The Alpha’s Cursed Queen (Eternal Oath Saga #1)

Chapter 13

Alice

When I first learned of my pregnancy, I decided I wanted to survive. In that moment, I was a husk, a shell of my former self, so broken that I didn’t even know how to begin to put myself back together. The desire to give my child everything I never had was what got me through it all. Even now, I am not complete. I can feel the cracks in my psyche, the hollowness that has become a permanent part of who I am. However, the love I have for my daughter makes me continue to move forward.

My child was my new beginning. And in my new life, there was no room for the past. So, I took all the memories I had of Darian and put them in a small box before burying it somewhere deep inside my heart. Whenever my thoughts drifted toward him, they would be followed by a sense of worthlessness.

That is what he did to me.

He made me feel worthless. He humiliated me and broke my spirit.

And the only reason he was able to do all that is because I let him.

Because I trusted him.

Because I was naive.

I never thought our paths would cross again. Mary has never mentioned him to me, and I have never asked. In all these years, she never once spoke of him. I never looked him up. I couldn’t afford to. If I had, I would have sunk into a pit of dark despair. And my Mira did not deserve that.

Seeing him stand before me now, that seemingly cool look in his eyes, sends me back for a second.

Heartbreak.

Devastation.

A burning agony that still haunts me to this day.

Blood is roaring in my ears. I can’t think.

The hint of surprise in his expression is what snaps me out of it. The next few seconds are going to decide the course of my life. I’m sure of it.

I feel icy cold. I’m breaking apart, but I can’t allow myself to do that. I have to keep it together.

I empty my mind. I dull every emotion within me. It’s something I’ve become good at. There are times when the loneliness and the pain wash over me, but I have learned to numb myself to them.

That is exactly what I do now.

As I hold Darian’s gaze, I feel my heart pinching shut, my mind focusing on the task ahead of me.

He’s not going to take away everything I’ve built. I’m not the same girl who was all alone in the world, the one he toyed with. I have a life now. I’m successful. I have someone to protect. I am no longer a victim.

“It seems that everybody is here,” I say in a clear voice, looking at Katherine. “Do you want to wait for my team or shall we begin?”

Katherine studies me. “Do you need them?”

Her voice is low, but I know that every wolf shifter in the room can hear her with their sharp hearing.

I infuse my voice with every ounce of confidence I can muster. “I don’t need them. I can handle this.”

I let Katherine take the lead. She steps forward, holding out her hand. “I’m Katherine Lockhart. You must be the CEO of Acme Intech Corporation.”

“Darian Kassel.” Darian is shaking her hand, but he’s still staring at me.

I refuse to look away. Did he think I would cry or be overcome with emotion?

“Welcome to Pinnacle Group, Mr. Kassel,” Katherine says pleasantly. “I can see you brought your legal department with you. This is Alice Lane. She is one of the top corporate lawyers from Kalem and Sons. Our firm has had the pleasure of working with her several times, and she will be representing us.”

“A corporate lawyer, huh?” Darian murmurs, his voice so soft it only reaches my ears.

I don’t allow myself to get distracted. Pasting on my most professional smile, I greet him. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

His tone is odd, and I try my best to ignore it.

“Please take a seat.” Katherine gestures toward the table, and she waits for everybody to sit down before doing so herself.

I’m on her right, my eyes on the documents before me. My job is to intervene when she starts talking about the terms that need to be negotiated. I let her begin the conversation and listen as she discusses the products Pinnacle Group is creating and the need for the technology from Darian’s company.

As she dives into the terms of the contract, I wait for her to bring up the profit distribution. When she looks at me, I nod. “If you would all refer to the files in front of you, you’ll see that Pinnacle Group would like to negotiate the profit breakdown. Our first offer was for a twenty percent cut from the sales of the product, and that would be after you sell us the technology, not just the rights to use it.”

One of Darian’s lawyers speaks up. “We are not satisfied with twenty percent. As you saw in the document we sent you last week, Acme Intech wants forty percent.”

