3. Hard Decisions

...Two Weeks Ago...

Time was crunching. The pack had been on the market for over two months now, and we had yet to hear of a bid. I was growing anxious. I knew this was a last-ditch effort. But as Zavian explained, we had no other options available to us. Even if we combined our pack with another, it would barely make a chip in our financial issues. The problem came down to our pack size, which is why most packs chose to keep their packs smaller. Having a large pack opened itself to more and much greater issues. 

Right now, it proved just how dire our situation was. Even if all the packs around us chipped in to help, we still wouldn't have enough money to survive. Our only hope was that someone would have enough money to buy our pack. 

Someone running through the halls caught my attention as I turned my gaze from my window to figure out the cause of the commotion coming from the hallway. My office door slammed open as both my betas rushed into my office, looking out of breath.

"What's going on? Are we being attacked?" I asked, wondering why none of the patrols informed me. 

"A-l-ph-a." Colt stutters out as he tries to regain his breath, making me furrow my brows at him, wondering just how long he had been running to find me in my office. 

I look over to Zavian to see he isn't as out of breath as his father and seems to be waiting for him to catch his breath.

"What's going on?" I ask, pleading with them to tell me what's going on, wondering why they chose to run here when they could've just mindlinked me. 

"We have a buyer." Zavian states, after seeing his father is too out of breath to say anything further. 

"What? We do? Who?" I ask as questions begin to flood my mind. 

"Kaiden Marks." Zavian explains as if that answers my question. Only it just makes me more confused, wondering why Zavian would think I would know who that was. 

Seeing my confusion, Zavian goes on to explain. 

"Kaiden Marks is the founder and CEO of Mārs." Zavian explains as if that answers my question. I remain deadpanned in my expression as I wait for him to explain further.

"Seriously? Mārs? Have neither of you heard of it?" Zavian gasps as he looks between his father and me. I share a look with Colt to see if perhaps he knows who this person is, only to see the same confused expression mirrored back at me. 

"Where have you two been living? Mārs is only the biggest corporation in the World." Zavian huffs, crossing his arms over his chest as he sits down, acting as though Colt and I have been living under a rock. And well, I guess he isn't that far off as I've been so focused on our pack that I've tuned out anything to do with the outside world. So I guess, in a way, both Colt and I have been living under a rock. 

"Just explain who he is, son." Colt says, finding the seat neat to Zavian as he grabs a bottle of water from my desk and quickly downing it before relaxing in his chair. Zavian seems to put some of his attitude aside as he calmly explains who Kaiden Marks is.

"Kaiden Marks is practically the king when it comes to the hospitality sector. He started his business with a club in New York, and has gone on to open over a thousand more across the world. He owns many hotels, restaurants, and even a few amusement parks." Zavian explains as I nod my head in understanding. 

"But why would someone like him want to buy our pack?" I ask, wondering if there is something I missed. Only to see both Colt and Zavian share one of their looks, indicating that there's something they know that they're not telling me.

"We're not entirely sure." Colt begins; however, as I look at Zavian, I can tell there's something they aren't saying. 

"What is it?" I ask, looking between my two betas.

"It's just hearsay..." Zavian begins, however, this time Colt cuts him off. 

"There's talk of him wanting to open up a resort." Colt replies, making my eyes grow wide. 

"What? What are you talking about?" I ask, looking between the two of them, hoping they're wrong. 

"As we said. We're not entirely sure at the moment. But we've scheduled a meeting with him. His lawyers will be present. Our lawyer has advised that we come up with a list of terms of agreement to ensure the safety of the pack." Zavian confesses, making me furrow my brows. 

"Wait, a second. Lawyers will be involved?" I reply, catching onto the one detail they seemed to have omitted. 

"Uh... Yes... Because Kaiden Marks is human." Colt interjects, making my brows go wide in disbelief. Are they seriously considering what's at stake right now? Do they really expect me to sell my pack to a human?! 

I could feel my skin prickle, indicating my wolf was on the verge of taking over. A human claiming rights to a wolf pack is unheard of. We would be the laughingstock of the entire supernatural species if we went through with this. 

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW!?" I scream out, barely managing to keep my wolf from forcing a shift. My betas instantly take a knee before me as they bend their heads toward the ground, showing their necks in submission. My alpha aura washed throughout the room, forcing them to submit. 

"Alpha, please." Zavian manages to spit out. However, I can hear the struggle in his voice. My alpha aura weighed him down as if I had just tossed a 200-pound weight at him and asked him to hold it above his head. 

Seeing them struggle, I realize I need to reel my wolf back in. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing. I needed to calm down in order to get my wolf to ease up from trying to kill everything in sight. 

I hear both my betas sigh in relief when I manage to control my aura, allowing them to stand up straight. Colt rubbed his hand along his neck, indicating that my aura was far stronger than I realized. 

"Sorry. I didn't mean to do that. But you can't really be considering this." I ask, looking between my betas. My attention was more so on Zavian as this impacts him far greater than Colt. If we let this human buy our pack, this would mean Calyssa would be forced to give up her title. Out of the two of them, I knew Zavian would be the one to ask about this. He seemed to know more about this Kaiden Marks person. His loyalty remained with my daughter, which meant that he would have her best interests at play. 

"Tell me, Zavian. Is this really what you want to do to your future alpha?" I ask, my eyes scanning him.

"Of course not. If there were any other way, we wouldn't be doing this. But there isn't another way. I know Calyssa well enough to know that while she may not like the idea of giving the pack to a stranger, she would do it in a heartbeat if it was for the benefit of the pack." Zavian explains. I can feel his sincerity from his words from where I stand. 

Zavian looks at me like a dog that's been kicked. His face was forlorn, waiting to be told off for some misdeed he's done. I could feel his guilt as if it was my own. A feeling as though he was betraying his alpha. An act that would otherwise be punishable by death. But at this moment, it's not an act of betrayal but one of survival. 

Knowing Calyssa was set to return in a manner of weeks only twisted my heart further. She was coming home to get ready for her alpha ceremony. 

In just over two weeks, Calyssa would take over from me as the acting Alpha. 

I sigh as I walk around my desk to take a seat, suddenly finding it too difficult to remain standing. I run my hand along the back of my neck, across my face, before dropping my hand in my lap, thinking over everything that has taken place in such a short time. 

"When is this meeting?" I ask, knowing our time is quickly running out. I knew if we were going to do this, we needed to do this soon. Both for the pack and for myself. My time as acting alpha was running out. While I didn't want to go against my daughter and steal her birthright from her, at this moment, I think that's the very thing I will have to do. I'm not yet sure if Kaiden Marks will be our saviour or if he will be our damnation. But until then, I need to focus on what's important. So while Calyssa may not be happy nor understand my decision, I hope she realizes why I'm doing this. 

"The pack comes first." I say, more so to myself than anyone else. Repeating the mantra my father instilled in me, just as every alpha has done before him. The very mantra I know my daughter also lives by.