The Billionaire Alpha’s Rejected Mate

Guilty As Charged!

*William’s POV*

Could this be love? Could this be the fabled emotion which has brought great nations to their knees and turned men into boys? Could this be the single most powerful force in nature? One which a reasonable explanation has never been formed yet?

Surely not. After all, I’d only known Claire for a little while. They said love took ages to grow, and it had to be nurtured like a dying flame. Love wasn’t supposed to exist in just a few days.

So why did I feel this way towards Claire? Why did it feel like my whole world was put on pause when she wasn’t there? I couldn’t remember ever feeling this way about anyone, and surely not a complete stranger.

But when I was with her, everything just seemed right. With Claire, I wasn’t William Compton, New York’s wealthiest and most eligible bachelor. That title was very difficult to maintain around people. With her, I could be myself. She didn’t look at me like I was a walking credit card, nor did she even look at me like I was her boss. The feeling was refreshing, and I desperately craved more of it. I wanted to be with her. I wanted her all to myself, so I could go to bed late at night while staring at her beautiful face and wake up the next morning to her face being the first thing I saw. I wanted my arms around her all the time, and I wanted to shield her from the evil of the world.

But you can’t have her, remember?

I stopped dead in my tracks, right when I was about to step into my office. It was like a stab to the chest, and one I knew I wouldn’t be able to recover from. It stung worse than anything I’d ever been forced to endure.

How could I forget this? How could I keep forgetting the most important principle of my life? I couldn’t have Claire. I wasn’t meant to have her; at least not in the way I would have wanted. She was destined to just be another fleeting flame in my life, and nothing more. I would never know what it meant to truly have her, and I would never be able to hold her and call her mine. That was the life I had signed up for, and it was the one I have lived for nearly a decade now.

So why did it physically hurt when I remembered that I wouldn’t be able to have her?

The rest of my day was ruined after just that single thought. Barely a few minutes after I left her office, and I hadn’t even gotten the opportunity to enjoy the fact that she was there. Now I couldn’t even bear to look at her. I didn’t want to be in her presence, for fear that my feelings would reignite and I wouldn’t be able to control myself.

You can still have her, just not as a mate.

But I didn’t want that. I wanted a mate. I wanted a companion. The urge was suffocating, and something I never knew I could feel this intensely about. All I wanted was Claire, and the knowledge that she would be mine. Knowing that I couldn’t have her was eating me up inside. And so I made a mental note.

Never allow yourself to get too close to her.

A few minutes I could tolerate. I would have to learn to keep my thoughts from straying too wildly. That would be difficult, but I had to do it. For both our sakes, I had to make sure that nothing ever came to fruition between the two of us. Otherwise, the consequences will be disastrous.

Andrea walked into my office shortly after, and she looked terribly flustered as she stood in front of me.

“What is it, Andrea?” I asked, slightly irritated that it was her and not somebody else.

“Your meeting starts in fifteen minutes,” she said. “I’ve prepared Conference room 1 already, and all the files have been laid out for you.”

“Adequate. Anything else?”

“Well, the children’s hospital were wondering if you could give a speech at the gala,” she said. “I’ve already prepared something in case you would be interested in doing so.”

“There will be no need for that,” I said. “I don’t need to give a speech after every donation.”

“But the children…”

“Do not need to hear my words,” I said. “All they need is my money. So give them that and nothing more.”

“O-of course,” she said, still lingering in front of me.

“Is there something else?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She seemed to be battling with herself over something, and her hesitation meant that it wasn’t something I would like. She was clutching a piece of paper so violently in her hands that I imagined it gasping for air.

“W-well, I-I just…”

“Andrea, you really need to get over yourself and stop hesitating whenever you’re talking to me,” I groaned. “You’ve been with me for how many years now? When will you talk to me like I’m a human being?”

“S-sorry,” she said, turning red at the cheeks. “It’s just… well I… I took the liberty of going through the list of candidates we interviewed for the junior secretary position.”

“And why would you do that?” I asked. “Claire already got the job. And in case you haven’t noticed, she’s sitting right outside in her office.”

“Yes, but that’s the problem,” she said, handing me the paper. “Claire was never interviewed for the job. And yet she was given a letter of employment for God knows what reason.”

She handed me the paper, but I didn’t take it. I stared at it instead, trying and failing to convince myself that she was wrong. She had to be wrong. Claire wasn’t that type of person. There was no way in hell that she would be involved in something like this.

“How did you find out about this?” I asked.

“Because I was also helping Ronald and Miranda to conduct the interviews,” she said. “I never saw Claire back then, so I thought it was wise to check the list and make sure I didn’t miss anything. But it turns out that I was right. She was never on the interview list. And yet all her files are intact and her résumé was filed two days after the interviews were concluded.”

I stared at the paper disbelievingly. I couldn’t wrap my head around this. Claire wouldn’t take a shortcut to get this job. She would have done it the right way. How could she be involved in something like that?

“Sir, section 14 paragraph D of the company bylaws states that any new employee…”

“You don’t need to lecture me on the bylaws, Andrea,” I snapped. “I was there when they were written.”

