Chapter 13
Calhoun’s POV
The next morning, I stepped out of the car with Carmela beside me. My shoes had barely touched the company’s grounds when I noticed Tristan and a swarm of assistants waiting, their faces pale, their eyes wide. Panic clung to each of their faces. The sight of it made my chest tighten with unease, a sharp skip in my heartbeat before anger swallowed it whole.
Tristan was the first to approach, clutching a fat, swollen file in his arms. “Thank goodness you’re back, Calhoun,” he said quickly, voice strained. “Here are several Pack reports you haven’t gotten back to. The land disputes, profit gains, agreements we should’ve sealed days ago p>
His words grated on me. My eyes dropped to the thick file he was hugging like a lifeline. My jaw clenched, my teeth grinding together.
One by one, the others began to speak over each other.
“Alpha, the Western Pack is threatening to pull their investments p>
“The landowners are demanding settlement or they’ll take it to the Council p>
“The company’s logistics department reports massive delays p>
“The contractors are refusing to move forward without your approval p>
Each of their voices clawed at my skull, nothing but a pure barrage of whining, panic, and uselessness.
I didn’t respond. Not even a word. I walked through them like they were air, ignoring every frantic face, every trembling plea, every file they tried to shove into my hands. My silence was way heavier than my anger.
By the time I entered my office, the air was buzzing with tension. Carmela glided in first, perching herself on the chair beside mine. The others filed in behind me, laying their stacks of files onto my desk like offerings to a god they feared but didn’t understand.
I sat down, blood boiling under my skin, and began flipping through the mess. Each of the files I opened stank nothing but incompetence. Each report was another failure, another reminder that in less than a week without me, everything had started to rot.
My chest tightened with rage. My vision blurred. And then I snapped.
A guttural growl tore from my throat as I swept the files off the desk, sending papers flying across the room. I slammed my fist down on the desk, the crack echoing against the walls. Everyone froze. Eyes wide, mouths clamped shut. Only Tristan stood still, his brow furrowed, as if he’d expected this. He had lived long enough under my rule to recognize the storm before it hit.
“The fuck is wrong with all of you?” I roared, my voice vibrating through the room like thunder.
Silence. No one dared breathe. Some of them shifted back, heads bowing low, as if afraid I’d rip them apart for daring to exist in front of me.
My chest heaved as I glared at them. For fuck’s sake, I had been gone for days. Not weeks. Not months. Days. And this was what they had reduced everything to? Utter chaos?
I turned my glare on Tristan, the one man I expected to at least hold the line. But even he had failed. Even he.
“You all are a useless piece of shit,” I snarled. “Why the fuck do I pay you all? To stand around making stupid complaints? To shatter my mind with your whining? Can’t a single one of you hold the goddamn reins for a few hours without me p>
They trembled, shifting under my glare.
And then, from the corner of the room, a soft, shaky voice broke through. One of the assistants, a woman, braver than the rest, or maybe just foolish, stepped forward, her hand raised slightly as if she needed permission to speak.
She stopped a few feet from me, trembling, her voice quivering as she said, “Alpha Calhoun… we don’t know. It was Elodie. She usually handled all these seamlessly. Alone p>
Her words hit me like a fist to the chest. Like a slap across the face. My throat closed for a second, my vision darkening. I felt the air shift, but I wouldn’t let them see it. Wouldn’t let them see me stagger.
I rotated slowly, my eyes burning holes into the floor. My hand pointed at the door. “Then go. Get Elodie.” I snarled.
The room went utterly still. They knew. I knew. She was gone.
Fuck.
When that realization settled on my chest, rage exploded out of me again. My fist pounded the desk once more, wood splintering under the impact. Several of them flinched visibly, as if they thought I’d leap across the table and tear them apart.
“Fix this mess!” I bellowed, seething. “Do whatever the fuck it takes, or lose your wages and your heads if the company or Pack falls into jeopardy p>
They bowed lower, silent, cowed. My office was suffocating with fear and failure as well.
And then, from beside me, Carmela cleared her voice softly. She rose gracefully, walking closer, her hand settling on my shoulder. She leaned down.
“Why are you so pissed like this?” she cooed. “Relax. I’ll handle everything. After all, it was just a Gamma who left. She can be replaced easily p>
Her words iced my veins. For a few seconds, I froze, my chest stilling, my mind blank. Then I nodded slowly, my lips curling into something that wasn’t a smile.
I lifted my eyes to the room, to the trembling cowards who dared call themselves my assistants. “Carmela is right,” I said flatly. “Elodie was just an assistant. And she’s gone. From now on, Carmela will be in charge of company affairs p>
The silence that followed was deafening. Eyes widened. They stared at me as though I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had. Maybe I didn’t care anymore.
I grabbed my phone, my patience burned to ashes. Without another glance, I stood and headed for the door, their stunned gazes piercing my back.
