Chapter 4 - Persephone

“Are you excited to start your internship?” Isis asked, turning in her seat to look back at me.

“Does energy equal mass times the speed of light squared?” I scoffed. 

Kurt and Isis shared a look and broke out into laughter. I don’t know what’s so funny. I made a science joke, but it wasn’t even that funny. Maybe they are just humoring me and want me to feel at ease as I enter my dream job and be around a thirty-story office full of people I don’t know.

“Thanks for laughing, but it wasn’t that funny.” I shook my head at their weirdness. 

“We know, but Kurt’s best friend Jonathan uses that line too,” Isis explained.

“Oh. Well, at least that explains your laughter. Will I be meeting this infamous Jonathan? He’s supposed to be the Bloodmoon Delta, but while my arrival meet-and-greet is a jet-lagged blur, I don’t remember him.” I asked, leaning forward.

“Um, yeah. Jonathan wasn’t at the pack house last night. He works at Silvercloud, so you’ll meet him. He’s supposed to be your Bloodmoon liaison.” Kurt explained.

“My what?” I furrowed my brow. I missed a lot with my jet lag and Sara’s late-night run searching for our mate.

“Uncle John and Alpha Logan assigned you and Delilah a liaison. Sort of like a guide and bodyguard all in one. Scott Fowler will be Delilah’s liaison. It will be his job to show her around Bloodmoon and Portland and ensure she gets to her classes and anywhere else she needs to go. Jonathan will be yours.” Isis explained.

“I guess that makes sense. That Scott guy better not get any ideas about hitting on Delilah. She hasn’t gotten her wolf yet, and I’d hate to have to break his face for being a pig.” I punched my right fist into my left palm.

“Don’t worry, Scott won’t make a move on Delilah. No one will. Beyond the fact she’s underage, everyone in both packs knows you two are Alpha Alec’s sisters-in-law, and they do not want trouble with him worse with Logan.” Kurt chuckled. 

“Okay, good.” I nodded my attention, leaving the conversation and turning to the gorgeous building we were pulling up in front of. 

Silvercloud HQ, I’ve seen pictures, but it’s even more impressive in person. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I don’t know if I’m nervous or excited. I guess it’s both. If I prove myself this summer, this could be my future. I could move to Bloodmoon and work here full-time. Sure I’d attend college but working for Silvercloud has been my dream since the company launched its first product. 

“Good luck today. Remember, Jonathan will drive you home.” Kurt smiled as he pulled to the curb.

“Okay, but… how am I going to know who Jonathan is?” I asked, reminding them I’d never met the guy.

“Oh, right. Here, I’ll text you a pic of Jonathan from our wedding.” Isis smiled as she tapped on her phone. 

My phone quickly pinged. I checked Isis’ text and cocked my head as I looked at a photo from their wedding. It was Kurt in a white suit with his happy grin with an arm across the shoulder of a guy in a gray suit a couple of inches taller than him with black hair braided and a short beard making him look a bit maturer with an equally bright smile. His eyes were dark brown with a swirl of amber, making them seem to take a life of their own. 

“Are you done drooling?” Kurt teased.

“Just because I’m a world away from André doesn’t mean I need you to provide his commentary.” I rolled my eyes and flipped him off. 

“Have a great time. We’ll find more time to hang out while you’re here.” Isis smiled.

“Thanks for the ride, guys. Now get back to your pack duties.” I waved at them as I climbed out of the car.

I took a deep breath and went inside. It wasn’t hard to find out where I needed to go. There was someone from HR already corralling a dozen interns into a meeting room. We went through our orientation’s doldrums, which included taking pictures and providing our security badges to get into the building from now on. 

Everyone seemed as excited as I was to be here. Though only myself and one other girl, Mila, I think her name is, are under thirty. It’s crazy that the other ten interns are adults with college degrees taking an internship to get their toe in the Silvercloud door.

We were treated to coffee and donuts. American coffee is GROSS. I’m going to need to find real coffee if I’m going to survive this summer. After coffee and donuts were given our company tablets, the first thing that popped up after I logged in was a request from Jonny Weaver, my assigned mentor, to bring him a quad shot caffe macchiato. He hadn’t even officially met me and asked me to bring him coffee, not just any coffee but my favorite.

Maybe it was too reactionary of me, but I made a cup of the shit American coffee we’d been served and made my way to give Jonny Weaver his coffee with a side order of a piece of my mind. He is going to learn early that I am not going to be a gofer. I am here for an internship as an engineer, not his personal assistant. I was so pissed when I flung open the door to his lab, nothing but unleashing that anger mattered.

“Hey, stronzo! Here’s your coffee.” I snorted as I threw the cup at him. I didn’t aim for his face since it was still hot, so I threw it at his chest. 

