Chapter Two

Silver's POV

News of my stunt with Rune spread like wildfire. News stations around the globe reached out to me, hoping they could get an exclusive but I didn't take him down for the publicity.

“We are almost there, Miss Silver,” My driver announced as he drove through the security at the gate. I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize I was home.

“He didn't change a thing,” I mumbled. We drove past the woods in the estate and headed towards the mansion. I was enjoying the scenery when my eyes caught a glimpse of someone hiding behind the trees.

I blinked and I could no longer spot it. The car had passed the area but I still struggled to see who it was.

“Is everything okay?” The driver asked.

I had no response because there was no way to explain what I saw and what I felt. In a strange way, the person was recognizable but I couldn't place how and from where.

“Welcome home,” He pulled up. I looked around through the glass and realized that there weren't enough workers anymore.

“Thank you,” I alighted the vehicle gently but my heart still couldn't stop racing anxiously. I had thought about that scenario countless times, thought about the right words to say to my father when I would see him again but none of those prepared me for that moment.

The people around stopped what they were doing to stare. I held my head high and walked into the mansion. My suspicion was confirmed the moment I stepped in, something was definitely off. A mansion that was always buzzing with workers was quiet.

“Madam,” A voice sprang from the far end of the room. I smiled as she approached with excitement.

“It had been so long,”

I hugged our housekeeper who practically raised me after my mother's death.

“It's nice to see you again, Lena,”

“You have grown so much,” She remarked with teary eyes.

“Your father had missed you so much. He calls out your name whenever I come to change the sheets,”

“Where is he? Is he at work?”

My questions appeared to have struck a chord. With a sudden change in her mood, she drew a deep calming breath.

“Lena,” I muttered as her reaction filled me with fear.

“Take me to my father,”

___________

I couldn't believe it, I felt deceived by my own eyes.

“I will leave you two alone,” Lena said as she exited the room. The beeping sound of the heart monitor filled my thoughts with more noise. I grabbed his cold hands as I stared at him with pain in my heart.

He was barely alive, strapped to an oxygen tank and according to Lena, he had been unconscious for over a month.

“It wasn't your fault, daddy,” I voiced softly, hoping he could hear me.

“I couldn't live in your shadows anymore. I needed to know if I was just as capable as you are and now I know,”

“I believe you are worse than him,” A familiar voice spoke behind me.

“What are you doing back, Silver?”

I turned to meet his gaze by the door. I was stunned at first because he no longer looked like the nerdy kid I remembered.

“It's good to see you, Jericho,”

“You didn't answer my question, cousin. Why now? You abandoned him for seven years,”

“Are you here to scold me?” I asked as I walked closer to where he leaned by the door.

“He is my father and this is my home. The question is, why are you here, cousin?”

He let out a sigh as he walked past me to my father's bedside.

“You know I have been working for him since you left. I know you keep tabs, I found your mole in the company,”

“When did you discover him?” I inquired curiously.

“Four years back,” He responded with a smirk.

“He really does miss you. The company is set to your name, I was just asked to look over it pending your return,”

“What happened here? Where are the workers?”

“I know this isn't what you thought you would hear on your return,” He stalled as he paced around the room restlessly.

“Just answer my question,”

“We are broke, Silver,” He answered reluctantly.

“The company is going under, we lost two shipments of goods in a month and we are behind schedule on multiple deliveries. Your father's cancer treatment is burying the money left,”

“That's not possible,” I reacted in disbelief.

“Father has contingencies to his contingencies. He should have seen this coming and where did all the revenue from the board go?”

“Into paying your father's huge ass loans,” He gave a response that took me by surprise.

“That's not possible. He never gets loan, he would never do that,”

“You have been gone for a long time, cousin. Things changed and so did he. He did and I had been scraping all I could get to pay for it,” Jericho replied, exhausted .

“The person he owes is not someone we can win in any fight whatsoever,”

“I came back home to build an empire bigger than my father's. I am not letting some debt get in my way,” I stated clearly.

