The Alpha I Forgot

Chapter 2

SYDNEY

DANTE WOLFE'S LAWYERS RESPOND TO EXPLOSIVE CLAIMS, THREATEN LEGAL ACTION.

I clenched my teeth together as I saw the headline, already heading towards my desk at the company.

The second I stepped through the staff area doors, every head turned.

This wasn't just the usual glance people give a colleague walking in late, this was different and it was quite visible in their expression.

Wide eyes, whispers, some of them actively pretending to be busy with a screen they clearly weren't looking at.

I knew exactly what they were whispering about.

But I still had to follow it up either way.

Whatever came next, I'd earned it.

I'd known the risk the second I hit publish, knew it and done it anyway because seven hours and a sack letter had a way of making bad decisions feel like the only decisions.

Now the bill was coming due, and going by the whispers trailing me down the hallway, it was coming due fast.

”Sydney." Ivy appeared beside me so fast I nearly walked into her, her coffee spilling on my white shirt.

“Jesus Christ, Ivy.” I looked down at the huge patch of brown and back to her.

“What is—”

"Where have you been? Your phone's been off." I raised a brow.

“You just ruined my shirt and—”

"He's here." She said it like it should mean something instantly, and when I just blinked at her, she grabbed my arm and lowered her voice. "Dante Wolfe and his lawyer. They've been in the boss's office for the last twenty minutes."

My heart dropped as my hands tightened around the strap of my bag, all my attention gone from my ruined shirt.

"He's what?"

"Suing us, Sydney." Ivy's grip tightened. "Suing you. Why did you have to publish that kind of story? How true is it? Do you have facts?"

"I saw what I saw, Ivy." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "A man who's spent his whole career denying he has a personal life, hiding a child in an orphanage. That's not nothing."

"That's not the same as proof. It's not facts!." She said it gently, which somehow made it worse. Ivy never did gentle unless she thought I was already losing.

My mouth went dry.

Facts.

I'd expected backlash, I'd expected angry comments, maybe even a statement from his team denying everything. But is he suing?

The landline on my desk suddenly started buzzing and I swallowed hard, picking it up as I placed the receiver on my ears.

”Sydney. My office. Now." My boss's voice filled my ears and I bit hard on the insides of my mouth.

“Yes boss.”

Dropping my bag onto my desk, I walked directly to my boss office, not minding my coffee stained shirt.

There was literally no time for that.

As soon as I stepped in, I was face to face with him.

Dante Wolfe.

Up close, he was worse.

Not worse as in unpleasant, worse as in the kind of face that made a person forget what they walked in to say.

His jaw was cut sharp enough to have its own gravitational pull, and even sitting still he looked like a man built for motion, like stillness cost him something.

Something in my chest gave an unfamiliar tug, quick and sharp, gone before I could name it.

I blamed the coffee stain. I blamed the meeting. I did not let myself blame him.

His brows furrowed, his eyes dark like he wanted to rip me into pieces from the inside out.

“Boss. You called.” I managed to say, trying to sound more confident than I was feeling.

He didn't answer right away.

He wouldn't even look at me, his eyes fixed on the lady which I presume is Dante's lawyer.

“Umm, she's here.” The boss gestured to me and I could hear the thumping of my own heart beat.

The lady raised her head slowly as though she was checking me out before nodding, flipping through the pages of the folder that was open in front of her.

"Ms. Sydney, is it?" She didn't wait for confirmation.

"My client is prepared to pursue defamation and endangerment claims against you personally, as well as this publication, unless you can produce a verified source for the claims in your article within the next twenty four hours."

"I have reason to believe—"

"That's not a source." She cut in, her voice firm while I clenched my fist.

"That's speculation. You published private information about a minor without consent, without confirmation, and without so much as a request for comment from my client. Do you understand the position that puts you in?"

I did.

I understood it exactly, which was the problem.

I thought of the little girl again, the way she'd launched herself at him without hesitation, the way he'd caught her like it was instinct and not effort.

I hadn't imagined that.

Whatever else I'd gotten wrong, that moment had been real.

But real wasn't the same as fair, and I was starting to understand, a little too late, that I might have mistaken the two.

"So what are your verified sources and claims?" She asked again.

I saw her call him, daddy?

That was even stupid to voice out.

"No source." She closed the folder. "Noted."

“The thing is—”

“We'll be issuing a call to court and Ms Sydney, you better get yourself a very good lawyer.” I opened my mouth to say something and pressed it together, unsure of what to say that would complicate myself further.

“Mr Dante, we know how this to you is as Hockey Captain—”

“No!” The lawyer interrupted immediately, “We don't think you understand. My client is to be crowned Alpha by next week and has a final game against the West hockey group. And your staff does this! At the peak of his career.”

“We'll issue a full retraction within the hour, a public apology, anything and I'll personally see to it that the journalist responsible is terminated effective immediately."

My eyes bulged open and I turned to him in haste

"You're firing me? Right now?"

"Sydney." He finally looked at me, and there wasn't a shred of apology in it.

"We are being sued. You put this paper's entire reputation on the line for a story you couldn't even verify. What did you think was going to happen?"

I opened my mouth and closed it again.

There wasn't a version of that sentence that made me sound like anything other than exactly what he'd just called me.

Reckless.

"Lana." Dante finally called, his voice more hoarse and dry than I could ever imagine it.

I pivoted, confusion creeping into my head.

Lana. That was my wolf's name.

And not everyone knew that because I never referred to my wolf at all times.

She was weak, almost dormant so how did this man, who I had never met personally know her name?

Or did Alphas suddenly unlock other characteristics that I wasn't aware of?

His eyes locked onto me, his poker faced expression confusing me all the more.

”Six years, Lana. Six years!” He called out slowly, his jaw clenched. "And this is what you're doing to me."

Six years.

The number sat wrong in my chest, too specific to be a stranger's guess, too heavy to be nothing.

I searched his face for the joke, the trick, anything that would make this make sense, and found only a man who looked like he was the one being wronged.

“Umm, are you talking to me, Sir?” I queried, looking behind me to check if anyone was there.

No one.

He was talking to me.

“Yes, you, Lana. After 6 years, this is how you think to make your entrance?” I opened my mouth to tell him he had the wrong woman.

But what the hell? It felt like my lips suddenly had a mind of their own.

It wouldn't even open.