claim by the alpha

CHAPTER 5: The Board Leak

*CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA*

*CHAPTER 5: The Board Leak*

_∼

*Day 12*

The morning started normal.

Too normal.

Coffee. Silence. Damon in his office. Me pretending I wasn’t still sore and aching from the heat.

Then my phone blew up.

Unknown number.

Then another.

Then 10 more.

*Unknown: Is this you?*

Attached: A photo.

Me. Leaving Damon’s office at 2am. 3 days ago.

Hair messy. His jacket around my shoulders.

My blood ran cold.

Next photo: Me at the pack meeting. His hand on my lower back.

Next: Me getting out of his car.

All of them. Timestamped.

Then the texts stopped.

And the news started.

*VOSS TECH SCANDAL: CEO DATING TEEN STEPDAUGHTER*

*ALPHA CLAIMS INNOCENT OMEGA - BOARD DEMANDS ANSWERS*

*BLACKWOOD HEIR IN INAPPROPRIATE RELATIONSHIP*

I dropped my phone.

Knock. Violent.

Damon.

Phone in his hand. Face like stone.

“You’ve seen it.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t go online. I’m handling it.”

“How did they—”

“I don’t know.” He was already walking away. “Board meeting in 1 hour. Stay here.”

---

*10:00am. Blackwood Industries. Boardroom.*

I wasn’t supposed to be here.

Damon told me to stay home.

I came anyway.

Because if this was my fault, I was facing it.

12 board members.

Elena in the front. Smiling.

And Damon. At the head of the table.

Suit perfect. But eyes dead.

“Mr. Blackwood,” the chairman started. “Care to explain these?”

He threw the photos on the screen.

All of them.

Silence.

Damon stood.

“My stepdaughter lost her mother 2 months ago. She is 19. She is an omega. She is under my legal protection per pack law. These photos are taken out of context.”

“Out of context?” one board member laughed. “She’s wearing your jacket at 2am.”

“She had a panic attack,” Damon said. Flat. “About her mother. I was comforting her. As family does.”

Family.

The lie tasted bitter.

Elena spoke up.

“I agree this looks bad, son. Which is why I suggested a formal engagement. To legitimize it. To protect the company.”

“No,” Damon said.

“Excuse me?”

“I said no. There will be no engagement. There will be no marriage. This is temporary. One year. Then she goes.”

The room erupted.

“One year?! With a teenager?!”

“This is a liability!”

“The stockholders—”

Damon slammed his hand on the table.

“ENOUGH!”

The room went quiet.

“This is my house. My pack. My decision. If you have a problem with it, you can sell your shares. Otherwise, meeting adjourned.”

He walked out.

I followed.

---

*In the elevator. Just us.*

He didn’t look at me.

“Who did this?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Elena?”

“Probably.”

“What happens now?”

“Damage control.”

The elevator dinged.

Reporters. Outside.

Cameras.

“MR BLACKWOOD! IS IT TRUE?!”

“ABI! DID HE FORCE YOU?!”

Security pushed us through.

Into the car.

The second the doors closed, Damon punched the seat.

“f**k!”

“Damon—”

“Don’t.”

“I’m sorry. This is my fault—”

“It’s NOT your fault.” He turned to me. Eyes wild. “Do you hear me? This is not your fault. It’s mine. For marking you. For not protecting you better.”

He looked destroyed.

“Pull over,” I said to the driver.

“What?”

“Pull over.”

The car stopped. Side street.

I turned to Damon.

“They’re going to destroy you. Over me.”

“Let them.”

“I can’t let them.”

“What are you—”

I leaned in.

And kissed him.

It wasn’t planned.

It wasn’t smart.

It was desperate.

His lips were hard. Cold.

For one second he didn’t move.

Then his hand was in my hair.

And he was kissing me back.

Like he’d been waiting.

Like he hated himself for it.

3 seconds.

5 seconds.

Then he shoved me back.

“NO.”

Breathing hard.

“What the hell was that?”

“I’m sorry—I just—”

“Don’t.” He looked sick. “Don’t ever do that again, Abi. Do you understand me?”

“I understand.”

We didn’t speak the rest of the drive.

---

*That night. 11pm. My room.*

Knock.

Damon.

With a folder.

“Legal papers,” he said. “To prove this is just protection. Guardianship. Nothing else.”

“Okay.”

“I also fired 3 people. Who had access to the security footage.”

“So it was someone in the house.”

“Yeah.”

He set the folder down.

Wouldn’t look at me.

“About earlier. In the car.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I do.” He cut me off. “That can’t happen again. Ever. I’m your stepdad. I’m your Alpha. I’m 20 years older than you. If I touch you, I ruin you.”

“I know.”

“So we’re clear?”

“We’re clear.”

He nodded.

“Good.”

He turned to leave.

“Damon.”

“What?”

“Thank you. For taking the fall for me.”

He didn’t answer.

Just closed the door.

---

*1:17am. Text.*

*Unknown: Are you okay?*

*Me: No. Are you?*

*Unknown: I will be. When this is over.*

*Unknown: I’m sorry, Abi.*

*Me: For what?*

*Unknown: For all of it.*

I didn’t sleep.

---

*Day 13*

The story was everywhere.

#BlackwoodScandal was trending.

Elena called a family dinner.

“To show unity,” she said.

It was a trap.

And we both knew it.

Damon picked me up in a suit.

“You don’t have to come.”

“I do. If I hide, it looks worse.”

The dinner was hell.

30 people. All staring.

All whispering.

Elena sat us together.

“Smile,” she whispered to us. “For the photos.”

There were photographers.

Of course there were.

Halfway through, a glass broke.

Everyone turned.

Me.

I’d dropped mine.

Because Damon’s hand was on my thigh.

Under the table.

Where no one could see.

His eyes met mine.

Apologetic.

But he didn’t move his hand.

The bond flared.

Heat. Shame. Want.

After dinner, in his car, I exploded.

“Why did you do that?!”

“Do what?”

“TOUCH ME! After what you said!”

“I don’t know!” He yelled. “Okay?! I don’t know! You kissed me and now I can’t stop thinking about it and Elena is trying to marry us off and the board wants me gone and I’m losing my f*****g mind!”

Silence.

We were both breathing hard.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“Me too.”

“For what?”

“For making you feel like you have to fix this.”

He reached over.

Brushed his thumb over my knuckles.

Once.

Then pulled away.

“One year, Abi,” he said. “We just have to make it one year.”

I nodded.

But I was starting to think one year with him

was going to be the longest and shortest year of my life.

---

*11:59pm.*

Another text.

*Unknown: I fired the head of security. It was him. He worked for Elena.*

*Me: Are you going to tell her?*

*Unknown: No. I’m going to destroy her first.*

Bound by his name.

For 50+ chapters.

And the war had just started.

---

*END CHAPTER 5*