Beyond Fate

Blue prints

(Mitchell pov)

I sighed once more pointing to the design plans for the new pack hospital. Not happy at all with what I am seeing. I’d already paid for these plans and they were shoddy at best nothing was as already discussed and because I refused to pay for their screw up in the plans to have them redone to my specifications he had now resorted to try and tell me I didn’t need the extras I’d asked for.

“ No, I want the extra space for the recovery room as well as the ward space, you’ve put the surgery in its place” I have been in this stuffy meeting room for the past two hours going over these designs. I scowled at the pathetic little human in front of me thinking about how throwing him out the two story window was becoming more appealing by the second.

Donald Milton worked for the architect company we used, it was called Milton and keys. He was a human but they knew of our existence, we used them all the time and they were good but I was used to dealing with Donald’s partner Keith who was the real brains in the company which hadn’t been more obvious than it was right at this moment.

Donald was more of the classic business snake who got by on his ability to bullshit and use smoke and mirrors, today was no exception. He had been trying to convince me for the past hour that I didn’t need the extra ward in the new hospital. I was planning to build on pack lands, I wanted everything to be perfect and I was beginning to lose my patience with him. Donald pulled out his handkerchief from the pocket of his fake armani suit rubbing the sweat patch of his prematurely balding head, he was losing his cool and it was showing, he could tell he wasn’t going to get anywhere with me I was going to get what I wanted or I was going elsewhere.

Placing the handkerchief back in his pocket of the cheap suit trying to buy himslef some time before he came out with the next stupid line that still ended with me telling him to shove it.

His suit was light grey hanging off him everywhere but his bulging tummy, his white shirt was straining across it trying to keep the buttons in place that were seconds away from popping, the man hadn’t even bothered to wear a tie for this meeting not that image was everything but I was a big client for their family run company you’d think he would make the effort to look a little profesional. I often wondered why Keith kept this man around. He was useless and had no real head for the job except to mouth off but then I remembered Keith was married to Donald’s sister so it wasn’t like he could dump the sorry excuse of a human, he was family.

“ Donald I expect this fixed or I shall be more than happy to go to one of your competitors” I snapped at him in anger. I was sick of going around in circles with this man. Donald looked around the room nervously as if the walls of the board room would offer him a way out. He quickly turned his panicked gase on me knowing there was no way out other than to fix the c**k up he’d made of my plans.

“ Mr Becker that won’t be necessary I apologise for my brother in laws mistake and will have him fix it immediately” I rolled my eyes unable to help myself, the guy thought I was stupid, I’d seen Keith’s work a million times over the past twelve months he was profecional and prescice these blue prints were sloppy and rushed, he hadn’t even put the measurements on correctly. My guess is Donald badgered Keith for the project and forgot all about it till 24 hours ago.

I was about to say something else when I heard voices heading our way. My head turned towards the door just as my father came storming in closely followed by Jayne, my new assistant, who looked a little exasperated.

“ I’m sorry sir I…I…tried to…” she stuttered looking flustered, her sandy hair falling over her face as she adjusted her glasses nervously. She had a tiny boney figure that looked like you could snap her in two, the dress she wore hung off her and it was clear from the way it didn’t fit her body shape right it was borrowed. She was only twenty but despite her frail looking appearance that wasn’t taken seriously she was a good assistant. She worked hard and wasn’t like any of the other females that were just looking for a way in with me. I rolled my eyes at the thought of Alisha’s friend in the nursery this morning.

“ It's fine Jayne we’ve finished here anyway, why don’t you get yourself a coffee” I told her, giving her a way out of the awkward moment.

“ Thank you sir” Jayne gave me a grateful smile and left the room. My gaze went back to my father who was still stood in the doorway unmoving but I could tell from his frown the conversation was not going to go well.

“ What is all this?” My father asked, almost sounding cross. I sighed, turning back to Donald giving him a nod that he was dismissed. The tiny man scurried out of the room quickly shutting the door behind him. I would email Keith with my complaints later. I turned to face my father, straightening my stance letting my alpha aura fill the room.

