Chapter 1My sterile mate knocked up his college she-wolf mistress.
He was losing his mind with joy. Thought he could hide it till the pup came.
But I caught them at the pack hospital.
"Why?! I just landed you a BILLION-DOLLAR pack deal! WHY?!"
He shoved rejection papers at me.
"You can't carry a pup, Clara. Bonnie can. She's pregnant. She needs a mate."
"Walk away quiet, you keep your Luna title. Fight me? You're done."
I said no.
He threw me in the pack's lockup. Froze every asset I had.
Then he strapped my parents - both heart-weak wolves - to a drop tower.
"Sign, they live. Don't sign, they die."
I was on my knees. Crying. Signing. Begging him to let them go.
He let them drop anyway.
I watched them come apart midair. Their blood hit my face.
"NO - !"
Next thing I knew, I woke up back on the day he handed me those papers.
This time?
I threw the rejection papers AND my rank resignation in his face.
"Done."
...
The second I said it, Leroy Blackwood - my Alpha mate - laughed. Cold. Mean.
"Wait - I'm handing you rejection papers and you think quitting your rank is gonna change my mind? That's your play?"
He grabbed a pen and signed like he was clawing a kill. Pushed the papers across the table.
"I tried being nice. You blew it. You wanna do this the hard way? Fine. But don't come crying when I ruin you."
Then he walked out. Didn't even look back.
I stared at the door and suddenly I'm thinking about five years ago when we were starting out.
All those pack business dinners where I'd down shots for him because alcohol poisons his wolf. Drank till I puked blood and woke up in the pack ER.
For three years I busted my ass for him. Never took a day off. Pulled insane numbers. Took the pack public.
At the IPO celebration, he held me and cried.
"Clara, you know the pack doctors said I'm sterile, right? Can't father a pup. Not ever. But you still said yes. You mated my broke ass anyway and helped me build all this."
"If I ever fuck you over - I mean it - I hope a rival Alpha rips my throat out. I swear on the Moon."
Last time around, I believed him.
I really thought after everything we'd been through, we'd make it.
Even when I found out he was cheating. Even when that she-wolf got pregnant.
I still thought he'd come back.
Till he got me arrested. Till he killed my parents.
That's when I figured it out.
Love dies. Wolves change.
I ran my thumb over my resignation letter.
Not this time.
You wanna be heartless? We're done.
I called my parents.
"Mom, Dad, listen - I'm opening this new pack territory in Boston and I really need you guys to go out there first. Just scope the place out for me, make sure the den's secure, okay?"
"I've got some stuff to wrap up here but I promise I'll be out there in two weeks. Please? I need you guys there."
They didn't ask questions.
After I hung up, I handed the rejection papers to my pack lawyer.
Then I went back to the pack house to pack my shit.
But when I pushed the door open, some pregnant twenty-two-year-old was sitting in MY chair.
"Clara," my assistant Anna came up behind me, eyes red as hell, voice shaking.
"Leroy made the call this morning. He's giving Bonnie Dusk your position. She hasn't even graduated pup school yet. But there's more - "
"What?"
Anna's claws dug into my arm. "Your bonus. That three hundred grand you earned this quarter? She's taking it. Said it's hers now."
She looked sick. "And your whole team - all thirty-two wolves - she's moving them to pack maintenance. They're scrubbing latrines. Starting today."
My claws cut into my palms.
Those thirty-two wolves built this pack from nothing.
Flynn - three years ago he worked seventy-two hours straight and passed out at his desk. He's doing wolfsbane chemo now but he's still first one in every morning.
Johnny - camped outside an airport for three days to land an overseas pack client. Just bought a den. Didn't even take his honeymoon off, just kept working.
How many huge deals had these thirty-two wolves closed? How much territory had they brought in? Millions. Probably more.
And not once did they act like hotshots about it. Not once did they bail.
They just kept showing up every day, busting their asses, completely loyal to a pack that didn't even appreciate them.
And now some spoiled pup sends them to scrub latrines?
What a fucking joke.
The front doors banged open. A bunch of college pups in streetwear came strolling in, laughing.
One guy with bleached fur on his head sat down at Flynn's desk and knocked his daughter's photo onto the floor.
"Yo this den is sick! Bonnie's Alpha's loaded. Paying us like fifty grand and we don't even have real hours. Show up whenever, leave whenever."
I felt my face go white.
A few weeks ago the team worked three months straight to close that billion-dollar pack deal.
At the celebration dinner I finally asked Leroy if we could give everyone a five-thousand-dollar raise.
He threw his drink.
"Pack cash flow's tight. You all need to be grateful you even have ranks. You think closing one deal makes you special?"
