"We'll keep in touch," Jenny says, as though reading her mind. "You have our numbers, right?"
She nods.
Jenny smiles brightly at her and she can't help but relax a little. Jenny's very pretty and very nice. April hopes she can find a better job.
She knows she's not going to be leaving anytime soon though. As bad as things are and as hectic as her working hours get, it's kind of perfect. Apart from Omi, everyone else leaves her alone and it's impossible to get in trouble as long as she keeps her head down, which she is adamant on doing.
Of course, it is only hours after she thinks this that everything falls apart.
She's just finished another long day at work and is making her way up the stairs to the exit when she smashes into a wall that wasn't there the day before.
There are raised voices from somewhere behind them that she can't hear through the sudden ringing in her ears. She blinks up at the wall and frowns. Walls don't have arms that would shoot out and catch her arms in a strong grip to keep her from falling. And walls certainly doesn't have designer suits with shirts so crisp that she could've cut herself on their edges. And walls definitely don't smell like sandalwood and pine with a hint of burning alcohol and something else that makes all the nerve endings in her body come alive.
She peers up and up. The man is ridiculously taller. Her breath hitches when she meets the golden eyes of a man she had looked up to since she was a little girl.
Mateo Kenzo is the reason why her species aren't hunted down like animals now. His identity as a Shifter had been kept hidden up until ten years ago, when he climbed up the social ladder and found a position of power so intimidating in the country that they had no choice but to bend to his will when he demanded that shifters be treated as equals.
Overnight, things had changed. Families with half shifters like her, shifters incapable of hiding their animal characteristics are so used to hiding that they don't immediately return to society. Most of them are still in hiding even now. Or that's what her brother likes to tell her. She knows most of them are dead.
Her brother and her are the only two Werecats left in this part of town. Jack tried to reach out to others like them before. All they got were creepy responses from people who seem way too interested in them. Werewolves are much more prevalent because they are more of them to begin with and they're stronger, brute force able to free themselves before getting caught or killed. Cat shifters are not so lucky. They are rarer to begin with and when the culling happened, their numbers dropped drastically.
April has to fight the instinct to rub herself against the solid chest of the man still holding her up. Thankfully, she remembers purring and rubbing up to someone isn't proper human behavior and she scrambles free with a jolt. Molten golden eyes sweeps over her frame in blatant appraisal.
She expects him to glance away once he's done, as most people do because she's mastered the art of being unattractive and unassuming. Yet, she can't help but flush from the piercing evaluation, feeling the heat packed behind the gaze as they fixed on her own eyes with astonishing intensity.
"There you are," he rumbles instead of turning away.
It's really unfair how sexy his voice is. It trembles down her spine, vibrating through her bones, making everything in her body sing and respond in like. She's severely lacking in social interaction, but she's fairly certain that the man is just oozing sex. She quickly looks down. "Hi," she mumbles and tries to put as much distance between them as she can.
His grip on her arm is unrelenting and she only manages to take a small step away before he's yanking her back, pulling her to his chest so he can wrap another arm around her shoulders, trapping her to him. Her face is pressed against his suit and she stops breathing, afraid of ruining it if she breathes too hard or something.
She had been lucky so far. No one knows that she's a shifter. They probably suspect, but they don't know for sure. But Mateo- Mateo is a shifter too, one who is older with much more experience than her. Would he be able to tell? Would he report her and have her chipped and tracked to make sure she doesn't step a toe out of line? Would he figure out she's a Cat Shifter and report her to the Facility that specializes in 'taking care' of rare shifters? They tried to take her away from Jack a few times before and the only reason why they've stopped is because she moved into her new apartment without letting anyone know and the landlady never made her sign a proper lease.
"Sir!" she hears from behind them. "What're you doing here, Mr. CEO?" Mike calls out his title too loudly, no doubt as a warning for the guys who're still playing their games to stop and at least pretend to be busy at work. If the people on the morning shift are notorious for not working during work hours, then the night shift men might as well have been hired to play games all night long.
Mateo doesn't let her go as he lets his gaze drift to the man. The change in his expression makes her mouth go dry. He looks at Mike like he's worth less than the dirt on his shoe.
Mike takes a step up towards him, only be to stopped by a giant of a man who's suddenly materialized in front of them. "Please keep your distance," he warns.
Mike swallows. "Why- why are you here, sir?"
Mateo fixes him with a look that makes him look away with fear. "You've been misusing company funds, Mike," the man in front of them says. "Mr. Kenzo has looked the other way for a long time out of respect for your late father and your mother, but it's clear that you do not have the same respect for them. Please have your resignation letter sent in by tomorrow."
April's brows creases. It's unexpected for the CEO to come down here personally to deal with something like this. She wonders who Mike's father is but the longer she stands there, the more it becomes clear to her that Mike isn't the reason the CEO had decided to come down here.
"Mr. Kenzo! Please!" Mike pushes the man hard enough to make him stumble out of the way and then he's heading straight for Mateo.
The CEO doesn't take to being lunged at well because one second he's gripping April and keeping her in place, and the next he has Mike tackles to the ground, hand on his throat and upper lip pulled back in a low snarl. "Pack up and leave. I've let you waste enough time and resources in my company. I'm being very generous, Mike. Don't make me regret it."
She doesn't wait to find out if Mike decides to be an idiot and argue more because she uses the moment of confusion and uproar to escape, running up the stairs two steps at a time and disappearing through the door to get away.
Chapter Three: Family
Maybe if she prays hard enough, Mateo would forget all about their encounter. Maybe he hasn't realized what she is yet. She has never met another Shifter except for her brother before, so she doesn't know if she smells any different. Sometimes, she gets a whiff of something familiar when she's walking around in town but it's not like she's following shifters home and figuring out if their scents give them away.
Her phone starts ringing at exactly six pm and she picks up the video call with a
bright smile.