Chapter 23 It’s Been a While
Chapter twenty-three
It’s Been a While
The meeting room was within a community centre. We entered discreetly via a back fire exit, through a sports hall that was half set up, with various folding tables, boxes, and banners in rolls lying around.
Cole guided us, only the two of us—no Sara, or James, or anyone else—to the meeting rooms.
“You’ve been here before,” I said. She clearly knew her way around.
“Hail held the first National Assembly I attended,” she answered.
She paused before she pushed open another swing door.
“Are you ready to see him?” she asked softly.
And I hated it. Hated that she was thinking of me or pretending to think of me or whatever she was doing.
“Does it matter either way?” I asked.
Cole pushed open the swing door into another corridor.
I didn’t think it did.
We stopped outside a door with a plaque reading "Conference Room D."
Cole didn’t knock before she opened the door.
Alpha Julian was sitting at one side of a surprisingly small table. Six seats total, three on either side. Ashford sat beside him. I could see the anger in the way he sucked his teeth at our entrance and stared at me until I looked away.
“Good evening,” Cole said, pulling out the seat opposite Ashford.
I waited at the wall near the door.
“Good evening,” Alpha Julian greeted curtly.
“Omega,” Cole said, and I looked up from my shoes to her.
She was waiting beside the pulled-out chair, not looking at me but directly at Ashford.
I walked over hesitantly and sat down.
“Good girl,” she praised.
Ashford made a choked sort of sound in his throat.
My face grew red.
What was she playing at?
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me outside of the schedule,” Alpha Julian said once Cole had sat in the seat opposite him.
“You mean outside of the curiosity of the other Packs attending the National Assembly?” Cole asked.
Alpha Julian scowled only momentarily before his features became neutral.
“Yes,” he agreed. “This is a sensitive subject.”
“How do you propose to settle the matter of your heir’s gambling debts?” Cole asked.
“I didn’t know Sandstorm was in the habit of purchasing such debts,” Alpha Julian commented.
Cole shrugged casually.
“I’m always open to new opportunities,” she replied.
Alpha Julian nodded and cleared his throat.
“Firstly, I would like to know the full sum of the debt,” he said.
Cole raised a mock eyebrow in Ashford’s direction.
“You don’t know how much you owe?” she asked him.
Ashford shuffled in his chair and went to speak, but Alpha Julian held up his hand, silencing him.
Cole turned her attention back to him with a predatory smile.
“Current outstanding balance is $2.5 million,” she answered.
Alpha Julian nodded.
“And the cost to clear today?” he asked.
“Closer to $3 million,” she answered.
“Could the balance be amortised over a fixed period?” he asked.
Cole chuckled softly.
“Is Pack Blizzard cash-strapped?” she asked.
Alpha Julian frowned.
“I’m sure you know that we have recently won the tender for the construction of the new cancer wing of City General Hospital,” he answered.
“I am aware. Pack Blizzard has been growing steadily,” Cole said. “Sandstorm is not in the business of providing unsecured loans.”
“You purchased the debt,” Alpha Julian challenged.
Cole hummed as if she were uninterested.
“I know what I did,” she answered.
“You know we do not have the cash or equity easily available,” he said frustratedly.
“The offer I brought to you last year would have avoided this situation,” Cole replied. “At the time, you were uninterested in doing business with Pack Sandstorm. Is that still the case?” she asked.
Alpha Julian’s face grew red.
“Is this what this is about?” he asked, his voice rising.
“Here I thought you were a discerning man,” she said with an air of utter boredom.
Cole pushed her chair back. “I don’t intend to waste more of my time.
Pay the outstanding balance, or every curious whisper regarding why I have the omega that the heir of Blizzard has flaunted so publicly for so long will be met, not only with the answer of the reason for your son’s humiliation, but the knowledge of what led to such a humiliation and the precarious financial situation in which Pack Blizzard stands,” she said and stood.
“Wait!” Alpha Julian growled.
Cole turned to him.
“The terms you previously offered—are they still available?” he asked slowly, like each word pulled a tooth.
“More or less,” she answered. “Some renegotiation will be necessary, but the good faith in which Sandstorm approached Pack Blizzard is not lost.”
