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# Chapter 4: The Art of War

The silence in the office was heavy and suffocating. It felt less like a business meeting and more like a courtroom just before the verdict was read.

Kael sat across from me. His gray eyes were locked on my face. He was searching for something. He was looking for the scared little girl who used to scrub the pack house floors. He was looking for the weak and wolfless orphan who would flinch if he raised his voice.

He would not find her. That girl died in the woods five years ago.

"A dog," Kael repeated slowly. He did not believe me. His nostrils flared again as he tried to separate the scents in the room. "I have never smelled a canine that smelled like... that."

"It is an exotic breed," I lied smoothly. I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs. "And I did not bring you here to discuss my pets. We are on the clock, Alpha. You have burned two minutes of your time staring at me."

Siena scoffed from her seat beside him. She smoothed the skirt of her white dress with a manicured hand. Her face was twisted in a look of pure disdain.

"Oh please," Siena spat. Her voice was high and grating. "Drop the act, Elara. You might be wearing a designer suit, but we all know what you really are. You are the help. You are a runaway servant who probably slept her way into a little bit of money."

She looked at Kael and placed a possessive hand on his forearm.

"Kael, let us leave," Siena urged. "We can find another investor. I will ask my father again. We do not need to humiliate ourselves by dealing with her."

I did not speak. I simply watched Kael.

I saw the conflict in his eyes. His pride wanted him to leave. He wanted to storm out and slam the door. He wanted to reject me all over again.

But he couldn't.

"Your father cut you off six months ago, Siena," I said calmly. I flipped a page in the black folder. "He told Kael that the Blackwood Pack was a bottomless pit for his money. He refused to sign the loan for the new territory expansion."

Siena stiffened. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish. "How do you know that?"

"I know everything," I said. My eyes drifted back to Kael. "I know that your northern timber mill shut down last week because you could not pay the workers. I know that you have three mortgages on the Pack House. And I know that if you do not secure forty million dollars by Friday, the bank is going to foreclose on your land."

I leaned forward. I rested my elbows on the mahogany desk and interlaced my fingers.

"You are not here because you want to be, Kael. You are here because I am the only lender in the city who did not hang up the phone when you called."

Kael clenched his jaw so hard I saw a muscle tick in his cheek. He looked down at his hands. His knuckles were white.

"The pack is going through a difficult transition," Kael gritted out. His voice was low. "We had a harsh winter. The trade routes were blocked."

"Excuses," I interrupted. "The Crescent Moon Pack to the east had the same winter. Their profits are up twenty percent. The difference is leadership. They have an Alpha who understands modern logistics. You have... tradition."

Kael slammed his hand on the desk. The sound echoed like a gunshot.

"Do not speak to me about leadership!" Kael roared. He stood up abruptly. His chair scraped loudly against the floor. "I am an Alpha! I was born to lead! You are nothing but a wolfless reject who got lucky!"

The air in the room shimmered. Kael released his Alpha Aura.

It was a psychic weapon. It was designed to force submission. It was a wave of pure dominance that usually forced lower wolves to their knees.

Siena whimpered and slumped in her chair, instinctively baring her neck in submission. Marcus and the Gamma lowered their heads.

The wave of power hit me.

It felt like a warm breeze.

It was pathetic.

I did not flinch. I did not blink. I did not look away. I simply sat there and stared at him with boredom. My Lycan blood was so far superior to his standard Alpha blood that his dominance was like a toddler trying to wrestle a giant.

Kael watched me. He waited for me to cower.

When I did not move, confusion replaced his anger. He pushed harder. He poured more power into the room until the windows rattled.

I sighed. I reached out and picked up my pen.

"Are you quite finished?" I asked.

Kael faltered. The aura vanished instantly. He looked at his hands and then back at me. He was terrified. A wolf who could not be dominated was a wolf who could not be controlled.

"How?" he whispered. "You are wolfless. You should be on the floor."

"I told you," I said coldly. "I am the bank. And the bank does not bow."

I slid the contract across the desk toward him.

"Sit down, Kael. Before I have security remove you for throwing a tantrum."

Kael slowly sat back down. He looked shaken. He looked at me with a new expression. It was fear mixed with a twisted sort of awe.

"Read the terms," I ordered.

Kael picked up the document. His hands shook slightly. He began to read.

Siena leaned over his shoulder to read along. Her eyes widened as she scanned the pages.

"This is insanity!" Siena shrieked. She pointed a trembling finger at the paper. "Clause 4. Section B. The Alpha must surrender financial control of the pack to the Board of Directors at Vance Global. You are trying to take over the pack!"

"I am trying to save the pack from bankruptcy," I corrected. "I cannot trust Kael to manage the money. He has proven he is incompetent. I will handle the finances. He can keep playing soldier and patrolling the borders."

Kael flinched at the insult. "I am not a child, Elara."

"Then stop acting like one," I retorted.

"And this!" Siena yelled. She tapped the bottom of the page. "Clause 7. The Alpha is required to meet weekly with the CEO for performance reviews. Performance reviews? He is a king! He does not have performance reviews!"

