I kissed her again while pulling down her dress zipper. Ryan tried to reach me through our mind-link, but I blocked him right away. This was not the time for pack business.
But he wouldn’t give up, kept trying to contact me.
I shut him out completely. Nothing was going to interrupt this moment with my girl.
Just as I was about to pull Caroline’s dress down her shoulders, my phone started ringing loudly from my pocket. Caroline burst into laughter, leaving me confused. She looked into my eyes, held my face with both hands, and said,”I bet that’s your Beta. Answer it, he won’t give up.”
We both started laughing as I reluctantly grabbed the phone.Sure enough, Ryan’s name was lighting up the screen.
“Cell phones are the worst invention in the world!” I groaned before answering. “Damn it, Ryan! Did you put a tracking device on me that alerts you every time I’m about to make love to my woman, you interrupting bastard?” I said, laughing despite my frustration.
My smile dropped when I heard what my Beta had to say. “Alright, we’ll meet at your place in half an hour.”
I hung up the phone and sighed. Caroline looked at me seriously, still sitting in my lap. It felt so good having her this close and accepting my touches.
“Is everything okay?”
“Looks like Alpha Arthur found out who Linda’s been sending information to,” I said seriously, watching her eyes for any sign of hurt when I mentioned it, but found none. “I hope we can get rid of her now.”
“I’m glad things are moving in the right direction.”
“Well, I don’t know if ‘right’ is the word, but they’re moving towards being resolved,” I said, kissing the palm of her hand. “I hope we’re also moving towards being okay.” I looked at her pleadingly.
“Draven, I don’t know…” she squirmed in my lap before getting up. I let out a frustrated groan.”Damn cockblocker!” Her smile lit up when she heard me curse. “Baby, I need to go, but I don’t want to. Can we finish this later? Right where we left off?” I asked, still burning for her.
“Call me. I might be feeling generous…” I grinned at her playful words, gave her one last kiss, and reluctantly left to handle pack matters. Alaric wasn’t happy, growling at having to leave Caroline behind.
Draven’s POV
Thirty minutes later, I got to Ryan’s place at Harbor Bay. My thoughts kept switching between Caroline and whatever business mess was waiting. Alaric was uneasy inside me, angry that we’d left our Caroline just when she was starting to warm up to us.
“Sorry for ruining your evening, Draven, but this couldn’t wait,” Alpha Arthur said, greeting me with a firm handshake. His eyes reflected concern beyond the usual business matters.
“It’s fine, Arthur. I just want to put an end to this fraud, eliminate these traitors from my pack and company, and fully focus on winning Caroline back,” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “But what was so urgent it required an immediate meeting?”
“You’ve already met Riley, right?” Arthur gestured to a petite brunette sitting quietly in the corner of Ryan’s living room.
“Yes, she was placed as a coffee attendant alongside Rose on the executive floor,” I nodded, then paused as a thought struck me. “Please don’t tell me Rose is involved in this mess too?”
“No, fortunately,” Arthur assured me. “The other staff members with access to the executive floors have been thoroughly vetted. They’re loyal to the core. However, Riley and Rose have developed quite a friendly rapport, and as we suspected, Rose has unwittingly witnessed far more than she realizes over her years of service.”
As if on cue, Ryan’s housekeeper showed Rose herself into the living room. The older woman looked nervous, wringing her hands as she approached.
“My Alpha, I had no idea what was happening right under my nose,” she said, standing anxiously before me.
I took her hands in mine and guided her to the sofa. “Rose, please sit. Whatever you know, I’m certain you bear no responsibility for any of this.”
“I spoke with Rose today, Alpha Draven,” Riley explained.”I made it clear how big this was and got her to tell me everything she knew, even the little details. At lunch today, she told me something pretty scary.”
“Please, Rose,” I encouraged, “anything you can tell us could help remove those who are harming the pack and company,the same people who hurt Caroline.”
“Oh, Alpha,” Rose shook her head sadly.”That poor girl didn’t deserve this. I never thought Linda could be so evil. She acts all sweet around you and your dad, but she’s nasty to anyone she thinks is below her.”
