what to say. This was the first time she was caught red handed and she couldn't help but wonder what Zephyr would do to her.

"Didn't I ask you a question?" Zephyr raised his voice when he didn't get any response from her.

"I- Uhm. You see..." She tried to form words but nothing was forth coming. It was as though all the courage she felt this morning had flew out the window.

Her eyes darted around, not knowing where to look and landed on Lucian. The man looked like he wanted to kill her that instant. He was glaring daggers at her.

She looked away and composed herself. "While you were away, I decided to clean your office. I took out a book and the shelf suddenly parted revealing this room." Bellona lied without battling an eye. She sounded genuinely confused like she didn't know what was going on and when Zephyr didn't say a word, she continued talking, changing the topic. "Why are you back so soon? Did everything go well?"

"Yes" Zephyr simply responded and took a seat behind his table 

"I'll be in my office" Bellona casually said and walked out.

When she reached her office, she let out a deep breath and placed her hands on her chest. "That was a close one" She muttered.

She was very much surprised that Zephyr was calm about this matter. How could he be so relaxed when he caught someone rummaging through his stuff. Did he really buy her lie or was this just the calm before the storm?

*************

"How could you let her off like that?" Lucian asked in anger. "She was clearly rummaging through your stuff, searching for something and invading your privacy."

"She said she was cleaning" Zephyr shrugged nonchalantly.

"And you believed her?" Lucian said in disbelief. "God, what has gotten into you, Alpha? How could you be so lenient. She could be a spy from one of your enemies. Are you not going to do something about her?

The Zephyr he knew was not one you could mess with so he was really surprised by this nonchalant attitude of his. The time someone barely eavesdropped on his conversation, Zephyr made sure to cut the two ears of the man.

Her offense was worst than eavesdropping. Not only did she sneak into his office, but she also had the guts to snoop through his stuff and open the room where he hid those stuffs. 

Thankfully, the alpha was smart enough to clear the place before hand else, she would have known their top secret.

"Get back to work. I'll handle it my way" That was the reply Zephyr have Lucian who then nodded in obedience and left but his face showed that he was clearly not satisfied with the way Zephyr handled this matter.

Zephyr rose from his seat and slowly walked to the shelf which was still opened and smiled. The room behind the shelf was currently staged as a bedroom, certainly not what she had expected to see. He had his wolf to thank for this.

 *Flashback*

Zephyr has just scolded Bellona the day she first touched the shelf and then when she had gone, he sat down in his office to think about what just happened.

"Why don't you clear out the room and turn it into something else. I'm sure she'd come back to take a look at the shelf whenever you're not around " Fenir, his ever so silent wolf spoke.

Fenir usually didn't speak much but whenever he spoke, he said wise words.

"You think so?" Zephyr asked his wolf who hummed in response and then blocked the mind link. The wolf didn't like to speak much so whenever he had said what he wanted to say, he'll immediately block Zephyr out.

Zephyr found that annoying at first but then Fenir told him that he was behaving exactly like him which was true so he had to get use to Fenir's behavior.

So that night, he waited for everyone to leave the office and then he cleared out the room himself and took the things to his house, thereafter, he ordered some men to transform the place into a bedroom. The transformation was done in the middle of the night so nobody suspected a thing.

*Flashback ends*

Zephyr smiled in satisfaction. Bellona thought she was smart but turns out he was smarter than her. 

He wondered what she was searching for. Maybe she was a spy from his rival company seeking for useful information to bring him down. He'd just monitor her from a close distance while acting nonchalant.

He wouldn't lie, he was shocked by himself in the way he treated her specially. If it were some other person, he would have dealt with them a long time ago.

For some reason, he found her interesting and he wanted to keep her by his side.

***********

Bellona went home confused. How come it turned out to be a bedroom bedroom behind the shelf. Then why did he react that way when she first touched the shelf. It wasn't adding up.

Bellona paused for a while to think and then it hit her. Unless, he had made changes to the room without her knowledge.

If that was the case, then what he was hiding was very bad.

Wait!

If he had changed the room, then does that mean that he was suspicious of her? Bellona gasped.

She needed to tread carefully whenever she was near this man.

Immediately after work, she left to see Antonio. The man was more than happy to see her. Whenever she had a problem or needed someone to talk to, she always went to him.

"How's your plan going?" He asked after they had settled down.

"It going well but I think he's suspicious of me" Bellona said.

"How do you mean?" Antonio asked, paying full attention to her.

"Well, some days back, he asked me to organize his book shelf and in the process of doing so, I touched a book and he snapped. I suspected something was wrong and that he was hiding something. So today, when he wasn't around, I went to his office and when I touched that same book, the book shelf parted revealing a room" Bellona explained.

"What was in the room?" Antonio asked with full interest.

"It was his bedroom" Bellona said and Antonio frowned.

"Unbelievable, right?" Bellona paused for a moment and continued. "It means he suspected that I must come back to check out the shelf that was why he quickly removed what was in the room and turned it to a bedroom."

"Smart move" Antonio muttered and then nodded. "If you say he's suspicious of you, why don't you abort this mission and we can look for another way."

"You know that's impossible" Bellona said, unwilling to take his advice.

Antonio sighed. He knew that he'd never be able to convince her no matter how he tried. She had already made up her mind and there was no turning back but there was no harm in trying.

"Then lay low for the moment" he suggested.

"But Nimue said to strike now" Bellona argued.

Antonio drew in a deep breath "You don't have to do everything she says. You can also act on your own will" 

"I have to" Bellona muttered, her eyes turned hazy and then cleared the next second.

"You said I have to lay low. How do you mean?" Bellona asked, changing the topic.

"He's suspicious so put a pause to your plans and try to get close to him. Pretend you want to be his friend and communicate with him like you have no grudges against him." Antonio advised and Bellona's face scrunched in disapproval.

Antonio laughed. "I know you don't like the idea. I don't like it either" He whispered the last part. "But you have no other choice. You have to make him trust you. Fall for you even, then you'd have control over him."

Bellona thought about the idea and it was really good.

"We just have to pray his mate doesn't show up else our plan will fail."

"How?" Bellona asked.

"If his mate shows up, he wouldn't pay attention to any other female so you have to act fast. I doubt he has a mate since he's yet to find her."

Bellona smiled. This was one of the reasons why she loved coming to Antonio. The man was wise and always had an advice or two to give. He was the only person that she smiled with genuinely.

"What would I do without you?" 

"Absolutely nothing" Antonio said and they both laughed.

They talked for a while before Bellona rose from her seat.

"I'll be on my way now" She said.

"To your house?" Antonio asked.

"No, I'll be going to Nimue's. The scent masking potion she gave me is almost running out. I have to get another one. We don't want Zephyr figuring out me true identity now, do we?" She said and laughed out.

"Alright. Take care" 

He bade her goodbye and she went on her way.

Antonio sighed. He didn't like Nimue and he wished Bellona's eyes would open to see Nimue's true self.