I understand there is nothing I can say to get her to accept help from me, and I ask her if she trusts her protection detail. “Yes, Mack. They have been with me for years, and I doubt anyone has ever noticed them until it was too late. My team is well-trained. They can blend in with their surroundings, and if you have any doubts about it, I suggest you talk to my Dad and yours. They are the ones that recommended them to me,” she responds.
After we disconnect the call, I go in search of my Father. I would like to know who is in her protection detail and why he never told me that some of our Pack-members travel with her. I finally find my Father in his office on our floor. I close the door behind me because I don’t want anyone to hear us, and Dad looks at me as I sit down in a chair in front of his desk.
“Why am I not aware of the fact that some of our Pack-members work as Maleah’s protection detail?” I ask.
“None of our Pack-members work for Maleah or with her. Her protection detail consists of Wolves and Lycans that were raised in a town or city, and each of them took the training classes we offer to those that don’t live in a Pack,” Dad answers. “Diego and I investigated each Wolf and Lycan before we introduced them to Maleah. We knew why she wanted a protection detail, and we both made sure she got the best of them. She never had to fire anyone we recommended to her, and I believe all of them are still working for her.”
I ask Dad if there is anything else I might want to know about them. “Diego and I chose each of them because they are Assassins, and each of them has the ability to hide their scent,” he answers. Now I understand what she meant when she mentioned no one ever noticed them. She probably has the best team someone could ask for.
Dad and I are still no closer to finding out why Alpha Bradley is so interested in Maleah or why he is so hell-bent on her moving into his Pack. Dillon has sent out two Scouts to find out whatever they can about Alpha Bradley and what is so damn important about Maleah moving to his Pack.
Maleah’s p.o.v.
I am standing in the middle of my new boutique, and I am about to lose my patience with a new designer. She refuses to sign the contract I have placed in front of her. She brought her Father and an attorney with her, both of them agreeing with the designer that the contract is unreasonable and that she doesn’t have to prove to me that the designs are her own.
“Fine,” I say, and I see a triumphant smile on the designer’s face. I grab the contract from the table as I look at her Father. “I hope you can find another boutique that is willing to do business with you. I will find someone else to sell their designs in my boutique,” I say as I tear up the contract.
Pauline opens the door, indicating that this meeting is over. “Do you have any idea who my Father is?” the designer asks, and I just shrug my shoulders.
I know perfectly well who her Father is, and I don’t give a flying frog on Sunday – he doesn’t scare me one bit. Her Father growls at me as I turn my back on him, and I am surprised when I hear the voice of Alpha Dax say, “Thomas, don’t threaten one of my Pack-members.” I turn to see Thomas and his daughter pale as they stare at my Alpha, and I decide to embarrass Thomas even further.
“Alpha Dax, I hadn’t expected you this early. I will be busy the rest of the day with finding another designer, and I had hoped that I would be able to show you a fully stocked boutique,” I say as I walk towards him. Instead of shaking my outstretched hand, he pulls me in for a hug.
“Can I ask out loud why you need another designer?” he asks through the mind-link. I answer him that he can ask and that I will answer him truthfully.
“What happened to the designer that you were going to sign a contract with?” Alpha Dax asks, and I tell him that the designer refused to sign the contract. In addition, I tell him that the designer refused to show proof that the designs are hers.
“I got burned in the past by a designer, and ever since, I ask designers to sign a contract with proof of authenticity. I want to make sure that the designs that get sold in my boutique belong to the Wolf or Lycan that gets paid for them,” I reply.
Alpha Dax looks at Thomas with a knowing look, and without uttering a word, Thomas leaves with his daughter. Pauline excuses herself as I guide Alpha Dax to some chairs.
“Thank you, Alpha Dax,” I say as I sit down, and he tells me that he was glad he could help me. “What brings you to my boutique, Alpha Dax?” I ask as Pauline places coffee in front of both of us.
“Mom said that you are designing her dress for the Spring Ball, and I was hoping you could tell me the color of her dress. Mom always complains about the fact that we never matched with her and Dad,” he answers, and I smile at him because I have heard Luna Elyse complaining about that.
“Don’t worry, I know how much she hates that, so I will make sure you all will have cummerbunds in matching colors. I might even make bow ties in the same color as Luna Elyse’s dress,” I tell him.