I smile sharply at him. “It seems to me that Acme Intech is under the assumption that they’re also producing this device. If you are seeking forty percent of the sales, should I assume that you will be giving us your technology for forty percent less?”

“Our technology is state of the art—”

“And you don’t have the formula for the device we are building,” I cut him off smoothly. “We are willing to increase your profit share to twenty-five percent but not above that. However, we will take it to forty percent if you sell us the complete rights to your technology.”

“Preposterous!” The lawyer bristles. “We already told you. The intellectual property is not for sale. You can buy the right to use the technology but not the technology itself.”

“Then we will give you twenty-five percent of the profit and nothing further.” I give him a bored look.

The man opens his mouth, but Darian chooses this moment to speak. “Done.”

He looks almost amused, and despite how hardened my heart is, I feel a hint of pain. That look is so familiar.

I want to claw his eyes out. I don’t want him to look at me like that.

Katherine jerks at his words, but her expression does not betray her feelings. “Thank you for understanding our position. Another term that we wish to discuss is the marketing aspect. Pinnacle Group has always used Victor Marketing Solutions to meet our marketing needs—”

Darian’s lawyer does not even let her finish the sentence before jumping in, his metaphorical claws extended. “What is this, Miss Lockhart? It’s clearly stated in the contract that all marketing of your device will be done through the company we have been using for years—”

“If you wish to advertise your technology,” I slide in with a pleasant smile, “feel free to use your own marketing company. However, selling us a small component for our product, thus acting as a supplier, does not put you in a position to dictate how we sell this product or how we market this product. Your demand is ridiculous. You’re trying to force your way into how Pinnacle Group does business. I’ve never heard of a supplier acting so entitled.”

If they want to speak rudely, I can do the same. Katherine gives me an alarmed look, but I squeeze her leg under the table. She needs to trust me. These are wolf shifters. They’re here for a fight. And that’s what they’re going to get.

“Collaborating with us, Miss Lane,” Darian interjects, studying me with that cool gaze of his, “means that certain rules have to be followed.”

“It is laughable to assume that this technology will remain yours alone for the next decade,” I scoff. “Pinnacle Group is currently working on multiple projects. We have no problem putting a pin in this one to wait for somebody else to develop something similar. However, even though you are a multinational, you will end up losing a large amount of money. After all, this technology that you’ve produced has not been used much. We both know that this is only the second time someone has asked for it. You are overplaying your hand, Mr. Kassel. You need us as much as we need you. And we will not be bullied into conceding to your unreasonable demands.”

Darian leans back in his chair, a faint smile playing on his lips. “Is that what you think we’re doing, Miss Lane? Do you think we’re bullying you?”

It’s the way he says it, the dark, taunting edge to his tone, that has my hands trembling with an emotion that I never wanted to feel again. I clench my hand into a fist. “Do you have another word for it? Would you prefer I use the word ‘pressuring’?”

“The firm we use knows how to market our technology in a way that will reach greater depths of the industry. I’m sure the company Pinnacle Group is currently involved with has its merits, but the one that works for us will open international markets for you. Consider it a gesture of goodwill.”

I exchange a look with Katherine, who is wearing a thoughtful expression on her face. After a moment, she says, “I would like to discuss this further. I am intrigued, but before we decide on anything, I will need some more information.”

She launches into questions for Darian, but it is the man sitting on his left who engages her. Darian just watches me, not even bothering to take part in the conversation. I keep my eyes trained on Katherine, ignoring the way his gaze is burning a hole in the side of my head.

I won’t give him the satisfaction of looking over at him.

There are still a few things that need to be worked out. When it’s my turn to speak again, I bring up two of our biggest concerns.

“Renegotiating the contract after a certain amount of sales have been reached does not work for Pinnacle Group.” I hold out a piece of paper to Katherine, who scans it. “What if we renew the contract, you raise the profit stakes, and we pay your exorbitant fees once again, only to make sales in the double digits? If it were just the license fees, I would understand, but this brings us back to the same problem as before. If you’re profiting from the sales, then why are you trying to charge us for the use of the technology, in addition?”

