"Sir?"
"Fred, make sure Clary is settled and tell Annie to forward all my work calls here."
"Got it boss." Fred – Michael's personal bodyguard – said, leaving Michael's office. Michael had moved his operation and his wife to a remote cabin deep in the woods. He didn't appreciate the way Olive disrespected him but he couldn't take any chances as he planned and exacted his revenge. Michael vowed that he was going to make damned sure that he found Olive and made her pay for her actions. He had ordered one of his employees to do a background check on her and the small (in comparison) company she represented. Obviously Olive hadn't given her real name but she had an alias that was bullet proof. It was Anthony's plan after all, there was nothing Michael could think of checking that Anthony hadn't taken provisions for.
Once sat behind his big oak-wood desk, Michael made himself comfortable before he took a thin cream-colored file out of a manila folder. It was Olive's alias' file and it read as follows:
Name: Leah
Surname: Noveki
Height: 5'6
Age: 24
Eyes: Hazel Brown
Occupation: C.O.O at Noveki Pharmaceuticals
Full Name: Leah Masha Noveki
DOB: (Date Of Birth) August 12th 1996
POB: (Place Of Birth) Quebec, Canada.
Maternal Parent:
Maiden Name: Natasha Yana Patrova
Legal Name: Natasha Yana Noveki
DOB: (Date Of Birth) May 10th 1974
POB: (Place Of Birth) Moscow, Russia
DOD: (Date of Death) October 28th 2007
COD: (Cause of Death) Breast Cancer
Paternal Parent:
Full Name: Arthur Callum Noveki
DOB: (Date Of Birth) July 24th 1971
POB: (Place Of Birth) Quebec, Canada.
DOD: (Date of Death) July 11th 2013
COD: (Cause of Death) Car Accident.
Brother:
Full Name: Marko Demetri Noveki
DOB: (Date Of Birth) January 1st 1993
POB: (Place Of Birth) Quebec, Canada.
Arthur Noveki, founder of Noveki Pharmaceuticals (est. 1990) in Quebec, Canada. Noveki Pharmaceuticals is a multi-million dollar company that produces on the shelf medication, over the counter medication and experimental cancer medication.
Noveki headquarters runs a medical research center that challenges the boundaries of modern medicine.
Father (Arthur Noveki) died (suspected foul play) when Leah was 17 leaving her and her brother, Mark (20) to run Noveki Pharmaceuticals. A medium sized Pharmaceutical Company based in Quebec, Canada with branches in Chicago, Tampa, Florida, and Bogota, Colombia. Leah Noveki is a Bio hacker, dedicated to finding ways to enable the body to better kill cancerous cells.
Taking a generous gulp from his whiskey, Michael kept reading, hoping to find something he could exploit but came up short. Legally Noveki Pharmaceuticals was iron clad. Illegally, there was nothing that could be tied to the company or the Noveki siblings. This further fuelled Michael's frustration; he couldn't fathom how clean they appeared on paper. It was clear to Michael that pharmaceuticals weren't the only thing the Noveki's were dabbling in. If it were, he wouldn't be in business with them, buying rare diamonds. Turning yet another page in the thin file on Leah Noveki, Michael's focus was undivided. That was until his phone rang. Not tearing his eyes from the page in front of him, he reached over and answered the phone, without checking the caller ID.
"Michael McNulty speaking," he greeted into the receiver.
"Michael!" Olive greeted on the other end in a cheerful voice.
"This is a secure line, how the fuck did you get this number?" Michael's brows furrowed, worry evident on his face. It was only dawning on him now, that he had slightly under estimated Olive. Putting the file on 'Leah' down, he focused his attention on the problematic brunette on the other side of the line.
"You need not worry about that Michael, I am calling about a more pressing matter" she spoke confidently "such as my money."
"Fuck you!" Michael yelled into his sleek black phone "After the stunt you pulled? I'm not paying you a cent."
