Ember
” I have no clue what you mean, sir. She seemed to have an attitude though”, I told Carter, but he could see through me easily. My body had seemed to have betrayed me.
” There you go with that sir again”, he said to me with a brow raised. I looked at him and smiled. I was not sure where the word was even coming from.
” Does it bother you? You are my boss after all. Wouldn’t I have to call you sir?”, I asked, trying to play it off.
” Only at work. Out of work, you can just call me Carter. I like how it sounds out of your mouth, anyway. ” He said, and I blushed, looking down.
” Everyone else just calls you Mr. Moonstone or boss, yet you allow me to call you Carter”, I asked him. It was more of a question, but it came out as a statement. He didn’t respond to it and changed the topic.
” So, what made you decide to move to Miami?”he asked me. Before I could respond, our wine was being brought to us by a different waitress named Pearl. I was confused.
” Where is Emma?’, I asked her. She looked at Carter, looking almost afraid to answer my question. I looked at Carter as well. Why was she looking at him?
” Emma has been called away on a family emergency. I will be handling your meal from here on out, if that is, okay?’, she asked me, with a smile. I nodded to her. She seemed much more friendly, and I enjoyed her spirit. We ordered our food. I got the famous signature dish, “Beef Wellington”. Carter ordered the “Crisp Salmon” dish. After she left, Carter was focused on one. I realized he was waiting for my response.
” I needed a fresh start, honestly. I wanted to move somewhere closer to the water, anyway. ” I told him. It wasn’t a lie. I had always loved going to the beach in Tallahassee.
” Miami is the place to do that,” he said. ” So, when did you meet Lamonte?”he asked me. That question caught me off guard as memories of Lamonte committing suicide in front of me had taken over. I had many bad dreams about everything.
” It was when I was cooking for the family, I told you about. He was a guard over a member of the family. When I told him I was coming here, he gave me a flier to Moonlight, and told me to say his name during the interview. ” I told him. I didn’t want to lie, so I would keep coming as close to the truth as I could. He nodded.
” When did you hear he died?’ He asked me. I closed my eyes, trying to push away the tears that were trying to form in my eyes. I looked down, blinking rapidly, forcing them back.
” A member of the family told me”, I said to him. My tears were definitely about to fall now. I looked up at him and his face looked concerned. He realized he had gone too far.
” Excuse me”, I said, standing up. I found the bathroom and went inside. I had only worn mascara and eyeliner. It was running down my face. As I cleaned my face up, I could hear the women in the stalls gossiping.
” Did you hear Alpha fired her?”, one of the women said to the other.
” Yes. Emma was a bitch anyway. Always sticking her nose where it didn’t belong”, another woman said from another stall.
” I heard it was because of the new woman he is with. I wonder who she is? Alpha Carter never goes out in public with a random woman”, one of them said. Alpha Carter?
” I wonder if it is mate. Do you think him, and Seth have the same mate?”
” It would make sense. They basically share the same moon. I am just gonna be happy to have Luna now. They are always so uptight.”
” I agree”, the other said. I heard the toilet flushing and I nearly ran out of there. I had already cleaned my face up anyway. Alpha. Mate. Luna. Those were words from werewolf fantasy novels. Werewolves didn’t exist though. Mind as well say the Easter bunny is real. I laughed to myself. Those women are strange. I straightened myself back up and walked back to Carter. He was on his phone texting. Our food had already been brought out. He hadn’t touched his plate.
“You didn’t touch your food?’, I asked.
” Why would I when you were not here? Plus, I was worried about you”, he said, looking at me. I was touched.
” I am okay. Lamonte and I were almost like family. It is a touchy subject,” I told him. He nodded.
” I am sorry to burden you with such questions. He was also from my family, and we didn’t have much to go on”, he said, and I nodded before lifting my glass.
” To Seal”, I toasted.
” To Seal”, he clinked with me, and we sipped our wines before digging into our plates.
