by Natavia
“Where is the owner?” a man yelled in a deep accent.
“You cannot just go back there! You need to have an appointment, and if you don’t lower your voice, I’ll call security!” Janet said, reaching for her phone. The stranger snatched the phone away from her and hung it up. I fought the urge to shift as I smelled the animal scent coming from the stranger.
“What do you want?” I asked. His eyes turned to cat eyes then turned back to his human eyes. He knew I was an animal, too.
“My wife worked here and nobody can seem to find her. All I want to know is if she showed up for work,” he said.
“Koja?” I replied.
“Yeah, that’s me, now where is she?” he asked.
“Step into my office,” I replied.
“Are you sure, Mr. Saber?” Janet asked, grabbing for the phone.
“I’m certain, he’s straight. I finally get to meet the man I have been wanting to meet for a long time,” I replied and he snarled at me.
Koja followed me into my office. I closed the door and the blinds. His nose flared when I walked past him to my desk. I sat down and crossed my arms. He was an inch shorter than me and the least bit intimidating although he tried sizing me up. In human years, he seemed to be in his early-to-mid thirties.
“What did you do to my wives? First, Sy’noba goes missing and now my second wife is missing. Did you help Sy’noba take my wife? I can smell the animal in you,” he gritted.
“Let’s be honest, bruh. Sy’noba ain’t shit to you, and far as your second wife, I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is my place of business, you see the fucking name on the wall: Saber Enterprises! So what makes you think you can come up in my building asking me about a wife I know nothing about?” I asked.
“Sy’noba’s behavior didn’t change until she was scheduled to clean this building. I don’t want a war with you, all I want is answers because I got a feeling you know where she’s at,” Koja replied.
“She’s home where she belongs,” I said. He stood up and banged on my desk, splitting it in half.
“Where is Sy’noba? I know she has Toyi and I want them both home by tonight. If they don’t return to me, my pride will come to your territory and hunt you down,” he threatened and I stood up.
“Sy’noba isn’t your wife and she never will be! She belongs to me, and let me clear the air for you, she ain’t mating with your old ass, neither. In a few months, my cub will be gracing this Earth, and guess what, bruh? I’m gonna be the daddy. Now, as far as your other wife, you might want to file a missing cat report ‘cause I ain’t got shit to do with that. Get the fuck outta my office before you see some shit you ain’t ready for,” I snarled.
“Did you touch her?” he seethed.
“We did more than touching if you know what I mean. I can still taste her on the tip of my tongue,” I chuckled. Koja’s eyes glowed and his teeth expanded into sharp canines. I yawned so he could get a glimpse of my sharper and bigger teeth. It was something males did to size one another up. Once he saw I was the dominant one, he backed away.
“This isn’t over,” he threatened.
“I’ll be here. I’m gonna tell my secretary to let you come straight back next time,” I replied. He snatched the door open and stormed out of my office. Janet waited until he got on the elevator before she ran to me.
“Where is Sy’noba? Aren’t you dating her? You’re sleeping with someone’s wife? That is not a good look for this company. Your grandfather and father busted their asses for this and look what you’re doing. A man just came into your office and threatened you. I could’ve gotten killed! I don’t know what your father was thinking by letting some young thug run his billion-dollar company. I can’t take this anymore. I will be putting in my two weeks today,” she replied.
“No need for that. I’ll pay you for the month if you leave now. I’m not my father. Unlike him, I wouldn’t feel right shoving my dick down my secretary’s throat or running late to meetings because I’m fucking her on my desk. Now that’s some unprofessional shit that can put the company in jeopardy. Wait, aren’t you married, though?” I asked.
“You are the devil!” she screamed.
“Goodbye, Janet. I’ll send you some flowers as an appreciation gift for everything you have done for Saber Enterprises,” I replied.
“You’re gonna regret this, Eze Saber. This company needs me,” she seethed before she stormed out of my office.
Great! Now I don’t have a secretary, I thought.
I went into my pocket and pulled out my cellphone to call Lynx. She knew a lot about the business. I wanted her to fill the position after school for a few hours until I found someone else. Quanir thought Toyi would be good for the job but Koja was already suspecting I knew her whereabouts. Things had to die down before I let Toyi into the building. Lynx’s phone was off so I left a message for when she got out of class. While I was in deep thought, the phone that was on my desk rang. I picked it up off the floor and answered.
“Eze Saber,” I answered.
“Good morning, mon. I’m just calling to see if you read over the contract yet. We are just waiting on you,” Gwan said. I picked the contract up off the floor and read through it.
“I’ll fax it over in twenty minutes. Quanir said everything was good but I have to make sure before I sign,” I replied.
