Julia POV
I could feel my blood pressure rising. The man who was supposed to be helping create the dessert masterpieces had begged off for a break and had not returned. That was an hour ago. He had been dragging his ass the entire time, and I knew it was because he felt he should be head dessert chef.
I would not let him ruin this evening or the desserts, so I jumped in to help my team, while also trying to check everything that left the kitchen. Ensuring consistency was key to an event this size. It had also been instilled in us that this evening had to be perfect. And that meant all aspects from serving to food and beverages.
“Oh my,” Cami says as she comes up to me for a moment. “What?” I ask concerned something had happened. “There are so many beautiful people out there. It is all I can do not to spill the drinks as I trip over one magnificent creature to the next!” she declares as I laugh at her candidness.
I had not had a chance to look out in the Gala event hall. I wanted to. I had heard the murmurings from the others that the women were beautiful, and the men were unbelievably handsome. Some even indicating they had never seen so many men with such raw, beastly bodies. I definitely wanted to see a raw, beastly man, I thought with a chuckle.
“I have to keep going. The asshole did not show up?” Cami asks. I give my head a shake no, just as I heard a burst of laughter from the door to the outside. I glance back and see my missing chef. He is carrying on with another chef and watching me to see what my response is to his late arrival.
I say nothing and turn back to my tasks. I can feel him move up behind me, “Miss me?” he asks breathing heavily on me. I cringe as I can smell the alcohol he has consumed. This would be a recipe for disaster if I let him get near the food. “Not at all. We are good here. Maybe the other chefs could use your help,” I suggest as I continue to move my hands quickly plating the desserts.
As I finished checking the next trays of desserts to leave the kitchens, the man pulls on my shoulder, “Listen bitch; I will stay right here and there is not a damn thing you can do about it,” he yells. The kitchen goes silent as everyone stops to look at us. I move closer to the man, “There is no need to yell. We are almost done. You can start on clean up,” I suggest as I turn back to see to another prepared tray.
The man moves quickly beside me, flipping the tray in the air. I gasp as do others as the tray of beautiful desserts are destroyed and fall to the floor. He bursts out laughing, “You should see your face,” he says as he steps into my space. “What are you going to do now, huh?” he demands as he continues to smirk at me.
“She is not going to do anything. You are going to clean up the mess you made, and then you are going to leave,” a deep voice said from behind me. I feel butterflies erupt in my tummy and my core clench. I am reluctant to turn around, as I cannot imagine what the impact will be when I actually see the body that contains that voice.
Unable to delay it, I slowly turn, and I look to the man. He is beautiful, if a man could be considered beautiful. He had dark hair, a strong jawline, kissable lips. Wait, did I just think that?!? And his eyes were a stunning blue. His body was rock solid and built. I felt my mouth go dry just staring into his eyes.
“What did you say to me?” the belligerent male beside me demands. “You heard me. Now do it,” he commands softly. I see the man falter, but he slowly falls to the ground and starts to clean the mess he made. He is cursing the entire time, but the mystery man simply ignores him as he moves closer to me.
“Magnificent,” he murmurs as he reaches his hand out to touch me. As he does, I would swear I felt a tingling on my skin, but I knew that was not possible. He was simply touching me. That never happened. I had never experienced it. I must be hyper aware because he is like nobody I have ever seen in my life.
A frown crosses his face and I feel a sense of trepidation, “You are human,” he murmurs.
Eric POV
I reach out to touch my beautiful mate. I had finally found her, and I knew I would keep her forever. She was stunning even with her hair wrapped tightly in a bun, when all I wanted was to run my hand through her hair. Holding tightly as I thrust into her body and marked her as my own.
I slowly reach out my hand to touch her. I immediately felt sparks bounce between us. But something felt wrong. I inhaled again and her scent was intoxicating. I could feel those around us staring when the words, “You are human,” slipped from my mouth. I heard the beauty in front of me chuckle, “As are you,” she replies.
My heart sinks as I pull my hand back. “Of course,” I reply as I turn away from my fated mate. Before I fully turn, I pivot back and take hold of her hand. She tries to tug her hand from mine, but I hold on tighter. “Come with me,” I say curtly as she again pauses. She points to the food in front of her, “I have to finish the desserts,” she replies hesitating to follow.
I look to the woman standing beside her, “Can you finish them?” I ask. “Of course,” she replies and starts to work on the desserts. Problem solved. I drag my reluctant mate outside into the cool air. I release her hand stand still taking a deep breath. “Are you okay?” she asks as I turn back to her.
“No, I am not alright,” I reply as I move closer to her once again taking her hands. “What I am about to say will make no sense, but I need you to listen,” I say to her. “Okay,” she replies cautiously. “What is your name beautiful?” I ask. She clears her throat, “Julia Kent,” she replies.
“I, Alpha Eric Montgomery, reject you, Julia Kent,” I say softly.
