Chapter 50

Arthur

I’m sitting in my office, the orange glow of the setting sun playing across the glass top of my desk. My fingers are flying over my keyboard, eager to finish up my work for the day so I can go home and check on Miles.

It’s been a busy day, made even worse by last night’s events. I’m tired and more sore than I’d like to admit, and had to put out more than one fire today. Somehow, people caught glimpses of me and Iris leaving that event last night, and questions are starting to circulate. People want to know if Iris, or rather, ‘Flora’, is the secret human mate I’ve been hiding.

Thanks to my status as Alpha President, however, it’s been relatively simple to scrub the internet of any photographs that may have been leaked. My assistants handled the gossip, carefully using their anonymous social media accounts to start rumors that that wasn’t me at the event last night, but rather another man who is actually ‘Flora’s’ boyfriend from Bo’Arrocan.

I’ve almost finished for the day, just wrapping up a task unrelated to Iris, and I’m looking forward to getting home. Almost losing Miles last night opened my eyes to the fact that I’ve missed five years with him, and I have a surprise planned that I think might cheer all of us up.

That’s when the knock on my door comes.

“Come in,” I call out without even looking up, assuming it’s just my secretary or my Beta. The door opens, and someone steps into my office, casting a shadow across the floor.

“Hello, Arthur.”

That familiar voice makes my hands freeze over my keyboard. I look up and am met with a pair of gray eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses. Caleb’s salt-and-pepper hair, perfectly coiffed as always, looks a little less salt and a little more pepper than usual. He must have had his highlights dyed recently, as if that will hide the fact that he’s aging rapidly.

“Caleb,” I say, leaning back in my chair. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Caleb’s lip curls in a faint smirk. My fiancee’s brother knows just as well as I do that ‘pleasure’ never has anything to do with his visits. Neither of us particularly cares for the other, especially not after that last incident regarding the Marsiel Gallery.

He strides across the room, taking a seat without an invitation. I hold my tongue as he takes his time settling in, although I can’t help but glance at the time on my computer, wondering just how long this little chat is going to last before he’ll finally leave.

“Arthur,” he finally says, drawing out my name like he’s tasting it for the first time all over again, “I’ve heard some… interesting news about Iris.”

I narrow my eyes. “Oh?”

He nods. “You know, my sources say she was at Brooks & Lee today.”

My jaw twitches ever so slightly at that. Brooks & Lee is the most expensive law firm in town, excluding my own personal legal team, and they’re also the most biggest nuisances in the business. I thought Iris couldn’t afford even the most basic lawyer, let alone those two pricks. I suppose she’s still pursuing court after all, too, which is frustrating.

Still, I keep my face carefully neutral as I reply, “And what does this have to do with me?”

Caleb sighs. “Don’t be dense, Arthur. You know what it has to do with you. If you want custody of that boy so badly, then you could just use Alpha’s Heir rights and take him.”

“Right,” I say, turning my attention back to my computer. “Are you just here to make assumptions, or do you have another reason for coming?”

Truthfully, I do want custody of Miles. And I could technically use the Alpha’s Heir law to take him, since he’s my firstborn. But I’m not going to do that, because I want Iris, too. And I’m not trying to alienate her even further from myself.

“They have pictures, you know,” Caleb says, checking his nails. He picks an invisible piece of dirt out from under his thumbnail and flicks it onto the carpet. “Brooks & Lee, I mean. They have pictures of you two last night.”

I glance at him, bristling slightly not only at the thought of someone taking pictures of us without our knowledge, but also the fact that I’ll have to deal with yet another matter now before I can get home. “How do you know that?”

Caleb scoffs. “Arthur, I’m the supreme judge of Ordan, and you’re marrying my sister. Those two morons came straight to me when Iris supposedly turned down their offer of a bribe to keep the pictures from going public.”

I resist the urge to smirk. Of course Iris would refuse to give them money for incriminating photographs. She’s too smart for that. Although, I hope she’s also too smart to pay the fees for their ‘consultations’, which are really just carefully-constructed shakedowns to try and squeeze every drop of money out of would-be clients without getting caught.

“Anyway,” Caleb goes on with another sigh, this one heavier than the last, “I’ll handle it. If you want. But you have to promise to keep this mess out of the courts.”

“It’s not really up to me if it goes to court or not. If Iris wants to turn this into a legal matter, then that’s her right.”

Caleb blinks at me for a moment, clearly exasperated. But there’s something else there beneath his gaze, an undercurrent of something that I can’t quite put my finger on.

“Why don’t you just let the boy go?” he finally asks. “He’s not even a werewolf, is he? You and Selina could produce a much better heir.”

My jaw feathers. Like hell I would ever sleep with Selina, let alone produce a child with her. “It’s not that simple,” I finally say, refusing to go into more detail.

Caleb’s eyes turn into slits. “There are ways other than sex to produce a—”

“Caleb, forgive me,” I say, “but I have a lot of work to do.”

My fiancee’s brother looks at me for a moment longer, his mouth working, before he finally huffs and stands. “Very well. But don’t say I never do anything for you when you wake up in the morning and those pictures haven’t hit the public.”

I nod, offering him a small smile. “I do appreciate your help, Caleb. I hope you know that.”

He doesn’t look convinced, but bobs his head politely and strides out of the room.

A little while later, I’m turning onto my street, eager to get home. There’s a bag on the back seat of my car with a few cat toys, a plush cat tree, a collar with a bell, and a whole other assortment of things I picked up for Miles’ new friend. I picked up takeout food too, sesame chicken from the place down the street that Iris used to love.

When Iris sees the things, she’ll accuse me of trying to butter her up. She would be right in that assumption. Partially.

Tonight, Iris and I need to have a chat. Caleb is right; this can’t go to court. It’ll just make a spectacle of all of us, and won’t be any good for Miles in the long run. If she’s so concerned about keeping his identity secret, then she would understand that.

However, as I’m pulling up to the apartment building, my focus shifts elsewhere.

I glance up at the topmost window, where Iris’s studio window overlooks the street. The light is on, an orange glow emanating from within. There’s movement, and I lean forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of her in her natural habitat—hair thrown back in a messy bun, paint smeared across her nose, that yellow cardigan with the hole in it. She always looks the most beautiful when she works.

But it’s not Iris who I see in the window.

It’s Ezra. My Beta.

Shirtless.