I believed him.
Now these pups who can't even read a spreadsheet are making fifty grand?
That's tight cash flow?
Flynn bent down to pick up his daughter's photo.
"Hey old wolf," one of the pups kicked Flynn's chair. "Move your crap. You're in my way."
I pulled out my phone. Dialed a number I hadn't used in years.
"Alpha Morrill. That pack CEO spot in Boston you offered me? I'm in. But I need two things."
I stared at the pups tearing up project files.
"One: I'm bringing my team. All thirty-two. Not negotiable."
"Two: Bump everyone's pay by five grand."
The wolf on the other end laughed.
"Clara, I'll bump them by fifty. Welcome to my pack."
I grabbed Flynn and rounded up everyone who'd been sent to maintenance.
After a quick huddle, me and the senior wolves went to Pack HR.
"We're all quitting. Thirty-two of us. Today."
"Here's the paperwork."
Chapter 2
Lucille Lee, the Pack HR director, stood up so fast her chair hit the wall.
"Clara, you can't just quit - Flynn, Johnny, seriously? You wolves hold this pack together! Your department pulls in eighty percent of our revenue!"
Lucille looked sick. "I can't sign off on this. I need to call Leroy."
She grabbed her phone. I didn't stop her.
"Don't waste your time."
The door banged open.
Bonnie walked out, one hand on her belly, the other waving her phone around.
Smug as hell.
"Leroy just told me sales is mine now. That means I decide who stays and who goes. You wanna quit? Fine. Pay back every single bonus you ever got. Then maybe I'll let you walk."
I clenched my fists. My claws bit into my palms.
Leroy. You're really letting her do this?
Those bonuses - we earned them working till 3 a.m. for months.
"Bonnie," I kept my voice level. "Those bonuses are legal wages. We earned that money. You can't force us to give it back."
She shrugged, one hand on her belly.
"Don't really care. Leroy put me in charge of sales. You want out? You do things my way. Or I'll drag this out for months. Your call."
I grabbed my phone and called Leroy.
He picked up after forever. "What."
Right as I was about to speak, Bonnie snatched the phone out of my hand.
Her voice went all high-pitched and whiny.
"Leroy, Clara's trying to quit and she's not listening to me at all. She's like trying to show me who's boss or something."
"I know she's jealous about the pup but she can't just attack me like this. I'm so scared."
"Put Clara on!" Leroy's voice exploded through the speaker.
Bonnie handed it back with this nasty little smirk.
The whole thing was such obvious bullshit. Fake tears. Ridiculous victim act. Made me wanna puke.
I took the phone. Didn't want this spiraling, so I tried to explain.
"Leroy, I don't give a shit about you and her. I just need to finalize my team's - "
"Clara!" He was straight-up screaming. "Are you seriously this fucking jealous? You can't handle that Bonnie's pregnant?"
"You KNOW this is probably the only pup I'll ever get. And you still wanna fuck with me?"
I bit down hard on my lip.
"I'm not fucking with your side piece. I'm quitting. Me and my whole team of thirty-tw - "
Bonnie leaned right up to the phone, voice dripping fake sugar.
"Leroy, babe, forget it. Don't be mad at her. I'm really craving crawfish from that spot outside the city. Maybe Clara could go grab some? You know, like a peace offering?"
"You hear that?" Leroy's voice went ice-cold. "My future Luna wants crawfish. Go get it. Now."
Outside the city was two hours one way. Four hours round trip for some fucking seafood.
I said no.
Leroy laughed.
"Okay. Don't go. But I'll personally make sure your whole team never works in this territory again. I'll blacklist every single one of you."
"Your call, Clara."
He hung up.
My throat felt like someone dragged a claw across it.
I knew Leroy wasn't just obsessed with Bonnie. It was the pup.
But we had a pup once.
Back then the pack was barely surviving. I worked till 3 a.m. every night. One day I collapsed at my desk.
At the pack hospital they told me I was eight weeks pregnant.
I'd been working so hard I lost it.
I was terrified of making him sad, so I never told him. Just said my stomach was acting up. Dealt with it alone.
And now here we are.
Turns out I just loved the wrong Alpha.
Bonnie rubbed her belly, smirking at me.
"You saw how Leroy is. He does whatever I say now. Get me that crawfish and I'll sign off on your resignations today."
"Normal processing takes like a month. You really wanna spend that time scrubbing latrines?"
Chapter 3
I took her bait. Hook, line, and sinker.
"Fine. I'll do it."
The wolves around me looked like I'd just stabbed them in the chest.
Flynn grabbed my arm hard. "Clara, don't - they're fucking humiliating you!"
