The Twin Alphas' Man-Made Luna

Chapter 9 - Pushing daisies

“Mrs. Callasso, you don’t understand. This is a family business, everyone who works here is like family, and our partners are like family. We can’t just go and sell our shares to someone…”

“Someone that is not family?” I interrupted the man. It had been a week, and I was back in New York finishing up with the last company on my list. I have been able to strong-arm every single one of them, but this guy. This Tony Yeulet, he was just not giving in. I have been in this meeting for over an hour now and feel like he is pulling excuse after excuse. He says family, but I know he means pack. Tony is the Alpha of the Wallenberg pack, just west of the Osmium pack. The two packs ventured into a business together as part of their peace agreement a couple of generations ago. I knew this would be the hardest meeting, which is why I saved it for last. I knew this meeting would take longer due to their close relationship with the Osmium pack, but I did not expect it to stretch out like this. I was getting impatient.

“You are right, I am not family. What I am, is crazy enough to offer you double what your share is actually worth, and add you to my own personal payroll. This is my final offer to you, Mr. Yeulet. It seems to me that, as the majority shareholder, you are more involved in the company’s daily business, whereas your partner…” I paused, looking at my paper, pretending not to remember their last name.

“Mr. Constance is more of a silent investor. Wanting the vote on important matters, yet not doing any of the actual work. You can continue your job of overseeing the directors, and attend the meeting in my name, as long as you act in my interest. I will have the final say on everything obviously, but…”

“Why would I do that?” He interrupted me, and I hated it when men talked over me.

“Why would I place myself in a position of having to take orders from a woman, only profiting you?” I sat there looking at my fingers. I was slowly tapping on the table, as I waited for him to finish.

“Profiting someone I don’t know. Someone who means nothing to me,” he continued. When he finally stopped talking, I lifted my eyes to meet his. Confirming he was finally done. He sat at the table across from me, leaning back in his chair, his arms folded, and hands tucked under his arms. He was waiting for a response, and in any normal situation a statement like that would make me eliminate that person completely, but I needed him to stay on, I needed him to continue as normal.

“For a man claiming to be for his people, for his family, you have failed to act in their best interest, Mr. Yeulet. The amount of debt you have accumulated with your little gambling addiction is more than the value of your shares… with my offer, you would get a clean slate. It allows you to keep face with your partner, your employees, and your wife, whom I would guess have no idea of your extracurricular activities. If that alone does not make you my b***h, keeping your employees who are like family to you employed, after I accumulate your shares, should be plenty of motivation if you truly are a man for your people, as you claim. Then there is me adding you to the payroll, so you not only receive a way of income, but also continue in this company as if nothing has changed, so no one is the wiser of what a failure you truly tried to know everything there was to know, and I came in guns loaded. Ready to shoot at anything they would throw at me. I pulled out a contract from a folder and slid it across the table to him.

“In other words, Mr. Yeulet, you get to hide what a piece of s**t you are for a little bit longer. Although I don’t think even having to answer to a female would keep you from starting up that gambling debt again. At least this time it would not affect this company or its employees.” He took the paper and mumbled a few curses, flipping through the pages and signing on every dotted line. He flipped from one to the next barely taking the time to read anything. I gathered my things and walked over to take the signed contract on my way out. He held it up but refused to let go the moment I took hold of it.

“California is a kid’s playground in comparison to New York, Mrs. Callasso. This is a dog-eat-dog world, and you will only end up, pushing daisies here.” He warned me or tried to scare me. Regardless of his intent, I did not care. I was the one bringing the war to New York, and they should be the ones wary of me.

“Dogs are domesticated and easily tamed. I, however… I am more like a wolf. I don’t bark a warning; I go for the throat at first strike.” His brows furrowed at my analogy, and I was sure he wondered if I knew he was a werewolf. The necklace I had on made it impossible for him to detect my supernatural abilities. It disguised any tell that I was a werewolf, and humans did not typically know about werewolves or about the supernatural world, even though we were all among them. I loved f*****g with his head, and by his look on his face that was exactly what I did. I had a killer punch and would be able to take on any Alpha with ease, but I found way more pleasure in psychological warfare. I took the contract and gave him a victorious grin, before walking out. To my surprise, Amatheon stood outside the boardroom waiting for me. I forced a smile as my eyes landed on his not stopping to make a scene in front of any of the Wallenberg pack members. He followed along with me like a bodyguard, not making a sound. The elevator door closed on us, but I did not dare to look at him, fuming at his attendance. The ping of the elevator filled the silence once we reached the ground floor. I strode out determined to get to the car waiting for me with Amatheon still on my heels.

“I don’t remember you traveling here with me,” I remarked the moment the car door closed behind us.

“That would be because of having to travel commercial due to missing your flight.” He spat, annoyed at me.

“Yet you still came…”. I shook my head in disbelief at his persistence.

“I told you coming to New York by yourself was dangerous. This is unfamiliar ground…”. He argued.

“And I told you after your near catastrophic misstep on our last trip that I did not want you coming with me. You were not having it, so I had no choice but to change the travel...” I was interrupted by a loud crash flinging me to the side of the car, glass scattered everywhere. Another crash came, sending me flying again. I felt myself lifting from the seat as my feet went over my head. My eyes met with Amatheon and everything started slowing down around me. I was dangling upside down watching him in an outstretched position trying to reach me. It was all moving so slowly that it almost seemed like we had reached a standstill. The moment Amatheon touched me, we returned to our usual pace… or so it seemed, until I realized we were the only ones moving. He pulled me from the car and carried me down the road, my eyes fixed on the scene we were leaving behind.