Chapter 46: Business.

Bella pov.

“One more thing,” Elder Elian said before he closed the door, making me pause and turn my head back towards him, “John wanted me to let you know that the king and queen will be coming earlier than expected… his father, the late king, is dying, he’s been poisoned.”

I sucked in a sharp inhale of breath, wondering why John wouldn't have told me something this important himself.

His father was poisoned and is dying… When did he find out? Why didn’t he come to me? I would’ve been there for him…

“Thanks for letting me know… if that is all, I’d like to be alone now,” I mumbled, turning my back towards him and looking out the window. Trying to focus on anything but him and what he has said.

I heard the door click shut behind me, some of the tension I felt slipping away.

My shoulder’s slumped as a shaky breath escaped me.

I know I did this to myself, but it doesn’t make the small ache go away.

I thought maybe we were at a point where we’d be able to trust each other with something like that.

I mean, he had Elian tell me but… I would’ve much rather he did it himself. I could’ve tried to comfort him in any way I could.

I feel like when anything good is happening to me I always manage to mess it up somehow.

No matter what I do… no matter how hard I tried.

I rubbed my face with both hands as I groaned out loud, not knowing what I should do with myself as I waited for my life to unravel. For time to tell…

I have Megan to worry about.

The bond with Garrett.

And John. Poor, poor John who is about to lose his father and potentially get in a lot of trouble for helping me…

I don’t even know what’s going to happen with that, is he going to the kingdom? Are they bringing his father here? Would he want me to go with him…

More questions that will most likely go unanswered. Until I could build the courage to ask John.

I finally decided to sit down and try to focus on something productive, at least knowing Megan is in good hands and I don’t have to worry about her.

I started pulling out paperwork that has been long overdue. Especially since Garrett took mostly all of our funding for the pack…

I’ve had to put my personal savings into building new housing for our newest pack members, and keeping them going while we find them all jobs.

At the bottom of the pile was the stack of paperwork I’ve been working on secretly. No one knows about this deal I’ve secured with a hotel in the human city.

I was working on owning this hotel since before I even met Garrett.

It was the one place my parents and I stayed at frequently when I was growing up.

The old owner, a man named Bill, had grown on me.

And I grew on him.

He’s a lone wolf. A wolf who didn’t need to live in a pack. A wolf who did better on his own.

He built in detectors so no vampires could get in or out.

And there’s a wall of “fame” that has pictures of all the people who aren’t welcome there. Werewolves, witches, humans. Just anyone who’s wronged the hotel or any of the guests who’ve stayed here, searching for safety.

The Grimore hotel. Known for its protection, comfort and security.

My fingers brushed against the pages before I began reading them.

70% ownership.

70% of bills to cover.

Management and new staff.

Renovations, if needed, will need to be covered.

100,000$ to own 100% of the hotel unless the person with the 30% shares says otherwise.

I hummed as I continued to read through it.

It was pretty basic. Since it was entirely up to Bill what happened I was happy with the outcome.

And once the hotel takes off I’ll be able to give him the one hundred grand and obtain full ownership of it! I can tell it’s going to do well, just by the way it always made me feel when I was there. It deserves more acknowledgment, more attention.

I smiled to myself for the first time today.

Genuinely happy with something that went my way…

I tucked the papers back at the bottom of the stack, deciding to continue to keep it hidden from everyone else, including John.

He’s the only other person who’s come in here anyways, no one else has a reason to.

John actually takes care of a lot of the work I’ve been getting behind on.

Since Garrett left he’s been holding me up.

Holding the pack up.

It’s just been hard at the start. I didn’t expect it to be so hard but it has been.

From trying to keep the financial stability continuing, to finding new jobs and housing for the Twilight pack members, to raising my daughter and keeping my house in check but still focusing on being a leader and a good alpha.

It’s been hard, almost next to impossible really.

If it wasn’t for John, or Martha, I don’t know where I’d be right now.

I was so confident at the start, so positive. But now, reality has hit me and I’m starting to realize that when someone doesn’t want you to succeed or win… usually that karma gets you, when you least expect it to.

And I, for one, know that Garrett doesn’t want to see me win. And he’ll do whatever it takes to see me losing. To him.