“I’m sorry I did that, but his beta said he’d die if you didn’t attend to him sooner.” Dad apologized again over the phone. I was getting ready for work Friday morning when he called.
1 let out a long sigh. “His case is indeed a special one, but please don’t do that again.”
“You sound like you don’t like the Alpha. Has he done something to offend you?”
I paused with my necklace in my hand, thinking if I should tell him everything, but I knew Dad. If I did, he would cancel the partnership meeting without a second thought, and this deal meant too much to him.
“Let’s just say he’s exactly as people describe him,” I said, picking up my bag. “If not worse.”
Aloud growl came through the phone. “Did he hurt you?”
My eyes widened. “What? No! He wouldn’t dare.”
He didn’t sound convinced at all. I could almost picture his jaw tightening the way it always did when he was angry. “Good.” he said in a sharp voice. “Because if he hurt you in any way, I’d cancel the partnership and we’d end up in a war.”
That was Alpha Marcus for you. Early sixties, but still the kind of Alpha no one joked with. People feared him for a reason. I don’t remember who my real parents are, but having him as a father, that was the moon goddess giving me a blessing I didn’t deserve.
I spent a few more minutes assuring him everything was fine, pacing around my room and choosing my words carefully so he wouldn’t storm over to Ace’s pack himself. Ace’s pack was strong not one to easily be defeated. Only when he finally sighed did I know he believed me, at least enough to let it go for now.
“Mummy, are you driving me to school today?” I heard Liam’s excited voice as he ran toward me, his school bag dangling behind him like it was about to fly off.
I bent down to his level and he immediately grabbed my cheeks, planting two big kisses, one on each side. I couldn’t help laughing. I pulled him closer and peppered his small face with kisses until he burst into loud giggles, his tiny hands trying to block me but failing.
“You want me to take you to school today?” I asked, still smiling.
He nodded hard, his curls bouncing. “Yes! I haven’t talked to you enough these past few days. I want to tell you everything about my new school and my new friends.”
His words hit a soft spot in me. I’ve literally lived in the hospital these past few days, dragging myself home either at midnight or early morning. Leslie, for example, didn’t even come home last night, she stayed behind and would take the morning and afternoon off today.
My baby deserved this moment with me. And honestly, I needed it too.
Ethan stepped out to handle some business yesterday, and he still wasn’t back yet. So it was just Liam and I in the house with
the staff.
At breakfast, Liam didn’t stop talking for even one second. I kept telling him, over and over, “Stop talking while eating,” but he would nod, swallow, and continue immediately. It made me smile even though I pretended to be strict.
On the drive to his school, he chattered all through again. He told me about his teachers, how one of them smelled like
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Chapter 8
strawberries, and how he already made two new friends. I had intentionally placed him in a werewolf school, hoping he would grow in a space that understood him better.
When I dropped him off, he ran into his class and turned back only once to wave at me, promising in a serious tiny voice that he wouldn’t get into trouble. But as I watched him disappear through the door, something felt off. I pushed it aside and told myself I was just tired.
I drove straight to work. I attended to a few patients, nothing too much, since I had cleared my schedule for three hours.
Today was the day I went to Virel Multicorp Holdings. I needed to get this partnership contract done so someone else could take over. I didn’t want to keep seeing that Alpha every damn time.
At exactly twelve noon, I got into my car. His company was about an hour away if I drove on full speed. When I arrived. I just sat in my car, staring at the building.
How in the world did someone build something this huge at his age? Only a few Alphas had something this massive. Dad did, but not in his thirties. The place looked endless, wide and tall, stretching so high that the top almost disappeared into the sky.
I walked inside and was directed to the top floor. Even with the elevator, it felt like it was climbing forever before the doors finally opened.
The floor was almost empty. Only a few staff were moving around quietly. His secretary looked up, gave me one cold look. and asked me to wait because he was in a meeting.
I sat in the waiting room, but after an hour I started getting restless. I needed to get back to the hospital soon. I had patients waiting, and Leslie had already gone home to rest.