"I know, I know" Olive mumbled over the phone "my brother gave me a tongue lashing about that. You know, where I'm from people who snitch, tend to get stiches."
"Is that a threat?" Michael asked offence drenched in his tone.
"Will you snitch on me again, if it is?" Olive joked but when Michael grumbled a few curse words under his breath, she added "lighten up dude, it was a joke. Would it help if I apologized for my behavior?"
"No."
"No?" She repeated "fine." Olive huffed feigning sadness.
"Fine?" Michael hadn't thought she'd give up so easily but then again, Olive didn't strike him as the back and forth type.
"I tried apologizing but obviously you want to do this the hard way." Olive clarified "I actually don't mind, this is going to be very fun." Letting out a light chuckle before continuing, "well, fun for me at least" she said the last line in a singsong tone.
"The hard way?" Michael scoffed; clearly unaware of the lengths Olive was willing to go, to get the money "sweetheart, you don't even know where I am." He started, letting out a shoulder-jerking laugh, confident in his ability to stay off the radar "the hard way?" Michael repeated through his laughter. He had avoided many threats in the past; and even though he didn't have all the information that he needed on Olive. To him, she was just another person on a long list of people who had tried to come for him.
The cabin Michael had retreated to was in a remote section of the forest, it didn't appear on any of the satellites. There weren't any roads on any maps that led directly to the cabin; one would have to hike miles up a slight incline – in the terrain – and then walk a few miles into the depths of the forest to find it. But little did Michael know that his opponent was a trained Lycan with Alpha blood coursing through her veins. Her keen super abilities made her the perfect tracking machine. She could find anyone.
Olive contemplated ending him right there and then but when she looked up at the view before her, a peaceful feeling washed over her body. There was an iridescent glow that slipped through the cracks of the vibrant tall trees, creating a golden glow around the cabin. The way the light from the sun danced through the air, created an intense shade of green that complimented the rich earthy brown of the tree trunks. It was truly a beautiful day out and the sun was doing that thing it does, where it shines. "I'll give you ninety seconds to get the money together then I'll call you back." Olive muttered absentmindedly as she craned her neck and allowed the photoreceptors in her eyes to shift so that she could see even further at the overcast of vivid bright colors swimming aesthetically in the sky's canvas.
"You are dumber than I thought. You actually think I'll answer?" Michael taunted, thinking he had won.
"Ouch, you wound me Michael" Olive replied sarcastically. "Ninety seconds, your time starts now." She hung up and adjusted her position from standing to crouching. Olive was high up in a tree with a sniper rifle in hand, aiming it at the cabin. Once she was comfortable, Olive took a deep breath and brought forward all of her Lycan abilities. Her hazel eyes had been glowing a crystal clear blue that allowed her to see deeper through the windows of the cabin. Olive positioned herself behind the scope and found Clary in the upstairs bedroom of the left wing, at the complete opposite end to where Michael was. Using her super hearing, Olive pushed back the melodic tune of the forest and its inhabitants and focused her hearing on the different footsteps that strained on the floorboards, pin pointing the location of every human in the cabin. Aiming her rifle at the TV, Clary was watching from, Olive pulled the trigger and the sound shot through the house as fast and as piercingly loud as the bullet did. Clary screamed and threw herself on the floor, three heavily built bodyguards ran into the room, guns out and searching for where the bullet came from. Olive looked through the scope again and fired, this time shooting one of the guards in the arm with precision.
The cabin was in full panic mode, matching the tense air of the forest, as birds flew scared from their nests. Olive called Michael again and true to his word, he didn't answer "for fuck sakes" Olive spat out in frustration and peeked through her scope again, pushing her brown wavy locks behind her ear to use her heightened hearing once more, she picked up on Michael's erratic heartbeat coming from his office. Olive shot four bullets through all four of the windows facing her, no doubt hitting two more people. The sound of bullets tearing through clothing and skin could be heard from the cabin followed by grunts and more screams, confirming that two more people were hit. Olive called Michael again, and this time, he answered.
