Alpha’s Virgin Stripper

LAKE:

An idle mind and loose lips are the two most dangerous recipes for disasters. It was why I always made sure I had my head wrapped up in one thing or the other.

Work meant no time to think, no time to think meant no time to harbor thoughts of anything, including her. Red had been a reoccurring thought in my mind, almost like a pop-up notification for an irrelevant app; drawing my attention to it without so much as a tangible reason.

So, after several minutes of tossing and turning in my bed, in an attempt to get some sleep, I made my way to my office. I was very certain once I had my eyes fixed on the monitor of my computer system, and my head plotting million-dollar deals, there would be no time to think about her reaction to my invite. I drove myself to the office because I needed to be alone and clear my head. On days when I could not take River for a run, I always went on a drive instead. I got to the office a few minutes later and walked past the reception hall.

I stepped into the elevator, which took me to the floor my office stood on. Immediately I stepped into the corridor, Neil must have caught sight of me from wherever he stood. I was barely halfway to my office when he rushed towards me, with a wad of files in his hands. Good. Just what I needed.

“Alpha, alpha.” He called after me, raising his right hand while struggling to balance the files on his left. He was not doing a very good job at it. I did not stop walking, but I turned my face to look at him. He had his dark hair disheveled, as though he had severely run his fingers through it. I noticed it was a habit of his to make a mess of his hair whenever he was trying to think. “Something important for me?” I asked, looking down at the papers in his hands. He nodded eagerly, relaxing his right hand by his side. I opened the door of my office and stepped in. The fresh scent of my primrose-scented air freshener greeted my nostrils before anything else. I moved to my table and settled into my luxurious office chair. Neil did not sit. Instead, he walked towards my side of the table, stood beside me, and placed the papers in front of me. I could see him frown slightly while he stylishly stretched his arms. He did not want me to see or notice he was tired. It did flatter me, his intense respect or fear, that is.

However, this gesture of his also made me understand that the next thing he was about to say was important. “Let me hear it.” I finally said. “Yes, Alpha Lake.” He opened the first file in front of me before he cleared his throat to speak.

“So, while you were away, I got an anonymous mail from a coded email address that we could not trace, but I took my time to print out the files attached to the emails that we got.” A mail without a traceable address? That sounded familiar.

“Then, I got to see that we did not have any cause for alarm because they were from our spies amongst the rogues. And, they have good news too.” Finally, something that could put my mind at ease and give me joy. My eyes remained focused on the files in front of me. He continued to flip and flip until he stopped. A black-and-white image of a man on a motorcycle stared back at us.

Whoever had taken the picture had done so while the motorcycle was in motion because I could hardly make out the face of the man. “This is a black-and-white image. I got a colored one right…” Neil flipped some more pages until he found the colored picture of the man on the motorcycle. I looked up from the picture, and rested my gaze on Neil, casting him a questioning stare. “Who is he?” I asked.

He had already shown me two pictures but was yet to tell me what business I had with the man, and what business he had in the war between the rogues and my pack. Neil cleared his throat and stood straight. “My apologies, alpha. Forgive my mistake. He…” He pointed a finger at the face of the man in the picture.

“This image is the face of the leader of the rogues. This right here is our first real lead in a very long time. Our enemies made a small mistake and we tapped into it.”

I could hear the excitement in his voice as he spoke. He sounded like a proud father whose sons had found the cure to all types of cancer. “What is his name?” I asked again. I needed every possible information I could get on this name. His name, his history, his family tree, everything. If he was the leader of the rogues, he was all I needed to put this silly war to an end, without getting them hurt. In the end, our enemies were always the ones who regretted not listening to us. I hoped, more for his sake than mine, that he would not make the mistake. However, Neil went silent on hearing my question, as though he did not know the answer. When I arched my left brow at him and he looked away, I knew the answer to my question. He did not know the answer. He seemed to understand the reason I shook my head and packed the files, he began to apologize immediately. “My apologies for presenting this half-baked. I just could not wait for everything to be finalized before I let you know. It was too big to keep to myself. And if anyone should stumble upon it before you, I don’t know what would have come of it. Remember alpha, that we really cannot trust anyone.” He stated. He did have a point. I stared down at the image. I had tried to bring myself to close the booklet of files against it, but it was hard to do so. There was a subtle part of me that could almost recognize the image, but my head could not pinpoint any particular images. “I see you’re taken by the striking familiarity of the image.

I was too, I must say. It’s almost as though I’ve seen the man before.” Neil talked far too much for my liking, but knowing he couldn’t keep any secrets away from me – even if he tried – was one of the many reasons I trusted him. Still, he took the words right out of my mouth. I closed the file and turned towards him. I made a mental note to sit and go through it later. The party I was invited to was this weekend. I had already scheduled meetings with three pack leaders on the expansion of our chain of hotels to their packs.

The best time to talk about business was when these men had their bellies filled with champagne. “Have you sent the invite to Jojo?” I asked him. I had fairly expected her to show up at my office and kindly decline in her modest and prude manner. But, she was yet to show up or even speak to me.

“Yes sir, I made sure she got it,” Neil replied. I nodded slowly, stroking my bearded chin. “Is there a published guest list? I need to know who I am expecting to run into.

Can’t have myself meeting some people I do not intend to see.” I muttered the last sentence under my breath, but he heard me. Neil cleared his throat, as he often did when he was nervous.

He adjusted his tie and stood stiff. “About that. The guest list was published on the social media account of the event planners. There were many names but out of those, I spotted some you would be particularly interested in.” I cast him an amused stare. “Who?” I barked out, as softly as I could.

“Mrs. Salome and her husband would be present. Likewise, Jessica, and of course, Jade. There were a lot more people, but I believe you would have wanted to be told about these.”

I sighed and leaned into my chair. The last four people I wanted to see in the world, were all in the same place and at the same time. I was going to need a lot of drinks to survive that night, I could already feel it.