Mixed Blood

"The world has become cruel." Nicole thought to herself as she watched from the seventh floor of her office window. "Humans, always misbehaving." On the streets, she watched as the unappreciative lot conduct themselves. Some unmannered kids broke off two to three water pipes by the street just for the fun of it, as they looked excited and happy with themselves, jumping about in celebration. Towards the end of the street, just beside the coffee shop, she could see some adults finish their drinks and dump the empty cans on the floor when they could just put them inside the trash can that was placed right beside their legs. Then they were the vendors who were shooing a beggar boy away and the corrupt policemen who were just causing trouble and tormenting innocent passersby just outside the mall. The displays she was seeing down there was beginning get to get to her and she began to feel like she needed to do something about these humans fast or they were going to destroy the town her forefathers built. Her family didn't spend centuries building this city for humans to bring it down. At the end of the day, the Upper river part of Uptown was more or less becoming a dump and the people didn't care but that was about to change soon. She was back and it was time to teach the whole of Uptown that whatever or whoever didn't serve a purpose to humanity or nature was not meant to exist. So it was either them or the city, their choice. This great city her ancestors built a long time ago out of nothing was nothing more than bricks and woods occupied with selfish people. Why her father still ran this business was beneath her, humans didn't deserve the comfort of the houses they built. Or even the roads, the malls, and even the city itself. To her, they should live in bushes like animals since they lived and acted as such. "21st century my ass!" She snorted. "Is this a bad time? I could come back later." Belinda asked. Nicole turned to see Belinda with an envelope in her hand and was a bit anxious to read it. She took the envelope from her and sat down. A frown took residence on her face as she opened the envelope. From her frown, one could see that the thought of reading the content within was unpleasant to her. But the anxiety on Belinda's face as she waited to know what it said, coupled with the unsteady movement of her feet gave Nicole no choice but to read the invite she found inside the envelope. Belinda on the other hand was scared, the thought of losing her job was more on her mind than whatever the letter said. She didn't care about the invite, she cared about her job. This might just be the day she got the sack letter before her maternity leave. She knew she shouldn't have brought the letter, why she didn't listen to heart was beneath her. Now it was about to cause her a job. Nicole had specifically warned her against bringing up topics or avenues that brought up the name, April Lyon. She of all people should know the reason better, April didn't play fair in business. But the rivalry between their companies has been good for business that Belinda knew to be true. April on the other hand, Nicole couldn't stand. Nicole Looked up at Belinda. "When did this come in?" "This morning, I was skeptical about bringing it to you. I know it might not be important, What does it say? Am I fired?" "Not yet. I'm glad you brought it to me. I need to settle something with April. It's a birthday party and I intend to attend." She picked up her handbag, ready to go out. "Shift all meetings to tomorrow or next, I will meet up with Nelson Distributors now about the brick supply shortage then head home. And Belinda, Go home early." "Okay, see you tomorrow then, and enjoy the party, don't fight too much." "You know me, I plan to enjoy myself." Nicole walked towards the elevator door, accepting all the greetings from her staff. Well not originally her staff, they were her dad's staff but who was asking. Talking about her dad, the elevator door swung open and the most handsome man emerged from it. Michael Blair, Nicole's father, and a story for another day. Nicole stared at him surprised and unsure of how to feel. "Dad! I didn't know you were back?" "Back? What are you talking about? I was hoping I won't even find you in the office. I just want to sneak in and sneak out. I and your mother are heading to Puerto Rico. What is this I hear about you and Nato? I thought he was..." "Well, he is not. Why am I not surprised? Of course, mom told you. Dad, it's fine, I will find whoever that is soon." "You have to be fast about it Nicole, this is something that should have been done on your eighteenth birthday. I am saying this because it is for your good. Nicole." "Trust me, dad, I know. I'm back now, I will get to it immediately." He leaned towards her and kissed her forehead and walked away. "It won't be easy but the moon will come up again, you have a shot this time. Don't run away again." He walked towards his office which was beside hers. Nicole was still standing in the same spot and admiring him alongside the girls in the office who were, at the moment, drooling over him as he waved at them. "Yep. Still breaking hearts." With a smile on her face, she stepped into the elevator and punched the keys that will take her to the grand floor where Freddie her driver, and bodyguard had the car already opened for her at the entrance. Closing the car door after her, he went around