Chapter77
I turned to bolt.
Alpha Gideon called after me.
“You’re here. Why leave? Come back.”
I froze, then dragged myself back, bracing for the storm.
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Alpha Gideon had Frank open the cake.
He took a bite, then pulled out his phone to snap photos, muttering,
“Vivian, come take these for me.”
Elliot and Frank’s confusion deepened.
Her showing up with cake was weird enough. Him eating it and taking pics?
The second I grabbed his phone, inspiration struck-this was my shot to erase the evidence.
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15:33 C
< Chapter77
I opened WhatsApp fast.
His voice, slow and chillingly gentle, cut through.
“Careful, Vivian. Don’t go ‘slipping’ and delete something.”
I stiffened. “Right, got it.”
I nodded obediently, then deleted the message without blinking.
One slip was a slip. Two slips were still a slip.
With the incriminating chat gone, my heart settled.
I snapped a few quick photos and handed the phone back. “Done.”
Alpha Gideon took it.
Moments later, Elliot’s jaw dropped as Alpha Gideon posted.
Holy-
Holy crap!
HOLY CRAP!
Frank, far calmer, grinned like a proud dad and hit like first.
I caught Elliot’s horrified look. “What’s wrong?”
Elliot covered his face, shoving his phone at me.
“See for yourself.”
I looked and went speechless.
Alpha Gideon had posted a strawberry cake grid.
No caption, just an emoji-a shy, smiling yellow face with closed eyes.
A normal emoji, but on Alpha Gideon?
Utterly bizarre.
What’s he shy about?
Alpha Gideon stood.
“To the office.”
He headed out.
Elliot and I followed.
In the elevator, I stood behind him, staring at his back.
I’d pegged him wrong-too stiff, too cold.
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< Chapter77
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When he wasn’t icy, he could be a damn comedian. And he didn’t care who he freaked out.
Elliot, still hung up on the emoji, leaned close to Alpha Gideon.
“Did you post the wrong one? That’s the ‘shy’ emoji. Like, girly shy.”
Alpha Gideon’s face stayed cool. “Is it? Huh, must’ve slipped.”
My eyes widened.
Alpha Gideon, no! You were waiting for me! You absolute maniac!
Elliot pressed, “Want to change it? It’s kinda… startling.”
Alpha Gideon: “Don’t know how.”
Elliot opened his mouth-I can help-but Alpha Gideon’s sharp glance shut him up.
I felt my soul leave my body.
He’s deranged. Seriously, certifiably insane.
On the way to the office, Elliot and I were quiet as mice.
A guy who never posted suddenly dropping a cutesy strawberry cake with a shy emoji?
It didn’t match his vibe.
Comments exploded, messages flooded, phones rang off the hook.
Especially his siblings.
“Alpha Gideon, kidnapped?.”
“Got a mate?
”
“Lost your mind?.”
Alpha Gideon blocked them and muted his phone.
At the Hartley, Charles was about to head to the office when Catherine yanked him back.
“Our son’s got something going on.”
Charles paled. “What? He’s really with Tristan Ashbourne?”
“Ugh, can you think positive?”
Catherine swatted him, grinning as she showed her phone.
“Look-strawberry cake. Total she-wolf dessert. And that emoji? Bet some she-wolf made him post it. Our boy
doesn’t do that unless he’s smitten.”
“A she-wolf? Thank the stars!”
Charles had been haunted by nightmares of his son going rogue with another wolf, ancestors ready to
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strangle him.
“Wonder who she is. The one who called him last time?” Catherine mused.
“Probably not. That was Vivian’s friend.”
Charles froze as it hit him.
Catherine, blissfully unaware of pack gossip, didn’t know about Alpha Gideon’s injury or his role in saving me. He’d kept it quiet to spare her worry.
She knew I was his new assistant and was cool with it, saying they shouldn’t meddle in others’ business and that my skills mattered.
But if she knew Alpha Gideon had rushed to save me, tanked Quinnvale ‘s loan partly to protect me, would
she still be so chill?
From Frank’s take, our relationship was strictly boss and assistant.
But that post? Shot in his apartment.
And lately, I was the only she-wolf close to him.
“What’s on your mind?”
Catherine nudged him, noticing his grim look.
“Nothing,” Charles said.
“Maybe we’re reading too much into it. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
“You mentioned Vivian,” Catherine said, her expression turning serious.
Catherine’s expression grew sterner.
Charles, caught, chuckled and pulled her into the garden.
“Catherine, you’re sharp as a claw. So, I’ll be straight-if Alpha Gideon’s into Vivian, you cool with that?”
Catherine went quiet.
She couldn’t lie and say she was fine with it.
If it was someone else’s pack, she might shrug off a broken bond as no big deal. But her own son? She wasn’t that open-minded.
She didn’t meddle in Alpha Gideon’s choice of mate, as long as the she-wolf was decent, with a clean background and his genuine affection.
Matching status was a bonus, not a must. Still, matching was nice.
“Last time, you said any living she-wolf would do,” Charles teased, seeing her wrestle with it.
Catherine swatted him, annoyed.
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< Chapter77
“What parent doesn’t want the best for their pup?”
Realizing her words sounded harsh, she added,
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“Not saying Vivian’s bad. I’ve heard her story-Frank told me. She’s a tough she-wolf, talented, but got a raw deal with her mate. I hope her next bond brings happiness.”
Charles saw through her. “Just not with Alpha Gideon, right?”
Catherine sighed.
“Fine, I’m not that generous. Call me fake. Like you’d be thrilled either. Alpha Gideon’s our firstborn, the
him- Hartley heir. The pack’s got eyes on him-one misstep, and they’ll make a feast of it. Even if we’re okay with it, would his grandma be? We can’t ignore everything.”
Charles nodded. “Yeah, he carries the Hartley name. He can’t just do what he wants.”
He patted her shoulder, grinning.
“But don’t stress too much. We’re probably overthinking it. Didn’t you set up more blind dates for him? Let
him meet them.”
Catherine nodded, though she wasn’t as hopeful as he was.