“No problem, I’ll be on the lookout for it,” he said before he hung up.
I faxed the contract to the company’s attorney and waited for an hour until he called me back to tell me everything was legit. After I signed, I faxed a copy to Gwan and Russel.
By the time I left the office, it was almost midnight. Janet was honest about one thing, the company needed her. Too exhausted to drive to the other side of town, I went to my cabin to crash. When I pulled up, Lynx’s truck was parked in the front along with a few other vehicles. Beer bottles were around the cabin and loud music was playing. I left the cabin to Lynx until she finished college but the property still belonged to my family. My blood boiled when I spotted humans swimming naked in the lake.
“WHOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!” a white boy yelled as he jumped out the tree into the lake.
“Oh, hell no!” I yelled out.
I punched the code in and the door opened. A big cloud of smoke blew into my face. Two drunk black girls were dancing topless on my couch while humans tossed money at them. I looked around my home and it was fucked up. I unplugged the stereo system and everyone stared at me.
“Come on, man! You’re ruining the party,” a drunk Asian teen said to me.
“Everyone out!” I yelled.
“This is Lynx’s house,” someone called out.
“THIS MY HOUSE, NOW GET THE FUCK OUT!” I roared. My animal wanted to slaughter every human present. While the party was clearing out, I ran upstairs to my bedroom and opened the door. Lynx was fucking a human—well, I thought he was human until I saw his eyes change and sharp black nails clawing at her skin.
“The fuck!” I yelled out.
Lynx
S ince Eze was nowhere to be found and hadn’t returned my calls, I decided to throw house parties for two nights in a row. The party started right after I left school and didn’t end until we had to go to school the next day. Half of us couldn’t make it to class, so we slept around the house. The last few days with Ryson were adventurous. We partied and had sex—a lot. He couldn’t get enough of me. Me and Ryson were in the middle of an orgasm when Eze barged into the room. He stood in the doorway grilling us and growling.
“What is this nigga doing on my bed, Lynx? You couldn’t fuck him in your bedroom? You got this muthafucka’s scent all on my shit!” Eze roared.
“You do what you want to do, so can I!” I spat.
“So being a slut is something you want to do?” Eze asked.
“Aye, man, you ain’t gotta talk to her like that!” Ryson said.
“I kick out thousands of dollars on her a month! I can talk to her however the fuck I w
ant to. This is my house and you should know better than to step on the territory of another male,” Eze replied.
“Who is he?” Ryson asked.
“Yeah, Lynx, go on ahead and tell him who I am, ‘cause we both know you’ll tell Sy’noba something different,” Eze replied.
“He’s my mate,” I said. Ryson snatched his clothes off the floor and hurriedly got dressed before he stormed out of the bedroom.
“I was hoping you told him the truth but I see you’re really sticking to this mate stuff. What happened to being pregnant, Lynx? Are you even pregnant?” Eze asked.
“Don’t bullshit me! You know I’m carrying your cub,” I replied.
“But you fuck another male. You succeeded in pissing me off, Lynx. You finally got underneath my skin,” he said. Eze walked out of the bedroom and went back downstairs.
“Where are you going? Get back here so we can talk about this. That’s all you have to say? You don’t want to attack him for being inside of me?” I cried.
“When I said you got underneath my skin, I wasn’t talking about you fucking another male. I was referring to the condition of my house and the scent of him on my shit! You brought humans to this house and they destroyed it! There are holes in the walls and the windows in the living room are busted out. You destroyed something valuable to me just to make me jealous? Now I can’t stand your ass. I want you to take a pregnancy test by the end of tomorrow. Oh, and you will work for Saber Enterprises for free! You better be at my building as soon as you get out of school,” he said.
“And if I don’t?” I replied.
“Take care of yourself because this house can’t fix itself unless you know how to do maintenance,” he replied.
“This is insane! You’re denying my pregnancy because I slept with another male? It only happened once,” I said. I was guilty of lying but I couldn’t ruin what we had over Ryson.
“I’m leaving. You’re giving me bad vibes,” Eze said and left out of the house. I ran behind him and grabbed at his shirt, ripping it with my nails.
“You did this to me! You pushed me to someone else! You’re supposed to be my mate!” I screamed and scratched at his back. Eze turned around to face me.
“Sy’noba is my soulmate, Lynx. Our spirits were together in the past life. I might not know what I’m saying but I belong to her. Even if she and I don’t work out in this life, my spirit will keep trying to find a way to her,” he said.
“I don’t believe it, you’ll tell me anything. If that was true, she would’ve been found you. You would’ve been knowing about her,” I replied.
