The next morning, Joy took a sip of her coffee as she stared at the black and white wolf that lay on the floor in front of her bed. He looked so peaceful, like a giant puppy. She crouched next to him, stroking his fur. A soft grumble erupted from his throat and he scooted closer to her, placing his head on her lap.
"Good morning," she giggled and he opened his eyes. They flashed between blue and green, staring deep into hers.
"Hi," he rasped.
"There's some food in the fridge, you can make whatever you want. And just feel free to use whatever. My cell phone number is next to the landline so if there's an emergency you can call me."
"Are you going to work?"
"Yep." She stood up.
"Can I come with you?" He shot up.
"Like that?" She gave him a once over. "It's not, 'bring your pet to work' day."
"Ha ha," he rolled his eyes, his bones cracking.
Joy spat out her coffee and whipped around before he was fully shifted, clamping her eyes shut.
"What's the matter with you?" She shrieked.
"Nothing, what's the matter with you?" He countered.
"You're shifting in front of me."
"So?"
"Do you know how disturbing that process is to watch?"
"You were fine with it last night."
"Because I wasn't watching you, I was too busy shifting too. It's weird when it's just one person and you're just staring at their bones twisting and fur disappearing into their skin."
"Can I come with you or not?"
"You can, but... are you clothed?"
"Yes."
"How does that work? Aren't the clothes supposed to rip or something."
"Regular, human clothes do. But clothes from the village have a little special something that our ancestors created to have them stretch and merge with the fur. Like a second skin."
She turned back to him and her eyes travelled down his leather outfit. He gazed down at his clothes, feeling self-conscious.
"What?" He pouted.
"We have to make a short stop. Your outfit is... it's ummm..." she released a soft chuckle and he frowned. "Well, you know what it is." She drew her cup to her lips, avoiding his eyes. "Take a shower and we'll leave," she spoke fast and left the room.
***
Shopping for an outfit for Jude was a dream come true for Joy. He was like her perfect model. She had taken him to one of her LUNAR popup stores, and played dress up with him the whole morning.
In the process, she was inspired, her muse working his magic on each of the clothes she had chosen, and the ones in her mind. When they got to the office she was ready to create.
Joy's assistant, Lana, stole glances at Jude each time she entered the office. Joy had never allowed anyone in her office for long, and what was even more surprising was how she would step out and leave him alone in there.
At first, Lana thought he was a bodyguard, but remembered how Joy hated having people in her space.
"Is there anything else, Lana?" Joy gazed up at her, snapping her out of her trance. She had been staring at Jude who was lying on Joy's couch with his eyes closed. He was in a tank top, tattoo fully on display on his bicep.
"No ma'am," she glanced at Jude again.
"Oh, that's a distant cousin." She gestured to Jude. "Very distant," Joy added with a teasing smile and Jude's eyes snapped open. "From my mother's side."
"Oh, I see." She nodded and left the room.
Jude's eyes narrowed at Joy, and she winked at him before returning her focus to her sketchbook. Jude stood up and stepped towards her desk, his fingers playing with her papers and pens.
"What are you doing? Go away," she spoke without looking up but paused what she was doing.
"I'm bored," he mumbled.
"What?" Her eyes met his. "You're the one who asked to come. You should have stayed home then."
"I thought your workplace was going to be more fun." He pouted. "Let's go do something else."
"No, go by yourself, I have to finish these designs."
"I want to go with you." He snatched the pencil that was in her hand, then grabbed the rest from her desk and threw them across the room before she could reach for one.
"Okay, you are cleaning that." Her eyebrows gathered together and she folded her arms over her chest. "And since when are you like this?"
"Like what?"
"Annoying," she hissed and stood up, moving around her desk and towards the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back, hugging her from behind.
"Jude, I need to draw this before I lose it from my mind," she giggled, trying to free herself from his gentle squeeze.
"Okay, five minutes," he muttered and she relaxed. "Just let me stay like this for five minutes." He placed his chin on her shoulder and she angled her head slightly. She rubbed circles on his hands, listening to his soft breathing.
"You know this makes you officially mine now, right?" He blurted. "We're officially official."
"Don't be ridiculous." She huffed a laugh. "We still have a long way to go."
"I feel like were almost there." He turned her to face him, keeping his hands around her waist. "Because I already love you, so you're the only one left."
"Woah there wolfy. Isn't that a little too fast?" She chuckled, pulling away from him. "We've only known each other for like a month."
"I fell in love with you when your mother first told me about you, so it's been more than a month for me. Way more than a month."
"That doesn't make any sense," she scoffed.
"How can you love someone you've never met?"
"Like this," he leaned close. "I..." He placed a kiss on her cheek and she closed her eyes, "love," he placed another on her jaw, "you," he traced them down her neck. Her heart rate increased, and for a second, she forgot how to breath.
