Unable to tell him the real reason she cannot be with him, she pondered over his question, trying to sum up an excuse. Finally, an idea appeared in her head, and she wanted to speak, but his embrace made her melt away. When she opened her mouth to say something, no words came out. She was entirely his, and she couldn't bring herself to say the words that will put an end to everything. Given that he saw her at a loss for words, he lowered his head.
"Why would you stop something that you want so badly when it feels so good?" Hades whispered softly in her ear.
With every word he spoke, her breath heavier from the excitement she felt throughout her body.
Suddenly, his body stiffened up, and he no longer was caressing her. Now, with his head slightly lifted in the air, he tried to pick on a scent. At once, she recognized that look of focus, and she knew he was sensing an unusual smell and wanted to track it down.
"S**t," she muttered softly, only audibly, to her. Then, finally, the realization hit her. Earlier, she took a shower that cleansed everything she uses to mask her scent and only drank the potion her mother made in the morning. The effect must have worn off by now. Given how normally she is alone, and even if any of the personnel is around, she made sure to only hire humans, so she isn't used to taking more than one bottle in the morning. Still, now with a wolf here, he could sense her in seconds, and by the look on his face, he did.
"Is anyone else here?" Hades asked, stopping her from spiraling any further and froze in her tracks.
Freyja shook her head no, and with lightning speed, she excused herself, almost flying over the stairs to her study. Without delay, she opened her hidden safe and gulped down another bottle of the potion, then lingered for a bit to apply some scented herbs on her skin and make sure the concoction takes effect.
Downstairs, Hades was getting suspicious. He could swear he felt the faint smell of a wolf, but she said they were the only ones there. Intrigued, he tried to track it down, but it was so faint he barely could make it out from the variety of smells in the house. Then, of course, that further added to his suspicion. It made little sense for a human to keep so many scented items in her home if she's not trying to deflect from something. All over the house, you could see scented candles, flowers, and aromatherapy diffusers, all in over ten scents. Of course, for a human smell, you could only sense the particular scent associated with one room. Still, for a werewolf's nose, the smells combined themselves, making it very difficult to focus on one. At the time, he was sure the wolf scent came from her, but the second she came back downstairs, she smelled utterly human again, which threw him off.
"Why did you ask if there is someone else here, scarred of paparazzi getting the front page about our adventure tonight?" Freyja said jokingly but, she just wanted to know if he felt her scent or not.
"I thought I heard something," Hades replied dismissively, feigning ignorance.
For a moment, she searched his face for any sign of deception or suspicion. However, if she pushed on this matter, the risk of exposing herself even further by asking ambiguous questions grew higher, and she knew it. So, when she couldn't find any signs of suspicion on his face, she decided to leave it be for now.
After a long, pressing silence, she mustered all the might in her and started speaking again. But, given her determination, her voice was cold and stern.
"I think we both got what we wanted for tonight. I have an early morning tomorrow, and I believe so do you. Given our recent agreement of a partnership, my legal team will ask you to meet with them so that you can oversee the contract draft. Provided that everything suits both parties, I will book a meeting later in the evening for singing. I believe our relationship should be strictly business-related from now on."
Her tone and composure took him by surprise. How can this woman change this fast? He thought to himself, one moment she looked like she will melt in his arms the next, her eyes were darker, her stance made the room temperature drop by a few degrees, her tone was final, and she sends me packing with no expression.
Despite the chill, frightened feeling he had and trying to ignore the murderous vibe around her, he kept an expressionless face that matched her and took a stance as well.
"What if that arrangement doesn't suit me, Miss Murik?" Hades growled in his Alpha tone.
"I don't remember asking for an opinion, Mr. Loke," Freyja growled back at him in the same Alpha voice.
"Don't!!!" Rhea shouted in her head
"Don't what?" Freyja asked her wolf, a bit confused.
"Don't push him away. He is our mate, and I can feel he cares for us," Rhea replied softly.
