Chapter 5 - Silvercloud

I’d just managed to get into my lab before I got a text from Shikoba telling me the interns were being sent to the mentors. I was getting a workstation prepped for Persephone to use when my lab door slammed open. I turned in surprise at the aggressive way the door was opened, ready to tell off whomever it was. I didn’t get that chance because hot coffee was thrown at me, and I was called something in Italian, and I bet it wasn’t pleasant. 

I’m a werewolf, so I’ll heal from the minor burn from the hot liquid, but it hurt, and I shouted at the offending individual. I was so damn flustered with my annoyance and the pain that I ignored the person that threw coffee at me. Hell, I didn’t even think about taking my shirt off in front of this belligerent stranger.

I paid closer attention as I tried to dry the coffee off my chest. Jaci had been inching closer, trying to get me to focus on the person in the room with me. And when I smelled that new car scent from near my bunker, it hit me. My mate, my mate just cussed me out and threw coffee at me. I looked up and was stunned. She’s gorgeous with long blonde hair in a french braid, making me look like a damn bum in tweed dress pants, a blue and white floral print blouse, and a white blazer.

While I was busy gawking, Jaci had pushed forward to claim her as our mate. I came to my senses as he started to move toward her. My eyes connected with those green eyes, and it clicked. She’s Persephone Fayte. She’s supposed to be off-limits. 

‘She’s our mate. Nothing is off limits.’ Jaci snorted. 

I ignored him as I managed to sound like an idiot before wandering off like some prepubescent boy embarrassed by a cute girl seeing him half-dressed. She at least apologized for throwing coffee at me and explained why she did it. I made a mental note to run a diagnostic on my onboard computer to see how an email meant for Shikoba ended up in Persephone’s inbox. 

After I found a new shirt and pulled it on, I realized why it was in the lab. It was covered in stains from a project I’d worked on the last time I was in the office. Logan is our Alpha and is more likely to be seen in jeans and flannel, but they are always clean with no rips. I am striking out at every turn to show myself to be a competent man, to show I’m a guy who can look like a scientist and pack Delta. 

“I just wanted to make you feel welcomed. It’s your first day here, and I’m supposed to be your liaison and wanted to make something of a good first impression.” I shrugged. 

“Well, you’ve certainly made an impression. Do you usually remove clothes at work? Or am I just special?” Persephone teased. Her eyes changed colors for a brief moment which told me that it was more from her wolf.

“No, undressing is not something I do at work unless something dangerous is spilled on me,” I explained. I didn’t need Persephone thinking that was a regular thing for me to do. I don’t offer strip shows to people. 

“Though I’m glad the email didn’t actually get to whom it was meant for,” I admitted remembering my talk with Shikoba about not wanting to make Persephone stand out with any favoritism.

“And why are you glad the right person didn’t get the email? It would have saved me from throwing coffee on you.” Persephone arched her brow.

“While that part is true. If you had gotten a special-order coffee and the other interns found out….” I gestured with my hand for her to connect the dots.

“They’d think I’m here because of some favoritism and grill me about who I know in the company.” Persephone sighed. At least she wasn’t angry about it and understood where I was coming from.

“Not that I know you. I know of you from Kurt, Isis, and Darren. And I doubt a random employee would have the kind of pull to get me an internship. Heck, I was rejected for the internship program the last two summers. So I know I earned being here.” She pointed out.

“Yeah…” I played along. “I don’t get a say in who gets an internship invitation.” 

I hand-picked everyone intern and employee in this building. I didn’t ever interview anyone in person, but I watched their interviews, and it was always my final say on who got approved. With the interns, I do a blind selection, meaning I didn’t see the name of who submitted. All I looked at was their project to determine if they had what I was looking for. So she’s right. She earned her spot.

“I’m glad you made the cut this year.” I smiled, letting myself walk closer, drawn in by her scent.

“That makes two of us.” She said, licking her lips as the space between us was mere inches.

I was about to give into her tongue’s taunting, leaning closer to kiss her, when a knock at my lab door made us both jolt backward. The door opened, and a girl I didn’t recognize poked her head in with a sheepish look in her gray eyes and a blush staining her cheeks.

“Oh… sorry. I’m a little lost. I’m Mila Turner, one of the interns.” She apologized in a soft voice.

“No worries, Mila. I’m Jonny, and this is Persephone.” I assured her as I pointed to myself and then to Persephone. “Who are you looking for?”

