The Werewolf Prince and I (23 page)

Misty taught her the filing tricks she had picked up in Moretti Inc., mainly because most people had assumed she would file the documents she had proofread and she was too much of a wimp to say otherwise.

The girl’s face brightened after Misty also showed her how to create her own database for easier file management. “Oh. That makes sense. Thank you!” She smiled shyly. “I’m Penny, by the way.”

“Misty Wall. I, umm,
liaise
for the Moretti pack.” It felt like she was campaigning, but oh well.

“Oh. That’s nice. I’m from the Buenaventura pack,” Penny revealed. She glanced at the digital clock display on top of the filing cabinets. “Maybe we can have a coffee break later before clocking out?”

Misty followed Penny’s gaze and almost groaned at the time. Any second more spent dallying would have her head bitten off by Rebecca again – for the fifth time even.

But as it turned out, she was already too late.

When Misty reached the mail department, Rebecca was already there, tapping her foot impatiently as she gazed at Misty’s approach behind her cart with narrowed dark eyes.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Findley.”

“What took you so long?”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Findley. It won’t happen again.” There was no sense telling Rebecca about Penny’s dilemma. It might just get the younger girl in trouble.

“Is getting mail so hard for someone like you?”

Misty heard a snicker but forced herself to remain calm even though she had a strong urge to cry. She should be used to being treated like this. She had to have faith in Domenico. There was surely a good reason he hadn’t made it clear she was his wife-to-be and not his mistress.

“It won’t happen again,” she repeated.

“It better not or I’m going to report you to Mr. Cavalier myself.” Rebecca shoved past her, strong enough to have Misty hit the wall and bruising her in the process. Her shoulder blazed in pain, but she wasn’t going to show it, aware of how people around her were waiting for her to make a scene.

A short while later and Misty was staring at the mirror, aghast at how ugly the bruise was. ‘Strong’ was definitely an understatement when describing Lyccan women. It was like she had been shoved by a sumo wrestler.

Someone entered the restroom, and Misty quickly rearranged her clothes to cover the bruise.

The woman was sniffing but when she saw Misty, a glare immediately replaced the look of hurt in her face. “What are you staring at?”

Ignoring that, Misty asked in quiet concern, “Are you all right?”

“Like you’d really care.” The woman went to her side and began washing her hands. Her face was heavily made up, making her look older and more unattractive but it was easy for Misty to see the youth and promise of real beauty underneath the cosmetics.

“I know all about you. You’re the infamous Moretti mistress.”

Misty inclined her head. “That’s what people say.”

The woman looked at her suspiciously. “You won’t deny it?”

“Will you believe me if I do?” Misty countered helplessly.

The woman laughed harshly. “You have a point.”

“Are you really all right?”

“I’ve been dumped, okay? I was having an affair with an officemate. I knew it was wrong but I couldn’t help hoping…and now everyone’s laughing behind my back.”

“Why did you do it?”

“I’m not a gold digger if that’s what you’re asking,” she snapped.

“Then it was for love.”

The younger woman said nothing.

“Did he lead you on?”

“You think I’m that stupid?” she snarled, but her eyes said yes.

“Then you’re not entirely to blame. You were just foolish.” Misty impulsively took the younger woman’s hand. “I’m not just saying this because we outcasts have to stick together---”

The woman’s lips curved into a reluctant smile.

“But really, if you need to talk, I’m just at the mail department, okay? We can even have lunch together. It could be just like high school.”

The woman laughed. “I was popular back then though.”

“I wasn’t,” Misty admitted cheerfully.

“Thanks for the pep talk. You didn’t have to comfort me but you did.”

Misty leaned close and whispered, “The truth is, I’m not really the mail girl. Oprah sent me here to give everyone pep talks.”

They shared another laugh and later, when the woman had left, Misty only realized then that she had forgotten to ask the woman’s name once more.

Before going back to the mail room, she went to her locker to return her toothbrush and that was when she saw the note.

Urgent: pick up mail at mr. cavalier’s office.

If it was so urgent, why not call her mobile phone instead of slipping a note? And why not leave the note with someone else instead of slipping it inside her locker, which she could have so easily overlooked?

Misty frowned. Maybe this was Rebecca’s doing. If she hadn’t seen this in time, Rebecca would be able to blame her for being tardy or inefficient.

Hmph.

