Chapter Five

Dimitri’s POV

Willow left. But not before I saw the stubborn tears that had finally escaped. I sighed and closed my eyes. I hated what I was becoming. I hated how callous and unfeeling I was being. I hated that I had to hurt my own mate because of some stupid rule that my ancestors had created. I sighed and closed my eyes, so weak all of a sudden. All of this was aping all of my energy.

Resisting Willow… fighting my body’s urge to mate with her. I was fighting against every instinct that had been keeping me alive for this long. I was going against my wolf. He didn’t care that I was doing all of what I was for the greater good of everyone. All he wanted was his mate. And I was the one thing standing between him and her.

I went behind my desk and sat. When Willow had barged into my office, I had been tempted to go to her and just take her sweet scent in and fuck the consequences. I wanted to hold her. I scoffed bitterly. I had never held my mate, since I had found her. The most I had ever done was a handshake, a very short handshake. I could still remember how my hand felt against her face when I lifted it up.

I was proud of her though. I had never thought Willow to be weak. But when she had stormed into my office without knocking asking for me to sign the resignation letter? My respect for her had jumped up a notch. I wanted to claim her so bad. I wanted to revel in that pride even more than I was doing now. I wanted to let the whole world know that she was mine. Before some unfortunate fellow came and tried to pick her up.

My boil boiled at the thought and my mind went back to the words she had uttered. You have no claim on me. I hated how true those words were. Sure, she was my mate. But I had no true claim over her. I was nothing but her boss, her very abrasive and callous boss whom she hated with a passion. I could not call her anything. For goodness sake, she had no idea I was her mate, no idea that I was a werewolf, no idea that every time I lashed out at her, I wished I could end my own life.

I sighed again,

It seemed I had been doing a lot of that lately.

I had never been this person. Things never bothered me this much. When something bothered me, I found a solution to it. And if there was no solution, then I forgot about it. But this was neither something I could forget about nor something I could find a solution to. I was in such a dilemma.

I tried to go through to Adrik, but just like I expected, he was showing no sign of life. He had truly cut off contact this time. I fought the urge to let out a crazy laugh. I didn’t have my mate and my wolf had deserted me. How fucking fantastic!

I loosened the knot on my tie and leaned back in my seat and stared at the ceiling. All of this was taking too long. I needed it to end already. I needed my wolf back and more importantly, I needed to finally hold my mate in my arms. If not, I knew for a fact that I would run stark mad.

Willow’s POV

I hated Dimitri Rustanov.

I hated the man.

I had never hated another human being like I did him in that moment.

I felt so powerless. And he had done this. He was the cause of this helplessness I felt. And I knew he did not care. I was just his employee. Whatever I thought of him did not matter. Not when he had the perfect counterattack to everything I wanted to do. I needed him, I needed the reference and the last thing I needed was to be blacklisted by the Rustanov billionaire.

I sniffed and wiped my tears, then I started my car and headed out of the parking lot of the office building. I thought of going home but what was it going to help? It was just 11 am and if I went home, I was going to spend the rest of the day depressing. I really did not want to be alone. But I had no one in this city. Weirdly enough, none of my coworkers had ever extended the olive branch to me, for reasons I did not know. So the only friend I had was Kayla and she was at work. I had not even told her any of what had happened and I was dreading it to be honest.

I would have to tell her though. Cause I would literally go mad f I had to keep this story buried in my belly for any longer. I drove around the city aimlessly until I stopped in front of what looked like a small bar. I did not know what pushed me, but I parked and went in. It was empty which was not really surprising. It was 12 pm on a Thursday, everybody who had their life figured out was at work, not standing in a bar looking around awkwardly.

“Hey,” someone said near me and I jumped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” they added.

I put my hand on my chest and turned towards them. My words got caught in my throat. Standing in front of me was a beautiful man. I shook myself out of the reverie and said, “It’s fine.” I didn’t want to look like a total weirdo. I was sure the fact that I was in a bar this early was already weird. I didn’t need this man to think I was even weirder.

“Uhm, I was just…”

I sighed. I didn’t even know what to say. I was escaping my hateful boss and I didn’t want to stay home and succumb into a depressive episode? That seemed an awful lot to say to a total stranger. He smiled a little then led me to the bar. The place was really pretty. And it was not dark and stuffy. Not too bright either. Just the perfect middle ground. I sat on one of the chairs and watched the beautiful man go behind the bar.

