Chapter 42
I rolled my eyes. So that’s how it was-any she-wolf within a ten-foot radius of Alpha Gideon might as well have a target painted on her back, as far as Camilla was concerned.
“Vivian, you’re flirting with him right in front of me? You think I’m invisible?”
Alpha Adrian’s voice exploded, thick with rage that made the air vibrate.
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I jumped, startled.
I’d almost forgotten this overbearing wolf was still loitering.
“Alpha Adrian, keep it down. This is a clinic,” I snapped, exasperated.
“I’m your mate!” he snarled.
“Great. Now get out of my sight.” I pasted on a fake smile, lied back, and yanked the thin cotton blanket over my head, blocking out the sight of him.
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I felt the mattress dip as he sat silently on the edge, staring at the back of my head like he could will me to
relent.
I stayed in that clinic for days.
Alpha Adrian clung to me like a barnacle, fetching lukewarm herbal tea, adjusting my pillows, and hovering like a storm cloud-all while I ignored him.
His phone buzzed constantly.
Some calls he answered in a tight whisper, others he swatted away with a scowl that could curdle milk.
I wondered: Had the Quinn pack bailed Vanessa out already?
It wouldn’t surprise me.
1:
T
If Adrian had wriggled free that fast,the Blackwood pack’s legal team must’ve pulled out all the stops.
The Quinn pack’s lawyers were no slouches either.
That afternoon, I snuck off to the bathroom, locked the door, and dialed Cassie.
“Vivian? Where are you? Did Adrian track you down?” Her voice was a rush of static and worry.
“I’m in the Shaloria. He found me.”
“Shaloria? You’re not in the Belmor anymore??”
“Long story,” I said, skimming over the part where I was working as Alpha Gideon’s secretary and how I’d sprained my ankle.
“What’s the deal with Vanessa?”
Cassie slammed a fist on something.
“The Quinn pulled some crap about Vanessa having ‘acute anxiety.’ She got bailed out yesterday noon. Today, their lawyers tried to weasel a settlement out of me. I told them to stick their dirty checks where the sun
don’t shine-we’re not settling!”
“I’m fine with settling,” I said.
“What?” Cassie sounded like she’d misheard.
“You’re okay with a settlement?”
“Adrian’s over here playing the ‘I’m a changed wolf, I can’t breathe without you’ act, and I can’t shake him. Even if I wave the evidence I’ve got in his face, he might dig in his heels. And I’m not sure I can win in court,
either. I need an ally.”
Cassie caught on, her silence stretching thin.
She wants to use Vanessa against Adrian?
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Wild.
“You sure about this?” she asked.
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“Cassie, with the Quinn pack’s back, getting Vanessa off the hook is just a matter of time. They’re offering a settlement-let’s weaponize it.”
“Also, leak a rumor to Vanessa. Tell her Adrian’s trying to patch things up with me and won’t break our bond. With how obsessed she is with him, that’ll set her off. The Quinn pack coddles her like a princess, so if she throws a fit, they’ll strong-arm Adrian into bonding with her. He won’t have a choice but to break ours.”
Cassie was quiet for a beat.
Before hanging up, she couldn’t help asking,
“What if Adrian really is sorry? What if you’re the one he loves? Aren’t you even a little torn?”
I laughed coldly.
“If he’s sorry, this is his punishment for straying. Whether he’s hurting or regretting-he deserves every bit of
6:00 PM
Alpha Gideon and Elliot showed up.
Adrian was gone, called away by some urgent phone call-his face had been clouded with worry when he left.
Looks like Cassie’s message hit its mark, I thought, smirking to myself.
Feeling a little smug, I was just wondering if the warehouse mess had been sorted when Gideon and Elliot
walked in.
Alpha Gideon looked worn out.
No wonder-between his packed schedule and the warehouse fiasco, running back and forth must’ve drained
him.
“Vivian, we’re heading back to the Cloud Pack tomorrow,” Elliot said, his face bright with relief.
I’d wanted to ask about it two days ago when they’d visited, but Gideon’s tight-lipped expression had kept me
quiet.
“Did Walter finally crack?”
Elliot’s eyes lit up, and he grinned. “How’d you guess?”
Alpha Gideon, intrigued, settled into the armchair by the bed, waiting for me to go on.
“I was just putting it together,” I said.
“That night, we got Walter to admit where he’d locked me in the storage closet. I gave you the recordings from the warehouse-you know, the ones exposing those two ‘phantom employees’ siphoning cash-and Martin admitted to being at the cabin where I was held. Logically, the evidence should’ve been airtight-case
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Chapter 42
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“But it wasn’t. Martin was acting off. If they were just regular accomplices, one wouldn’t take the fall for the other. When he heard Walter confessed, he should’ve panicked, thought it was over. But he didn’t.”
