Alpha Varkon’s Human Antidote

15| A ROSE FOR ROSE

ZEPHYRA

I whistled in front of the mirror the next morning, still smiling hard about last night. I couldn’t wait to see Varkon at work today.

Usually, I’d dread seeing him. Back when I was so hung up on denying my feelings. I wasn’t getting into anything with him. A little fun wouldn’t hurt anyone.

I wondered what we were going to say to each other, how I was going to be able to keep eye contact. God, I liked him so much already. This was more than a simple crush.

It was like there was a strange pull between us. Like a bond or something.

I packed my hair extra specially, in a half up, half down style. I didn’t put much efforts into my clothing, I was going to change into a uniform much later anyways.

The door slammed open and Lily screamed,

“Zephie, I have news!”

The door slammed shut so loudly behind her, I had to rub my ears after. I whipped around to face her.

“Good morning to you too, Lily. How was your night with Fenris? Wanna talk about it?” I wiggled my brows at her. Her cheeks flushed red.

“Stop, this isn’t about me right now,”

“It’s not?” I chuckled.

“Yes. Really.”

“Lily, you have a rat’s nest on your head. You really came all the way here with your hair like that? Damn, he must have done a number on you.” I checked the rest of her body. She even wore his shirt and pants.

“Zephie, I swear you’re so funny, but this is really not about me.” She ruffled her hair with her hands. Then handed her phone to me.

I took it off her hands with knitted brows.

The picture that stared back at me had me dead cold.

“Recognize him?” She asked. I could only hear her so faintly. “That’s Alpha Varkon. He got engaged last night. Zeph, they say he’s to be married in less than a month from now.”

Varkon truly stared back at me with a cold smile on his face, with a woman attached to his front. She had her back to the camera, flaunting her ring finger with a wave.

I shook my head. No. He wasn’t…

I swiped to the next picture. Bile rose up to my throat. In this one, he had his lips on hers, locked in a passionate kiss. When I reached the next one, my grip loosened around the phone and it dropped to the ground with a thud. I knew that woman!

“Zeph!”

“Sorry, sorry!” I bent to pick up her phone, then proceeded to check for damages. When I was sure that everything was fine with it, I handed it back to her.

“What is it? Is this still about your little crush?” Her voice was suspicious.

“Are you sure that was last night? Could you check again?” I questioned, my voice trembling. She glanced back down at her phone, confusion prominent on her face.

“It’s… yes, it was last night.”

“Oh shit.”

“Zeph?”

“It’s nothing.” I moved away, feeling a bit guilty for wanting to keep this away from her. But how was I supposed to tell her that I’d been on a s****l call with someone’s man on the night they were getting engaged?

And worse, his fiance was the same woman that had been at the cafe, showering praises on me for leaving Cillian.

“I should delete his number.” I panicked.

“Damn. Just like that?”

“Yes. Exactly like that.” My tone was snappy as I picked my phone off the bedside table and started to go through the device for his number. I found it and my shaky thumb only hovered over the number for two seconds before I tapped delete.

I thought about skipping work today and coming up with a sick leave. But I knew that leave was going to backfire in a war with Mrs Owen. So I put on my big girl pants, grabbed my bag off the bag and left after pecking Lily on the cheek.

I got to work almost twenty minutes later, and when I put my things aside, I raised my head to quickly look through the crowd in search of him.

I hated the disappointment that simmered inside of me when I met his favorite booth area empty. Shaking my head, I turned away and excused myself to the back area. Ana held rose flowers in her hands, sniffing them with a giddy look on her face.

A smile finally settled in my face. “Oh my goodness, Ana! Those flowers are so beautiful!”

She jumped off her seat, her smile reaching her ears now. I grabbed her hand and jumped in a circle with her, soaking in her joy.

“Girl, I’m happy you love them!” She dropped my hands and held out the flowers to me. Confused, I still took the flowers off her hands and brought them to my nose. I groaned dramatically, placing the back of my hand on my forehead.

“These smell amazing.”

“Right?” She gushed, clapping her hands together. Sam showed up behind her. I perked up.

“Oh, hi Sam!” I grinned.

“Thank you for the privilege of holding them, Ana. Now, the big question. Who’s the lucky man?” I asked.

She held out the box to me too. “It’s your not-so-secret admirer.”

I stood still. “What?”

“Take!” She pushed the box further into my hands. I accepted it with mixed emotions.

“It’s… for me?”

Ana nodded eagerly. “Mmhm! He said not to mention his name, but said if we told you that he got a rose for his Rose, you’d understand.”

And I understood right that instant. My chest burned with rage, and I stared at the gifts without a word for almost a full minute.

Lifting my head back up with a forced smile, I asked Ana, “You like them?”

Ana’s smile dropped. “Huh?”

I pushed them into her hands without waiting for her reply. “There. They’re yours now. You’re welcome.”

“Zeph?” She called out in a high-pitched tone as I turned my back. “Zeph?!”

But I was already out the door. f**k him and his stupid roses! My name is Zephyra!