Page 25 of A Luna's Revenge

I can only imagine my face as Roland stares at me wide-eyed. Alpha Stone, noticing Roland's demeanor, looks back at me warily. The room is still as if no one is breathing. As I go off like a deadly calm explosion, three more alphas walk in. "Alpha Stone." I grit out in a steely tone, narrowing my eyes. "I am Charlie Black, owner of SilverShe-Wolf Tech Development." I point to Roland. "Roland is my assistantand will handle all your requests. I would, however, recommend you do not call him agood boyor acute little thingas we are in a business environment, and those terms are not only very offensive but sexist."

Alpha Stone's mouth drops open as he rubs his hand over his face.

"Be thankful I am a reasonable female, or I would rip your head off right now." I flash him a chilling smile.

"Furthermore, don't youdarecall me or any other female "good girl" again! Do you think your tiny brain can understand that?" My fingers are itching to smack off his look of bewilderment. "It’s belittling!" His mouth, opening and closing, like a fish out of water, gasping for air.

I turn to Roland. "Roland, can you please see to the Alphas’ refreshments?"

As the Alphas take their seats, Roland gets their orders. "I'll be right back, " he says quietly as I turn to my hologram device in an attempt to regain some control.

Alpha Stone approaches me. I ignore him for a few minutes. "I-I. Charlie, Ms. Black." He stutters. I turn to glare at him. "I apologize. I just assumed—uh. Yeah. Anyway, I hope you will accept my apology. I am not normally a bumbling idiot." He runs his hand through his hair as I shoot him a doubtful look. "Honestly, I was floored when I saw you in here. You are a lovely woman and..."

"Alpha Stone, you are not endearing yourself to me at this moment. You are continuing to stick your foot in your mouth." I look away, shaking my head in disgust.

"Uh." He coughs, "Let's start over." Extending his hand, he grasps mine. "Ms. Black, I am Alpha Stone from the Wind Howl Pack." He repeats in a low voice. "I look forward to learning about your security innovations and working with you." He smiles and tilts his head, looking down at me with a kicked-puppy look. "Can we be friends?" He smiles.

I roll my eyes, withdrawing my hand. Of course, these Alphas are loaded with charm. 'Fine!' I stab my finger into his—Oh!—rock-hard chest and jerk it back to my side, wrestling to regain my composure. “But you better behave yourself!”

"Yes, ma'am." He smirks sexily and takes his seat.

After everyone is situated, I sit at the table's head. I glance at the six Alphas surrounding me. "Gentlemen, as I mentioned before, I am Charlie Black, owner of Silver She-Wolf Tech Development." I point to my left. "We will go around the table and introduce ourselves before we begin."

"I am Beck Kasen, Alpha Commander of Stone Mountain City." The Alpha to my left nods. He turns to the next Alpha to his left.

"Alpha Noble Wright of the Still Waters Pack."

"Alpha Jon Mills of the Lonely Pines Pack."

"Alpha Rowan Reems of the Bloody Paws Pack."

"Alpha Rich Simpkins of the Lazy Moon Pack."

"And everyone knows who I am by now." He says sheepishly with a flushed face. The room chuckles. "Alpha Rex Stone of the Wind Howl Pack."

"We have four other Alphas that will need to be briefed on this as well, but they are currently dealing with another criminal matter and won't be here today." Alpha Commander Beck Kason informs us. "Alpha Lange Quinn, Alpha Blake Collins, Alpha Devon Wright, and Alpha Jenson Black." He glances at me as he mentions my former mate. "We will proceed."

I stand to begin my presentation but am interrupted by the door opening as Jenson walks in. "It's true!"

Chapter 16 - It's True

Jenson

Stone Mountain City is a vast metropolis similar to New York City in the human world. The most significant difference is that we have a much smaller crime rate per capita. But mainly because we have our Alpha Commander. He is in charge of all the packs in this territory. He has the power to control all wolves, including Alphas.

Each pack is self-governing, and the Alpha is free to run his pack as he sees fit as long as he follows the territory laws mandated by the Alpha Commander. These laws protect everyone's freedom. However, the pack handles most legalmatters unless you commit an infraction against those higher territory laws.

Fated mate bonds fall under the territory laws because it’s rare for pups to be born outside fated mate unions. Therefore, due to population decline, fated mate bond tampering is a serious crime. The goddess creates these pairings, and you will receive many blessings for accepting them.

Alternatively, you will also receive condemnation for unjustly rejecting your fated mate. Everyone is free to choose who they mate; rejection is legal.

For this reason, Alpha Commander has developed a task force. It consists of Alpha Blake Collins, Alpha Devon Wright, and myself. We also have a couple of our lead enforcers, Enforcer Orson, Enforcer Hill, and Enforcer Fillion.

Our assignment is to investigate the nuances of the crime andprosecute the recent perpetrators. We are also directed to determine how to prevent future occurrences.

We decided to meet at Stone Mountain City headquarters this morning. I’ve been advised that the rest of the Alphas are meeting here today with a new tech company that has developed facial recognition software. This latest innovation will help us keep our lands safe.

I enter Stone Mountain City Headquarters and am immediately overcome with an odd feeling. It’s similar to the mate bond I shared with Charlie but different; it’soverly protective and familial.

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