A Broken Contract (Alpha's Secret Regret)

Avery Hawke

On the night before,

The Pineapple Court suites and lodge. That's where the strange woman was staying in town. It didn't take much for Avery to get that information.

It was night-fall, and he was off-duty, so he decided to head straight there. On the way, he called his uncle to ask the one question that had bugged him since he laid eyes on Elise Reign.

The answer he got was what he expected.

"Why do you suddenly wanna know where you lived as a child?" Jeremy asked him.

"I don't know, uncle. Maybe I'm having an existential crisis or something," Avery replied.

"That doesn't make any sense, Av. You should be feeling the opposite. Sara's finally paying attention to you. People saw you two have lunch together today. And after that, you drove off somewhere together."

Avery was silent. For the millionth time, he wished he hadn't taken Sara to that particular ice cream shop. He was sure she thought the same thing. Because of him, she'd run into that woman that was obviously from her former pack. She'd gotten threatened and was probably still thinking about the unpleasant encounter.

Just that the place was the fanciest in the town. He wanted to prove that he could buy her expensive dessert.

"Tell me what's wrong, Ave," Jeremy insisted.

"I'm just curious. Please tell me what you know. Or at least tell me exactly how you met my dad," he pleaded.

"I know what you're asking, son. I'm just wondering why. You've never cared about your past beyond what you can remember."

"I still don't care, uncle. I just wanna know."

"Okay, no problem. Let's talk about it when you get home. You should be back soon, shouldn't you?"

Avery doubted he'd be home soon. But all he could do was sigh and say okay.

Soon, he pulled over across the street from the hotel where the woman was staying.

What could he possibly learn by staking out here? He didn't know yet, but he'd find out.

Sara refused to open up about why the woman spoke to her that way but Avery could guess. She and her father had left a pack behind to start a life here at Orphic. Forest Moon, as she called it.

That cold woman was an elite member of the pack. Hell, maybe they left because of her. The fact that she had a warrior she-wolf following her about meant she was a powerful one indeed. But that had nothing to do with what he felt when he stood before her. His heart had screamed out, and he wanted to know why.

Not only did Avery sense her power and authority when he first laid eyes on her. There was another feeling he couldn't ignore. He'd sensed something... strongly familiar and alarming. And annoying.

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He hated her. He had a feeling that the hatred would grow the more he learned about her.

As he waited, all he could do was look her up on the internet. Like he guessed, she was no ordinary wolf.

"Reign Corporations, huh?" He guessed the name wasn't as popular as the thought.

Avery, like all other werewolves and half-bloods, had always known that the owners of that conglomerate were wolves, too.

"That's why she was in town," he murmured.

But why wasn't she staying at the resort like the other directors?

When he lifted his gaze, his heart skipped.

Sebastian, Sara's father, was just walking out of the hotel. He looked flushed with anger.

He hailed a cab, and when it didn't stop, he brought out his phone and started typing.

Without thinking, Avery started his car at the same time honking to get the older man's attention. Within seconds, he pulled over in front of him. "Sergeant, what are you doing on this side of town?" Sebastian seemed surprised to see him. "You're off duty."

"Not really. Why don't I give you a ride?" He offerred.

"Sure."

Soon, they were on their way. Avery could bet the man was just coming from seeing the same woman he was waiting to spy on.