“And what do you propose, Miss Lane?” Darian raises a brow, that same smirk on his lips again. I feel irritated. It’s not escaping anybody’s notice that he’s only engaging in the meeting when I speak. Even Katherine glances at me curiously.

I look at him, my voice hard. “You are already profiting from the sales that we make. You are also profiting from the massive one-time fees we will pay you upfront for using the technology. Don’t try to fleece us. Greed can also be your downfall, Mr. Kassel.”

My blood boils when I see the amusement in his eyes. My fists are already clenched on my lap, but now my claws extend and dig into the skin of my palms. I barely manage to stop myself from drawing my own blood.

“So, you want us to give up the second renegotiation?” Darian asks calmly.

“That clause only serves to show that you are trying to take advantage of us—”

“Consider it done.” He shrugs. “Are there any other requests that you would like me to fulfill, Miss Lane?”

Dammit. Why is he singling me out like this? I wonder how much trouble I could get into for picking up a chair and slamming it into his pretty face. Assault, most probably. I might not lose my license entirely if I call it a bout of temporary insanity.

I choose not to answer him, and I also decide not to jeopardize my job. Looking at Katherine, I lift my chin slightly, and she understands. It’s time for her to take over.

It’s surprising that Darian is so willing to make changes to the contract when they are put forward by me, but when Katherine tries to discuss something, his lawyers are ready to tear her apart. I keep having to step in.

When the meeting is coming to an end, most of the details have been finalized. I breathe a sigh of relief, and Katherine gets to her feet. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Kassel. I think we’ve made real progress today. If you have any further questions, your lawyers can reach out to Miss Lane at her office.”

“My business card is in each of your files.” I look toward Mark, who has been the most vocal of Acme Intech’s lawyers. He takes out my card to study it, but Darian, who is standing next to him, plucks it from his hand.

“This has your office number on it.”

My lips press into a line. “Because your lawyers will be contacting me at my office. It also has my email address, in case they’re not able to get in touch with me immediately. I check my messages multiple times a day, as does my assistant.”

“What about your personal number?”

My blood runs cold. “There’s no need for my personal number.”

My tone is harsh, and Katherine gives me a surprised look.

Darian, on the other hand, refuses to budge. “I would like to have it, in case I have any questions.”

My voice turns sharp. What does he even want with my personal number? “I don’t give out my personal information, Mr. Kassel. I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline.”

Katherine wraps her hand around my wrist, out of sight of everyone, a silent warning that I need to calm down. “If you have any further questions, Mr. Kassel, you can contact me,” she says brightly. “I think we have managed to sort everything out from the legal standpoint.”

Darian now diverts his attention to Katherine. “I’m disappointed, Miss Lockhart. I expected cooperation from every end. In our company, employees are available in and out of the office.”

My temples throb with rage, and I snap. “I guess I should consider myself lucky that I don’t work for you, Mr. Kassel.”

The tension in the room is now so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Darian is looking at me, and I can’t figure out what he’s thinking. There was a time when I could easily read his emotions in his eyes, but not anymore. Of course, back then, he was able to deceive me into believing that he cared about me. After a few moments of silence, he nods. “Very well. If I have any questions, I will reach out to you at your office.”

I stiffen. Darian should not be able to harm me because I am now part of the human world. In the eyes of the government, I am a human under their protection, and I am not exactly low profile in this city. But Darian can make my life miserable. I may have tried to bury the past and move on with my life, but I have not forgotten what he put me through: the humiliation, the agony.

In all my twenty-two years up to that point, nobody had managed to break my spirit. Not even the worst beating that Thomas had inflicted on me had wounded me so deeply. But Darian? He took our bond and made a mockery of it. He earned my trust and violated it in the worst of ways. All because someone like me had dared to be his fated mate. All those things about his father not wanting him to choose me? What a load of crap. Darian just wanted to hurt me. He broke me to the point that I finally lost the desire to live.

