Chapter 117

When I got home, I forced a smile on my face before checking on Alex. I didn’t want him to know I was upset.

But he was in a deep sleep, and the nurse said he hadn’t been awake since I left that morning. The doctor was on his way, but they didn’t think there was anything he could do for him.

Alex looked pale again, and when I took his hand, it was ice cold. I tucked it under the blankets and kissed his forehead before I left the room.

I was going to cry again, and if he happened to wake up, I didn’t want him to see my tears.

I felt as if everything was crumbling around me.

As soon as I reached the hallway, sobs erupted from my throat, and I dashed into the living room before anyone saw me falling apart.

I couldn’t stand to lose Alex on top of everything else. I only had him for such a short time. How could he die before he got to see me graduate, run the company, get married, and have children?

When I lived with my adoptive family, I wanted to be alone. It was a life goal. But now that I knew what it was like to be loved, to have someone who cared about me, I didn’t want to go back to living with my emotions hidden behind a wall.

“I won’t have any family again,” I cried softly and looked up toward the sky. “Please don’t take Alex yet.”

Tears ran down my face until I heard Diana’s voice in my mind. “I’m here, Daisy. I’ll never leave you. You’re not alone.”

I sat down on the couch and wiped my eyes. “Thank you, Diana. It’s comforting to know you’re always with me.”

I got up and paced the room. There was no way I could sit and relax. I felt like I had to do something to fix things.

“You could think better if you went for a run,” Diana suggested. “It always relaxes you.

She was right. I didn’t say a word to anyone. I just headed for the nearest exit.

Going straight to the rose garden, I stripped, called for Diana, and shifted.

I did several laps around the property and then entered the woods. I found myself in the small clearing and sat in the tall grass and wildflowers to watch the tiny creatures around me.

A groundhog peeked out from under a log while a giant brown rabbit hurried deeper into the brush. After I held still for a moment, a robin high in the trees resumed singing a song.

“How simple their lives are,” I told Diana. “That’s the only thing I miss about my old life.”

“Being human is complicated,” she said. “Yet, would you be happier being a groundhog or a rabbit?”

“No, but maybe I should stay a wolf,” I said. “We could spend our time hunting in the woods, running in the fields, and swimming in the pond.”

“You would be bored and miss your comfortable bed within a day,” Diana said. “And you would hate eating raw bunnies for every meal.”

She was trying to make me laugh, but it didn’t work.

“But I wouldn’t have to deal with greedy Alphas, and maybe I wouldn’t miss my father so much when he dies.”

“Daisy, do you feel it?” Diana said. There was excitement in her voice.

I sniffed the air. “Someone is coming. It’s another werewolf.”

“It’s Adam,” Diana declared. Her excitement raced through my mind.

I heard Victor’s voice before I saw Adam enter the clearing. “Daisy, where are you?”

“We are here,” Diana called. “We are in the clearing.”

The large black wolf stepped from the trees. It was a pleasure to watch his powerful form walking toward me. “I’ve been looking for you. I found your clothes in the rose garden and followed your scent.”

He sat down close to me. “William called me and said you were upset. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Talk to him, Daisy,” Diana gently advised. “It will make you feel better.”

“It’s not just one thing,” I said. “It’s like everything’s falling apart at once, and I don’t know how to stop it.”

“Keep going,” Diana said.

“Sometimes I feel stressed and unsure that I can handle all these new responsibilities. I started to feel like I could handle running the company, but now things are going bad with the charity foundation.”

“I heard the Sanderson’s rescinded their donation,” Victor said. “But don’t worry, my mother heard about it too. She called them, and they said they would fulfill their promise.”

Yay, Lana! “Your mother is great,” I said. “But I’m sorry she had to help me again.”

“Daisy, I told you, a good executive allows others to help them. They need others to help them. The more people you have helping you, the more you can accomplish.”

“I don’t know who to ask for help,” I admitted. “The party last night showed me that most Alphas are exactly what I thought they were.”

“Don’t judge all Alphas by those jerks,” Victor said. “Many Alphas in the association have let their power go to their head. Most of us are decent folks deep down, even if we do like to live well.”

“But I wanted to help people. I wanted to do good things with my life,” I argued.

“You will do good things with your life,” Victor assured me. “Give yourself a little time. If anyone can change things, it’s you. I have faith in you to be a huge success.”

“I don’t know if that’s true,” I said. “My father is dying. He grew worse while I was at the office. I’m not ready to lose him, Victor.”

“You can’t be sure you’re gonna lose him yet,” he said. “Like you told the reporters, only the Goddess knows how long any of us have left.”

“I was having such a good day with William. We had these delicious burgers and fries with milkshakes in this great diner I used to go to with Amy.”

“Then, wham, I got the bad news about the charity, and everything felt like it was spinning out of control.”

“Everyone feels that way sometimes, but everything is going to be alright,” Victor said.

“Before you got here, I was telling Diana how I miss some of the normal things I used to do,” I said.

“Like what?” Victor asked. “You could do anything you want to do, Daisy.”

“How about non-gourmet food and bowling?”

“Non-gourmet food? Like hamburgers?”

“And hotdogs, spaghetti, and meatloaf,” I giggled.

“What’s meatloaf?” Victor asked.

“Maybe I’ll make you want some time,” I replied, thankful Victor had found me. I was feeling much better.

“I’ve heard of bowling, but I’ve never tried it,” Victor said.

“Then we have to go bowling sometime,” I joked. I could not see Victor putting on rented blue and red shoes that hundreds of others had worn on their feet.

“Sure,” he agreed. “I’ll look up how to do it online first.”

I snickered. “Thank you for cheering me up. I’m going to find a way to make everything work. I’m going to help people, and I’m going to be the best CEO Wilson, Inc. has ever had.”

“I have no doubt, Daisy,” Victor said. “I’ve seen what you can do when you put your mind to it. I think you can accomplish anything.”

“Let’s go back to the house now and see what the doctor says about Alex.”