"Oh my," he rasped into her ear. He pulled only mere inches away, gazing into her eyes which she opened. Their dark brown had brightened to a gold. "Your eyes," he cocked his head to the side. "Are you falling for me too?" Her mouth fell open and she pushed him away.
"Say that again and I'll kill you," she hissed and staggered out of the room. "Idiot."
"Ma'am?" Lana stood from her desk, concern written on her face.
"Lana, Lana," she mused, trying to calm her racing heart. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-two ma'am."
"Twenty-two. Okay. Bring me the... the papers with, with the lunch." She snapped her fingers. "Please order some lunch for the three of us."
"Yes ma'am, I'll order something right away."
Joy walked back into her office and found Jude sitting behind her desk. "Hey, you're back." He smiled.
"You're annoying. Very annoying. Get out of my chair." She shooed him and he obeyed.
"You called me an idiot," he pouted.
"My idiot," she teased. "Better?"
"Your man?" He suggested.
"Nah, my wolfy," she produced a wide grin.
"Joy!" Mandla called out as he barged in. Lana ran in behind him, an apologetic look on her face.
"It's okay Lana, you can go back to your desk." She glared at Mandla whose eyes were locked with Jude's. "What do you want?" Joy asked him.
"To talk." His eyes didn't leave Jude.
"To who? Me or him?" Joy snapped her fingers and he finally looked at her.
"To you," he breathed.
"Enough was said last night." She raised an eyebrow. "You should go to your good girlfriend."
"Baby don't be like that."
Jude released a growl, shoving his clenched fist into his pocket. His eyes were slowly shifting between a light and deep blue.
Mandla glanced at him. "Who is he? Bodyguard? No, you hate that type of thing. Boyfriend? No, you wouldn't date just any one."
"Who he is, is none of your business. Now go.
Not until I talk to you." He glared back at Jude. "Can you excuse us?"
Jude glanced at Joy who shook her head and he sat himself comfortably on the couch, a small smirk playing on his face.
"So, boyfriend," Mandla scoffed, his face shifting into a scowl. "You won't even talk things through because you've found someone else? You're pretending to be mad just so I don't see the real reason. You're just using me as an excuse. Attack is the best form of defence."
"Mandla leave, you're embarrassing yourself."
"Is this who you were with when you disappeared? How long have you known him? It's probably been even longer than the two weeks you disappeared. Maybe you even cheated first, and you're just playing the victim."
Jude stood up from his chair and Joy raised her hand to stop him from attacking, standing up herself. She stepped around her desk and stood in front of Mandla with her head held high.
"I mistook what you felt for me and decided to trust you. That was my mistake. Your mistake was sleeping with my best friend." Her eyes darkened, she was a different Joy. A Joy Jude hadn't seen yet. The guarded, reserved, no nonsense Joy. "No matter how hard you try, nothing can justify that. I don't appreciate your accusations, though I'm not surprised. I would expect such from the likes of you. Now, will you please excuse us, I'd like to have lunch with my man."
Jude smirked, suppressing the wide smile that threatened to form on his face. Mandla's displeasure was in the form of a deeper scowl. He shot a dangerous glare Jude's way before exiting the office.
Joy punched a button on her landline, the nails of her other hand digging into its palm.
"Lana," she spoke through clenched teeth. "Tell security that if that man even looks at this building from across the street, they are all fired."
Jude stepped close to her, taking her fisted hand. He pried her fingers open, smoothing the deep nail marks with his thumb.
"Should I go after him?" His deep blue eyes looked at her from behind their lashes. There were tears gathering on the surface of her eyes and he felt something slightly deeper than rage course within him. "I can make it quick and quiet."
She huffed a very small laugh then pursed her lips. "I thought you weren't allowed to kill humans."
"I can make an exception."
"Forget it," she sighed, intertwining their fingers. "He's not worth getting your hands dirty." She grabbed her bag, and pulled him towards the door. "Let's go, I'm bored now."
***
Their drive was quiet, with Joy staring straight ahead and Jude stealing glances at her.
'Ask if she's okay,' Ash started.
'That's a stupid question she obviously isn't. I should have punched him.'
'I should have ripped his throat.'
"I don't know why, but I can hear you guys," Joy drawled, her eyes still focused on the road.
"I hate that he made you so upset. I almost couldn't recognise you when you spoke with all that restraint. I thought you were gonna slap him." He rubbed his cheek.
"I wanted to," she sighed. "But I realised that slapping him would show that what he did affected me. And I don't want to give him that satisfaction. I'm okay, so forget about what happened."
"How can I forget?" Jude frowned. "He hurt you right in front of me. He should be begging for his life."
"Calm down wolfy, this isn't the Blue Moon village and you aren't a Beta here." She glanced at him, then focused back on the road.
"Back at the village you said you wanted to ruin him so bad. What better way than grabbing a limb or two?"
