Goodbye My Alpha (Taya and Griffon)

"I understand."

I heard a beep as the masked man ended the call.

I couldn't see him, so I could only beg him anxiously.

"Sir, you heard him. It's a matter of life and death. You can do whatever you want to me by pretending to be Roman, but please allow me to save them first. I must see him tonight and give him the contract, or he will kill my friend!"

It was a long while before the man answered. I wished I could see him, wished I could get this awful blindfold off.

When he finally spoke, he asked, "What contract?"

There was no world in which I was actually going to tell him anything tangible. "It's just a project contract."

I heard the clicks of what sounded like him dialing a number on his phone, and then he said unhurriedly, "No worries. I can just call Roman back to go over the specifics."

Shit.

Double shit.

Damn these wolf shifters and their uncanny ability to sniff out half-truths. I was forever at a disadvantage without abilities of my own.

I let all of it out in a whoosh of breath-minus the part about my plan to kill Roman.

"I had no choice but to lie to him that I could get the Westen City project for the Starke pack. My purpose was to hold him back in this way so that my friend could get mated smoothly, but he hasn't been easy to deal with. I had to make a fake contract."

After I spoke, the man was silent for a while.

Damn it, damn it, damn it. I wished I could see him. Tears welled up in my eyes behind the blindfold. "Sir, I'm telling the truth. Please... let me go," I whispered.

"Haven't you slept with Roman?"

"Of course not! He's a monster. How could I sleep with him?"

Seemingly endless time passed, though it was only a matter of seconds, and then I felt the ties being cut off of my wrists.

Once I was freed, I immediately tore off the blindfold.

The lights in the room were still off, and the man still wore his mask.

At this point, I couldn't care less about what he looked like. All I cared about was getting him out of here so I could deal with Roman when he arrived.

If I could get this man to leave, I could still deal with Roman according to my original plan.

"Sir, please. Leave now. Beta Starke is a tough person to deal with. If he sees you here, he will kill you! I don't want to be responsible for your death at the hands of a powerful pack."

The man snorted as if he'd heard a joke. "Why would I be afraid of him? What makes you think his pack is more powerful than mine? That HE is more powerful than me?" As he spoke, he put his hands in his pants pockets and looked down at me.

He exuded Alpha vibes. They were practically radiating off of him, and I was surprised that hadn't occurred to me before.

Goddess, he really looked like Griffon...

While I was staring at him, thoughts racing through my mind, the man sat on the sofa and played with the small golden knife in his hand that he must have used to cut me free. He didn't look like he was going anywhere anytime soon...