“So you know that means she can’t keep working here,” she said. “At least she just started, and I haven’t assigned any tasks to her yet because I know you will be firing her immediately.”

Was that elation I detected in her voice? I looked into her eyes, and her joy could not have been more pronounced. She was practically jumping on her feet, and I recognised it immediately for what it was.

She didn’t like Claire.

“Shall I call her into your office?” she asked.

“No,” I said absentmindedly, still pondering on what my best course of action would be. I couldn’t fire her. Especially not on her first day. And yet, I couldn’t break the laws which I had set in place. I had always followed every little detail to the letter, and in the last fifteen years of my life I had never reneged on anything before.

But this was Claire. She wasn’t just some ordinary employee who had caught my eye. She was different, and she did not deserve that. There must have been a mistake somewhere. I would have to get to the bottom of it, and only after I did so would I be able to take another step.

“Who signed off on the employment?” I asked.

“Miranda did,” she replied. “Ronald only interviewed the applicants, but Miranda was the one who had to go through the screening process and select the best candidate.”

“Send her to my office at once,” I told her. “And I don’t want a single word about this to get out. Do you understand?”

She looked taken aback, as though she had expected me to fire Claire on the spot. But I wasn’t going to do that; not in a million years.

She looked taken aback, and for a moment she just stood there and gawked at me with a stunned expression on her face. But then she gathered her thoughts and she cleared her throat.

“O-of course,” she said. “Right away.”

As she stumbled out of the office, I looked down at the list once again and frowned in disgust. I couldn’t believe that. Of all the things that could go wrong, it had to be this.

You could just decide not to fire her.

There was a clause which stated that I could waive section 14 entirely if and only if it was approved by the board members. I couldn’t put Claire in a room with those animals. As soon as they smelled blood, they would swarm like sharks and eat her raw. I could never allow her to face something like that.

My blood began to boil at the thought of anyone pointing an accusatory finger at her. I wouldn’t let anyone get close to her. And if they tried to, then I would rip their hearts out with my bare hands.

A knock came on the door, and Miranda stepped into the room tentatively. She looked frightened out of her mind, and I realised that this was the first time she had ever been summoned into my office.

“Y-you asked to see me, sir?” she whispered in a delicate, terrified voice. I wasn’t here to be merciful, however. I was here to get to the bottom of a problem that was sure to keep me up at night.

“Sit down,” I said, motioning to the seat across from me. She hurried towards it and sat down, wringing her hands together as though she was ready to bolt out of the door on command.

“Do you know why you’re here?” I asked.

“No sir,” she replied, shaking her head quickly. I silently passed the damning sheet of paper towards her and watched her reaction. I waited for her to realise what it was. Once she did, I noticed her brows furrowed together in confusion before she looked up at me.

“Miranda, did you sign off a letter of employment without interviewing an applicant?” I asked. Immediately she began to tremble, and her mouth opened and closed several times even though not a single word came out. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead, and she looked on the verge of tears.

Guilty as charged.

“If this is about Claire Monroe,” she said, “you’re right. I didn’t interview her. Frank Monroe, her father, was an old colleague of mine and he recommended her for the job. I looked at her CV and realised that she was the most qualified for the job. None of the other applicants came even close.“

“So you offered her a job without following due process?” I asked quietly.

“S-sir, she was…”

“It’s a simple question, Miranda,” I said. “Did you or did you not hire someone without carrying out a proper interview and doing a thorough background check on them?”

She looked down at her hands, defeat settling on her shoulders. My anger swelled at that moment, and I would have lashed out at her if I wasn’t so focused on keeping myself in check. I stood up from my seat and began to pace the length of my office.

I couldn’t fire Claire. I just couldn’t. The thought of her leaving would shatter my soul. But if I let her stay, then it would mean going against everything I stood for, and everything I believed in as a man.

Was she worth it?

I stopped in my tracks, and memories of the life I once lived came hurtling back. In those few moments, all I could see was a clarity which I didn’t know existed.

I turned to look at Miranda, who was still looking devastated. Every action had a consequence. And this was just something that I would have to live with.

“No one hears about this,” I said. “Are we clear? You will not tell anyone about this. Do I make myself clear?”

For a moment, she simply looked thunderstruck. But then she nodded quickly, and her hands stopped shaking.

“You will carry out a formal interview with her,” I said. “And you will make sure you keep an official record of that. Do we understand each other?”

“Y-yes sir,” she said. “I will do that.”

“Good. You may go.”

As she left the office, I turned towards the street below and stared at the cars slowly moving past. I felt dirty; tainted, even. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I had done something unforgivable. But it was for her. I would only ever do it for her.

Still, I had to deal with it for the rest of my life. Today was the day I did away with my values because of a woman. And I would surely come to regret it one day. But right now, I needed to fend off the sharks from closing in on me. There would be time to feel guilty afterwards, and chastise myself for breaking my own principles for her sake.

As I stepped out of my office and walked past Claire’s, I glanced over to find her staring at the computer with her full focus on the screen. A prickling sensation settled in my chest, but I dispelled it immediately. I couldn’t talk to her right now.

Later; there would be time for that later.

*