“Uhm, what kind of establishment is this? Sorry about my question but most bars I know don’t open at this time.” I blushed at my own awkward question but the man laughed so I relaxed a bit.

“We get that question a lot. I just believe that no matter the time of the day, everyone deserves that one spot they can let loose, you know.”

I nodded. I got it. And if I had never been in this situation, I probably would have judged anyone who told me they had been to a bar at 12 pm. I guess there are just some situations that you can’t understand unless you experience them. I smiled at the man and he smiled back. And for some weird reason, my mind started comparing him to Dimitri Rustanov. I shook my head. I had to stop thinking about that man so often. I needed him to get the fuck out of my head. I sighed and shook my head.

“So what’s it gonna be for you?” the man asked me. I sat and thought for a while. But nothing came to mind. It had been so long since I had actually gone out, not since college. So I didn’t even know what I liked and what I didn’t anymore.

“Uhm, surprise me?” I asked.

He winked at me then said, “You got it.”

I watched as he mixed the drinks. His actions were strangely hypnotic and I let a small laugh and clapped when he put my drink in front of me.

“Thank you,” I said, staring at the drink. “What’s this?”

“Drink and find out,” he said then he leaned on the counter and watched me.

I took a tentative sip of the drink and moaned in appreciation. It was sweet. But it packed a punch. I had no idea what was in it though. And I told him as much. I was not the type to drink hard drinks. I drank red wine and called it a day.

“So what’s your story?” he asked. “I’m Lennon, by the way.”

“Willow,” I said, then I sighed at the thought of telling my story.

“That bad? You don’t have to tell me anything. Even if I’m curious to know why a woman as beautiful as you is sitting in a bar at 1 pm looking depressed.”

I laughed at the compliment and took another sip of my drink. What was it going to hurt? I had been looking for someone I could tell my woes to. And Lennon here was just asking for it. I needed to clear my mind and unless I took like twenty shots, I doubted the alcohol would really be of help.

“I assume you’re familiar with Dimitri Rustanov?” I asked then I looked up at Lennon, just in time to catch his face tighten. The expression smoothened out so quickly that I thought I had imagined it.

“Yeah, yeah I do,” he said.

I frowned a little and ignored the uncomfortable feeling in my tummy. I was just being paranoid for nothing. “Well, he’s my boss. And he’s a royal pain in the ass,” I said, then I sighed and took another sip of my drink. I knew I shouldn’t drink so fast. But I was tired of thinking. I needed a reprieve, even if it was just for one goddamned day.

“Tell me about it,” Lennon muttered.

“Huh?” I asked and he shook his head.

“It’s not only the early hours. It’s the disrespect, the degradation. This man does all he can to make me uncomfortable, I don’t get it anymore. It’s almost like he is pushing me to quit but wants me to stay there and suffer. Almost like he has some kind of claim over me.” I sighed and took another sip of my drink. I was wondering if I should sneak in the part about the wolf then I decided against it. He was probably going to think I was crazy. Plus, I had just met this man. He didn’t need to know all of the details.

“I went in with my resignation letter today, after a particularly terrible episode. Do you know what he told me? That he would blacklist me and he would not sign the resignation.” I sighed again. “I don’t even know what to do anymore. I threatened to sue him and he laughed. Then told me to come in to work tomorrow. I really don’t know what he wants anymore. If he’s keeping me around because I truly bring value or if he’s just bored.”

I stared into space sadly and sipped my drink again. Talking about it had me depressed all over again. And confused me. I was still very very perplexed. Did he truly want me for my value? What value? What exactly did I bring that was so special? And if I was so valuable, why the hell was he tormenting me?

“You could take your story to a news agency. I have contacts. I bet he would listen to you then,” Lennon suggested.

I shook my head. It wasn’t worth it. The attention it would bring, the eyes. And the backlash. I would just end up looking like that one employee that couldn’t keep her mouth shut and after my thirty minutes of fame, no one would want to hire me. And Dimitri would have won.

I sighed and pushed my glass away.

I was so tired…