"You really are an animal," she teased, a small smile playing on her lips. "I realised today that Mandla is a greedy person, and that is what will ruin him. That and, he is nothing without my father's investment. My father will take back his investment, then boycott his company and bye-bye Mandla."
"Just like that?" He scoffed. "I'd make him and that Tanya girl bleed tears."
"How old are you Jude?" She asked, glancing at him.
"Twenty-seven," he mumbled. "No twenty-eight, twenty-eight."
"Which is it?"
"Twenty-eight. I turned about a month ago so I'm still not used to it." He rubbed the nape of his neck. "Why do you ask?"
"I just realised that I don't know much about you. I don't know your birthday. Your favourite colour. Your favourite food. What you were doing in the woods when we first met." She mumbled the last statement, even coughing at the end.
"What do you want to know?"
"What were you doing in the woods that day?"
"Not all the pack members live in the village. Most of them actually have normal lives among humans. It's only a few of us that prefer living in the village. Red light," he pointed and she pressed the breaks, her car screeching to a stop.
"What?" Her eyes were wide, her mouth gaping open. "No way."
"So that day, I was coming from visiting an elder. My father actually."
"Could it have been that big of a... coincidence?"
"I don't believe in coincidence. That was fate."
"Fate," she scoffed. "Your father actually lives here?"
"Yes. Since Reid was made Alpha dad decided to relax in the human world. And do… human stuff."
"So, there are wolves here? There could be wolves working for me," she gasped.
"Yeah, two. The receptionist and one of the security guards."
"You lie." Her eyes opened wider, and a car honked its horn behind them. She tapped the accelerator and drove to the side of the road, parking the car.
"The receptionist?" She removed her seatbelt and turned to fully face him.
"Yeah."
"What about the other wolves? The ones from the Blood Moon village. Do they have people- wolves, living here too?"
"No. Their past Alphas forbade them to leave their territory. They're not as free as us. Apparently, that's what makes us weak. We are adopting more human qualities."
"Do they kill humans?"
"I haven't heard of any incidents for a long time now. But they did in this past. Brutally. They would lead humans to their territory and kill them for sport."
"So, if there was like... a war, would the guys living in the human world help out?"
"Of course. We may live separately, but were all still a family. You'll see that on the night of the Blue Moon. All the pack members will attend."
"Do you really think you and I are the Protectors?"
"Yes. I'm normally never wrong about this."
"But what if you are? What if it's not us?"
***
Joy held her breath, closing her eyes as the rollercoaster they were on stopped at the tip of the hoop. With a loud grate and screams from everyone else, the rollercoaster descended at full speed. Jude's hand was squeezing Joys arm tightly, his eyes were closed even after the rollercoaster had stopped.
"It's over," Joy whispered into his ear, an amused twinkle in her eyes.
He opened his eyes, glancing around. "Is it really?" He whimpered.
She bobbed her head up and down and gestured for him to leave the rollercoaster. "If I'd known you'd be such a scaredy cat I wouldn't have brought you here."
"I'm not a scaredy cat," he cleared his throat, rubbing the nape of his neck. "I was just a little surprised at how fast and high it goes."
"The big bad wolf is afraid of a rollercoaster," she mocked him. "Are there refunds on mates?"
"No," he swung his arm over her shoulder as they stepped out of the amusement park. "You get all of me with no returns, or exchanges."
"What if I just gave you away for free?" She smirked, glancing up at him.
"If you give me away, who will be able to put up with you?" He returned the smirk and she punched his arm before walking away. A small dog stopped her in her tracks, barking at her.
"I know right?" Jude crouched next to the dog. It stepped back, barking at him too.
"Wait, you can understand him?" She asked, her mouth hanging open.
"Yeah, can't you?" He snapped his fingers, calling the dog to him. The dog sniffed his fingers before stepping back, barking at him again.
"He's saying you should treat me better. And to stop mocking me."
She kissed her teeth and rolled her eyes. "That is not what it said."
"Is to," he stood up straight. "And he'd say a lot more if he wasn't busy."
The dog continued to bark, making a noise that attracted unnecessary attention from onlookers.
"Okay, whose annoying dog is this?" Jude grunted, then growled at it and it stopped barking. Whimpering even, and scampering away.
"What did you say to him?" Joy giggled.
"I have no idea, but it must have been really offensive to have him walk away like that." He joined her laughter, returning his arm to its place over her shoulder.
"You should go and apologise to him before he sends his pack after us."
As she spoke, the dog returned with four others behind. Jude was the first to notice them, taking Joys hand.
"It's too late for that." He led them as they ran to the car in fits of laughter. The people around them wore faces with raised eyebrows and hanging mouths as they watched the couple run to safety.
"Are we actually being chased by dogs?" Joy chortled.
"Looks like it."