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Isabella’s POV
Not only did I wake up with a splitting headache but I also realized that I had forgotten to turn on my alarm yesterday and so I had completely missed training. Alexander had made it compulsory for me to attend every day and since I wanted as little confrontation with him as possible, I actually planned to do whatever he wanted as much as I could and I just knew that missing this training was not going to work in my favor.
Falling back onto my bed, I decided that there was no point rushing if it was already too late anyway. I eventually dragged myself into a cold shower to help clear my head a bit. I dressed smartly, lowkey glad that I had missed the training, and decided that I would just face Alexander and take whatever he throws at me. Minus the slight hangover which would eventually fade out, at least I wasn’t going to go to work feeling like I had been run over by a bus.
After dressing up, I made myself a quick sandwich and poured myself an orange juice before leaving, not forgetting to pick up Alexander’s shirt from the laundry downstairs. Yes, I had someone wash it and that was because I found a loophole in the order. He told me to have it hand-washed and ironed and returned today.
Nowhere in all of that did he specify that I had to be the one to wash it and although I knew that he meant for me to do it, he should articulate his words better next time. Removing the shirt from the laundry’s packaging, I slipped it into a paper bag that I had found at home before stashing the laundry’s packaging in my handbag to be disposed of as soon as I get to work.
I had just gotten on the road when my phone rang and I turned on
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my Bluetooth so it could connect to my car before picking it up. “Good morning Mom.”
“I wonder if it’s a crime for my only child to call me or if it isn’t a bigger stretch, visit her parents every once in a while.”
“Come on Mom.” I chuckled. “I’ve had a lot of work to do.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to remember the people in your life while you’re at it, Bella.”
“Oh now, you’re just exaggerating. What is this about?”
I heard her sigh deeply, “I know I’m still quite young.” She began and I raised my brow, “But I did always dream of becoming a young grandma. Don’t you want to settle down, honey? I think you guys have had enough time to enjoy the relationship with each other. It’s about time you got married and started having kids.”
I inhaled deeply, “What are you on about for goddess sake? Have kids with who? And what do you mean young grandma?”
“Don’t play with me, I’ll take it myself I’ll take it myself, Isabella. What do you mean, ‘have kids with who?’? Is this why your mate, Ryder came yesterday to ask after you after which he had dinner with us? Why would your mate have to come to us to ask after you, Isabella?”
Each time she called Ryder my mate, I winced cursing us both for lying that we were mates all those years ago so that my parents would let us be together. Yes, a lot of people dated other people before they found their mates but my parents had always been against it. They thought it was pointless if you were going to leave that person for your mate at the end of the day. Granted, at the time, Ryder and I were seriously infatuated with each other and decided it would never happen, and yet…
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“Is everything alright, Bella? Sorry if I put pressure on you about kids. If you’re not ready that’s fine but if there’s something deeper, will you talk to me about it?”
“Yes…sure. Look, I have to go now, Mom.” I said before ending the call and leaning into my seat. Do I deserve to go through all this stress? No. No, I did not.
On getting to the pack house, I made sure to avoid the gym and training area in case Alexander or one of his friends spotted me and went straight to the gallery. I was greeted by every staff member I passed and replied to them halfheartedly. I was still suspicious of every single one of these people ever since Alexander confirmed that there was still a spy amongst them. I mean, he could be lying but what if he wasn’t? I went straight to my office after cheerfully greeting a couple of visitors that recognized me.
On getting there, my secretary jumped slightly upon sighting me, an action I raised my brow at. Choosing to ignore her reaction as well as the way she was fidgeting, I asked her to get me a coffee before going to open my door thinking that I needed to get a new assistant because I knew when certain tasks were outside a person’s job requirements.
Pushing open the door, it was my turn to jump when I saw the person seated on my chair. I struggled to calm myself down from the slight cardiac arrest that had been surfacing due to the person I had been avoiding earlier being in my office and my chair as well as how overwhelming it all was to be suddenly hit by his stupid intoxicating scent. I discreetly inhaled it, maybe four, or five times. before composing m ys lf once more and putting on the blank look that I had long mastered.
“What are you doing here?”
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“Is this the time you get to work every day?” He retorted and I faltered briefly. “For someone who claims to do her job really well, this doesn’t look very good. And do I need to remind you that you have to be at practice every morning?”
“No, Alpha. I actually had a rough night yesterday and woke up later than I should have. Missing training and coming to work thirty minutes late wasn’t my intention.”
Alexander narrowed his eyes and I nearly smirked at how I had obviously thrown him off with my calm and meek tone. It was obvious that he wanted a fight out of me and I would no longer feed his desires. “I see.” He said and I imagined just how different things would have gone if I had given a snarky reply or goddess forbid, showed him an inkling of my true emotion.
“Well, I’m here to let you know that you have no right to fire any staff and neither did you a couple of weeks ago when you fired your personal assistant.”
I bit my lip to hold myself from saying anything but this, I realized I could not swallow, “This is my jurisdiction Alpha, and as the manager here, I believe I do have the right to make the decisions as I deem fit except if it affects the pack in which case I would consult you.”
I said it as calmly as possible and patted myself on the back for being so collected even though I was raging inside me at him trying to question my authority in a place where I knew I had it.
Alexander leaned forward, “I don’t care what you think, Isabella. I am the Alpha and I am the overall head of everything in this pack. If I tell you that you will not fire anybody that works here without running it by me first, then you will not. Is that understood?”
I inhaled deeply, repeating in my head over again that this shouldn’
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t be something worth fighting over. Even if it really was, I was determined not to fight and a few seconds later, I managed to calm myself down. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Very well, your former secretary will resume work tomorrow.”
“What?” I spat and I cursed internally when I saw a smirk forming at the corner of his lips.
“It affects the pack if one of her members is now jobless without the means to properly provide for herself.” He said standing up, “Yes, the unemployed have wages but for someone who has already begun to work and receives a higher salary than that of an unemployed person, she may have to change her life a lot as well as move into a more shabby apartment to accommodate her new, lower income. I find this unfair to someone who was fired unjustly.”
Leaving my desk and coming to stand in front of me, my heartbeat accelerated slightly at the proximity and I hated that he could definitely hear it. I hated that he knew how my body reacted to him. He looked down and my heart jumped to my throat when his fingers brushed mine softly before grabbing the bag in my hands.
“I believe this belongs to me.” He whispered near my neck causing me to shiver slightly before finally coming to my senses and letting go of the bag so he could take it and stumbling backward.
Alexander chuckled slightly, going to grab the door handle where his hand lingered for a few seconds before finally pushing it down and opening the door. Leaving me standing there, suppressed anger and annoyance slowly replacing my flustered state.