"What the fuck is your problem!" He yelled.
"The money Michael" was all she said in response.
"Fuck!" Muffled sounds of frustration came through on the phone, while Olive watched the cabin through her scope, hoping Michael would give her another reason to shoot someone. "There I sent it!" Olive checked the account and true to his word, there sat six million.
"It's was a pleasure doing business with you, Michael."
"What about my diamonds?" Michael questioned.
"Inside the safe, in the den" was all Olive said before she hung up. When Michael went to go check, like she said, there was three black jewelry bags that were filled with diamonds.
"You're welcome" Olive said smugly as she walked into the office, where Elijah and Anthony sat plotting the next step of their plan. The heels of her black boots tapped in song, across the grey floor. Dropping her Versace bag on the couch next to where Elijah was seated, Olive sat on the opposite end, still feeling the heat emanating from his body, which caused her lightheadedness.
"We got the money." Anthony said, unimpressed. He turned his attention back to Elijah hoping that Olive would take his lack of interest and gratification as a flashing sign that pointed to the exit.
"No. We got more than we asked for, so I think it's a cause for celebration." Pushing off of her seat with ease, Olive walked to the opposite end of the room to a tall hand carved, mahogany closet, containing an abundant amount of well aged bottles of alcohol, from all over the world. "Hmmm" sifting through at least a sum total of sixty bottles she finally landed on a hundred and twenty-eight year-old bottle of Whiskey. One, that had been passed down from generation to generation. I know, that all sounds very sentimental but it wasn't even their family.
Back in '01 Theo Joubert took a trip to Ireland to meet with the Irish pack's Alpha; Colin Delaney to discuss some business and a potential pack partnership. Overall, the trip included a lot of drinking and a lot of running in wolf form but nonetheless it was the best time of Theo's life. On his last night there, Colin and a few of the lads sat at a Lycan owned biker bar in the south of Dublin drinking a bottle of Jameson, while playing poker. "When I was a wee pup, my Dah always used to say to me 'Colin, do you know what the best thing in life is? Obviously, besides finding your mate.' I was just maybe around four or five. I didn't know a thing, but my Dah said 'that first sip of whiskey chilled on ice.' I never understood what the old bastard meant until I had Bourbon in the French Quarter. It was the best night of my life, I got drunk and met my mate; Noel." Colin smiled looking off in to space, recalling and reliving that amazing memory. "I've got something for you Theo" Colin said in a chirpy tone, seeming very excited. He walked to the bar, a few feet away on his left and whispered something in the bartender's ear. The bartender disappeared into the back for a few short minutes then returned with a dusty olden-day-looking bottle of whiskey. The bartender handed it to Colin so that he could bring it over.
"Theo, my friend. This bottle here" Colin placed the bottle on the table "was bought in 1893, by Reginald McCarthy. His daughter, Annabelle's hand had been asked for; by the son of a King and to celebrate he saved up all his money to buy this bottle." Running his massive thick fingers along the vintage lines of the bottle, Colin continued with his history lesson. "Two nights before the wedding men from a neighboring town snuck into his home and murdered his wife; Anya and first-born son; Atticus. Falling into a fit of despair, fueled by vengeance Reginald hunted down the men that were responsible and viciously killed them" Colin smiled sadly as if understanding the pain behind Reginald's actions "then he hung himself. Annabelle inherited all his belongings including the Whiskey and kept it until she was on her deathbed. She hadn't had the heart to open it, as it brought up so many terrible memories. Annabelle ended up deciding – as a way of honoring her brother, Atticus – to pass it down to Reginald Junior, the first. Who, she named after her father. Choosing to take such a mundane object that symbolized so much death, Annabelle decided to value the bottle for its intended purpose and told her son "only open this bottle once your daughter's hand is promised and share it with her new family. Trust me my son, it'll be the best and proudest day of your entire life. A day that you know you will never forget' and her son asked 'what if I don't have a daughter?' She sighed and responded "well, then you pass it on to your first born son and tell him the same thing." It's safe to say that not a lot of people had daughters back then." Colin cackled in a drunken manner "I'm only fucking with you! Reginald Junior the II was a terrible gambler and owed a huge debt so he gave me the bottle to settle his it and now I am giving it to you my new friend, you have a daughter yes?"
