~Celine~
I fell asleep on Alpha Kilhan’s chest after I couldn’t stop worrying about Alpha Marcus and my father catching up with me.
Waking up, I looked around his room to see if everything was still in place, and I saw that my father and his friend were yet to rain hell over the house.
I let out a deep sigh and looked across the room for Alpha Kilhan but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I got out of bed and made my way out of his room.
As I walked down the hallway, I sighted all the pack members seated in the living room with Alpha Kilhan in front of them.
‘They have a pack meeting today?’ I wondered as I made my way down the stairs and to where the meeting was taking place.
‘Maybe hearing something new and far from my dilemma will make me forget the hell I am in.’
When Alpha Kilhan saw me, a wide smile lit up his face, and Drex, who happened to be saying something, stopped talking.
Alpha Kilhan waved at me to move closer to him and I did. He tapped the couch he sat on, telling me to sit next to him. With a forced smile on my face, I settled next to him.
As I sat, I felt his arm wrapped around my waist from behind, pulling me closer to him. I blinked in surprise and looked at his face.
‘Are you really going to play love in your pack meeting?’ I thought, this time, a genuine smile overshadowed the forced one I had on.
“You can continue, Drex.” He said to Drex, who nodded and continued speaking.
“Thank you, Alpha Kilhan. Like I said, we need to go to these cities to investigate the work going on. Like it’s being rumored, some Alphas have the same motive as us, which is expanding their businesses to these same cities. We are in competition, and if we are to win, we can’t be in one place. Alpha Kilhan, we need to spread out.”
As Drex spoke, they all nodded in agreement, except me. I just watched and kept thinking of a way out of my own problem, using Drex’s suggestion.
“Fine. I do understand you. We have designated areas already, right? We should just stick to that.” Alpha Kilhan answered, and they all nodded again.
“Does that mean you’ll be going back to Beacon city?” I asked in a whisper, and he nodded and turned to look at me.
My heart thumped against my chest as I quickly thought about it.
‘If he goes back to Beacon City, Xavier may tell it to my father or Alpha Marcus, and they may attack him there. I can’t let him go there.’
“Are you alright?” I heard him ask as my mind wandered off.
I gulped hard and nodded, flashing a smile. I looked at Drex and raised my hand.
“Do you want to say something?” Alpha Kilhan asked me, and I bobbed.
He nodded and I stood to my feet. “I have a suggestion.” My eyes wandered to their faces, and rested on Betty’s, who didn’t seem to be having it.
But who cares?
“Let’s have it, Miss Jessica.” Drex uttered.
“So I was thinking, since New York has so many cities, and we are looking at some and not all, why don’t we add more cities to the plan? For instance, let’s say we are targeting ten cities in New York, and these cities are becoming a competition, can we just add more cities? So that if we tend to fall short in one of the cities, there will be another city to make up for that.”
After I stopped talking, there was silence in the room, and I could almost hear my own heart beating fast in my chest.
‘Why are they so quiet? Didn't it make any sense?’ I wondered, turning to look at Alpha Kilhan who also seemed to be lost in thoughts.
“You really think we can add more cities to the ones we have on ground when we are finding it hard to manage these?” Betty broke in silence, scoffing and shaking her head in disbelief.
“You don’t understand me…”
“We are yet to gain ground in the cities in plan, and you want us to add more?” Betty butted in, spiking anger inside of me.
“Can you just shut up and let me explain?!” I answered in fury, commanding silence to her. I felt Alpha Kilhan touch my back and I turned to look at him.
He gave me the “calm down” look, and I nodded slowly.
“What I’m just suggesting is, we don’t know the capacity of other Alphas, so we can’t just put our eggs in one basket. Having so many options will help. So instead of going to the places we have been before, let’s go somewhere new. We can always pay trusted people some money to look over the old works for us.
“And this doesn’t mean we’d abandon it. Of course, not. But then, we’ll have many baskets to put our eggs in.”
After speaking, Drex and a few others nodded in understanding, but Betty still wasn’t having it.
“You keep using the word ‘we’ as if you had an idea about all of these. You were not even given anything to do. I bet you haven’t handled a city before and that’s why you’re talking like it’s so easy to just move from the plan we have on ground before just because you feel it’s the right thing to do!” She smacked, causing me to raise my eyebrows in awe.
