Chapter Nine
Axel
Axel is sweeping the front of the lodge when the door opens and a throat clears. When he looks, he sees it’s Russell and David from Harvey Development Group. The two men he does not want to see.
“A word, Mr. Henderson.”
He sets the broom off to the side and strides back into the lodge.
He doesn’t want them in his office, doesn’t trust them not to snoop, since they already seem to have access to some of his financial records.
He leads them to the ‘business center’, which is really a room off to the side of the front of the lodge with a computer for guests to use and a fax machine.
His father had converted an office space to be a ‘business center’ when there was a convention there in the nineties, and a bunch of executives needed to use a computer.
Now it basically sits empty except for the occasional person who checks their email.
“What,” Axel says it as a statement, not a question.
He doesn’t want these men here in his lodge.
Doesn’t want them in his space. Russell is the asshole of the two.
Looks at the lodge like it’s dirty and beneath him, like it’s a one-star motel.
David seems nicer, but Axel doesn’t trust him.
He’s seen the way David walks around with a notebook and tablet, he’s clearly the investigator of the two, and Axel doesn’t know what he’s investigating.
He doesn’t like the fact that they’re staying at the lodge at all, but they had prepaid in full for the largest cabin, and that alone will pay Jenny and Levi for the week.
Russell pulls out a document from his briefcase and sets it down on the desk in front of Axel. It’s a contract, that much Axel can see.
“Mr. Henderson, Harvey Group has been very generous with its offer. We have evaluated the land and the-” Russell looks around with distaste, “-building. This offer is more than fair.”
“I’m not selling. I’ve told you this already.
What do I need to do to get it through your thick skull?
I. Don’t. Want. To. Sell. You haven’t even told me what you would do with the land if I did sell.
This lodge has been here for generations.
It’s part of the town. The town relies on the lodge for its business. ”
“Not a lot of business.”
Axel growls low. He knows the lodge hasn’t been bringing in a lot of visitors like before.
When his father was alive, the town was always bustling.
Three restaurants and a gift shop. Now the gift shop is gone, and only one restaurant remains.
He feels a pit in his stomach like all of this is his fault.
Like the fact that the townsfolk lost business is because of him.
Russell doesn’t seem taken aback. If anything, he looks more smug after Axel growled, and Axel wonders how much he knows. He smells human, but that doesn’t mean he’s not something.
“I’m not selling.”
“I beg you to reconsider. It is in your best interest to sell now. When the lodge has failed and we come in and buy it for pennies, you’ll wish you had accepted this offer.”
“The lodge is doing fine. I don’t know where you got your information-”
Russell pulls out another packet of papers. Axel recognizes immediately that they are the accounts with transactions and statements. It’s clear they’re in the red. He can even see the areas these fuckers have highlighted. There’s no denying it.
“Where did you get these?” Axel fists the packet of papers, crumpling it in his hand.
“We have our sources,” Russell says with a sneer.
Axel rips the pages to shreds. He can’t help it. He feels rage swarm through him. His bear is close to the surface with how angry he is. He can’t shift in the lodge, not in front of these assholes. They would probably have him taken away, locked up like a science experiment.
“We have other copies, you know? You can destroy those, but I can just print more. I can even do it here,” Russell motions to the computer at the desk.
Axel can feel himself losing control. The audacity that the men from Harvey Group would have to print documents showing his financial demise from his own computer makes him see red. His teeth itch in his mouth. His skin feels too tight.
“You need us, Mr. Henderson, not just to buy up the land. But this hotel reservation, you need us here, right now. You can’t afford to pay your staff if you ask us to leave.”
Axel hates it, but he’s right. He hasn’t told them to leave yet because they booked the biggest cabin. He needs that income, needs their reservation. It makes him feel pathetic. Even more pathetic that Russell knows it and is throwing it in his face.
He slams open the glass door. He has to leave, get out.
His vision is going red, and he knows he needs to get out of sight.
He hasn’t had this poor control of his shift in, well, ever.
He runs. Miles of running till he realizes he’s far away from the lodge.
Axel strips and shifts, launching and shifting mid-air so he lands on all fours in his grizzly form.
He shakes out his fur, shakes out the anger and the feeling of wrongness in his skin.
Chloe. He whines deep in his throat. He wants to go to her, wants her to see him in his bear form, and snuggle and pet him.
Wants her to love him. But it’s too soon, they’ve barely spoken.
He knows he feels drawn to her because she’s his mate.
It’s instinctual. Mates always find relief in stressful times when they’re with their other half.
And that’s what she is, isn’t she? His other half, the other half of his soul.
His father used to describe it as being incomplete.
Until you met your mate, your soul was incomplete.
That you would never be truly fulfilled without the other person.
A mate was supposed to complement you perfectly.
Be the other half of everything you need.
He believes Chloe will be that for him, and he for her.
He runs through the forest in his bear form till it’s dark.
He doesn’t know where he is exactly, but knows he’s still on his family’s land and can track back to where he left his clothes.
He sits on a boulder and looks up at the night sky.
It’s beautiful, peaceful. He can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Here, the night is lit up by the moon. Chloe said the city is lit up by lights.
He can’t imagine what that would look like.
He feels stupid for running. A bear shifter and leader of his family shouldn’t run off when he gets angry.
His father would have stood his ground. He also wouldn’t have let those two assholes stay at the lodge.
He wishes his father were still alive. He always wishes that, but in times like these, he wishes it the most. He could use his father’s wisdom.
The strong hand on his shoulder. He misses his dad, who was his best friend.
He wonders how he can make everything right.
How can he save the lodge and bring his brothers' mates?
How can he make beautiful, sweet Chloe see how much he could love her?
Because he does, he loves her now and forever.