“What the fuck!” He yelped, holding his shirt away from his skin. “Are you nuts? You don’t throw coffee at people. And you certainly don’t throw liquids around a lab full of electronics.” He shouted as he carefully peeled the now-wet shirt off.

Holy shit! I’ve seen plenty of naked guys in my life. People shift to and from their wolf, so nudity is part of the culture. I’ve seen some seriously handsome naked men too. Alexander Petridis looks hot nude, not that I would ever tell him that. He doesn’t need the ego boost, and honestly, I put him in the brother category in my brain.

But right now, looking at Jonny Weaver shirtless, I’m speechless. My throat is the Sahara desert, my heart is beating like I ran ten kilometers, and let’s not talk about what’s going on downstairs and leave it that Jonny Weaver shirtless is a turn-on. This is wrong on many levels. First and foremost, I have a mate somewhere in Bloodmoon.

‘Get your head out of your ass and take a deep breath.’ Sara instructed.

I figured she wanted me to calm down from my anger and stop getting turned on by this random guy. When I took a deep breath, I realized that was not what she meant. There it was, the new car smell of my mate, and it was coming from Jonny. Oh, fuck me, I just threw coffee on my mate and called him an asshole. He knowingly told an intern to bring him coffee, which is a dick move. So I won’t feel bad. 

His hand froze as he used the dry part of his shirt to wipe away the excess coffee from his pecks. His head raised, his eyes connected with mine, and I recognized those eyes. The dark brown eyes with a swirl of amber, this is Jonathan. My mate is Kurt’s best friend and the Delta of Bloodmoon. 

“Mate…” He growled low, dropping the shirt to take a step in my direction. 

He stopped and shook his head that amber swirl in his eyes receding but still there. It seems the amber is his wolf. Does his wolf always ride shotgun like that? An ever-present part of him that even at his best friend’s wedding, his wolf’s eye color would be present?

“You’re Persephone…. Darren’s aunt-in-law.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as if recognizing me was a bad thing.

“Your point of reference is Darren?” I furrowed my brow, finding that a strange one. Why not recognize me as one of Isis’ friends or even as the sister of the Incubi Luna?

“I know there are a few other points of reference. Darren’s just the one I went with.” He shrugged, and my eyes went from his face to watch how his muscles moved at the gesture.

“I… I’m going to find a spare shirt.” He said, licking his lips as he looked at me before hurrying to the other side of the lab.

I raised my eyebrow, wondering what that was about. Is Jonathan pissed that I’m his mate? I don’t remember Isis or Kurt mentioning he had a girlfriend, but it’s possible. The idea that Jonathan may have a girlfriend had me angry and Sara ready to claw out a bitch’s eyes.

Is he embarrassed to be shirtless? Or is this about the whole coffee thing? As I pondered this, I watched as he carelessly threw things around, making a lot of noise as he searched for a replacement shirt. How does he get any work done here? His lab is a total pig sty.

‘It probably is because of the coffee thing. And because you are related to a very powerful and feared Alpha.’ Sara sighed. ‘You need to apologize for throwing coffee at our mate.’ She insisted.

“Um…so I’m sorry about the coffee.” I apologized. 

What a start to our relationship. Some day if we have kids and they ask how we met, I’m going to have to tell them I threw coffee on him. Even if we don’t have kids, my sisters and other people will want to hear how we met. Crista can say she met Alec in her darkest days. Katrina says she met Tie in her dreams. André says he met Darren in the heat of battle. And I’m going to say I threw coffee on him. Ugh.

“It’s just that I got my work tablet and got an email from you wanting me to bring you a quad shot caffe macchiato,” I explained. “And Tie has been teasing me for months that interns are just gofers that don’t get to do work and are more coffee and food fetchers or the person taking notes or getting copies for a meeting.”

“That email wasn’t supposed to go to you.” Jonny… Jonathan sighed as he found a white tee. 

“I asked the person in charge of the intern meeting about it. I asked Kurt what kind of coffee you liked. I know American coffee isn’t up to par for people who didn’t grow up on it. Isis still wrinkles her nose at it.” He frowned as he pulled the shirt over his head. It may not have a giant coffee stain, but it has various grease stains, so it’s certainly not clean, but I kind of like that. 

“Oh…now I feel even worse. You were trying to do something sweet for me, and that was before knowing I was your mate.” I sighed softly. 

Ugh, I know that sigh. Crista sighs like that when Alec does little things for her, like drawing her a bath. It’s the sigh of a sap in love. I slapped my face lightly. I can’t turn into some pile of mush just because I met my mate. I am still here to do a job. I need to prove myself to this company if I want it to be my career. And I can’t do that if I’m making goo-goo eyes at my mate all day.