38

Zach’s POV

"You are laughing," I said the moment I stepped out and met Perry in the corridor, laughing.

"I’m trying not to." He said, but he could not hold the laugh from coming out.

"That sounds like laughing to me," I said, trying to hold my cool.

"I swear, Alpha, I’m attempting to be respectful," Perry said, holding his mouth to prevent him from laughing.

"Respectful?" bi asked with a smirk.

"Yes," Perry said, holding himself.

"You are failing miserably in that aspect,"I stated.

Perry leaned against the wall outside the room, his shoulders shaking with barely contained amusement.

"You look like you are about to kill someone," Perry said, trying to pissed me off.

"I might," I said angrily.

"Preferably not me," Perry said as he shifted away from me.

I stopped in front of him, my eyes dark with restrained fury.

"You think this is funny?" I asked angrily.

"No." He said, trying to give me a stern face.

"You are smiling," I said, looking at him.

"Because you walked out of that room like a storm." He said, trying to avoid my gaze.

"You were listening?." I asked, giving him a side eye.

"I was waiting." He said, still avoiding my gaze.

"For what?" I asked.

"For you to explode." He stated and wanted to laugh again.

I know how silly my Beta could be sometimes so I just have to ignore him.

"I should have," I said, trying to calm my anger.

"You nearly did." He said it as if he was mocking me.

My fists clenched immediately as I gnashed my teeth.

"You are pushing your luck, Perry." I warned.

"I just want to confirm something first." He said with a smirk.

"What?" I asked angrily.

"You don’t plan on punching me, do you?" He asked with a smile on his face as he was holding himself from laughing.

"Why?" I asked, pretending not to be aware of what he was saying.

"Because it’s written all over your face." He said, giggling as my jaw tightened.

"I swear if you laugh again…" I threatened.

"You will punch me." He said, giving me a strict face.

"Exactly." Isaid, nodding.

"And that would prove my point." He said.

"What point?" I asked, getting impatient.

"Punching things doesn’t solve all your problems," Perry said, taking a step back.

I stepped closer. "It might solve this one."

"You will kill your Beta over a laugh?" He asked as I could see fear in his eyes.

"I will consider it," I said calmly.

Perry lifted both hands in surrender, though the smirk remained.

"Relax, Alpha. I’m on your side." He said in deference.

"You have a strange way of showing it," I said, beckoning him to prove his statement.

"If I weren’t on your side, you would be in a much bigger mess right now." He said as I narrowed his eyes.

"Explain," I commanded.

"If I hadn’t convinced you not to go back in there and punch Hayden, we would already be cleaning blood off the floor." He said convincingly.

"I should have done it," I replied, hitting my fist on the wall.

"Easy, do you want to start a war?" Perry asked.

"He disrespected me," I said, gritting my teeth.

"He walked in with Bella." Perry corrected.

"He paraded her in front of me, and that's disrespectful to me." I stated.

"He escorted her safely." Perry insisted.

"Stop defending him," I warned, staring angrily at him.

"I’m not defending him, I’m preventing you from making stupid decisions." Perry expressed.

My breathing deepened. "You enjoyed watching that," I said.

"No." He replied, taking a step back.

"You laughed," I said.

"At you, not the situation," Perry explained.

"You have five seconds to stop talking," I warned immediately, losing my patience.

"Before what?" He asked softly.

"Before I forget, you are my Beta," I said 

Perry shrugged for a moment. "Fair enough." He said.

A moment passed before he added casually,

"You did well, though." He said with a faint smile.

I frowned as I took a walk away from him by turning my back on him.

"Don’t mock me." I said calmly. "You think that was composure?"

"You didn’t punch anyone," Perry said. "You didn’t flip a table either." He added.

"I wanted to." I said, taking a deep breath.

"You didn’t shift, which means you kept control," Perry said.

I scoffed softly without saying anything.

"For someone who hates Hayden, your anger toward him has increased lately," Perry said as if he was reading my mind.