"Yes, of course. Olive" Theo smiled brightly, thinking of his princess. "Thank you," he continued, genuinely grateful "I'll add this to my collection."
"Just make sure you only drink it when Olive is promised." Colin reminded.
"I'm feeling a 1892 Bottle of Jack Daniels" Olive announced removing the bottle from the shelf.
Anthony and Elijah had been busy with the next phase of their plan that they hadn't registered what Olive was doing but as soon as they heard her say '1892 bottle of Jack' they both shot up from their seats "you can't open that" Anthony said in a haste, crossing the room in a blink of an eye to pry the bottle from Olive's hands.
"What are you doing?" Olive asked evading him, tactfully.
"You can't open that!"
"Why not?" She questioned, raising a perfectly shaped brow.
"Because that's dads bottle, only he can open it." Anthony explained.
"Why?" Olive questioned further.
"Don't you know about Reginald McCarthy?" Elijah's smooth voice spoke up, questioning the woman he clearly, still loved but couldn't have.
"No. Who is he?" Olive asked, scolding herself for engaging in conversation with him, but if there was one thing Olive hated, it was being in the dark.
"Dad didn't tell you?" Anthony inserted, sounding quiet surprised. He and Elijah had heard the story once they found out Olive was Elijah's mate.
This was way before he cheated.
"Clearly not."
"Oh" the boys said in unison.
"Tell me about this Reginald McCarthy, what's so important about him?" She demanded.
"It's nothing, dad will tell you himself." Anthony said quickly "give me that" he pried the bottle out of Olive's hands and replaced it with a thirty year old bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label "pour this instead."
Fighting the urge to force him to divulge the story, she muttered a "Fine." Olive took the bottle unwillingly and poured three doubles on the rocks. Grabbing all three glasses she handed one to her brother and faked handing the second glass to Elijah. Releasing the glass mid air, Olive hoped it would mess all over the man responsible for her indignation but with the precision and speed of the Lycan he was, Elijah caught it, not allowing a single drop of alcohol to be spilled. The air sizzled for a fraction and Elijah peered up, locking his gaze with Olive's, narrowing in challenge. Breaking the impromptu staring contest, Olive huffed in annoyance as she adjusted her own glass in her grip and sat down opposite him, waiting to get distracted by the next phase of the plan. Not once forgetting Elijah's intense gaze on her.
"Xpectra Technologies." Elijah introduced, he tore his eyes away from Olive's closed off demeanor, as the logo of the big private military company popped up on the screen behind him. "They are the government's first pick when it comes to private military contracts. Their technology is second to none, it is so advanced, there's almost no digital footprint of their operation. What we did find though, ranges from satellites, sniper rifles, bazookas, bombs, biochemical weaponry" as Elijah spoke, the screen displayed specifications on all of Xpectra's stock. "And what we are interested in" a lightly redacted chemical report popped up "is a super soldier program, named Project Prometheus. Despite the fact that Xpectra is now the number one PMC, it didn't exist two years ago. In fact up until six months ago Xpectra didn't have a board of directors or a CEO. But now when you visit their website, they have one. Even though the company is set to celebrate its fourth year."
"Someone did a bad job covering their tracks" Olive mumbled into her glass as she doused her lips in the strong bitter liquid.
"Don't doubt that they hid it well" Elijah pronounced, his tone hard "I'm just good a finding things."
"And loosing them, apparently…" Olive muttered under her breath, but the low growl that emanated from Elijah's chest confirmed that he had heard her snide comment.
