Chapter 6 – The Mystery Behind Her

Confused by the sudden change in her emotions, Axel’s smile completely vanished, and his questioning eyes darted to her retreating figure.

What just happened?

One moment she was just in front of her, the emotions in her eyes mixed with astonishment and bewilderment, then the next it was void of any, with her shoulders turning cold towards him and leaving him suspended in the air.

When she closed his door, his senses came back to him. Though he was still a bit confused, he quickly pressed his intercom. Not a mere second later, his secretary immediately storms into his office.

“You called for me, Sir?”

He nodded. “Alert the guards to watch out for a girl in a beige trench coat, a scarf, and black boots. Take her back to me.”

“Isn’t that the girl you brought inside, Sir?” She asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Yes, now tell them! She might’ve left the building already!”

His secretary rushed outside, as he exasperatedly sighed and leaned back on his chair. He can’t let her go. Not when he found her again. He didn’t think he’d see her again, after that night at the bar. She smelled so uniquely rapturing, and when he asked his COO, Tyrone, he said that meant that she was his mate.

A mate. He had almost given up looking for his mate, but she came at just the perfect time.

That morning, he regretted so much why he let her out of his sight. But fate really had plans. She voluntarily walked to him, in his own company, announcing her undeniably stunning presence.

She was even more beautiful with the sunlight hitting her features, was his first thought as soon as he found her.

Everything felt like a daydream from then on, but it shattered when her eyes fell on him as he introduced himself. An indescribable emotion flashed in her eyes, something foreign when matched with her angelic aura. She looked so timid then, but when her face changed, she looked... lethal, and somewhat broken. When her mood dramatically shifted, her cold demeanor chilled the room. He felt like he saw a totally different side of her. The shy and fidgety Leal was gone, and what replaced was a stone-cold one.

And he has a feeling his name had something to do with it.

Axel patiently waited, having immense trust in his guards. But minutes passed, and there was still no Leal entering his office. After half an hour of waiting, he impatiently stood up and left his office. He went to his secretary’s desk outside his office and saw that she was nowhere to be found.

He frowned and went to the elevator.

What greeted him on the base floor was mayhem.

He saw a few of his guards bruised with claw marks, getting treated on one side, while a few of his other employees were gathered up in a circle. When they noticed him getting near, they made way for him as he saw his secretary on the floor in a horrible state, and the floor was stained with blood.

“What happened, Riye?”

Riye, his secretary, looked up at him. He was greeted by one of her eyes, turning purple with a black eye.

"She happened, Sir! She pounced at us! We didn’t know that she was a shifter!”

Axel tilted his head in confusion.

She pounced at them? In broad daylight?

Well, she definitely didn’t look like she was the aggressive type.

“We couldn’t shift in broad daylight, Sir! We were also fearing that the humans outside to see us in our wolf form. I apologize for not catching her, Sir,” she apologized, while another employee started treating her bruises.

“Did she run out as a wolf?”

“No, Sir,” Riye shook her head. “She only had her claws out and her fangs. It was weird. She was also incredibly fast. We could barely keep up.”

That statement left Axel in deep confusion.

Only claws and fangs? That is impossible. Once a werewolf shifts, they hand over complete control to their wolves. It is impossible to only borrow half of your wolf’s power.

He looked over to the other side, where the guards were being treated. They had huge claw marks on their faces, their sleeves were also torn and a few other parts were exposed. There were approximately a dozen of wounded guards, not involving Riye who had the most bruises.

As the whole company is comprised of werewolves, who also are under the pack he leads, they aren’t shocked to see another wolf fight. What’s unique about this is that the assailant werewolf isn’t an employee nor a pack member, but a mere intruder. And my mate.

“I heard a rogue werewolf attacked earlier,” Tyrone remarked as the other members of their conference meeting left the room. What’s left is the three of them; Axel, Tyrone, and Ryker—the company’s President.

“Yeah, she’s my mate,” he casually mentioned.

The two’s eyes simultaneously widened as Tyrone almost fell off his chair while Ryker’s hands slid from the table.

