CHAPTER 13

Alpha Blake

To say this Monday was busy would have been an understatement. It's been a long time since I've had so many back-to-back meetings. And to top it all off, the board was demanding a meeting with Ryley who had barely even started. Even though I knew she probably hadn't found anything yet. I didn't even know if there was anything to find. I was spending a lot of money to ease my own anxiety. But after learning the manager had been stealing for years right under my nose, I wanted nothing left unturned.

I didn't get a chance to sit down behind my desk before Aspen stormed in with Luca right on his heels.

"Dad, I'm in love," Aspen announced, dropping into a seat while Luca chuckled behind him.

"Oh, and who's the lucky girl?" I smirked, taking my own seat. Luca sat down beside him, looking far too amused already.

"She's an older woman, but that's okay. And she already has a kid, so I get to be a dad." Aspen said it with a completely straight face, and I pressed my lips into a line, looking over at my beta for some kind of explanation.

"You're a grandpa!" Luca burst out laughing.

"Aspen, what the hell are you talking about?" I asked, annoyance creeping in.

"Oh my god, you'd be a grandpa. I just hope Channing will call me dad after I marry his mother." Both of them dissolved into hysterical laughter while I sat there staring at them, completely lost.

"Are we dreaming?" Gunner asked, equally confused.

"Or maybe we're having a stroke," I muttered to him. How exactly was Aspen in love with Ryley?

"Like father, like son," Gunner snickered.

"Will both of you stop laughing and tell me what the hell is going on? It's been a long day," I demanded. They finally settled, wiping tears from their eyes, and Luca cleared his throat.

"Gwen approached Ryley in the dining room this afternoon," he said, and my face fell as I braced both hands against my desk. Gwen had been after me for years. I'd even considered it once, until I saw firsthand how she treated Aspen. No woman would ever come before my son.

"Dad, it was the greatest thing I've ever seen," Aspen exclaimed, pulling out his phone and coming around my desk to stand beside me. He pulled up a video and hit play.

My blood started boiling the second I heard what Gwen was saying. Every word out of her mouth made me want to kill her myself. But it was Ryley's response defending my late mate and my son in the same breath that actually cooled the rage, right up until Gwen threw water in her face. I couldn't watch the rest.

"Send me that video," I demanded, already up from my desk and out the door.

It hadn't even been a full day, and my pack had already managed to embarrass me. What kind of alpha did she think I was running here? After this, would she think I was just some man-whore who let his pack members run wild? I stopped in front of her office door and knocked.

"Come in," she called out. The second I opened the door, her scent hit me — all-consuming, impossible to think through clearly. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by files, changed out of whatever she'd been wearing in the video.

"Oh, Mr. Blake. Has Beta Luca had a chance to speak with you about my request?" she asked, glancing up. A flicker of jealousy hit me at the way she used Luca's title without ever once using mine. Why did she hate alphas so much?

I had a perfect, unobstructed view down the front of her blouse and nearly forgot why I'd come here in the first place.

"Are you okay?" I asked, kneeling in front of her. I made a mental note to have Luca move some real furniture into this room.

"I'm tired, and I can't feel my ass cheeks anymore, but overall, I'm good," she chuckled.

"Do you need a hand up?" I asked, deliberately not answering her question, mostly because I was too busy imagining exactly how I'd go about un-numbing those ass cheeks for her.

"You didn't come all the way over here just to help me up. What's going on? Did you not like the idea I gave Beta Luca?" she demanded, pushing herself off the floor without taking the hand I'd offered.

"What idea?"

"I asked to have someone scan these files into a computer so this goes faster next time." She motioned toward the boxes scattered around the room before moving behind her desk to grab a drink of water.

"That's a good idea. I'll find someone to help you," I told her.

"Great. Now why did you actually come see me?" she asked, leaning back against the desk. Her jeans hugged every curve in exactly the right places. Damn, she was sexy in anything she put on.

"And nothing," my wolf purred, sarcastic.

"Mr. Blake, are you sure you're alright? You look tired," she asked, breaking my stare.

"I'm here because of what happened in the dining room," I finally admitted.

"I'm not apologizing," she said, voice sharp, arms crossing over her chest.

"I didn't ask you to. I asked if you were okay. She had no right to come at you like that."

"Your personal life is your own business, but I hope you don't fall for whatever she's selling. Aspen deserves someone who loves him just as much as they love you." She sighed, and something in my chest tightened at the sincerity behind it.

"You meant what you said about Aspen? And my late mate?"

"Of course I meant it. She was your Luna, and Gwen was being a disrespectful bitch about it. And Aspen's a good kid. If she can't see that, she doesn't deserve to be anywhere near his life. When you love someone, you love all of them kids included. You can do whatever you want, but Aspen deserves better than her." She scrunched up her nose on the last word, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"I agree. That's exactly why I told her no."

"Good. You're not as dumb as you look," she smirked, then laughed outright at whatever expression crossed my face.

"It's getting late. You should head home," I told her, still a little stunned she'd had the nerve to call me dumb to my face and mean it.

"Channing's out with Aspen tonight. And as you can see, I've got a mountain of files to get through before I've even really started. Unless there's something specific you'd like me to prioritize? All of this can wait if you already suspect someone."

"If anything comes up, I'll let you know."

"Okay. Well, goodnight," she said, already settling back down onto the floor.

"Yeah. Goodnight," I said, letting myself out and closing the door behind me.

"She's perfect," Gunner purred.

"Of course she is. Aspen already loves her, and her son. Too bad she hates alphas.”