Chasing his Mate

Chapter One

Denali had wanted a new life and a new home. A place where she wasn't just the kid who had watched her parents die. She had finally settled and found a home in this remote place.

It was owned by a billionaire and was his winter home. He left his staff to care for it during the summer and they had an opening. It was a dream job. Room and board plus a decent pay and close enough she could continue her college degree at the local college.

The only downside was still being involved in the paranormal world. She had wanted nothing to do with it after their deaths. She would tolerate for a while now though. She had to if her dreams were going to come true.

Denali had settled in her new home easily. Rhetta, her boss, had become a good friend.

"Can I have everyone's attention." Rhetta said as Denali and her co-workers sat eating lunch.

" I have just received word that Mr. Kenald will be paying us an unexpected visit." She said and the room came alive with whispers.

"We need to get the house in perfect order before he arrives." Rhetta said as the whispers grew louder.

"I have added new tasks to everyone's work schedule. Please check it before you go home." She told them. How strange he was coming to his winter cabin in the middle of summer. Denali thought.

Denali had been assigned to cleaning the rooms upstairs, as well as the library. She immediately started after her lunch. She paid extra attention to the cleaning to make sure she didn't miss anything. She was halfway through the library when she heard a commotion from downstairs. She immediately went to peak over the railing and see.

A man stood in the middle of the living room below. He was nearly twice her side and all muscle. He had light black hair and blue eyes and something about him made her stare in wonder. Who was he?

"Rhetta. I want to know." His voice said, very tense.

"We have many new staff members. She has to be one of them." Rhetta answered and he relaxed some. But Rhetta's voice wasn't confident, she noted.

"You have met everyone else and felt nothing." She added.

Just as she finished her sentence, the man's head suddenly turned as he took a deep breath. He reminded her of a wolf tracking a scent.

When he turned her direction, she stepped back in fear. Doing so took her out of his line of sight and she immediately breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted to do was get caught ease dropping on her boss or customers depending on his identity.

Denali then turned and walked back to the library in thought. That man made her feel strange. Did she like him? It was a unfamiliar feeling, so she wasn't sure.

She never noticed men or had any interest in them. It had been easy before now. Ignore them and for the most part, they ignored you. She didn't want to be involved in them or love. Mom had trusted love and dad had shot her, then himself. He would have Denali to if she hadn't of listened to her mom and hid.

She was just leaving the library when she heard a giggle. Recognizing it as Xena's she immediately turned around and headed back the way she had come. She wasn't fast enough.

"Where are you going, street rat?" Xena immediately called as she moved in front of Denali and blocked her path.

Denali didn't give her the pleasure of answering her. She just ignored her and turned back around again to go back the way she had first started heading.

"I was talking to you." She said before Denali felt her grab her hair and something inside Denali snapped under the weight of her anger.

"What is going on here?" A deep voice immediately demanded, and she felt her hair released.

It was the man from before. She instantly recognized his voice, though she had only heard it once before.

"Nothing, sir." Xena immediately said, moving in front of Denali.

Xena had always been the type that felt entitled. Her father was one of the wealthiest wolves around. It didn't take long for Denali to realize her dad had arranged for her to work here in hope of building ties to their employer.

"That kind of behavior will not be tolerated." He said sternly and Xena put on an act. She lowered her head in exaggerated shame.

Denali had seen and heard enough. She turned and walked away as Xena moved closer to the man with suggestive intensions. He must be someone important.

Denali did her best to avoid their guest, as well as Xena for the rest of the day. She then retired to her room. The moment she entered, she knew someone had been there. She started to eye her room and soon realized her perfume was missing. Had she misplaced it and was over-reacting?

She shook her head and went to her bathroom to make more. She had the ingredients and it was an old family recipe. Making it made her think of mother and father before depression had changed him. He had been everything to her, then he had started to change.

Denali's alarm woke her the next day, she then immediately headed to class. She then returned home and found a note on the board, asking her to come to Rhetta's office when she got home. She changed into work clothes then headed straight there.

"Denali, this is Mr. Kenald." She gestured to the man from the day before. Her boss!?

"He arrived early and wanted to get to know the staff." She explained as he watched her and she looked down, nervously. She couldn't meet his eyes. She felt unworthy.

"Now, tell me about yourself." He said as he leaned back and Rhetta excused herself.

"Not much to tell." She immediately answered, not wanting to talk about herself.

"I doubt that. Everyone has their own story." He answered.

"With all due respect." She said, feeling brave.

"I came here for a new start and new life." She explained and his face softened in empathy.

"I don't want to discuss the past." She explained.

"Then who are you now?" He compromised.

"I am a college student studying to be a geneticist." She explained and he went quiet in thought.

"Many have tried to find the reason why she-wolves are born without their wolf half. But none have a solution." He said gently.

"I know, but we won't find a solution unless we keep trying." Denali answered and his face changed as he realized he couldn't refute her logic.

"It was my mothers work and she insisted she had found a solution before her death." Denali explained, wanting him to understand.

"Well, I hope she did. For the sake of all our kind." He answered and she went quiet in thought.

"May I be excused? I have duties to attend to." She asked and his smile turned to a frown.

"You may." He said.

As soon as she turned, it was almost as if she could feel him burning a hole into her back. Why did she feel so nervous? She didn't understand why she felt so unlike herself when he was around.

Sometime later, she found herself walking past his office. She also heard Rhetta inside as well.

"There are too many scents around here. I can't figure out which one belongs to who." Her bosses voice said in agitation.

"I can send some of them away if you like?" She asked and fear rose inside Denali. As one of the newest staff members, she would likely go first. She quickly walked away, not wanting to hear his answer.

This time. Denali wasn't fooled. This time she had kept track of where she had put it and again, her perfume was gone. But why?