The picture on the screen changed to show a picture of a man in a form fitting black suit. His black hair and piercing blue eyes held a flirtatious evil that surely had people drawn to him by a force only explained as unparalleled curiosity. His smirk held a snobbish gleam; it was almost curled up in a taunting scheme to remind everyone how superior he knew he was. "This is James Luther-Baker, CEO of Xpectra Technologies. We connected him to these guys" the picture on the screen changed.
"That's Phillip Baker" Olive mumbled, pointing to the picture on the left.
"Yes. Assistant Director Phillip Baker of the FBI." Elijah confirmed.
"And who's he?" Anthony pointed to the man on the right.
"Lyle Baker, he's married to James. According to the CIA file we hacked, Lyle is a soldier turned biochemist. He was in Fallujah in 04, a lot of shit went down there, and the whole file has been redacted. We only know that he disappeared during springtime in '04 and they only have him resurface in '06 where he then went and did two tours before retiring in 2011. He then married James in the fall of that year. There are no records of how long James and Lyle were dating or how they met. Heck, James Maverick Luther didn't exist before '06."
"Does anyone else find it odd that the year Lyle was 'found' is the same year James all of a sudden existed?" Anthony questioned and nods of agreement bobbled in the room.
"How does Phillip Baker fit into all of this?"
"He is hosting a Gala tonight at Killington Mansion, to thank the hard working service men and women. It also two parts as a charity event to help raise funding for research on; effective ways of helping veterans assimilate back into civilian life and help treat those with PTSD" Elijah spoke voice clear, in a professional tone. Okay, there was a hint of sarcasm. It was as if he was giving a speech at the United Nations. "Officially that's the story but real reason for this event is for Xpectra Tech to get funding for Lyle's new top secret research. Aka; Project Prometheus. We intercepted a call he made three days ago to a shell company in Budapest." Elijah, let his fingers glide over the petite Bluetooth keyboard on the table to play the call.
Lyle: "I've captured three more subjects within the last two months. We have fifteen living specimens; the tests we've been conducting have yielded remarkable results. With more of your support we can have a perfected serum by the end of the month."
Unknown: "make it happen."
"According to our sources, Lyle has kidnapped – including our parents – eighteen supernaturals, with the help of his brother's back channeling with foreign dignitaries. Judging from that call only fifteen of them are still alive and that number decreases every day." Elijah bit out the last sentence, his emotions raw from not knowing whether or not his parents, his Alpha, his family are alive. "He wants to merge human DNA and supernatural DNA to create some sort of super human soldier." The look on Elijah's face mirrored utter disgust.
He was a proud man but an even prouder Lycan and had always been interested in his history. Learning all that he could about how the supernatural world came to be. How his kind, were the first to ever grace this earth and lived on it in harmony. The balance of nature had been at a perfect equilibrium, each supernatural species having its own place and role. Everyone respected the ebb and flow of Mother Nature's song. There wouldn't be death, without life. Darkness, without light. Rain, without sun. But when the humans came, the balance was disrupted. Greed, jealousy, hatred and fear had contaminated the air, leaving the stale stench of senseless chaos.
"Now, if we get either of them alone we must find out who is sanctioning this project, who is financing Xpectra, and how they found out about our existence. Then we can find out what we are up against and where our parents are." Elijah skimmed through a few papers on the glass coffee table in front of them and found a paper that stated how much money one had to donate upon entering the Gala. Pulling up the sleeves of his cotton charcoal jersey, Elijah exposed his veiny, tattooed forearms. The sight sent a pang into Olive's chest and chill down her spine. She still loved him – at her very core – but she hated him more. "We need 1.5 million each just to enter. And thanks to Olive" Elijah gave Anthony a smug look, whilst Olive raised her glass in acknowledgment of her hard work "we have more than enough, if we combine it with the money we got from the Milan job."
