The Billionaire Alpha’s Rejected Mate

Unfinished Business!

* William’s POV*

Claire Monroe, 25 years old, born in Verona, Italy. Daughter of Frank and Alice Monroe, only child. You were born into wealth, much like I was. Except you chose to break away from your family so you would have a life of your own and you will not be shackled to them. Graduated top of your class at Howard, with a GPA which nearly rivalled mine.

I checked your f*******:. It’s not set to private, which means you don’t mind people looking into your life. In fact, you want people to look into your life. You want them to know what you’re up to, so there will be no question to the fact that you are enjoying yourself. Your i********: tells the same story. You work out regularly, and you have no friends from what I can see. You would have posted a few more pictures with them if they existed. But there’s no sign of any other female on your profile, apart from your yoga instructor who you seem to adore.

You love food, but you’re not obsessed with it. You appreciate fine cuisine, and once in a while you like to treat yourself to a nice dinner in a restaurant which you wouldn’t normally go to. There were several pictures of you out for dinner with someone tagged as Giovani Fernandez. From what I can tell, he is your only friend. And I say friend in a very platonic way because from all indications, both of you are just friends. Naturally, I imagine that he has a crush on you but he just doesn’t know how to say it. Instinct tells me that you’ve turned him down several times already, and he is confined to the depths of the friend zone for the rest of eternity.

Something stirred in me, and I recognised it immediately. Jealousy; I couldn’t stand the idea of another man with you. I didn’t want him anywhere near you. But I shouldn’t feel this way. You were a stranger, completely unknown and not in any way tied down to me. I had no right to meddle with your life. I had no right to be this possessive over you.

So what exactly was it about you that made me feel like I was slowly losing my mind? What was it about Claire Monroe that made me want to unleash the animal in me?

I needed to know her; I needed to understand her. The last thing I wanted was for me to ignore this feeling and not see what it might lead to. I would be stupid to do something like that, and I would never be able to forgive myself.

When I summoned her to my office, I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to ask her. All I knew was that I wanted to get into her head, and figure out what secrets were hiding behind those beautiful, enchanting eyes. I needed to know the real Claire, and the only way I would know that was by talking to her.

When she knocked the door, I looked around to make sure everything was in order before I told her to enter. She opened the door halfway, and I was immediately greeted with her scent. It was so mesmerising that I couldn’t stop myself from leaning a little bit closer, hoping to take in every last essence of it.

But then, the door swung open and Hunter barged in with a concerned look in his eyes. He shut the door behind him, shielding Claire from my view before she even arrived.

“Have you lost your goddamn mind?” I thundered, but the look on his face told me that this was an entirely different case; one which would require my immediate attention.

“He’s here,” he said. “They spotted him at his private hangar, with at least a dozen men.”

“f**k!”

“What the hell are we going to do?” he asked. “Dominic is not here for peace. This is a blatant disregard of your authority. He’s trespassing.”

“New York is neutral ground,” I explained. “He’s not here to pick a fight which he knows he’ll lose.”

“Then what is this?”

“A message,” I replied. “A sign of intimidation. He’s trying to show me that he can get to me at any time he wants.”

I walked over to the window and peered down, trying to think. It wasn’t a coincidence that Dominic was here today. It was exactly three years today since I turned my back on my people, and now he shows up to remind me of the past. He knew the law stated that if an Alpha was on neutral ground, then no one would be able to attack him. He had tried to several times already, but never when I was in New York.

So why now? Why show up just to remind me that you were still there, waiting for me to step out of line?

Fucking bastard.

“What will you have me do?” Hunter asked.

“Find out where he’s staying and let me know immediately,” I said. “And send word to Alfred. Let him know that the Greys are in town. With any luck, a meeting will be called to order and they’ll be forced to leave immediately.”

“And what about you?” he asked. “What will you do?”

“I think I’ll pay our guest a visit.”

—

Dominic Grey was no threat. I knew that probably for as long as I had known him. He was all talk and no action, and I had no time for his antics. But he was hellbent on taking what was rightfully mine, and I would rather die than yield to him.

He was staying at the Michelangelo, and by the time he walked into his room about an hour after Hunter told me of his arrival, I was sitting by the window and waiting for him to arrive.

He stopped as soon as he noticed I was in the room, and I heard his sharp intake of breath. I clenched my fist tightly, restraining myself, before I lashed out at him.

“Is this the New York welcoming committee?” he asked finally, pausing at the door. He tried to sound casual; amused, even. But I knew I had rattled him. The last thing he expected was for me to even know about his arrival, let alone exactly where he was staying.

“What brings you here, William?”

“The view,” I replied. “Isn’t it just spectacular? New York at its finest.”

“Hm,” he snorted, shutting the door behind him. I still didn’t turn around to face him, because keeping my back to him was a sign that I was not even a little bit intimidated by him. And I wanted him to know that.

