(Alaric's POV)
"Great to see you again, Liam. You remind me so much of your old man." Arsenio shakes Alpha Liam's hand.
"I'm happy we have finally got together for this meeting. I hope we can come up with the best deal," Liam says. He turns to me next with a bright smile and we shake hands as well.
"Nice to meet you, Liam," I greet him. He's a pretty tall guy, but it's expected when he has the werewolf gene and at the age of sixteen.
Arsenio signals for him to enter his office and Liam goes in. Before I can follow, Arsenio blocks my path.
"During the meeting, don't say a word. I don't need you ruining this deal for me," he tells me with a stern tone. His eyes are shifting between brown and hazel, daring me to defy him, and if I choose to, he won't hesitate to rip me apart.
I just nod my head in obedience like he wants and he allows me to go in his office.
When I enter I can see the sadness in Liam's face. He didn't notice when I entered and his face is in a frowning state. He seemed to be lost in thought and I could see it in his eyes that he was still in the mourning phase.
It's tough watching someone you love die slowly in front of your eyes. For Liam, it was his father. His father was sick for years and he still tried to lead his pack, but he wasn't getting better and he died last summer.
Liam is the oldest sibling in his family, so he automatically came next in line for alpha. Having to take up the role of alpha at the age of sixteen and mourning someone he loves, is for sure taking a toll on him.
He can't support his pack with no money. He has no businesses or powerful connections with the human or supernatural world. If he doesn't find help fast, his pack is going to have no pack house or anything they need to survive. They'll go extinct if he doesn't make a plan.
This is why he asked Arsenio for help. Before his father died, he was close to Arsenio. Liam figured this was the best place to find help.
"So, Liam. What exactly do you need help with? We can start our plan from there," Arsenio says, closing the office door behind him.
"My dad was working on building a daycare for our community before he died. It was supposed to make new jobs for some of our pack members and it was going to be a source of income. All the businesses and investments my dad had or made are gone and we're having trouble staying afloat. If I can't come up with a plan, all 155 members of my pack will go homeless."
Werewolves are very prideful beings and the fact that Liam is here, begging for help is a big thing. He's at the end of his rope and I can tell.
"Well, here is what I will propose. I will fund the day care and any other business plan you come up with until your pack is stabilized again." Arsenio starts taking out contracts before Liam can really think about what this means.
I can tell that this deal is bullshit. Arsenio doesn't care about anyone else, but himself. The only reason he would make a deal like this is if it benefits him. He hasn't told Liam what he wants in return. He's just giving Liam the deal that sounds the best and this one sounds free.
Plus, he already knew what Liam needed help with. He has the contracts ready and everything.
I can tell by Liam's grateful expression that he's not thinking straight. He's thinking out of desperation. Liam seems like a great guy and he doesn't deserve what's coming to him.
He takes the pen and contract from Arsenio, but before he can sign, I stop him.
"Don't sign it," I tell him and I can feel all movement in the room pause.
"What," Liam asks me in confusion and I can feel heat radiating off of Arsenio.
"What the hell do you think your doing? I'm trying to help Alpha Liam, Alaric," Arsenio says, the look in his eyes says that I'll pay for this later.
"Don't sign the contract. He's playing you. Don't you think he's promising too much? He's not even asking for anything in return. Don't you think that's weird," I ask Liam. He starts registering everything I'm saying in his mind, but Arsenio tries to convince him that his doubts are wrong.
"I'm not asking for anything in return because I don't need anything in return. I'm helping out because it's the right thing to do."
"If he's investing into your businesses, they will be under his name. He will own it, not you. He'll choose what percentage of the money is actually going to you. If you sign that, your pack will be worst off," I tell him.
Arsenio couldn't defend himself anymore. If he tried to, he was going to be digging himself into a deeper ditch.
Liam gives me a slight nod and rips the contract right in Arsenio's face.
"Asshole," Liam says to Arsenio and walks out of the office. I try to get up and follow Liam, but Arsenio throws me against a wall.
My back cracks in an awkward position and I groan in pain. He grabs me up from the floor by my collar and lifts me to his face.
"You think your so smart, don't you?" He laughs in a malicious tone and sends a punch to my face. my jaw cracks, but heals after a couple of seconds.
"Liam's a nice guy and his family has never done anything wrong," I growl back at him.
"And this is the exact reason you'll never be a good alpha. Your weak!" His knee comes up and the force from the impact breaks my rib cage.
I cough up blood, but the damage done is healed almost instantly.
"You can't hurt me," I push him and he lets go of me because he's caught by surprise. He gets up fast and lunges towards me.
This is the first time I have ever fought back against Arsenio. It's usually him giving me a bunch of gashes and bruises, but now we're equal.
I take a chair from behind me and slam it on his back. It doesn't do as much damage as I wish it would, but the chair breaks into multiple pieces.
His claws come out and he slashes me across the face. I can taste my own blood and for a second I go blind because he sliced through my eyes, but it heals back quickly.
The fact that I was healing fast got on his nerves. We are in a full on battle when strong arms grab me away from Arsenio and rush me out of the office before I can tell what's going on.
I growl at the person holding me back from going back into Arsenio's office when they turn me around and twist my arm in a painful manner behind my back.
"Snap out of it, Ric." Jaisley's voice snaps me out of my anger when I notice it's her. Hanna and Don stand close by watching me as well.
"You ok, Alaric," Hanna asks me. I slow my breathing back down to normal.
"Yeah. Arsenio just pisses me off sometimes."
"Understandable," they all answer in unison.
"Look, forget about him. We have more urgent matters," Don says. His face is fixed into a weird expression I've never seen before.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know, but I have this feeling that something's wrong with the girls. My wolf is panicking and we can feel pain coming from our mate," Don says. My hair spikes up at the thought of Anne and Chris being in trouble.
After mates complete the mating process, they can feel everything that their mate feels. So, if Don thinks Chris is in trouble, she is.
"Have you tried calling them?"
"I didn't get an answer. We have to go to New York now."
"If they are in trouble, you won't get there on time and you don't know what exactly is going on. You can be running into something big," Jaisley says.
"Markus is in New York. We should call him and ask him if he can track down the girls. Being on the higher court has it's connections. He'll get there faster and we can get on a plane," Hanna says.
"I'll call him now." I grab my phone from where I left it in the kitchen during the meeting and dial Markus. He answers on the second ring.
"Hello, Alaric. Good to hear from you," he greets once he picks up. I can envision him with his platinum, white hair and blue eye just like his children, Giovanni and Gianna.
"I have something urgent. Are you still in New York," I ask him.
"Yes, I am. What's wrong?"
"Don thinks Chris and Anne might be in trouble. Can you help us track them down and make sure they're ok?"
"Yes. I'll get right on it. I'll update you when I find something."
"We'll see you when we land in New York. Thank you for your help."