“What?!”

“And you didn’t bother telling us?!”

“I’m telling you now.” He rolled his eyes.

“I heard she’s pretty,” Tyrone whispered to Ryker. The latter’s eyes gleamed as he looked at Tyrone.

He whispered back, “Really?! We should do a background check and not tell him.”

Axel glared at Ryker. “I heard that.”

Ryker sheepishly smiled as he scratched the back of his head. “Oops.”

“But,” Tyrone intervened, “Why is she running off? Shouldn’t the two of you be on a date by now and getting to know each other? She should’ve smelled you.”

“I think she did, but she didn’t know me,” he sighed, recalling her reaction. “But she didn’t like my name.”

The two frowned at him before Tyrone burst out laughing. When he finally calmed down, he snickered at Axel, “I know why. That’s probably because she always sees your name on the news affiliated with many other girls’ names!”

He sighed at his petty reason and leaned back.

Ryker, the idiot one in the group, agreed. “She probably got jealous and lashed out at the guards! Yeah!”

They high-fived and laughed at his face, scolding him for flirting with many famous and high-profile women.

“But you know what’s confusing,” he leaned into them, “Riye said she only had her claws and fangs out when she attacked them. In broad daylight.”

“That’s weird. Even our Alpha can’t do that,” Tyrone low-key teased.

Axel glared at him and threw him a pen. He effortlessly caught it and placed it back as he chuckled.

“It’s unbelievable, but I guess the bruised guards are living proof of that unbelievable thing,” muttered Ryker.

“Riye also said she was fighting and running at an incredible speed.”

“The supernatural type of speed?” Tyrone queried.

“Dumbass,” Ryker hit the back of Tyrone’s head. “Of course the supernatural type! Our guards and even Riye aren’t as slow as a normal human! To say Axel’s mate moves at incredible speed is such a statement.”

Axel sarcastically raised his brows at Ryker. Wow, he’s finally using his brain.

Werewolves in general are gifted with speed and inhuman strength. The abilities are much stronger when they’re in wolf form, but it’s still there in their human form. As Ryker said, to say Leal moves at incredible speed is such a statement from a werewolf. Axel sighed as he intently stared outside the window of his office, his arms folded on top of each other in his chest.

He’s sure his mate is a werewolf—he smelled her scent. But how is she displaying exceptional skills and mastery of her wolf? Why does Axel feel like Leal is above average? Is that a good or bad thing? He has never heard of special werewolves—there never were.

With the mystery behind her, Axel is even more intrigued about her, and he’s determined more than ever to have her in his arms. She’s making him want her, and it’s working.

He smirked as he folded the sleeves of his long-sleeved polo. He opened his desktop and started messaging his most trusted hackers.

She can’t run away from him like that.

—

With shaking hands, Leal closed the door of Izzy’s flat as she leaned onto the closed door. She’s shivering from both the cold of the night and the fear of yesterday once again haunting her.

She couldn’t believe what had happened today. So many things didn’t go her way, and ghosts of her past started knocking on her door.

When she blacked out after being blocked by numerous intimidating guards, she regained her senses again while running, with her bloody hands on her coat’s pockets and her limbs hurting from an unexplainable throbbing feeling.

She didn’t know what happened, but all she knew at that time was that she needed to get away from her moving nightmare that goes by the name of Axel Elcort.

She knew her frustration was boiling up that time, so she assumed that she was just so angry that she blacked out. She was hoping all she did was run away from that cursed building, but the blood on her hands was telling her otherwise. Despite that, she promises herself that she will never wander on that street in New York. Because she never wants to see him again.

She will forget this day and continue job-hunting tomorrow.

It’s all just a bad dream.

She will never see him again, because seeing him brings back her worst memories, and bringing back those memories brings back her pain and suffering. After years of desperately recuperating, she couldn’t afford to go through the same rough road again.

Axel Elcort is like a disease she needs to avoid. Just like how he pierced her pride and dignity before, then avoided her like there was never a flicker of fire between them.