The creature in my head gave a low growl and snarled the instant he heard the woman's words.
What's wrong with you, you monster? She's just a girl. Don't scare her! I reprimanded him in my head.
"She has no good intentions. And stop calling me creature or monster. I am a wolf. I am YOUR wolf. Now get away from this woman."
The woman noticed when I didn't respond.
"Oh my, you don't even know who I am. What a wonderful day!" Her smile and eyes grew wider as she said this. Her grip on my hand was getting extremely tight and her nails were digging into my arm.
I smiled awkwardly and started unclenching her fingers from my hand. "Hi, I'm Mathew. I usually prefer a handshake to nails digging into my arm", I said while trying to laugh this off.
She just looked at me with a puzzled face.
"Do you want to tell me your name?", I asked her after an awkward silence.
"I am Sabrina" She was eyeing me curiously. "Mathew, you wouldn't happen to be a werewolf would you?"
I tried to hide the shock on my face, but she noticed it immediately. She started laughing hysterically and people were now staring at us on the streets. I decided to just leave and get out of there but she grabbed my arm again.
"See you soon, Mathew", she said while laughing. I jerked my arm out of her hand and then rushed to work. That was so weird.
When I got to work, Eric had already set up all the tables for the day. I've been running my parents' restaurant ever since they died five years ago. I was only 20 years old when they died. I wanted to sell the place, but Eric, an old family friend, suggested that I keep it to honour my parents. After I lost my job, I was grateful that I followed his advice.
Eric is in his fifties. Women his age describe him as tall, dark and handsome. Before I lost my job, he was running this place. It was struggling and if I hadn't kept covering all the expenses with my own money, it would have gone bankrupt by now.
After I officially started running the restaurant, I had to make a lot of changes to save it. I changed the restaurant's interior, the menu, got some publicity on social media and things changed for the better. The team is great and the staff always praises me for being able to revamp the restaurant so quickly. I'm planning on opening a few more restaurants in the city this year. If I hadn't saved some money while things were good, I wouldn't have been able to change things around here.
"So, you got any more brilliant ideas today, wiz kid?" One of the waitresses was batting her eyes and smiling at me seductively.
I laughed. "I have a few, but I'm not sharing them just yet." The waitresses are always very flirtatious with me, but I try to avoid their gazes and ignore their inuendos.
I spent the day doing paper work. I had to go through our accounts, confirm deliveries, go through the design for the second restaurant and arrange interviews for a new chef. I wanted to stay longer, but my wolf was getting agitated for some reason.
"I want to go see Elizabeth." He was growling in my head.
"Look, it's weird enough that I can hear you in my head. You can't start making requests on top of all this! Elizabeth is probably still at work right now. She's always working late so we can't go see her. Please be quiet so I can work, I said back to him."
I could feel his agitation and concern radiating from my body. It was getting harder to focus on my work. I was about to get a glass of water when someone knocked and opened my office door.
"We're heading out, boss. Will you be okay?", Eric asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine Eric. You guys get home before it gets too late."
Eric was about to leave, but he hesitated and then turned back around.
"Mathew, you can't keep going at this rate. You're going to burn out. Look, I know that things have been rough lately, but you can't just bury yourself in work. Your parents would've wanted you to get out there and live life...and just be happy...even if it's with Megan"
My parents passed away before I met Megan so when we got engaged, I introduced her to Eric. He's kind of been like a dad to me since they've been gone and to say that he dislikes Megan is putting it lightly.
Eric was still standing by the door and he started taking a few steps back. He looked scared of me and I realised he probably didn't step inside my office because of all these emotions radiating from me. I had to get my wolf under control.
"Eric, I need time. I'm still trying to make sense of everything that's happened." I couldn't even look at him because I was struggling to contain my wolf.
"Please tell everyone else they can go home right now. They don't need to check in with me."
He sighed and took another step back. "Okay Mathew, just know I'm here if you need me."
At this point I couldn't respond because I was gritting my teeth from all the anger and agitation coming from my wolf. When I heard Eric going down the stairs, my wolf started roaring in my head.
"Go to Elizabeth right now!"