Well, the joke’s on him. He may have ripped my soul to shreds, but he left me with something so precious that he can never understand.

Mira!

I forgot about Mira! If he finds out about our daughter—

My knees nearly buckle at the thought. What am I doing getting angry when I should be scared? Darian is the prince of the Wolf Kingdom. If he discovers our daughter’s existence, he can take her from me as a form of revenge. Worse, he can put her through the same agony he put me through, just for having my blood in her veins.

I have never felt such a sickening fear. Bile rises up in my throat.

I have to leave. I have to get out of here. Even if Mira is registered in the human world, it won’t take much for wolf shifters to kidnap her. And after what Darian did to me, I have no doubt that he will do much worse to my daughter.

“Alice?” Katherine sounds worried as she grips me. “What’s wrong?”

The room is spinning, and I see Darian move toward me, but before he can so much as touch me, I gasp, “I’m fine. Just fine. I should probably eat something. I’ll head out now, Katherine.”

Without so much as another word to anybody else, I gather my things and rush out of the boardroom. I know that if I leave the building, Darian will catch up to me. What if he kidnaps me? What if he decides to kill me? The safest place right now is Katherine’s office.

I rush past her startled assistant and my own team members, who have been waiting in the corridor. I hear my name being called, but I ignore it. Slamming Katherine’s office door behind me, I drop everything in my hands and fall to my knees beside the wastepaper basket in the corner, proceeding to throw up in it. It’s only after I’ve emptied the contents of my stomach that I sit on the floor, panting. My whole body feels cold.

How do I protect my daughter? There’s no way Darian is going to leave her alone. Mary never tells me anything about him or the Wolf Kingdom. She knows I needed to cut out that part of my life. I should call her…

My hands grope among my things for my phone, and I realize that I must have left it in the boardroom.

I stare blankly at the carpeted floor.

If I call her right now, I’m just going to send her into a panic. I don’t know how the laws in the Wolf Kingdom work when it comes to children. I need to find someone—I need a lawyer versed in shifter laws, and that can only be another shifter. But if it comes out that my child is descended from the royal family, even my own shifter lawyer will turn on me.

What do I do? Should I relocate? I could leave the country. I have my law degree; I should just have to take a few exams to be able start practicing in Europe somewhere, or Australia. That might work. The royal family’s jurisdiction ends on this continent. And since I am no longer registered as a wolf shifter, I don’t need the permission of the royal family of whichever continent I decide to relocate to.

I struggle to hoist myself up, and then I sink into the two-seater couch, my head buried in my hands.

I can do this. I can uproot my whole life. I’ve done it once, and I can do it again. But even if I escape to another continent, Darian is powerful enough to be able to get to Mira using other means. If he discovers that he has a daughter, which he no doubt will, he will find us.

I’ll have to change our names. Of course, if I change my name, I will have to start from scratch: a new law degree, a new career. It might be easier than the first time around, but the stress it will put on Mira, not having her mother around once again, is not going to be good for her. But I’m doing this to protect her!

I don’t know what to do. Stay or go?

I never changed my name because once it was removed from the wolf shifter registry, I knew Darian would never come looking for me. As far as he was concerned, I was probably dead. After all, the condition he left me in was as close to death as one can get. He had wanted to finish the job by branding me, at which point my heart probably would have stopped.

Still, he had no reason to believe I was alive this whole time. And now that he knows, his pride will not allow him to leave me alone. He’ll want to destroy me all over again. When he finds out I had the nerve to give birth to his child, even more so.

What do I do?

The door of the office opens, and I look up to see Kathering entering. “Alice! What’s—” Her eyes settle on the waste basket, and she pales. “What happened? Are you okay?”

I could tell Katherine. She’d help me.

