You Are My Mate, Ever

1st Day At The Job

"I'll be back to escort you to lunch. While you're in the office, you must have an officer with you at all times. We apologize, but it's necessary. There are cameras in all of our buildings, and even outside. We had to take this measure, not only for our benefit but for yours as well. Working here will make you a target for our enemies. This measure will keep you safe."

"I knew there would be cameras. It was in the information booklet I had to read before taking this job, and I know I'm supposed to be searched every day." Aileen left the lift, and John walked up to her.

“I'll introduce you to the man you're going to work with.”

John opened the door for her and she walked into a large office full of filing cabinets, with two large desks and plenty of open space. A human male sat at a computer on one of the desks smiled at them, stood up, and walked over to them.

“Hello. I'm Richard. You must be Aileen Gordon.” He smiled at John. “How are you doing today, John?”

“I'm doing well, Richard. It's her.” John frowned and narrowed his eyes. “Remember what I told you. You don't want to have s*x with her.”

Her mouth dropped open. She turned her head to look at John with a surprised look, but he simply turned and walked out. Her new colleague was laughing.

“You got it all wrong. They dug up all my dirt themselves.” The man returned to his seat and grinned. Her mouth fell open.

"They told me why you left your last job. John meant that I shouldn't sexually harass you. The way they express themselves can sound nasty from time to time." Richard chuckled. "Like that time. I'm sorry, but it was still funny. You should have seen his face. I swear I'm not crazy. Are you okay with this place? It's your desk.”

She relaxed and sat down in her new seat. The chair was comfortable, and she put the lobe on the floor, continuing to watch her new colleague. Richard Vega was a smiling Hispanic man in his late thirties, with slightly graying dark hair and light brown eyes.

"Werewolves… well, anyway…" He chuckled. "You have to get used to them. They're nice wolves. I just hope you have a good sense of humor, because you need one here."

"That was really awkward." She smiled, and Richard laughed again.

"My last colleague left here because he moved to Arizona to help his daughter with her grandchildren. I didn't sexually pursue him if that's what you're wondering."

She laughed, appreciating the joke. "That's always good to hear. Is there anyone here who doesn't know why I left my last job?"

"Probably not. They're looking out for you, believe it or not. These werewolves want to make sure something like this never happens to you again. You're their employee, and they'll protect you. Throw away that book on standard business etiquette if you have one. You've entered a whole new world. It's wolves world.”

“I'm starting to notice.”

Richard's smile faded.

“My wife came down with a bad case of the flu last month and had to be hospitalized. We have two small children. Not only did the company send my wife flowers, but they invited my children to come here with me since I insisted on continuing to work.

They sent two of their women to play with my children all day and keep them happy. The views are amazing, and to top it off, when I picked my wife up from the hospital, the company brought us food for a week. And as they said, it was all to help out my family. And these are the people you'll be working for. I wanted you to know that.”

“Thanks for telling me. It's just amazing.”

“Yeah. That way, when they do say something, you know it wasn't on purpose.” Laugh more. That's what I do. Richard was smiling again.

“I understand.”

“Are you ready to learn your duties? I hope you have a good sense of humor because this job is going to come in handy. Otherwise, you might get a nice little fit of rage.”

“Why?” she didn't like the sound of that.

“We're the incoming department. All the hate mail, all the fan mail, it all goes straight to us. Our job is to read it all, sort it, and respond. And keep in mind that we're supposed to respond politely no matter what we're responding to.” Richard stood up and pointed at the filing cabinets. "See those file cabinets?"

She looked at the dozens of filing cabinets lining the walls.

“Yeah.”

“This is where all the hate mail, death threats, and terrifying s**t goes. I don’t know why we humans didn’t like werewolves' existence.”

“There's so much of it...” she shot Richard a horrified look.

“You haven't seen the second floor yet. This is the storage room. These cabinets were only put in five months ago.”

“Are they all filled with hate mail?” Her eyes widened in shock.

“And death threats. Yeah. Use your sense of humor if you have one. You'll need it. If anything comes in here that's particularly scary or just gives you the creeps, bring it to my attention immediately. We pass it on to the investigation department.

She looked around the large room and the several stocked closets, and her chest tightened at the amount of hate people were capable of.

The sad part is that the werewolves are just amazing, f*****g better than anyone I've ever seen in my entire life. And they have to deal with all that hate every day. The good part is that we also get a ton of fan mail.

“It's sweet and funny. You can pass it on to the investigation department if you think it's worthwhile. I like giving it to them, so they think some of us are decent people.”

“And that's all the mail from today?” She looked pointedly at the two bags of letters by the door, and Richard laughed at her expression.

“Don't even think about it. You take the one on the left, and I'll take the one on the right. And don't worry. All the mail is checked for poisons and bombs.”

Her heart rate quickened for a second. She had never thought of that before, and she swallowed hard.

“It's always good to know.”

“Welcome to work. Did I mention they feed you for free and have a fancy buffet?”

“That helps. Is it just us all day?”

“Just you and me.”

“Do you mind if I take my shoes off? I wore high heels to the interview, but I wasn't planning on working in them all day. They're tight on my feet, but they look great." She was a little shy.

Richard chuckled and suddenly lifted his foot to show her his feet, which were wearing socks and no shoes. She immediately kicked off her shoes and kicked them under the table.

"You don't have to dress like that all the time. The Weeds like it when we wear nice casual clothes. No sweaty, dirty shirts, but no need to get all dolled up."

"Thank you." She moved the table over to the left bag. Richard walked over and grabbed the top of the right one.

"It's much easier to just drag them over to your table." She grabbed her bag. It was bigger than a backpack. She pulled it toward the table by the cords. It was heavy.

"Are we going to get this done in one day?"

“Yeah.”

* * *

Beta Black sighed, ran his fingers through his hair, and frowned as he looked at the two men.

“Enough. You're already giving me a headache.”

The werewolves were glaring at each other. Their clothes were torn, and they were ready to grapple again. Beta stepped between them and finally turned his head to raise an eyebrow at the she-wolf.

“Keith? You wanted to explain why you invited two men into your bedroom at the same time to have s*x. You should know they're going to challenge each other.”

Keith bit her lip and put her hands on her hips, her expression defiant. "Would you believe me if I told you it was just a simple mistake?"

"Don't lie to me! This is unacceptable!" Beta's anger grew, and he growled. Keith had enough respect to lower her eyes, adopt a submissive stance, and feign remorse.

"I was bored. I let them fight, and the winner would warm my bed for the next few hours. It was exciting until you came to break it up." Keith glared at Beta. "You ruined all the fun."

A snarl came from both wolves, and their anger turned on the woman. Beta felt a strong urge to leave them to their own devices. Two angry men, deliberately pitted against each other, wanted a little revenge. It serves Keith right. Beta knew they wouldn't hurt her, these men were friends and both had good self-control unless it was someone who set them against each other. Beta made a quick decision.

"I'm going." He turned and walked determinedly into the hallway.