Chapter 230

Chris

I woke up early the next morning, the unfamiliar hotel room coming into focus as I blinked away the remnants of sleep. For a moment, I reached out, expecting to feel Ava’s familiar warmth beside me, craving the sensation of her skin beneath my fingertips.

But the bed was empty, and reality crashed back in. I was in the human world, miles away from home.

Just one more day, I thought to myself as I rolled onto my back. My eyes flicked to the nightstand, where I kept the little velvet box as if it would run away in the night.

Sighing, I pushed myself up and started my usual morning routine. As I showered and dressed, my mind raced through the day’s agenda. Meeting after meeting, all aimed at securing help for Moonstone and Leonard and boosting our reputation in the human world.

“Ready for battle, darling?” Ophelia’s voice, unusually chipper after the depressing past couple of weeks, greeted me as I stepped into the suite’s living area. She was already wearing that sleek pantsuit of hers, her hair pulled back into a claw clip, her usual red lipstick almost out of place amongst the serious look.

All business. A side of Ophelia that I hadn’t seen before, but it just made me respect her even more. I was glad to have her by my side, not just as my friend, but as my partner in this whole mess.

I grinned as I adjusted my tie in the mirror. “As I’ll ever be. You?”

She nodded, her expression turning serious. “Indeed. Let’s go save our home.”

I couldn’t help but smirk. “It’s our home now, huh?”

“You welcomed me as a part of the pack, no?” she quipped, raising an eyebrow. “Moonstone is the one place where I’ve ever felt I’ve truly belonged; you’d be hard pressed to find me letting it go to waste so soon after discovering paradise.”

“Fair enough,” I chuckled, nudging me with her elbow as we stepped out of the suite.

The sun was hardly up by the time we were attending the first meeting of the day: a conference with a group of human executives from various human industries. As we entered the conference room, I could feel their eyes on me, assessing, judging.

Emphasis on judging.

“Alpha Chris,” one of them, a stern-looking woman in her fifties, began mere seconds after Ophelia and I had taken our seats. I recognized her as the CEO of one of the most prominent human industries, Meredith Jones. We had never met in person before, although I had once sported her company’s logo on my car during racing season.

“Thank you for meeting with us,” I said, nodding my head politely.

Meredith pressed her lips into a thin line and didn’t return the gesture. “We have some... concerns we would like to address.”

No pleasantries. Although I was glad for it.

I nodded, taking care to flash one of my signature charming smiles in Meredith’s direction, although it didn’t seem to land. “Of course. That’s why I’m here. I’m all ears; whatever concerns you have, I’d like to handle them personally.”

Another executive, a balding man with thick-rimmed glasses who I recognized as the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, Peter Emmel, leaned forward. “Frankly, Alpha Chris, we are worried you’re planning on fully leaving the human world behind. You’ve sold off a significant number of your businesses recently.”

As I opened my mouth to respond, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket—a call from Ava, I realized, upon a quick glance at the screen. As much as I wanted to answer, I knew I couldn’t. This meeting was too important. She was probably just calling about the press conference.

I quickly slid the screen to decline the call. I would call her back later; she’d understand.

“I appreciate your concerns,” I said, rising from my seat and slipping a presentation clicker out of my pocket. “It is true; I have recently sold some of my smaller businesses in the human world in order to better balance my new life as an Alpha.”

The executives grumbled, but before they could speak, I pressed a button and the presentation screen dropped down from the ceiling. “But I can assure you, my recent reordering of priorities does not mean that I intend to leave behind my ties in the human world. In fact, I have a proposal that I believe will strengthen the bond between our worlds.”

The executives exchanged glances, their interest piqued. Even Meredith’s eyebrows shot up.

“Go on,” she said.

I took a deep breath and launched into my presentation, clicking through the slides that I had carefully prepared the day before.

“What Ophelia and I are proposing today is a new hybrid business model. One that utilizes the efforts of both human and werewolf scientists to create GMOs that can greatly help reduce pollution in the human world.”

A murmur of interest rippled through the room.

“Imagine,” Ophelia said, clicking to the next slide, “genetically modified versions of werewolf plants that are beneficial for the environment, but modified to survive in the human world. Plants that can clean air and water more efficiently than anything currently available.”

Peter leaned back in his chair, tenting his fingers in his lap. “That’s... quite ambitious, Alpha Chris.”

I nodded. “It is. But it’s also necessary.” I clicked to the next slide, a graph detailing the rising pollution rates in the human world. “Just this year alone, greenhouse gas emissions in the human world have risen by 5%.”

“That’s a world record,” Ophelia said. “At that rate, the human world will see a loss of all major pollinators within the next decade.”

“And within the next fifty years, a complete collapse of agriculture,” I added.

For the next hour, Ophelia and I detailed our plans, answering questions and addressing concerns. As we spoke, I could see the skepticism in the executives’ eyes slowly being replaced by interest… and excitement.

“This could revolutionize environmental cleanup efforts,” one executive mused.

“Not to mention the potential medical applications,” another added.

Ophelia and I exchanged grins, and she shot me a thumbs-up beneath the table.

As we wrapped up the presentation, the room fell silent for a moment. The executives exchanged glances, murmuring amongst themselves, as Ophelia and I waited patiently at the head of the table. I must have been shaking my leg nervously beneath the table, because Ophelia suddenly smacked my knee and shook her head almost imperceptibly.

“We would like to pledge $50 million to start,” Meredith suddenly said, turning to face me.

Both Ophelia’s and my eyebrows shot up in unison. But I had expected something of this ilk—and money wasn’t why we were here. “We appreciate the offer, but no investment will be necessary.”

The room erupted into confused murmurs.

“Then what do you want?” Peter asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Two things,” Ophelia said. “First, we ask that you pledge your friendship with Moonstone pack, always promising to come to our aid in times of crisis; as the first human resident of Moonstone, I will act as your personal liaison and emissary. Whatever questions you have, day or night, I will answer.”

I nodded, adding, “And second… Help me find a cure for my friend.”

“For my love,” Ophelia whispered, blinking away tears.

“If you promise these things,” I finished, “then you will receive significant shares in this company—no investment necessary.”

There was another long silence, and I could practically hear the gears turning in the executives’ heads. I knew, of course, that it was a big ask—to get involved in a business with no investment and thus no promise of profit, asking only for one thing in return: help.

But finally, Peter was the first to nod in agreement. “Consider it done, Alpha Chris. Moonstone has our full support.”

“And mine,” Meredith added.

Soon, everyone at the table had pledged their support in some way or another.

As the meeting wrapped up and the executives gathered their things to leave, I felt my shoulders slump with relief. It had gone better than I could have hoped. We were one step closer to saving Leonard and Moonstone.

And one step closer to bringing our worlds together.

Ophelia met me outside the conference room, gripping my arms tightly. “That went so much better than I expected,” she breathed, bouncing up and down on her toes. “Thank you for involving me.”

I grinned. “Prepare to be a lot more involved, Madame Liaison.”

Ophelia beamed.

As we walked to our next meeting, I pulled out my phone, remembering Ava’s call. I was about to dial her number when my assistant intercepted us.

“Alpha Chris, your next meeting is starting in two minutes. We need to hurry.”

I glanced at my phone, then at my assistant, torn. Finally, I quickly typed out a text to Ava:

“Sorry, can’t talk. Busy day... Miss you ;)”

Once I hit send, I slipped my phone back into my pocket and practically sprinted across the conference center with my assistant and Ophelia flanking me, and the whole time, I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face.

Ava was going to be so pleased when I came home with the amazing news. I was sure of it.