“You will do as you are told. Be here at one o’clock. No excuses,” he yells before he ends the call. Now I have a laughing Lycan in my head – she really thinks this is funny. “It is funny. He doesn’t seem to understand that an Alpha order doesn’t work on us. He seems to have forgotten we are an Assassin, and an Alpha order doesn’t work on an Assassin,” Fortune says as she is still rolling around in my head.
I send Mack a message about my wake-up call, and within ten minutes I get a call from an unknown number. “This is Maleah D’Angelo,” I answer. “Maleah, this is Dax. I will pick you up at your boutique, and I will join you if you go to lunch with your Mother – no arguments,” I hear Alpha Dax say. I tell him I appreciate his offer. “I think Alpha Bradley will be really pissed off when he sees you with me, but he can’t deny you as an Alpha accompanying a Pack-member,” I respond.
“I don’t care what Alpha Bradley thinks about me coming along. I will tell him straight to his face I don’t trust him anywhere near you,” Alpha Dax says. Fortune is already looking forward to lunch. After discussing what time he will pick me up, I break the connection. I get ready for my morning meeting with the two designers, and Fortune tells me to wear my hair in a braid – she really wants to annoy our Mother.
I park my car at the back of the boutique in one of the spots that is reserved for my employees. As I walk in through the backdoor, I hear Pauline talking to my contractor – they are discussing the new floorplan. I had sent it to Pauline last night after I had made a few small changes. It would serve my idea much better, and I knew my contractor wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.
“Good morning, Miss D’Angelo. I have gone over the changes you asked for with my crew, and we will be done tomorrow around noon,” the contractor says. I thank him for his quick adaptation to my new floorplan. Pauline and I walk into the office in the back as he returns to his crew. “At first I didn’t understand why you wanted to meet both designers, but after seeing the new floorplan it all made sense. Albarr is an excellent town to experiment with – if it doesn’t work here, it won’t work anywhere,” Pauline says.
Half an hour later, we are sitting at the table with both designers. I ask them to show me proof that their designs are their own. Both grab a sketchbook from their bag to show me what they can do. Pauline and I watch as they look at each other’s work from time to time. When they are done, both designs complement one another. “That looks amazing. This is exactly what I had in mind for the boutique. You are allowed to design whatever you like, but I would like the two of you to collaborate from time to time – or when a client has a special request,” I say.
Neither one of them is surprised about the contract I want them to sign. After going through it from start to finish, we sign on the dotted line. Pauline shows them the new floorplan, and both have a few ideas on how to make the most out of it – something that is up to them as they will be here running the boutique. From the way they are talking, I don’t need to worry about anything.
“Hello, Stan. I heard you moved to Albarr last time I visited the store,” Alpha Dax says. I quickly learn that Stan worked at the store they always get their suits and tuxedos from. “Looks like we will have to take our business elsewhere. I got the impression that you quit because you didn’t like making suits anymore,” Alpha Dax continues.
Stan explains that he wasn’t allowed to design – that his employer told him his designs would never sell, and that no one would give him a chance to sell his own designs. “I will get you your first order, but I think you need to talk to Maleah. She is designing the dresses for the Spring Ball, and maybe the two of you can come up with the right outfits for us males,” Alpha Dax says. From what I saw just a little while ago, I know Stan will do just that.
I tell Stan I will show him my designs in the morning. After we say our goodbyes, Alpha Dax and I walk out to his car. I am ready to face my Mother and Alpha Dipshit.
Alpha Dax’s p.o.v.
I open the door to the passenger seat for Maleah and I hear her giggle as she gets into my car. I walk around the front of the car to get behind the wheel. I ask her what is so funny and she tells me that she thought chivalry had died out. I chuckle when she tells me that most males aren’t this thoughtful anymore, and that I should pay more attention to my surroundings.
We talk some more about her plan for her new boutique and I am surprised no one ever thought of her concept before, or about combining suits and dresses in the same store. It seems like Wolves and Lycans are more about showing the difference between males and females than efficiency. I pull up to the front of the hotel and decide to keep an eye on the two cars in front of us, just to see if Maleah was telling the truth.
I see a male getting out of the first car and giving some orders to the bellboy before he walks towards the entrance of the hotel, leaving his female companion to get out of the car herself. The male from the second car does the same thing and I look at Maleah who has a look on her face as if to say, “I told you so.” Both males are waiting by the entrance as another valet walks to my side of the car. I get out of the car to walk around the front and as I look at both males, I open the door for Maleah.
