Chapter 5: Lost

HUDSON

I sat back in my chair, scanning over the files that my assistant had handed me. However, it’s content made my brows furrowed deeper with every page I turned.

I’m currently on a meeting with an executive from one of the companies that has tried multiple times to land a partnership with ours. However, seeing their proposal made me think that it was only a waste of time to come here and even allow them the change to negotiate with me.

“This is simply impossible.” I said in a firm tone, meeting Mr. Robert’s gaze. He was the executive from Sky Corporations – a man in his late 40’s.

“Mr. Alistaire, please reconsider it. We believe it’s a solid plan.”

I was starting to grow impatient. I had a reputation for being cautious in my investments, never putting more on the line that I could afford to lose. It was a principle my twin brother, Brixton, and I lived by — a principle that had brought us to where we were now.

“Mr. Roberts, I suppose you understand very well that I do not engage in losing business,” my words carry a hint of growl, leaving no room for negotiation.

Brixton and I had fought tooth and nail to build our empire, we had encountered challenges of both the werewolf society and here in the human city. Our father was the former lycan king, who ruled the werewolf society in the past. He was not a father, but more like a ruler who trained us to be hard-hearted and adopt the most cruel methods in dealing with problems. We were trained to strive for ultimate power and dominance.

Until the throne has been passed to us five years ago, we’ve always carried the weight of our huge responsibilities, being the only sole left pure-blooded lycans. And with the rising conflicts that was emerging in the past, we decided to gain a foothold in the human city to gain more influence and power.

And now that we have achieved what we wanted and built the most successful company in this country, our standards naturally grew way more above average.

“Hudson, I think their proposal has quite the potential. Perhaps, they can make some revisions and…”

I narrowed my eyes at Melanie. She was one of the board directors of my company and also the one who recommended me to take the shot with Sky Corporations. But this company clearly won’t bring me any benefits.

“I don’t like repeating what I’ve said.” With that, I slammed the file on the table before leaving the conference room.

This kind of occurrence was not new to me. But I was still feeling quite annoyed. Moreover, I can also feel my wolf being restless ever since I arrived at this place, and all these was irking me out.

“I’m sorry for earlier.”

A pair of hands slowly slid from my shoulder and moved down to caress my chest. The familiar strong scent of Melanie’s perfume entered my nostrils which made me frown.

“Let me make it up to you, okay?” She whispered to my ear, her lips touching my earlobes and her hands were slowly starting to unbutton my shirt.

“I missed you…”

Her other hand tried to move down to touch my pants, but I immediately grabbed her hands before she could do that.

“Stop it.” I stood up from the couch, frowning while fixing my shirt.

“What’s the matter?” Her voice carried frustration. “This is not because of earlier, right? You’ve been avoiding me these past few months.”

I ignored her and went to find my phone, still frowning until I heard her approach me from behind.

“You can’t keep ignoring me like this!”

Displeasure rose in my chest, my wolf was also getting annoyed and keep snarling at the back of my head. Melanie was one of my trusted employees, aside from that, she was also a werewolf who had followed us here to the human city. We’ve known each other since teens, and I admit me, and Brixton had already fucked her.

But that was it. I didn’t expect her to expect something in return. We had sex from time to time in the past, and that’s all. I didn’t expect her to become this attached and keep bothering me. Besides, I didn’t have the interest to indulge with her on bed. With my wolf being resistant and an unknown feeling I’ve been having these past few months, I couldn’t get myself to do the deed.

Moreover, as long as I think of indulging in desire, a different, vague yet familiar figure of a woman always pops inside my mind.

“Lock the door when you leave.” I spoke coldly, not bothering with her antics before finally leaving my room. After that, I called my assistant, scolding him for giving the password of my room to Melanie.

Outside, the cool afternoon air helped to clear my head as I paced along the corridor, trying to shake off the tension that had been building up inside me ever since this morning. I walked for a few more moments until I stopped at the large glass wall that overlooks the sea.

‘What’s the matter?’ I tried speaking to my wolf but got no response.

Sighing, I turned to walk away until I felt someone grabbing the hem of my coat.

I halted on my steps, pursing my lips in displeasure before turning to look at the person who was holding my coat. But the frown on my face immediately disappeared when I noticed that it was a little girl that has been holding my coat tightly.