"He does now," I said. "If he wants my forty million dollars, he answers to me."

Kael stared at the words on the page. He was pale. This was the ultimate humiliation. He would have to report to his rejected mate. He would have to sit in this office every week and explain his actions to the woman he had thrown away.

"Why are you doing this?" Kael asked quietly. He looked up at me. His gray eyes were pleading. "Is this revenge? Are you doing this just to punish me?"

I looked at him. I wanted to scream *Yes.* I wanted to tell him that I wanted to burn his pride to ash just like he had burned my heart.

But I was too smart for that.

"This is an investment," I said. My voice was devoid of emotion. "Your territory sits on a massive deposit of rare earth minerals. I want the mining rights. The only way to get them is to keep your pack afloat. You are just a necessary expense."

The lie tasted sweet. It hurt him more than the truth. It told him that he was not even worth hating. He was just a line item on a spreadsheet.

Kael looked down. His shoulders slumped. He looked defeated.

"I cannot sign this," he whispered. "It makes me a puppet."

"Then leave," I said. I reached for the file. "Go back to your pack. Tell your people that you could have saved their homes, but your pride was more important. Tell the mothers that they have to leave the pack lands because their Alpha was too arrogant to sign a piece of paper."

Kael froze.

He knew I was right. He was trapped.

"Kael, no!" Siena grabbed his arm. "We can find another way! Do not let her win!"

Kael pulled his arm away from Siena. He looked at her with a sudden flash of annoyance.

"There is no other way, Siena," Kael snapped. "You know the books. We are dead by Friday without this."

He picked up the pen.

My heart pounded. This was it. The moment I had planned for years.

"One more thing," I said.

Kael paused. The pen hovered over the signature line. "What?"

"The contract includes a personal clause," I said. "Since I am investing so heavily in your territory, I will require a residence there. I will be reclaiming my parents' old cottage on the border. I will be staying there periodically to oversee my investment."

Siena gasped. "You cannot live on pack lands! You are a rogue!"

"I am the owner," I said sharply. "And I will sleep wherever I please."

I looked at Kael. "Do we have a deal, Alpha?"

Kael looked at me for a long moment. The tension between us was thick enough to choke on. He was hating me and wanting me all at the same time. I could see the mate bond warring with his logic. He wanted to submit to me, but he did not understand why.

"Fine," Kael whispered.

He pressed the pen to the paper. He signed his name with a harsh and jagged scrawl.

*Kael Blackwood.*

He pushed the contract back toward me.

"Done," he said. His voice was hollow. "You own us."

I picked up the document. I checked the signature. It was valid.

"I will have the funds transferred by tomorrow morning," I said. I closed the folder. "Now get out of my office."

Kael stood up slowly. He looked like he had aged ten years in ten minutes.

He turned to leave. Siena glared at me with pure venom before turning to follow him.

"Kael," I called out just as he reached the door.

He stopped. He did not turn around. His hand gripped the door handle.

"Yes?"

"Make sure the cottage is clean before I arrive," I said. "I hate dust."

I saw his knuckles turn white on the handle. He opened the door and walked out without a word.

The heavy oak door clicked shut.

The silence returned.

I held my breath for ten seconds. I waited until I was sure they were in the elevator.

Then I let the mask drop.

I collapsed back into my chair. My hands were trembling uncontrollably. My heart was racing so fast it felt like it was going to explode.

"Breathe," I whispered to myself. "Just breathe."

It had taken every ounce of my willpower not to react to him. Being that close to my fated mate was agony. Every cell in my body had screamed at me to touch him and to comfort him. My wolf had been howling in the back of my mind and begging to be let out.

But I had won.

I swiveled my chair around to face the window again. The rain was still falling over Seattle.

I touched the black folder.

I had him. He was legally bound to me. He was going to be in my life every week. I had the power to destroy him or save him.

The door to the private suite opened.

"Mommy?"

Leo peeked his head out. He was holding a stuffed tiger. Dorian stood behind him with a concerned expression.

"Are the bad people gone?" Leo asked softly.

I wiped a sheen of sweat from my forehead. I forced a smile onto my face as I turned to my son.

"Yes, baby," I said. My voice was shaky but triumphant. "The bad people are gone."

Leo ran over and climbed into my lap. He buried his face in my neck. He smelled like baby shampoo and innocence.

He was the only thing that mattered.

"Did you win?" Leo asked.

I looked at the contract on my desk. I looked at the signature of the man who had broken my heart.

"Yes," I whispered into Leo's hair. "I won the first round."

But as I looked out at the gray sky, a shiver of dread went through me.

Kael had smelled the motherhood on me. He was suspicious. And now I was moving back to his territory. I was moving Leo back to the place where his father lived.

I was playing a dangerous game. One slip up and Kael would find out the truth.

And if Kael Blackwood found out he had a son, he would not care about debts or contracts. He would come for us with the full force of the pack.

I tightened my arms around Leo.

"Let him come," I whispered. My eyes flashed violet in the reflection of the window. "I will be ready."