Chapter 4
1121 Words
CHAPTER 4
Dorian's pov
I sat in my office on the morning after the library incident and thought about everything that happened the day before.
The what really happened was very straightforward. She overheard a conversation she should not have heard and she had handled it with more composure than most trained operatives would have shown in the same situation. She read a four-page legal document from top to bottom without being rushed and negotiated a single clear condition before signing, and walked out of the room without asking anything further.
She was a threat to the security of my pack. An outsider that had heard sensitive information that could be very devastating if it got to the wrong hands and instead of me to take action, I used a legal contract to make sure she stays inside my household and not outside. That was what everything I had written in the brief I gave Silas when he asked me what we should do.
I expected her to be scared, to take the money and run, but she signed it instead, with her own conditions.
Silas found me at my desk at eight o'clock, which was when he arrived every morning with the overnight security summary and whatever else needed my attention before the day properly started.
"She signed," he said, setting the folder on my desk.
"I know. I was there."
He sat down across me without being invited, as he had done every morning for eleven years because I stopped complaining about it somewhere around year two. "She read the whole thing. The whole four pages in a room full of wolves watching her."
"Yes. I noticed that too, Silas."
He was quiet for a moment. I could feel him deciding something, because when he went silent like that, he was thinking about how much he should say out loud about what he was thinking about. I waited for him to speak.
"Her condition," he said finally. "Are you going to hold to that?"
I looked up from the folder. "I said I would."
"She will hold you to it."
"I expect her to. That's why I agreed to it. She is not the kind of person who would give a condition without making sure that the condition is met."
Silas looked at the middle distance for a moment. "No. She's not."
There was something in the way he said it. He wasn't surprised, which struck me. But I kept quiet and moved on.
"Has the southern intel team come back with anything new on the retrieval order?" I asked.
"Not yet. We know the Coalition is still active in the city. The team we flagged last week has not pulled out." He paused. "If they are still looking, they have a reason to still be looking."
"Increase the perimeter rotation at the compound," I said. "And I want two additional people on the household detail here. Rotate them through as maintenance staff so it does not change the atmosphere."
"And Nadia?"
I kept my voice even. "She falls under the same protection as the rest of the household."
Silas looked at me with the expression he used when he thought I was withholding something.
"She is not the same as the rest of the household," he said.
"I know. But she is until I say otherwise. Is that clear?" I commanded.
“Yes Alpha.” He said in resignation. But that didn't mean that he agreed with me. He only let it go.
---
My father called at eleven-fifteen.
Elder Crest Ashford had been publicly retired from pack leadership for nine years. He attends three council sessions a year in only as an advicer, appears at the formal Alliance gatherings twice a year, and outside that, he acts like a man who had done his work and stepped back to let the next generation do theirs.
But it was far from that in real life and I know because I am fully aware that he still has a level of control and power over certain decisions.
I answered on the second ring. "Father."
"You sound busy," he said, his voice carrying a slight frown.
"I am always busy Dad. What do you need?"
He paused for a second.
"I heard you had some trouble at the penthouse," he said carefully. "A staff situation."
I rolled my eyes. He always hears things. "It was a minor one, and it's handled."
"Good.” He replied in satisfaction. “You know how I feel about loose ends in the household. Your mother used to say a well-run house was a reflection of the man running it."
"I remember," I said.
He paused again. "What is her name? The new coordinator." He asked easily, like he was asking a small question only because he was curious. But I knew he was digging for information.
"Frost," I said. "Nadia Frost."
"And she is staying back?"
"She signed an expanded confidentiality agreement this morning. The situation is contained."
"Good," he said again. "Keep me informed if anything else comes up. You know I am always available to help."
"I know," I said. "I will be in touch."
He ended the call and I set the phone down on my desk.
I looked at the wall across from me for a long moment.
My father had retired from active pack leadership nine years ago. Since then, he had never for once called to ask about any of my household staff, not to even talk about asking for their name. All he cared about were council matters, Alliance politics, about the kinds of decisions that moved resources, territory or power. For nine years, he had never shown any interest in the administrative details of how I ran my household.
He had asked about her by position first, in a casual manner like he didn't know the name. But when I said the name, he didn't ask me to repeat it or confirm it.
He didn't ask me where she came from or how she became my staff. He just moved on like he knew the answers.
I picked up the phone again and sat with it in my hand.
My father knew her name.
The question now was how long he had known about her, and what exactly it meant to him that she was inside my house.
Then something struck me. My wolf gave a low sorrowful howl, followed by a whimpering that I didn't understand.
“What's wrong buddy?” I asked but it didn't say anything.
He only called her name. And it was a whisper. “Nadia.”
Immediately I knew she was in danger. I grabbed my keys and stormed out.
- Writer
