Alpha's Regret: Losing His True Mate Chapter 13

Calhoun’s POV

The next morning, I stepped out of the car with Carla beside . My shoes had barely touched the company’s grounds when I noticed Tristan and a swarm of assistants waiting, their faces pale, their eyes wide. Panic clung to each of their faces. The sight of it made my chest tighten with unease, a sharp skip in my heartbeat before anger swallowed it whole.

Tristan was the first to approach, clutching a fat, swollen file in his arms. “Thank goodness you’re back, Calhoun,” he said quickly, voice strained. “Here are several Pack reports you haven’t gotten back to. The land disputes, profit gains, agreents we should’ve sealed days ago—”

His words grated on . My eyes dropped to the thick file he was hugging like a lifeline. My jaw clenched, my teeth grinding together.

One by one, the others began to speak over each other.

“Alpha, the Western Pack is threatening to pull their investnts—”

“The landowners are demanding settlent or they’ll take it to the Council—”

“The company’s logistics departnt reports massive delays—”

“The contractors are refusing to move forward without your approval—”

Each of their voices clawed at my skull, nothing but a pure barrage of whining, panic, and uselessness.

I didn’t respond. Not even a word. I walked through them like they were air, ignoring every frantic face, every trembling plea, every file they tried to shove into my hands. My silence was way heavier than my anger.

By the ti I entered my office, the air was buzzing with tension. Carla glided in first, perching herself on the chair beside mine. The others filed in behind , laying their stacks of files onto my desk like offerings to a god they feared but didn’t understand.

I sat down, blood boiling under my skin, and began flipping through the ss. Each of the files I opened stank nothing but incompetence. Each report was another failure, another reminder that in less than a week without , everything had started to rot.

My chest tightened with rage. My vision blurred. And then I snapped.

A guttural growl tore from my throat as I swept the files off the desk, sending papers flying across the room. I slamd my fist down on the desk, the crack echoing against the walls. Everyone froze. Eyes wide, mouths clamped shut. Only Tristan stood still, his brow furrowed, as if he’d expected this. He had lived long enough under my rule to recognize the storm before it hit.

“The fuck is wrong with all of you?” I roared, my voice vibrating through the room like thunder.

Silence. No one dared breathe. So of them shifted back, heads bowing low, as if afraid I’d rip them apart for daring to exist in front of .

My chest heaved as I glared at them. For fuck’s sake, I had been gone for days. Not weeks. Not months. Days. And this was what they had reduced everything to? Utter chaos?

I turned my glare on Tristan, the one man I expected to at least hold the line. But even he had failed. Even he.

“You all are a useless piece of shit,” I snarled. “Why the fuck do I pay you all? To stand around making stupid complaints? To shatter my mind with your whining? Can’t a single one of you hold the goddamn reins for a few hours without ?”

They trembled, shifting under my glare.

And then, from the corner of the room, a soft, shaky voice broke through. One of the assistants, a woman, braver than the rest, or maybe just foolish, stepped forward, her hand raised slightly as if she needed permission to speak.

She stopped a few feet from , trembling, her voice quivering as she said, “Alpha Calhoun... we don’t know. It was Elodie. She usually handled all these seamlessly. Alone.”

Her words hit like a fist to the chest. Like a slap across the face. My throat closed for a second, my vision darkening. I felt the air shift, but I wouldn’t let them see it. Wouldn’t let them see stagger.

I rotated slowly, my eyes burning holes into the floor. My hand pointed at the door. “Then go. Get Elodie.” I snarled.

The room went utterly still. They knew. I knew. She was gone.

Fuck.

When that realization settled on my chest, rage exploded out of again. My fist pounded the desk once more, wood splintering under the impact. Several of them flinched visibly, as if they thought I’d leap across the table and tear them apart.

“Fix this ss!” I bellowed, seething. “Do whatever the fuck it takes, or lose your wages and your heads if the company or Pack falls into jeopardy!”

They bowed lower, silent, cowed. My office was suffocating with fear and failure as well.

And then, from beside , Carla cleared her voice softly. She rose gracefully, walking closer, her hand settling on my shoulder. She leaned down.

“Why are you so pissed like this?” she cooed. “Relax. I’ll handle everything. After all, it was just a Gamma who left. She can be replaced easily.”

Her words iced my veins. For a few seconds, I froze, my chest stilling, my mind blank. Then I nodded slowly, my lips curling into sothing that wasn’t a smile.

I lifted my eyes to the room, to the trembling cowards who dared call themselves my assistants. “Carla is right,” I said flatly. “Elodie was just an assistant. And she’s gone. From now on, Carla will be in charge of company affairs.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Eyes widened. They stared at as though I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had. Maybe I didn’t care anymore.

I grabbed my phone, my patience burned to ashes. Without another glance, I stood and headed for the door, their stunned gazes piercing my back.

