Chapter 8

• Maleah’s p.o.v.
• I am standing in the middle of my new boutique and I am about to lose my patience with a new designer, she refuses to sign the contract I have placed in front of her. She brought her Father and an attorney with her, both of them agreeing with the designer that the contract is unreasonable and that she doesn’t have to proof to me that the designs are her own.
• “Fine.” I say and I see a triumphant smile on the designer’s face, I grab the contract from the table as I look at her Father. “I hope you can find another boutique that is willing to do business with you, I will find someone else to sell their designs in my boutique.” I say as I tear up the contract and Pauline opens the door, indicating that this meeting is over. “Do you have any idea who my Father is?” The designer asks and I just shrug my shoulders.
• I know perfectly well who her Father is and I don’t give a flying frog on Sunday, he doesn’t scare me one bit. Her Father growls at me as I turn my back on him and I am surprised when I hear the voice of Alpha Dax say, “Thomas, don’t threaten one of my Pack-members.” I turn to see Thomas and his Daughter pale as they stare at my Alpha and I decide to embarrass Thomas even further, “Alpha Dax, I hadn’t expected you this early.
• I will be busy the rest of the day with finding another designer and I had hoped that I would be able to show you a fully stocked boutique.” I say as I walk towards him and instead of shaking my outstretched hand he pulls me in for a hug, “Can I ask out loud why you need another designer?” He asks through the mind-link. I answer him that he can ask and that I will answer him truthfully.
• “What happened to the designer that you were going to sign a contract with?” Alpha Dax asks and I tell him that the designer refused to sign the contract, in addition I tell him that the designer refused to show proof that the designs are hers. “I got burned in the past by a designer and ever since I ask designers to sign a contract with proof of authenticity, I want to make sure that the designs that get sold in my boutique belong to the Wolf or Lycan that gets paid for them.” I reply.
• Alpha Dax looks at Thomas with a knowing look and without uttering a word Thomas leaves with his Daughter, Pauline excuses herself as I guide Alpha Dax to some chairs. “Thank you, Alpha Dax.” I say as I sit down and he tells me that he was glad he could help me. “What brings you to my boutique, Alpha Dax?” I ask as Pauline places coffee in front both of us.
• “Mom said that you are designing her dress for the Spring Ball and I was hoping you could tell me the color of her dress, Mom always complains about the fact that we never matched with her and Dad.” He answers and I smile at him because I have heard Luna Elyse complaining about that. “Don’t worry, I know how much she hates that, so I will make sure you all will have cumber bands in matching colors. I might even make bow ties in the same color as Luna Elyse’s dress.” I tell him.
• I tell him I will do the same for Levi and Kay, so they will match with their Mother’s dress as well. “Thank you, Maleah. I look forward to seeing the look on Mom’s face when she sees that this year we all match.” He says and as we enjoy our coffee he asks me about this boutique and every other boutique I have, I tell him how I started out my business with my inheritance from my Grandparents.
• “Ever since I was a little girl I loved to draw, it didn’t matter what it was if I saw something that interested me I would draw it and you have seen the results of that, Dax. My fascination with fashion started after I met Ariel, your Father had a meeting when I got out of school one day and I went to the kitchen to pass the time. Ariel was sitting in a corner with a few small pieces of paper in front of her and she was drawing with a pen.
• I still had everything Dad had given me and I kept it in a pencil case in the metal case your parents had given me for my eighth birthday, I asked her if she wanted to have them. You should have seen the smile on her face, I gave her the pencil case and a sketchbook my Dad had bought me and we spend the next few hours drawing and talking. Her designs are more for daily wear and my designs are more for the once in a lifetime events.
• If I couldn’t be in the Alpha or Luna office I would visit the kitchen and spend time with Ariel and her friends, I would even go there if my Mother was home. When I bought my first boutique I already knew how I wanted to run my business and I asked Ariel if she wanted to sell her designs in my boutique, something she was a bit fearful of at first. Her friends told her that they would make the clothes, so she could keep focusing on the designs.
• This is what makes my boutiques so unique, each store has at least one designer and each designer has their own unique talent in designing clothes. In some towns or cities there are more designers that want to sell their clothes in my boutique, while in other towns and cities I really have to look for them.” I tell him and he tells me that Ariel used some of her money to build a house for the Omegas, opening up space in the Pack-house for unmated Warriors.
• After Alpha Dax has left Pauline hands me two files, one I place inside my bag and the other I open to find a list with three names. Designers that want to become a part of my imperium, designers that hope to make a name for themselves and I read the information Pauline has gathered for me. One name I cross of the list immediately, his answer to a simple question rubs me the wrong way and I take a good look at the other two names on the list.