"So is this an extraction mission or just reconnaissance?" Olive asked, her head spinning from looking at the tribute olive-tree tattooed on Elijah's forearm.
"Ideally, we keep a low profile at first. Figure out what we're up against – who are the players on the board – instead of blindly attacking." Elijah responded.
"That won't matter if we can't even get on the guest list." Anthony mumbled.
"You don't have to worry about that." Martha stated from the door.
"Ye, of little faith" Elijah teased as he smirked at her perfectly timed entrance.
Martha was Elijah's younger sister and Anthony's mate, she was also Olive's best friend. Tying her long black hair into a messy bun, Martha walked over to the single couch Anthony was sitting on and sat on his lap. "My friend Alex is" she dropped her voice to a whisper "our informant in the CIA. Apparently, there are some high-ranking officials who are part of this secret government society that plans on taking over the world. When I say, secret – I mean – hush hush, the president doesn't even know who he can trust. So he put together an intergovernmental task force. Officially they're tracking corruption, unofficially they're looking into Xpectra and they suspect, can anyone guess?" she asked quirking her brows.
"Assistant Director, Phillip Baker of the FB fucking I" Olive completed.
"Exactly!" Martha high fived her "it hasn't been confirm but Xpectra is suspected to be responsible for the deaths of 800 people between here and the Middle East. A group of one of their early experiments had terrible side effects; violent outbursts that resulted in murderous rage that lasted for hours, heightened blood pressure, too high for any human to have without having a heart attack and an intense insatiable craving for blood. They killed all forty-five of the soldiers they turned into hybrid monsters and disposed of their bodies in a chemical waste plant. Then they made more, trying to perfect the serum. We have no concrete proof of any of this but it's because they're so good at covering their tracks."
"Who are they?" Elijah asked rereading the heap of papers spread out in front of him "obviously someone is running the show or at least giving Lyle a stage."
"It's buried. We can't find out who's helping the Bakers. They know how to remain in the dark." Martha replied, sinking deeper into her mates embrace.
"You said we didn't have to worry about getting in?" Anthony reminded her of her earlier statement.
"Yes. I spoke to Alex and he got us four tickets to the Gala and our names on the guest list." Martha pulled a small red USB Drive out of her pocket and connected it to the computer. Immediately a file popped up on the screen with four aliases. The first being Leah Noveki, soon to be Leah Noveki-Smith, a woman in her mid twenties who co-owned Noveki Pharmaceuticals with her brother Mark, and soon to be wife of Connor Smith, heir to The Spencer Smith Hotel fortune.
"I'm not going undercover as his wife." Olive spoke quick and precise after seeing her identity for the night, her face shamelessly showing distaste.
"Fiancé." Elijah corrected.
"Bite me." Olive muttered with an eye roll.
"In public?" Elijah winked at her "kinky."
"Asshole."
"Guys" Martha mediated. "You're going to have to love, we can't change it now." Martha told Olive, pleading with her eyes. "Besides, you guys have great chemistry."
"I need another drink." Olive growled under her breath as she pushed herself off her seat and poured herself a second glass, this time making it a triple.
"Olive it's just for tonight, we really need you for this." Anthony tried to reason and got a scoff in return.
"No." Olive gulped down the smooth brown liquid and poured another "why can't I go alone? We'll tell everyone my poor fiancé fell down the stairs of his hotel" she enunciated bitterly.
"Olive" Elijah spoke her name softly. The contrast in their tones jarring.
"You don't get to speak on this." Olive warned, pointing her forefinger at him, while curling her other fingers and thumb around the glass. The bottle sat snuggled in the other hand. "You lost your chance when you fuc-"
A loud growl tore through Elijah's lips effectively silencing Olive. The sound reverberating off the walls, rocking the entire room, "don't." His muscle clad back tensed, forcing his hands to ball into fists. "Anthony. Martha. Get out, now." His velvety voice was deeper, rougher more animalistic.
"Well that escalated quickly." Olive commented, pouring herself another drink.
