Night with The Twin Rivers

Ch. 3

They went inside and the thought of everything suddenly made her stomach churn. Maybe she did wrong by challenging them like that. For bringing in business with their personal lives? They shouldn’t mix business with pleasure. That wasn’t something she liked to do. However, she couldn’t take it back now. It certainly would make things more interesting and she would need to up her game a bit. She had the advantage of already having information on the client they were competing for. Cloud had been their client previously, but they had gained momentum and decided to try going out on their own. It clearly didn’t work out and they wanted to come back. Having this competition between the two businesses would work in Cloud’s favor for sure. She was sure they wouldn’t mind as long as everything stayed professional. 

Inside her office she sat down at her desk and let everything process through her mind. Jeromy smiled at her. “Would you me like to start drawing up a contract?”

She looked at him and then shook her head, “no. I will personally draw up the contract. If you could please gather more information for me?” She smirked, “you are the best at intel.”

He laughed a bit and smiled, “very well. Your wish is my command Alpha. I will have everything you need ready immediately.” He turned and left. 

Jena leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Her body was suddenly tired as everything started to take its toll. Two days of little sleep and her wolf causing a commotion, made her more tired than usual. Forcing herself to move she sent a message to her secretary informing her that she would be taking the rest of the afternoon off. Closing up for the day Jena picked up her keys and headed towards her car. She would go home and get some sleep. 

As she headed downstairs to the lobby, she heard someone talking at the reception desk. 

“I’m sorry sir. Madam has gone for the evening. I will gladly take a message for you and have her call you back when she is in.” The young woman and the desk stated. 

“Very well.” The man said clearly defeated. “Could you just inform her that Shawn stopped by to see her?”

“Your last name, sir?” The woman asked. 

Jena let out an annoyed sigh and kicked herself for even moving forward. She was very tired and wanted to sleep. Stepping forward into the lobby she looked between the two of them. “No need to leave a last name. I am right here.” She said to them both, and her eyes stopped at Shawn. “What can I help you with?” She signaled for him to follow her and they headed out of the building. 

Shawn followed behind her, “I just wanted a chance to talk.”

“Is this little chat with or without your brother’s permission?” She asked with some annoyance. Although, she regretted saying it at all. He didn’t deserve her sudden poor attitude. He didn’t do anything wrong. 

He sighed, “if he knew I was here right now he would be a bit upset.” Shawn admitted. 

Jena continued walking to her car as he followed behind her. They got inside and she waited for him to get in with her. He sat down in the passenger's seat and looked at her curiously. “You would let me in the car with you?” 

She put her elbow up on the door and leaned her head into her hands a bit. She couldn’t look at him. She was off in thought looking out the window trying to determine what she was going to do. “Should I be concerned about you doing anything?” She finally asked. 

He quietly shook his head and then said no, realizing that she couldn’t see him as she was looking away. “We are mates. I couldn’t hurt you even if I wanted to.” He said. 

Jena sighed and nodded, “I understand. I am sorry for snapping at you.”

“You seem tired.” He said to her concerned. 

She smirked and gave him a small nod putting her hand down and leaning her head back against the headrest. “I have been up for two nights preparing for our meeting.” What the hell was she saying to him? 

He nodded, understanding. “Steven was the same.”

Jena couldn’t believe Steven being nervous about anything. “And you?” She asked him looking in his direction. 

He gave her a small smile, “I try not to let things bother me. Things happen for a reason and I just go with the flow.”

She chuckled a bit and looked forward again. “I can see that. You didn’t seem too phased by what was happening in there.”

“I was surprised that you were our mate. It kept me pretty occupied the whole time.” He stated. 

There was a bit of silence between them as she wasn’t sure what to say. “So, what are you doing here?”

“I told you. I just wanted to talk.” He said sadly. 

“About what?” She asked him. 

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t get that far. All I could think about was meeting you again. I didn’t plan on anything else. I figured everything would just happen as it was supposed to.” He looked away from her. “I realize now that was pretty stupid. You probably think I am a hot mess.”

She could hear the strain in his voice. No doubt, that’s what Steven probably thinks of him. “I don’t think anything right now. I don’t know either of you all that well. It’s brave of you to come see me after what I did during the meeting.”

He chuckled, “you were certainly something standing up to Steven like that. I am the only one who has ever managed to talk to him that way and get away with it and that’s because he has to deal with me.” He paused a moment, “you certainly caught him off guard. He wasn’t expecting you to be so bold and confident.”

Her heart fluttered a bit at those words. Hearing her mate…potential mate say something so nice to her was nice. “Thank you.” She managed to croak out. 

Shawn looked her over, “why don’t I drive? Let me take you home at least. You are clearly tired.”

She looked at him skeptically. 

“I am not going to do anything to hurt you.” He said to her with a sigh. 

Jena thought about it for a moment, and then decided it was probably for the best. She opened her door and got out and walked around the car. He got out and held the door open for her and then shut it gently after she got inside. Shawn slid into the driver's seat and turned the key so the car was now on. He looked at her curiously. 

She looked at the dash and pushed the speaker button. Her car asked what she would like to do. “Directions to home.” She stated. The car screen lit up with the map directions to take her home. 

He nodded and started pulling out. Jena gently rested her head against the window and relaxed a bit. She couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing. She just met this man a few hours ago and here she was alone with him and even allowing him to know where she lived. 

“Mate.” Her wolf reminded her. 

“I know. But still. We just met. It’s a bit strange to be letting him take us home like this.” She said to herself. 

As they drove down the street, they stopped at a light. She couldn’t stop herself from asking, as she was tired and her filter was failing her. “How can I be sure you aren’t here simply to gain information on me to give to your brother? A plot to keep me off guard while you make the first move?” 

Shawn continued to drive, “you don’t, I guess.” He said with a shrug. 

She could tell by his tone that her question bothered him a little and he was a bit hurt. It was clear that wasn’t his intention. How did she know him so well already? “Why are you two so different?” She finally asked him. 

“Our family isn’t exactly kind or caring. Our father was abusive, and neglected our mother. A neighboring clan took advantage of that and killed her when we were younger. We became a bit guarded from that, Steven more so. He doesn’t want anything like that to happen again. He believes that everything should be controlled. The more control you have the less chances there are to have mistakes. The less mistakes there are the less deaths. He doesn’t want anything to happen to our people. He has been working hard to build our clan back up from the brink of collapse.” He said to her sadly. 

“I am sure it’s been rough.” She said quietly. Understanding their pain. 

“What about you?” He asked. 

“The previous Alpha was aggressive, sexist, and ignorant. He did a lot of damage to this clan by his negligence. I gathered my strength and took him out of the picture. I took over the clan and rebuilt this place to make it better…stronger. I won't let anyone take that away from us.” Her voice was giving out as sleep was overcoming her. Being so near him wasn’t helping either. It was like his presence was relaxing her and she wasn’t aware of arriving home.