Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 86

Carter

The second Lana called, I wanted to turn and run back to the house. To support Briar in this moment. I didn’t think Briar would hurt Lana even if she did shift, but the last thing I wanted was for her wolf to be born out of trauma and fear. Or without a proper guild. I wanted to tell her before it happened, regardless of the rules of secrecy. Even if she never shifted, I had no intention of ever turning my back on her.

Unfortunately, I had been called personally by him. Leaving wasn’t an option unless I wanted to elude what Briar was to me. The truth was, I didn’t trust Kenith O'Neal to protect what I valued above everything else; he was my Alpha, and that realization rubbed me the wrong way. He should be protecting her, not trying to give me ultimatums to eventually push her away. Jake had once told me when I stepped up as Gamma to protect those I cared for by not letting him know they existed, or how close our ties were, because he would use them against me. It didn’t make sense then. However now it did. Jake had also been not ust my mentor— but my friend. It hadnt made sense then, but now… I wasn’t taking chances with someone who I cared for. He was nolonger able to protect her. So, I was keeping up the ruse; only Lana and Mazzie could be trusted with that. Sure, Martha and Henry must know by now. They had traveled a similar path in life and most certainly could tell the signs. However, she was their granddaughter, and they would protect that for her sake. At least I hoped.

Fortunately, Briar’s wolf had relaxed when I spoke to her. I still needed to assess how close to the surface she now was. The meeting went as expected. He wanted to know why I hadn’t stepped in when Briar assaulted Miranda. Apparently, she was spinning a victim card around like it would save her. So I explained that Briar merely blocked and threatened Miranda to make her stand down, after the Delta hot headidly tried to bash her head in. I further reminded him of his words. That she needed to be able to stand up to the pecking order, so I didn’t intervene before I gave him a list of witnesses he could question about the matter that would prove Miranda’s rendition of the events false.

Miranda was a pathetic excuse of a she-wolf. I also let him know that if Miranda was willing to go after my seemingly human charge, over something as trivial as her ex kissing his current charge, mind she knew what my role often consisted of, he might want to rethink her position or her alignment with the safety of the pack if she were so impulsive to interfere with my, her Beta’s ‘job’. 

After that, I pulled over and looked up the press conference to see it for myself. By the end of it, I was fuming and in need of a run, but my need to see Briar overrode that need. Instead, I got dinner.

I walked into the house to find Lana stroking her fingers through Briar’s golden blonde hair as she napped peacefully in her lap.

“I hope you're not trying to steal my girl,” I asked softly, trying not to wake Briar as I leaned over the back of the couch to watch her doze under Lana's soft caressing fingertips.

Lana just smiled sadly and looked down at Briar.

“You better treat her right or I’m gonna beg Mazzie for a third,” she said matter-of-factly. Seems Briar had already burrowed a place deep into Lana’s high, built walls. When it came to new people, Lana didn’t trust easily. Her fascination with Briar may have started as physical, but I could see now Lana’s heart had caved quickly, when she learned more about the woman sleeping in her lap.

“How is she after everything?” I mind linked her.

“Well, she's been playing chess with her hacker friend and those files. I couldn’t make hide nor hair outta whatever they are planning, but your girl is smart. That fucker is gonna be dodging bullets for a while in the business realm so hopefully things will stay quiet for a while and he will stay away.”

“How about you? She scared you?” 

Lana shook her head. “I wasn’t scared, I just panicked, her aura is big, you know how jumpy I get around dominants, and she was…much more than I expected. That and I know you wouldn’t want her finding out like that…what else was I supposed to do?”

“You did the right thing,” I assured her.

“I got enough Chinese to feed an army, wanna see if Mazzie wants to come over for dinner?” 

Lana nodded before unlocking her phone and texting Mazzie with her free hand.

Briar shifted slightly in sleep. She would be up soon. I went out to the truck and loaded my arms with the bags of takeout. It had been an impulsive move. I didn’t even know if she liked Chinese, but I needed some time before I got home to wrangle with the fury I was feeling inside. Lana had told me she was resting, which had eased my mind. If she was resting the least I could do was come home calm and not half cocked…also we needed food and she shouldn’t have to make it after such a rough day.