Her Blind Billionaire Daddy

Chapter 6: Trust Issues

The full moon was still days away, but tensions between Xander and Sophia were already as sharp as the claws of the wolves under its light. Their once-solid partnership was starting to fray at the edges. The storm of their contrasting methods had arrived, and it was clear that no amount of smooth words or tentative gestures would be enough to hold it back. They were as different as night and day—Sophia, the traditionalist, rooted in the ways of her pack, and Xander, the innovator, relying on technology and precision to guide him through the chaos of their world. Yet now, as they stood side by side, both felt the weight of their strained connection, each pulling in different directions.

Xander’s approach to the mission had always been one of cold calculation. His reliance on assistants—smart, efficient, and devoid of the emotional baggage that often complicated things—was how he preferred to operate. His world was shaped by algorithms, data, and the kind of high-tech precision that had become his second skin. But Sophia was a creature of instinct. Her sharp, keen senses told her when a situation was about to take a turn for the worse, when the scent of danger lingered too closely, and when her pack needed her. She trusted in those instincts—those primal urges that had been honed over centuries of tradition and the legacy of their kind.

And now? Now those instincts were screaming at her that Xander’s methods were cold, disconnected—and dangerous.

The argument had started in the conference room, quiet at first, simmering beneath the surface. But now, as the conversation turned into a heated debate, it felt like a clash of wolves on the verge of a bloody fight. The room, filled with the low hum of technology and the faint scent of fresh coffee, seemed to close in on them, amplifying every word, every growl. Xander was standing at the sleek, glowing console, his fingers dancing over the holographic interface. His eyes flickered with the kind of cold precision that only he could manage, his mind focused on the data that pulsed before him.

"You're wasting time, Sophia!" he snapped, his voice sharp and impatient, eyes flicking to the various screens around him as he checked the readings. "We don’t need to do things your way. We’ve got everything we need here to make this work. Algorithms, assistants, predictive analysis—we’re light years ahead of anything you’re thinking."

Sophia could feel her wolf stirring beneath the surface, her heart racing in response to the tone of his words. She had always prided herself on the ability to keep her emotions in check, but there was something about Xander’s approach that left her feeling raw, vulnerable. His confidence, so sure and detached, grated against her. She stepped forward, her eyes flashing with a fierce, burning intensity that only a werewolf could truly understand.

"No," she said, her voice low and filled with an edge that could cut through steel. "You think this is about data? About calculations? This isn’t a game of numbers, Xander. You can’t predict everything. Not everything can be controlled. Not everything can be reduced to a formula. You’re ignoring what’s really at stake here. You’re ignoring the power of the pack."

Xander’s lips tightened, and for a moment, there was a flicker of something else in his eyes—something that spoke of frustration, of doubt, but he quickly masked it. He’d never been one for emotion, and he didn’t need it now. Not when his carefully laid plans were right in front of him, his thoughts a well-oiled machine, precise and perfect.

"You're clinging to old ways, Sophia," he replied, his tone clipped and hard. "You’re stuck in the past. The world’s moved on. There’s no room for your nostalgia in a world like this, where we need to think ahead. The old methods are dead. You can’t survive on instinct alone anymore. You’ve been trained to believe that the pack is everything, but what good is the pack if you can’t think logically? What good is loyalty when it gets you killed?"

Sophia’s heart skipped a beat. There it was—the cutting remark, the dismissal of everything she held dear. Her fingers clenched into fists, her nails digging into her palm, but she fought the urge to let the wolf inside take over. She couldn’t give in to the rage, not yet. But the sting of his words was a physical blow.

"You think I don’t understand the importance of survival?" she spat, her voice trembling with barely contained fury. "I’ve seen the price of survival. I’ve seen what happens when we fail to trust, when we abandon the pack. I’ve fought battles, Xander. Real battles, not ones fought behind a screen. I’ve bled for this—for us—and I don’t need a machine to tell me how to read a situation."

Her breath was coming faster now, her wolf pushing at the edges of her control. The room seemed to close in, the air thick with the scent of their rising tension. Xander’s eyes flicked to her, a moment of hesitation crossing his face before he shoved it aside. He wasn’t used to being questioned, not in this way, and certainly not by someone like her. She wasn’t a scientist, a strategist, a mind that could be shaped and molded. She was an alpha, a leader. A wolf.

"You think I don’t understand what it means to fight for something?" Xander said, his voice now quieter but still fierce. "You think I haven’t bled for this cause? That I don’t understand the stakes? This isn't about the past, Sophia. It’s about the future. It’s about being prepared. I’m asking you to trust me—not blindly, but to trust that I know what I’m doing. That what we’re doing together is the only way we’re going to survive the war ahead."

Sophia’s eyes locked onto his, her breath shallow, her wolf standing just behind her gaze, a growl rolling in the pit of her stomach. Together. The word tasted foreign on his lips. She wasn’t sure she could ever fully trust him. He was too distant, too controlled. He didn’t understand the urgency of the pack, the need to be connected to the land, the moon, to each other.

"Trust," she whispered, the word a jagged edge. "You want trust? I’ve seen what happens when trust is betrayed. When it’s broken, when it’s taken for granted. Trust isn’t something you can demand, Xander. It’s earned. And right now, I don’t see anything to trust in you."

Xander’s gaze darkened, and for a moment, his wolf flickered in the depths of his eyes, a flash of something raw and untamed. But he quickly masked it, leaning back slightly as though to create some distance, as if it would somehow ease the suffocating tension. He didn’t want to fight her. But right now, it felt like they were on the brink of something they couldn’t come back from.

"I don’t need your trust right now," Xander said, his voice colder, harder. "I need you to do your job. Follow the plan. If you can’t do that, then maybe it’s better if you leave this to someone who can."

Sophia’s breath hitched, and for a long moment, the world seemed to stand still. She wanted to retort, to tear into him with everything she had. But instead, she turned on her heel, her boots clicking sharply against the floor. The door slammed behind her with a resounding thud, and the silence that followed was as suffocating as the words they had left unsaid.

In the quiet that filled the room, Xander let out a long, slow breath, his fingers brushing his temples. He knew he couldn’t afford to lose her. Not now. But something in the air had shifted. The mission was bigger than either of them, but if they didn’t find a way to work together—really work together—it was a battle they might both lose.

And somewhere deep inside, even Xander knew that without trust, no strategy could ever win a war.