HIS SECOND MATE

Work! Work! Work! That was the motto of Campanile Holdings; no unnecessary holidays, no employees grouped together for small talk. Work or get fired, Marcus Harvey had stated on his first day at the office, no one had dared complain then, but of course some had ended up being shown the door over a period of time. Marcus, with the help of his son Frank, had bought the failing company off the hands of a more than willing seller at the lowest price possible. It was like the final dash to make profits from his sinking ship, abandoning all employees to face their doom. Campanile Holdings was not meant to be a successful venture. You see, Marcus was the former Alpha of the Ridgeways Pack (Frank is the current Alpha). When Marcus lost his mate, the former Luna, he was on a downward spiral. It was more like a toy to keep a lonely, bereaved man busy to pass his days with. That was before Marcus had found his love for business quickly turning the money pit into the successful venture it currently was, but for a former Alpha it should have been expected that leadership would not be a challenge to him. The business world that had been watching from the sidelines laughing at a newbie wasting money and doomed to fail was soon shaken to its core. The road to the top often involved stepping on a few toes here and there and very soon Campanile Holdings had acquired a magnitude of enemies and rivals in the business world. Marcus, however, was grateful for the competition. The whole thing had proven to be the best distraction. Not having time for himself meant having no time to be swallowed by the sadness and grief of losing his mate. That was exactly what Frank had hoped for. Jane, the Luna, had been a halfling (born of a human and a wolf). She had a wolf that she could shift into only during the full moon, but she had more strength than the average human, and was faster than humans. She did not have the super healing possessed by werewolves. When Jane had gotten diagnosed with skin cancer, the pack had done everything they could, pack healers, magic and when that failed they had turned to the human doctors for help (without revealing her nature to them) but nothing had worked. The moon goddess must have been very adamant to call Jane back to be with her. In less than a year, a pack had lost a Luna and a grieving alpha had stepped down and a barely mature man had taken over, Frank, fearing his father might take drastic actions, had given his father his beacon of hope, something to wake up and fight for again, and Marcus had done just that. He poured his blood, sweat and tears into the business. It was his baby. ****