[Rock]Carmen was beautiful all the time, but even more when she was laughing. She finished wiping down her desk and threw away the paper towel she was using. When she sat at her desk, she calmed almost immediately. Somehow, hardworking Carmen was almost as ѕexy as shy, blushing Carmen. I enjoyed making her act like a wanton woman in the office. It was like breaking through the façade of cool confidence. I needed more of that. Perhaps when we weren’t as busy and there was more downtime in the office. After I closed up the blinds, I went back to my desk and sat down. Gemma came in a few moments later followed by a woman who was a few inches shorter than Carmen, so around five foot five inches, the tall end for a dark elf female. She was wearing a glamour that made her look like a fairly average human. Her dark hair was tied back, and she was wearing a suit that looked more as if it was made for a man than for a woman. I nodded in approval she looked like she should work in an office. “Viola, this is Rock Beaumont, the owner of the company. Rock, this is Viola Darkreach,” Gemma said. I stood and held my hand out to her. Viola strode across the room and shook my hand firmly. I liked that. She wasn’t shy. “Ms. Darkreach, welcome to my company. I look forward to working with you.” “And I look forward to working with you, Mr. Beaumont. Please call me Viola,” she replied. “And you can call me Rock, if you like. You already met Carmen, but I want you to officially meet the rest of the office staff. Gemma, would you get Forrest?” “Sure thing,” Gemma told me and turned back to the lobby. “I’m assuming you would like to do this meeting without glamour.” “Yes, I want you to know what we all look like. Plus, I need to confirm that you’re willing to work with other species. My company is made up of more than a couple of werewolves, trolls, and dark elves. My crew has many species of fae and shapeshifters,” I informed her. “I have no issue with that. I haven’t seen your security guy’s natural form, but if he’s faking being about seven feet tall, then he’s probably huge.” Viola laughed. “And if he’s that attractive in his glamour then I’m also sure he’s probably terrifying.” “You’re not wrong. Forrest comes from the Montblanc family of trolls,” I told her. “The Montblancs? I know of their prowess in battle. Since he’s not living in the fae realm, I’ll assume he’s not a warrior.” “No, that would be his sister. She retired some time ago to start a family with her true mate. Delta Montblanc.” She smiled and nodded. “I met her back when I was a warrior. She was impressive. A lot of women in my unit looked up to her, especially the trolls.” “Are we seriously talking about my sister?” Forrest groaned when he walked in the office. “Your sister is an incredible warrior. You should be proud to call her your family,” Viola told him. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Delta’s amazing and all that stuff.” He shrugged. He actually loved his sister and the way people looked up to her, but sometimes Forrest didn’t like being compared to her. I wanted Viola to respect him. He might have basically been a trust fund baby, but his father was a second child in the family. Traditionally, they were the warriors. He taught all of us how to fight and Forrest had been in the battle back in May. It was Forrest’s idea to go fight. He thought helping the wolves and vampires with the hunters was important for the health of the region. We couldn’t move forward if we didn’t help each other. My mother asked me not to join the fight, even though I wanted to. She was worried about losing me the way she lost her mate. If I were a full troll, she wouldn’t have worried about the hunters’ weapons, but she didn’t want to risk me. Once the door was closed, we removed our glamour. Gemma moved closer to Carmen. It was her instinct to protect Carmen from potential threats. To a werewolf, two trolls would be a threat. I wasn’t offended. It actually made me happy. Without her glamour, Viola was four inches shorter with dark, blood-red hair. Her eyes were deep set and an eerie pale green. She had a large nose and sharp, defined cheekbones. It gave her face an attractive sharpness. Dark elves didn’t have tusks and though many females had facial hair, Viola didn’t. Even though she was a warrior, she didn’t have thick or heavy muscles. Her shoulders were actually pretty narrow. She still wore a suit, but it hung on her differently than it did in her glamour. “You’re actually a little hot,” Forrest said. “And you’re actually a whole-ass fuсking mountain. Dear goddess!” “In the fae realm, each race is loyal to their own species. The fae are one race in the human realm. In this office, the shifters are honorary fae. Though the reason I looked for an earthen fae was because of a warlock, we need to be careful of humans who hunt supernaturals. “It was never a concern before because we were rarely at the office and humans know very little about hunting fae. With Carmen being at the office all day during the week, we need to watch out for them. If they find out Carmen is a werewolf, they might try to kill her,” I said. “Humans are easier to kill than other fae. I’m sure I can protect her,” Viola replied. I’d already told the guys why we were getting a security guard. They all agreed that it was important to keep Carmen safe while we were out on sites. We couldn’t protect her when we were away from the office.