SWNOVELS Chapter 1: Cheer up big guy!
“Custom Creations this is Dax” Dax answered the phone in one breath reciting the well rehearsed line she has been using for three years.
“Hello Dax!” Replied a deep voice on the other end of the phone.
“Hi Johnny! What a coincidence I was just about to call, your order is ready to be shipped, would you like me to send you a photo of the final product and have it shipped out?” She offered.
“No, I would like to come see it in person, and then I will take it with me” he stated.
“In person? Ok? The piece is heavy.” She was confused, she was pretty sure she explained to him that this piece was going to be heavy, extremely heavy.
“No worries, I will come pick it up,” he replied.
“Ok then, you better bring some extra muscle” she stated. A soft chuckle greeted her from the other end.
“Will do, see you within the hour” he said and disconnected the call.
Men! She thought, always had to prove themselves bigger, better, stronger. They’re all idiots. Whatever, what was it to her if her customer wanted to come and look at the piece himself and then attempt to move it only to realize he couldn’t and would have to tuck his tail between his legs and tell her to ship it. She would enjoy watching his ego deflate. Her mood was foul today, too many sleepless nights she guessed. They seem to come in waves, a night or two of sleep only to be followed by weeks of nightmare ravaged dreams that kept her awake. Ghosts of a dark disturbing past. A small shiver went down her spine, she didn’t like to think about it, but her hand unconsciously went to the top of a scar on her left shoulder. She knew if she traced it, it would lead diagonally down her back to her right hip. A memory flashed before her eyes of a man with a knife, she blinked and it disappeared. Pinching the bridge of her nose she shook her head being used to it by now, but it sure affected her mood some days. Today is one of those days.
She walked to the front of the warehouse which she had turned into an art studio to the office area where her receptionist Georgie Monroe was. She hoped to god that the girl actually did her job for a change, she had three other pieces that needed to be shipped today and all she had to do was call the shipping company, not complicated right. She couldn’t complain too loudly though, her property management manager gave her a deal on the rent of this place as long as she hired his 23 year old daughter, something about him wanting her to have experience in the work force and earn her living. Blah blah blah, tired of paying her an allowance, free ride blah blah blah. Hell he even paid her salary instead of an allowance. Which is a good thing, she couldn’t afford to hire employees right now. The ever increasing rent, food and bills were enough to eat a good chunk of money she did make, not leaving much leftover to pay anyone. She wasn’t hurting per say, but she wished she was doing better. The life of an artist.
Dax arrived in the office and Georgie looked up from filling her nails,
“Morning Dax” she cheerfully stated.
“It sure is,” Dax replied, trying to offer a small smile. Georgie just shrugged and went back to filing her nails. Dax stood in the doorway studying the girl for a minute. Though she was two years older than Dax she acted like an 18 year old half the time. Her salon dyed brown curly hair that framed her small face. Her hopeful green eyes, that have yet to be crushed by humanity’s cruelest personalities. Her upturned button nose and full red lips. Her skin was dark tanned, due to too many trips to the tanning bed. She had a bubbly personality, and not a care in the world look on her heavily made up face. Dax made an internal grimace at the thought of Georgie living the high life all her life and never having to struggle or cope with real world difficulties other than finding the perfect lipstick shade. I hope she chips a nail! Dax thought. I really am bitchy today, holy fuck!
“Did you call the shipping company?” She asked instead. Georgie looked up at her with a bright smile
“Yes, they will be here at one for the pick ups” she replied happily. Fuck! Dax hated waiting on people, her whole day was now going to be scheduled around waiting for someone else.
“Fucking great!” She snapped and pinched her nose again and closed her eyes, she felt a headache coming on. Again Georgie just shrugged and went back to her nails. She had to give the girl credit, when Dax was in a mood she knew when to shut her mouth and leave her be.
The bell above the front door rang, and in walked the last person Dax wanted the pleasure of dealing with. Justine Garret, her blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders while she sauntered into the office like she owned it. Her shirt was so low cut, Dax could swear if she breathed wrong she would fall out of it and a skirt that barely covered anything, if she bent over the world would get a show. Guess that was the point right. Her bright blue eyes and full pouty mouth, she was beautiful and she knew it, she flaunted it and rubbed it in everyone’s face. If you didn’t look like her or act like her then you were nothing to her, and made it a point to make you feel that way. Some people never outgrew high school.
“Dax, you look…..” she left the thought there as she made a gesture of disgust. Dax stiffened. Fucking great, this day just keeps getting better.
“Justine, aren’t you a little old for that.” Dax asked, making her own gesture of disgust at Justine’s outfit.
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m only 22” She snapped.
