Chapter 35

Lucian’s POV

Knowing that if we tried to have this conversation in our home, Sheila would just storm off to her room and slam her door in my face, I called Sheila to my office in the Alpha headquarters building to have a discussion on her recent press appearances and interviews.

When she arrived, I was already sitting behind my desk, fully prepared, with my fingers laced together on my desktop. To my annoyance, she was wearing a short, red cocktail dress and high heels, her hair and makeup fully done as if she was going to a club and not to a professional meeting with the pack Alpha.

She had professional clothing. I’d seen her wear it on many occasions. Perhaps she was hoping to use her appearance and femininity to avoid the punishment she must have suspected I was about to dole out.

By now, she should have known better. I could admit that Sheila was an attractive woman, but I was no longer attracted to her. Aria was still my wife, and I was faithful to her. Sheila could walk into this room naked and I wouldn’t be tempted.

Though I would deeply prefer she not do that. This revealing outfit was troublesome enough. I felt embarrassed on her behalf.

“Am I late?” she asked as she strutted closer to my desk. She stood in front of it for a moment, shifting her weight from one foot to the other like she was striking poses.

Already, I was exhausted from this exchange. If I had been speaking with Aria, she would have dressed appropriately. She would have walked in, sat down, and listened to me without me needing to navigate the minefield of her unruly emotions, like I needed to do now with Sheila.

Who was I kidding? I never would have needed to call Aria into my office. Firstly, Aria never would have done anything to publically act out against me. Secondly, even if she had, by accident perhaps, if I spoke to her about it once, that would have been the end of it.

I missed how easy conversations used to be when speaking with my wife.

“Sit down, Sheila,” I said flatly. I kept my unimpressed gaze strictly on her face.

She pouted a little. Then, with a huff, she flopped down onto one of the chairs. “So mean to me.”

I ignored that.

Since Sheila had a way of twisting things, I had already decided to get straight to the point from the start of this conversation.

“You’ve been disregarding my direct orders to leave Dr. A alone by continuing to speak to the press about her and this controversy. You have even gone so far as to directly contradict the public statements that I’ve made on this matter.”

Sheila had the gall to look aghast at what I had said. “You are taking this way out of proportion, Lucian. Yes, I may have said a few things, but that was only with the best intention of the pack in mind. I certainly didn’t intend for those things to be interpreted the way they were, against you.”

“You’ve been testing my limits,” I continued, not accepting her excuses. “You’ve been seeing how far you can push me before I stop you. I’ve been kind to you until now, asking and then commanding you to stop making trouble for Dr. A. Not only had you disregarded those orders, you continued to push, and now you’ve made trouble not just for Dr. A, but for me as well.”

“You can’t think that I mean to –”

“I’m done playing nice, Sheila. I have two guards waiting outside this door. When our conversation here is done, they will escort you back to the house, where you will stay under house arrest.”

Shock widened Sheila’s eyes. “You can’t be serious! You are treating me like a criminal!”

Sheila had blatantly and consistently disregarded my commands, and even spoke out against me. I had expelled pack members in the past for these very same actions in the past. Allowing her to stay at all was already a gift. She couldn’t see it that way, though. With all the privileges I’d given her over the years, even a light punishment felt like the end of the world to her.

I’d been too lenient with her, and in doing so, created a monster. I had no one to blame for her behavior but myself.

“This is not a matter that is up for debate,” I said firmly and definitively.

Anyone else would have heard the warning in my voice and accepted what I had to say. But not Sheila. She just had to keep testing me.

“How can you treat me like this? Like I’m some stranger? After all we meant to each other in the past… And after what you’ve done…” Tears welled in her eyes.

I braced myself. As I planned for this conversation, I had known the tears would come at some point.

“I’m infertile because of you, Lucian! It’s like you don’t even care about that! About me!” She buried her face in her hands. Sobbed shook her entire body.

I’d known these words would come, but they still struck me with guilt. Yet, every ounce of guilt within me was matched with equal parts annoyance.

“Go home, Sheila,” I said.

Through her fingers, she glared at me.

It took some doing, but after another ten minutes or so, I had said enough to cause Sheila to storm out of my office. The guards at the door followed her, ignoring the many insults she cast their way.

Then, finally, I was left with blessed peace and quiet in my office once again.

Checking my watch, I realized it had been some time since I inquired about Dr. A, so I lifted the phone on my desk and dialed the hospital’s number.

These past few days, I had been working to reduce the impact of Dr. A’s negative publicity, but at every turn, Sheila seemed ready with some new accusation or a catchy new soundbite. With her working against me, public opinion had seemed set on the matter.

Once public opinion fermented as it had, it was difficult to control.

I wouldn’t give up though.

“This is Alpha King Lucian,” I told the receptionist when she answered the phone. “I would like an update on Dr. A’s condition.”

“Oh, Alpha. Of course. Dr. A is awake now,” the receptionist said. “Would you like me to connect you?”

Relief flooded through me. She was awake. Good. She had been out for so long that I had started to worry something might have been seriously wrong with her. Or with her potential baby…

“Yes,” I said. “Please connect me.”

“One moment.”

I heard a click on the line, then it started to ring again. After a moment, a woman picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

Gods, she even sounded like Aria. I shook away the thoughts. “Dr. A? This is Lucian. I heard you were awake. How are you feeling?”

There was silence on the line for a moment. “I’m fine…”

It seemed very like her to downplay her own condition. Healers like her, the good ones, often worried about others more than themselves.

“I’m pleased you are awake. You gave me quite a start the other day…”

“I apologize,” she said, somewhat curtly.

“You don’t have to –” I started to say, but she continued on quickly, cutting me off.

“I will be able to work again soon. You don’t need to worry. I won’t allow the project to fall behind on my account.”

“I wasn’t worried about that,” I said.

“If that’s all,” Dr. A said. “I need more rest.”

“I… uh… Of course.”

Dr. A hung up the phone.

As I lowered my own phone back down to its cradle, I replayed the conversation in my mind.

Dr. A had seemed somewhat short with me. Perhaps she simply wasn’t feeling well. But why did it seem like she was angry with me?

Had I done something wrong?