Page 6 of Alpha's Secret Baby Girl
Rafael nodded. “Michael, can you adjust the presentation that you showed Colonel Byrd to be more tailored for Dr. Green by the weekend?”
“Sure thing.” Michael’s long, dark brown hair was tied at the nape of his neck. He wore glasses, the sort that had made women at college call him ‘Clark Kent’ and sigh dreamily when he smiled at them. He wore a suit as well, though his wasn’t a holdover from business meetings. He just liked to wear suits as his casual dress.
“Let’s fly her out to the island this weekend, then,” Rafael said. “If we can get her on board, then we’ll finally start to move forward.”
It had been a dream of theirs ever since they were kids to create a shifter special ops, dedicated to protecting shifters regardless of what packs they came from. Now that they had a multi-billion-dollar business, it was only natural to take some of that profit and start creating those operations. They had already started the recruitment phase. Ex-military shifters, trackers, and scientists who were experts in their various fields to ensure the safety of their community.
It wasn’t just for their personal pack, but for other packs as well. The special ops would protect shifters from threats, even if that threat were within the pack. There were plenty of evil Alphas out there that traded off their own members for profit.
“Have we gotten back the legal briefs from our lawyers?” Rafael asked Michael. There were a number of considerations to be made with this venture. They didn’t want to open themselvesup to lawsuits, so they needed to ensure they had a thorough understanding of the legal ramifications.
Michael shook his head. “Not yet. I’ll get on their asses today.”
“Good.”
Joshua pushed back his chair on two legs. “Anything we need to know from the city?”
Rafael shook his head. “Business was concluded, and I sent an email summing up everything. There shouldn’t be anything that we need to follow up on that front for a while.”
“Ah, good. Because you look like shit,” Joshua said. He thumped his chair back to the floor. “You’re never going to give this pack an heir when you look like that. Seriously. All the women are going to run away, weeping.”
“Fuck off,” Rafael grunted, rolling his eyes. He wasn’t looking to make an heir just yet. He still had plenty of time, and besides, even if he died childless, there was still Michael.
He didn’t think about how he was still young and wasn’t going to die anytime soon. His father had been young as well. You never knew what was going to happen. His mind wandered. Joshua, Michael, and he had always been close. While some brothers couldn’t stand each other, he and Michael were similar enough to understand each other, yet different enough to get along. Given their close ages—there was barely nine months between them—they had been at very similar stages throughout their entire lives. They had even gone to college together, thanks to Michael graduating high school a year early.
While in college, they had finally been able to breathe freely for the first time. Finally, they had been able to work effectively toward their goals. It had started as a small business,but through tireless hours, they had grown it. The tech company startup had blossomed, and now it was worth several billion dollars.
It took a lot of work to keep going, that was true. The market was always shifting, and it took all three of them to adjust to the changing tides. But it was worth it; now that they had the funds, they could actually work toward their social-interest goals.
None of them had wanted the extravagant lifestyle that others in their position might have gone for. No private jets, no garage full of sports cars. The company itself was worth billions, but Rafael, Michael, and Joshua all capped their personal income. The surplus was reinvested in the company to support the workers who owed their success to it, or to support charitable causes. There was a reason all three of them had chosen to return to the island as soon as they had the opportunity.
There was still a lot of work to be done here. Rafael couldn’t imagine having multiple homes when people in his pack were living in trailers. As soon as he became the Alpha, he started an extensive town restructuring process. It was proving to be much more expensive than he’d originally projected, but it was working. Crime rates had been cut in half, there was very little unemployment, and the overall health of the pack had improved greatly. Not to mention that their relationship with other packs on the island had also improved.
Overall, Rafael’s plans had been a success. Things had turned around greatly.
It still made his stomach knot when he thought of how things were. Randall’s reign as Alpha had gotten even more toxicafter Rafael and Michael went to college. Maybe if he had come back more, he would have been able to curb some of it…
He shook his head sharply. Dwelling on the past never amounted to anything good. He did what he could, and regretting his actions couldn’t change them.
“Was there anything else?” he asked gruffly.
Michael and Joshua both shook their heads.
“Good. I’m going to go home and sleep.” He stood, stretching out his back. His wolf was restless, wanting to run after so many hours sitting still. But gods, he was tired.
They all left the offices then. As Rafael stepped into the cool, clear air, Joshua and Michael went their own way. He loosened his tie and rolled his shoulders as he turned down the street. While his father used to drive everywhere, even if it was just a few blocks, Rafael preferred to walk. It kept him humble.
People nodded in polite recognition as he passed, and he nodded back. And then he saw her. Wavy blonde hair, figure fuller than when he’d last seen her. But her profile was unmistakable. His breath caught in his lungs as Gwen Parker laughed. Her hair gleamed gold in the sunlight, and even though she was across the street, he could almost smell her scent.
It had been seven years since he last saw her.
The sting of rejection had morphed over time. Anger on one side, for not giving him the chance to explain, for taking him at face value when she knew what his father was like. But on the other hand, a deep well of shame had opened up in him. He had been her protector, or at least he should have been. He’d seen the way she was treated, and he thought that the stolen moments they had together were enough.
He couldn’t blame her for running off. For letting her insecurities get the best of her. He publicly rejected her, and that had to have been painful, especially after all the promises he’d made her.
Now, he couldn’t bring himself to cross the street. She didn’t want to see him. If she did, she could have sent a message. How many times had he gone to Kira, begging her to give him Gwen’s number? Kira had always refused.
“She knows your number, Rafael,” Kira had finally told him, sharp and nervous but clearly at her wits’ end. “If she wanted to talk to you, she would reach out. Face it. What you did was cruel, and she is under no obligation to hear your side of the story.”