I couldn't ignore him anymore so I grabbed my keys and rushed downstairs. When Eric and the other employees saw me, they looked terrified. They all stepped away from me. I didn't have time to talk to them. My wolf was still roaring inside my head.
I started running towards her apartment.
"No! She's at work. Go there," my wolf growled.
Elizabeth's office is a 20 minute car ride from my restaurant. It would take a normal person about 45 minutes to walk there, but I've always been a fast runner. After getting my wolf, my speed, strength and senses got ten times better so I made it there in 20 minutes.
When the elevator door opened, I was shocked by the scene infront of me.
Jerry was busy kicking Elizabeth and Sabrina, the pretty blonde girl I met earlier today, was sitting at a desk drinking wine and smirking.
"STOP!", I roared. I could feel my wolf trying to take control of my body and I appreciated that he cared for my best friend as much as I did.
"You see Jerry, I told you this girl would draw him out", Sabrina said with a sinister tone.
Jerry's eyes were no longer their usual light brown. His eyes looked just like Sabrina's. They were almost an aquamarine blue. If the lights were to be turned off, I'm sure we would be able to use those eyes as flash lights.
I started running towards Elizabeth. I could feel my wolf trying to break free, but I managed to stop him. I swung my fist right into Jerry's stomach as soon as I reached him. He fell down almost immediately. He was crawling on the ground, gasping for air and then I kicked him in the stomach. He flew across the room and landed on the far end of the office. I started walking towards where he landed and started landing punches on his face. I could feel my wolf lending me his strength. I was about to land the final blow when I heard a screech.
"Stop right there young wolf", Sabrina shouted. "This girl means nothing to us, but we know she means something to you. Let him go or I will slit her throat right this second!" Sabrina was holding a knife to Elizabeth's throat. Elizabeth was awake now. Tears and blood were rolling down her face.
"Mat...Mathew.." She didn't manage to say anything else as Sabrina's knife dug further into her neck.
"What do you want?", I asked with a low growl.
"We want you, young wolf. If you come with us, this human girl will live", Sabrina shrieked.
"Mathew...don't", Elizabeth was trying to gasp for air. Sabrina dug the knife even deeper and blood started trickling from Elizabeth's neck.
"I will do as you say. Just stop!" The pain was evident in my voice and I could tell my wolf speaking with me. I could feel his pain. Elizabeth is my best friend. Why does he care for her this much?
I heard Jerry limping behind me. His face was caved in. I couldn't understand how he was still alive.
Jerry smirked and then Sabrina started chanting in a strange language. "I love you, Elizabeth", I said in a whisper that even I could barely hear. All of a sudden, I couldn't see Elizabeth anymore. I was in a dark and smelly cave. Both Sabrina and Jerry were with me. All I could see were their crystal blue eyes.
*********************************************
Elizabeth's POV
"Mathew, Mathew where are you? Please come back!"
I was screaming hysterically. What the hell just happened? I was having a normal day at work until Jerry saw that blonde woman step through his office door. The second I saw her, I heard that voice in my mind telling me to run. I ignored it because I couldn't just leave work right in the middle of the day. And after Jerry beat me for sneaking out of the office yesterday, I couldn't risk it.
When Jerry and the blonde woman got out of his office, he told everyone to leave early. When I tried leaving with everyone else, the blonde woman grabbed my hand and said she had a few things to ask me.
The moment everyone left, Jerry started punching me. I screamed for help but no one else was there, except for the blonde woman. With every punch and kick he landed, I could feel my body getting hotter and hotter and hotter. It was so hot that I passed out for a few minutes and when I came to, Jerry was still kicking me. The blonde woman was just laughing the entire time.
I could tell from the discussion the two of them were having in between my beatings that the blonde woman knew that Mathew could turn into a wolf. Apparently, Jerry didn't know that Mathew was a werewolf, but he recognised Mathew's face because he'd seen him at the office a few times when Mathew stopped by to see me. The blonde woman almost killed Jerry when he told her he had never caught the scent of a werewolf on Mathew or me.
They wanted to use him for something, something that would hurt him. If only I'd listened to the voice in my head then Mathew would have been safe. Tears were still streaming down my face.