“So, tell me about Moonlight. Why did you and Seth decide to name it Moonlight?”, I asked him. He smiled.
” It’s a play of our last names. Something we wanted to do after our grandfathers merged our packs together… I mean… our businesses”, he changed his statement when I raised an eyebrow. Did he just say packs? He went back to his food.
” Have you and Seth always been in business together?”, I asked, and he nodded.
” Seth and I have been doing everything together since we were born. We’re best friends, yes, but in a way, we are twins as well. Born on the same day, an hour, up to the last second. Born on a very special day that our families celebrate. We knew we would be opening our own business one day. I manage Moonlight and a few other of our businesses, like construction projects, or other cafes in the area that we own.” he said, looking at me.
” Does Seth not manage Moonlight as well?’ I asked.
” Seth loves Moonlight, and is a wonderful chef, but his passion lies in managing our family money and other family operations. We are the head of our family business, and he prefers to tackle the business while I work on Moonlight.
” Head of the family. Like Alphas?’ I asked, commenting on the word I heard from the bathroom. Carter almost spit out his wine but caught himself.
” What do you know about Alphas?’, he asked me. His smile was gone and I could tell he was serious.
” You mean like alpha men? Men in charge, type of man?’ I questioned. His question threw me off.
” Yea, what else would I mean?” he asked me, smiling.
” I don’t know. If I knew any better, I would think you were asking me about Alpha werewolves.” I said as a joke. He was quiet, and studied me, before laughing.
” Do you believe in werewolves?”, he asked me. It was then my turn to laugh.
” Are you asking me if I think it’s possible for men to shapeshift into wolves? Then absolutely not.” I told him, taking another bite of my meal.
” Why do you find it so hard to believe they could exist?’ he asked me. I could tell he was amused by this whole conversation.
” It has never been proven. The human body can only experience so much pain until it completely gives out. Imagine the bones of that man breaking over and over until it structures into the form of a wolf. He would surely die in the process,” I told him. He was silent, sipping his wine, and processing what I said.
” Let’s say, hypothetically, I was a werewolf. What would you do then?”, he asked me. That glint was back in his eye. I was amazed how this subject seemed to interest him so much.
” Would the big bad Carter wolf try to eat me?’ I asked playfully. That was a dangerous question because it triggered an even more dangerous response. His eyes almost seemed to get darker, and his voice was deeper as he replied.
” Only, if you beg nicely, Ember”, he said in reply, and I was feeling my wet slick between my legs, threatening to trickle out. The atmosphere was thick as he inhaled. Luckily, Pearl came back to check on us. I let go of the breath I hadn’t even realized I had been holding. Carter’s cell phone rang. He looked at it and excused himself. When he came back, he looked annoyed.
” We have to go. Family emergency.”, he said to me. He paid the tab and we left. The car ride back was quiet. I wanted to ask what was happening, but it was not my place. Still, I was worried. He drove fast and this time I didn’t correct him. When he got back to my apartment, he was somehow out of his car and on my side in seconds, opening my side. I chalked it up to me being lost in my own mind.
” Lunch was great.: I told him. A small smile played on his mouth, but I could see his worry lines.
” Go inside and stay inside. A dangerous man has been reported stalking the doors of young women”, Carter said. I wonder if that is what his call was about? I shouldn’t be surprised. Miami was no better than any other state. Predators were everywhere.
” I will”, I promised him. I reached out my hand to shake his and he accepted it. But in reality, I wanted to hug him, and tell him everything was going to be okay. I forced myself to pull away and smile.
” I will see you Tomorrow. “, I told him. He nodded.
” Until tomorrow, Little Red”, he said to me, winking, before getting back into his car. I realized as I walked in that his comment was made about our conversation in the restaurant from the fairytale, Red Riding Hood. I was certain I had heard that nickname before, and I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me, but the dream I had later that night was quick to remind me.