The Billionaire Alpha’s Dilemma

Chapter Three

As she watched his blood bead and drop from the wound it began to heal and close up immediately and in a minute there was nothing to show the cut, not a scar not even a line. As if in a daze she reached forward to trace where the letter opener had previously sliced and gasped in delighted surprise at the smooth unmarked skin of his palm, “impressive!” she whispered to herself as she reached for a wipe and cleaned all traces of blood off the table top, she pulled out a notebook and began to scribble as she asked him to go over the details of the curse again.

Remi watched transfixed as excitement lit up Isla’s striking eyes, his wolf stirred and he almost growled in response to her reaction, she knows he thought but then realized with disappointment as she chattered away that he was the only one that felt stricken by the electric jolts that had run through him when she touched his palm, for some reason this human was his mate yet she did not seem to feel the mate bond, he wondered if it was because she was human.

He didn’t have any knowledge of werewolves that were mates with humans. He felt the room close in on him as he fought her nearness, his wolf struggled to wrest control from him being in such close proximity to its mate and not taking action made it restless. what was this about he wondered, why her? Why now? Didn’t he have enough to deal with already? The moon goddess must be having a laugh at his expense.

Since he had become Alpha he had been without a Luna and he had been okay with that, his father had been the greatest alpha in all of France, sheer will had made it that he hadn’t needed a Luna to rule, he had done it alone and had been a ferocious and feared ruler, stories of his conquests went far past the boundaries of France, he had been a legend. Remi had been determined to follow in his footsteps even though he kept getting undermined by what his father had called his mother’s taint, his reluctance at taking life just to teach a lesson, Remi was a diplomatic man in contrast to his father’s ruthlessness and where Alpha Medine had been feared Alpha Remi received respect and admiration. responsibility and his devotion to his Father’s will had made him abandon his solitary playboy life traipsing all over the world but he still enjoyed his bachelor status, taking willing lovers when the need arose, he had no use for a Mate.

Even just the thought of a human mate was an insult. to be an Alpha with a human Luna would make him a laughing stock to many who were already sensing weakness in the Lune pack after the death of the great Alpha Medine and were circling and waiting for an opportunity to attack, he would be damned if he gave them one, as he listened to Isla drone on he wondered if rejecting the bond would affect her given that the bookkeeper seemed unaffected by the effects of the mate bond that he was feeling, better to wait till after the curse was broken he thought, then he would have no use for her. At that thought his wolf Shar growled angrily.

Isla looked at Remi’s glazed over eyes and thought she must be boring him with all her inane chatter, clamping down on her irritation she peered into his face and teased, “moon to Alpha Remi.”

Startled out of his reverie Remi looked at her questioningly.

“I asked you to go over the details of the curse again” Isla said, looking at him patiently with her pen in hand.

He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out his phone, he thumbed the screen and placed it on the table facing her, while she studied the picture of what looked like a pentagram but with seven lines instead of five and a crescent moon above scorched into the bark of a tree trunk. Then Remi spoke,

“One of the pack members was on routine guard duty when she failed to report back to her team, she was tracked to a point close to the boundary of the commune, and the members of her team found her unconscious, they promptly contacted my Beta Lucien who told them to move her to the pack hospital, he went to the spot where she had been found and while examining the scene found that drawing on a tree not too far from there, he took the photo you are now looking at and went to the hospital, upon his arrival he and a nurse were attacked by the patient who had become extremely strong, stronger than normal, Lucien managed to subdue her but not before she bit him, sensing that this was not an ordinary case he called me and gave me all the information and suggested that he along with the now rabid Werewolf and anyone else who has been in contact with her be quarantined in the catacombs underneath the Packhouse. By the time I returned home everyone who had been in contact with Lucille had lost their minds, if Lucien had not insisted on keeping himself and the affected werewolves away from everyone the rate of casualties would have been much higher”, he took his phone off the table, thumbed through the screen once more then placed the phone facing her, this time on the screen there was a grotesque figure.