I tried getting up, but stopped when I heard a crack in my rib cage. I had to calm down. I needed to find a way out of here and I needed to find Mathew.
I started using my hands to push my body backwards, towards the nearest phone. All of a sudden, I heard the elevator door open and almost everyone I work with stepped out of a crowded elevator.
The all rushed to my side and started inspecting my wounds.
Audrey, the newest member in our team, lifted my shirt to have a look at my injuries.
"What in the hell happened here?", another colleague, Sebastian, said with a shocked face.
I couldn't tell them the whole truth. They wouldn't believe me. Telling them the truth would also risk them finding out about Mathew. I couldn't let that happen.
"It was Jerry! He was beating me again" I tried to sound as convincing as I could while blood and tears dripped down my face. Considering that was partially true, I didn't have a hard time keeping a straight face.
"Elizabeth, it looks like a hurricane wrecked this place. Do you really expect us to believe that Jerry did all this?" Susan sounded very suspicious.
"It doesn't matter what happened here. She has a few broken ribs and she definitely has some internal bleeding. Sebastian, you need to heal her", Audrey said in a panicked tone.
"Will you keep quiet!", Sebastian looked very shocked at what Audrey had just asked him to do.
"Audrey! Are you trying to get us captured? What if they sense him using his powers? What if this human girl tells others about us? You're putting my mate's life at risk and I won't let you do that!", Susan said as she yelled in a whisper.
"Look at this place, Susan! There's no way they haven't tracked us down by now. And this human girl has fought for us ever since the day we got here. We owe her at least that much!" Audrey was now standing up and staring daggers into Susan and Sebastian.
Sebastian and Susan were holding hands and looking at one another. Then they both nodded their heads.
"Okay. Elizabeth, you're going to feel some discomfort, but you'll be fine in a few seconds," Sebastian said.
I was staring at all of them, confused.
Sebastian put his hand on my stomach and a bright light emanated from his hand. The longer he kept his hand there, the better I started to feel. I could feel my body getting healed. After a few seconds, I no longer felt like I had been tossed around in this room. All my wounds were healed. I lifted my shirt and noticed I didn't even have any scars.
I looked up at everyone. No else besides me was shocked by what just happened. Now that I could think straight, fear started washing over me.
I know Sebastian and Susan as the lovey dovey office couple that couldn't keep their hands off of each other. Sebastian is a 5ft8, 25 year old guy with dark hair and dark almond shaped eyes with monolids. He isn't as muscular as Mathew, but he's still very toned and most women in the office try to flirt with him.
Susan is a 5ft3, 23 year old girl with blonde hair and brown eyes. If I didn't work with her, I would've thought she was a kindergarten teacher. That's how she dresses, but her personality is totally different. She's known as the firecracker in the office and tolerates nonsense from no one, except for Jerry.
Audrey is a 5ft7, 24 year old girl with dark brown eyes and dark brown dreads. She's slim and toned and always dresses to kill. She's in charge of the newspaper's fashion section.
Audrey finally broke the silence.
"Elizabeth, please say something."
"Uhm, thank you for...healing me" My voice was very shaky.
"What exactly are you guys?", I asked with hesitation.
"You come to the office everyday smelling like a damn werewolf and you have the nerve to ask us what we are?", Susan was clearly agitated. Sebastian held Susan in his arms. I could tell he was trying to calm her down.
"I don't know what you're talking about", I was trying to avoid their gazes. I couldn't risk them finding out about Mathew.
"Elizabeth, we know that Mathew is a werewolf", Audrey said in a calm voice.
"What? How?", I asked them.
"Well, we could smell his scent on you and we also noticed it the first time we met him. We could all smell it" Sebastian was pointing at everyone else in the room.
"What does that even mean? How could you just smell him?"
Susan rolled her eyes. "It means he is a supernatural creature just like us, and we could smell him. He could probably smell us too" She still sounded annoyed.
"Look, I know you probably have a lot of questions but it isn't safe to stay here. Come with us and we'll answer all your questions", Audrey said.
I nodded my head and Audrey, Sebastian, Susan and I all left the office. Everyone else was packing up their things like they weren't going to come back.