Chapter Five - The Alpha
1740 Words
Marcus Kane hated surprises.
They disrupted schedules.
Complicated negotiations.
Created variables he couldn’t control.
Yet Jasmine Voss had managed to become one without even trying.
He sat at the head of the conference table, listening to three executives argue over a contract he had already decided to reject.
“Alpha Kane, if we delay the acquisition another quarter—”
“No.”
The room fell silent.
Marcus didn’t look up from the document in front of him.
“We aren’t delaying it.”
One of the executives swallowed.
“But the projected losses—”
“Are acceptable.”
“They’re estimated at twelve million.”
Marcus finally lifted his eyes.
“And?”
Nobody answered.
He closed the file.
“The company doesn’t exist to protect twelve million dollars. It exists to make money five years from now.”
The executive nodded quickly.
“Yes, Alpha.”
Marcus leaned back.
“Meeting over.”
Chairs scraped against the floor.
Within thirty seconds, the boardroom was empty.
Except for one person.
“Sir.”
Marcus looked toward the doorway.
Ethan, his personal assistant, stood there with a tablet in his hand.
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“You’ve been distracted all morning.”
“I haven’t.”
“You rejected a twelve-million-dollar loss without blinking.”
“That isn’t distraction.”
“You also stared at the same page for seven minutes.”
Marcus looked at the document.
He hadn’t read a word of it.
“Leave.”
Ethan smiled.
“That means I’m right.”
“Ethan.”
“Yes, sir.”
The door closed.
Marcus remained still.
Then his eyes moved toward the window.
The city stretched beneath him.
Buildings.
Traffic.
People moving from one destination to another.
Everything followed a predictable pattern.
Everything except the sensation that had followed him since yesterday.
Jasmine Voss.
He had felt her before he saw her.
The moment she’d entered the room at her father’s house, something inside him had shifted.
His wolf had recognized her.
Not as prey.
Not as a stranger.
As something far more dangerous.
Something familiar.
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
He had spent ten years making sure he never experienced that feeling again.
Ten years ago, he had believed he’d found his mate.
Vivian.
He remembered the night with uncomfortable clarity.
The pack had gathered beneath the moon.
He had stood before them, proud and certain that the woman beside him would become his Luna.
Then Vivian had stepped forward.
Her face had been pale.
Her hands had trembled.
But her voice hadn’t.
“I reject Marcus Kane.”
Silence had swallowed the entire territory.
Marcus had felt the bond tear through him.
He had refused to fall.
Refused to beg.
Refused to let anyone see what the rejection had done.
The next morning, he had returned to work.
The next week, he had expanded the company.
The next year, he had acquired another territory.
And eventually, people stopped asking about Vivian.
Marcus had made certain of it.
He had convinced himself that love was a weakness.
That bonds could be broken.
That instincts could be controlled.
Then Jasmine Voss had walked into a room.
And his wolf had looked up.
Mate.
Marcus closed his eyes.
“No.”
The word came out quietly.
He opened them again.
His reflection stared back from the glass.
Cold.
Controlled.
Untouchable.
That was who Marcus Kane was supposed to be.
He reached for his phone.
A message was waiting.
Damon: We need to talk.
Marcus deleted it.
Another message appeared almost immediately.
Damon: It’s about Jasmine.
Marcus stopped.
His thumb hovered over the screen.
He didn’t respond.
A third message arrived.
Damon: You don’t understand what’s happening.
Marcus stared at it.
That was precisely the problem.
He didn’t understand.
And Marcus Kane hated not understanding.
⸻
“Sir?”
Ethan entered again.
Marcus didn’t look up.
“What now?”
“The Voss family requested a private discussion regarding Jasmine.”
“I know.”
“I thought you might want to cancel.”
“No.”
Ethan hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
Marcus finally looked at him.
“The Kane Foundation is hosting the annual charity gala next month.”
“I know.”
“Jasmine Voss is on the preliminary guest list.”
Marcus said nothing.
Ethan watched him carefully.
“Do you want her removed?”
“No.”
“Added to the priority list?”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes.”
Ethan nodded.
“Of course.”
“And send an invitation directly to her.”
Ethan paused.
“Personally?”
“Personally.”
“Under your name?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Do I need to repeat myself?”
“No, sir.”
Ethan turned to leave.
“Ethan.”
He stopped.
Marcus’s voice was quieter now.
“Don’t tell Damon.”
A knowing expression crossed Ethan’s face.
“I won’t.”
The door closed.
Marcus remained alone.
He didn’t know why he’d invited her.
That was a lie.
He knew exactly why.
He wanted to see her again.
He wanted to know whether yesterday had been a coincidence.