The door had barely clicked shut behind me when something made me pause. Instinct, maybe. My wolf twitched inside me, ears pricking. At first it was silence then the sound of heels cutting against tile. Carmela’s voice followed.
“You,” she hissed. “Don’t play innocent with me. I saw you, bitch. Throwing yourself at him, pressing those files against his chest like you wanted him to notice your tits. Putting on that fake little panicked face just so he’d touch you. You think I wouldn’t see through that p>
I frowned, brows pulling together as I stood just beyond the door. Confusion creased through me. The fuck was she talking about?
There was a sharp gasp, one of my the assistants. My wolf’s ears twitched, picking up every crack in her voice.
“Excuse you?” she shrieked. “Don’t you dare accuse me of something that disgusting. Alpha Calhoun is my boss. My Alpha. You think I’d risk my position, my life, just to—” her voice cracked with unhidden venom, “—flash my boobs at him? Don’t insult me, Carmela. You’ll drag us both into trouble with that kind of filth p>
The way she bit back, the way her tone dripped with rage, made it clear, if this wasn’t an office, she would’ve gone for Carmela’s throat right then and there.
I shook my head. Petty women’s squabbles. Not worth my time. My company was bleeding, partners pulling away, numbers crashing and these idiots wanted to claw at each other like feral cats? I ignored it, turned, and walked away.
Hours passed. Hours of clawing through paperwork, drowning in broken deals, putting out flames left and right. My temples throbbed. I told them all I wanted to be left alone. No one. Not even Carmela.
But when the knock came on the door, I knew I wasn’t going to be granted that peace.
“Come in,” I muttered through clenched teeth.
The door creaked open. She walked in like she owned the place. Not in the skirt and blouse she’d worn this morning, no, now she was wrapped in some sinful gown, clinging to her skin.
I froze mid-pen stroke, my eyes cutting up to her.
She purred, dragging her heels across the floor, hips swaying as she crossed the room. “Hello, Alpha Calhoun,” she whispered, low and husky. She leaned close, her breath against my ear. “Busy? There are certain things you need to take care of first p>
My jaw clenched. My frown deepened. “What the hell is with the outfit?” I growled. “This is my office. You think this is appropriate p>
Her lips curved. She rounded my desk with slow steps. “Appropriate?” she repeated, mocking, before perching on the edge of my desk like it was a throne. She leaned forward, pressing her chest against me, her hand trailing down, down, until she gripped me through my cock. “Every other thing can wait. This first p>
A low sound left me, half-moan, half-snarl. My restraint snapped. Files flew off my desk as I grabbed her, hauling her up into my arms. Her lips crashed against mine, demanding. My body betrayed my mind.
By the time I fucked her senseless, hours had vanished. I woke on the leather couch, sweat cooling on my skin, Carmela draped across me. I felt hunger immediately, my stomach rumbling and then rage.
Elodie would have been here. She would’ve knocked lightly, brought me food without asking, set the tray down with that steady look in her eyes that told me she knew how close I was to unraveling. She was gone now. Gone. And all that was left in her place was this emptiness gnawing through my chest.
I ripped my phone from the desk and punched the line. When Tristan’s voice came through, I didn’t let him breathe.
“Tristan,” I snarled, venom dripping from every word, “what the fuck is with you? You’re my Beta, you should see to everything without me asking twice. Where the hell is my meal? I told you before, I don’t want to repeat myself. Get it done. Now p>
“Alpha Calhoun, your girlfriend kicked us all out,” the voice on the other end said flatly, tired to the bone. “We’ve talked it over. We’re done. None of us are Elodie, none of us can take that kind of abuse and keep functioning p>
I froze. My grip on the phone tightened. “What the hell are you talking about? What happened with Elodie p>
There was a long sigh, heavy, resigned, then a sharp ding as a file came through. “It’s all in there. See for yourself p>
The line went dead.
For a moment, I just stared at the notification on my screen, my pulse hammering in my ears. Then I opened it.
And the world stopped.
Line after line, message after message, recordings, screenshots, evidence so detailed it made me sick. Carmela’s schemes, her poison carefully dripped into every corner of my life since the moment she slithered back. Every accusation against Elodie had been fabricated, every staged moment, designed to corner her, humiliate her, break her.
She’d taken it. In silence. My Elodie. Suffering under the weight of lies I’d been too blind, too arrogant, too fucking willing to believe.
My chest seized. My vision blurred. My wolf snarled in my gut, restless, feral, ripping at me to act.
I sat there, staring at the screen, my heart a lump of ice in my chest.
“Babe?” Carmela’s voice broke the silence. She lounged in the chair opposite, swinging one leg over the other. Her lips curled in that sly, painted smile that once blinded me. “What’s the holdup? Weren’t you calling about lunch? I’m starving p>
Something inside me snapped.
I turned toward her slowly. My eyes dragged across her face, her body, the smugness dripping off her skin. But the warmth that used to be there, the blind adoration, the softness was gone. All that was left was cold. Dead. A darkness so sharp it scared even me.