She looks not more than five years old. Wearing a white summer dress that was matched with a white hairband with cat ears. Her hair was wavy and blonde and she was quite chubby, coupled with her puffed cheeks while she looked up at me, I started to think that this child was quite cute.

“What’s the matter?” My voice came off with an awkward yet stiff tone.

I didn’t know how to interact with kids. But even though the kid still haven’t let go of her hold on my coat, I surprisingly didn’t feel annoyed.

“Mommy…” Her voice was a little low, and I noticed that her lips were quivering. A knot seems to form on my heart when I heard the tone of her voice.

Something on the tone of her voice made me feel somewhat distressed, even more so when I noticed that her eyes were glistening with tears while she glanced around anxiously. This little girl was probably lost.

I crouched down to her eye level. “What’s your name?’

Her eyes met mine, and that’s when I discovered that she had such familiar green orbs.

“Bella…” She answers me while sniffing.

I stopped, still perplexed noticing how her eyes looks so familiar that it somewhat reminds me of someone…

My twin, Brixton, has green eyes too.

“I c-can’t find Mommy…” I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard her whimper as the little girl’s grip on my coat tightened.

“Well, Bella,” I cleared my throat, surprisingly, my voice came gentle than it was before. “let’s go find someone who can help us find your mommy, okay?”

She nodded at me. Once again, I stared at her facial features which looks so familiar. Her eyes do resemble those of my twin’s. But her face was of someone I had a feeling I was familiar too.

However, I couldn’t put a finger on who exactly it was.

Standing up, I decided to shrug off my thoughts, believing that everything was just a coincidence. The most important thing right now is to find the parent of this little girl as she looks so anxious already.

“Do you want to hold my hand?” I stared down at her. She looks up at me with a mix of hope and fear, but eventually, her little hand let go of my coat before she grasped two of my fingers.

A smile unknowingly came to my lips. A feeling of warmth seems to crept up on my chest as I looked at her adorable little face and the size difference of our hands.

With slow steps, trying to accommodate the little girl’s pace, we finally manage to reach the end of the corridor where I spotted a security guard.

“She’s looking for her mom.” I said to the security guard, and before he could lead us towards the CCTV room to find traces of where the little girl came from, and distressed cry resounded from behind.

“Oh my god, Bella!” A woman ran towards us with an almost crying yet relieved expression on her face.

Upon seeing the woman approach, I noticed that Bella’s eyes also lit up.

“Thank goodness you’re here!”

Before I knew it, my hold on Bella was immediately gone as she was gently dragged away by the woman who just arrived.

I don’t know why, yet I felt small waves of displeasure when I realized I wasn’t holding the little girl anymore.

“Are you her mom?” I asked the woman who was now holding Bella.

The woman’s eyes snapped to me and her eyes went wider, as if she recognized me from something.

“I-I’m just her nanny,” she seems quite nervous now that she was facing me but manage to force a smile. “Thank you so much for keeping an eye on her, sir.”

I only pursed my lips, my eyes remained on the little girl that was now being held by the woman. She also stared back at me, her lips slowly forming a smile and I noticed the cute dimple on her right cheek.

My heart felt shaken at that moment.

“Say thank you Bella.” The woman urged the little girl as she carried her up.

“Thank you… mistewr.”

My heart swelled hearing her sweet voice. It was my first time feeling this much tenderness, especially towards a little kid.

Before I knew it, the little girl was already being taken away by her nanny. Her small hands gently waving at me.

A strange mixture of emotions swirled within me. Even my wolf started to calm down after being so listless these previous hours. I could only watch the little girl leave, feeling a hint of reluctance washing over me.

~~

A FEW MOMENTS LATER, Brixton mindlinked me saying that he was already outside waiting with our Beta. I immediately brushed off the sudden feeling I just had after meeting Bella, that little girl.

As I walked out of the building, I tried to mindlink Brixton of his exact location. But I paused on my steps when I saw a familiar figure walking by the shore.

Wearing a white dress summer dress, she was especially eye-catching with the blue ocean as her background. Her blonde locks sways along the breeze and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her at that moment.

My encounter with her last week came crashing back inside my mind. In fact, I hadn’t even forgot about her. She’s been going in and out of my mind these past few days.

I slowly walked towards her. She still haven’t noticed that I was already following her closely as she seems immersed on the stall selling some stuff by the shore.

My gaze landed on her exquisite face. At that moment, I decided to call her.

“Leah…”