Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20




JEFFREY WASN'T keen on swearing. He isn't the type to result in mouth expletives every time he's high-strung and unbearably testy. At most, he would sulk for the whole day or think within circles. 'Really, even if my dad curses from time to time, I did not inherit his love for it.'

He realized he only learned to appreciate cussing since the day he came to meet Cedric Mallory.

But in this certain morning, he woke up gasping a series of fuck-fuck-fuck in his mind.

His chest hurt. A lot. It was like a huge stone dropped on his body. He couldn't breath properly. And there came a brief thought in his mind, 'I feel like I'm dying.'

"Mom..."

Was this the mating pull? How come it hurts this much?

A sigh went past his ears. Jeffrey struggled to open his eyes but he couldn't. He found it hard and impossible to do.

"Mom, help me."

The scent of his mother's perfume comforted Jeffrey a little. He finally constructed a sentence without stuttering. "Mom, I feel like I'm dying..."

"It's fine, my love." She sat on his bed and held his forehead. "I just hope your supposed to be fated mate is experiencing worse than you. The Fates should not deprive me with this wish. Pairing you with that ungrateful hybrid is a great deal of wronging you."






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RIA SMILED, hoping to let her omega wolf do the trick and appease the silent Cedric on the side. He appeared reading the report in his hand, but it has been thirty minutes and he's still concentrating on the same page.

This is the third day that this unprecedented mood happened. She hoped to comfort him. She didn't expect him to react violently on her scent. He snapped his head in her direction. "Can you cut that out? It's disgusting!"

'Disgusting?' Ria's expression broke. She can't get over the fact that the alpha in front of her just commented that her scent is horrible.

She's prized for her sweet omega scent. How can he casually throw those words and expect her to keep quiet?

After carefully thinking about his words, Ria became indignant. "Excuse me? I smell disgusting? Wasn't it you who found my scent delicious that you're always panting after me, begging for me to have sex with you?"

"But did we really?" Cedric's grin wasn't friendly. "I 'pant' after you so that my office will have an empty vase everyone can look at. I only gave you a few sniffs and licks, you regard that as sex? For a woman who works in a pleasure house, you are laughably ignorant."

Ria's mouth slack open. She didn't want to understand Cedric's words. He can be mean whenever he's frustrated.

But what he said was real.

He never really have sex with her. Not ever since he hired her to work in the office. They often make out but after a series of hot kisses, Cedric will push her outside of his office with an unreadable expression.

Gone was the mad dog Ria known him for.

Ria has always been regarded as an empty ornament. She doesn't despise this impression. In fact, her omega wolf made her observant and empathic towards her costumers and the people around her. She can feel their jealousy, hate, lust and longing.

She had always used this skill as an advantage in her part. To make people lower their guard around her while she observe them.

"Did you... did you meet your fated mate?" Ria wondered.

The report in Cedric's hand flew. It almost came in contact with her face. She duck in instinct but the papers missed her and went to the side. Still, the implication was there.

She would not work in this place after this.

Never.

"Fated mate?" Cedric didn't look remorseful but there was a flash of embarrassment in his eyes. "I have you around me. Would my wolf be okay if I actually have someone on my back?"

"Then what's this?" Ria scoff. "You hired me to do work— and my work does not involve enduring your cranky attitude everyday! If you have some unresolved problems, let me out of it! You already had that Jeffrey walk out of this office, I won't hesitate and be the second one after this day!"

"Why are you calling him 'Jeffrey'?" Cedric's lips thinned. "You're not close to him. You don't know him. What right do you have to call him by that name?"

Ria stood with uncertainty. His reaction towards Jeffrey... She held her mouth in shock. "Is Jefferson Adenhart your fated mate?"

The red glint of his irises confirmed her guess. But his mouth continued to lie, "No! He's not my mate! He ran away from me—" Cedric smiled grimly. "It doesn't matter. It's fine actually. Good. He know how to behave himself."

"What?" Ria muttered.

"He walk away. Simply stared at me before going away. Like he found me unpleasant! It's okay. It's okay. His grey eyes does not affect me. His smile only irates me every time I see it. Hah. How can we be fated mates?"

Ria witnessed it with her own eyes. Cedric Mallory is sick. The man was sick to his head.

The simple explanation for this deranged behavior is that— he's obsessed with Jeffrey.

They're not fated mates. If it was the case, how can Cedric endure the tug of disgust in his body every time he touches Ria?

It's unheard of. She figured it can't be possible.

'So he's whipped.' Ria can't wrap her head around it but she blinked hard. "Jefferson... he's the second most important person in the coven. How can you think of yourself worthy of having him? Cedric, have you no shame?"

Even if she showed contempt in the little guy, secretly she's scared of his power. Jefferson doesn't know it now but his influence in the coven is huge.

Maximillian Adenhart is indeed young but he is mateless. After the disaster that had happened to him before, Ria is certain that the exalted won't bother picking a bond mate anywhere from now. Jefferson's spot as the heir is unshakable unless Max have a mate and have a child of his own.

No one befriends the kid without having their backgrounds thoroughly checked. He doesn't know it himself, but Jefferson has a few shadow guards following him everywhere.

"What are you talking about?" Cedric gritted his teeth. The gloom in his face is now gone. As if he realized something. "Hand your resignation letter now. Your job here is done. I'll compensate you for the trouble but don't show your face in this office ever again."

Ria smiled wanly. Even if he did not warn her, she won't step inside this office again. The people working outside must have heard of Cedric's outburst.

She prided herself as the best charmer of the pleasure house where she works. The job itself may not be morally correct for the masses but it's honest. For the shifter kind, they're not a laughable matter but a necessity.

They provide comfort for people who had lost their mate, to relieve their rut, or simply companionship. Especially for wolves like Cedric. A lone wolf needs warmth. They're tactile creatures.

'A man like Cedric has no business to the royals. He had no right. Even if he dreams about it.'

Ria has no qualms about the Adenhart. They ensure the safety of every shifter species inside their territory. They never make fuss about the wolves and the pleasure house in the city. In fact, most of their costumers are vampire themselves.

It's just that... she hates being lost to a man. To Jefferson Duvas per se. He might have the wrong parts for it but his status alone can make up for everything.

He's an Adenhart. His looks won't lose to any gender. She knew how Janette, Jefferson's mother, looked like. Ria even dreamt of having her status in the family!

She walked out of Cedric's quarter with her mouth tightly pressed into a thin line. Ria manage to let her head chin up high, but the trembling of her shoulders is humiliating.

'Cedric, I wish you hell.'