REBORN INTACT

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CALHOUN

"Sir, everything is already in place for your trip back home," Jude says. "What should we do about the theft, though?"

I sigh and lean back in my chair.

"Just keep watching him and his next moves for now as nothing major was touched this time, and only Cragnoy was stolen from the batch. I don't know if I should just tag them as foolish at this point."

I am currently in Las Vegas to seal a deal with one of our major suppliers of Cragnoy. We need to produce a new batch as soon as possible because we are already behind schedule on several deliveries.

I prefer handling anything related to Crag production and distribution myself. For a while now, we have been experiencing shortages in our batches, and I am beginning to suspect that there is a mole somewhere within our organization.

At this point, it is more than just a suspicion but that is a problem for another day, if we have a mole amongst my brothers, that is gonna be a major problem

I chalk that to something I need to talk to Cyrus about

Running one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world is exhausting enough on its own then add the strain of being around humans this close to a full moon, and the burden becomes even heavier.

I created Crag from scratch years ago with the help of my brothers, and today it has become one of the most important medical breakthroughs in history.

Recently, however, someone has been stealing Cragnoy, our most precious ingredient.

Cragnoy is unlike any other flower in existence, it is the only known plant capable of affecting werewolves while also possessing extraordinary healing properties for humans. Through years of testing and research, we confirmed that it had the ability to regenerate damaged and dying cells.

The discovery changes everything and I began developing the drug during one of the darkest periods of my life as war came to our home and took everything from us.

It took our parents and takes members of the pack leaving behind destruction and grief wherever it touches.

I spent months hiding away, working tirelessly in my laboratory while searching for a solution.

What puzzled me most is that the injuries sustained by the pack during the attack refuse to heal and that is not normal for werewolves as we possess accelerated healing abilities. Even when silver is involved, we still heal eventually, although much slower than usual but this time is different.

The wounds remain open, never healing and also getting once, overtime, the poison gets to the heart and then life is taken from a wolf and the pain never fades.

Every day, I watch members of the pack suffer agonizing torment with no relief in sight and nothing worked, no medicine or even treatment and down to any herbal remedy helped

Then finally, after countless failures, we produced Crag and the rest, as they say, is history.

Since its creation, we have not lost a single pack member to injuries that would have once meant certain death and the drug changed our future but what truly launched Crag onto the global stage is something none of us anticipate.

A human.

Thinking about her still brings a smile to my face.

Elara.

The only human mated to a wolf, the woman who eventually married one of my closest friends, Joshua.

The night she arrived at the pack is one I will never forget and things could have ended very differently.

She appeared at our borders battered, bruised, and barely conscious.

Her clothes are torn and her body is covered in cuts, she is limping heavily while clutching her stomach, fighting to stay upright and I could perceive the scent of a werewolf attack, specifically an Alpha and seriously for a werewolf, escaping from an Alpha is a feat to be celebrated, but now a human?

Moments later, Joshua came running into my laboratory and the look in his eyes is enough to tell me everything.

Fear and desperation with undying love and that's the day I found out about his expenditures when sent to the outside world to handle delivery of stocks to the pack storeroom

He got mated to a human but kept it hidden for that long because it is rare amongst us to be mated to humans and no human has ever been able to concieve for a werewolf but now, in her plight to convince Joshua about her strength, she set out to prove to him that she could handle anything but lost her way and ended up on the wrong trail, which is Aaron's pack

The most toxic pack ever as they play dirty

Outside the laboratory, wolves paced restlessly, with thier growls echo through the night, the scent of fresh blood this close to a full moon is enough to push even the most disciplined werewolf toward the edge of control.

Yet none of them dared enter my chamber, not without permission.

I am the Alpha.

The authority of my position is enough to keep them outside despite their instincts and inside, we do everything we can to save her.

Every treatment to procedures and every medicine available to us but nothing worked aa her condition continues to deteriorate really fast, her heartbeat weakens with every passing minute.

Eventually, I pull Joshua aside and tell him about the final experimental results, I tell him about Crag, the treatment has never been tested on a human before and the risks are enormous, with the consequences are unknown but there are no other options left.

As they say, the rest is history, Elara survives, in short more than survives, she recovers completely and the miracle spreads faster than wildfire.

At first, people dismiss the stories as exaggerations, then the evidence begins piling up as case after case, patient after patient, recovery after recovery and the world starts paying attention but the event that transforms Crag from a remarkable treatment into a global phenomenon happens several years later.

A senator's daughter is brought to us, she is dying, the best doctors in the world have already given up and every specialist predicts the same outcome with there being no hope or cure, no more chance to live so her family comes to us as a final resort, last desperate attempt.

Against all expectations, Crag saves her and within weeks, the story dominates headlines around the world and from that moment onward, demand explodes.

Hospitals wanted it, researchers wanted it and dovernments wanted it.

Everyone wants access to the drug and the most remarkable discovery comes from cancer patients as many of them suffer severe cellular damage after chemotherapy treatments.

Crag helped regenerate those damaged cells, allowing the body to recover in ways medical science once considered impossible.

The results left experts stunned and the pharmaceutical world changes forever and so did my life as the success of Crag turns me into a billionaire

More importantly, it allows me to protect my people, like they say, I kill two birds with one stone as the profits from the company provide security for the pack while also helping countless lives across the world, everyone benefits, humans and erewolves and every other supernatural species living under our protection.

We are the only pack that truly coexists with humans without conflict since we allowed Elara into the pack a lot of things has changed and I just heard whilst in my meeting earlier with our supplier that she is in labour and everythijg is going smoothly, the text came from Joshua and my heart fills with joy thinking about it, we open our doors to all kinds.

We build a community where everyone has a place and as Alpha, I protect them all as fiercely as I protect my brothers.

My thoughts drift from business to memories and back again, thinking about killing birds reminds me of something.

"Has Valerie moved into the castle yet?" I ask Jude while slipping into my blazer.

My human assistant immediately straightens.

"No, sir. She says the move will happen after the wedding."

Of course, I suppress another sigh, Valerie has always enjoyed getting her way and lately, she seems determined to test my patience at every opportunity, perhaps this is simply another one of her bratty phases but either way, I don't have the energy to think about it right now.

There are more pressing matters demanding my attention.

"Alright then," I say. "If the jet is ready to take us home, let's get going."

"Yes, sir."

We leave the penthouse and head toward the private entrance as eerything about the trip has been carefully arranged and the supplier agreement is finalized, shipment is secured, production schedule can finally move forward.

For the first time in weeks, things seem to be settling into place and as we walk toward the entrance, a familiar scent suddenly reaches me again, sweet and intoxicating that my steps falter for only a fraction of a second.

Immediately, my wolf stirs as restlessness surges through me, the sensation is brief but powerful enough to demand my attention.

Again that scent that I have noticed it from earlier before and each encounter leaves my wolf unusually unsettled, fully curious and at alert, almost obsessed.

For a moment, I glance around the crowded lobby, Humans move in every direction, oblivious to the battle taking place beneath my calm expression.

My wolf pushes forward, eager to investigate, I force him back.

Not now.

There is no time for distractions, we have an order to deliver.