Chapter 11: 10, The office
Rayvin happily continued eating. The food tasted amazing and she was hungry after the morning’s run. Mikael watched her eat.
“What?” she asked when he continued.
“Nothing, I just thought you had outgrown your sweet tooth and had gone all health nut,” he smiled, looking at her plate.
It largely was covered in pancakes, fruit and syrup. There was a small pile of scrambled eggs and a good amount of bacon. She shrugged.
“Why would I do that?” she asked.
“Yeah, it sounded wrong the moment I heard myself say it,” he laughed and swiped a strip of bacon off her plate and started eating it.
“Hey! Next time there will be a fork in your hand, alpha boy,” she warned him.
He just laughed and kissed her.
After they were finished eating, they headed up to Mikael’s office with Ben and Diana. Mikael led Rayvin over to the couch and sat next to her with his arm around her shoulders.
“So, what did you find?” he asked Ben and Diana.
“Everything looked okay. I have sent pictures to your email,” Diana started.
Mikael took out his tablet and opened the photos. He placed it so that Rayvin could look as well.
The pictures showed a relatively clean and tidy one-bedroom apartment. From what Rayvin could see, there were no signs of a struggle or break-in.
“Nothing to suggest that he didn’t leave voluntarily,” Ben nodded.
“But it looked like he was planning on returning relatively soon,” Diana added.
“Like what?” Rayvin asked before she could stop herself.
“There was some meat left out on the counter. My guess is that it was left out to thaw. The washer was full of clothes that reeked of mildew. They have probably been laying inside it for a week, still damp,” Diana told her. Rayvin nodded.
“Can you give me some information about who this person is?” she asked.
“Thomas Swiftmind, 23 years old, born in the pack, manager for one of our gyms in one of the neighbouring towns. From what I understand, he was good at his job, and the clients loved him. Somewhat of a ladies’ man, liked to party with both shifters and humans. A good wolf in general, even if he was a little wild,” Mikael told her.
“Yeah, I remember him. He was a couple of grades below me, sweet kid,” Rayvin nodded. She felt herself being pulled closer to Mikael.
“What?” she asked, looking up.
“I told you he’s a ladies’ man and you tell me you think he is sweet?” Mikael asked.
“When he was a kid,” Rayvin told him. “He’s missing. Do you think he will magically appear and try to hit on me?” she then laughed.
“You never know,” he huffed and kissed her on her head. Diana was giggling, and Ben had a grin from ear to ear.
“Well, if he did, then the problem would be solved,” Rayvin pointed out, making both Ben and Diana laugh. Mikael just kissed her shoulder, making a shiver go down Rayvin’s spine.
“Mine,” he whispered in her ear so low that their two friends wouldn’t hear.
“Sure,” she nodded and kissed him lightly on the lips. He seemed happier after that, and Rayvin turned her focus to Thomas again.
“Who reported him missing?” she asked.
“One of his instructors, when he didn’t show up on Monday to open the gym, they got worried. We checked in to it and found out he left pack land around noon on Saturday and that’s the last we know,” Ben told her.
“No one missed him for almost two days?” she asked.
“He was a bit of a party animal. It wasn’t unusual that he would be gone for the weekend. But it was unusual for him to not show up for work. He loved his work,” Diana said.
“We checked with the IT department. They hacked his email and social media accounts. No unusual activity, except for the fact that there has been no activity in the period he has been missing,” Ben sighed.
“And his phone?” Rayvin asked.
“He has it with him as far as we know, but it goes straight to voicemail,” Diana answered.
“Any ideas, Ray?” Mikael asked. she thought about it for a moment.
“I would start by trying to track his phone. If your IT department need help with that let me know, I have a wolf that works miracles whit that. I would also try to find out if he has had any relationships with mated wolves. Or humans that are married. And is so, it the significant other of those could pose a threat,” she said.
“I have already started looking into his social life, but I will get the IT department on the phone at once,” Diana nodded.
They talked some more before Ben and Diana left to do their work.
“I was thinking I could spend the morning here and then head out after lunch to see what I can find out about Frank Editon,” Rayvin said to Mikael.
“I don’t like you going after him on your own,” Mikael objected.
“Max, he is a human. If I can’t handle him on my own, I should be ashamed of myself,” Rayvin smiled.
“What if he isn’t alone?” Mikael asked.
“You mean if he is in league with magical creatures?” she frowned.
“No, I have met him. He doesn’t know about us. But even a large group of humans can be dangerous to us,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, I promise that if he is surrounded by a football team of rough-looking humans, I will come back and tell you,” she nodded and kissed his cheek.
“I’m serious, Ray,” Mikael said.
“I know you are, honey. But you promised you wouldn’t get in the way of this,” she reminded him.
“I can come with you,” he offered.
“That is sweet of you, but have you seen you? You are a 6.5 feet hunk of gorgeousness that oozes power, even to humans. You are as subtle as a Harley amongst bicycles,” she told him.
He smirked.
