The Hybrid Mate

Chapter Seven

Tia's POV

As I worked on steadying my nerves, I also started to make the drinks. I blended the cream to make the Irish coffees and give it time to settle. I poured the hot water over the teabag and added cream and sugar. I then whipped together the coffees and made my way to the bar to make the whiskeys. I lined everything up on a tray and took a deep breath. As I walked to the door ready to knock, I felt suffocated. What the fuck is wrong with me? I questioned.

"We in love, girl. That's our mate!" Deva chided.

"I am not in love. We don't know that man. Did you see how he looked at me? It was pure disgust. And he's fucking scary as hell!" I said.

"You worry too much. Your body is beautiful. We the shit, girl! Now let's go see our mate again." Deva teased.

After a couple of shaky breaths, I put on a smile and knocked to announce my entrance. I walked in to serve their drinks and as I unloaded the tray, they all held their hands for respected drinks as Alpha Artemis continued to talk. The tea belonged to the guy in the chair on the opposite side of the room, so I walked behind Alpha Artemis to serve him. The two coffees belonged to the guys that were sitting across from him so I walked back around. I served the two and the alpha all in one go. Now the last drink was to go to Alpha Onyx. He was seated directly across from Alpha Artemis. I glanced up and he was already looking at me. I gave a small smile and shuffled around to his right side to place the drink on the table. Instead, he reached for it and grabbed my hand. My heart stopped as a million volts of electricity entered my body. My breath hitched and I inhaled a small gasp. His eyes never left mine and his hand lingered far too long. I released the glass into his hand and snatched my hand away, cupping it like I had been burned. I stood with my mouth slightly open as I stared into the green abyss that is his eyes. He just looked at me with a blank face. I was lost in the sea of green until Alpha Artemis said my name. I snapped back to the real world and looked blankly at Alpha Artemis.

"I'm sorry. What did you say, Alpha?" I asked.

"I said thank you, Tia. I will require you to come back and take the notes of the meeting. Please grab your things and come sit." He said with a smile.

"Will do." I said. "Give me one sec."

I smiled and walked back into my office quickly and started grabbing my things. I grabbed my laptop and pen recorder and a small notebook with a pen. The recorder is my cheat sheet in case I don't take good notes. I save the files to my desktop computer for future reference if alpha needs more information than what I had in my notes. He loves that I do that. Like I said, he's meticulous and I'm an overachiever. I don't know what he's going to do after graduation next month. I will have already fulfilled my punishment from the high school incident. He's never been close to anyone other than his Luna, his Beta and his Gamma. I mean, he's kinda standoffish yet approachable. Most people are just too afraid to approach him. He's gotten a lot better since he's had my help the last few years so people have started to at least smile and say hello. So I figured he was just overworked and overwhelmed.

I made my way back into his office and found my regular seat in the corner. It's a little further away because I'm so accustomed to him having meetings at his desk, not the seating area. He noticed my distance and asked me to come closer and have a seat on the couch next to Alpha Onyx. I paused for a moment and my eyes widened. I declined the offer but he insisted. I slowly made my way over and sat as far away as I could. After I opened my laptop and placed my recorder on the table the meeting started.

I could barely concentrate. I was engulfed in his fragrance and cologne. It was intoxicating. I was focusing really hard but kept noticing him staring at the side of my face. He wasn't just stealing glances, no, he was full on staring for like a whole minute. Then he would jerk his head away like he was trying to control his actions. I finally zoned him out and was intensely in my notes. Deva was purring in my mind. She was so content with being in his presence. I was able to focus because her purring  helped calm me down. He didn't talk much so I didn't keep getting distracted. All of his answers were short or a simple 'yes' or 'no.' A few nods and a few mm-hmms was all Alpha Artemis got.

Once the meeting was concluded, it was late. It was about 10:15. And I had already served three pots of coffee and a fifth of whiskey. They were all standing and shaking hands when I was asked to show them to their rooms. I'm an assistant! That's not my job. I thought to myself inwardly. On the outside I smiled and nodded and said good night to Alpha. I escorted the group to their rooms starting with Alpha Onyx. His guards followed and made sure everything was secure before leaving to follow me to their rooms.There was one guard on each side of his room and the other was across the hall from him. My room was on the East Wing so there was a bit of space between us and I wouldn't randomly bump into him. After everyone retired to their respective quarters, I made my way to my room and slumped into my desk chair. I was mentally exhausted. That's a lot for a Friday after school. I uploaded my notes from my laptop and sent the recording to Alpha's email. I'll do all of the other formalities tomorrow. I dragged myself to the bathroom to take a much needed shower.

I turned the hot water on full blast to relax my aching muscles. I stayed there for about 20 minutes and finally washed up. I wrapped myself in my fluffy pink robe with no slippers and stepped out to my room. Only the desk lamp was on so it was dimly lit. As my eyes scanned the room I saw a figure sitting on my bed. I jumped and gasped loudly. I was anchored to my spot by fear for a split second. I searched for an exit strategy but then the bedside lamp clicked on. It was Alpha Onyx.