I was trying to be polite and friendly, which I generally am. Persephone, however, didn’t look thrilled. I guess I can get it. Mila’s interruption did stop us from kissing. But that might not be that bad of a thing. We are at work. I don’t want any issues for her here, and getting caught making out with me, especially on her first day, would create many problems.

“Hi. I remember Persephone from orientation. We’re the youngest interns.” Mila smiled, stepping further into my lab, becoming more comfortable. “I didn’t catch your last name, Jonny.” She flashed a flirty smile my way as she offered her hand.

“Weaver,” I answered by shaking her hand, not flirting back. I’m not much of a flirt any other day, but flirting in front of my mate would be the worst course of action known to werewolf kind. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Jonny Weaver.” Mila smiled, still holding my hand as she stepped closer.

“Maybe you would be so kind as to show me where I can find Doctor Hill? He’s supposed to be my mentor, but I have no clue where I’m going. This building is so big, and I keep gawking everywhere I look.” She giggled, tucking some of her dark hair behind her ear.

I furrowed my brow as I took my hand back, wiping it on my jeans. I know this tactic. Hana has used it plenty of times to get me alone. I may do things to appease Hana, but that’s because she’s my Alpha’s daughter. I owe nothing to Mila. And given Persephone’s entire body language screamed annoyance, I knew I shouldn’t offer to help.

“I totally get it. Everyone is like that for their first week.” I nodded.

“Reed’s lab is two floors down. So if you head out of my lab, you’ll want to hang a right. That will take you to the elevator bay down the hall. Go down to the 10th floor. From there, you’ll hang a left and look for lab 1021.” I instructed.

“That’s a lot to remember. I’m sure Persephone won’t mind if you take like five minutes to show me.” Mila smiled. “Right, Persy?” She finally looked away from me.

I feared Persephone’s teeth would crack because she clenched them so tightly. “My name is Persephone. And Jonny was about to help familiarize me with the lab so we could get started. You can find your own way.” Persephone dismissed Mila.

“I do need to get to work. I have some projects on my backlog that I want to tackle. I gave you the directions and….” I took Mila’s company tablet from her hands and tapped a few things before bringing up a map. “The tablet has a map. It will GPS you directly to Reed’s lab.” I smiled, handing her back the map.

“Oh… wow. I should have expected crazy tech stuff working at Silvercloud.” Mila giggled while holding my forearm. “Thank you so much, Jonny. I hope I see more of you around the building.”

“Right. Good luck with your internship.” I nodded, pulling my arm back as I directed her toward the door. 

“Thanks. Bye, Jonny.” Mila waved as she left the lab.

I sighed in relief when the door closed. 

“What the hell was that?” Persephone questioned. “Do you usually let women openly flirt with you and touch you at their leisure?”

“I don’t control what other people do or don’t do.” I rolled my eyes. “So any flirting was all on her, and I didn’t reciprocate. And I did extract myself from her grip whenever she touched me.”   

“Are you going to be one of those super jealous mates? You realize I’m a Delta in a pack, so I’ll have to interact with females, and some of them will be unmated.” I furrowed my brow, unsure if I liked the jealous thing.

‘Try not letting women get all in your personal space as that woman did. Stop pissing off our mate.’ Jaci rolled his eyes.

“I am not jealous.” Persephone insisted.

“I’m just asking so I’m prepared when other women in the office throw themselves at you. And yes, when I have to deal with Bloodmoon bitches acting like they are in heat around you. Goddess knows you might already have a girlfriend or something back in the pack. That doesn’t make me jealous.” She scoffed as she folded her arms and turned her head to avoid looking at me.

I shouldn’t laugh, but I couldn’t help it. I nearly doubled over laughing. 

“You are an asshole. Isis and Kurt never mentioned that personality flaw.” Persephone glared at me. 

“I’m laughing because you are very obviously jealous and needlessly. For starters, I don’t have a girlfriend, never have. Beyond that, I’d rather have waited for my mate….” I stepped closer and, holding her chin, tilted her face to mine. 

I suppressed a shudder as the spark of the mate bond shot through me like a few thousand volts of electricity. Just the simple contact had my heart racing. I’ve been told plenty about the mate bond. I’ve heard all the lovey-dovey stuff from Charles. I’ve listened to the rational things from John. And I’ve heard all the raunchy stuff from Logan. So I thought I was well prepared for it. In a rare moment, I was wrong. 

“Waited for you. I was always more interested in inventing than getting laid.” I hoped that cleared things up. And if that didn’t, I can only hope what I did next did. I closed the short distance between our lips and claimed her lips for a kiss.