I hold out my hand to help her out of the car and I place her hand on my arm as we walk towards the entrance. “You were right, males have no respect anymore these days. My Father would kick my ass if I hadn’t opened a door for a female in his presence, and my Mother would have been right behind him,” I tell Maleah as we walk past the occupants from the two cars. She tells me she is glad my parents raised me to respect a female.
Mack told me that Maleah has a protection detail with Assassins that can hide their scent and I look around me to try and find just one of them. “I want to go up to my own room first, I don’t want to use their bathroom if I can avoid it,” Maleah says as she steps into the elevator. I noticed she called down an elevator on the side of the hotel that holds single rooms instead of suites.
“Why would I take a suite that costs at least double if a single room is big enough for just me? I am not a cheap skate, I just prefer to use my money for other things and one of them is investing in boutiques,” she answers my unspoken question. I get this idea she was planning on adding another remark, but thought better of it.
I follow her into her room and sit down in one of the armchairs while Maleah walks into the bathroom. A file lies on the side table next to me and as I want to open it, Maleah steps back into the room. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Alpha. It might put you in a tight spot if you do, and I’d rather not have anyone aware of it,” she says, but she doesn’t take the file from my hand. Curiosity wins over common sense.
I slowly open the file, giving Maleah time to take it from me if she really doesn’t want me to read it. As I look at the first page, I recognize the names of two males that I hate from the bottom of my heart. “We will talk about this after lunch. I think it is time you understand why our Pack hates Alpha Bradley,” I say as I place the file back on the table and I get up to guide her out of the hotel room.
Maleah doesn’t reply to my statement and I don’t expect her to. I know she will listen to what I have to say and I hope she will explain to me what she is doing with a file on Alpha Bradley and his Son. Maybe she just wants to find out what kind of males her Mother got herself involved with, but my gut feeling tells me that there is more to it.
We take the elevator down to the ground floor to get on an elevator on the other side of the hallway. It looks like Alpha Bradley has no difficulty with spending money – money he doesn’t have. The strange way in which he tried to have Maleah transfer to his Pack has been running through my mind, and the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that this might be for financial gain. But I doubt Maleah will be stupid enough to fall for it.
Mack and Dillon are convinced it has something to do with his Son, and right now I think it might be both. His Son would gain a Wolfless Mate while he, as an Alpha, could gain access to her money. “Maleah, is there any chance Alpha Bradley might try to gain access to your fortune?” I ask her as the elevator rides up.
“It might have been the reason why he chose to take my Mother as his Mate, but what my Mother isn’t aware of is that there is a second verification needed to gain access to the majority of my fortune, and I doubt she will be able to figure out who or what that second verification is,” Maleah responds. “I put the second verification in place after I opened my second boutique. My Mother had shown an unhealthy interest in my finances and I wanted to make sure she would never be able to take money out of my account.”
I never doubted Maleah’s intelligence, but this showed me that she was able to see through people as well. There is no doubt in my mind that she will put Alpha Bradley back in his place. The ding of the elevator tells me that we are on the right floor and I place my hand on her lower back as I guide her out of the elevator. I can’t wait to see the look on Alpha Bradley’s face when he sees me standing in front of his door.
Alpha Dax’s p.o.v.
Before Maleah can knock on the door it gets opened by her Mother and Alpha Bradley growls the moment he locks eyes with me. “Maleah, what is Alpha Dax doing here? We invited you to lunch, we didn’t tell you to bring a date,” her Mother says.
“In that case you won’t have a problem with me leaving. Alpha Dax will be joining us for lunch or you and Alpha Bradley can have lunch together,” Maleah responds.
Alpha Bradley is struggling to keep control of his Wolf, but he also knows that he is no match against my Lycan. I am wondering if he will say something about the fact that I am accompanying Maleah. “Alpha Dax, this is a family matter. I would appreciate it if you stayed out of this. We need to discuss a few things as a family and I’m sorry to say that you are not a part of it,” Alpha Bradley says.
I still have my hand on Maleah’s lower back and I lean towards her as I ask, “Do you want to have lunch with your Mother and Alpha Bradley or do you want me to stay here?”
Maleah looks up at me with a small smile on her face. “If my Mother wants to have lunch with me she has to accept the fact that you will be joining us, Alpha Dax.”
Alpha Bradley takes a step forward and asks me why I am intruding on their family lunch. “Because I don’t trust you anywhere near Maleah and I will make sure that she is safe at all times, even if it means intruding on a family lunch. I don’t like you and I don’t trust you. It’s as simple as that, Alpha Bradley,” I say.
Maleah tells me that she is ready to leave, that she has lost her appetite. Her Mother tries to grab her arm but
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply