Blood moon

Chapter 75. Both Walked

They both walked away from the house, they had a good pace and she let her head fall on the young werewolf's shoulder, then her heart was grateful, she loved these attentions that Andrea had with him, they made all her worries worth it, she loved how well they could get along together, and she wished it could always be this way, she wished they could always be like this.

The road seemed short in the woman's eyes, she wished she could take him away, as if that house, the herd and the family were leashes around his neck. It was strange but she could feel inside her as that pressure would eventually burst at some point, she did not want anything bad to happen to the man who was trying to protect her with his life, Hunter had shown her before that he was worthy of all these wonderful things and did not want to disappoint her trust.

—How has he been—Harold Halland asked as he watched his son walk away.

—He is very irritable, but when she is around he seems to relax, it does him a lot of good— declared one of the council men, he had run the Halland family household for a long time, coordinating the staff.

—Yes, that human girl, I suppose she's not as bad as we thought, but I still don't quite like her— he pointed out with a worried look on his face.

—Is it because of Mr Harley?—The older man, like everyone else, had realised how hard this ordeal was for the first-born of the family, who had practically moved into the office, barely coming in long enough to be seen, and always pretending to have spent the night and then leaving.

—Yes, I worry that he is relegating himself to the company, he is still part of the pack— the werewolves who could hear that statement had divided opinions on that statement, they did not consider him to be part of the pack if he was not a werewolf —I know what you may think, but Harley was raised as a wolf, his blood runs in our bloodline and he has done impressive things to ensure the future of the pack, so yes, he will always be a werewolf.

The words ended there, the older man continued with his breakfast, no one in the house dared to raise their voice against the powerful werewolf leading them, now even though he was human he still had the respect of those closest to him and secretly they were glad he had been punished, for now he no longer drank at all, as if his human was completely teetotal and it was his wolf that had the desire for alcohol.

Harley on the other hand was in the middle of a meeting with shareholders, they were criticising future profit projections along with the balance sheets shown, they seemed unhappy with the growth of the company, he felt a lot of annoyance about it, but he had to remain calm in the face of the accusations.

His biggest detractors were werewolves, the same ones who would never have criticised him if he was the alpha now, but as he was only human they took advantage of him to boycott him, that was something that was engraved in his memory, the feeling of contempt for weakness and how the upper classes mistreated the lower ones, he always considered himself a fair man, not especially close to people, but he never denigrated anyone who did not deserve it, this was going too far.

He never treated them as worthless, nor did he seek to make them feel lesser, but the way they riddled him left much to be desired.

—We cannot ignore the fact that our profits have steadily declined under your leadership. As a shareholder, I demand to see a concrete plan and effective measures to increase profitability— that accusation left him breathless, it was a full-blown lie.

—It is the CEO's responsibility to ensure that our resources are used efficiently to generate higher profits. If we don't see positive results soon, we should reconsider his ability to lead the company— that was like a slap in the mouth to him and the men wouldn't stop talking.

—We cannot ignore the competition and market trends that are affecting our earnings. As a shareholder, I expect the CEO to have a strong vision to adapt and thrive in this changing environment.

—Earnings are a direct reflection of the management and direction of the company. As a shareholder, I am unhappy with the current trajectory and expect a radical change in strategy to drive our earnings.

That was the last thing he could tolerate at a time like this being pushed further and further against the ropes, he had lost the leadership of the herd, the woman he had been most interested in was now pregnant without knowing who the father was, but by all accounts his younger brother wanted to take over, just as he had the leadership of the herd and now they wanted his head in the company, he proceeded to stand up, staring at them.

I gave a long intake of breath.

—What is this about gentlemen, what is it really about— his tone left no room for interruption —we have grown steadily for the last three years, you have not had a single month of loss and your returns have been delivered at the same date and time as always, why are you attacking today?

Everyone seemed to fall silent, he began to walk around the room.

—I thought I had improved the company, that they would be satisfied with the profits and that my rational vision unlike my predecessor's was something they valued, but I see that is not the case.

His biggest detractors looked at him angrily, but he still had to keep talking.

—If you want me to resign from my position I will, with immediate effect, but I hope you won't call me afterwards to help you sort something out, because unlike you I know all the employees here, at least in terms of their CVs and based on that the sales strategy was drawn up, but if you can't see it that's fine— he began to walk towards the door, the whispers only getting louder.

—Wait a minute, CEO! You can't just jump ship when the going gets tough. We have a financial stake in this company and we need a more solid solution than just quitting.

—I'm not doing this, I've been around since the company's inception, after all it's a family business, everyone in the Halland family has given their blood to build it— Harley pointed out, turning to look at them.

—If you resign like this, what signal are you sending to investors and the market in general? We expect you to handle this situation professionally and responsibly.

Harley laughed.

—That was something I expected from you, after all I have made you a lot of money legally and I have always been there for you when you needed someone, but when I have a hard time you attack like piranhas, I don't see why I can't leave a place that doesn't need me— Harley emphasised.

—Your unannounced resignation will only create more chaos. As shareholders, we need an orderly transition and a clear plan to ensure the long-term stability and growth of the company— One of his strongest detractors told him, he had been a former hunter for his father, the man was used to hard work and death, now he considered himself a family man.

—If you want someone else to run the company and you come to me with these statements it is because you already have a name in mind, so you can do it yourselves now, I am sure you are dying to do the voting.

He didn't wait for her to respond, leaving the boardroom, he was increasingly annoyed that they wanted to hurt him for not being a conventional part of the pack, but contrary to his heart's desire to go and shout at them, he approached the office to make a plea to the goddess, he wished that she would be the one to guide his steps towards the right path, that she would be the one to decide whether or not he should stay in the company.

He wasn't sure if it would work or not, but he hoped it would. There was no answer after his prayer, nor did he expect the same goddess who punished him to come to his aid, now that he had decided to seek her out. After a few minutes there was a knock at the door, it was the head of the shareholder group.

—Do you have a moment, Harley?— the older man asked, just poking his head through the door.

—Go on Eugene, talk to me— replied the young man.

—We've known each other for too many years, practically since you were a little boy, now that you're a man I've been proud of the way you've led the company.

—You seem to be the only one who thinks that.

The older man snorted.

—We all know that between you and your father, you're the only one with enough brains to do what you've done, I don't know what's going on with the other shareholders today, they seem to be desperate for money because it's all they talk about, but we're all proud of your work, you're one of the best companies in the nation.

—It wasn't enough to keep me from getting fired— Harley replied.

—Don't say things that didn't happen, kid. You still have a long way to go with the family business, don't think it will be so easy to get rid of us, you'll probably get fed up with us first, and we'll still come after you kid.