Chapter 6: Moonblood

Alaric Moonblood passively looked at the pale-faced, sweating men in front of him without much thought; the entire scene in the boardroom reflected from the floor-to-ceiling tinted glass windows on the top floor of one of the skyscrapers that littered the block overlooking the Hudson River.

This merger, or rather, this acquisition, is by no means taking too much of his time, and he's growing impatient fast. He's confident enough that his acquisition team has been quite accommodating and has reviewed the demands of the director of the board and the board members themselves of the company they are acquiring, taking into consideration the employees below the top floor that will need to transition with the change of management. It's just any other Monday.

Honestly, this company didn't have much to offer, and the debt they owed has been compounding for the last five or so years, making it a sinking ship. The company, though, has established its presence in the publishing world, a branch of business that Alaric just took into consideration as the company had been in knots for quite a few years now, having struggled to earn a considerable amount of revenue or at least breakeven after the economy collapsed, and with technology being so fast-paced, the company just could not keep up. Alaric looked at the company's portfolio before the meeting started—its assets and liabilities—and figured that with the debt it had accumulated over the years, he was betting his money that the company was about to go bankrupt in less than a year. With the numbers in front of him earlier, he even deduced that it would happen in maybe under six months.

He should have listened to his Beta, Maximus Thunderclaw, or Max when he said he would handle the acquisition, and he didn't need to show up personally in the meeting. Max is running everything smoothly, and the negotiations were all in their favor and for all the employees that will soon report to his own group of companies. The company is one of the smaller ones they acquired in the last couple of years. Still, because one of his visions for his business empire is to have multiple lines of businesses in different fields and areas of expertise, they are wrapping up another successful acquisition.

It took another couple more hours of legal discussions before everything was signed, sealed, and delivered. In this part, the CEO of the multi-billion-dollar company he solely owns is highly needed to close the deal. The transition and alignment of the company to his bigger group will start in the next twenty-four hours, something that another specialized team handles for mergers or acquisitions like this. They set the announcement of the changes for a meeting in an hour or so. He insisted they get it over with the same day they signed everything in formality, a tradition he always strictly stuck with.

"You ready?" Max asked, knowing it had been a long day for him.

"You really have to ask that?" Alaric asked in return for his attention to the skyline and the river. Something felt odd today, and that's not something he likes. He lives with schedules and appointments, having his days planned out weeks ahead—from when he woke up to the last minute until he sleeps. Being a Lycan and an Alpha of all Alphas on the eastern seaboard of North America, he doesn't require much sleep and can't sleep for too long anyway. The pack and his business empire need his attention all the time.

Max just shrugged and replied, "You've been off lately."

"Yeah, right." He replied, not taking his eyes off the view. Maybe I just need a drink or two," he added.

"Maybe you need to get laid," Max stated matter-of-factly. Werewolves don't get drunk, but it eases their nerves for some time. To Lycans, though, alcohol tastes more like diluted lemonade, and the only reason they drink any type of alcohol is to sate their mating haze for a few hours.

"Don't remind me." Alaric scowled. Max, though, has a point. It's been too long, way too long, since he had good, hard, and satisfying mind-blowing sex that leaves you senseless and weak to the bones, and maybe that's what he badly needed to get some steam off.

It wasn't because he lacked any female attention; in fact, many women called on him and flocked around him like flies, sometimes even more annoying than flattering, and he didn't even have to work too hard on getting a woman's attention. They are just about everywhere.

His Lycan genes and Alpha status don't make it easier for women to not get attracted to him either. Alaric stands at six feet five, and in his wolf form, he is taller than a four-by-four truck. His eyes were the color of warm amber with flecks of green, and in his wolf form, they turned bright gold. He grew his thick, dark brown hair long just because it grew faster than most, and he kept his beard tamed and trimmed most days. Alaric's body is every woman's wet dream. Everything about him comprises muscle and charm; his whole being screams of pure power and demands undulating respect for an Alpha. If you want to get fucked real good, find a man like Alaric, and it sure will be a night full of pleasure and never regrets.