I tell him I will do the same for Levi and Kay, so they will match with their Mother’s dress as well. “Thank you, Maleah. I look forward to seeing the look on Mom’s face when she sees that this year we all match,” he says. As we enjoy our coffee, he asks me about this boutique and every other boutique I have. I tell him how I started out my business with my inheritance from my Grandparents.
“Ever since I was a little girl, I loved to draw. It didn’t matter what it was – if I saw something that interested me, I would draw it, and you have seen the results of that, Dax. My fascination with fashion started after I met Ariel. Your Father had a meeting when I got out of school one day, and I went to the kitchen to pass the time. Ariel was sitting in a corner with a few small pieces of paper in front of her, and she was drawing with a pen.
I still had everything Dad had given me, and I kept it in a pencil case in the metal case your parents had given me for my eighth birthday. I asked her if she wanted to have them. You should have seen the smile on her face. I gave her the pencil case and a sketchbook my Dad had bought me, and we spent the next few hours drawing and talking. Her designs are more for daily wear, and my designs are more for once-in-a-lifetime events.
If I couldn’t be in the Alpha or Luna office, I would visit the kitchen and spend time with Ariel and her friends. I would even go there if my Mother was home. When I bought my first boutique, I already knew how I wanted to run my business, and I asked Ariel if she wanted to sell her designs in my boutique – something she was a bit fearful of at first. Her friends told her that they would make the clothes, so she could keep focusing on the designs.
This is what makes my boutiques so unique – each store has at least one designer, and each designer has their own unique talent in designing clothes. In some towns or cities, there are more designers that want to sell their clothes in my boutique, while in other towns and cities, I really have to look for them,” I tell him, and he tells me that Ariel used some of her money to build a house for the Omegas, opening up space in the Pack-house for unmated Warriors.
After Alpha Dax has left, Pauline hands me two files. One I place inside my bag, and the other I open to find a list with three names – designers that want to become a part of my empire, designers that hope to make a name for themselves. I read the information Pauline has gathered for me. One name I cross off the list immediately – his answer to a simple question rubs me the wrong way – and I take a good look at the other two names on the list.
“Pauline, get in touch with both of them. I think Albarr is the perfect town for an experiment, and I hope these two can pull it off,” I tell her as I hand her the file back. I give a few instructions to the construction crew, and then I leave for the hotel. I need some time alone – to shower and read the file on my next assignment. I just hope it won’t keep me from home for too long.
Maleah’s p.o.v.
I kick off my shoes the moment the door to my hotel room falls into its lock. I drop my bag on the couch in the sitting area of my room and start taking my clothes off as I walk into the bedroom. Walking into the bathroom, I am reminded of why I hate showering in a hotel room. The space is too small for my Lycan, and Fortune hates being cooped up in here for too long, so I take a quick shower before heading out into the bedroom again.
I hear my phone buzzing but ignore it for the time being. I had sent Mack a message as I walked into my room, and I know he won’t respond to it immediately. He just wants to know that I am safe. We both have a bad feeling about my Mother and Alpha Bradley and the persistent way in which they try to get me to visit them. Dax told me just before he left that two Scouts were investigating Alpha Bradley, hoping to find out why they want me to move to his Pack.
Fortune and I have been thinking about it, and one of the reasons we came up with involves Alpha Bradley’s Son. His Son is known for being a sadistic ass – he loves hurting the females he sleeps with, and whenever one of them reports him to the Council, he tells them they came with him willingly. None of the charges ever stuck, and he has gotten away with far more than he should. I can’t wait for the day someone takes him down a peg.
The other reason we came up with is financial. Alpha Bradley isn’t known for his business acumen, and I think he is hoping to gain access to my fortune as my Alpha. Maybe it’s a combination of the two reasons, and I don’t like any of them. But I wonder how Alpha Bradley thinks he can get access to my money.
After I am finally dressed, I walk into the sitting area and pick up my phone to see who has been bombarding me with messages. Fortune growls the moment we see our Mother’s name on the screen. I unlock the phone to look at the messages she has sent, and I almost release a mighty roar as I read the first one: Bradley and I are arriving in Albarr in the morning. We will meet for lunch in our hotel suite. The second message is along the same lines, but the third makes me call Mack without thinking.
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