“The fae in this company protect each other and the shifters. The shifters do the same. Even if we aren’t at work, we look out for each other. Do you understand?” I asked. “I do and I will protect this office as if it were my home.” “Then you are welcome here as a member of our community,” I told her. Viola bowed to me. “I appreciate you taking me on.” “Are you all done with whatever this is, or is the rest of this thing going to be done in your natural forms, because my wolf is nervous,” Gemma said. We put our glamour back on, and Forrest left to go guard the front again. Carmen had a folder in her hands. I didn’t know when she’d picked it up because I was looking for anything to indicate if Viola was being untruthful at all. I sat down to work some more while Gemma and Carmen went over the paperwork with Viola. She was attentive and filled out the paperwork as she was told to. With luck, this would be a suitable arrangement. I was already feeling better about Carmen being here without me if Viola was around. The phone rang, and I answered it. I didn’t want Forrest distracted by anything while he was watching over the office, so I told him to let the phones ring. Since Carmen and Gemma were busy, I was more than happy to pick up the phone. “Beaumont Construction and Renovation, this is Rock. How can I help you?” I asked. “You have all of those beautiful women in the office and don’t make a single one pick up the phone? It seems like a waste, unless you only have them there so you can watch them work. I could definitely see that being a good reason.” “Rhett…. What do you want?” “I wanted Gemma to answer the phone so I could tease her a little.” He sighed. “I suppose you’ll do. You told me I couldn’t talk to either of you without an appointment, so I am calling to set one up.” “I can answer your questions,” I growled. “Oh, it doesn’t work like that, my good troll. I need to see and speak with Carmen. I will not accept any arrangement that keeps her from me,” Rhett replied with a smirk in his voice. “What, exactly, is your obsession with my mate?”The line was silent. I tapped my finger impatiently. I could tell that Carmen was listening to what was going on. Gemma was pretending not to while helping Viola. “Well?” I asked. “I was waiting for you to give me a time when I can come in and talk. You give me what I want and I give you what you want. I want to see your mate. What time may I come down there and see her?” He wasn’t going to budge on it. I only barely kept my anger in check. I didn’t like the warlock before, but I was growing to actually hate him. Opening my scheduler, I looked for an open time. He wasn’t going to do what I wanted or answer my question until I did. If I hung up on him, I wouldn’t be honoring our agreement. I couldn’t break an agreement, no matter how much I was growing to dislike the person I made the agreement with. “Tomorrow at ten in the morning. I have an hour free and can set aside my work. Carmen can set hers aside as well,” I told him. Carmen nodded slightly. She understood that there was nothing I could do. We needed to honor the agreement. “Splendid. I have the whole day free. And as for your question…. You are the reason for part of my obsession with her, and she is, and all the little things that don’t make sense on their own but start to make sense in the intricate larger puzzle that is coming together. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Rhett replied and hung up. I looked at the receiver in my hand and managed to put it back in the cradle without smashing the whole thing to pieces. Carmen got up from her desk and came over. She put her hand on mine and I released the phone I was still hanging on to. I looked at her little hand. That warlock certainly knew how to piss me off. I was betting he was like that with a lot of people. I didn’t know a single person who would have patience with him. “Tomorrow?” Carmen asked. “It will get him out of our hair for a while if we give him what he wants as soon as possible. I don’t want to spend even more time wondering where he’ll appear next. I think it’s better this way,” I explained. “I think it’s a good idea. This way Viola can see what he looks like and will be better able to keep an eye out for him. And he’ll be deterred by her and Forrest working here. His magic can’t touch them, right? Everything will be all right,” Carmen replied in a soothing voice. I turned to her and pulled her into my arms. Carmen was right. This was a perfect way to introduce one of the top threats to my mate’s protector. Forrest already knew what Rhett looked like. Maybe Viola would know more about him or about warlocks…. I didn’t know. The rest of the day at work was uneventful. Viola would be at work the next day to start her first shift. Carmen and Gemma seemed excited. I reviewed their proposal for going paperless, but I wouldn’t tell them until later that I was approving it. Letting them worry for a while seemed like fun. Once we were back home, Carmen changed into something more comfortable and went to practice her magic while I cooked dinner. I was proud of her for doing her work before relaxing for the day. I knew how tempting it was to kick back after a long day at work. Part of me worried about what a visit from the warlock would mean for Carmen. Last time it shut her down, but I was sure it was because he showed up in a place where she was supposed to be safe. He invaded our home. After dinner, Carmen and I went for a little walk in the neighborhood. She said she wasn’t tired from working her magic and