Chapter 52 - Healing the Broken Alpha
River
I refused to let Lenora out of my sight. In fact, when she was absent for more than a few minutes, I found myself becoming increasingly agitated and unsettled. At Blackstone we shared my corner office. I had a second, smaller desk moved in and placed near the window, at her request.
It didn't matter if she actually did any work; it was enough just for her to be present. But Lenora wasn’t content just to be a showpiece in the office. She had files piled up all round her so high that I could barely see the top of her head. She was steadily familiarizing herself with all of our major projects and accounts, as well as the multitude of packs that we did business with. She kept a notebook beside her and from time to time she scribbled notes to herself.
The longer she worked, the deeper the frown line grew between her eyebrows. She flipped open another file and started to read. After a moment she cleared her throat, rose to her feet, and walked around her desk to mine, and stood beside my chair. “River?”
“Yes?”
“Can you explain something to me?” She slid the open file in front of me on the desk.
I quickly scanned the documents. “What is it that you don’t understand?”
“It seems to me that Blackstone has all but taken control of the Gold Mountain Pack,” she said, twisting a pen between her fingers.
“Financially, yes. But their Alpha still retains his position.”
“But…” she gestured to the pile of files. “There are dozens of packs in that pile… and they are all the same… you over-extend their credit, and then seize their assets when they can’t repay. Isn’t that kind of… underhanded?”
I slowly closed the file. “It was Zachary’s brainchild,” I explained. “And it goes beyond business. There have always been problems keeping the peace between the packs. I guess it’s in our blood, the need to dominate, the need to be the Alpha of all Alphas. But in this modern age, with human’s peripherally aware of our existence now, and eyeing us fearfully, it’s more important than ever to keep the peace. We can’t continue to wage bloody battles with our rival packs without drawing unwanted media attention to the entire species. If we let the human population see that we are bloodthirsty and lawless, what do you think is going to happen?”
Lenora shivered and leaned closer to me. “They’ll want to police us. Or exterminate us.”
“Right,” I agreed grimmly. Yet I was pleased that she grasped the seriousness of the problem. “In Canada they have a king, but here in the USA, no pack is going to accept an Alpha King without a fight. So Zachary came up with this plan to financially castrate problem alphas. If they don’t have the disposable income, they can’t gather the resources to wage war on other packs. It keeps their focus on their immediate duties. The health and wellbeing of their own pack.”
She chewed on her lower lip, her expression still troubled. “But who gets to decide which packs need to be controlled. Haven’t you and Zachary essentially set yourselves up as the ruling pack? The unofficial King of the Alphas?”
I ducked my head. It was true, but I had never heard it spoken out loud quite like that.
“I know it sounds bad, but it's been an effective strategy. In the last five years, peace has prevailed in our area. There have been a few minor skirmishes, but nothing major.”
“And Blackstone gets richer and richer in the process?”
I shrugged, “Its not a crime to make money, Lenora. It’s capitalism.”
“So that’s how my father racked up a five-hundred thousand dollar debt to Blackstone?” Her voice was getting dangerously soft. She gestured to the files. “I haven’t seen my pack’s file amongst these. Are you hiding it from me?”
I frowned at her desk. “Not deliberately. Maybe you just haven’t found it yet.”
“So you were going to bankrupt Ridgemoore? Take control of it by holding the purse strings?”
I set the file she had given me carefully aside and turned to fully face her. “At the time, Lenora, your father seemed…well, erratic and unpredictable.”
“And now?” She pressed, moving closer to my chair. Her eyes were glittering in a way that I hadn’t noticed before. Her soft voice had a menacing edge that made my heart beat faster, with excitement, rather than fear.
“Your grandfather is a capable and effective leader,” I said calmly, reaching for her hand to draw her into the space between my thighs.
“Mmmhmm,” she agreed. “But my grandfather is old. He won’t be the alpha forever.”
“That’s true,” I knew we were venturing into very volatile territory.
“What will Blackstone do when my brother takes over?”
The question hung in the air between us. I think we both knew that her brother was an idiot. He was definitely the kind of Alpha we red-flagged in our closed-door meetings. “That depends on your brother,” I pointed out carefully. “If he is wise with his finances and discerning, he won’t enter into any financial agreements that would jeopardize the pack. But almost without fail, hot-headed alphas can’t resist the offers that Blackstone presents them with. No one forces them into these deals, they do it themselves.” I slid my hands around the soft swell of her hips. “Your brother is starting out with a clean slate,” I reminded her, perhaps foolishly. “Because of you, the debt that Ridgemoore owed was forgiven.”
“Oh yes,” she purred, leaning into me, climbing over my thighs so that she was seated snugly in my lap. “You traded five hundred thousand dollars… for me.”
I couldn’t tell if she was serious, or if she was playing. Given the stiffness of her spine, I knew I better handle it delicately. “I never meant it as a disrespect to you, Lenora. You were the one I wanted, and I didn’t think you would agree to marry me any other way.”
She leaned close, so her lips were just a brush away from mine. I thought she was going to kiss me. My heart was racing in anticipation of the moment her soft lips would connect with mine. I ran my hands up my back to her shoulders to press her closer, and close that gap of a mere two centimeters, but when I pressed, her body resisted.
Her hands braced against my shoulders. “What you and Zachary are doing to those other packs, what you did to my pack, it’s wrong. It’s deceitful.” She slapped the file that was still on my desk. “I’m not even sure it’s entirely legal.” She reared back and gave me a disapproving glare. “I’m disappointed in you, River Blackstone.”