Ryan handed Rose a steaming cup of tea, and she accepted it gratefully.
Riley leaned forward, explaining,”After Rose told me how Linda had been acting, I let her know we found out Linda was the one who framed Caroline.I told her anything else she knew could help us catch Linda.”
“Indeed, dear,” Rose nodded, taking a sip of tea before continuing. “Linda was convinced she’d become your executive assistant when Clara announced her transfer. But then Clara declared she wasn’t qualified and hired Caroline instead.That day, Linda stormed into the break room, smashed her coffee mug against the wall, and ordered me to clean it up. She said that’s all someone like me was good for.”
Rose’s hands trembled slightly around her cup. “She’s cruel to everyone beneath her. Later, when Caroline arrived, Linda pretended to be friendly, but I often caught her in the break room, muttering to herself about how much she despised Caroline and plotting ways to get rid of her.”
Alaric growled within me as I listened. How had I been so blind to what was happening in my own company?
“The day you returned from your business trip,” Rose continued, “I overheard Linda calling that Howard girl, telling her you were back so she should come to the office. She reports everything to Howard’s daughter. Where you are, who you’re hanging out with, where you’re eating, all that stuff. She figured you and Caroline would fight because Caroline wouldn’t let that pest in your office, just like Clara said. But you didn’t. And don’t think she’s on Ella Howard’s side either. She talks trash about her all the time, calling her a stupid spoiled princess who can’t do anything right. Says she’s completely unbearable. Which, let’s be real, isn’t wrong.”
I listened, stunned by my own negligence.Everything was starting to make sense,how Ella seemed to appear wherever I went. She was being fed information about my every move.
Rose took another sip of tea and continued, but I could tell from her expression that she was just warming up.
“I discovered long ago that Linda and Howard are having an affair,” she revealed.
My jaw nearly hit the floor.
“They’ve been fooling around for like ten years now. I caught them getting busy in the stairwell once. Both married, both totally shameless. I tried to mind my own business, gross as it was. But I’ve seen them so many times since then, sneaking kisses in corners, her making secret calls to him. They don’t know I know anything. To them, I’m just the coffee lady, invisible.”
“Never to me, Rose,” I squeezed her hand. “Not to Ryan or Clara either. You know that.”
“Yes, Alpha,” she smiled warmly. “I’ve watched you grow up into the leader you are now. Caroline and Clara treat me like a person too. And your parents were such good people, kind to everyone no matter who they were. They didn’t deserve to die in that crash.” She paused, then looked at me confused. “You know, I never got why you paid to stop the investigation. I know you were hurting bad, but I always wondered why you didn’t want to know what really happened.”
Her words hit me like a punch. I couldn’t breathe. My mind was spinning. I had never paid to stop any investigation.
Ryan was the one who broke the heavy silence.
“What do you mean Draven paid to close the accident investigation?” he asked, his voice sharp.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to bring this up,” Rose said quickly. “It’s just been bugging me for years. I wanted to ask you so many times, but you were hurting so bad.”
“Rose, what exactly did you see and hear?” I managed to ask, barely able to speak.
“About a month after your parents died, I was doing my coffee rounds in Ryan’s office. While I was cleaning up at Clara’s desk, this man came in. He introduced himself to Linda as an Alpha Council investigator, said he was looking into your father’s death and had to speak with you.” Rose paused,looking worried. “Linda put on that fake sweet voice she’s so good at and told him you’d put someone else in charge of it, said she’d call them right away.”
Rose’s hands were shaking as she went on. “I thought she meant Beta Ryan, but she called Howard instead, told him to come up because the cop was waiting in the break room. I snuck into the kitchen through the back door and stayed quiet, like I usually do. Linda didn’t see me. Then Howard showed up. He told the investigator you wanted the investigation stopped because you were hurting too much and needed to move on. The investigator said ‘that’s not how it works.’ But Howard kept pushing, saying you’d pay good money for this favor.”
“Rose, why didn’t you ever tell me this?” Ryan asked, looking as stunned as I felt.
“I hadn’t thought about it in forever until now,” Rose said, looking sorry.
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