Chapter 6 Ch Six

• Freya
• One of the most important things that I had learnt from Dario was not to make enemies too early in one’s journey to power.
• It was just one last dance and it wasn't going to make things more annoying than they already were.
• I didn't trust the kids to stay put in the ballroom so I asked Jace to take them to the car and wait for me there.
• He nodded and walked out of the room with the twins who didn't even bother to protest.
• Within seconds, the lights in the ballroom were dimmed a little bit more and I had found myself a dance partner; the son of one of Dario’s business partners.
• It was a mixer dance style, so within about two minutes, paying attention to the cues from the band, I whirled into the arms of another male dancer.
• I immediately went rigid when I realized that I had made a terrible mistake.
• My mate’s scent filled my nostrils and stupidly, I took a deep whiff which went straight to my head.
• Dancing with Blaine was the last thing I wanted to do and even as his scent threatened to pull down my defences, I tried to wriggle free from his embrace.
• The bastard held on tight and I fixed him with a hate-filled look.
• “Let me go, Blaine,” I ordered.
• Another cue came from the band to switch partners again but he didn't let me go.
• “Freya, please,” he murmured, moving his hand slowly and gently down my back until it came dangerously close to the curve of my butt.
• His scent combined with his gentle touch was enough to fan into flames, the embers of my desire for him.
• A desire I thought had died the day I realized that he wanted both me and my then unborn children, dead.
• “No,” I whispered, even as my body began to melt into the cradle of his arms, wishing he would move his palm even lower to cup my butt.
• He let out a low groan as he pressed me even closer to him and my treacherous body reacted shamelessly.
• I could feel my nipples harden against the hardness of his chest and found myself wishing his shirt would somehow disappear.
• “Mate,” my wolf suddenly purred triumphantly and that was enough to jerk me out of my desire-filled haze.
• Immediately, I wrenched myself from his embrace and without another glance at anybody, hurried out of the room and made my way to my car.
• ***
• If I had thought that the annoying events of that night were going to end in the ballroom, I was sorely disappointed.
• I was in the Study with Dario going through yet another business proposal from another Pack when Jace walked in.
• He gave a deep bow to the Alpha and me before handing me the newspaper he had been holding.
• My eyes narrowed in suspicion as I took it from him. “What am…..”
• The rest of the words died in my throat as my eyes fell on a very bold picture of me in Blaine’s arms.
• I realized that the picture must have been taken when the bastard had been trying to make me dance with him.
• My eyes widened as they ran through the words written underneath the picture and I uttered every profane word I could think of.
• “Aren’t you supposed to be a lady?” Dario said in an amused tone, snatching the paper from my hands, “You sound like a truck driver.”
• “That son-of-a-bitch did this on purpose,” I snapped. “I'm certain that he hired someone to take pictures of us and publish them in the papers just to cause these dreadful rumours.”
• “Now, everyone must think that I am his mistress and I'm trying to destroy the happy marriage he has with his wife. I swear I'm going to kill him.”
• “Calm down, Freya,” Dario replied in a soothing tone. “You can easily use your position to make this go away and stop the rumours from escalating any further.”
• He was right and I didn't hesitate to use my influence to request an open interview with several reporters just to deny the rumours about my being in an affair with him.
• It took a whole month for the rumours to die but I couldn't complain.
• What mattered most was that at the end of the day, my reputation was saved.
• Now, it was up to me to avoid any situation that was going to put me and the Alpha of the Crimson Valley Pack in a compromising position.
• Unfortunately for me, the universe had other plans.
• The Dreamscape Centre was one of, if not the largest store in the Emberclaw Pack and I was its proud owner.
• Even though I had numerous workers who could keep an eye on things and make sure the mall ran smoothly, I made it a habit to make myself present in the store once every month just to see for myself that things were in order.
• I stepped out of my car, humming a melodious tune under my breath.
• It was a lovely sunny afternoon.
• Like a sudden thunderstorm on a perfectly sunny day, my countenance immediately darkened when I ran into Blaine and Amanda at the entrance.
• Reminding myself that I had a reputation to uphold, I decided not to confront him about the rumours he had caused.
• I was just going to ignore them but Amanda put it upon herself to be the stupid one.
• “Couldn’t you have found something less ugly and dull to wear?” she queried and I mentally rolled my eyes.
• “I understand that you are a mere employee here but that doesn't mean you should dress like you receive no paycheck at all,” she continued.
• Her words erased any doubts that I might have been harbouring about her lack of intelligence.
• It was clear that she was indeed dumb and judging by the embarrassed look on her husband’s face, he knew it too.
• Anyone who had read that newspaper from last month with the annoying rumours about Blaine and me would have realized that I was my own boss.
• Chris, my manager, walked up to us at that moment and offered me a small bow.
• “Good afternoon, Ms. Demont.”