“Betty, that’s enough!” Alpha Kilhan smacked, standing to his feet. Everyone else hastily stood up and lowered their head, except Betty of course, who seemed to be boiling in anger.
“We’ll continue this meeting at night. Everyone disperse, do and think about the options we have. We’ll vote to decide which one we are going for.”
After he finished talking, everyone started walking away.
“Betty!” Drex called, trying to hold her hand, but she snatched her hand from him and stormed away.
“What the hell is wrong with her? I was just trying to help.” I said to Alpha Kilhan, and he nodded.
“I know, baby. Just don’t think about it so much, okay? She was probably in a bad mood. Come, let’s go to my office.” He answered, holding my hand as we both walked to his office.
As we walked, I kept praying that the majority would vote for my suggestion so that Alpha Kilhan wouldn’t have to go to Beacon City anymore.
‘I need him somewhere new. Somewhere that may be safe for him.”
After we got to his office, I sat on the couch and he laid down, resting his head on my thighs.
“What did you think about my suggestion?” I asked, and he let out a deep sigh.
“It’s a great suggestion, Jessica. But… this will require more work because then we’ll have to start from the very beginning for the new cities. This will also take more time. Like Betty said, we need to gain ground in these planned cities first, then we’ll target others.”
While he spoke, I folded my arms on my chest and began to sulk. “I just wanted to help. You don’t have to support Betty.” I mumbled.
He raised his hand and cupped my face. “C’mon Jessica, I wasn’t supporting her, I was just sharing my thoughts with you. But don’t worry, okay. We’ll know what’s going to happen in the next meeting.”
“Fine. But do you have to go to Beacon City? You’re going to leave me here and travel there?” I muttered sadly, and he shook his head.
“We can go together if you want. And it wouldn’t be so sudden. I would still spend more time with you at home before leaving. I have been keeping close track with my manager there. So I may not have to stay there for very long.”
“Well, do you have to go at all? Since the work is going well, we can go on our honeymoon.” I added, lowering my upper body so I could kiss him.
He swept his hand behind my head and pulled me in even more, taking dominance of the kiss. We both opened our mouth as we fought for dominance.
He slowly moved his head up from my leg, still holding onto my head. And just when he grabbed my head with his hands, a weird sensation suddenly washed over me.
“Hm.” I moaned as I placed my hand on his chest and slightly pushed him off.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, and when I opened my mouth to speak, the urgency to puke was so intense that I covered my mouth with my hand.
“Jessica?!” He called, as I rushed out of his office to the nearest bathroom. Entering the restroom, I grabbed onto the toilet and started vomiting.
My head felt so empty and my eyes could hardly stay open after I finished puking. I stood up from the floor and dragged my feet to the basin.
“Hey baby, are you alright?? Should I call the doctor?” Alpha Kilhan asked from behind me, rubbing my back to give me some comfort.
“I’m fine. You don’t have to call the doctor.” I muttered as I rinsed my mouth and face off.
“Do you need to lie down?” He asked, and I nodded.
“I need some water too. I’d love to lie down in my room.” I answered, cleaning my wet face with a towel.
I headed out of the restroom with him and headed to my room. As we walked, he kept his hand around me.
“I can walk, okay?” I uttered with a faint smile, but he ignored me and kept holding me until I got to my room. He laid me on the bed and tucked me in.
“I’ll get you some water.” He uttered, planting a kiss on my forehead before heading out.
As soon as he stepped out, I reached for my phone on my bedside table and when I unlocked it, I saw a message from Alpha Marcus.
He sent a photo message, alongside the address he wanted us to meet. I downloaded the photo and when it came on my screen, my eyes widened.
It was a picture of the front of Alpha Kilhan’s apartment. While I stared at the picture in terror, I saw him typing and another message from him popped in.
“I’m closer than you think. I give you twenty-four hours to decide what you want. Come to meet or let me handle it that way I know best.”
Reading it, my breathing grew intense and sweat began to ooze out from my pores.
“What do I do, Kiara?”
“Just tell Kilhan everything already!” Kiara answered with fear too.