CARTER
"There's been complaints from the elders and shareholders about you, the company and the pack." My father sat opposite me in my office. After he handed over the company to me, he rarely ever visits the company except for pressing needs.
I wouldn't say this case was the same because I personally didn't see this as something important. Once again, he's become the voice of the elders who constantly nag and question my matelessness.
But this time, I'm not listening to him. Infact, my thoughts are on a certain dark haired and blue eyed feisty little lady. She's got my mind occupied, her offer I mean, the whole morning and I've barely been able to get any work done.
Not one person knew of Alanna's disappearance because I kept it a secret and by that means, I haven't been able to get any lead on her whereabouts. So naturally, Hailey's offer interested me. I loved my pride but I loved my mate more.
"Carter" My father's voice woke me up from my reverie. "Are you with me?"
Though I didn't hear half of what he said, I nodded nonetheless.
"What do you have to say, then?"
"There's nothing I have to say." I frown, tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. "I've run this company all these years perfectly without a mate and I see no reason why a mate would help me run my company and pack"
"I'm afraid that I'd have to disagree with you on this one, son." My father began. "A mate and Luna will help you take care of the women and children's affairs."
"Well, I'm not the moon goddess who assigns mates to wolves." I countered.
"You've got to search for a mate because unfortunately, the elders have agreed that without a mate, they'd have to transfer ownership of the pack and company from you to someone more suitable."
"And someone more suitable is someone with a mate? Can you hear yourself, father?" I scowled.
"That's all I've got to say, son." My father stood from his seat and walked to the door. "Hurry and find your mate." with that, he walked out.
I've always known that a day like this would come. That's why I've tried everything possible to find Alanna. I'm aware that the elders have every right to take the ownership of the pack from me and there's nothing I can do about it, except I find a mate. Where on Earth would I find Alanna?
'Why not form an alliance with Hailey and let her pose as your mate till you find Alanna. That way, you can secure your position as Alpha and CEO' My overly quiet wolf, Zedd suggested.
I won't lie to say that I haven't considered that idea but my pride wouldn't let me go back to her. The way I left her the other day made it seem like I'd never give her suggestion a second thought and now if I go back to her, she'd surely mock me.
'Then keep holding onto your highly valued pride and lose your positions' Zedd said and shut me out.
I frowned but my mind was already made.
**********
In deep water pack, I see Hailey speaking with a sentry guard and though I wanted to walk up to her and get things sorted out, I decided to stand by and watch her.
If I would be patterning up with her, I needed to know that she had little to no flaws. I didn't want a situation where along the line, I'd discover she had a skeleton in her cupboard.
She ended her conversation and began walking towards my direction. When she was close enough, I called. "Hailey!'
"What the fuck! You scared me" Hailey screamed and placed her hands on her chest, a gesture which I assumed was meant to calm her racing heart.
"Pay attention to your environment next time." I cautioned and the way she nodded to my advice made me realize that it struck her.
"Alpha Carter," Hailey smiled widely and I could tell she was hoping for some positive news, "It's good to see you"
She loved to divert attention from herself, I took note of that. I couldn't help it, I was observant, a trait I possessed and love to gloat about.
"I've given your offer a thought" I paused and let out a deep sigh forcing my pride to give way for the sake of my mate, I'd do anything for her, anything to get her back. "I like it"
Hailey raised her brows, studying me. "What's the catch?" She placed her hands on her waist and continued, "you rudely rejected me the other day and now you're back? It's quite fishy, Alpha Carter"
I hate to admit, she's too smart for her own good. I knew she'd act this way but unfortunately for her, I didn't have time for her games. I can placate the elders and find my mate on my own. I'm supreme Alpha Carter.
"Hey, take a chill pill" she called out with a smile just before I turned to leave. "I'm joking, alright."
There was one thing Hailey didn't understand, it was that I didn't waste my time.
"There's a condition." I paused, studying her expression and when she didn't do anything to show her refusal.
"I knew it!" She laughed happily as though she'd passed the FBI entrance examination.
"Marry me." I divulge. "A contract marriage between the both of us to achieve our goals."