I open my mouth, but then I remember that I fed her the same lies as everyone else. That I had been married, and Mira was my deceased husband’s daughter. I can’t tell her the truth now. I can’t even imply that Darian is some ex-boyfriend. It won’t work. She thinks my supposed husband was the only man I’ve ever been with.

I still suck at lying, it appears.

“Stomach bug,” I murmur, my insides twisting.

She gives me a relieved look. “If that’s all it is, I’ll get you some medicine. Or maybe it’s just nerves from that meeting.” She walks over to her desk and opens a drawer, which I can see is stocked with over-the-counter pills. “Darian Kassel seems very interested in you.”

“No shit,” I mutter under my breath, folding my hands together as I try to calm down.

She comes over to me, holding out two pills and a glass of water. Some human pills work for me, while some don’t. But there’s no adverse reaction if I pop a pill or two. I swallow them, chugging the water.

She sits in the armchair next to me and crosses her legs. “So, what was going on in there?”

“What do you mean?”

My friend scoffs. “Cut the crap, Alice. You two already knew each other. It was evident to everybody in the room. Darian was looking at you like he wanted to take you right there on the table. And you looked like you want to cut his balls off.”

I wipe my damp hands on my thighs. “Okay, maybe we’ve met before.”

“To use your words, no shit.” She narrows her eyes. “He was agreeing to everything you were saying. You could’ve told him to take zero profit from us, and he would’ve allowed it. I’ve never seen a man so desperate to please someone. He didn’t take his eyes off you for even a minute.”

I’m silent, trying to figure out what to say to her.

“Alice?”

I get to my feet. “He’s no one important.” Running my fingers through my short hair, I try to figure out my next move. “I need to get back to the office. Have they left?”

“Yes, but—”

“I have to go, Katherine. I’m sorry. I need to sort out my head.”

I begin walking toward the door, but she stops me. Searching my eyes, she asks gently, “If anything was wrong, you would tell me, right?”

I stare at her, my heart sinking. “I—”

I expect her to get angry. Katherine is known for having a short fuse, but at this moment, she steps toward me and hugs me. “Take your time. I know seeing him has upset you for some reason. Get your head on straight and then come talk to me. Whatever’s going on, I’m on your side.”

When she releases me, my eyes fill with tears. “What if I tell you I can’t work on this project anymore?”

She hesitates. “I understand. We’ve already dealt with the biggest problems anyway. I can talk to Harry and have Levi replace you.”

“Thank you.” I take her hand for a moment before gathering my stuff from the floor. Katherine hands me my cell phone, which she must have picked up along with her own things in the boardroom after I ran out.

As I’m about to go, she asks, “Did he break your heart, Alice?”

I pause, staring at my hand on the door knob. My voice is dull when I say, “He broke me. In every conceivable way, he broke me.”

With that, I leave her office.

*****

One of the perks of being a senior lawyer is that I can work from home if need be without being answerable to anybody. I send Harry an email detailing our meeting with Acme Intech Corporation and tell him that I’ll be working from my apartment for the rest of the day. Holly reschedules all my meetings.

It’s not quite time to pick Mira up from school, so the first thing I do is head home and video call Mary.

“You never told me that Darian was in Arizona!”

My friend’s smile fades into a frown. “What?”

“He’s in Arizona, Mary!” I stare at the screen. “He was in a meeting with my client and me. I don’t know what to do. What if he finds out about Mira? What do I do then? Do I run again? I can’t think straight. What if he takes Mira away from me to hurt m—”

“Alright, breathe.” She disappears from the screen, and I hear the door closing and then the click of a lock. When she returns, she looks pale. “Darian can’t be in Arizona. He’s supposed to be on a family vacation with his—”

She pauses. This is the first time she has mentioned anything about Darian to me. I blink at her, wishing my heart would not tighten in pain at her words.

“With his mate, right?” I ask softly as my energy fades away. “He mated Willow, didn’t he?”

“Is it any surprise?” my friend asks quietly.

I lean back in my chair, throwing one arm over my eyes as a bitter laugh spills from my lips. “I wish my heart didn’t hurt. I despise myself for how I feel right now.”

