He was losing it again. He was trying everything he could to bury the animal inside him, but it was growing stronger with each passing day. When he felt he couldn't suppress it any longer, an angry growl escaped from his mouth and his hands grabbed the first thing he could lay his hands on. With one swift movement, he hurled it across the glass panes.
It didn't reach the panes. It gave way to gravitational pull and crashed to the ground. He grabbed another vase and hurled it at the glass panes again. He wanted it to crack. He wanted to spoil something at the moment. The animal in him was tired of being suppressed. Being overpowered wasn't something it liked. It wanted to be let out.
He cussed angrily when the vase didn't make it to the glass panes. Like the first one, it crashed to the ground without making the desired impact on the panes. He grabbed another vase and was about to do the throw when the door opened.
"Stop." A feminine voice yelled.
His arms suspended in the air, he turned to see his personal assistant looking at him as if he had suddenly grown two horns. Or maybe he had.
She shut the door quietly and looked around the room, her eyes making a quick scan of the spoils he had done. Her eyes went back to his face, as if to relate what he had done to him, to pin the spoil to his face. They stared at each other intensely as if they were in a staring contest.
She walked up to him slowly and stretched out her right hand for him to hand her the flower vase.
"Hand it over. It'll be over, I promise." For the first time, someone was looking past his irrational tantrums. She wasn't questioning him, she was assuring him that everything would be over. This woman was his. The animal in him went back into its shell. Only she could do this. Only she had ever done it.
"It'll be over?" He asked still. She nodded. Carefully, he gave her the flower vase. She took it from him, their hands touching for a second. He didn't miss the electricity that jolted through his arm.
He watched as she went to drop on the shelf where there were other vases sitting gallantly. His heart clenched and unclenched, he shut his eyes and forced himself to remain still. When he opened his eyes, he suddenly hated her.
"Leave." He ordered.
"No." She told him.
"Leave. Now."
"You won't throw things around?" She dared to ask. Frustrated with himself, he made a facepalm.
"I won't, okay? I'm not a monster. So stop looking at me as if I'm Thor Ragnarok with the hammer. Now leave!" The last part came out threateningly. She wasn't frightened by his anger, and didn't budge. She left quietly.
Finally alone, he flopped down on his swivel chair to think. Everytime he started overthinking his pathetic situation, he always ended up like this. He would speak to Silvero before the end of the week.
He was going to search for her. Or her daughter. The elders had confirmed she had at least one daughter. His subconscious wasn't going to rest until he found where the witch lived.
She hated the smell of incense. It nauseated her. She remembered her grooming days. Her mother would carry a large lamp and give her a smaller lamp and they would walk round the outside of her chambers, swinging the lamps and singing in latin. Esmeralda used to hold her nose back then because of the smell of the incense. Her hold on her nose would cause her to sing like one with phlegm in her nose.
"How was work today?" Greta, her sister, asked with a knowing smile.
"It went well." Esmeralda replied, not wanting to feed her sister's expectations. Her mother was braiding Margot's hair into small cornrows. When they were younger, they would sit on a yoga mat between their mother's thighs so she could braid their hair. Esmeralda hated that too. The cornrows were always tight, and she wouldn't be able to laugh for days because the cornrows drew her cheeks up to her forehead.
"Did Ravina tell you about his tantrums?" Her mother asked.
"Ouch, mother!" Margot whimpered when their mother weaved down to the middle of her hair.
"You know?" Esmeralda asked.
"Oh, my girl. Ravina tells me every single thing. Did he like you?"
"I think the correct question should be in the present tense, or did he fire you already?" Greta asked, cutting in.
"Learn to shut up when we're discussing a crucial matter like this." Their mother scolded her.
"I don't think he likes me. I don't think I can continue, in fact. He is very rude and arrogant. I'll die of low self-esteem if I go back there." Her mother dropped Margot's hair and rose from where she sat.
"Is that what you came down from Lakeshore to tell me? That you're quitting? Is that it?" The talma she was wearing was a fiery red, and it seemed to compliment her mother's now red face.
"Yes, that's it. I'm quitting." Her mother's palm smacked her across her face before she even completed her last statement. Esmeralda held her face.
"You dare to slap me? That's what you do best. Hurt people. The forebears of our magic will be rolling in their graves now. You are desecrating the Gypsy magic. And I won't be used as an instrument of your selfish ambitions. If you want him, go to the palace. You have the powers. Burn the palace down if you want. Freeze it, if you want. Just don't involve me in it." Esmeralda said breathlessly.
"Stubborn child! You think it's that easy? Let me ask you, what do you think will happen if I reincarnate one of your children?" Her mother asked. Esmeralda's lips quivered at the thought.
"If that's your plan, then I'll adopt children instead." She answered.
"That's not the idea, blockhead. If we don't act fast, the prince will lift the curse, and if the Mondes magic chooses one of your daughters, they'll be hunted by the Zander's pack."
Esmeralda shook her head.
"The Mondes magic takes at least twenty years before choosing another enchantress." She countered.
"What if I crown you the next enchantress?" Her mother asked.
"Really?" Margot asked, standing.
"Why do you think the prince will hunt us down? He is not like that, he can be calm when he wants to be." Esmeralda said in defense of the prince.
"Apparently, our girl here is lovestruck. She likes him already." Margot said under her breath. Margot giggled.
"Lovestruck? I didn't ask you to fall in love, Esmeralda. I asked you to learn the art of seduction. Seduce him, and get his seeds." Her mother's voice was laced with bitterness and disappointment.
"I didn't fall in love. I'm just fighting for what is right. This is wrong, and you know it. You're hiding something from us. Why is there a need to make him impotent when he is cursed already by you?" Esmeralda was challenging her mother. She had slapped her already, she might summon lightning to hit her next.
"You don't know what is right, Esmeralda. You're going back there tomorrow! I can do anything, you're of no use here, actually. I'm only using you because you're less likely to be recognized. If you screw this up, I'll pay Ravina enough money to expose you. We'll see how that turns out, after I disown you."
Esmeralda folded her arms across her chest. She could have just kept her mouth shut. Ravina this, Ravina that. Who was she?
"Fine!" This was her final word as she stomped out of her mother's house.
Once in the confines of her car, she hit the steering wheel repeatedly and screamed out loud. Her mother was a witch. People were right. Her mother chose flying on brooms over getting a car. The woman was sick in the head. Hell, anyone who still cooked magic potions in the twenty-first century was sick in the head.
She raised her head to look in the mirror and cringed at her reflection. Her right cheek was a bright red. She bit on her lips, trying to suppress an incoming scream. She would do this not to incur the wrath of her mother.
She was going back to work tomorrow. As much as she hated it, she had no choice. If this ever backfired, she was done for. She only hoped her mother would shield her if it ever happened.
Working for the prince was one thing. Seducing him was another. How would she ever succeed in seducing a man from a wolf bloodline? Talk about choosing between a rock and a hard place.