Chapter 9 Chapter 9
I appreciate your help, but I have a meeting with a few more alphas today and I hope I will be able to figure out something.”
However, mom was back with her questions.
“Did you run off to meet him in the dead of the night? Did he hurt you?” She immediately began checking me for injuries.
“Mom, I am fine. And I need you both to calm down. He isn’t as bad as you think. He didn’t know me yet he saved me in the restaurant, remember?”
Somehow, everybody kept forgetting that. Though, he had also stuck the knife in the rogue’s skin countless times and warned me to run away.
At least, he didn’t shy away from who he was. He was honest about himself.
Mom grabbed my shoulders dramatically and asked, “He isn’t known to help people out of the goodness of his heart. What did he ask for in return? Our pack? Property? Your unborn child?”
My mother was truly weird.
“Technically, he didn’t ask for anything. He just told me to give me something worthy of a trade off in exchange for an alliance.”
Mom and dad exchanged a confused look, disbelief evident in their eyes.
“Just like that?” Dad asked curiously, though I could hear a hint of surprise in those words. Like he was proud that his daughter could pull something like this off.
Mom glared at him and Dad adopted a stern expression yet again.
“He gave me twenty four hours to come up with a solid offer so if you dont mind, I have some serious research and digging to do.”
Meanwhile, mom was completely against the idea.
“No, absolutely not. That man is a menace. He is known to torture people just for the fun of it.”
“I have to agree with your mom, Violet. Nobody wants to deal with him.”
“But thats the exact reason we should go with him. Nobody will mess with our pack if he is by our side. Crisis averted!”
I had not even planned to tell them anything until I had secured the alliance but now I had to live up to my promise of saving my home.
“What will happen if you don't come up with any good within twenty four hours?” Dad asked and I fumbled for a response.
My heart beat erratically when I recalled the way he had promised me torture that sounded a lot like fun.
And for sure I was not going to give my parents a real heart attack by divulging those details.
“I will figure out something, don't worry,” I said, my voice sounding far too hopeful than I was.
“Or you could conveniently miss the deadline and take option two” Rain supplied.
“Shut up” I hissed though I couldn’t deny feeling breathless all of a sudden again.
Sleep wasn’t even an option even though I had been awake for the entire night.
Every minute was precious so I shut the door after telling my parents that I wanted to get some sleep so that they wont disturb me and opened my laptop.
I knew nothing about this man, but it was time I found out.
If he wanted me to find my own way to repay his favor, then I would start by learning who exactly I was dealing with.
“Elijah Lockwood,” I typed into the search bar.
And nothing worthwhile appeared on the screen.
No social media accounts. No tagged photographs. Not even a mention of family.
Not even the infamous video of ours popped up.
Just the same recycled business articles calling him a self-made billionaire alpha, a recluse, an enigma.
One headline read: Lockwood International Alpha Declines Interview for Third Consecutive Year.
Another called him the ghost of the werewolf world.
I leaned back in my chair. A man with wealth, power, and connections that deep should have had his life dissected online. There should be mentions of his string of affairs, scandalous photos of him with girls.
That last part made me pause longer than I should have. Someone as dangerous and powerful as him would definitely have a past.
I told myself it was only curiosity, but I kept searching anyway for photos, rumors, anything. If he had someone in his life, there would be whispers. But there was nothing.
Just a void.
The kind of man who erased his footprints as he walked.
And the more I found nothing, the more I wanted to know why.
I shifted my focus to his empire instead. Lockwood International was an umbrella of tech, logistics, gems and jewellery subsidiaries, each growing exponentially over the past decade.
He didn’t just inherit success; he built it from the ground up. All while simultaneously managing to take his pack from an unknown name to the most respected and feared pack in the country.
The more I read about the way his businesses had scaled up, the more I awestruck I felt.
It had taken me years with Nate to just get our pack running and functioning and this man had so many companies, most of them profitable, all while his pack also ran smoothly.
Respect crept in where resentment should’ve been.
But then I recalled Nate’s words of pure loathing, coupled with that of my parents. Elijah Lockwood had built a name for himself yet they all spoke of him like he was an outcast.
What do I offer a man who already had it all?
He had asked me what I could give him willingly and right now, I had no answer. But what if I could find one? Something that would matter to him. Something that wasn’t just gratitude or duty.
And I feared for my parents' safety, so I kept digging.
I clicked through pages until a familiar name flashed across my screen: The Emerald Project.
My pulse kicked.
It was the same acquisition project I had poured months into at Nate’s firm. Late nights, endless drafts, countless rejections, all for a proposal Nate would now present as his own.
And here was Elijah’s company, listed among the top competitors.
It couldn’t be a coincidence.
I opened the project file link and scanned the details. His bid was strong but lacked the emotional angle that made proposals stand out. It was technical perfection without heart.
And that was something I understood better than anyone.
I quickly tried opening my mails but I realized my access was blocked. Irritation bristled through me.
But luckily, I had all the important files and presentations on my laptop.
The hands of the clock struck 7 am. My eyes burned, but I didn’t stop reading until the sunrays had made themselves clearly visible and spilled across the sky.
By 9 am, I still hadn’t slept, but I’d made my decision.