“You’re 25 and you’re dressed like a whore. This is a place of business, not a street corner, take your trash ass out of here” Dax snapped back at her. Justine’s eyes went wide and she scoffed at her, but ignored her as she spoke to Georgie
“Ready to go for lunch and shopping?” Her nasally voice sounded like cat scratches on a chalkboard and Dax grimaced at the sound, Georgie smiled brighter and nodded her head grabbing her purse.
“What? We just opened, you haven’t even worked for an hour and you’re going for lunch?” Dax was bewildered.
“It’s not like you even do anything here anyway. Or pay her, her daddy does that cause you can’t afford it.” Justine’s voice hissed at her.
“She is still an employee and I’m pretty sure her father would actually like to get his money’s worth” Dax shot back.
“Like you’d say anything anyway, you have a pretty cushy thing going here, would hate to see that wrecked for you. Live in the loft rent free, have an employee you don’t have to pay for, and still get a discount on the rent for the building space.” Justine stated matter of factly. Fuck! Ever since Georgie let it slip about the deal she had with Georgie’s dad Justine has been using it against her for everything. Though she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if Georgie’s father knew that her daughter has not worked a solid day in two months. Dax looked at Georgie who just stood there saying nothing, her eyes just blank, vacant, much like her head. Fucking incredible! Dax thought.
“Whatever just get the fuck out of here and take the trash with you.” Dax gestured towards Justine.
“You should be nicer to me,” Justine whined.
“And why the fuck would I do that?” Dax asked. Justine just smiled like she knew some secret, reached into her purse and pulled out a bottle of perfume and spritzed it on herself. The scent immediately filled the room, burning Dax’s eyes and she started to choke.
“What the hell is that? It smells awful.” She coughed and started waving her arms to clear the smell away from her.
Justine just huffed and stomped her foot, dropping the perfume bottle on the cement floor causing it to break and the scent flooded the room even more overpowering everything.
Johnny pulled the truck into the loading bay and killed the engine. He looked beside him to his travelling companion who was quiet and brooding, almost sulking. Johnny knew his Alpha has been stressing lately, he’s been agitated and angry. People die when his Alpha is angry and he thought a trip into town away from the pack house would take his mind off his hunt to find his mate. He thought he had a lock on her at an art show he attended a few months back, but her scent disappeared into a crowd of people and then he never found her.
“Cheer up big guy! We’ll find her, there’s only a few more people on the list we have to check out; she has to be one of them.” Johnny said, patting his shoulder exiting from the truck. Kane just shrugged, he was beginning to lose hope again that he would ever find her. He had a picture of what she would look like in his mind, but as the search to find her continued on the image began to fade. He was moody, and angry and seemed to lash out at everything the longer it went on. He knew Johnny was trying his best to help him. He opened the door and stepped out into the parking lot and it hit him. Faintly but it was there, the most intoxicating scent he has ever smelled, he lifted his nose to the air and breathed it in. For the first time in months his hope started to grow, moving towards the building with purpose. Johnny, seeing this reaction, caught up to him
“What is it?” He asked, staring at the building smelling the air.
“Mate” was the only reply. Johnny’s face lit up but he grabbed Kane’s shoulder to stop him.
“What are you gonna do, go in there and grab whoever it is and claim mine. These are humans that might cause a problem.” Kane stopped and glared at Johnny, he knew he was right. Fuck! Pleased at his Alpha’s response he continued
“There’s only two people that work there, the receptionist, but you spoke to her at the art show so it can’t be her. That leaves the artist herself. Proceed with caution man, she’s a fiery little one.” Johnny warned, knowing from experience with dealing with her from the piece he had created for his own mate. Kane never spoke to the artist from the show, he never even saw the artist from the show. He asked about her but the art dealer said she had to leave, something about an emergency, it was a lie, but Kane never pursued it. Maybe he should have.
They opened the door to the warehouse and were greeted with a powerful smell of noxious perfume that caused them both to suck in a deep breath and gag. Kane lost the scent of his mate, from the strong smell of perfume and anger boiled his blood, a low growl escaped from deep in his chest.
“Ok relax, maybe her scent is just being covered, but she has to be here, or at least been here recently.” Johnny reassured him.
“What the fuck is that gawd awful smell?” Kane growled, holding his nose. Before Johnny could answer they heard a commotion coming from the office beside them. When the door leading to the warehouse was open the smell got stronger and they both tried to hold their breath.
“Holy fuck! Did you have to bathe the office in that shit?” A soft raspy voice called out in between coughing. She must have been at the epicenter of it, she stumbled out of the room waving her arms, her eyes red from the stinging. She quickly glanced up and saw a customer through blurry eyes. She held up a hand letting them know she would be with them in a few minutes. She moved away from them to a back room they assumed was a break room to flush her eyes.
“Oh it’s not that bad” came a nasally whiny scratchy voice, Johnny cringed at the sound and fought off a shudder.“You’re just being dramatic.”