Getting up from their positions, Anthony and Martha tried to make a beeline for the door. However, Olive moved quickly, her agility a thing of beauty and stood in front of them. "Briefing isn't done, they aren't going anywhere." Her words were directed to Elijah although she didn't acknowledge him with her eyes.
"Olive." Elijah spat out venomously, warning her to tread lightly.
"Babe, I really think we should give you guys some space…to talk some things through." Martha reasoned, seeing her brother's anger hike up to unpleasant levels. Grabbing Anthony's arm they maneuvered around Olive and slipped out of the room.
"I don't like your tone, when you address me." Elijah muttered while his fists opened and closed.
"And I don't care what you like." Olive replied in a bored tone.
"Fine." He huffed "This is the last time I'm going to say this; if you continue to disrespect me I won't hesitate to put you in your place." Elijah was patient and he was almost as calculated as Olive but he could never accept blatant disrespect from anyone, not even his mate.
The same mate he hurt… I'd say that in itself is disrespectful...but what do I know. I'm just the narrator.
"It's that so?" Olive laughed, completely stunned at Elijah's cockiness.
"Yes. Our parents have been taken-"
"I'm aware of that dipshit, you don't have to remind me." Olive interrupted.
"Watch it." Elijah snarled, his eyes going black and body posing in attack. "In order for us to find them, we need to go to this event. Stop acting like a fucking child for one night and grow up."
"I hate you." The words were said in a low voice encapsulated by a growl but that didn't take away from the menacing chill that vibrated through every perfectly enunciated syllable. Olive's piercing eyes glowed, matching her words, in venomous intensity.
"Yeah, well I'm not fond of you either, princess." Elijah bit out, spitting out the word princess with such disgust. The way he said it was insulting enough.
"I, Olive Joubert hereby, reject-" before she could approach the end of the sentence, Elijah crossed the room and had her by the throat, slamming her against the wall.
"Don't you ever fucking do that again." He voiced lowly in her ear, rocking her body with fear. Whenever Elijah yelled out of anger, Olive, could gage how far she had pushed him, never feeling unsafe. However, in that moment, his quiet fury shook Olive to the core. The two black holes that could've been mistaken for eyes were void of emotion and it was like darkness personified was staring back at Olive. She had never feared Elijah up until that point; she knew that he wouldn't hesitate to make an example of her.
If a Lycan doesn't want their mate anymore they have an option to reject them. A rejecting of a mate is a very serious offense. Immediately the mating mark burns off the skin, leaving it to fester and rot. If the infection of the wound doesn't kill you first, you lose a part of your soul that you can never get back. The Lycans that reject their mates go through all five stages of death, the body starts to rot from the inside, corrupting the heart and mind. Transitioning becomes a challenge, bones breaking but not realigning, canines don't come out fully. It's a painful process. Rejected wolves go into a depression and die from literal heartbreak. It's bad for both parties.
The feeling of fear slowly simmered and the realization that she almost rejected Elijah sunk in and Olive's heart constricted in her chest. She still loved him. She hated that she did, but she knew that it was better to hate him and be stuck with him than hate him and die. Not liking the way the mate bond tugged at her chest at Elijah's proximity. Olive broke out in a fit of laughter and pushed at his chest, creating some much needed space "don't you get it?" She screamed back at him "I will never" enunciating every letter in the word 'never' "love you again. I'd rather die!"
She didn't want to die.
"You don't mean that" Elijah's hard expression softened, knowing the truth. He took sure steps towards her and pressed the side of his face to hers. "We have to find a way to get over this because I'm never letting you go."
Fighting the urge to believe him, she pushed him off and walked away, towards the study door. Slipping through it, a tear fell from her eyes as her heart hurt from almost rejecting Elijah. Deciding not to think about it any further, she pushed everything regarding Elijah to the back of her head. Once Olive made it to her room she collapsed on the bed and took a well-deserved nap.