“ I’m expanding the hospital, actually I think the better word would be I’m dismantling that hut you call a hospital and building an actual hospital that has the resources for the staff to do their job properly” I explained my fathers jaw clicked and it was obvious he was not happy about this. I didn’t care the only thing I needed to think about was the night of the rouge attack and all the injured that had been lay on the floor of the hospital because we just didn’t have the beds my pack members deserved better than that.

“ You can’t put my pack into debt like……” he tried to scold me but I stopped him mid sentence.

“ MY PACK! It’s my pack now dad and I will do whatever I think is necessary to improve it” my father took a step back looking almost shocked by my outburst. I sounded harsh but my father needed to understand I was not going to run things his way, it was outdated and the pack had suffered for it. In fact my father had been quite blind to a lot of things going on in this pack.

This pack needed to dig themselves out of a whole my father had buried them in. I didn't understand why he kept this pack under lock and key like he feared the outside world would taint them, pack members were still coming to me for permission to go into the local town. It was insane.

My father stood there rigid, his hands in fists at his side and the knuckles were clenched so tight they were white as a sheet. From his stance he looked almost like he wanted to contradict me. It was a fair Assessment that my father had thought he’d be having to play a monumental role in my being alpha, despite his claims of wanting to retire. I think it was fair to say that like most men whose life revolves around work 24/7 suddenly having nothing to do was becoming tiresome. he’d had a taste of life without running the pack and it was safe to say it was grating on him, however me not needing a babysitter was straight up infuriating for him.

“ son you can not just take out funds from the pack account to spend on some hair brain scheme” he said through gritted teeth and I had to hold back my scoff at that, even though his statement was hilarious if I didn’t hold my composure he’d only see the act as childish, solidifying his claim I wasn’t ready to run the pack alone.

Things had been tense between us since the incident with Alisha. She had forgiven me and was helping to move my relationship with Mina forward now but my father kept throwing it back in my face to try and oversee all decisions that had been made since my return. He had welcomed the extra security system, though he hated technology within the pack the thought of having eyes and ears throughout filled him with joy.

I'd had to mention to him the security was only around the pack house and borders to protect the warriors on patrols. For some reason his smile had slipped slightly at that. I wanted to keep my pack as safe as possible but there was a fine line between security and invasion of privacy. However when I had tried to discuss changing the level of exposure the pack had with the outside world he had the other high ranks in the meeting shut me down immediately. As alpha I could just make the decision but with me already having to resort to drastic measures after my first monumental mistake I was beginning to get a reputation as a feared alpha. I didn’t want that so I was trying to use logic and reason to win the elders of the pack over but my fathers attempts to micromanage were becoming more damaging to my reputation than the pack living in fear.

I was struggling to bring them into the 21st century. It was easier to integrate into the human world now a lot of werewolves had modern day lifestyles. I even knew an alpha in New York that had left behind the pack house, forest lifestyle and moved everyone from his pack into the city. I didn’t want to go against everyone if they felt so strongly but I wasn’t going to weaken our pack further by keeping with outdated traditions that were quite frankly unnecessary and exposed us to any more rogue attacks.

The money for the renovations was actually coming from the construction company Lucas and I had set up as a business venture a few years ago, not that I would tell my father that. I was also using our own men to do the job which meant a pretty nice discount although Lucas might be pissed at first but he would understand after I explained what it was all for.

“ I will use our funds where I think it is best suited and the new pack hospital will be beneficial to everyone” I tried to keep an even tone. I was sick of him treating me like a child. He either wanted me to be alpha or he didn’t. Yes I was still the alpha heir that ran away from his pack for years but my parents had been the ones pestering me to come home and take over. I wasn’t going to be some bystander alpha. It was my job to keep this pack safe and run it to the best of my ability which is exactly what I planned to do. My fathers clear disdain for my rule showed me how much I’ve actually changed over the years. Before then I was as sheltered as the rest of this pack and would have easily been moulded into the alpha my parents had been expecting me to be. Outdated and vulnerable.

My father looked like he was about to argue more when Lucas came strolling into the room like he didn’t have a care in the world. I frowned, throwing my arms in the air.

“ Excuse me, was this meeting a free for all?” I spat in frustration. I wasn't really angry with Lucas as such just his chipper attitude grated on my shitty one.

“ Sorry boss man didn’t mean to interrupt, just heard Keith was coming by and thought I’d pop my head in” he smiled at me, he was deliriously happy lately and I couldn’t pretend it didn’t have something to do with a certain female he’d been seeing.

I wasn’t sure why I wasn’t happy about the whole situation. I'd been trying to get on board with the whole thing over the last few weeks but I had found myself getting more and more pissy about the relationship the longer it went on.

“ It was Donald and he just left, he'll be back tomorrow with fresh designs for me” I lied but I had a point to make with my father and that was I wasn’t going to be swayed on this one.

Dad grunted before storming away almost shoving Lucas who just chuckled looking over his shoulder watching my dad storm away. I slumped against the large oak table of the meeting room feeling drained. I didn't want to be here. I'd already missed out on walking my girl to nursery this morning and it had irritated me. I had quickly settled into the routine and found it set me up in a good mood for the day no matter what was thrown at me, today I was just irritable.

“ So what was all that about?” Lucas smiled leaning against the door frame.

“ He still thinks I’m going to f*****g screwing his pack up at any moment” I heaved pinching the bridge of my nose, I could feel a headache coming on, I’d been couped up in this meeting room too long I needed to get out for a run and release my wolf, it had been too long.

“ it’s gonna take time that’s all, he’s the one that wanted you to come home remember, it can’t be easy letting go of the reins after all this time” I nodded to Lucas thinking about all the phones calls begging for me to return home but back then I couldn’t, it wasn’t safe to be around me at that time.

“ So what's up with you?” I sighed desperately wanting to change the subject.

“ I was gonna see if you fancy grabbing a beer tonight?” He shrugged nonchalantly. A drink actually sounded great we hadn’t been out since I’d taken over the pack.

“ yea sounds good” I nodded, pretending I wasn’t really paying attention. I Still have too much on my mind but a drink with my friend sounded great. It was amazing the simple things I was missing with becoming alpha. Just feeling normal lately was so hard.

“Johnny and Alisha’s coming too” he threw over his shoulder as he turned to leave, my head whipped in his direction. The fucker had been pulling this s**t since he had started this thing with Alisha trying to get us to hang out like we were all friends but the wounds were still so raw with both. Johnny barely made eye contact and I feared our friendship was beyond saving and Alisha didn’t seem to be able to be herself around me, like my whole being there made her uncomfortable.

“ I’ll see, I might be snowed under, todays not going the way I wanted” I grunted picking up the s**t excuse for plans on my hospital and threw them angrily in the bin across the room.

“ dude you never hang out any more” Lucas whined he sounded like such a kid sometimes it always made me wonder what he had been like in his teens. I kept my back to him looking through the window in the meeting room at the packs grounds pretending to watch people below go about their day.

“ I’ve got a pack to run Lucas you should try it some time” I cringed regretting my words instantly I knew how much he wished his life was different.

“ low blow man” his voice sounded so hurt I felt like an asshole. “don’t act like you don’t know what I mean you’ve been avoiding me since I started dating Alisha” he said his tone becoming angrier with each word.

He was right I had been avoiding the awkward situation after all my actions had nearly gotten Alisha killed. She was ok with me but I could tell there had been lasting damage left behind. She still flinched whenever anyone moved too fast around her. Ironically she wasn’t thought badly of by everyone in the pack even before the truth came out but Alisha had isolated herself from everything but Mina so much so that she had failed to see any of that only seeing the bad. I had been relieved when she had asked me for an appointment to see Doctor wez, he had offered to send me updates on her progress but I hadn’t looked at any of it, it was only offered to me because she was primary carrer to mina and as her alpha I had duty of care over her but nothing personal would be divulged and I’d wanted to be sure Alisha’s sessions were not being monitored by anyone else. I really did want her to feel safe and her sessions with Doctor wez were just for her.

“ look you need to let this thing go, you know alisha didn’t do anything but it’s like your determined to disapprove of her and don’t think she doesn’t notice it either she might be professional around you but she’s not stupid she knows you don’t approve of her” that shocked me I didn’t think she thought that, was it because of what I said to her about Lucas, I hadn’t meant it because I didn’t approve of her. I didn’t approve of the relationship because I knew that Lucas’s lifestyle only offered brief flings and broken hearts. I was simply warning her of that. She had been through enough already.

