<b>Chapter 206 </b>
Alexander
Gabriel stormed into my office the next morning without so much as a knock. The moment the door was shut behind him, he whirled on me, his face twisted with fury.
<b>“</b>Are you out of your fucking mind?” he snarled.
I slowly looked up from the budget reports I’d been reviewing. “Good morning to you too, Gabriel. What’s got your panties in a twist today<b>?</b><b>” </b>
“You told her everything.” Gabriel’s face was crimson with rage. “You told E about the investigation. About her father. About all of it.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Years of work, Alexander. Years of careful nning and surveince, and you just handed it all over to the enemy.”
I carefully set down my pen and leaned back in my chair. “She’s not the enemy.”
“How can <b>you </b>possibly know that?”
“Because she’s my mate. My wife. The mother of my child.” I stood up and gripped the edge of the desk so hard my knuckles turned white. “And because I chose to trust her.”
“Trust her? Based on what? Sex<b>?</b>”
<b>My </b>wolf bristled at his indignation, but I fought to maintain control. For now, at least. “Based on the fact that she offered to help me take down her own father the moment she found out.”
“Which could be part of the n! Don’t you see that?” Gabriel stormed up to me and jabbed his finger into the center of my chest, making my wolf growl. “This could all be an borate setup. She gets caught with the evidence, ys the innocent victim, gains your sympathy, and now she’s perfectly positioned to feed
information back to Stormhollow.<i>” </i>
Gabriel wasn’t entirely wrong, but I recalledst night all too well. E’s face when she’d found the evidence, followed by the look of pain in her eyes when I exined everything… Unless she was a
phenomenal actress<b>, </b>I couldn’t imagine that she was lying.
<b>“</b><b>You </b>didn’t see her, Gabriel. You didn’t hear what she said.”
“I don’t need to. I know how these people operate.” Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes in exasperation. “Alexander, you’re letting your feelings cloud your judgment. Again.”
<b>“</b><b>My </b>judgment is just fine.<b>” </b>
+15 <b>BONUS </b>
<b>“</b>You’re being yed like a fiddle. That Stormhollow whore has you by the balls-”
“That’s enough.” My jaw clenched, every Alpha instinct in me fighting against the hold ofposure I had on myself. I wanted to leap across the desk and sink my teeth into the Beta’s neck. Wanted to finally put him in his ce for insulting my mate, once and for all.
Gabriel seemed unfazed by my fury. “No, it’s not enough. We need to continue the investigation. We need to dig deeper<b>, </b>find out what she’s really up to.”
“The investigation is over.”
“Like hell it is.”
“<b>I </b>said it’s over, Gabriel. We have what we need to move against her father. E is not a threat.”
“You don’t know that!”
“I know enough.” My voice was dangerously low. “She’s pregnant with my heir, for fuck’s sake. <b>You </b>think she’d risk her own child’s life for some scheme?”
“I think she’d do whatever it takes toplete her mission.”
That was it. I’d had enough.
<b>“</b><b>You’re </b>out of line, Gabriel.”
“I’m doing my job!”
<b>“</b>Your job is to advise me, not to make decisions for me. Your job is to support my choices, not undermine them at every turn.”
Gabriel’s eyes shed. <b>“</b><b>My </b>job is to protect this pack from threats, even when you’re too blind to see
them.”
“Blind<b>?</b>” I stepped around my desk, getting in his face. “I’m blind?”
“When ites to her? Yes. Completely.<b>” </b>
“And I suppose you see everything clearly<b>?</b><b>” </b>
“I see a woman who showed up here at exactly the right time with exactly the right story. I see a woman who’s managed to wrap the Alpha King around her little finger in a matter of months. I see a threat that <b>you’re </b>ignoring because she’s got nice tits and a pretty smile.”
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+15 <b>BONUS </b>
<b>Chapter </b><b>207 </b>
My fist connected with his face before I could control myself. Gabriel stumbled backward, mming into the coffee cart behind him. Cups and saucers went shattering across the floor, and blood immediately began to trickle from his broken nose.
“Don’t you ever talk about my mate like that again,” I growled.
Gabriel wiped the blood from his face and red at me. “Hitting me doesn’t make me wrong.”
<b>“</b>No, but being an insubordinate asshole makes you useless to me.”
“I’m trying to save you from making the biggest mistake of your life!”
“By constantly questioning my judgment? By whispering in my ear like I’m some kind of idiot who can’t think for himself?<b>” </b>
“Because you’re acting like one!”
The words were clear. Gabriel thought I was being a fool. And perhaps I was, but a Beta had no right to speak to me–or his Luna–like that. No matter what he thought about the situation, I was still his Alpha. His Alpha King.
I would not tolerate it any longer.
I should have stopped tolerating it that night in the alley all those months ago when I beat him within an inch of his life.
“Say that again,” I said quietly.
Gabriel lifted his chin. “You’re being naive. Stupid. She’s ying you, and you’re too infatuated to see it.”
“Get out.”
“Alexander-”
“I said get out. You’re demoted, effective immediately.”
Gabriel’s face went white. “You can’t be serious.”
“Dead serious. You’ve questioned my authority one too many times. A Beta who doesn’t respect his Alpha is no Beta <b>at </b>all.”
<b>“</b>You’re making a mistake.”
“The only mistake I made was keeping you in that position as long as I did.” I turned away from him, effectively dismissing him. “And another thing–how exactly did E get her hands on those investigation files<b>?</b><b>” </b>
Gabriel’s silence was telling.
“Those were ssified materials, Gabriel. Top secret. The only way she could have found them is if someone left them somewhere they shouldn’t have been.”
“I don’t know what you’re implying.”
“I’m not implying anything. I’m stating a fact. You were careless with sensitive information, and now it’spromised.” I faced him again. “I don’t trust you anymore, Gabriel. I’ll handle the Stormhollow situation myself from here on out. And if I’m making a mistake, then it’s my mistake to make.”
Gabriel stared at me for a long moment, his jaw working like he wanted to say more. Finally, he straightened his jacket and walked to the door.
“You’ll regret this,” he said without turning around.
“The only thing I regret is not doing it sooner.”
The door mmed behind him, and I was alone.
I stood there for a moment, adrenaline still coursing through my veins. Gabriel had been my Beta for as long as I’d been an Alpha. We’d fought together, nned together, built this pack together. And now it
was over.
But <b>I </b>couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry about it. Gabriel had crossed too many lines, questioned too many decisions. A Beta was supposed to support his Alpha, not constantly undermine him.
Especially not when it came to my mate.
Suddenly, the door swung open again. I whirled around in a rage, mouth opening to tell Gabriel to get out before I made him really regret it. But it wasn’t Gabriel who I found standing in the doorway.
“What do we think? Blue or green?”
It was E, holding up two swatches for the baby’s nursery.
And the smile on her face made me soften in an instant.
Without a second thought, I crossed the room in two long strides and pulled her into my arms. She stiffened, making a small squeak of surprise, but quickly rxed and rested her forehead against my
chest.
Perhaps this was a mistake. Perhaps she was ying me like a fiddle and Gabriel was right all along.
But… dammit. I couldn’t keep myself away from her anymore.
<b>If </b>this was a war, then I’d just lost.