“The moment I saw her, it awakened that lost feeling. I didn’t have to know of her. My spirit knew who she was when we crossed paths. Just like magnets in close proximity, we connected the moment she walked into my building. It may seem all of a sudden but I love her. I’m going to make her my wife so our spirits can gain peace. If I knew all of what I know now, I would’ve never made love to you. That male I caught you with cares about you, I saw it in his eyes. Don’t lose a good thing by chasing something that keeps running from you. Even if we did mate, my spirit wouldn’t have allowed me to love you the way you want,” he said. Feeling defeated, I finally gave up. I knew what he was saying was true because Eze was never in a relationship nor had he been with a woman more than once. The whole time I’ve known him, he never talked about a female outside of sex.
“I believe you,” I said and he wiped my eyes.
“I’ll see you at the office tomorrow,” he replied. “The estate is far from here. You can crash on the couch,” I said.
“Naw, I’d rather drive home half-asleep before I sleep on that couch,” he replied.
“Goodnight,” I said.
Eze got into his car and drove away. I waited until his car disappeared down the road before I went in the house.
“ARGGHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed in frustration when I closed the door. The house was indeed a mess. At first, I wanted to hurt Eze because I felt betrayed but after seeing the bigger picture, I was hurting myself. He told me multiple times he didn’t want me in that way. I cleaned up as much as I could before I took a shower and went to bed.
************
“Party at your house again? It was awesome!” a girl named Jessica said to me in the parking lot on campus.
“No more parties,” I replied.
“Well, it was fun while it lasted,” she said and walked away. Mia called out to me when she got out of her car. All I wanted to do was go to my classes and leave. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, including her.
“I called your phone last night? How was the party?” she asked.
“It was cool until Eze came over and shut it down. He caught me and Ryson together,” I said and she covered her mouth.
“I thought you were done with Ryson after that one night. You went back again?” she asked.
“Yes, Mia, I have been fucking him for the past few days. I don’t want to hear anything from you,” I replied and walked off. Mia called after me but I ignored her.
Ryson and a few of his football friends were standing in the hallway joking around. He turned his back when he saw me. I wanted to apologize to him for lying about Eze. Despite the mind-blowing sex, he was easy to talk to and didn’t seem to mind my carefree spirit.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked and he ignored me. “RYSON!” I yelled and his friends walked away.
“What is it, Lynx?” he asked.
“I want to apologize to you for last night. I should’ve been honest with you,” I said.
“I get it, you used me to piss him off. You got what you wanted and I got what I wanted. Now, excuse me so I can get to class,” he said.
“What did you want from me?” I asked.
“Pussy,” he replied and walked away.
I rushed to the girl’s bathroom and slammed my backpack against the wall. Mia came into the bathroom and I wiped my eyes.
“I saw what happened,” she said.
“I’m always fucking up,” I cried. Mia hugged me and rubbed my back.
“I’ll talk to Damien later to see if he can get Ryson to listen to you,” she said. When I rubbed my face against Mia’s to show how I appreciated her, she backed away from me.
“Ummm, that was weird. My cat does the same thing,” she giggled.
“It’s a habit I have,” I laughed.
“Want to go to the mall later? I have my father’s credit card,” she sang.
“Eze is making me pay for what I did to his house, so I have to work for free at his office,” I said.
“That sounds fun. What if I come with you? He doesn’t have to pay me. It will look good on my resume after I graduate,” she said.
“Okay, I don’t see why he’ll fuss about it,” I replied.
Throughout the day, Ryson walked past me as if we had never been intimate. I saw him in the parking lot after my last class. He was whispering in a girl’s ear while rubbing on her buttocks. When he pulled away from her, she blushed. They exchanged cellphone numbers before she got into her car.
“So, you’re just trying to fuck everyone on campus?” I asked before he got into his car.
“Go home to your mate and leave me alone, Lynx,” he chuckled before speeding off.
What am I gonna do now? I thought.
***********
Eze was in his office talking to two guys when Mia and I got there.
“WOW! This place is huge. You can see the entire city from the windows,” she said, looking around. Eze excused himself when he saw us standing by the desk.
“What’s going on, Lynx? You can’t bring your college life inside my place of business,” he said.
“She’s going to help me and you don’t have to pay her. Four hands are better than two. All she wants is to use you as a future reference,” I replied.
“Aight, cool, but I want to see some work getting done. Janet’s date log is on her desk. She reported everything she did for this company throughout
her shift. I’m in a meeting with a construction agency, so if you need anything I’d appreciate it if it could wait until I’m done,” he said before walking back into his office.
“He’s soooooo damn gorgeous,” Mia drooled and I rolled my eyes.
“Please don’t remind me,” I said.
“Well, let’s get to work. Oh my gosh, I soooo can’t believe I’m inside of this building,” Mia said.