My Alpha Boss Gave Me Triplets – Episode 33
The Blackhart suspension threatened more than one project. Stonehearth construction sites across the city depended on materials already contracted for delivery. If work stopped, hundreds of employees would lose hours, clients would demand penalties, and pack members would blame the human designer whose removal could solve everything.
Leopold called the demand extortion and prepared to terminate every Blackhart agreement. Evie studied the project map before answering. A dramatic break would satisfy his anger but leave Stonehearth dependent on emergency suppliers at ruinous prices.
“Darleen wants you to choose between me and the pack in the loudest way possible,” Evie said. “Do not accept her version of the choice.”
She asked Max for procurement records, including suppliers rejected during earlier bids. Many had been dismissed not for poor quality, but because Blackhart contracts offered convenient package pricing that discouraged competition. Three regional companies could replace most materials if Stonehearth coordinated shipping and modified several specifications. Two were human-owned businesses with no protection from pack retaliation. Evie contacted them through counsel and offered confidentiality until agreements were signed. The solution would be difficult, not impossible, and it could leave the company less vulnerable long after the crisis ended.
Leopold objected to Evie joining the emergency board meeting while the ward remained untested. She proposed attending remotely from the secure mansion study. Darleen would see that pregnancy and protection changed the method of her participation, not her authority over the design.
The video call opened with Darleen surrounded by Blackhart executives. She expressed regret that Evie’s “experimental” concept had created unacceptable risk. Every sentence sounded commercial until she argued that the project needed a wolf who respected established alliances.
Evie displayed her replacement plan. “Your materials are valuable, but no responsible project relies on a supplier who changes delivery terms to control staffing.”
Darleen’s smile tightened. “Those local companies cannot meet the schedule.”
“Individually, no. Together, yes.” Evie showed revised drawings that allowed equivalent stone and timber without compromising safety. The changes also reduced long-distance transportation costs.
Board members began asking procurement questions instead of discussing Evie’s removal. Darleen tried to invoke pack loyalty, but the human clients cared about deadlines and contractual reliability. By turning a personal attack into a supply problem, Evie shifted the decision onto ground Darleen did not control.
The board approved forty-eight hours to secure replacement letters of intent. If Evie failed, Stonehearth would reopen the leadership question. If she succeeded, Blackhart would lose exclusive control over one of the most visible mixed-species developments in the region.
After the call, Leopold watched Evie organize tasks for the procurement team. “You should be resting.”
“I am sitting in your mansion with a doctor downstairs and two guards outside.” She handed him a list. “You wanted to help without taking over. Call these suppliers as CEO, not as my mate.”
He followed the instruction. Leopold could command wolves, but human vendors required negotiation rather than rank. His first call failed when he treated a cautious owner’s questions like resistance. Evie made him call back, acknowledge the risk Stonehearth was asking the supplier to take, and offer enforceable protections instead of reassurance. The second conversation lasted twenty minutes and ended with a draft agreement. Evie prepared technical substitutions while he offered volume guarantees, insurance, and faster payment. Their skills fit together without either disappearing into the other.
By evening, two suppliers had agreed in principle. The third refused after receiving an anonymous warning that working with Stonehearth would make the company a target in pack territory. Max traced the call to a disposable number near the Blackhart offices.
Evie proposed dividing the missing volume among smaller manufacturers. The procurement director warned that coordinating quality control across five sites would be nearly impossible. Evie redesigned standardized components so each manufacturer could produce one repeatable piece instead of matching the full project. She added common testing requirements and a shared digital model accessible without Stonehearth’s internal network. The plan spread risk instead of transferring dependence from one powerful supplier to another. It also created paid work for companies Blackhart influence had kept outside major pack developments.
The smallest supplier accepted first. Its owner was a human woman whose company had been ignored by larger developers despite excellent samples. She recognized what Darleen was doing because powerful clients had used similar pressure against her.
One agreement became three. By midnight, Stonehearth held enough letters of intent to protect the schedule. Evie sent the package to the board and closed her laptop before Doctor Lara could order her to do it.
The procurement team remained online to verify insurance, shipping routes, and testing certificates. Evie delegated the final checks instead of carrying them alone, a change Lara praised more than the commercial victory. Building independence did not require refusing every form of support; it required choosing support that strengthened rather than controlled her.
Leopold brought her food and remained on the opposite side of the desk. Pride moved through the bond, warm but unpossessive. “You protected people who would have blamed you for the shortage.”
“They should not have to lose their jobs because Darleen wants yours.” Evie opened the final supplier email. A corrupted image appeared instead of the signed letter. For one second the screen showed the black symbol from the archive, followed by a message: every defense weakens somewhere.
At that exact moment, the temporary ward around the mate bond cracked.