The door had barely clicked shut behind when sothing made pause. Instinct, maybe. My wolf twitched inside , ears pricking. At first it was silence then the sound of heels cutting against tile. Carla’s voice followed.

“You,” she hissed. “Don’t play innocent with . I saw you, bitch. Throwing yourself at him, pressing those files against his chest like you wanted him to notice your tits. Putting on that fake little panicked face just so he’d touch you. You think I wouldn’t see through that?”

I frowned, brows pulling together as I stood just beyond the door. Confusion creased through . The fuck was she talking about?

There was a sharp gasp, one of my the assistants. My wolf’s ears twitched, picking up every crack in her voice.

“Excuse you?” she shrieked. “Don’t you dare accuse of sothing that disgusting. Alpha Calhoun is my boss. My Alpha. You think I’d risk my position, my life, just to—” her voice cracked with unhidden venom, “—flash my boobs at him? Don’t insult , Carla. You’ll drag us both into trouble with that kind of filth.”

The way she bit back, the way her tone dripped with rage, made it clear, if this wasn’t an office, she would’ve gone for Carla’s throat right then and there.

I shook my head. Petty won’s squabbles. Not worth my ti. My company was bleeding, partners pulling away, numbers crashing and these idiots wanted to claw at each other like feral cats? I ignored it, turned, and walked away.

Hours passed. Hours of clawing through paperwork, drowning in broken deals, putting out flas left and right. My temples throbbed. I told them all I wanted to be left alone. No one. Not even Carla.

But when the knock ca on the door, I knew I wasn’t going to be granted that peace.

“Co in,” I muttered through clenched teeth.

The door creaked open. She walked in like she owned the place. Not in the skirt and blouse she’d worn this morning, no, now she was wrapped in so sinful gown, clinging to her skin.

I froze mid-pen stroke, my eyes cutting up to her.

She purred, dragging her heels across the floor, hips swaying as she crossed the room. “Hello, Alpha Calhoun,” she whispered, low and husky. She leaned close, her breath against my ear. “Busy? There are certain things you need to take care of first.”

My jaw clenched. My frown deepened. “What the hell is with the outfit?” I growled. “This is my office. You think this is appropriate?”

Her lips curved. She rounded my desk with slow steps. “Appropriate?” she repeated, mocking, before perching on the edge of my desk like it was a throne. She leaned forward, pressing her chest against , her hand trailing down, down, until she gripped through my cock. “Every other thing can wait. This first.”

A low sound left , half-moan, half-snarl. My restraint snapped. Files flew off my desk as I grabbed her, hauling her up into my arms. Her lips crashed against mine, demanding. My body betrayed my mind.

By the ti I fucked her senseless, hours had vanished. I woke on the leather couch, sweat cooling on my skin, Carla draped across . I felt hunger imdiately, my stomach rumbling and then rage.

Elodie would have been here. She would’ve knocked lightly, brought food without asking, set the tray down with that steady look in her eyes that told she knew how close I was to unraveling. She was gone now. Gone. And all that was left in her place was this emptiness gnawing through my chest.

I ripped my phone from the desk and punched the line. When Tristan’s voice ca through, I didn’t let him breathe.

“Tristan,” I snarled, venom dripping from every word, “what the fuck is with you? You’re my Beta, you should see to everything without asking twice. Where the hell is my al? I told you before, I don’t want to repeat myself. Get it done. Now.”

“Alpha Calhoun, your girlfriend kicked us all out,” the voice on the other end said flatly, tired to the bone. “We’ve talked it over. We’re done. None of us are Elodie, none of us can take that kind of abuse and keep functioning.”

I froze. My grip on the phone tightened. “What the hell are you talking about? What happened with Elodie?”

There was a long sigh, heavy, resigned, then a sharp ding as a file ca through. “It’s all in there. See for yourself.”

The line went dead.

For a mont, I just stared at the notification on my screen, my pulse hamring in my ears. Then I opened it.

And the world stopped.

Line after line, ssage after ssage, recordings, screenshots, evidence so detailed it made sick. Carla’s sches, her poison carefully dripped into every corner of my life since the mont she slithered back. Every accusation against Elodie had been fabricated, every staged mont, designed to corner her, humiliate her, break her.

She’d taken it. In silence. My Elodie. Suffering under the weight of lies I’d been too blind, too arrogant, too fucking willing to believe.

My chest seized. My vision blurred. My wolf snarled in my gut, restless, feral, ripping at to act.

I sat there, staring at the screen, my heart a lump of ice in my chest.

“Babe?” Carla’s voice broke the silence. She lounged in the chair opposite, swinging one leg over the other. Her lips curled in that sly, painted smile that once blinded . “What’s the holdup? Weren’t you calling about lunch? I’m starving.”

Sothing inside snapped.

I turned toward her slowly. My eyes dragged across her face, her body, the smugness dripping off her skin. But the warmth that used to be there, the blind adoration, the softness was gone. All that was left was cold. Dead. A darkness so sharp it scared even .