“ just stop being a d**k and make an effort for my sake ok” Lucas’s frustration at me was evident on his face. I hated that I was struggling so much to get on board with the relationship. After all shouldn’t I want Lucas to be happy he was my friend and he was the best kind of man I knew. Sure he had his demons and fair share of enemies but he was Loyal to the end, I wanted nothing more than to see him happy with a female that deserved him.

However the image of Lucas embracing Alisha into his arms and kissing her tenderly was burned into my memory like a endless f*****g nightmare that my mind played on repeat maybe I was jealous of their happiness, they did seem to be genuinely fond of one another. I just could never seem to get away from the image of seeing them together and how it put my wolf on edge. I’d always have to go for a run after and let him lose so he could get out his frustration.

“ You really like her huh?” I asked, genuinely wanting to know.

“ yea man she’s important to me really important I’m even thinking about telling her the truth” my eyes widened in shock no one knew about Lucas’s past the guy was a complete mystery to the outside world I was certain there were things even I didn’t know.

“ You seem extra stressed, what's going on?” He asked concerned, I slumped into one of the chairs feeling drained.

“ I’m having to take the funding from our business accounts for this new venture for now if that’s ok” I asked rubbing my temples again, there was a reason I wasn’t using the pack accounts.

“ yea man, the moneys just sat there but what’s wrong with the pack money are you in debt? Is that why your dads against the rebuild?” I shook my head silently taking a deep breath, I figured I might as well unload.

“ no there’s money but the books aren’t adding up and I don’t want to be complicating the matter by taking out a large sum”

I’d had my fathers accountant bring me the pack books to go through a few days ago and going back through everything I could tell that the numbers weren't adding up. Someone had been making alterations to the accounts even the accountant hadn’t noticed when I’d flagged up the subtle errors in the numbers.

“I understand, do you have any suspects?” Lucas asked his face now all business.

Of course the accountant was my first choice in suspects along with his son who’d just returned from university to take over as pack accountant but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, especially since he and my father were still close though I could never remember his name. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone in hopes of quickly eliminating them if they weren't guilty.

“ no I have already eliminated the pack account and it isn’t large sums at one time but it’s been going on for a few years” I said.

So far no one had attempted to make any other alterations to the books that were now safely locked away in my new office vault that could only be opened via my finger print. If it was the accountant or his son that were involved they would have already tried to cover their tracks by now which meant I was looking for an outsider.

Someone with high rank in the pack, who had access to the previous office vault, potentially even the key as well but asking flat out who had a key would draw too much attention to the culprit, the takings were subtle but frequent this culprit had been doing it for a while undetected and had grown sloppy, the amount they were taking was getting bigger each time, which meant they were now arrogant in their ability to go undetected.

“ well if you need help solving the mystery let me know do you need me to call Ashton?” Ashton was our official manager of the company in the outside world and worked in the office full time. Lucas and I quickly learned that we couldn’t run the company alone without help given our other duties so Ashton had been a necessity for day to day life for the company.

“ no I spoke to him already but he may need your signature at some point” Lucas just nodded to me before turning to leave again.

“ So I'll see you tonight?” His tone did not give me any room to say no and if he was as serious as he sounded about this girl then I needed to make the effort. I rubbed my chest, not able to stop the sudden pain there.

“ hmm” I mumbled, already planning excuses in my head before dashing the thoughts away.

“ don’t let me down man” he said walking towards the door again I couldn’t help the words that flew out of my mouth.

“ Are you really serious about her?” Lucas stopped at the door thinking to himself for a moment before he spoke again.

“ yea I am, more than I should be, I know she isn’t my mate and things are complicated but I can’t help what I’m feeling…. I think I’m in love with her” he said, thoughtfully with so much emotion behind his voice that I felt the weight his words carried.

I gave him a nod before he left. Love? Did I really hear him right? What had Alisha Clayton done to him? As I went back to trying to complete as much work as I could for the day I found my mind kept going back to her, wondering more and more about this woman that had seemed to have captured the heart of my friend.