Chapter 41
LAKE:
Kenji carefully explained the routine of the warrior’s training to me. We were both cut off when Red stirred in the bed. We stopped and turned to her.
I knew he had noticed her awake for some time, but we had both ignored it. I watched her sit up on the bed, facial features enhanced by the sunlight gracing her face. Apart from her red hair, I appreciated the way her striking green eyes gave her a mysterious aura. She had striking and naturally glowing skin. She turned her face to us.
“Good morning, Alpha. Beta Kenji.” Her voice was patchy from sleep. I found her morning voice beautiful. She seemed as though she would speak, but she never did.
I was going to ask about her night but immediately decided against it. I did not need Kenji throwing me cautioning glares anymore. It was bad enough that he had seen us both in bed.
Kenji’s phone beeped, and his attention diverted to the device. He smiled as he read the text, before looking up at me.
“It’s Mrs. Smith. She sends her regards.”
Mrs. Smith.
I knew that name. The strange female who owned the equally strange restaurant he had dragged me into.
“What do you have with her?”
He was silent before he heaved a long sigh.
“I’ll tell you, but can we get out of here?” Kenji asked.
I put a foot forward, ready to follow him behind when his phone rang again. I could swear I felt steam from the vapor of anger boiling in my stomach, escape through my ears.
He muttered an apology before picking up the call, his face lighting up in the middle of the call. I could hear Red tiptoe to the bathroom while the call went on.
“Okay, I’ll come over later… Yes, later, I still have a lot to do here at work.” His voice was laced with glee as he spoke. The call went on for a few minutes before he turned to me.
“It was Jade. She’s back in the city. At our family home for now.” He was so excited to see her. I wasn’t, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Tell her welcome on my behalf.”
Jade was the only woman in the world he knew the buttons needed to push me to the wall, she never hesitated to push them.
Red returned to the room and she offered me a small smile, even when she knew I would never return it. It was the sincerity of the smile that caught me.
“Thank you alpha, for everything. You saved me yesterday. You… you have a good heart and only the goddess can repay your kindness.” She was as meek as a dove while she spoke.
And I?
I scoffed.
Good heart indeed.
I sought to let her know I was far from a good man. I was a fucking predator, Lucifer in the wolf skin. And I had planned to make her wrench in pain after rejecting her, but not today. I was in no mood for the drama involved.
I placed a call to Neil instead.
“Coffee. One expresso and one latte.”
When I returned my gaze to her, she had disappeared into the bathroom. She was in a hurry to leave, but I was in no hurry to let her go. It was strange. It had always been the other way around.
I had planned to take River on a run today but he seemed content just being around her. She was easy, perhaps, too easy for me.
She came out of the shower just as I was handed the coffee. I pushed the latte coffee into her hand, raking my eyes through her body.
She stood in a simple green jumpsuit, matching her green eyes. Her hair was styled in a tight ponytail with a few stubborn strands decorating her forehead. The jumpsuit clung to her body like a second skin, pronouncing the shapely curves of her small build. When she stepped out of this room, other men would have their eyes on her. Neither River nor I were pleased by this fact.
“Thank you.” She muttered the two words for the umpteenth time.
I said nothing and watched in silence until she downed every drop of coffee in her cup. She placed the cup on the table and picked up her bag.
“Goodbye.” She murmured.
Without waiting for a response, she moved past me to the door.
I saw her pause when she reached it. She was stuck on the spot, as though she sensed darkness and demons waiting at the other end of it.
I knew the cause. It was him. Kenji had informed me his name was Harris. He was currently in the same jail with her Aunty and the woman’s rapist of a son. Harris would be an outcast by this time tomorrow, and her aunt? I did not know about her yet.
Why was I getting involved in family matters that did not concern me? I did not know. Neither did I plan to stop.
In one swift motion, I was behind her. When she tried to pull the door open, my left hand closed it shut.
“He would not be able to hurt you anymore.” It was both the truth and a promise. I was grateful it sounded like both.
“How sure are you?”
She looked up at me. Those eyes as green as leaves on a willow tree had so great a fear embedded in them. It angered me.
My fingers traced the skin of her chin as I lifted her face so that she had no choice but to look into my eyes.
“This sure.”
I pressed my lips against hers, her response was fast and eager. She had wanted this for as long as I had.
She took control of the kiss and I let her. I was turned on by her new aura of bravery. She broke the kiss just when it got deeper.
I leaned into her and whispered against her lips.
“Trust me.”
“He almost killed him, Alpha. I had never seen him so angry. He would be making him an outcast today, too. All because he was supposedly trying to take advantage of her.”
Neil reported the events of the previous night to Lake’s father. He looked down at the photo in his eyes, brows squinted as though searching for something.
“Lake does not care about anyone but himself. And my mother. So why would he care about this ordinary girl? She’s a beautiful woman, but that doesn’t count as jack-shit. And she’s too young for him.” Alpha Cole complained as he leaned into his chair. Even in the dark, Neil could see the worried creases on the man’s forehead.
Pin-drop silence enveloped the room. Alpha Cole flipped through the pages of the extensive report file Neil had compiled on Jojo.
“Dorcas Wyatt is her mother’s name?”
It was more of an exclamation than a question, but Neil nodded eagerly.
“Yes, Alpha.”
Alpha Cole’s expression hardened.
“She had a brain hemorrhage? Is she still in the hospital?” He asked again. The sudden interest in Jojo’s mother caused Neil to raise a brow.
“Yes, but we’ve cleared her bills. She’s receiving treatment now.”
Neil watched the man take out a cigar and place it in between his fingers.
“How much?”
“Eight million dollars in total, Alpha,” Neil replied.
The man’s hands seized in the air, with the cigar in it. He dropped his hand and faced Neil squarely.
“Eight million what? What has gone wrong with him? That much money for a silly girl?! What is he now? A philanthropist?!”
Neil knew better than to respond. He allowed the alpha to lean against his chair and sigh, twirling his cigar.
Did you try to find out if she’s perhaps, his mate?”
The mate bond.
Neil’s eyes widened. Of course! That was the only thing powerful enough to change a man like Lake! How had he not thought of it?
“I’m not sure, Alpha but I’ll find out.”
“Do that. Have you gotten him to interact with Jessika Rells lately?”
Neil shook his head, a sign for no.
“He hasn’t attended any meeting I’ve set up with her. However, in a few days, he’ll have to attend a party and she’ll be there…”
He replied, “Change of plans. Let Jessika be for now. From now on, keep a close eye on my son and the outcast girl. She would be useful if she can give us an heir. Have they had sex yet?”
Neil blinked twice and swallowed hard. The question was… uncomfortable.
“I… I cannot tell, sir. I do not know.” Neil answered.
“That’s okay. Just keep a closer eye on him.” Alpha Cole instructed and Neil bowed.
“Will do, Alpha.”
“That good-for-nothing woman better be good enough to carry his heir. She has an eye for things out of her league, just like her father.”This is the property of Nô-velDrama.Org.
Neil did not know what to make of the last four words.
His phone beeped and he peeped into it on the table. It was Lake.
“He wants a driver to take her to the hospital,” Neil spoke up.
“Go.” It was a command.