Chapter 12 Terms of Surrender
POV: Eric
“Is the territory clean?”
Cael sets the file on the desk. That hard crease between his brows only disappears when the job’s done. “South is secure and the accounts are clean. We can finally breathe, Alpha.”
I spin the Montblanc between my fingers, eyes on the inkwell instead of the skyline. “Xavier launches Mississippi tonight. Finally.”
“I’d stopped believing it,” Cael exhales, long and heavy. “Two months of gritting our teeth, waiting for everything to blow up in our faces.”
Me too. But an Alpha doesn’t say that out loud. An Alpha absorbs the hits and waits for the right moment to bite back.
“It was worth it,” I say without raising my voice.
He nods. “You held the pack together while everyone else was losing their nerve. As expected.”
My phone vibrates against the mahogany and cuts the silence.
“David?”
“It’s done. Her accounts are at zero and I covered Liam’s tuition through December. Contract’s active.”
I hang up and lock eyes with Cael.
“Out.”
Cael doesn’t argue. He bows his head. “Yes, Alpha.”
The door closes and the office settles back into that heavy silence I prefer over any view. I hit the intercom.
“Catherine Hale. My office. Now.”
Two sharp knocks on the wood, then she’s in.
“Mr. Wood?”
“Come in and sit down, Catherine.”
Black pencil skirt, crisp white blouse. She smells like lavender and absolute control. There isn’t a trace of fear in the air, and it grates on the Beast’s nerves instantly.
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“It’s handled,” I say, my voice giving away no warmth. “Your debts are cleared and Liam’s tuition is paid through the end of the year. The contract starts now.”
She nods once, her face perfectly composed. “I saw this morning. Thank you.”
Calm. Dignified. She meets my gaze and waits for what comes next like we’re in a board review.
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“You know the terms,” I continue without breaking eye contact. “You’re mine. Exclusive. Professionally.”
She lifts her chin a fraction. “I can read a contract, Mr. Wood. And I know how to honor it.”
“Good. Rule one: you call me Eric. Rule two: you don’t lie. Rule three: you don’t hide anything from me, especially not something that could get you killed. Or Liam.”
One beat of silence, then she answers. “Understood, Eric.”
My name falls from her mouth with zero emotion. She’s holding. For now.
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“Liam can finish his year in peace,” she adds in that factual tone that makes me want to turn the desk into splinters. “So yes. Thank you. And that’s all I have to say about it.”
She’s already standing. She actually thinks the conversation’s over. Her hand’s on the doorknob when the words slip out in a breath she thought was inaudible.
“He just can’t find out. If he learns about this, he’ll—”
A human wouldn’t have heard it.
I hear her heart stutter under her ribs. I smell the fear cutting through the lavender she uses as armor.
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“He?”
The word cracks between us, cold and final as a sentence.
She freezes. She knows I heard her and her mask slips for half a second. “No one important. I’ve got it handled. It doesn’t concern the contract.”
I stare at her without blinking. “Of course you’ve got it handled, Catherine.”
I slide a black card with gold edging across the desk until it touches her fingers. “8 p.m. My place. We’ll go over the details. The real ones.”
She takes the card. “Alright, Mr. Wood.”
Eric. Rule one. Already broken. Noted.
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She leaves without a sound. Just the sharp click of the latch.
I count three seconds.
The door cracks open and Cael sticks his head in. He waited until her scent cleared the hall.
“No tears. No scene. She’s solid,” he observes.
I loosen my tie with one sharp tug. “Too solid.”
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“Find me that ‘he’, Cael. Before 8 p.m. I want his name, his address, his habits, his weaknesses. I want to know why she’d rather keep her mouth shut than keep her brother safe.”
“Understood, Alpha. I’m on it.”
I grab my jacket off the chair. “Cancel the hunt. I’ve got other plans tonight.”
By 8 p.m., she’s going to learn that ‘cold’ isn’t a temperature.
It’s a promise. And I always keep my promises.
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