• “Pauline, get in touch with both of them. I think Albarr is the perfect town for an experiment and I hope these two can pull it off.” I tell her as I hand her the file back, I give a few instructions to the construction crew and then I leave for the hotel. I need some time alone, to shower and read the file on my next assignment, I just hope it won’t keep me from home for too long.
• I kick of my shoes the Moment the door to my hotel room falls into its lock, I drop my bag on the couch in the sitting area of my room and I start to take my clothes off as I walk into the bedroom. Walking into the bathroom I am reminded of why I hate showering in a hotel room. The space is too small for my Lycan and Fortune hates being cooped up in here for too long, so I take a quick shower before heading out into the bedroom again.
• I hear my phone buzzing but I ignore it for the time being, I had sent Mack a message as I had walked into my room and I know he won’t respond to it. He just wants to know that I am safe, we both have a bad feeling about my Mother and Alpha Bradley and the persistent way in which they try to get me to come visit them. Dax told me just before he left that two Scouts were investigating Alpha Bradley, hoping to find out why they want me to move to his Pack.
• Fortune and I have been thinking about it and one of the reasons we came up with involves Alpha Bradley’s Son. His Son is known for being a sadistic ass, he loves hurting the females he sleeps with and whenever one of them reports him to the Council he tells the Council they came with him willingly. None of the charges ever stuck and he has gotten away with a hell of a lot more than he should, I can’t wait for the day someone takes him a peg down.
• The other reason we came up with is a financial reason, Alpha Bradley isn’t known for his brains in business and I think he is hoping to gain access to my fortune as my Alpha. Maybe it is a combination of the two reasons and I don’t like any of the reasons we have come up with, but I wonder how Alpha Bradley thinks he can get access to my money.
• After I am finally dressed I walk into the sitting area and pick up my phone to see who has been bombarding my phone, Fortune growls the Moment we see our Mother’s name on the screen. I unlock the phone to take a look at the messages she has send and I almost release a mighty roar as I read the first one, Bradley and I are arriving in Albarr in the morning, we will meet for lunch in our hotel suite. The second message is along the same lines, but the third message makes me call Mack without thinking about it.
• He picks up after the second ring, “What happened?” Mack asks and I can’t help myself as I say, “I need a new designer.” Mack starts laughing as I hear someone in the background ask if I ever saw Mack draw, I know he can’t draw even if his life depended on it. It was one of the things I asked him during one of our conversations in the past few days, “I got a few new messages from my Mother, they are coming to Albarr and she insists on meeting for lunch.
• The first two message were definitely written by my Mother and were not really threatening, but the other two are probably written by Alpha Bradley. Both messages are basically the same, I come to their suite for lunch or I will regret ignoring their request.” I say and I hear a few growls in the background, Mack is quiet after what I said. “Alpha Dax is in Albarr and he will stay until they have left Albarr again, he will go to that lunch with you.
• If they try to refuse him he will tell them that they can only see you in his presence, he is your Alpha and with the stunt they tried to pull he has every right to doubt their intentions.” Mack says and I smile as I tell him I look forward to seeing the look on my Mother’s face. We talk about why I need a new designer and I tell him I have a solution to that problem, but I don’t tell him exactly what I have in mind for my latest boutique.
• “Did one of the Scouts find anything?” I ask him, but as I suspected neither one of them reported back yet and I tell him about the explanations Fortune and I came up with. Alpha Dillon asks me how I figured that out and I tell him that as a business woman I hear quite a few things about Wolves and Lycans in the business world, “Even if their business is not related to mine I hear about it, I never interfere with the conversations but I do listen very carefully to what is being said.” I answer him.
• After I have finished my call to Mack I order some room service, I don’t feel like going down to the restaurant and it will give me time to write out my plan for my boutique. This will be the first boutique both males and females can find an outfit for special events or for everyday life. I grab my laptop to write down how this might work, I will need to discuss it with the designers to see if my idea can actually work and see if I need to change a few things at the boutique and in my contract.
• I have just finished my dinner when my phone starts ringing and I sigh in relief when I see Pauline’s caller-ID on the screen, “Hello, Pauline. What can I do for you?” I ask her and she asks if I have read the file on my new assignment, I confess I didn’t take the time to read it yet. “You might want to read it as soon as you can, I know you will take this assignment without hesitating. You would even take it if you were asked to do it for free.” Pauline says.
• If Pauline says I would do an assignment for free it has to be a damn good assignment and I tell her I will take a look at it immediately before I disconnect the call. I grab the file from my bag and sit down on the balcony as I open the file in my hand, I read through the first few pages to get an idea what the assignment is about.
• Fortune is growling in my head the more we read and I know that Pauline is right I would have done this assignment for free. I almost allow Fortune to roar out loud when we read who our targets are.