and entered the driver's side, putting the car on the drive and disappearing with the traffic. *** Lina is in a royal blue dress, tight enough to lose five to ten pounds that she needed to gain and not lose instead. But that was unlikely to happen by the end of the boring party her mother threw for her and forced her to attend when she had other important things to do. Important things like hmm, give me a little time here, I am still thinking of what could be more important than one's twentieth birthday party and following your mother around as she sells you to every prominent person who came for the wine, personal gain, and not for the celebrant. And at the same time announcing to whoever cared to listen that you are the next heir to a company you want no part of or how about the fact that, your mother was trying to hook you up with every handsome rich man's son or marry you off to the next President or Governor's son just for the sake of business. Lina sighed and looked around, hoping not to be found by her mother. This is the first time she was alone since she got here. If she could find her father, she could be excused to go home but it looked like he was also hiding from his wife, she haven't seen him since they entered together. Still scanning the room, her eyes zoomed past a pair of eyes watching her. She returned almost immediately to those eyes and is surprised to see the most beautiful eyes in the whole wide world. She was sure of it but what she wasn't sure of was the fluttering excitement in her stomach. Swallowing hard, she broke the contact. She needed to get to the restroom but the dress made it hard for her to walk properly, so she almost rolled herself to the door. Breathing hard once she was inside and alone. Frustrated with her dress, she screamed loud enough to be heard just outside the door. The door opened and Nicole walked in. "Are you okay?" Lina almost crying. "What do you think? I can't breathe, and I look desperate." "I think you look beautiful. Let me see." Lina turned around and froze those eyes. "Your eyes. Wait a minute, you! You were looking at me." "Guilty. I liked what I saw and I'm seeing. I'm Nicole and you are?" "Not into women." Lina winces after she said that. "I am sure there is a name in between there, somewhere. Is it the 'not into' or is it 'women?' Which comes first?" "Sorry I meant, oh snap! My name is Lina. Lina Peters." Without a word, Nicole traced her hand beside Lina's legs in a slow-motion, Lina standing motionless and breathless. She made a tear on one side of Lina's dress and that breaks the silence. Then she moved her hands to the other side of the dress and made the same rip bringing both sides of the dress to an equal level just above her knee. "Better?" Nicole asked her. Lina walked to and fro, excited to be free, and without thinking, hugged Nicole. "I guess we are friends now?" Nicole said, laughing Lina moved away from her immediately. "Sorry, I don't know why I did that. Thank you." "It was nothing." "I have to go." Lina stepped back again. "Okay." Nicole was waiting for her to leave as she said she would but for some unforeseen reasons, Lina just couldn't move. There was just something about Nicole's eyes that kept her bound, like her soul was held captive but not against her will. She wanted to be there, stay with this strange girl. The restroom door opened and some drunk and happy ladies walked in, laughing loudly. Nicole took that as her cue to leave. Lina placed a hand on her chest, breathless. "That was intense.'' *** Nicole has always seen herself as a classy businesswoman and a dictator when the need arose, she did whatever she wanted. When it came to leadership, she was born as one, and when it came to having a strong will, she has been a tyrant all her life. It was part of the reason she had to leave home in the first place. She was stronger than all her whole pack put together but they didn't know that yet. To them, she was a weakling because her Luna refused to break loose. But her parents saw the evil in her and her need to put people in their place. For that reason, she had to grow up with her Oma, her mother's mother which wasn't bad. Although she has had different men and women in her bed mostly for feeding, she had never been able to find a mate. It looked like The moon gods and The Coven King hadn't been able to make someone stronger to be her alpha. At age twenty-five, no mate, but her father had trusted her enough to leave a company that has been in three generations in her care. By three generations she meant thousands of years. A mate was supposed to help her make better decisions in life so she was told but she hadn't gotten the time to find one. And for an heir like her, she needed to provide her pack with an alpha because it turned out, the moon god decided to make her a luna. A white wolf of all things which meant she needed her spirit guide, a soul or red wolf. "If only I was just the full alpha, I won't need a mate and I will be able to turn fully." Nicole thought to herself. At that moment, April Lyon was standing right in her front just across the hall, talking to the guest. April Lyon, the woman that was about to sink her company into the mud with her bickering and lies. Well, she wasn't about to stand back and watch her do that. To let her company sink to the ground by fake rumors that April has been selling to the public and anybody jobless enough to pay her