Kane looked up to see a tall blonde standing there looking after her. She was pretty, her hair looked soft and shined in the harsh lights of the warehouse. Her clothes were a little short for his taste, left little to the imagination, Kane liked to use his imagination though. He was a feared Alpha, strong, and quite creative with his ways of squashing his enemies. It was his idea to take over the town and expand their territory, allowing humans to continue living there, giving his pack the ability to find their mates and become stronger. A werewolf is strong, but a mated werewolf is stronger, fiercer and tougher to put down. Pack was life, something worth fighting for, but a mate was something worth dying for. If this was his mate, he would worship her. She wasn’t quite what he imagined, but she was close.
She looked in their direction and her face lit up and a slow seductive smile spread across her face. When she started to move towards them, she forced her hips to sway and she pulled down her already too low top, giving them a better view. Johnny instantly became uncomfortable and moved closer to a work desk and away from Kane. Kane shot him a traitorous glare and Johnny just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. She looked like a predator stalking her prey as her eyes never left Kane’s face. She really was very pretty, but her smell was wrong, whatever it was, was very overpowering. He only hoped it was whatever broke in the office that was covering her scent.
“You have got to be the most gorgeous man I have ever seen, what’s your name handsome?” She purred.
“Kane” his answer was simple and short.
“Kane” She purred, letting his name roll off her tongue. “You’re not going to ask my name?” She asked, almost pouting. Johnny just arched an eyebrow and shook his head slightly, watching this girl flirt was just painful.
“No, you’re just going to tell me,” he replied. The sound she made when she giggled almost made him cringe, that was not the response you were supposed to have towards your mate. He could hear Johnny fight back the urge to laugh at his predicament.
“Justine” she whispered. Justine proceeded to circle him, sizing him up like a piece of meat.
In all honesty, Kane started to feel unsettled about the whole thing as he stood there with his arms at his side. When he felt her finger tips brush up his arm to feel his muscles he held his breath waiting. For what seemed like minutes he realized he felt….nothing! No tingles, no shivers, not one spark, nothing. He released his breath. When she stood back in front of him he noticed that her skirt was hiked higher. He looked deflated, stood taller and crossed his arms over his broad chest. Johnny watched on, thinking this had to be her, though secretly hoping it wasn’t, but after seeing his reaction to her touch, it was clear this was not his mate. Silently breathing a sigh of relief, he looked apologetically at Kane.
“Oh what the fuck are you doing?” A voice growled from the back of the warehouse and it dripped with disdain, “You hike that up any higher and your customers won’t even have to pay to get a show.” Behind the blonde stood a little girl maybe 21 if a day and not above 5 feet. She had an edge of hardness about her and anger and disgust rolled off her in waves as her gaze was fixed on the blonde Justine. Johnny had to turn away to stop from bursting out laughing but judging by the shaking of his shoulders he failed to contain himself, Kane hid a small grin behind the back of his hand. Truthfully he was also trying to hold his nose, the smell was getting to him. The blonde went completely red and whipped around to face her.
“This is my business Justine, not your whore house, get the fuck out”
“Watch it Dax, I’m warning you” she hissed.
“Or what?” Dax challenged. When the blonde known as Justine said nothing “That’s what I thought, Georgie, take her and leave….NOW!” She raised her voice, and the receptionist scrambled out of the office, grabbed Justine by the hand and pulled her away. Dax calmly walked into the office, grabbed a clip board and closed the door, trying to contain the smell into one room. She would air it out later, she walked past the two men and opened the bay door to bring as much air into the warehouse as she could trying to push the smell out. She mumbled something to herself under her breath about smelling like a fucking brothel for months, but the comment was not lost on Johnny or Kane, they had heard every word, still trying to cover their grins.
Dax let out a deep breath, trying to calm down and center herself from the events earlier before she spoke to her client. She turned around with a forced smile on her face.
“Sorry about that, Hi Johnny” she said, forcing the cheerfulness into her voice. It was painfully obvious to her that this was just not a good day, no way she was going to convince her client she was genuinely happy with the start of the day. Johnny however plastered a genuine smile on his face that reached his eyes. Thoroughly amused with what he had witnessed.
“Nothing to worry about darling. If I would have known a show came with pickup I would have come for the start and not the ending.” She chuckled, revealing a real smile. Johnny always seemed to have a smile on his face, any time she saw him. She wasn’t sure if he knew how to not smile. He was easy to talk to, and they had struck up a friendship of sorts over the course of working together. He wanted a piece of art that expressed his love for his wife. It was easy to complete the piece for him, the way he spoke about her with such adoration made her feel like she knew her already. Johnny was handsome, and built. His high cheekbones, full lips and blue eyes gave him a classic look. His tousled golden blonde hair and naturally tanned body told her he spent a lot of time outdoors. But what really caught her attention was his height. Johnny was tall, she found she had to stand back a little bit to be able to look him in the eyes without craning her neck too much.