she wanted to get some exercise. I couldn’t say no to her. As we walked, she leaned against me and talked about all sorts of things. She talked about movies, music, and books she liked. She told me about adventures she’d had as a child. I loved learning more about her. When we were on the return trip home, two trolls came up and blocked our path. They were younger, not my generation, but about twenty years younger. I stopped and pulled Carmen behind me a little. “So this is the wolf girl,” one of them said, staring at Carmen. “We were heading home. If you have questions, make them quick,” I replied. They looked at me derisively and focused on Carmen. Both of them were taller than I was and I could tell they had more muscle. I didn’t like this situation. I could protect Carmen against almost anything except other trolls. “Sure. Now that you’re stuck with a troll, how is your pride feeling, wolf? You were too good for him before, and now the goddess trapped you with him. Are you pissed at her? Have you learned your lesson after you got properly fuсked?” the other asked. “As my mate, she is a member of the fae community. Treating her like this goes against our role as protectors of the community,” I reminded them. “She teased you and backed out like a coward. We shouldn’t protect someone who would fuсk with the heart of a fae, even if they are a half-human fae.” “I didn’t back out. I went home with Rock and spent the night with him. The story you know is untrue, but you have to understand. It was an untruth created by the mate bond,” Carmen said, and stepped around me.I turned to look at her. Part of me didn’t want her to out my friends and me for lying, but I didn’t see any other way to fix this. My brother hadn’t figured a way out of it for Forrest, Elbio, and me either. “Explain, because it sounds like you’re saying there are liars in the community,” the first one growled. “The goddess created the situation, so any lies that came from it were her will. I’m a werewolf, so I have been able to find my mate since I was eighteen, but Rock couldn’t find his until he was fifty. In my pack, it is against the law to tell your mate they are your mate if they are underage. “I assumed that meant under the age to find their mate. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have kept it a secret from Rock, but you understand how important it is to follow the rules.” The men nodded. “I wanted to go home with him. And I did, I didn’t back out. But I didn’t tell him I was his mate.“As you can imagine, Rock worried that other trolls would try to force me to be with them the way I was with him. I’m just a little werewolf, no match for a half-troll, let alone a full one. Our bond was the reason he made his friends promise to say I backed out. No one with a mate has questioned me, so I’m guessing you two are too young to have your mates.”They nodded again. I didn’t know how Carmen was keeping them from calling bullѕhit, but they seemed to be engrossed in her explanation. “There’s a feeling you get when the bond starts. It’s a protective urge that is stronger than anything you’ve felt before. Your heart hurts when you think of your mate being hurt. It feels like someone is trying to rip your heart out of your chest. He asked his friends to promise with such pure earnestness that they couldn’t refuse. “None of them are truly liars. All of them are honoring the goddess in their hearts. Instead of telling the truth and risking my health, they did what they felt was right. It may have hurt them to lie to their peers, but it was how their goddess guided them and they’ll be rewarded by her for their assistance,” Carmen told them. Both men stared at her as they processed what she was saying. She made it seem like the goddess had called Forrest and Elbio to lie. She made the mate bond sound a lot more powerful than I felt it really was. They seemed stunned. Both of them looked from her to me and back to her. I moved her closer to me.“You’re trying to tell me that the goddess encouraged them to tell a lie to anyone who asked?” the first one asked. “I am. They didn’t go out telling the story to anyone who would listen, only the people who asked. That’s how you can tell it was the goddess’ will. They only told the simple story that I backed down, no other lie,” Carmen replied. “That… makes sense to me, weirdly. I can see where she’s coming from. If the goddess gave the weakest troll a mate who was even weaker than him, she would have created a way to protect that mate. No one would doubt Forrest and Elbio. They didn’t elaborate, they only said she backed out,” the second one said. “You really fuсked her before she came to your party?” the first one asked.“All night,” I told him. They nodded and turned away. Neither one said anything else, they just left. Carmen leaned against me heavily. I picked her up, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know how else we could get out of that situation,” Carmen murmured. “People were going to find out somehow. At least the way you painted it made it seem like it was a lie with the consent of the goddess.”I headed toward the house and Carmen snuggled against me. Standing up to two trolls could be frightening. She had to fight every instinct she had to run. It wasn’t like the incident with the guys at work. They weren’t actually upset, but these guys were. With luck, this would blow over, but I had to call Elbio and Forrest to tell them what happened. I didn’t want them to be caught by surprise.