Selling Myself To The Alpha
Chapter 81

Liana POV

"Oh. My. Goddess." Juliana gapes at me as Axel closes the door behind him. "I must know everything."

"Don't you want the sugar water first?" I smile wickedly as I place my handbag on my desk.

"What?" She frowns for a second before life returns to her. "No, I want details. Messy, dirty and colourfully detailed."

"Since Angela and her parents will be here any minute, I'll stick to the short version," I laugh as she pulls her chair to my desk and takes a seat next to me. "Axel is my mate, and we're getting married. Oh, and he's telling Angela today." "That's... that's awesome," she says bewildered. "But not nearly enough details. Come on, you can't do this to me."

"I'll have to," I whisper as Angela and her parents walk towards us. "For now."

Angela looks deadly beautiful dressed in red, but she does not even acknowledge our existence as she marches passed us with her nose in the air. Alpha Jack and his wife quickly greet us before they follow Angela into Axel's office. "Damn, what I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall right now," Juliana giggles as the door shuts behind them.

"|

I hope she ugly cries and spoils her perfect makeup," I snort. I do not think I will ever forgive her for what she did with Axel and terrible makeup will not even begin to cover it, but it is a start.

"It's a pity the room is soundproof," Juliana's shoulders slump. "We won't hear her yelling and screaming."

"And there will be yelling and screaming," I grin.

"Why aren't you in there?" Juliana turns to me in surprise. "You could've witnessed everything first hand."

"I know," I sigh. "But Axel wants to keep me safe. He's always been protective, but I swear that man will lock me up in a padded room until this baby is born."

"Wait, what?" Juliana gawks at me.

"Yeah," I smile wickedly. "I left that as a surprise."

"All of this is a shocker," Juliana croaks. "You didn't need an element of surprise."

"This way is more fun," I laugh.

"My life suddenly turned bland," she pouts. "There's no villains and victims. Only a happy ending."

"That's not bland," I roll my eyes. "That's perfect. We all strive for that. You're ten steps ahead of all of us. Besides, this might be entertaining to you, but it's hell on your soul when another woman is after your mate." "Sorry," Juliana says regretfully. "I didn't mean ..."

"It's fine," I reach over and squeeze her hand. "I get it, and I would've agreed if I didn't have to deal with my feelings. Especially those hateful feelings I'm harbouring towards Angela."

Suddenly the door bursts open and Juliana and I abruptly go quiet as we stand up and watch Angela and her mother storm out. I lower my gaze to hide my satisfaction when I see her messed-up makeup.

"You," Angela stops in front of me, and I look up. "Why aren't you crying?"

"Excuse me?" I look flabbergasted from her towards her mother. Did Angela figure out that I am Axel's mate? Does she expect me to be remorseful and sorry for her?

"Well, he obviously stopped fucking you now that he found his mate," she sneers and wipes her cheeks.

"I..."

"You pitiful human," she snorts. "You don't even know. And to think I thought you were a threat. Guess the joke's on both of us."

She does not wait for my response and walks towards the elevators with her mother on her heels. Speechless I watch them leave. I doubt that Angela is capable of emotions like sympathy or empathy, but I swear this is the closest she will ever get to it. I am not feeling bad for her, but I just realized how much Angela cares for Axel. Or to be his Luna. I do not know which.

"I was wrong," Juliana says dryly as I sit down. "Being there when she figures out you're his mate is going to be much for fun than being a fly on the wall."

"I feel sorry for her," I mumble absentmindedly.

"What?" Juliana gapes at me. "Are you insane? She deserves much worse than what she's been handed."

"I didn't mean it like that," I shake my head. "Angela is a sad, sad person, and I pity her. I don't care for her and will gladly drive a stake through her stone-cold heart, but it's sad, really. To be so self-absorbed that you cannot comprehend reality. Can you imagine how disillusioned it must be for her?"

"Serves her right," Juliana snorts.

"She deserves worse," I grin. "All I'm saying is, she's the one that should be pitied, not me."

"She's in for one hell of a wake-up call when she learns you're his mate," Juliana laughs.

Axel POV

I watch Angela and Mary storm out and frown when Jack makes no effort to follow them. Instead, he takes a seat.