“Could you tell your Alpha that his appointment is waiting for him?” I asked with an irritated voice.
I was here on an appointment. He had no reason to still be in a meeting at this time.
The secretary turned and glared at me. She freaking glared.
“Who do you think you
are?”
I was taken aback, shocked for a second at her audacity.
“You might be all that in your hospital, but when you come to Virel Holdings, you wait until the Alpha wants to see you,” she snapped.
My wolf growled loudly in my head, and I shut my eyes for a second to push the anger down. It was rising up my chest like heat.
“Call your Alpha,” I said slowly, “and tell him his appointment is waiting for him.”
She gave me that look, like she was daring me, like “I won’t do it, so what will you do now?”
I clenched my jaw. I should call that damn man myself, but I didn’t have his number. I had taken three hours off for this, and I had already wasted two, one on the road, another sitting here waiting for him. If I wanted to meet up at the hospital in time, I should be heading back already.
I wanted to leave, honestly, but I needed to give Dad proper feedback. He had waited months for this partnership.
“Why won’t you call your Alpha?” I asked again.
She smirked. “Because he’s in a meeting, and he doesn’t like being disturbed. So you can either sit your ass down and wait
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Csapter 8
for him or you bounce”
The audacity. I had never felt so insulted in my life. My lips parted to snap back, but the sudden shift in her face stopped
Her face went pale as she stared at something behind me, eyes wide like she was begging the ground to swallow her.
I followed her gaze and saw the Alpha standing with his beta, the same one I saw at my opening. His chest heaved, seins standing out on his face. He looked as if he was going to snap someone’s head off and in a flash, he was in front of the
secretary.
The bold girl who had dared talk back to me before was now hanging in the air, his hands gripping her throat. Her eyes were wide, pleading and frozen with fear. My stomach clenched, I honestly thought he was going to snap her neck.
With a sudden motion, he threw her across the room. She crashed into the glass wall at the far end, the impact loud, but the glass didn’t even tremble.
“You are fired! Your rank and that of your family is reduced below the Omegas. You and your family will work tirelessly until I am satisfied,” he growled, each word slicing through the air.
Her hands clawed at her throat as she gasped, “Yes, Alpha.”
“You’re lucky you’ll still get paid the same salary as here,” he added before turning to me. His dark green eyes softened for a fraction, apologetic now. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting. Can we go inside?”
He and his beta exchanged a brief look, their eyes flicking with a silent conversation through the mind link. The beta nodded and walked away. I hesitated, then followed him into his office.
The office was massive, almost overwhelming. Floor–to–ceiling windows ran along one wall, sunlight flooding the room. A huge mahogany desk sat in the center, papers neatly stacked on one side and a laptop on the other. Behind it, a high–backed leather chair looked like it belonged to a king. Everything was dark, polished, and intimidating, just like him.
He closed the distance so fast I barely had time to breathe. His huge hands cupped my face, tilting it up to him. Standing this close, he was overwhelming. His height, his scent, his heat. My heart did a stupid flip before my wolf ruined the moment with a low growl of disagreement in my head. She always growled around him, always ready to bite. And honestly, I was starting to wonder why.
“Are you okay? Did she hurt you?” His green orbs searched every corner of my face, worry written all over him.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” I asked, genuinely confused.
“I know Cindy can be very…”
I cut him off with a small laugh. “You think that little wolf would be able to hurt me? She’s too small to even try. I’d roast her in a second.”
His brows lifted slightly, like he wasn’t sure if he should be amused or terrified. His thumbs brushed my cheeks lightly before he finally dropped his hands.
His lips lifted in that proud, confident smile, and for a fleeting moment, his green eyes lightened, almost blinding. I’d never seen them like that before.
I placed my hand against his chest, pushing him back just enough to create space.
“Stop smiling,” Astra snapped in my head. “He’s got a wife. The same wife he rejected his mate for.”
I looked up at Ace who was smiling, trying to steady my voice. “I need to go.”
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1:33 pm
Cuptor #
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