“You had your spies inform you of my arrival,” he said. “Don’t think I didn’t anticipate this, William. I know how pessimistic you can be.”

“Well then, you must have already anticipated that I wouldn’t let you stay here,” I said.

“Let me?” he laughed aloud, the sound causing my blood to boil. “William, you’re not letting me do anything. Whatever I choose to do will depend solely on my own will. You have no power over me.”

That was when I stood up, and turned around to face the squat, stubborn and infuriating man whom I loathed above all else. He wore a black suit just like mine, with a pinstriped shirt and a slim black tie. He was slightly darker than the last time I saw him, a testament to the fact that he had spent the last six months in Columbia, fraternising with the Alpha Lorenzo of the Lamia Pack.

“You should know that Marco Gianni and I go way back,” I said. “And if you happen to speak with him, then he will inform you that you are no longer welcome at this hotel, effective immediately.”

“You tattled on me to the manager?” he asked. “This is so unlike you, William. Where is the fire? Where is the need to punch me and stab me in the heart like you said you would the last time we met? Have you gone soft after all these years? I thought you were called the Mad Alpha for a reason.”

In a flash, without even realising that I was doing it, I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. My claws were around his throat in an instant, and my rage was so great that I could feel myself trembling from it.

“Say that again,” I growled. “I dare you, you filthy piece of shit.”

A brief moment of fear settled on his face, and he must have realised that at that moment, I did not care about the stupid law. I did not care whether it would get me in trouble with the council. I thirsted for blood, and ripping his head off would make me immensely happy.

“You shouldn’t be here, William,” he said. “You know it as well as I do. Never in the history of our kind has there ever been an Alpha who relinquished his title and abandoned his people. Your crime is the worst kind of crime, and everything that goes wrong in your life will be a result of that. I offered you a way out; a solution to your problems. But you chose to betray me. And now, you hide here in New York with your tail between your legs, seeking asylum in the one place you know they’ll never get to you. This is not wisdom. It is cowardice, and you know it.”

“I don’t care,” I growled. “I don’t care what you, or anyone else thinks. I made my decision, and you are in no place to tell me what I can or can’t do.”

“Of course,” he said. “I’m not here to tell you what to do. I’m simply here to offer you a warning.”

The door swung open then, and Marco walked in with a flustered look on his face when he saw me pinning Dominic to the wall.

“Mr Compton!” he gasped. “Please, let go of him. “I’ll handle it from here.”

“What warning?” I demanded, but the smirk on Dominic’s face told me that he was not going to tell me. He wasn’t even fighting against my grip, and he seemed content to know that he had gotten under my skin.

“What warning?” I spat, but all he did was smile. I was about to punch him right on the nose when Hunter stepped into the room and held onto my hand.

“Calm down,” he said. “Anything you do will only cause more problems. Let him go.”

Slowly, unwillingly, I loosened my grip and allowed him to drop to the ground. When I stepped away from him, it felt like the most difficult thing I ever had to do. I wanted to kill him. Nothing would have given me more joy at that moment than having him bleed out in front of me. But Hunter was right. Even a single punch would result in the council ousting me from New York entirely. And if they did, then I would have nowhere else to go.

“He is not to spend another minute in here,” I said to Marco. “And if he ever does, then it will be on your head.”

“Of course, Mr Compton,” he said. “I will make sure of it.”

I stormed out of the room, brimming with rage and eager to punch something. I needed to find a way to get this anger out of my system. All I could feel was rage, and the only thing that kept me from doing anything was the knowledge that I could jeopardise my position with the council if I did. Any slight outburst would not be tolerated. And so I had to resign myself to doing nothing.

“Does Alfred know?” I asked Hunter as we walked down the hallway. I could hear Dominic yelling at Marco, but I couldn’t care less. He wasn’t going to stay here, and that was final. And as a friendly gesture, I had called every hotel manager whose contact I had to inform them that he was not allowed on their premises. If he wanted to remain in New York, then he would have to stay in some drab inn where he would probably get mugged.

“I informed him the moment I walked out of your office,” he said. “The council is being alerted as we speak. He mentioned something, however. Something about your brother.”

“What about him?” I asked.

“Apparently he wants to see you,” he said. “He offered to come down here to have a talk with you, but it won’t be allowed unless you approve.”

“I don’t approve,” I said. “Henry is not coming here. I’ve already dealt with one asshole today, and I will not have another one here. Whatever he wants to discuss does not matter to me.”

Hunter wisely remained quiet, and as we walked into the elevator, I could tell him trepidation. He was always concerned, but now wasn’t the time for that. Right now, all I needed to focus on was Dominic, and how to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

And get back to Claire, of course. We still had unfinished business.

*