"For real!" Johnny slammed his hand on the desk so hard his coffee jumped. "Leroy can't treat you like this. This is fucking insane. Don't give in. We'll scrub latrines for a goddamn month if that's what it takes."
I shook my head.
"It's fine. One last errand. That's it."
Four hours later I came back soaking wet, holding a bag of crawfish. Looked like hell.
Leroy was on the couch. Bonnie was on his lap.
She saw me and put on this fake sweet voice. "Leroy look! Clara really got the crawfish!"
Leroy saw me and his face softened a little. He reached for the bag.
"Good. You already went, so sit down and eat."
I didn't even look at him. Just went upstairs.
"Clara." His voice got ugly. "I'm talking to you."
I pushed the door open.
The room looked totally different. Like I'd never lived here.
Mrs. White, the old pack omega, was in the corner with this little box. She looked terrified.
"Ms. Cairns, I'm sorry. Ms. Dusk wanted this bedroom. She made us move all your stuff out."
She opened the box. Her hands were shaking bad.
"Ms. Dusk - she threw your stuff everywhere. Broke things. Just threw it all away."
"I know this watch was important. I got it out of the trash."
I looked at it. My eyes stung.
That watch. Leroy bought it the day we made our first real pack money.
He'd run all over Seattle in a snowstorm to find it. Fell on ice and scraped up his wolf knees.
But he still smiled and said, "Clara, I'm gonna get you something better every year. I'll always love you."
Later the pack got too busy. He never got me anything better.
But I kept that watch.
"Thanks, Mrs. White." I took the broken watch and went back downstairs.
Leroy saw me and his face went dark. "What the hell?"
"Goodbye." I put the broken watch on the table. "Here. All yours."
"Clara." He saw it and grabbed my arm. Pissed.
"What the hell? You know how hard I worked for that? How many times I busted my ass?"
"Yeah I fucked up. But you didn't need to break it."
I looked at Bonnie.
"I didn't. She did."
Her eyes got watery. Instant.
"Clara I get it, you're upset about me and Leroy. But we're done now. Can't you move on? Why are you making stuff up?"
"Making stuff up?" I didn't raise my voice. "Want me to get Mrs. White up here?"
SLAP.
He hit me so hard I stumbled back. My face burned.
"Clara." His eyes were bloodshot. Wolf-red. "Say sorry to Bonnie. Right now. Do that and I'll drop the watch thing."
Bonnie ducked behind Leroy, flashing me this smug little smile.
I closed my eyes.
God, I was stupid. Still trying to prove myself right when I knew he didn't give a shit.
My face was still burning but I kept it together. Breathed.
"Leroy. The rejection is done. And I gave you the watch back."
"We're over. That's it."
I turned and walked into the rain.
Behind me I heard a chair hit the floor. Someone yelling.
I didn't look back.
The next day I went to Pack HR for my resignation paperwork.
Lucille was practically begging me to stay, calling Leroy to try one more time.
Leroy was at Bonnie's ultrasound appointment. He barely let her finish talking before he snapped.
"Sales is Bonnie's now. Whatever she says, that's what happens. She's sleeping with the Alpha."
"The stamp's in the pack safe. You need contracts signed? Do it yourself. Don't call me."
Click.
Lucille's eyes were watering. She stamped all thirty-two letters.
Then Bonnie's friends got loud. They wanted us to hear.
"I mean, who cares how good she was at her job? Couldn't keep her mate. Can't even have a pup. What's she good for?"
"Right? Bonnie knew what she was doing. Got pregnant right away. Some she-wolves are mated forever and nothing. Like, what's the point?"
The guys looked like they were gonna fight someone.
I put my hand up. "Don't. Let's just go."
That afternoon at 3 p.m., me and thirty-two pack members boarded a flight to Boston.
At the same time, Leroy was with Bonnie at her ultrasound.
His phone rang all afternoon. Finally he walked out into the hallway and picked up, pissed.
"Why the fuck are you blowing up my phone?"
"Alpha Blackwood - something's really wrong." The assistant sounded freaked out. "Pack clients are saying our proposals are total shit."
Leroy frowned. "What? Clara does those herself."
"Clara quit."
Silence.
"Who signed off on that?"
"And what about the rest of sales? Teams A and B? Thirty-two wolves can't handle some proposals?"
The assistant's voice cracked.
"Alpha Blackwood... Ms. Dusk moved the entire sales team to maintenance. They were cleaning latrines. You didn't know?"
"And yesterday? All thirty-two quit. Ms. Dusk said she'd approve it if Clara bought her crawfish. This morning everything got stamped. They all left with Ms. Cairns."
"They flew to Boston today."