“You think I’m a hunk of gorgeousness?” he asked.
“Glad you have recovered from your whiny self,” Rayvin laughed.
“No, no. I’m not letting this one go. Answer the question, sweetie,” he smiled and scooted closer on the couch.
“Of course I do, Max,” she shook her head.
Mikael chuckled happily and grabbed her around her nape and drew her into a kiss. The kiss was pure fire from the start and the longer it lasted, the more the flames spread through Rayvin’s body. She took a hold of the lapel of his suit jacket with both her hands and drew him in closer.
Mikael let out a sexy growl that sent all the right emotions through Rayvin’s body as she felt its vibrations. Mikael moved his lips from hers and started placing hungry kisses along her jawline and down her neck.
Rayvin let out a soft moan as her hands travelled up. She desperately wanted to yank out the hairband that held Mikael’s hair back, so she could run her fingers through it. But she settled for wrapping her arms around his neck.
With an almost painful groan, Mikael stopped mauling her neck and leaned his forehead against her shoulder.
“Give me two minutes,” he panted.
“I’m sorry,” Rayvin said.
“No, sweetie. Don’t apologise,” he told her.
“I just feel like I’m leading you on,” she said. Rayvin felt like the worst mate ever.
“Ray, I won’t lie and say that I’m not turned on by you. But it’s not because you are leading me on, sweetie. You could sit on the other side of the room in a burlap sack and I would still have the urge to do things to make you scream my name,” he told her.
“Max,” she said, gently rubbing his neck.
“It’s okay, I just need a minute or two,” he said. She could hear his smile.
“You know, you are not really a grey mouse yourself,” Mikael told her a couple of minutes later as he sat up and cupped her face with his hand.
“Huh?” Rayvin said, confused.
“You told me I didn’t blend in amongst the humans,” he reminded her.
“Oh, that,” she giggled.
“Yeah, that. And you know, you are almost as tall as me. And you are beautiful. I can’t see you walk unnoticed on the streets,” he said.
“Thank you,” she smiled. “I think this is a good segway to my dragon things,” she then told him.
“This I have been looking forward to,” he said, looking like a kid in a candy store.
“But first, we need to do something, “ he told her, got up from the couch and stretched out his hand to her.
“Okay, where are we going?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” he said as he walked her out of his office and walked to the left in the hallway outside. He stopped at the door next to his office door.
“Your office,” he told her, and opened the door. Rayvin walked inside.
The air in the office was a little stale and dusty. It was clear it hadn’t been used in some time. The walls were decorated in antique pink and the textiles were creme with roses printed on them. There was lace, and the wood desk was a graceful thing that almost looked delicate.
Rayvin hated every inch. It wasn’t just the memories she had of the room and its former occupant. It was the fact that the room’s obvious femininity felt like a mockery of the type of luna she would never become.
“We need to redecorate it, obviously,” Mikael said, scrunching his nose like the room had a foul smell.
“Until we make this place liveable, you can work from my office or your office in the house,” he told her.
“I have an office in the house?” she asked.
“Yeah. I didn’t mention it yesterday, as I didn’t know if you were up for it. I didn’t want to scare you away,” he said, pulling her into his arms. Rayvin felt herself relax as his scent surrounded her.
“You really don’t like this room,” he smiled.
“I really don’t,” she admitted.
“I’ll ask them to strip it so you can start with a blank slate,” he offered.
“Thank you, Max. And if it comes out a little less feminine?” she asked.
“If you want to paint it in camo and orange, go ahead. It’s your office. Do what you like with it,” he chuckled.
“I love you, Max,” she said.
She felt Mikael tense up. The words had just left her mouth without her realising it. It was true; she loved him. He put his hand under her chin to tilt her head to make her look at him.
“I love you too, Ray. With all my heart,” he told her and leaned in for a kiss. The kiss wasn’t made of pure fire. It held the deeps of his feelings for her and she gave hers back to him.
“Do you like the room better now?” he asked as they pulled a part.
“Yes,” she smiled. “But not so much that I would like to have our talk in here,” she then added.
“My office or our house?” he laughed as he took her hand to lead her out of the room.
“Your office will do. We don’t need to go all the way back home,” she told him.
“Home?” he smiled as they made their way back to his office. Rayvin felt herself blush.
“What can I say, Max? This pack land, the house you built, it feels like home,” she told him. She was going to be honest with him, she decided. Why try to hide things?
“I built that house with you in mind,” Mikael confessed as they walked over to the couch again and sat down.
“You did?” she asked.
“Why do you think there are almost more fireplaces than rooms? I knew how much you liked fireplaces. And the colour scheme reminds me of you. That wasn’t intentionally at first, it just sort of happened,” he smiled.
Rayvin felt her heart swell. He was an incredible man; she thought.
“Thank you for thinking of me,” she said. He shrugged, but seemed pleased that she liked the idea.
“So your dragon powers,” he said.
“Yes, my dragon powers,” she nodded.