He might have been supportive when I broke the news but that does not mean that he is happy about it. His daughter is distraught and as a father, he would do anything to help her.

"I'm sorry for Angela's behaviour," Jack sighs and I relax a little. Maybe Jack is an honourable alpha after all.

"Honestly, I didn't expect anything else," I smile stiffly as I sit down. Truthfully, I expected more theatrics from Angela. Maybe a witch's curse or damnation to hell. But he is already hurting for his daughter, and I am not going to make it worse for him. "It's understandable that she's upset."

"Why did you do it?" Jack asks angrily and I look at him in surprise. Certainly, as an alpha, he must know the answer.

"What do you mean, Jack?" I ask calculated as I rest my elbows on the desk and intertwine my fingers. So much for Jack's support. "I'm simply obeying our laws."

"Why did you ask her to marry you when you had no intention of going through with it?" He hisses at me. "My child is hurting and ..."

"Are you kidding me?" I bellow as I fight my anger. "You're blaming me for this? May I remind you that it's you and my dad that pressured me into doing it? I said no and you insisted on how wonderful it would be."

"I know," he shouts. "But we were counting on you to do the right thing."

"Accepting my mate is the right thing," I argue.

"That's the lawful thing, not the right thing," his nostrils flare with anger. "When you proposed to Angela, you made a commitment. Not only towards her but towards the Alpha families and the packs. You could've rejected your mate, and none would be the wiser. You would still be alpha. For f**k's sake, contracts were drawn up and signed."

"I didn't sign anything," I smirk and reach into my desk to pull out the marriage contract as well as the contract for Jack's company's software.

I toss the contracts on the desk in front of him.

"You deliberately pushed the revision of the contract until I proposed to Angela," my words are sturdy and calculated as I glare at him. "Once I popped the question, you were eager to continue with business. But I don't take kindly to bullying, Jack. I was crystal clear that I had no interest in marrying your daughter, but you wouldn't let it go. You only have yourself to blame for your daughter's broken heart."

"Axel, this isn't..."

"Enough, Jack," I snap. "I have no interest in Angela or your business. Accept it for what it is - over."

"So, dumping my daughter isn't enough?" He yells. "You must humiliate me as well? What kind of man are you?"

"The kind that doesn't fuck around," I bellow. "While you were goofing around with contracts and your daughter's heart, I did what was lawful and right. And I was upfront and honest about it until you pressured me into a corner. I'm not sorry for not doing business with your company anymore and as sure as hell aren't sorry about the engagement. Angela's not my mate, you knew it and you still gambled with her. You lost, deal with it." "You'll regret this," Jack hisses as he gets up.

"Seriously?" I smirk and cross my arms in front of my chest. "You're threatening me now because you lost at your own game?"

"That wasn't a threat," Jack pulls his shoulders back. "It was a prediction. Because trust me, one day you'll regret this decision. Once you realize your mate is no match to Angela and that your new business partners aren't as good as me." "Well," I shrug. "I guess we'll have to wait and see."

"You're a fool," Jack snorts and looks at me in disgust. "Angela dodged a bullet."

"If that's true, you shouldn't be upset," I grin. "You should be grateful."

"Fuck off," he sneers and walks to the door.

"Jack," I call after him. "You and your family are banned from our territory. If you dare ...

"Your father will never allow that!" He swings around and glares at me with blazing eyes. "He's still the alpha, boy, and you don't have the authority."

"You don't know your best friend at all," I laugh heartedly. "Jack, of all our laws, my dad respects the mate bond the most. Once he knows about my mate, he will support me. Especially if I tell him that you advised me to reject her and accept Angela." Jack stares at me in hatred as I walk towards him.

"As a courtesy towards my parents, you and Mary will be invited to the wedding," I say. "But Angela isn't welcome. I wasn't going to say this out of respect, but that ship has sailed. She's unstable and needs professional help, Jack. You don't have to believe me or like my words. But if you love your child, you'll see to it that she gets the help she needs."

For a split second, there is a flickering of fear in Jack's eyes, and I know without a doubt that he knows I am speaking the truth.

"You can shove your wedding invitation," he grunts and opens the door. "You'll never see me or my family again.

The door slams shut behind him and I exhale deeply in relief. It is finally over.