Chapter 39 - Healing the Broken Alpha
River
I sat behind my massive pine desk in the study that I hadn’t occupied in more than a year. This room had been the official office of every Blackstone alpha since my great, great grandfather had constructed this packhouse in the 1800s. I found a certain comfort in the shelves of books, the old Tiffany lamps, the leather chairs that had century-old butt prints pressed into their upholstery.
I was mentally giving credit to the familiar room, but in fact, that feeling of comfort was coming from the small woman who was curled up on the couch with her dark head bent over a book. I had no idea what she was reading; it didn’t seem possible that the shelves of antiquarian books could possibly hold anything that interesting, but she hadn’t looked up in forever.
And I wanted her to look up. I wanted her to turn her attention toward me. I wanted to see her dark, fathomless eyes, I wanted her smile. So much so that I was feeling a stirring of resentment against that book. How dare an inanimate object hold my little mate’s attention?
What on earth was wrong with me? I was like a needy little boy demanding center stage. But I didn’t want all eyes on me, only hers.
Which was making it entirely difficult to focus on the papers that were spread across my desk. They were the account statements for the last twelve months, as well as several reports and spreadsheets. The Blackstone Pack and my responsibilities as an alpha were distinctly separate and independent from Blackstone Innovations. And for the last year, my younger half-brother Asher had been running the pack.
In some respects, he had done better than I expected. He had peacefully resolved several disputes and had tendered a few lucrative trade agreements. I couldn’t help but wonder if he had done those deals on his own, or if he had acted under the guidance of my father. If Asher had followed my father’s advice, that was actually another point in his favor.
Asher wasn’t known to take advice from anyone. Especially not me or our father. He believed he already had all the answers. It was a stubborn trait that made him a very poor leader.
I made a mental note to ask my father about it later.
Aside from the positive developments, however, there were some areas of concern that I needed to address. Including the reallocation of a substantial amount of pack funds into several risky investment ventures. One of which was a million dollar capital equity investment in my uncle Richard’s demolition company. Investing pack funds into a family-owned business was a clear conflict of interest.
I picked up my phone and scrolled through the numbers until I came upon my uncle Richard. He used to be my father’s beta, until I took over the pack at age twenty one. He then retired and started his demolition company, saying it had always been his boyhood fantasy to “blow s.hit up.”
As far as I knew, Richard’s company was doing well.
So why had Asher put a million dollars into it?
Of course, I would be sitting down with Asher to discuss all of these situations, both the good and the bad. But when it came to my uncle’s business, I really wanted to hear from both sides. “Hello, Uncle Richie?” I said, using the familiar nickname that I had used since I was a child.
“River my boy! So good to hear from you, sorry I didn’t get a chance to shake your hand at the ceremony! Congratulations! I couldn’t be happier for you!” I held the phone to my ear, but my eyes shifted to Lenora.
Yes, indeed, I should be congratulated. She was perfect.
“So happy and relieved that you’ve returned to us!”
“Yes, thanks, but about that… I was just auditing the pack funds for the past year, and I noticed that Asher has invested a considerable amount of money into RB Demolitions.”
“Yes! Yes, I expected there would be questions about that!” He sounded completely unperturbed. In fact, his tone was jovial and confident.
“Perhaps we could arrange a meeting, to discuss it in detail?” I suggested.
“Sure, sure! Why don’t you and your lovely new mate come join us for dinner tomorrow? I’m sure your Aunt Maggie would love a chance to get to know the new luna!”
I pursed my lips together. That was not the formal business meeting I had envisioned. But maybe it would be good to introduce Lenora to the rest of the family. Although I had issues with my cousin Zachary, I had always gotten along well with my aunt and uncle. Aunt Maggie was a warm, caring woman, and would be a far better role model for Lenora than my cold, snobbish stepmother.
“That sounds like a lovely idea,” I said, twiddling my pen between my fingers. “Should we bring anything?”
“Well, if you happened to snag a bottle of that blackberry wine that you were serving at your ceremony, I wouldn’t complain!”
I smiled and nodded, even though Richard couldn’t see the motion of my head. “Alright, so, tomorrow night, at six?”
“Better make it six-thirty!”
“Okay, we’ll see you then. Tell Aunt Maggie I said hello.”
I cut the call and sighed. “Looks like we have a dinner engagement tomorrow.”
Lenora finally raised her head from the book, and she had that worried, anxious look on her face. “I’d like you to meet my aunt and uncle, and I have some business to discuss with them.”
“O-okay.” She lowered her eyes.
I hated it when she did that.
I picked up the phone again, this time dialling my brother. “Asher? We need to sit down and discuss the audit…”
Across the room, at the mention of my brother, Lenora snapped her book shut and lurched to her feet.
On the phone, my brother was already snappish and defensive. “I’d really appreciate it if you could make the time,” I said, cutting off the flow of excuses. “This afternoon, preferably.”
Lenora walked stiffly to the shelf and replaced the book she had been reading, and then she turned, and headed purposefully to the door. I quickly cut the call.
“Nora,” I felt an unreasonable sense of panic, as I realized she was leaving. “Where are you going?”
“Bathroom,” she mumbled, without looking back at me.
I had the distinct feeling that she had no intentions of returning to the study after she used the facilities.