“Why was he so sure Walter wouldn’t rat him out? Unless they had a deal-sacrifice one to save the other. Or maybe, before I even stepped foot in that warehouse, they’d planned it all. If I went missing, you’d investigate, pin it on Walter, and he’d take the fall as the scapegoat. No one would suspect Martin, the real brains. And Alpha Gideon wouldn’t have the bandwidth to keep digging.”
I finished, and the room went quiet.
My logic held, but that last line made Gideon’s brow furrow.
“Vivian, don’t sell yourself short. If you went missing, I’d keep digging.”
I froze, caught off guard.
< The Alpha Regretted Having An Affair
Chapter43
I froze, my cheeks flushing hot-hotter than a summer wildfire.
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Alpha Gideon had said he’d “keep digging,” but to my ears, it might as well have been a confession.
He’d miss me.
“Uh, thanks for the concern,” I stammered.
“I’m concerned for all my pack,” he replied, his tone steady as stone.
Elliot blinked, his confusion practically radiating off him. All his pack? Really?
Elliotbroke the silence, steering back to the warehouse mess with a grin.
“Vivian, you’re sharp. Nailed about ninety percent of it. Impressive.”
“What’s the ten percent I missed?” I asked.
“Those two ghost workers? They’re actual ghosts. Dead. Walter killed them.”
“Dead?!” My jaw dropped.
I’d figured they might be Walter’s cousins or old drinking buddies, not victims.
Elliot nodded, his expression grim.
“Wild, right? It’s a murder case now. We didn’t see that coming.”
I pieced it together, my wolf’s intuition prickling.
“That’s Martin’s leverage. No wonder he was so sure Walter wouldn’t snitch-and why he was willing to take
the fall.”
Embezzlement and kidnapping were bad, but murder?
“They were warehouse workers, part of the original crew-a bonded pair,” Elliot explained.
“Barely three weeks in, Walter killed them one night. Claimed it was an accident, a heated argument gone wrong. Martin found out and cooked up a plan to make it look like they were still alive, even spinning a fake injury story. To keep the other workers quiet, they split ‘their wages.’ That’s how Martin got his claws into them, forcing their loyalty.”
“Martin wasn’t just after pocket change,” he continued.
“He’s got a hunger for power. Used his mate’s brother to front a new clan, had Walter steal blueprints and raw materials, with the accountant doctoring the books and the foreman covering tracks. What looked like a
small leak turned out to be a hollowed-out operation.”
My head spun just hearing it. I’d known things weren’t simple, but this deep?
I glanced at Alpha Gideon.
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“Sounds like the warehouse needs a full purge.”
He nodded, his gaze dark.
“It does. Productivity’s been stagnant for months, and I was already planning a shake-up. This just gives me a reason to burn it down and start fresh. Not a bad thing.”
His words made me feel like a loyal hound-sniffing out trouble, taking down enemies at his side. It’s a strange thrill, this trust.
Just then, Alpha Adrian stormed in, his scent sour with rage.
Seeing Alpha Gideon, it curdled into something darker, more feral.
“Alpha Gideon, you keep sniffing around another wolf’s mate. What’s your game?”
he growled, his voice low enough to rattle windows.
I sucked in a breath.
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“Alpha Adrian, are you out of your mind?”
Alpha Gideon stayed calm, his aura steady as a mountain.
“I’m checking on my pack member’s recovery. She got hurt on my watch.”
His words were reasonable, but there was an undercurrent.
Adrian’s forehead veins bulged.
“Let’s get one thing straight-she’s my she-wolf. Mine in life, mine in death. Anyone who tries to take her, I’ll
tear them to pieces.”
Alpha Gideon just smiled, a subtle, amused curve of his lips, saying nothing.
Adrian caught the vibe, his aura spiking with a feral edge.
Elliot, sweating bullets, jumped in.
“Alpha Adrian, you’ve got it all wrong. We’re just here to check on her, no ulterior motives. Alpha Gideon’s not some playboy-he’s a stand-up wolf. I’d bet my last bone he’s not after Vivian.”
Alpha Gideon shot Elliot a cool glance, one that said shut up.
My head throbbed with embarrassment.
I didn’t owe Adrian an explanation, but I couldn’t let Gideon take this baseless heat.
“Alpha Adrian, can you stop acting like a lunatic? Alpha Gideon’s not into me. He’s not even into she-wolves!”
The room went dead silent.
After a beat, Alpha Gideon spoke.
“Vivian, thanks for the PR campaign. I should really reward you for that.”
