BEYOND THE ALPHA'S DESK

CHAPTER TWO: THE UNSPOKEN

The hotel’s conference room was chilled, a little too bright, and far too full of people who didn’t know what had happened the night before.

Elena sat two seats away from Kael, her legs crossed, hands clasped around a pen she hadn’t clicked once. Her eyes were on the screen, but her mind was tangled somewhere between last night’s tangled sheets and the cold distance Kael had wrapped around himself since dawn.

He hadn’t said a word to her all morning. No nod. No glance. Nothing. Like she was just another name on payroll.

“Elena,” his voice cut through the air…calm, collected.

She blinked up. “Yes, sir?”

Her voice was a little too quick. Too sharp. She caught the flicker of someone’s gaze from across the table, but Kael didn’t react.

“I asked for the Chicago projections. You have them?”

“Yes. Sorry.” She moved fast, plugging her laptop into the projector. Her fingers fumbled with the cord, she cursed herself for it…and her cheeks burned.

The screen lit up. She stood and tried to focus on the numbers, tried to keep her voice steady as she walked through each point. Kael didn’t interrupt. He didn’t even look at her.

She hated how that made her feel.

When she finished, he gave a single nod. “We’ll revisit this after lunch. Take twenty.”

Chairs scraped. People stretched. A few conversations sparked across the room. Elena reached for her laptop, heart pounding, ready to bolt, but then:

“Elena.” His voice again.

She froze.

“Stay.”

The room slowly emptied. She stayed rooted, staring at the table, until only the two of them were left.

Kael stood, walking over like nothing was wrong. Like he hadn’t kissed her neck last night like it was the only thing keeping him alive.

“You looked tense during the presentation,” he said, low. “Something wrong?”

She let out a small laugh and turned to him. “You’re serious?”

He raised a brow. “What?”

“You really want to play this game?” Her voice was quiet but sharp. “After last night?”

He didn’t flinch. “This isn’t the place.”

“No,” she whispered, “it never is, is it? Last night happened in the dark. This morning, we’re strangers again.”

Kael looked away, just for a second. She saw it, that flicker of conflict. But it vanished just as quickly.

“I’m your boss,” he said evenly.

“And I’m not some toy you can forget in the daylight,” she snapped. “Don’t touch me like that and then pretend it meant nothing.”

His jaw clenched. She saw his hand twitch…like he wanted to reach for her and didn’t.

“Elena, it wasn’t nothing.”

“Then say it.”

He didn’t. And maybe that was the answer.

A knock on the door cut the moment.

Kael stepped back, clearing his throat. “We’ll resume in twenty.”

She nodded, jaw tight. “Of course. Sir.”

And just like that, she walked out…again…with him watching and saying nothing.

Kael hated meetings. But he hated pretending even more.

He sat at the head of the table, nodding at comments, flipping through slides, giving feedback like a man who hadn’t had his mouth on Elena's skin less than twelve hours ago.

But every second she stood in front of that screen, voice smooth and composed, he felt like something inside him was splitting. Her dress was modest. Professional. But his memory didn’t care. His memory was ruthless.

The way she whispered his name.

The way her nails dug into his back.

And now, she wouldn’t even look at him.

He deserved it.

He'd drawn that line before sunrise…cold, deliberate, brutal, He had to. Because letting her in again wasn’t just dangerous, it was fatin. Not just for him, but for the entire company, the pack, everything he'd built.

But that didn’t stop the ache.

When he told her to stay behind, it wasn’t because he had something to say. It was because he wanted her near. One more minuShe Just one.

Then she looked at him like that. Libut ke shesaw right through him.

‘Don’t touch me like that and then pretend it meant nothing.’

That line hit harder than he let on. Because it didn't mean nothing. If anything, it had meant too much.

Now she was gone, and he was alone with the silence, the lunch he wouldn’t touch, and the scent of her perfume still hanging faintly in the air.

He walked to the window, hands in his pockets, eyes on the city below…but it was useless. Every reflection reminded him of her.

She was supposed to be safe in his distance. Protected by it.,

But now?

N,ow, he was starting to think he was the one who needed protection from her.

Because if this kept going, he wasn’t sure how long he’d last before dragging her back into his arms… no matter the cost.