My eyes flashed dangerously. "You are talking too much." I said calmly as I walked past him and then Perry added lightly, "For what it’s worth, you looked like you were about to murder him."

I stopped immediately, and he made the statement but didn’t turn. "I still might," I said.

"Please don’t." He said almost like a plea 

"Why?" I asked, still standing.

"Because paperwork after murder is exhausting," Perry said swiftly.

I smiled faintly as I decided to ignore him and continued down the hallway.

"Where are you going?" He asked me to run after him.

"My study," I said, trying to wave him off.

"To calm down?" He asked, still trying to catch up with me by increasing his steps.

The study door slammed behind me as silence filled the room. "Every damn time."

I loosened my tie immediately I stepped in, pacing once before stopping at the cabinet.

"Everything turns to shit," I said, expressing my irritation.

The whiskey bottle came out with a sharp clink as I got hold of it and poured a glass.

"And somehow Hayden is always in the middle of it," I murmured.

The drink burned down my throat as I gulped it down, flushing my face a little in reaction to the content.

"Good," I muttered as another glass followed immediately.

I took on more glasses, and the room began to blur slightly, but with the blur came memories.

Memories of Livia, her pale face, and her trembling voice. "Please… I didn’t steal it." Were her words as I shut my eyes tightly?

 I took another drink, trying to wipe off the memory, but the images only sharpened.

I kept drinking until the bottle was half empty, until the room began to spin, and exhaustion dragged me into darkness.

I could only remember Perry trying to stop, and after failing, he held me and took me to my room.

I woke up the next morning and it felt like punishment. "My head…" I said as I groaned, sitting up slowly.

"What time is it?" I asked, looking around the room.

The sunlight through the window made me squint immediately as I covered my eyes with my hands.

I grabbed the remote and turned on the television after a moment of being conscious.

"Let’s see what nonsense the world has today," I murmured.

The news channel flickered to life, and then my entire body went still immediately I saw the headline.

"Old scandal resurfaces: Livia Stevens accused again."

"What?" I shouted, surprise on my face as I sat forward to be sure of what I just read.

The reporter continued. "Social media has reignited the controversy surrounding Livia Stevens, who was previously accused of stealing a rare necklace…"

"Bullshit," I murmured, hitting the remote on the floor.

"Sources claim new discussions have surfaced questioning whether the original case was truly resolved." The reporter said.

I grabbed my phone instantly. "Perry," I called immediately after the line was picked up after two rings.

"Morning, Alpha." Perry greeted with a crackly voice.

"Have you seen the news?" I asked, ignoring his pleasantries.

A pause followed immediately. "Yes." He finally answered.

"They are calling Livia a thief again," I asked angrily. "Who released that story?" I demanded.

"We are still checking," Perry replied.

"Don’t check," I ordered.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"Remove it." I ordered “ Immediately.”

"Already working on it," Perry replied after a pause.

"I want it gone," I said angrily with all seriousness.

"Zach…" He called silently.

"I said remove it," I said without hesitation, but another pause followed immediately.

"You are reacting fast," Perry said calmly.

"Someone is trying to ruin her." I said, “ And I won't allow that to happen. So, shut it down." I added, but Perry hesitated.

"There might not be a need." He finally replied, and my voice dropped.

"What?"I asked angrily.

"There might not be a need." He repeated.

"Explain yourself," I demanded angrily.

A small sigh came through the line. "Hayden already handled it." He blurted out, and there was silence on my end also.

"What did you just say?" I finally asked.

"Hayden saw the story earlier this morning, and he’s already burying it." Perry explained over the phone.

"You are telling me he’s fixing it?" I asked to be sure.

"Yes," Perry replied 

I began pacing around the room. "I can do it faster," I said.

"Maybe," Perry replied.

"Then why shouldn’t I?" I asked angrily.

"Because stepping in might attract his attention, and if he notices you are interfering, he will start asking questions," Perry explained, and I took a deep breath.