Julia POV “I, Alpha Eric Montgomery, reject you, Julia Kent,” he says softly. I see his face crumble as he bends over grabbing his chest. I take a moment to pause before I burst out laughing. “What the hell does that even mean? You reject me?” I reply as I am now doubled over laughing. “If you do not want to go out with me, a simple not interested would suffice,” I say as the humour starts to leave my body and anger takes over. “For that matter, you did not need to drag me out here, to simply “reject me”,” I say using air quotes. Men. Just when you think you have found a decent man, he shows you his crazy in the first five minutes of meeting him. “Accept it,” he says angrily. I look at him incredulously. “Absolutely not; I will not entertain your crazy,” I say turning away from him. He grabs my arm, and my body betrays me with that bizarre warm feeling when he touches my skin. I shrug his arm off, “I do not know what gam
Eric POV As I thrust one last time into Louisa, I roar my release. The roar was not for an amazing experience but for the pain I felt at losing my fated mate. “That was incredible,” Louisa says as I slip out of her body. I quickly move to the side of my bed and move towards the washroom. I jump into the shower to wash off Louisa’s scent. It sickens me, after scenting my fated. I lean my head against the shower stall and consider all that has happened this evening. All that should have been. It should have been Julia in my bed tonight. That beauty would consume me for years to come, regardless of who I take as a chosen mate. Before I can process anything else, I hear a frantic call through my mind-link from Elizabeth. “What is it?” I reply. “Please come to the Pack hospital at once. We have a situation and I do not know what to do,” she says urgently. For Elizabeth to call out to me at this point in the evening, I knew t
Julia POV Groaning I lifted my hand to my head. I cannot remember what happened. Just that I felt like I had been hit by a truck. My hand moves slowly to my stomach, still tender after whatever had happened. I felt movement beside me and I opened my eyes to see my best friend, Cami, standing there looking worried. “What happened?” I whisper hearing my scratchy voice. My eyes close from exhaustion when I feel the tip of a straw at my lips. I slowly open my eyes once again and take a sip of the water. The cool feeling of water trickling down my throat gave me a reprieve from the dryness. “I do not know,” Cami whispers. “Why are you whispering?” I ask her confused as to what is happening. “Where am I?” I ask out loud. I recognize I am in a hospital, but Cami almost seemed scared. Looking around to make sure nobody was around, Cami leans down to me, “You are in a hospital. The Palace hospital,” she says shoc
Julia POV “What the hell is that?” I murmured to Cami as we left the Palace property. She followed my gaze off to the right in the distance. “It looks like wolves. How is that possible?” she asked quietly, as we continued driving towards the city. “I have never heard of wolves around here before,” I said softly as I considered the beauty of the animals that seemed closer than they were. Cami did not slow down and got us home forty minutes later. “How are you feeling?” she asked me. “I am still sore, but much better than I was last night,” I promised her as she pulled the car to a stop in front of my apartment building. “Are you sure? Maybe I should take you to the local hospital,” she suggested as I looked at her. I smiled, “I am fine; I think it would be a slap in the face if we did not trust the Palace’s doctor,” I stated to her laughing at how silly it sounded. She joined me before I turned and looked towards my apartm
Eric POV What the hell was that? I looked up and realized my mate was screaming in fear. I looked around and saw nobody else standing here and realized she was screaming at me! I took a step forward as she took a step backwards. With my wolf hearing, I could hear someone on the other end of the line. Realizing she had called the police, I stepped forward taking the phone from her hand. “Hello? This is Prince Eric, please send the police to this address for further investigation,” I say before handing the phone back to Julia so she could try to give them the address. After she hung up, she simply stared at me. “Why are you here?” she asked me as she tried to stop her shaking hands. “I wanted to ensure you arrived home safely,” I replied as I looked around her bedroom recognizing it was as messy as the living area. “I assume you do not always live like this?” I inquired as she glared at me. “No, I do not alway
Julia POVStartled by the sudden noise, I paused as I realized I had wanted Eric’s lips on mine. The man was clearly crazy so what did it say about me wanting him to kiss me? He rested his forehead on mine, and I enjoyed the warmth his skin brought to my body. I knew I was starting to go into shock. Realizing I had stumbled upon someone who had still been in the apartment when I arrived home was starting to set in.What were they looking for? And how did they get out of the fire escape door? Before I could think about it any longer, Eric stepped away from me and walked towards the sitting room in my small apartment. I was embarrassed that he had seen my sparsely furnished space while he came from luxury. Silly, giving my head a shake, he was simply being polite following up on me to make sure I arrived home safely. Likely worried they might be sued, for the food poisoning I had suffered, I think with a chuckle.Following Eric, I see him already in a conversation with the polic
Julia POV I looked at him and burst out laughing, “Like hell I am going anywhere with you,” I responded as he looked wounded at my reply. “Why not?” he asked quietly. I looked at him realizing he was serious, “I do not know you. And our interactions to date have not been memorable,” I replied as I started to look around for my phone. Spotting it, I grabbed it and moved off to the side, putting a call through to Cami. Damn it! It goes directly to voice mail. Where could she be? I texted her asking her to call me as soon as possible. I tossed my phone down, and turned around startled that he was still staring at me. “What?” I asked snidely deciding to call my boss and let him know I would not be in tonight. After promising to be in tomorrow for my shift, I hung up and moved to my bedroom to grab a few things. “Miss, we have already asked you not to touch anything,” the officer reminded me. “I need a few thi
Julia POV As we drove away, I felt a pain inside my chest. Like something was wrong. I could not put my finger on it, but I knew it had something to do with Prince Eric. He was a puzzle I could not figure out. Why did he show up so suddenly? How did he seem to be there at the exact right time? The thought caused me to sit up straighter. Had he had something to do with the break in? What would his motive have been? I did not know but I would have to be more guarded around him. Assuming I would see him again. “Julia!” I hear Cami say sharply. “Hmm, what?” I asked distracted by my thoughts. “How are you doing?” she asked looking at me with concern. “I am okay, now that I am away from there,” I replied honestly. “You can stay with me as long as you need to,” she said watching the road. “Thank you; I am afraid to go back,” I admitted to her. “It is understandable. Do you have any idea what they were after?” she asked. S