any attention. A company, she has given up her life and time to come home and build. This company was hers as much as it was her father's and the fathers before him. Tonight was going to be the night she set the record straight, and there she was, shoulders held high like the party was about her. well it was, it would be unlikely for April Lyon to do anything that was not all about her. "Who is even the celebrant and why can't I just kill her? "Is that the only way you can solve your issues? Her wolf spoke to her. "It's faster and solves my April Lyon's problems for eternity. Wait how are you talking to me? I thought you were angry with me?" "I still am, but I can't waste my time with you, in seven years for the first time I feel alive today.'' "Does that mean I can turn?" "No. Till you bring my mate. Now, were you not about to talk to your best friend, April?" "She is not my friend!" April Lyon, forty-two years old, first heir to the Lyon dynasty and also light in complexion like the feathers hanging on the shoulders of the dress she was wearing. Granddaughter to Matthias Lyon a one-time minister, which she wears like a trophy around her lean neck, and daughter to the great businessman, Jordan Lyon. The only man who has measured up to her father's wealth. In all honesty, Nicole was impressed which is why she respected the man. The only human she respected Nicole observed April for some minutes with amusement written all over her face. The woman was just a clown. Nicole decided to make her way to where April was forcing a smile on her face for some guests and trying to be the host. From the corner of her eyes, April saw Nicole moving towards her and dismissing her guest, she turned to Nicole with a ready smile. "I'm glad you could make it." "You don't fool anybody, why don't you put this face into good use and retire to bed, your cheeks must hurt from trying to smile that hard." April laughed. "Kids these days, they never learn. Don't worry about my face, I know you have a lot on your plate to worry about. Daddy is not around, I hope the company will not fall?" "You don't get it to do you? My dad left a generation in my hands to run, you know why that is? it means I'm capable but you wouldn't know that now would you? Your father should be retiring but he can't because he doesn't trust you to run his company even as a director and not the president, that he gave to your cousin Charles. Such incompetence..." "How dare you?" She slaps Nicole just as Lina entered the hall. "Mom! What the hell?" "I came to tell you one thing and I needed you to hear it from me, consider this a warning, the last time you defame my company or my father's name, that will be the last time you will have a legacy to look at." Nicole stormed off leaving Lina looking at her mother with questions in her eyes. April helped herself to a seat that was behind her, as Lina walked away, rushing to catch up with Nicole *** Nicole was outside, waiting for Freddie to bring the car out in front. Footsteps approach behind her and she turned around. "Lina." "I'm sorry about my mother." "I never knew she was your mother, you two look nothing alike." "You never asked and I get that a lot, I look like my dad." "He must be a beautiful man." "He is. Who are you really and what was that all about?" "I am Nicole Blair. Your mother's best friend" Lina laughs. "I like the way she laughs." Her Luna said within her. "I liked you better when you were angry with me," Nicole replied within her. "Not true, you are too young to be my mother's best friend. Wait, you mean like the Blair Construction? Richest Blair's?" "I guess that's what they are calling us these days." "I have seen your mom and dad, even your brothers and sisters, but never you, why is that? You don't like people?" By brothers and sisters, she meant Nicole's cousins but she wasn't about to clarify that, let her have it her way. "Yes, I hate people. Just joking. I have been away, business school, Law in Harvard, and I travel a lot, I returned just five months ago and I have been learning how to run a company, so that's that." Well, she had not lied about the fact that she hated people but she couldn't tell the kid that. "I see. It's good to follow in your parent's footsteps." "How about you? It's your birthday and you just turned twenty. Yeah, I was invited to a birthday party that I got to meet the celebrant without even knowing it was her birthday. And I didn't bring a gift, sorry." "It's fine, my birthday parties are usually not about me. But you owe me a gift because now you know." "Smart kid!" Luna said, excited. "It's a deal. I owe you a gift and I plan to make it up to you." "Thanks. I just can't wait to go back to school and study a course I am not interested in. Anything to stay away from home is fine with me." "What do you want to do?" "To cook, culinary school. I love cooking." Freddie pulls up with the car and comes down to open the door. "Interesting, but it looks like you don't like eating too. But have you thought of doing both? At the end of the day, you can give your mom what she wants and do what you want to, business school isn't bad too, it can help you too. Just think about it, good night, Lina." "Good night Nicole." "Good night Lina!!" Luna said within. "Shut up!" Nicole said inside. Nicole got into the car and Freddie drove off. *** The End Thank you so much for reading. Follow for more updates on new chapters. Thank you.