"He can't be. I can't accept him," Freyja said with sorrow in her heart and pushed Rhea to the back of her mind.
The way she spoke, using her Alpha tone, shocked him, and he froze in that spot long enough for her to turn her back on him and attempt to make a run for her bedroom. If he didn't come to his senses fast enough, she might have made it. But, immediately, anger boiled in him, powerful than ever. He caught her arm while trying to get away and spun her around to face him again.
"What are you?" Hades growled so loud she was sure the walls shook at the sound.
First, she blinked, confused, before returning to her stone face, her eyes empty like her whole being had left her body, and there was nothing but an empty shell left behind.
"Nothing and no one," Freyja said sternly. "I am just myself," she added after a brief pause.
"You sure speak like you know more than you led others to believe," Hades added, his tone glazed with even more suspicion now.
"I simply don't know what you mean by that," she replied coldly, feigning ignorance.
"It sure didn't sound like that a moment ago," he said, fixing his piercing eyes on her.
Her heart melted under his gaze, but her face remained emotionless.
"Look, Mr. Loke, it is late. I wish to sleep, and you should get going to do just the same." She cocked her head towards the door, leaving him no choice but to go.
By the time he left her villa, he was fuming with anger. In particular, he couldn't believe the nerve of her. It was like she was made of thick ice-covered in stone. No matter what, she wouldn't break, she wouldn't budge after getting what she wanted, and she simply got rid of him in the blink of an eye. Henceforth, he was determined to find everything there was to find about her, her family, her story, and how she ended up being like this.
Finally, he arrived home, and he couldn't even think to sleep. He instantly made calls. First was Jake, an ex-military op that worked for him after dropping off the face of the world for the rest of the population. He was his Gamma, and beside him and the pack members knew of his existence, as they presumed him dead for the world, that aspect coming very handy whenever he needed to track sensitive information like this, leaving no trace of his involvement.
As soon as he went to the study in the castle from Crimson Moon pack, he summoned Jake and told him what he wanted.
"Understood," Jake confirmed sternly. Then, seeing how enraged his Alpha was, he left right away and started on his trails to track everything about the mysterious woman Hades told him about.
Next was Liam. He spent the last 3 years working for her, so if anyone had to know her closely, he should be that person, Hades thought.
Liam came into the study room all smiles and giggles, thinking in his head that Hades had such a fantastic night and he made peace with Freyja. Still, the second he entered the room and sensed the tensed atmosphere, his smile froze on his face, and a solemn expression quickly replaced it.
Hades recalled everything that happened that night to him, and he listened with many emotions flashing on his face, one after the other.
"What???" Liam exclaimed in shock when he heard Hade's suspicion of Freyja being a supernatural being.
"She can't be, no, no. It's impossible. She is human," Liam replied, still shocked. He shook his head, not wanting to believe. After all, he worked with her for 3 years. During that time, they were in countless meetings together. From time to time, they went to company outings together, and they spent nights working on projects or fixing code whenever there was an overdue deadline. She had to be human.
"Think about it, Liam," Hades's haughty tone pulled him out of his spiraling "If she is indeed human, what is the reason for all those scents around her? From her offices to her house, multiple scents surround her to distract any heightened senses. Besides that, her growl, the aura surrounding her when she gets angry or wants to make her presence known, all those things are not human. And then there is her strength. She pulled me out of that club like I would weigh 10 pounds. What human girl you know to be that strong," Hades asked, furrowing his brows at the other man.
Liam pondered over it for 10 minutes, trying to recall anything she may have done that was even the slightest unusual. What Hades was saying made sense to him, but no matter how much he was racking his brains, he couldn't find a single thing supernatural about her. In his eyes, she was just a powerful and confident young woman that worked her ass off to build everything and would let no one step on her toes cause they felt like it.
"I don't know, man, you have a point, but I'm telling you, after 3 years of closely working with her, I can't think of one supernatural thing about her," Liam replied, still uncertain of the other man's words.