“Who did he get the loan from?”

“I think this person will get in your way, Silver. He owes The Argyles,”

“What!” I exclaimed in shock as fear consumed my mind. I held his hand and pulled him out of my father's room.

“You mean Alpha Argyle? My father owes Alpha Argyle?”

“The same. They supposedly got into a multi billion dollar business that backfired,"

Words escaped me as I staggered backwards and laid my back against the wall. I didn't know my father was having money problems. It must have been so challenging for him to go into business with the Argyles. Alpha Jarah Argyle was the most ruthless being to walk the earth.

He was the reason Echo pack was the most feared in the region, even among the alpha council.

“I'm home now, you don't have to go through it alone,”

“It's your company, cousin. You are the one that will not have to go through it alone,” He responded.

“So what's the plan?”

“It's obvious, isn't it? We have to pay the alpha a visit,”

____________

“Are you sure about this?” Jericho asked as he pulled up at the Argyle's estate. I thought over it all night and I was certain.

“I tried having an audience with him but he denied me one,”

“You tried to go through formally. I'm not doing that,” I gave a sharp response.

“They are taking billions of dollars from us, Jericho. We deserve an audience whether they like it or not,”

“I understand but these people are monsters,”

“We are the monsters!” I blurted fiercely.

“They are destroying our family’s legacy. They should be terrified of us,”

Jericho nodded in response before driving further. I exhaled deeply because I had doubts as well, doubts accompanied with an overwhelming fear.

We alighted the car and a scarred-face man came to meet us by the entrance.

“Search them,” He told the security who patted us down immediately. They were thorough with their search before clearing us to enter the building.

“He is waiting for you in his study,” The man pointed down the hall.

“Not you,” He held Jericho back.

“Get your hands off me!” Jericho pushed him off with a snare. The men around pulled out their weapons in response. In an instant, we were surrounded by armed individuals with daggers and guns.

“Jericho, stay back and be cool,” I muttered softly to him as he stared into the scarred man's eyes fiercely.

“Jericho!”

“I heard you,” he turned to me.

“If I sense something wrong, I'm coming in,”

I walked down the hall and went through the door labeled PRIVATE STUDY. I walked into the huge library and was impressed by the collection on the shelves.

“Hello,” I looked around and there was no one there.

I used the opportunity to go through the books. There were many rare collections from renowned authors. I picked one of them and began reading through the prologue.

“Why that one?” A voice startled me. I jolted in shock causing the book to crash by my feet.

I attempted to pick it up and my ass bumped into something hard behind me. In between my legs, I noticed the huge being with black pants standing right behind me.

“Fuck!” I exclaimed in fear. I turned to see an intriguing smile on a young handsome individual. His tall muscular stature dominated the whole room as he stared curiously at me.

“Who are you?”

“Why did you pick that book?” He asked again as he picked up the book.

“It's my favorite. The book isn't cliche like the rest,”

“There was no happy ending,” He voiced the same sentence in my mind.

“Funny, it's my favorite book too.”

“I'm sorry if I wasn't allowed to go through it,” I apologized, guessing he was the librarian.

“I am supposed to be meeting the alpha here,”

For a while, he said nothing but stared. His cold smile sent chills through me as I tried to avoid his gaze. I didn't know why but I suddenly lost my confidence and panic slowly began to slip in.

“What do you want from the alpha?” He asked as he placed the book back on the shelf.

“Are you one of his lovers?”

“No! I'm …”

“Silver Salvatore, I know who you are. You are a famous woman,"he said. The chills I got when he spoke was indescribable and strange.

“Well, I'm here on business,” I replied.

“You have my attention, Miss Salvatore. What do you want to talk to me about?” He declared and my heart skipped a beat. The panic I was holding back, rushed in like waves.

“I thought I was meeting the alpha, Alpha Jarah Argyle,” I stated with a trembling voice.

“You are talking to the alpha,” He said with a steely gaze.

“You came to see my late father. I am Alpha Raid Argyle,”