***
"Mr. Smith, Mrs. Noveki it is a pleasure to have you both here tonight. I'm James Luther-Baker, CEO of Xpectra Technologies."
"Good Evening James, please, call me Connor and this is my fiancé Leah" Elijah introduced.
"The work that you both do in your respective fields is quite impressive, well done." James said disingenuously, guiding Elijah and Olive as they walked through Killington Mansion. He clearly hadn't done his homework on the people who come to these things, only learning names "and congratulations on your engagement!" At least that's something he knew.
"Thank you James, the moment I laid my eyes on her I knew she'd be mine forever" Elijah gave Olive a genuine look.
"Honey," Olive inwardly cringed as she spoke "don't lie, we both know you're going to leave me for someone blonde and young." She laughed at the way James' eyebrows were nearly at his hairline "I'm kidding! We all know that I scored myself the best, most loyal man in the world." She gently stroked his cheek, giving off the illusion that they were happy. All the jabs Olive had taken had left Elijah searing under his mask of happiness.
"My comedian," Elijah bit out hidden behind a smile "can you tell she's the funny one, between the two of us."
"You two are the sweetest couple I've ever met, joking around like that, you're very comfortable." James gushed; "I want you to meet my husband." Pulling Olive by the wrist who, then had Elijah following in toe, James maneuvered his way through the crowed till he stopped in front of, none other than Dr. Lyle Baker. "Hun" James interrupted Lyle's conversation with an old man and his wife "sorry guys" he apologized "look who I ran into, Leah Noveki, as in Noveki Pharmaceuticals and her fiancé Connor." Lyle gave Elijah and Olive a once over and then excused himself from the conversation he had before being interrupted.
"Good Evening, I hope you are enjoying the party?" He asked as he extended his hand to shake Elijah's.
"Connor Smith" Elijah lied perfectly, meeting Lyle's hand. "The party is wonderful, haven't had this much fun at a work function since I took over my dads business."
"You'll have to thank my brother for that, he has a knack for grandiose events. He will find any reason to throw a spectacle it's his forte." Lyle laughed lightly then turned to Olive "oh my, you are as stunning as a red rose in the middle of winter."
"Thank you" Olive blushed "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, your work in the biochemical industry has changed lives all over." Olive gushed, "I read your paper on DNA modification for the survival of the human species. Your revolutionary perspective of, the correlation between hybrid mutation in animals and specie survival is ground breaking. "
"Oh that, that's nothing." Lyle said smugly "you should see what I'm researching now, it's going to change life as we know it."
"Really?" Olive pried hoping to get more out of him "is it a cure for cancer" she joked.
"Even better!" Lyle said excitedly "but I'm getting a head of myself..."
"I'm sure whatever it is, it's going to be revolutionary." Elijah said, stroking Lyle's ego.
"It is." Taking a sip from his champagne, Lyle asked Elijah a question "did you know that we are only aware of less than ten percent of the species in our oceans?"
"Yeah, it's general knowledge." Elijah responded coolly.
"Well we know only know forty percent of the worlds species. This includes land. With my research, Xpectra is going to unlock an estimated twelve percent."
"Oh wow and how do you expect to do that?" Olive asked feeling a mixture of confusion and fear.
"That is top secret" Lyle joked "but I promise when everything falls in place and my name goes into the history books you will be there to celebrate with me."
"Haha, of course. We wouldn't miss it for the world." Elijah tried to sound genuine, especially because he was trying to control himself "would you excuse us, we're going to go greet everyone else."
"Sure, Sure." Lyle and Elijah shook hands once more, this time Elijah applied more pressure than before "oh, very strong grip" Lyle yelped.
"Would you excuse us?" Olive pulled Elijah by the arm and they both walked away. "We have a problem," she stated, speaking to Martha and Anthony through the earpiece she wore. "Lyle knows something but he's tight lipped about what it is. If his serum works, all hell is going to break loose."