Whether the strange pull had been nothing more than instinct reacting to a wounded wolf.
Or whether something had happened that neither of them understood.
Marcus had spent ten years avoiding questions.
He wasn’t prepared to spend another ten avoiding answers.
⸻
That evening, Marcus returned to the Kane estate.
The house was silent.
It always was.
He preferred it that way.
The staff knew better than to disturb him after eight.
He entered his study and poured himself a drink.
He didn’t touch it.
Instead, he walked toward the fireplace.
Above it hung a collection of old Kane family portraits.
Generations of Alphas.
Generations of power.
Generations of carefully preserved history.
Marcus stopped before one particular portrait.
His grandfather.
The man who had ruled the Kane territory before him.
Marcus had been sixteen when his grandfather died.
He remembered the final conversation they had shared.
A strange conversation.
One Marcus hadn’t understood at the time.
Some debts don’t disappear.
His grandfather had gripped his wrist.
They wait.
Marcus had thought it was an old man’s warning about business.
Years later, he wasn’t so certain.
He turned away from the portrait.
His phone rang.
Damon.
Marcus answered.
“What?”
His son’s breathing was uneven.
“Dad.”
Marcus waited.
“I need to talk to you.”
“You’ve already said that.”
“It’s about Jasmine.”
“I know.”
Damon went silent.
Then:
“You shouldn’t get involved.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“That’s an interesting thing to say.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“She isn’t—”
Damon stopped.
Marcus noticed.
“Isn’t what?”
“Nothing.”
“Damon.”
“I just think you should stay away from her.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
Someone else had said those exact words.
Not to him.
But about him.
Interesting.
“Why?”
“Because she’s my ex-mate.”
Marcus gave a humorless smile.
“That stopped being relevant when you rejected her.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Silence.
Marcus waited.
Damon finally said:
“There are things about the Voss family you don’t know.”
Marcus’s grip tightened around the phone.
“What things?”
“I can’t talk about them.”
“Then don’t call me.”
He ended the call.
The room became quiet again.
But this time, Marcus wasn’t thinking about Damon.
He was thinking about the warning.
Stay away from Marcus Kane.
Why was someone afraid of Jasmine getting close to him?
And what did Damon know?
Marcus walked toward his desk.
He opened an encrypted file.
There were very few things in his private records that even Ethan knew existed.
He searched one name.
VOSS.
Several old documents appeared.
Marcus stared at them.
Then he noticed something.
A document had been accessed recently.
Not by him.
His expression changed.
Someone else had been looking into the Voss family.
Someone with access to Kane records.
Marcus immediately locked the screen.
His wolf stirred.
Danger.
Marcus stood.
For the first time in years, he felt something close to anticipation.
Not fear.
Not excitement.
Something sharper.
A warning.
⸻
The following morning, Ethan entered with a sealed envelope.
“Your invitation.”
Marcus took it.
Black envelope.
Gold Kane seal.
“It’s been delivered to Jasmine Voss?”
“Yes.”
Marcus nodded.
Ethan hesitated.
“She accepted.”
Marcus looked up.
“She did?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
Something inside Marcus eased.
He didn’t like that.
Not at all.
Ethan placed another file on the desk.
“And there’s one more thing.”
Marcus opened it.
A photograph.
Jasmine.
Standing beside Priya outside her apartment.
Taken from a distance.
Marcus’s eyes darkened.
“Who took this?”
“We don’t know.”
“Find out.”
“Yes, sir.”
Marcus looked at the photograph again.
Someone was watching Jasmine.
Someone knew she was connected to him.
And someone clearly didn’t want that connection to continue.
Marcus placed the photograph face down.
His phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
You should have left her alone.
Marcus stared at the words.
Then another message appeared.
Ten years ago, you lost one mate. Don’t make the same mistake twice.
His wolf rose violently.
Marcus’s hand tightened around the phone.
For ten years, no one had dared mention Vivian to him.
Not like this.
He typed one question.
Who are you?
The reply came almost instantly.
Ask the Voss family what happened in 1996.
Marcus went completely still.
The number meant nothing to him.
But somehow, his wolf reacted as though it remembered.
Marcus looked toward the old family portraits.
For the first time in ten years, the past had reached through the silence he’d built around himself.
And it had brought Jasmine Voss with it.
He picked up the invitation list.
Her name sat near the top.
Jasmine Voss.
Marcus ran his thumb across it once.
Then he made a decision.
Whatever had begun between them, he would uncover the truth before anyone else could use it against her.
Because there was one thing Marcus Kane refused to tolerate.
Someone threatening what his wolf had already decided to protect.
Even if he didn’t yet understand why.
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