Javier

8.

-HIM-

I was let out the next day and I couldn’t have been happier. They did some checks on me before finally allowing me to see others.

After a lot of requests, Dossom let me see my mate but only through the glass window in the room where she was kept. I ended up leaving after that and drove straight to home. The first thing I did when I reached home was searching for a nearby store of that jewellery company.

I was guessing that their store in the country would be rare, given their brand type. I was able to locate the closest store to me which was two-hour drive away. I decided to go there that day nonetheless.

It happened to be a very small store in one of the neighbouring cities. I got more and more excited the closer I got to the store. I was finally going to know something about her.

The store was mostly empty when I stepped inside. The woman on the reception gave me a flirtatious look but I mostly ignored her and took out the pendant from my pocket and held it out for her to see.

“I believe this pendant is a product of this company,” I told her. I saw a frown climb on ger face as she looked at the pendant closely.

“It doesn’t look like something we would make but can I have a closer look at it?” She asked. I nodded and placed the pendant on the glass counter. With her gloved hands, she picked up the jewellery and examined it with an eyepiece, “Well, it does have our company’s name,” She spoke, “and the unique code too but our company has never made a piece like this before,” She commented.

“Can you tell me its price and who might have bought it?” I asked her. She examined the jewellery more before she estimated, “This probably costs something around fifty grand. I don’t think it would be more than that,” I was very much astonished at the price of that smallest thing.

She then started typing something on the computer, probably the code on the jewellery to know who purchased it. A frown climbed on her face as she proceeded to look through the results.

“I am sorry but we have no details regarding this. This is either forgery or a piece from our premium collection. Though I doubt about the latter being true. This is all I can tell you about this pendant,” She told me as she handed that jewellery back to me.

I was deeply disappointed by her statement but I proceeded to ask further, “Is there any other store there that could maybe, look closely at it?”

“I don’t think there’s much to be known about this but you seem very much interested to know more about it. We have our head branch located in the east of the country. You can go there and show this to the production manager or the designer associate. I think they might be able to tell you something about this if this pendant anyhow belongs to our company,”

I took the address from her and decided to fly east to the country the next day. I informed Ace about my departure and asked Dossom to update me if my mate happened to wake up.

I wasn’t going to rest until I got to know something about her.

So, as I had planned, I found myself in their head branch the next day. I was feeling extremely anxious that day because if they happened to have the same response as that of the receptionist from that tiny store then I wouldn’t have any other way to find out about my mate except waiting for her to wake up.

I told the receptionist that I wanted to see their production manager and they told me to wait for a couple of hours so I waited. When the manager was finally free, I was sent to see him. He happened to be a middle-aged man.

“How can I help you, Mr Deviller?” He asked after I entered his office and he told me to take a seat. I took the pendant out and placed it on the table.

“I am here for this,” I spoke grimly. The manger narrowed his eyes as he took the pendant and looked at it closely with an eyepiece. He then carefully typed the code on his computer, just like the receptionist from the store had done yesterday.

I kept my eyes fixed on his face as I waited for his reaction. The manager’s eyes widened for a second as he looked at the results before he looked at me momentarily. The next he did was reach for the phone on his table.

I remained seated in my seat and maintained my calm on the outside but from the inside, I was very much tensed and anxious. Through my lycan hearing, I heard the manager making a call to the designer associate. A moment later, a man walked into the Managers office, whom I guessed to be the designer associate.

“What’s the matter?” The designer asked the manager as he glanced at me once.

“This gentleman brought this pendant to me,” The Manager spoke as he handed the pendant to the designer. I didn’t miss how the designer’s eyes widened as he looked at the pendant before he looked at me with a shock.

“Where did you get it?” He asked me grimly. I simply shrugged at him and asked him instead, “Why are you reacting like that?”

At this, the designer told me, “This is a priceless thing, one of its kind. I remember designing it exclusively for-“ before he could finish, the Manager interrupted and asked me the same question, “Mr Deviller, please tell us first where did you get it from?”

“I will not tell you anything until you tell me whom does it belong to,” I told them grimly. At this, the manager spoke, “Very well then. You have to wait for a couple more hours in our office in order to know that,”

“Very well,” I told them, “Give it back to me,” I said but the manager shook his head at me, “No way,”

“That doesn’t belong to you,” I told him.

“And neither to you. We will wait until the actual owner of this pendant arrives,” He declared. So, I waited. Meanwhile, I called Dossom to get some update on my mate. I was told the same thing – she was unconscious.

It was around evening when the manager called me in his office again. This time, I found another man sitting there. He rose from his seat as soon as he saw me.

“Where’s my sister?” He demanded to me instantly. At this, I was shocked for a moment.

“Your sister?” I asked.

“Yes. The pendant you brought. It belongs to my sister. She has been missing for a week,” He told me. For a moment, I was happy to have been able to find her immediate family member but soon, the realization dawned upon me that her family would also take her away from me.