Alpha Julian nodded.
“What about my omega?” Ashford snapped.
I looked up from the table to him.
“You mean my omega?” Cole asked, and for the first time since we entered the room, her attitude became serious.
“You know she’s mine. It’s not like you’d know what to do with her,” he challenged. “Isn’t that right?” he continued, turning his attention to me.
I looked away, a knot forming in my stomach.
“Answer me,” he growled.
Cole’s hand landed hot on my shoulder, silencing me as I parted my lips to answer.
“Bring your son to heel,” Cole demanded of Alpha Julian.
“Ashford,” he warned without any real bite.
“She’s mine. She’d be dead if it weren’t for me; she knows it, everyone knows it. She owes me her life. Don’t you!” he said, becoming angry.
“Yes, Ashford,” I answered him.
I glanced up to see him smiling smugly towards Cole.
“It seems your heir is a liability. I will have to reconsider Pack Blizzard’s long-term viability,” Cole said sternly.
Alpha Julian stood then and slapped Ashford, the sound like a clash of thunder.
Ashford growled, clutching his cheek, and looked up at Cole like it was her who had slapped him.
“I apologise for my heir’s lack of grace.
He is young and attached to the omega. His statement that he saved her life is true.
It’s created an overly protective instinct within him.
I had hoped some time apart from her would lessen that.
But alas, wolves’ instincts cannot be destroyed, only tamed.
His outburst is not representative of Pack Blizzard and our business dealings,” Alpha Julian said.
Cole nodded.
“See to it that you keep him on a short leash,” she instructed Alpha Julian.
“Yes. Of course. I will have my secretary communicate with your team, and we can sort out the details of our relationship,” he offered.
“Very well,” Cole said. She squeezed my shoulder. “Let’s go,” she instructed.
“Wait. The deal was I get her back,” Ashford found his voice as I stood.
“When your debt was paid or your father made other arrangements. Those arrangements are not yet in place,” Cole answered.
Ashford turned his attention to me.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be home with me soon,” he promised. “Don’t forget it either,” he added as I followed behind Cole and out of the meeting room.
We were silent as we returned to the cabin. Ashford’s words replayed in my head. The way he said them.
“What were you thinking?” I asked as soon as the door to the cabin had closed behind us.
“It was a negotiation,” Cole answered simply.
“You taunted him! He was furious. So was Alpha Julian,” I told her.
“That was the point,” she answered coldly.
She didn’t care how her behaviour was going to impact me. She didn’t care that he’d need to prove himself to me now.
My chest felt tight.
I couldn’t take a full breath.
What was I going to do?
I clutched my chest.
“Harriet,” Cole said, coming to me, hovering at my side.
“Get—” I wheezed a breath. “Away—” another wheeze. “From me.”
Was I having a heart attack?
“You’re having a panic attack,” she told me, answering my internal question.
Panic attack. Okay.
I walked away from her, stumbling out the back porch and down to the steps, falling to my knees, my fingers in the grass.
“You just need to breathe,” she said, crouching next to me, her hand running over my back.
My heart raced painfully.
I tumbled more fully to the hard, cold ground and lay on my side, my vision blurring and pulsing.
“You’re going to be okay,” she said.
I rolled over, Cole and the dark night sky above me.
I focused on the feeling of the ground beneath me.
It seemed to last forever.
As it had started against my will, I had no will in its ending.
I had to ride it out.
Hope it wasn’t a real heart attack.
Cole stayed with me, murmuring that I would be okay, instructing me to breathe more slowly.
And eventually my chest eased, and air returned to my lungs.
I was shaky as I sat up.
Cole’s hands hovered near me like I might keel over again.
“Are you feeling better?” she asked.
My clothes were damp from the ground.
“I’m cold,” I told her as I tried to stand and fell back onto my butt.
“I’ve got you,” she said, lifting me easily.
I wanted to complain. I wanted to tell her to put me down. But she was so warm and solid, and I was so cold and felt like an autumn leaf, so easily crushed.
She carried me into the cabin, sat me on the couch, and silently went about building and starting the fire.