She went to Mr. Cavalier’s office. Rebecca was not at her desk. Misty wondered if she should wait for Rebecca before entering Mr. Cavalier’s room. Rebecca was his secretary, after all.

But the note said the matter was urgent.

Sighing, she knocked on Mr. Cavalier’s door for good measure before opening it.

No one was inside.

She went to the desk. There was several stacks of papers so she went through it one by one, looking for the mail.

And then the door slammed opened.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Rebecca shrieked before calling for security.

Chapter Eight

Dear Diary,

Domenico told me earlier that his proposal for allying themselves with Caros – whoever those were – was not welcomed by most other Lyccan packs. I want to help him but I don’t know how. Sometimes, I wonder if he was right in the first place. Sometimes, I wonder if I should do what I think is right and leave him. I don’t think I could be the princess that he needs me to be to save his kind.

When I see him on his desk, painstakingly working on a proposal that some of his kind don’t have the foresight to appreciate, I so badly want to comfort him. I want to kneel before him naked, offering myself to him. Let him hold the whip in his hands, the leash to the collar around my neck – I am his.

“This is all a misunderstanding,” Misty stammered.

Rebecca stared coldly at her. “That’s what they all say.”

Misty knew things looked bad for her. She also knew she should be worried about what was going to happen to her, but she was more worried about how this would reflect on Domenico.

Minutes later, security had escorted her – thankfully not handcuffed – outside Mr. Cavalier’s office, marching Misty past open-mouthed employees and into the main hall. They brought her up the circular platform and as the time passed, the cavernous hall became crowded with Lyccans. There were hundreds of them – maybe even more – waiting alongside her for what the Cavalier pack leader would have to say about the “breach”.

After a half hour of tense silence, Filippo Cavalier came in. He looked like a guy in his forties but who knew how old he really was? Lyccans seemed to age very well. He had a kind face, although it wore a somber expression now as he took a seat at the head of the table and looked at her.

“You are the one Domenico Moretti recommended?”

Misty swallowed. “Yes, sir.”

“And is it true that you have entered my office without authorization?”

“There was a note---”

“Which seemed to have disappeared out of the blue,” Rebecca inserted.

“
Rebecca
.” Mr. Cavalier said softly before glancing back at Misty. “Continue.”

She recounted what happened, leaving nothing out except her suspicions about Rebecca.

“You do understand that if the note is missing then you’ll have a difficult time proving the veracity of your story, don’t you?” Mr. Cavalier asked sadly.

“Yes, sir,” she whispered again, a sick feeling in her stomach.

“I will have to question your motives and to an extent, Moretti’s as well.”

Rebecca’s eyes widened. “But Mr. Cavalier---”

“He has nothing to do with this,” Misty protested at the same time.

“It’s protocol. We come from different clans. I have no choice. I must call for a council meeting between pack leaders.”

As Matteo drove the car into the driveway leading to the lobby of Lyccan Hall, he asked, “Is this still part of the plan, sir?”

“No, but I had thought this could happen.’

“Will everything be all right for Ms. Misty?”

Domenico frowned. “When have I ever been wrong?”

Matteo sighed. “You have a point, but Ms. Wall is different, sir.”

“I know that. I wouldn’t have picked her if I didn’t.”

“But sir, do you truly understand what her being different would mean? She would
never
react the way the women in your past had.”

Domenico strode inside the hall, coldly scanning the crowd until he found Misty, standing at the corner of the platform, isolated from the rest. This far, he could scent her fear and worry – for
him.
Even though he kept his face expressionless, Domenico willed her to look at him so she could see that he never lost faith in her.

When Misty relaxed, Domenico resumed walking and stood at his side.

Filippo’s face was grave. “I hope you understand I had no choice about this.”

“Of course,” Domenico replied swiftly, sincerely.

The other man nodded. “Let us begin.”

Rebecca presented the facts clearly and concisely and it was so wonderfully worded that even Misty was tempted to question her memory and sanity. Maybe it was really her fault?

With the note mysteriously gone, there was really no way to prove that what she said was true.

“As it is against Lyccan laws to harbor individuals, especially non-Lyccans, with questionable loyalties, Misty Wall must therefore be banished permanently from---”

“Rebecca.”

The woman’s face suffused in pleasure.

Misty was dismayed. They were truly personally acquainted then?

Domenico asked gently, “Are you not forgetting something?”