Even though it had human features also had claws and large savage looking teeth, the creature had been chained with huge gleaming silver chains, it’s body was covered in tufts of hair, Papa Strand had an encyclopedia of magical creatures and some looked scary but this image was the scariest thing she had ever seen. After a brief spell Remi continued speaking, “the sorcerers at the pack were able to fashion chains which have been able to restrain them so far but they say that the crescent moon carved into the tree indicates that the spell will be unbreakable by the next full moon which is fast approaching, they also suspect that the curse will spread regardless of the affected werewolves being kept in quarantine. I cannot afford to let the people who depend on me for their safety perish, they would also be a danger to the humans living around the commune, my pack is in danger of unleashing rabid werewolves unto the entire world, who knows how bad the contamination could get, I can’t let that happen, not on my watch!”

An agitated Remi pushed out of his seat and started pacing the small room in distress, running his hands through his hair. Remi’s selflessness, determination and obvious agitation came as a bit of a shock to her, when he had happened upon her initially while she had been trying to retrieve the feather duster, his eyes had felt cold and unfeeling, she could barely read any emotion in there, her initial assessment of him had been that he was a suave rich playboy, that impression was crumbling as she got a peek into a deeper more vulnerable version of the Alpha. she thought of how lucky his pack members were to have someone who was willing to go to the ends of the world in search of a solution to their woes.

She watched as he wore the ground out with his pacing and her heart went out to him, she could see the agonized look in his eyes and she desperately wanted to help him solve whatever plagued him. Isla began to probe her mind, she was certain she had previously had a conversation with Papa Strand on a similar curse involving a Scottish Werewolf Pack, she had seen a crescent moon burnt into a tree bark in the archives, she vaguely remembered asking Papa Strand what the symbol had meant, he had sent her on what he termed a “knowledge hunt”, she smiled wryly at the memory. there had to be something among the archives that could help, she was determined to find a solution to the Lune pack’s problem and in turn an end to her money problems, if she had enough money she would be be able to have the bookstore up and running and leave it in the care of Ruth, she would be able to leave Nantucket without any guilt and embark on adventures just like her papa Strand.

Remi stopped pacing and watched as Isla got lost in her thoughts, as he watched her elfin face screwed up in concentration he wondered if he had been able to fully explain the severity of this situation to her, she was after all only a human, despite her supposed knowledge there was no way she could comprehend what was truly involved. being an extremely successful business owner he could afford to throw as many incentives as possible in her way, he was willing to do anything if it would get her to work for him and come away with him to Normandy, he tried to convince himself he was doing this solely for the pack but the deep feeling of satisfaction he tried to bury at the thought of her in his home indicated he was instinctively enjoying the matebond, as he drew closer towards Isla he felt the agitation melt away. He mussed to himself, his father had been right, just a couple of hours with his human mate and the control he had fostered and learnt over the years was slipping, he could not afford to be weak, most especially at this time. His father would be rolling in his grave to see him now.

Clearing his throat Remi interrupted the silence and Isla snapped her head up and looked at a now composed Remi, gone was the disturbed man, in his place stood the aloof confident man reminiscent of the man who had dwarfed her while she had been on her knees and palms, an unexpected wave of desire swept over her momentarily.

Remi smirked and for a moment she thought he looked like he knew what had gone through her mind but he was a werewolf not clairvoyant, there was no way he could know.

“Is there anything else you need?” Remi asked, all businesslike.

“Where were you when the inscription on the tree was discovered?” Isla asked.

“On a business trip” he replied, “I take care of multiple enterprises on behalf of the pack all around the world and have to take trips when needed, my Beta Lucien has proven himself dependable, I’ve never had a problem leaving him in charge of the pack”

“Have you considered that someone from inside the pack might have connived with your bad guy?” Isla theorized.

If it was possible Remi’s eyes turned even colder, “that is not in the area of your expertise Miss Strand” he spoke frostily, “i will thank you to do exactly what I have contracted you to do, leave the amateur detective work for the tv cops. If that is all you need I will take my leave, I have other pressing matters to deal with”

“Of course Alpha Ruis, if you could leave a phone number that I can reach you on that will be all.” She replied snidely. Staring into Isla’s eyes Remi leaned forward on the table, plucked the pen out of Isla’s hand and without breaking eye contact he wrote on the notepad in front of her, dropped the pen, then walked out of the office without a word.