My Alpha Boss Gave Me Triplets – Episode 26
The scratch across Evie’s drawing was shallow, but everyone in the conference room had seen Darleen’s claws. Human executives pretended it was an accident. The wolves understood it as a warning: Blackhart blood did not accept a rival quietly.
Leopold moved between the two women. “The presentation is over.”
“Because I criticized an employee?” Darleen asked. “You used to value honesty.”
“Honesty does not require claws.” His voice dropped low enough to stir instinctive fear around the table. “You will not threaten anyone under my protection.”
Evie disliked the possessive sound of the declaration, yet she understood what Leopold was doing. Pack challenges relied on silence and ambiguity. By naming Darleen’s action publicly, he prevented her from dismissing it later as a misunderstanding.
Darleen glanced at the executives. “Threaten? I touched a piece of paper.” Her smile returned. “Perhaps your bond has made you oversensitive.”
The word bond changed the room. Evie had not announced the pregnancy or her connection to Leopold, but Darleen’s eyes held certainty. She had either sensed the link or arrived with information from another pack.
“My private life is not part of this contract,” Leopold said.
“It becomes pack business when it weakens an Alpha.” Darleen gathered her files. “The Blackharts invested in Stonehearth because we expected stable leadership. A human favorite attracting attacks and scandal is not stability.”
Evie rose slowly, refusing to remain seated while Darleen judged her. “Then evaluate the project. If my design fails, replace it. If it succeeds, your opinion of my species is irrelevant.”
Several board members looked down to hide their reactions. Darleen was not accustomed to direct resistance, especially from a human. “Very well. I want a revised model and complete materials plan tomorrow morning. No assistance from Leopold.”
The demand would normally require a week. Leopold rejected it immediately, but Evie interrupted. “I’ll deliver a workable revision by noon. The final materials plan follows the agreed schedule.” Accepting the impossible deadline would validate Darleen’s power; refusing the entire challenge would let her call Evie unqualified. Evie chose the ground between them.
Darleen inclined her head. “Noon, then.” As she passed Leopold, she added softly, “Your parents will hear what you have chosen over the future of this pack.”
After she left, Leopold ordered the contract team to maintain the original timeline. Evie closed her portfolio. “If you erase every challenge she gives me, no one will know whether I can meet one.”
The executives filed out under Max’s supervision, leaving the scored drawing on the table between them. Evie photographed it with the date and meeting details, then asked Paula to record the names of everyone present. Leopold wanted to treat the scratch as a direct threat; Evie saw it as the first piece in a pattern they might eventually need to prove. Darleen’s strength came from making each act small enough to excuse. Documentation could make the pattern larger than any single excuse.
Paula confirmed that displaying claws during a business dispute violated company conduct rules but did not, by itself, constitute a formal pack challenge. Darleen knew the boundary precisely. Suspending her from the building would give the Blackharts grounds to complain that Stonehearth had insulted their representative. Allowing her unrestricted access would invite another test. They compromised by requiring all visiting delegates to remain escorted in secure work areas, a neutral policy that limited Darleen without naming her.
Evie saw Leopold study her as the plan formed. He was accustomed to solving danger by overwhelming it. She had survived people with more power by observing rules, preserving evidence, and finding the narrow space where they could not reach her without revealing themselves. For the first time, he appeared to recognize that her human way of fighting was not weakness. It was a discipline his rank had never required him to learn. Francesca had nearly destroyed Evie because no one preserved the smaller acts that came before the staircase. She would not repeat that mistake with Darleen. Every altered schedule, veiled insult, unauthorized access, and physical display would become part of a record no alliance could explain away forever.
“That was not a challenge. It was punishment.”
“I know.” Evie showed him the scored drawing. “But I also know how to revise a model. What I need from you is information. Why does she think your parents promised her a future with you?”
Leopold’s silence confirmed that Darleen had not invented the history. He explained that the Stonehearth and Blackhart packs had discussed a strategic union for years. No formal mating agreement had been signed, and he had never accepted Darleen as his mate, but many elders treated the alliance as inevitable because his curse had prevented a true bond. Darleen had attended family ceremonies, negotiated contracts, and allowed the pack to picture her at Leopold’s side. By refusing without publicly correcting the assumption, Leopold had avoided conflict while leaving her expectation alive. Evie told him that silence could mislead as effectively as a promise, a lesson both of them had learned through painful secrets.
“Until me,” Evie said.
“Until you.” The words carried both wonder and danger. Leopold reached for the damaged drawing, but Evie held it out of his grasp. She would keep the mark as evidence. Beyond the glass wall, Darleen stood beside the elevators speaking into her phone, and her eyes remained fixed on Evie as she reported that the Alpha’s human weakness was far more serious than rumor suggested.