Chapter 198
Chapter 198:
Jaxon’s loud, urgent voice shattered the professional atmosphere. Harvey jumped, nearly dropping his laser pointer. I pinched the bridge of my nose, glancing toward the corner sofa where Jaxon had been quietly coloring his napkin map for the past hour.
Every executive at the table was staring at me, waiting to see how the Alpha handled the interruption. I needed to keep the meeting moving.
“Alright,” I said, waving a hand dismissively to maintain my authoritative façade. “Straight there and back, pup. Do not wander p>
Jaxon hopped off the sofa like a little cannonball. “I promise!” he chirped. As he pulled the heavy oak door open, he shot a quick, sly glance over his shoulder. I barely registered the mischievous glint in his eyes before the door clicked shut, my attention already snapping back to Harvey’s spreadsheets.
It wasn’t until the meeting adjourned twenty minutes later that the cold dread hit me.
The corner sofa was empty. Jaxon hadn’t come back.
Panic, sharp and icy, clawed at my throat. A Lycan pup — the son of a powerful Senator — was missing on my watch, in my territory. I practically sprinted out of my office, my heels sinking into the plush carpet of the quiet executive hallway.
Instant access on.com
“Jaxon!” I called out, my voice tight.
I hurried past the potted ferns and brass nameplates, my heart hammering against my ribs. Then I heard it — a soft, trembling sniffle coming from Room 402. The CFO’s office.
The door was ajar. I pushed it open, the smell of new furniture mixing with a faint, almost imperceptible trace of rosemary and rain hidden beneath expensive perfume.
What I saw froze me in my tracks.
Jaxon was standing beside the large glass desk, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks, his lower lip quivering in a masterful display of absolute heartbreak. “My dad is in trouble,” he sobbed, clutching Carmella’s sleeve. “It’s an emergency. Please, you have to call him p>
Carmella Golden sat in her chair, looking entirely out of her depth. The towering stacks of paperwork on her desk were ignored. Her eyes were soft, her maternal instincts clearly hijacked by the weeping pup.
“Okay, sweetie, okay. Don’t cry,” Carmella cooed, reaching for her office phone.
“Wait —” I stepped forward, realizing exactly what Jaxon had done.
But I was a second too late. Carmella had already dialed the number Jaxon had written on his napkin. She pressed the phone to her ear, her expression shifting to polite professionalism.
“Hello, Senator Blackwell? My name is Carmella Golden. I’m the new CFO at The Wolfe Hotel… Yes, your son Jaxon is with me. He was very upset and p>
Carmella stopped speaking.
The silence that stretched across the room was suffocating. I watched as all the color drained violently from her face. Her hand, gripping the receiver, began to shake uncontrollably. Even from where I stood, I could feel the sheer, terrifying weight of the reaction radiating through the phone line — a reaction so intense it seemed to physically paralyze the woman before me.
“I… I don’t understand…” Carmella whispered into the receiver, her voice trembling with genuine fear.