11.

-HIM-

“Holly,” I growl, making her freeze at her place. Brooke, who was standing on the other side of the office froze as well. She knew instantly that Holly isn’t my mate.

“Yes,” Holly shivered, clutching the straps of her bag tightly. She is definitely a human and unconsciously feels my dominance.

“I believe this belongs to you,” I said, holding up her ID. Her eyes widen as soon as she sees the ID before looking at me. She nods after some moments. Fear and hesitance decorated her face.

I am mad, particularly at her. I was expecting her to be my mate but she turns out to be someone else. I have never been so disappointed in my life.

Though, one thing puzzles me. Her scent doesn’t match either of the scents in the office, which means that someone else did this. Could it be that someone else did it to frame Holly?

I have to find out but right now, the anger in me due to the disappointment is taking a toll on me. If I lose my calm then I may lose the only chance to meet my mate.

I study Holy before cocking an eyebrow as I look down at her, “I found my office in this state,” I wave my hand at the mess, “and your ID has been found here as the only evidence,” I cross my arms on my chest as I give her a pointed look.

She gulps before shaking her head lightly, “I didn’t do it,” She speaks and her voice wavers. I could hear the anxiousness in her voice. Most of her features are saying that she is speaking the truth but I don’t want to take any chances.

“But we found your ID in this office,” Brooke speaks for the first time. She steps by my side with her arms crossed on her chest.

‘Her scent doesn’t match,’ Brooke mind links me and I agree with her but we couldn’t let the human know about this. It’s our werewolf senses that help us distinguish scents better than any human. Even though this was evident enough that she was innocent, we couldn’t risk our cover.

“I… I don’t know how it got here. I noticed that my ID is missing this morning,” Holly speaks in her defense. She seems to be gaining confidence slowly.

“Did you report to the office?” Brooke asks.

“I was going to report to the office when I got the call from you,” She answers. There’s something about this blonde that irks me. The more I hear her voice, the more it angers me and my wolf for some reason.

“Why should we believe you?” I ask grimly. She looks into my eyes for a split second before looking away instantly in fear. My wolf is exerting his dominance on her and she is submitting unknowingly. If I let him out then I doubt she’d get a chance to walk out alive from my office.

“I swear I didn’t do this. You have security cameras here, you can look into them, right?” She speaks to Brooke. I am grinding my teeth now.

Security Cameras.

They are not working because there’s no electricity in this part of the building since the wiring is being renewed. Whoever did this knew about this and used this for their advantage.

“No, we don’t,” I said grimly, feeling like a ticking bomb. The fact that we were so close to getting her is making me and my wolf even madder, “As long as you’re not being proven innocent, I’ll make sure that you don’t get to attend any classes,” She gasps at my words.

“But I did not do this!” She whines but a very low and guttural growl from me has her shutting her mouth and hanging her head low.

“You’ll hear from us soon,” Brooke says before dismissing her. She tries to argue with us again but just a glare from me is enough for her to leave my office without uttering another word. I don’t want to see this blonde again.

“I don’t think it was her,” Brooke speaks after a long pause. I am still grinding my teeth, filling my lungs with my mate’s intoxicating scent in the room, which is fading away slowly.

“I know,” I growl lowly before collapsing on the seat and rubbing my forehead.

“Damn it! We were so close,” I bellow, letting all the resentment out. Brooke sighs before she rubs my shoulder.

“We’ll soon get to her, Jake. Don’t worry,” She speaks, collecting some papers and keeping them away on the table neatly.

“We have to,” I mutter, still not able to believe that we were so close. “What do you think might have happened?” I ask as I look around the office and imagine my mate trashing the whole place.

Why would she do it?

“I think someone is trying to frame Holly…” Brooke trails off, “and they’ve done it successfully,” I nod at her despite my own judgments and emotions for that blonde.

“Do you think we can get anything from Holly?” I ask, thinking about the blonde. Just thinking about her irritates me.

“Maybe,”

“You’ll call her to the office and interrogate her this week,” I tell Brooke, who sighs before nodding. Judging by the look on her face, I know that she didn’t like the blonde as well but I don’t want to talk to her anymore. I just cannot stand the sight of her.

“Just leave it. Let’s go home today,” I tell Brooke, who has been trying to collect all the papers and arrange them. It will be a hell lot of work to arrange the whole office again. I don’t even know where to start.

There are so many important documents just scattered across the ground. Just sorting them will take a couple of weeks.

“Ok,” Brooke mutters before keeping away her last stack of paper. The drive home is silent. We are in our own thoughts but I know that she shares my disappointment.