Mary sighs. “He was your fated mate, Alice. Why wouldn’t you have feelings over this?”

“The only feeling I want to have is hatred. He made me a victim, Mary.” I lower my arm to look at her. “When I saw him today, I was so angry. And then, I was so scared. He will stop at nothing to hurt me, not even if it means going after Mira.”

“Did he say that?” Mary almost rises from the chair, her expression twisted in rage.

“Of course he didn’t. He was just surprised to see me. But the minute he finds out about Mira, it’s over. Tell me what to do. Should I leave? I already have Mira’s passport prepared. I can pack up, and we can get the first flight out of here to—”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Mary frowns at me. “How long will you keep running? Look, from what I know, he isn’t supposed to be there. Willow and he were supposed to be on a cruise. Ever since the king’s death—”

“His father passed away?” I blink.

“Four years ago.” Mary sighs. “Listen, I know we’ve never discussed this before—and honestly, it’s because I didn’t know whether you would have been able to take it at the time—but the reason Darian was never able to find you, Alice, was because of the king.”

Shocked, I gape at her. “What are you talking about?”

She looks pale. “That night, at the mating gathering, the king ordered that you were to be brought back to our suite. Jason and I were the only ones with you. Then, the king showed up, and he wanted to talk to you alone. You were very out of it. I don’t know what he said to you, and I don’t know if you remember. But when he came out, he told Jason that he would dismiss the guards and that we were to take you away from the palace. He was sending you somewhere—I don’t know where—but we ended up stopping at that clinic because you were in such bad shape. And when I discovered you were pregnant, the healer there wanted to inform the royal family. That’s why I—”

I see the strain in her eyes, and I press my lips together. “I will never forget what you did for me, Mary. I will always owe you that debt.”

She smiles softly at me. “There is no debt to pay. There never was one. You may not be my sister in blood, but you’re my sister in heart.”

After closing her eyes for a moment, she continues the story. “I knew that if Jason found out about your pregnancy, he would have to tell the king, and the king might change his mind. So, I sneaked you out of there and took you to Arizona. When I came back to LA, I found no mention of the dead healer.”

Mary rubs her hands over her face. “I never saw Jason again, but I received a visit from the king once, at night—late at night, in fact. He showed up alone. He didn’t ask me where you were. He just wanted to know that you were safe. He told me to let you know that nobody would be able to find you. He was the one who had you erased from the registry. You know the money I often gave you? He had transferred a large amount into my bank account and told me to dole it out to you periodically. That was the last time I spoke with him. He was the reason you’ve been safe all this time.”

My lips tremble. “Why? Why do all that for me?”

“I don’t know,” she admits. “I always assumed that he felt guilty for what Darian did to you, what he subjected you to. It was horrible. I think the king felt responsible. I guess he didn’t consider you a threat like the white witches were trying to claim. He was always a fair man and a fair ruler. I think this was his way of apologizing for what his son put you through.”

“I see.” I wipe my eyes. “But what now, Mary? Darian is going to come find me. He knows where I work! How many mouths can I keep shut? He’s going to find out about Mira—”

Mary holds up her hands in an attempt to calm me down. “In the human world, there are records stating that Mira is your child with a human man,” she reminds me. “On top of that, Mira’s scent is diluted. She’s very young and hasn’t shifted yet. I can hide her scent. It’s not that hard. Illegal, yes, but not hard.”

I let out a gust of air. “I work in a high-pressure environment and never lose my cool. But the minute it comes to my daughter, I start floundering. What is wrong with me?”

“You’re a mother. You love her, Alice. We both know that Darian has always had a lot of power, and now he’s the king. From all accounts, though, he’s a very devoted husband. I’m sure he doesn’t care about hurting you anymore.”

“I hope so,” I whisper, even as her words make my heart throb. “Let’s hope he doesn’t care about me at all.”

“Look, I have a few vacation days coming up next week. I’ll fly out to see you. Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”