The Alpha Billionaire Therapist

Chapter Three: Dangerous Truths

Sophia stared at her phone screen, her hands shaking so badly she almost dropped it. The photo of the bloody fabric that looked exactly like her pajamas made her stomach turn. She could barely breathe as a thousand terrible thoughts raced through her mind.

How was this possible? She had been safe in her apartment all night. She had checked all the locks before going to bed. There was no way Mr. Alexander could have gotten a piece of her clothing. Unless...

"Dr. Sophia?" His deep voice came through the phone, pulling her back to reality. "Are you still there?"

"I'm here," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

"I know how this must look," he said, and for the first time since she had met him, he sounded truly worried. "But I need you to trust me. I would never hurt you."

"Then explain to me how you have a piece of my pajamas," Sophia said, surprised by how steady her voice sounded despite the fear coursing through her body.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. When Mr. Alexander finally spoke, his voice was different – harder, more dangerous.

"Not over the phone. If you want answers, you'll have to see me today. But I understand if you're too afraid."

The challenge in his voice sparked something in Sophia. She had never backed down from anything in her life, and she wasn't about to start now. Besides, she was a trained professional. She could handle one difficult patient, no matter how mysterious he was.

"Fine," she said. "Two o'clock. But this time, I want real answers."

"You'll get them," he promised, and hung up.

Sophia set her phone down and walked to her office window. The city spread out below her like a concrete jungle, full of millions of people going about their normal lives. She wished she could be one of them – someone with ordinary problems and normal fears.

She spent the next few hours trying to focus on her other patients, but it was nearly impossible. During her session with Mr. Jenkins, a businessman dealing with work stress, she found herself studying his hands, wondering if he was hiding any dangerous secrets. When Mrs. Foster talked about her fear of being followed, Sophia had to stop herself from sharing her own similar concerns.

By lunch time, Sophia was a nervous wreck. She couldn't eat anything, and her hands were still shaking. She kept checking her phone, half expecting another mysterious message from Mr. Alexander.

At one-thirty, Rebecca knocked on her office door.

"Dr. Sophia? Your two o'clock is here early."

Sophia's heart jumped. "Send him in."

She stood up and smoothed down her navy blue dress, trying to look more confident than she felt. When the door opened, Mr. Alexander walked in, and once again, Sophia was struck by how he seemed to fill the entire room with his presence.

Today he was wearing a charcoal gray suit that probably cost more than most people's cars. His dark hair was perfectly styled, and his green eyes were as intense as ever. But there was something different about him today. He looked tired, and there were shadows under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept either.

"Dr. Sophia," he said, closing the door behind him. "Thank you for seeing me."

"Sit down," she said, pointing to the chair across from her desk. But like last time, he ignored her and walked to the window.

"Beautiful view," he said, looking out at the city. "You can see everything from up here. Every street, every building, every person going about their business, completely unaware of the dangers around them."

"Mr. Alexander," Sophia said firmly, "I want answers. Now. How did you get that piece of fabric?"

He turned away from the window and looked at her with those piercing green eyes. "What if I told you that the world isn't what you think it is? That there are things out there that most people don't know exist?"

"I'd say you're avoiding my question."

A small smile played at the corners of his mouth. "Direct. I like that about you." He walked over to her desk and placed both hands on the surface, leaning forward slightly. "Tell me, Dr. Sophia, do you believe in the supernatural?"

Sophia's breath caught in her throat. The way he said it, with such seriousness, made her think of the strange vision she had experienced when they touched. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything," he said simply. "You felt something when we shook hands yesterday, didn't you? Something unusual."

Sophia wanted to deny it, but the intensity in his eyes made it impossible to lie. "Yes," she whispered.

"What did you see?"

"I... I saw a dark room. I heard growling. There was blood." She shivered as she remembered the vivid images.

Mr. Alexander nodded slowly. "You have a gift, Dr. Sophia. A very rare one. You can see into people's minds, into their memories."

"That's impossible," Sophia said, but even as she said it, she knew it wasn't true. She had always been unusually good at reading people, at sensing their emotions and sometimes even their thoughts.

"Is it?" he asked. "Haven't you always known things about people that you shouldn't know? Haven't you always been able to see deeper than other therapists?"

Sophia sank into her chair, her mind reeling. Everything he was saying was true, but she had never wanted to admit it, even to herself. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you're not entirely human," he said gently. "And neither am I."