Alaric doesn't have any excuses either for not getting some action since he does attend cursory functions and compulsory parties that he needs to be present at, where he can fuck anyone he likes. After all, he is unmated and has been so for two decades. Someone unmated for that long can't be a virgin, especially when he's in the mating haze. It's a wonder he hasn't succumbed to madness after being unmated for that long. Most ordinary werewolves succumbed to the rage, even after five years of being unmated.

They say it's all because he is a lycanthrope, not just a mere werewolf. His genetic makeup is a hundred times stronger and more resilient than that of an ordinary werewolf; werewolves are already powerful beings known to the supernatural world. But still, twenty years is a phenomenally long time to have no one to claim as his mate.

Alaric contemplates this fact more often these days. He does feel off, even to himself, lately. "Do you think it's getting into me?" He asked Max. "The madness of being unmated, I mean?"

Max looked at him like he had indeed lost his mind. "Are you kidding me right now?" he asked. "You are our Alpha, Alaric." He continued after a pause. "Not just any other fucking Alpha, but the entrusted Lycan Alpha of all Alphas in the Eastern Seaboard by no other than the Lycan King himself," Max said with emphasis. He nodded and added, "Man, you need to get laid. Fast. Soon."

Alaric smirked and stood up, buttoning his jacket while he was at it. "Let's get this over with then."

The room is filled with more or less a hundred people in less than ten minutes, having been instructed beforehand that only the people who lead the departments or the representatives of each department attend the meeting. Everyone knew what it was all about, but everyone kept quiet as much as possible and talked in hushed whispers, not wanting to speculate too much about how much change the new acquisition would bring to everyone involved. Many people in the breakrooms were already talking in hushed tones about possible massive layoffs and whatnot, something we are all familiar with when a purchase or any type of merger happens in a company.

*I wasn't supposed to be here.*

Coming back too soon to work this Monday was something I didn't plan. I was supposed to be on my honeymoon on a gorgeous island in the Maldives, but we all know how that went. Since I have nothing else to do in Dana's apartment, and being bored and unproductive is not something I'd typically do, I decided to cancel the remaining days of my leave. I didn't show up to work for more than a week because of my wedding fiasco, so I decided to compensate for the work I missed and get my life running as normally as possible again.

*Remind me again why I'm here.*

I'm not a department head, let alone someone who brushes elbows with the higher management team, but what choice do I have? Helen, our department head, called in sick at this opportune time. With everyone else having their own urgent tasks and running around like headless chickens for the department audit, I, unfortunately, drew the short end of the stick and got picked to attend this meeting. No, scratch that. I was volunteered by my co-workers, saying it was to make up for my "lost time."

It wasn't long before the people that usually stay in the boardroom joined the room, and the hushed whispers of everyone immediately died down to utter silence. You can even hear a pin drop. The acquisition announcement came, and nobody was shocked about it. Next was the timeline of how they wanted to align all departments, some audits as expected, and who the consultants were for each department. That one really goes to the bigwigs. I was glad I didn't have to be in the same room as these guys, who looked super intimidating and serious about getting things their way and would execute things flawlessly.

They were calling the CEO next to speak some words on the stage when my phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. I was glad I placed it on silent mode before getting in, or else it would have blasted my latest pick of Taylor Swift's songs in the hall. I looked at the phone screen and recognized the fertility clinic's caller ID immediately.

*I have to take this call. Damn it.*

I was told beforehand that they would call to confirm my next appointment, and I didn't want to miss it. It was a good thing I decided to sit in the back row of the room near the exit doors, and I casually stood up, smiled, and nodded at the security nearby. The security detail didn't even look my way, so I assumed it was okay to go out. I rushed outside and was met with a gush of wind from the outside as I closed the heavy doors behind me, eager to take the clinic's call for my next appointment.