Chapter 4: Services

Daliah 

I had planned those words for the entire 22-minute walk across the mansion, yet when they leave my lips, they sound uncertain and shaky. His piercing eyes scan over my face that undoubtedly had debris on it from the maids occasionally tossing trash at me while I walked to his office, and possibly dried blood from the omega in the kitchen. 

Without breaking eye contact, Ben stands from his desk and stalks towards me with a tilted head. 

"What makes you think you're good enough to be my lawyer?" He asks in a rough voice. I can tell he doesn't like me from the waves of irritation that float off of him. His proximity has my skin tingling from the heat, and I take a step backwards as he approaches me until my back is pressed flush against the closed door behind me. 

"I-I'm a lawyer, and a wolf," I say quietly despite my attempt to be confident. Technically, I am a wolf, but I haven't seen her in nearly 7 years. Not that I didn't want to, but after dealing with my father my whole life, she retreated to the furthest part of my mind. I am lucky to even have my wolf senses without her full presence.

He cocks an eyebrow with a scoff of hatred that has my confidence falling flat on the floor.  

"And?" He asks, prompting me to give him more of a reason. Of course, he probably already has a lawyer; it was stupid to come here. 

"And. N-never mind. I'm sorry for b-bothering you, Alpha," I say quickly before turning on my heels and attempting my escape. Why was I stuttering? I don't stutter.  

Unfortunately, I don't get very far. His hand stretches out, and his fingertips grip my forearm tightly. Painfully. 

"Why should you be my lawyer?" He asks, this time with his commanding voice sliding through his words. I swallow hard with anxiety before pulling my arm out of his grasp, wringing my left wrist with my right hand. 

"Because my father owes you a great debt, Alpha," I say as I lower my eyes to my feet and listen to his steady breathing. Heat radiates from my arm where his touch was, and I furrow my eyebrows at the unfamiliar sensation. 

"Hmm. Yes, he does," Ben says, bringing a finger to his lips, tapping it lightly. His proximity is calming to me, yet his aura is setting every one of my nerves on edge. As if my body were fighting between a want and a need. 

"Alright," he finally says, taking a step backwards. I let out a breath I hadn't known was lodged in my lungs. 

"Alright?" I repeat with a slight feeling of relief starting to wash over me. 

"Yes. Alright. I'll let you be my lawyer. If-" he starts, adding a dramatic pause that makes my breath hitch in my throat. I can tell he enjoys toying with me like this. Being the one in complete control over the situation, but he is the Alpha of the North, and I should expect nothing less.  

"If?" I ask, impatient to hear his terms. 

"If once you're job is done, you pack your shit and leave. Don't come back to the pack house. Not like you ever wanted to be here in the first place." His words hurt, but I don't know why. He's right, I didn't want to be here. 

All I wanted was to start a practice in California with the mundies. I wanted nothing to do with the wolf world, and I never wanted to see my father again. 

We used to be friends. Best friends. Everyone thought we would be mates once we got our wolves. I left the second I got my wolf and never had the chance to find out. Now my wolf is repressed, and I am unsure of how to get her back. 

"Yes, Alpha," I say and watch his eyes flash golden with his wolf surfacing for a moment. I don't question it, and I bring my gaze back to the floor. 

"Get what you need and meet me back here in thirty minutes. We have a lot to go over." He says roughly while taking a swig of his scotch, which sits on his desk. I don't waste a single second before turning and practically running out of his office.

As soon as I am back in the hallway, the omegas continue sending their insults towards me, and one hurls a rock at my head. I almost duck in time to avoid it as they laugh, but the tip of it catches the side of my face instead. Why the fuck do they have rocks inside? Wolves are brutes, every single one of them, and I am their current obsession. I am just lucky I am not in the dungeons right now. 

Speed walking through the mansion and back to my closet-sized bedroom, I snatch my leather bag to bring back. The time it takes to walk across the mansion is too lengthy to keep a steady pace on my way back. I certainly don't need to piss Ben off by being late to his office. 

My feet shuffle quickly, and I break into a jog. Back in California, I ran every day to get some wolf energy out, so I made good time to his office, not concerned about the blood that trickles down the side of my face, left from the rock. 

"You didn't have to run," Alpha Ben says as he opens the door before I can knock. 

"I didn't want to be late, Alpha," I say while making my way to the seat opposite the one he sits in. 

"That's probably in your best interest." He says with clear irritation already seeping through his voice. This was going to be a long meeting. 

Ben drops a stack of papers in front of me with a loud bang, maintaining eye contact with me the whole time. He doesn't seem to mind the gash on my face or even seem the slightest concerned about where it came from. Hell, I wouldn't put it passed him to throw rocks at me himself. Lord knows I deserve it from him. Either way, it will be healed soon. 

"What's this?" I ask while taking my files out and preparing my laptop. 

"Evidence." 

"Evidence? What do you mean?" 

"Daliah. It's evidence. As in. The incriminating kind." He says with furrowed brows. I widen my eyes in surprise at the about 4-inch thick stack of papers. 

"Oh!" That's all I can manage. 

"Now, get me out of this mess, Dali." His use of my old nickname has my chest tight. 

"I-I need to know what happened. What really happened?" I tell him while skimming over a few of the papers he dropped in front of me. 

He groans in irritation, and I bite my bottom lip while studying his movements. The way his hand runs over his face like he hasn't slept in days, and his eyes that flash to me with hatred. I don't want to upset him. If I mess this up, I know what my father will do to me, and I don't want that. I swallow dryly at the thought of it.  

"The two NYU students were clients who couldn't pay up." He explains, and I nod my head with understanding. 

"Okay, we can work with that. Dirt on them ruins their credibility. We can claim it as a runaway." I tell him while flipping through the pages and typing notes into my computer. 

"Work with criminals a lot?" Ben asks, and I can't help the heat that rushes to my cheeks. 

"Um. No Alpha. I just worked an apprenticeship with a defense attorney in California." I explain quickly while trying to avoid his gaze. The way his throat bobs with every sip of his scotch, and how his tongue wets his lips after each drink. I remember that tongue in a much different light. 

I can feel the flutter in my stomach, and I try to push it away, knowing he can sense my arousal if I keep focusing on him. 

"So, you have experience?" His voice is low and smooth. It makes me squirm under his gaze. Suddenly, it feels like the room is suffocating me. As if there is water in my lungs and shackles around my ankles. 

"I should look over all of this," I say quickly while clearing my throat and standing, collecting my belongings into my bag. Scooping all of his incriminating evidence into my arms, I hustle my way out of his office. 

"Forgetting something, Dali?" His voice booms in the thick silence between us. I turn around slowly, still planted in the center of the doorway. Scanning his desk, I don't see anything I left behind, so I look up to see him watching me, his golden eyes of his wolf peering through. 

"Yes, Alpha?" I ask, unsure of what he is implying. 

His frown deepens as he stares daggers at me. 

"I'm doing you a favor. You should be grateful that I even speak to you, fucking mutt." His voice is harsh, and my chest tightens painfully, as if he were crushing something within my rib cage. 

"Yes, alpha, thank you for this opportunity," I tell him, dropping my eyes in shame. I ruined everything just to get away from my father. Now, the one man I have ever loved despises everything about me. Calling me a mutt was the worst insult a wolf could get, but the look on his face hurts more than even his harsh words.  

"Be back at 8 am with a plan. Get out of my sight." He says with disgust while his wolf flashes in his eyes repeatedly, as if he were fighting it back.