The words hung in the air between them like a challenge. Sophia stared at him, trying to process what he had just said.

"You're crazy," she whispered.

"Am I?" Mr. Alexander straightened up and began unbuttoning his suit jacket. "Then how do you explain this?"

He shrugged off his jacket and began rolling up the sleeves of his white dress shirt. As he did, Sophia saw something that made her gasp. His arms were covered in scars – long, jagged marks that looked like they had been made by claws or teeth.

"These aren't from accidents," he said, his voice quiet. "They're from fights. Fights with things that aren't supposed to exist."

Sophia couldn't take her eyes off the scars. They were everywhere – on his arms, disappearing under his shirt collar, probably covering his entire body. "What kind of fights?"

"The kind that happen when you're not entirely human," he said. "When you have to protect your territory from others like you."

"Others like you?" Sophia repeated, her voice barely a whisper.

Mr. Alexander walked around her desk until he was standing directly in front of her. This close, she could see flecks of gold in his green eyes, and she could smell that wild, earthy scent she had noticed before.

"Tell me, Dr. Sophia," he said, reaching out to touch her cheek with one finger. "Have you ever wondered why you feel so drawn to me? Why your heart races when I'm near? Why you can see my memories?"

The moment his skin touched hers, another vision flashed through Sophia's mind. This time, she saw Mr. Alexander in a dark forest, but he wasn't quite human anymore. His body was larger, more muscular, and his face was different – more angular, more animal-like. His green eyes glowed in the darkness, and when he opened his mouth, she saw long, sharp teeth.

She jerked away from his touch, her heart pounding. "What are you?"

"I think you already know," he said softly.

Sophia's mind raced as she tried to make sense of everything. The scars, the visions, the way he moved like a predator, his unusual strength and grace. It all pointed to something impossible, something that only existed in movies and books.

"Werewolf," she whispered.

He nodded slowly. "And you, Dr. Sophia, are what we call a sensitive. Someone with psychic abilities who can connect with our kind. It's why you can see my memories, why you're drawn to me despite your fear."

Sophia stood up abruptly, her chair rolling backward. "This is insane. Werewolves don't exist. You're delusional."

"Am I?" he asked again. "Then explain the fabric."

Sophia had forgotten about the bloody pajama fabric in the shock of his revelation. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Last night, I had what we call a forced shift," he said, his expression growing serious. "Sometimes, when we're under extreme stress or emotion, we lose control and change without meaning to. It happened to me in my apartment around three in the morning."

"But how did you get my pajamas?"

"I didn't," he said. "But in my wolf form, my senses are much stronger. I could smell you, even from miles away. The scent was so strong, so appealing, that I followed it. I found myself outside your apartment building, still in wolf form."

Sophia's blood ran cold. "You were outside my apartment?"

"I never went inside," he said quickly. "But there was a piece of fabric caught on a fire escape outside your window. It must have blown out when you opened the window earlier that evening."

Sophia remembered opening her bedroom window before going to bed because the apartment had felt too warm. A piece of her pajama top must have caught on something and torn off.

"I picked it up in my wolf form," Mr. Alexander continued. "When I changed back to human in the morning, I found it in my hand. Along with blood from my transformation."

Sophia sank back into her chair, overwhelmed. "This is too much. I can't... I don't..."

"I know it's a lot to take in," he said gently. "But I need you to understand something important. There are others of my kind in this city, and they're not all as controlled as I am. Some of them are dangerous, and they've heard rumors about a sensitive working as a therapist in Manhattan."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're in danger," he said seriously. "Sensitives are rare and valuable. Some werewolves would do anything to possess one, to use their abilities for their own purposes."

Sophia felt the room spinning around her. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want to protect you," he said. "And because I need your help."

"My help with what?"

Mr. Alexander walked back to the window and looked out at the city. "There's a war coming, Dr. Sophia. Between different werewolf packs in Manhattan. And the losing side will do anything to gain an advantage – including k********g a sensitive to use against their enemies."

Sophia's phone buzzed with a text message. She picked it up with shaking hands and read the message from an unknown number: "We know what you are. We're coming for you tonight. -The Shadow Pack"

She looked up at Mr. Alexander, terror written across her face. "How did they get my number?"

His expression darkened, and for a moment, she saw something truly dangerous flicker in his green eyes. "Because, Dr. Sophia, they've been watching you longer than I have."