CHAPTER TWELVE

                                                               

The next day, Bellona carefully selected her outfit. She wore a short black skirt that stopped right on her thigh which outlined her curves perfectly and a white shirt that showed off her cleavages.

Bellona's long brown hair and her gorgeous hazel eyes complement her fierce but seductive look. She looked like the goddess of beauty, literally.

She didn't want to be extra so she went with this. If it were not in the office, she would have dressed in a more seductive outfit but she wanted to keep it official.

Maybe with this, she could seduce Zephyr and when they get in the mood, she'll kill him.

Bellona left her house but didn't forget to spray a little bit of the portion Nimue gave her. She wouldn't want to risk it because Zephyr would be quick to get her scent without the help of the portion.

She arrived at the company quite early but this time she waited outside to greet Zephyr.

As usual, Zephyr arrived by nine. When he alighted the vehicle, he eyes subconsciously went to her and lingered for a few seconds. He quickly averted his gaze and strolled into the company with Lucian trailing behind and then Bellona joined him.

On reaching the elevator that was reserved for the CEO, Zephyr and Lucian stepped in and as Bellona was about stepping in, Zephyr stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going?" He raised his brows.

"Huh?" Bellona asked confused. Where else would she be going to if not his office.

"This lift is for the CEO alone" Lucian explained with a frown.

"So what are you doing here, you're not the CEO, are you?" Bellona snapped. She hated Lucian's guts.

Zephyr smiled. This girl was something else and it made him want to mess with her so he pressed the button on the lift and said with a straight face, "let me not get there before you" and then the door closed.

Shit!

Bellona quickly ran to the employees lift, fortunately for her, the door was still open.

When she entered, she didn't care about anybody else and immediately pressed the button for the last floor.

But fate had others things planned for her. It was like every employee present in the lift stopped in every floor they passed. This was the longest ride for Bellona.

Eventually she reached the last floor and quickly ran to Zephyr's office but didn't find him there so she went to the conference room when she saw him sitting, working on his laptop and Lucian setting up some things, probably for the meeting.

"You're late" Zephyr said, not looking at her making Bellona rolled her eyes and busied herself with adjusting her outfit.

She wasn't going to answer him because she wasn't sure what would come out of her mouth because of how angry she was so she simply ignored him.

"The officials will be coming any moment from now so get ready." He said still not looking at her. It was as though he was trying to avoid her gaze or something.

 He threw a book in her direction which she caught reflexively "Use this journal to write down the important agenda's of today's meeting. Do not miss any point." 

"Go and bring them in" He said, this time addressing Lucian who quickly nodded and walked out of the conference room.

When they were alone, neither of them spoke to each other. While Bellona was busy observing her surroundings, Zephyr was trying to control his body to not react to her. 

When he told her to dress well, he didn't really mean it, he was just teasing her and didn't expect her to take it serious.

He cleared his throat to keep himself in check. He was never a person to loose control easily. His self control was admirable.

Lucian arrived with the officials and each one of them, though older, showed their respect to Zephyr by bowing slightly except for the last man who simply nodded. The man looked to be the same age with Zephyr and Bellona couldn't help but ponder about his identity.

Soon, the meeting began and Bellona concentrated on taking notes. She wanted to impress Zephyr. What other way to make him fall for her than try to impress him? 

Along the line, she felt someone staring at her. She chose to ignore it but the stare lingered so she looked to see who was looking at her and then, her brown eyes caught with Zephyr's blue ones. He was staring at her unblinkingly and then after a while, he averted his gaze like nothing happened.

Weirdo. Bellona muttered and turned back her attention to taking notes.

Zephyr was flustered. He didn't expect her to suddenly raise her head and make eye contact with him. He didn't shift his gaze from her immediately because he didn't want her to feel like she caught him so he maintained eye contact for a while.

Bellona felt another stare lingering on her yet again but this time, it was intense. She looked over to Zephyr but seemed to be listening to the official that was currently speaking so she looked the other direction and found the person who was staring at her. He was the young man who acknowledged Zephyr with just a nod.

She stared back at him with the same intensity and he smirked and winked at her in response before picking up the document in front of him to read.

Bellona was speechless. The audacity of this man. He gave her the creeps.

After a while, the meeting ended and all officials left except the young man who remained sitting.

"Come here" Zephyr called on her and handed over some documents to her. "Take this documents to the finance department and give it to Lucian. Make sure you give it to him and no one else. Understood?"

Did he not come to work with Lucian? How come he didn't give him the document. She knew this was one of Zephyr's attempt to rile her up so she just smiled 

"Yes boss" Bellona said and immediately exited the office.

"You said you wanted to see me" Zephyr turned to the young man with a frown. "What do you want?"

The young man laughed out loud. "You never change Zephyrus. Always as impatient as ever. This is not the way to treat your old pal"

Lance was the Alpha of silver moon pack and Zephyr's childhood friend.

"I don't have all day, Lancelot" Zephyr's frown deepened.

"Alright. Let's go to your office. This is not the right place for the discussion" Lance said.

Meanwhile Bellona had reached the finance department and when she asked of Lucian, she was told by his secretary that he just stepped out.

"When will he be back?" Bellona asked impatiently.

"I don't know ma'am. But you can sit and wait for him" Lucian's secretary offered.

"Can't you keep it for him?" She said, stretching the document.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that ma'am" The secretary politely declined.

Bellona was now starting to place the two pieces together. Zephyr purposely sent her on the errand knowing fully well that Lucian was absent. He just wanted her out of his premises. Perhaps he wanted to discuss something private with the young man and he didn't want her to listen.

Bellona quickly rose from her seat and dashed out. She wanted to see if she could be able to eavesdrop on their conversation. It might be helpful in the nearest future.

************

Back in Zephyr's office

"We're in my office, now. So tell me, what do you want to discuss" Zephyr asked as soon as they entered his office.

"Slow down" Lance laughed "at least offer me water to drink. My throat is parched from talking all day."

"You didn't contribute in the meeting" Zephyr stated the obvious but still went ahead to pour him a glass of water.

"You don't have anything to tell me, right?" Zephyr suddenly said causing Lance to choke on his water making Zephyr glare at him.

"You figured" He let out an awkward laugh.

"What do you want?" Zephyr said but paused for a moment to think. "I think the right question is what are you buying time for?"

"Oh, you're so smart. I like it" Lance purred.

Zephyr studied him for a moment. He knew Lance since childhood. The man was cunning. Zephyr already had his suspicions on why Lance was wasting time but he wanted to be sure.

This was exactly why he sent Bellona on a futile errand. He saw the way Lance looked at her during the meeting and for some reason, that made him angry.

Was Lance interested in her? Obviously!

The man was interested in anything with a skirt and something in him wanted to shield Bellona from Lance.

At that moment, the door to his office flung open revealing Bellona and Lance let out a whistle.

Zephyr frowned. His worst fears was coming true. He didn't know why but he felt like his mate was about to me taken from him.

 He could only have fate in Bellona not to fall for Lance's charms.