HAILEY"Marry me" His words came as a shock to me. When I proposed that we form an alliance, I didn't mean it as such. It was only meant to be for show and not realistic but he sounded as serious as it could get."You're joking, right?" He had to be because I didn't survive death caused by a jealous friend and cheating mate saga only to get entangled with another man. "You don't mean we should get married like for real, right?"Carter frowned. His expression annoyed like he would prefer to be anywhere but here. "I don't have all the time in the world, Miss Hailey. You have just twenty four hours to make up your mind, after that, the deal is done." then he made an attempt to walk away but I grabbed his arm to stop him."Give me time to think about it." I tried to reason with him, "marriage is not a thing to be taken lightly."Carter gave me a look of understanding "Whenever you're ready, you know where to find me." He then gave me his card and with that, he strolled away and I couldn'
C&M ENTERPRISESHAILEYMarveling at the sight of the building, with my head held up high, I drew in a deep breath and walked towards the main entrance.Today, my life was going to change for the better. I had made up my mind to accept Carter's proposal and with his help, I'll destroy Maya and Tristan. If everything goes as planned and we achieve both our goals, we'd go our separate ways. I plan to go far away from here and live a quiet life.I spotted the receptionist immediately I stepped in, and naturally, I walked up to her. "Welcome to C&M enterprises, how may I help you?" She greeted with a polite smile on her face."I want to see Carter, your boss." I said simply. Her brows furrowed slightly when she heard me call Carter by his face name. Apparently, she had never heard anyone call him that as they always refered to him as Alpha or boss but since I had addressed him by his name, she thought I was special to him. Was I? I doubted that."Do you have an appointment, miss?" She aske
CARTER'She's the one who needs my help, I can do well on my own' This line had become my mantra since few hours ago and i couldn't be wrong.I barely restrained myself from groaning out loud because of the frustration growing in me. I pinched the skin between my brows to get ahold of myself. I don't need Hailey, she needs me. She was the one who approached me first, meaning that I'm more useful to her than she is to me. I could find my mate with or without her. I really didn't care if she comes or not. I am the supreme Alpha for a reason.The board members all kept mute when my phone beeped out loud. Under normal circumstances, I would have ignored it and continued the meeting but I wasn't interested in sitting here any longer.I picked up my phone to see the reason of interruption, it was a message from my receptionist that someone was in my office.Automatically, my mind drifted to Hailey but I quickly sidelined the thought because if it were to be her, Malachi would have told me
HAILEYI got married, though not real but I'm married.I sat beside Carter in the back seat of his car and stared down at the marriage certificate in my hands.For a fake marriage, the certificate had good quality. Well, I don't expect anything less from Carter. He is supreme Alpha for a reason."It's too late for regrets" I hear Carter's mocking voice mixed with amusement say to me."I didn't say I am regretting. Don't put words in my mouth." I scowled at him."With that look on your face, one would think I forced you into this marriage" He chuckled as he relaxed into the luxurious leather seat of the car. He seemed to be enjoying this way too much."Technically, they won't be wrong because it isn't a pleasure getting married to you." I retorted speedily. I would never let this man win me in a tongue war. If I can't win him in a physical battle, this is the least I should do."You had the opportunity to change your mind but you chose to dive right into my waiting arms" he continued w
CARTERThrough out the ride back from the company, I thought about ways to make Hailey pay for bringing up my mate in a totally unrelated situation. She needed to know that though we were working together, I wouldn't take any nonsense from her. She wasn't in any way worthy of having Alanna's name on her lips. No one was! Alanna was special to me and I wouldn't have anyone disrespecting her in any way.I stepped out of the car immediately it came to a halt and strode out."Where's she?" I asked Caroline, the head maid, who stood by the door. She's been an employee of my mansion since I was young, hence the most reliable."In your room, Alpha" she replied with her head bowed.I wanted to lash out at her for letting Hailey into my room but I decided against it. I was to blame for not instructing her properly. She had assumed that it was only normal that my 'wife' stayed in the same room as me. I breezed past Caroline into the house, taking two steps at a time to get to my room. Yes, I
HAILEYI stormed out of Carter's room, fuming in anger. He was the one who made the first move only to push me away and treat me like a common whore. Incase he had forgotten, he made the rules in the contract and still went ahead to break them, not me.Carter was grating on my nerves and I didn't like it one bit. I walked to downstairs to kitchen because I didn't know where else to go, only to find the maids running about, seemingly trying to prepare a meal. The meal in question wasn't one that could be consumed by two people or was there an event happening that I didn't know about?Curiously, I called one of the maids aside to ask but before I could, Caroline walked up to me, "I've been searching for you, dear""Is there a problem?" I asked. Had Carter annulled our contract and asked her to send me away?"No, dear." She smiled. "We just need to get you ready.""Ready for?" I raised my brows in confusion. Was this some kind of Victorian era where the maids had to prepare the bride f
HAILEYEven after the quiet guy had reprimanded them, they still didn't stop throwing not so subtle insults my way. It was like they had waited for this perfect opportunity all their lives and they didn't want to let it go to waste. I might as well indulge them so I turned to Justin. "You seem to know alot about sluts, I can tell you're a constant patronizer""How dare you accuse me of promiscuousity!" He barked, his face contorting in anger."Accusation you say, I'm quite certain I must have seen you in one of the strip clubs I work at, waiting in line to bang a stripper with an STD" I sipped on my wine and smiled. "You should go get yourself check. Just a friendly advice" "You bitch!" Carter's mothers voice hit a very high octave that I thought was impossible to reach."Careful there, mother, before you fracture your vocal cords. We wouldn't want you undergoing another surgery when you're yet to recover from the numerous ones you did on your face." I reprimanded her mockingly.I no
CARTER"I'm quite disappointed in you" Father began immediately we were settled in my home office. "I didn't expect you to make a woman who isn't your mate, a wife.""She's the one for me, Father." I said."Cut that bullshit!" Father slammed his hand on the desk. "You're my son and I know you more than I care to admit. I know that the reason you took that girl as a wife is because you have an ulterior motive""That's incorrect, Father" I replied, still keeping my cool even though my father was on the verge of exposing me. Sometimes, I underrated how smart my father was. Even in old age, he wasn't gullible."You can't fool me, son" He rested his elbow on the table, "Now tell me, what do you stand to gain from this marriage."I didn't say a word, instead I just kept staring at him. When he was certain I wasn't ready to talk, he resumed, "from my knowledge, she's the daughter of Alpha Damian of Deepwater pack. So I assume this is a plan to overtake that park and make it yours, right"I h