Chapter 16
Kara's POV
“What’s going on here?” I snapped as I walked into the room. I adjusted my voice, using the authoritative tone I thought of as my “Alpha voice.” I’d developed such a reputation as a competent leader that I almost never needed to use it. They respected me anyway.
But I was pleased that everyone snapped to attention at my words now.
Laila and Elle rushed toward me. Maya cowered beside one of the other newest deltas, Daphne. I’d noticed them becoming more friendly over the past few days. I had a feeling Daphne thought that getting in with Maya would advance her position in the pack. Get her in Hunter’s good books.
Laila’s voice trembled with barely controlled fury when she spoke. Her fists were clenched, and her neck flushed with rage.
“She shredded it,” Laila said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do about—”
She sputtered to a stop, her anger seeming to make it impossible to continue speaking.
The other deltas started talking all at once.
“We’ve been working overtime for weeks to make sure everything’s in place for the school, and—”
“We’re not going to be able to pay the construction partners or any of the other vendors—”
“And of course,” Elle chimed in, “Hunter’s plane just left, so we can’t reach him.”
Laila found her voice again and rounded on Maya.
“You’re such a—I don’t know why you’re in this position, but you’re not capable of it. And now you’re dragging the rest of us down with you.”
“I’m sorry,” Maya said, tears running in canals down her face. “I’ve only been trying to help. I didn’t realize the budget sheet was on top of a pile of documents to discard, and I—it was just a mistake.”
“More like a critical error,” Laila spat. “And an idiotic one at that.”
“That’s uncalled for, Laila,” Daphne said, stepping forward. “It was an honest mistake.” The two women stared at each other, Maya still standing with slumped shoulders behind.
“That’s enough,” I said quietly. Everyone turned to me, completely silent.
The phone rang. No one moved for a moment, then Laila went to answer it.
I walked into the middle of the group, standing up straight.
“Elle, can you get Leo on the phone?” I asked quickly.
“He’s on the trip, too, Kara. They wanted to meet with the Beta as well.”
That complicated things. It would have been simple to get Leo to wire funds to make the payment if he was here.
There was nothing else for it. I’d have to use the last tool I had left.
I went to my desk and unlocked my top drawer. The black card was tucked into a corner at the back. I lifted it out.
“We can use this to make an emergency fund transfer,” I said calmly.
Everyone stared with gaping mouths.
The black card was held only by members of the Alpha family. It held the power to access the entirety of the pack’s finances. Hunter had given it to me shortly after we were married. I’d been so proud to have earned that mark of his complete trust.
And of course, no one had ever known I had it.
It was a mark of what I was to Hunter that he trusted me with it.
But I had no choice but to use it now.
I ignored the confused deltas and found Maya’s face.
She looked aghast and broken.
I couldn’t see how Hunter was going to explain it away this time. But there was nothing else I could do.
“She’s got to be bluffing,” I heard Daphne say to Maya, quietly. “There’s no way she could have the Alpha’s family black card.” I suspected she didn’t think I could hear, but then, she didn’t know about my wolf’s supersensory capabilities. I smiled slightly to myself. It didn’t matter if she believed me or not. They’d soon know.
Laila rushed back in.
“That was the partners on the phone,” she said breathlessly. “They called to demand payment.”
I felt calm, despite the tense circumstances. I knew what to do, and I had the power to do it.
I walked slowly to my desk, opened my laptop, and navigated to the payment portal. Everyone followed me as if they were magnetized to me. I could feel the group hovering behind me, but didn’t tell them to back away.
I input the number.
“She probably doesn’t know the password,” Daphne muttered in a stage whisper.
“The black card doesn’t require a password, actually,” I replied, keeping my voice detached and emotionless.
A loading wheel started spinning.
Everyone held their breath.
“See,” Daphne said loudly. “She was just trying to show off. It’s a fake.”
The balance populated on the screen, followed by a “confirm transfer” dialog box.
The amount of available funds was an astronomical number. The system must have lagged trying to calculate it.
I calmly pressed the button to confirm the transfer and printed the confirmation.
The other deltas erupted into praise of my handling of the situation, Laila and Elle stepping forward to pat me on the shoulder.
“You’ve really overstepped this time,” Daphne said. Her voice had quietened, her accusation weak. “You probably stole Hunter’s black card. You’ll be punished for that.”
“Daphne, can you please go collect the confirmation from the printer?” I asked, ignoring her accusation and breathing a sigh of relief.
I was surprised to see Hunter early the next morning. He must have cut his trip short and returned early, though I wasn’t sure why.
If he’s gotten a panicked call from the investors, he could have mindlinked me to find out what was going on. It must be something else.
He looked tired. More tired than I was used to seeing him.
I batted away sympathy for him: an urge to go to him, ask how he was doing, make him a coffee, suggest he go home and nap for a few hours.
I didn’t make eye contact or stand up. I went back to what I was typing.
He was accosted almost the moment he walked in the door anyway.
Daphne was immediately by his side.
“Excuse me, Alpha, but I have something to report. Laila unfairly blamed Maya for an error with the school budget yesterday. Then Kara completely abused her power to fix,” Daphne did sarcastic air quotes, “the situation. She must have taken your black card from your wallet. I’m sorry to be the one to report it. I’m sure you’ll want to punish them immediately.” She stopped, looking around imperiously.
“Literally none of that is true,” Laila shot back, outraged. “Daphne’s completely twisting the truth about everything. She’s—”
Hunter lifted his hand lazily, cutting Laila off.
He looked between them and sighed.
“Who said I’m going to punish Kara?” he said.
I looked downward and smiled softly.
