Chapter 9
Grace
Shit. I hadn’t expected him to ask that. His expression was cool and unaffected. It felt like he already knew the answer, yet he was still waiting for me to answer. Why? Was this a test too? Some sort of power game? I swear, the stress of dealing with this man was going to be the death of me, I was sure. I cleared my throat and answered the call to stall for time, but I hit the speaker button before I could lift the phone off the cradle.
“Ma’am? The board is convening soon. They want to know if you’ll be coming to the meeting.”
I frowned. Was that normal? I didn’t think I had to. Besides, I needed to check on the transfer from Charles and start working on paying the bills as quickly as possible. The contract was done, so the transfer should make it to my account by the end of the day. At least, that’s what I hoped. With any luck, Kelly would think there was just some power issue. We could spend the night at Eason if I told a convincing enough lie. She hadn’t texted or called me yet, so maybe she’d taken Richard and Cecil out, but I knew it was just a matter of time.
“Oh, well—” Charles lunged forward and tapped the mute button.
I looked up and met his intense gaze. He looked so frustrated but not upset.
"You're going to the meeting," he stated firmly.
I frowned, feeling a bit defiant. I’d just signed the contract, and he was already making demands.
“What does it matter? I could just introduce you—”
“You’re the owner of the company, the leader of the board, and you’re new. You have to go.”
I shook my head. “My father never had a board.”
His eyes narrowed. “But you do.”
I pursed my lips, eyeing him and trying to ignore the sting of his words. My father wouldn’t need a board to help him run the company. He didn’t need help at all, and I was failing him. I glanced over Charles’ head to the portrait of my father before clenching my jaw. As much as I hated it, Charles had way more experience with this than I did. I didn’t have to like the fact that he did, but I should listen to whatever reasoning he had.
“Why?”
He sighed. “You are not your father. You have hurdles he didn’t, and I imagine strengths he didn’t have.”
I blinked at him. That, really, wasn’t what I expected. The sting from earlier felt soothed. I felt my hackles start to lower. It was such a reasonable thing to say, something my father had said so many times.
That mind of yours, Gracie, he’d say and laugh. If I had about half of it, I’d be President!
Charles softened his expression and leaned forward.
"I can tell that you have a head for the science behind Wolfe Medical. That’s a talent, a gift, but business acumen is a skill that takes time to learn. And you need it to get Wolfe Medical back in the black. I'll help you learn the business side of things, starting with this board meeting."
My lips twitched into a smile before I hit the mute button.
“Yes, I’ll be there. When will it be?”
“In about an hour. I’ll put it on your calendar.”
“Thank you.”
I hung up and looked at him. “How’d you know?”
He smirked and nodded at my desk. “Clutter and that textbook certainly helped give it away.”
I looked down. “I’m really going to have a hard time getting anything past you.”
“You and everyone else,” Charles said. “We’re… partners at the moment, Grace. And we’ll be partners for a long time to come. We’re going to have to build some trust between us.”
I bit my lip. “… the last lycan I trusted did this to me.”
Charles nodded. “Trust is a ladder, built one rung at a time. I imagine if you give me the chance to build that ladder with you, you’ll find that it’s quite sturdy.”
He sat back. “But the choice is yours ultimately. I will be attending the board meeting. Though I have a feeling no one, there will like it.”
My lips twitched. “Something tells me that you might even enjoy pissing them all off.”
“Do they own a stake in the company?”
I frowned. “I’m not sure.”
I wasn’t really sure what they were supposed to be doing or how they got their positions. Charles’ expression turned dark.
“I’m sure we’ll find out. Together.”
I smiled, feeling a little reassured as I nodded. “I’ll try to learn to trust you.”
He nodded. “Let’s start with… how you became alpha and… where this all started.”
My gut clenched as I remember the bleak day Eason I buried our father. I pulled the cup of coffee closer to me and took a deep breath.
“I inherited it from my father when he died. The pack, too, obviously… Soon after, I met Devin.” My lips twitched. “I was… grieving. I didn’t want to date him, but he was persistent. I gave in, and soon, it wasn’t reluctance. I wanted to be around him. He made me happy for the first time since my father’s death, and I needed that. I got pregnant, and well, I didn’t have a head for business, and I wasn’t looking to learn. I was in love and running from my grief. Devin was a business major, so I let him run it while I focused on our family.”
I sat back with a deep sight, rubbing my head. “Looking back, I was dumb. I trusted him so completely, so quickly, even though I knew he was reckless and… well, selfish.”
I thought back to the years of our marriage. “I ignored every red flag until I couldn’t anymore. I regret it, but I’m going to learn from it. I have learned from it.”
I looked back at him. “I’m all my kids have now. Devin’s made it pretty clear that he’s not interested in being in their lives, so I’m going to do what I have to.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Even if that involves boring financial documents.”
He chuckled. “I’m beginning to understand a lot about you. Let’s start with the basics.”
He stood and scanned the desk and started moving pages around. How he knew which pages went where and with what and in what order, I had no idea, but soon, each report was stacked and organized. He took one and started to read it.
He pulled his seat closer to the desk and spread out the pages with them facing me.
“For now, here’s what you want to focus on: profit and loss, balance sheet, and the quarter over quarter report.”
He walked me through each of the reports in a way that made it easy to understand. At the least, it made more sense than what was in the textbook. I even managed to understand exactly why we hadn’t made any money in whatever period this report was from.
He smiled, proud and indulgent and I felt a bit of my fear starting to fade. He gathered the pages then set another report in front of me.
“Now, do the same analysis for this one.”
I scanned the document. “Our… cost of goods sold went up, but we didn’t up the sale price, so our profit margin shrank. The debts weren’t paid, so our… accrued interest increased, cutting into our balance.” I blew out. “We need to figure out how to get our cashflow to be positive and the easiest way would be to lessen the cost of our goods and start getting ahead of our debt.”
He nodded. “Good. Are you ready to go?”
I blinked as my laptop chimed. The hour was nearly over. He gathered another report and offered his hand.
I hesitated for a moment, feeling a mix of nerves and excitement. His strong presence and the look on his face, vicious and challenging, made me feel like we were going to war.
Remembering the way he’d leaped three whole floors in a single bound with me in his arms, the look of conviction in his eyes, and the easy way he’d handled Devin at Apex, I smiled up at him. The deed to the house was already more than enough goodwill for me to try to trust him a little more.
He’d proven that he was nothing like Devin already. My gaze dropped to his chest, where I could envision that bright red mark, but I held back the question. That would be too personal, and right now wasn’t the right time even if it wasn’t. We were going to war, for my pack, my future, and everything my father believed in, but I didn’t think I could have asked for a better ally unless my father had risen from the grave to help me.
So, I took his hand and let him escort me to the door.
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Dear readers：
If you have previously read this story, I have rewritten the content of the first 9 chapters. You can start reading from the first chapter to ensure clarity. This is also why the update has taken a considerable amount of time. I sincerely appreciate the support from all of you.
