Page 21 of Knocked Up By My Fated Alpha
“Then you may get the war you seek, Elder Malcolm.”
“Alpha,” Elder Mia smiled sweetly in an obvious attempt to diffuse the tension. “With a war imminent, the pack could do with… a bit of stability.”
I straightened in my seat, already guessing where she was headed with this.
“Speak clearly, Elder Mia.”
Her smile widened, the crow’s feet at the edges of her mocha brown eyes creasing lightly with the motion. “It’s time for you to officially name your heir, Alpha. We all know it’s going to be Elias, but these formalities are still important—”
I didn’t let her finish. “Elias will not be my heir.”
For several moments, my council seemed paralyzed with shock.
“Alpha,” Elder Alec, the oldest Elder on the council, barely spoke and was more of the neutral faction, but even he couldn’t hold back his bafflement. “We don’t mean to question your decision, but after Rielle, you are still without a mate and the last of the Blackwell line. Elias is—”
“Unfit to rule,” I completed with a casual shrug, refusing to be swayed. “I will select an heir at an appropriate time. For now, we will focus on finding the culprit by all means necessary. War is and will always remain a last resort.”
The council didn’t seem thrilled, but I wasn’t going to change my mind regardless of how the situation went.
I was skimmingthrough the potential leads I’d gotten on the human murders after my meeting with Trenton when Raven strode into my office. I stiffened as her faint, sweet scent hit me, and my wolf stirred to life within me.
“I don’t recall requesting your presence, Miss Caine.”
Raven ducked her head respectfully, tendrils of dark hair escaping her bun to frame her face, but the scent of her anger was sharp and strong.
“I apologise for my intrusion, Mr Blackwell. I simply wanted to ask where I fell short in the meeting so I can improve on that aspect next time.”
An image of Trenton’s leering gaze on Raven popped up uninvited in my head, and the pen I held in my grasp broke.
“There will be no next time,” I pronounced, a potent mix of anger and jealousy pulling me under. “Henceforth, Wendy will handle takingthe minutes of my meetings. Just focus on reducing the amount of subpar work you produce.”
Raven sucked in a sharp breath, pain flashing in those vivid aquamarine depths, and a pang of guilt hit me in my gut.
Her work wasn’t anywhere near subpar. In fact, it was fucking impressive, and her pitches were literally the only ones that weren’t generic. But there was no other way to explain away my impulsive actions.
Raven turned to leave, but she seemed to change her mind at the last moment, turning to face me, an unexpectedly strong wave of dominance emanating from her.
“Do you have a problem with me specifically, or are you just an asshole?”
For a moment, I was certain I’d misheard her.
“What?”
Raven closed the distance between us so she stood right in front of my desk, the mask of politeness she’d worn like armor throughout all my time at the office falling away.
“You might be a billionaire and the alpha of the biggest freaking pack on this continent, but it gives you no right to treat anyone so terribly!”
Raven was incandescent with fury. “Yes, I want this job. As a matter of fact, I need this job, but I am not an outlet for your frustrations.”
I stood from my seat, easily dwarfing her.
“If your job repulses you so much, Miss Caine, I’d be glad to take it off your hands.”
Raven took a step back, shaking her head ruefully, a caustic laugh escaping her as she levelled a lethal glare at me.
“I am so sick of men like you who think they can do whatever they like because they have a bit of power and money,” Raven bit out.
I paused, my gaze tracking from her vivid emerald eyes down the line of her throat, lingering far longer than I should have on the curve of her hips.
