A Broken Contract (Alpha's Secret Regret)

"Mhm? Yeah, of course," she nodded.

Then he reached for the wine and started to fill her glass. I imagine snapping that wrist in two and had to blink repeatedly to erase the unwelcome thought. "You're such a good employer, Mr. Colt," I kept a grin plastered on my face as the older male lifted his gaze to meet mine.

"We take care of our own in this town, Mr. Reign," he replied.

Sara picked up the glass and took a large gulp.

"That's bad on an empty stomach. Eat some of that before another drink," he said to her.

I had to remind myself that the man is almost as old as her father. It's nothing to me that he's taking care of her. Sara is nothing to me, I cautioned myself. As she started to eat, I picked up my wine glass and down it.

"How soon can we map out the area?" I said, deciding it was safer to stick to chitchat about work.

"It should be sometime this weak. As soon we take care of some things in the office, the mapping begins," her boss replied.

I nodded. Jake took over the questions and chit chat again. The brunch lasted another eternity, and not once did Sara glance my way for the rest of the time.

We finished shaking hands with the half-blood as we said our goodbyes. Sara did all she could to avoid another handshake with me. I convinced myself that it's for the best.

****

"Small fucking world," Jake exclaimed as soon as we were alone in the car.

"That's what I said to her," I replied.

"You shouldn't have followed her, Nick. We may be far from Los Angeles, but someone could still recognize you, you know? A reporter. Someone from the neighboring packs, maybe." I completely ignored his rant and said instead,

"I wonder what pack the half-blood fell out of."

"I still can't believe she ended up here," Jake continued.

"What was the last report you got about her?" I asked.

"They'd just left L.A when your dad passed, but they were nearby. Somewhere around Joshua Tree or so. You told me to stop keeping tabs, so I did," he replied.

As he spoke, I watched from my rearview mirror as Sara got into the backseat of her boss' Lexus. The car started to pull out of the curb.

"What a relief that you won't have to deal with her after this." Jake's tone had a mixture of uncertainty and sarcasm.

"Yeah, a relief indeed," I muttered, my eyes still on the Lexus.

"I'll be handle everything and report to you. I already know the best people to interface with the council's team on this," he said as he watched the car sped off ahead of Jude Duncan's. "Jude's also great at this kind of stuff, so you can keep your thoughts on other projects and let us deal with this one.

"Yeah," I replied absently.

Soon, we were on our way, too. When we reach the resort near the outskirts of town, I couldn't bring myself to get out of the car.

"Why don't you go on upstairs without me. I'd like to look around the town. Alone," I said to Jake.

The look on his face said he knew exactly what I meant to do.

"This is a bad idea, Nick," he protested. "She's not your mate, anymore. You have no excuse to stalk her this time. Not to mention it's bad for you!"

"Stalk her? When have I ever done that?" I argued.

He arched his brow like he meant to say seriously? I didn't know why I always felt the need to deny it when we both know there's no point.

"I'm not going to stalk her, Jake," I rolled my eyes. "I just want to see where she works. And to drive aimlessly around this nice little town? Get out of my car!" "Lemme drive you," he offered.

"No. Out!"

He opened the door and started to climb out as I hopped on the driver's seat.

He continued with his rant, refusing to close the door. "This is so wrong. Remember what happened the last time you started this stalking attitude? You got carried away and made me draft a contract! I have a very bad feeling. You need to leave her alone. Ah, it's just as well. She hates you now, so there's no chance of history repeating itself!"

Ignoring his sermon, including the part that stung, I restarted the engine and backed away from the driveway.

"I'm following you," he called out.

Without sparing him another glance, I swerved into the street leading to the Orphic Environmental and Heritage council office. In ten minutes, I was parked across the street from the 12 storey-building, watching people go in and out.

Hours go by as I kept watch in front of Sara's office building. With my laptop open on the passenger side, I got the simplest work done while waiting. I had to move a few times to avoid suspicion. Yet the patrol officer came to check on me once.

"Yeah I'm waiting for someone," I said to him. "I won't be here much longer." Sensing my power, he nodded submissively and left me alone.

It was 4:45 PM when Sara emerged from the council's building in a rush. I clamped my laptop shut and put the car in gear.