Reborn as the Alpha CEO's Contracted Wife

The First Move

Alex closed the wooden door. He looked at the manila folder on the floor. He looked at my hands. I held my hands tight against my sides to stop them shaking.

"You knew" I said. My voice echoed a bit in the empty bedroom.

"I knew" Alex confirmed. He did not look guilty. He did not say sorry. He walked forward. Picked up the folder. He placed it carefully on the marble nightstand.

"You let me walk into your office today and offer you a marriage contract" I said. I stepped toward him. I was really angry. "You sat behind your desk. Evaluated my business proposal while you held proof that we are true mates. You controlled the situation."

Alex crossed his arms over his chest. "I protected myself and my pack. Five days ago my pack doctor ran a blood test on the glasses left at the Lincoln pack charity event. He found your pheromone markers. He brought me the results that night. My wolf wanted me to drive to your estate and claim you."

"Why didn't you?" I asked.

"Because biology does not guarantee loyalty Mary" Alex said. He looked straight at me. "You lived in the home of my corporate rival. You wore his engagement ring. You had his scent on your clothes. If I walked into the Lincoln estate and claimed you based on a chemical reaction I risked exposing my operation to a spy. I needed to know your intentions before I revealed my hand."

"So you waited."

"I investigated" Alex corrected. "My security team monitored your movements for four days. We watched Dave push the mating narrative to the national media. We looked at your banking habits. Then this morning you walked into my building. You got past my security. You gave me a plan to destroy him. You proved your loyalty to my interests before I even mentioned the mate bond."

I stared at him. He only thought about facts and numbers. He ignored the biological pull of a true mate just to get a tactical advantage.

"You are a man, Alex."

"I am a successful man" he countered. "Dave Winslow let his greed control his actions today. He lost fifty million dollars. I got fifty million dollars and a true mate because I control my instincts."

I turned away from him. I walked the length of the bedroom. The dark floor felt cold through my shoes. I needed to think about this reality. In my past life Dave used the mate bond to control my every decision. He used my biology against me. Now I faced an Alpha who completely ignored those instincts.

"Does this change the signed contract?" I asked. I stopped walking. Faced him again.

"No. The contract stays exactly as we wrote it " Alex stated. "We share this room. We destroy Dave's company. You manage my public relations department. We will present a front at the gala tomorrow evening."

"We are mates. The biological pull will get much stronger the longer we share a space. Can you ignore it for a year?"

Alex walked over to me. He stopped two feet away. He did not release his Alpha aura but his close physical proximity made my heart beat faster. I felt a sharp need to lean forward and touch his chest. I forced my feet to stay on the floor.

"I can control my wolf. You need to control yours" Alex said quietly. "You still have the unsevered bond to Dave. Until you formally sever that tie with the Council on Monday a true mating mark between us will cause you severe physical pain. Two competing pack bonds inside one wolf will trigger a cardiac arrest. We will not cross that line."

I nodded slowly. He spoke the truth. The medical risks were lethal.

"We operate strictly as business partners" I agreed. "Nothing more."

"Tomorrow morning a professional styling team arrives at ten o'clock" Alex instructed. "They will prepare you for the gala. They will bring fifteen dress options. You will select a dress. We arrived at the event at eight o'clock. When we step out of the car and onto the carpet I expect you to act like a woman entirely devoted to her Alpha."

"I will play the part perfectly" I promised.

"Good. I have a conference call with my investors" Alex said. He checked his silver watch. "My security team stands guard in the hallway. Do not open the door for anyone. Lock the deadbolt behind me."

He walked out of the room. The door clicked shut. I walked over. Turned the heavy brass deadbolt. The lock slid into place with a sound.

I finally sat down on the side of the large bed. The mattress felt firm. I opened my laptop. Connected to the secure Graham network. I needed to verify the transfer of the fifty million dollars into the new holding account one time. I logged into the banking portal. The numbers displayed clearly on the screen. The money sat safely behind corporate firewalls.

Dave had zero access to my funds.

I felt a sense of victory. I survived the day of my second life. I had capital. I had protection.

My phone buzzed, I picked it up. The screen displayed a text message from Jane Lincoln. I opened the message app.

Jane attached a photograph. The high-resolution image showed the backyard patio of the Lincoln estate. A small metal fire pit sat in the center of the concrete. Inside the fire pit my childhood diaries burned. The thick notebooks contained every detail of my life from the age of ten. I watched the bright orange flames consume the pages in the photograph.

A second message arrived immediately after the photo.

I read the text block twice to make sure I understood the words.

"Dave came home empty-handed today" Jane wrote. "He is extremely angry. He destroyed your bedroom. He burned your books. He says you have twenty-four hours to return the money and apologize publicly. If you show your face at the gala tomorrow with Alex Graham we will ruin you. You have no idea what Dave found inside your hidden drive."

I stared at the glowing screen. My blood ran cold. My hands started shaking

I told Alex's extraction team to grab the hard drive from my bottom desk drawer at three in the morning. I left it behind at the estate. I assumed it was safe in its hiding spot for a few hours. I made a tactical error. Dave tore my room apart before the sun even went down.

The black hard drive contained the financial records I compiled over the last three years. It held proof of Dave's embezzlement, from the Lincoln pack.

It also contained my personal medical notes. It contained the clinic reports documenting the fatal poison Jane used on me in my past life. I wrote those notes this morning to document my murder before my memories faded. I wrote down the date of my death.

If Dave read those files he knew I knew about the murder plot. He knew I had knowledge of the future.

The phone vibrated one time in my hand.

"See you at the gala, Mary," Jane texted.