A Matter of Power

I was still contemplating the different ways that I could even the score with the wolves when a shadow passed by in front of me.

"Once again, I would like to apologize for my little brother," said the silver-haired man. He was a lot bulkier than his friends and maybe an inch or two taller. His eyes were a piercing blue, and there was a scar over the top of his right eye that ended just below his cheekbone.

I could see a tattoo of some kind wrapped around his neck, just peeking out over the top of his dress shirt. There was no question as to who was the top wolf in this pack. I could practically smell the blood coming off of him.

But that wasn't all that I smelled.

He held out a business card, and I studied it. "Raphael Silverblood," I muttered, staring at the thick white card with gold lettering on the front. There was only a single phone number written on the thing.

I looked up, only to see him studying me intently. "Unique name," I continued, not once shying away from his scrutiny. There was no way he would be able to tell anything about me, or even really find me again outside of this restaurant.

Let him look his full. My mouse loved it.

He smiled tightly at me as he turned and walked away, the other three members of his pack trailing after him.

"I'm going to take a break," I shouted before heading out one of the side doors.

Picking up my phone, I quickly dialed a number.

"Is everything okay? It's rare for you to call," said Bernadette, quickly picking up the phone.

"Fine," I responded shortly. "You said that we have a deal going with the Silverblood pack? What is it?"

She was stunned for a second, and I heard her quickly excusing herself. Must have been in a meeting.

"Let me see," she started before trailing off. I could hear the sound of keys clicking on a keyboard over the phone. Taking in a deep breath as I sat on an overturned milk crate in the side alley of the restaurant.

"Here it is. They are one of our major buyers for the heat suppressants," she said quickly. "They alone make up over $500 million in annual profit."

"Get rid of them," I grunted as I watched an ant crawling in front of my foot.

"What?" she gasped.

"Get rid of them. I don't want their business anymore," I repeated, this time letting out a growl. They wanted to fuck with me and mine? I would show them the price of that decision. Delicious scents aside.

"What are you talking about?" asked Bernadette softly as if trying to talk me down. The problem was that she really thought she could.

"I want all of their contracts terminated by the end of the day," I said as I watched a second ant come up beside the first one.

"But—"

"Give them whatever penalties they are owed," I stated. I could hear her on the other side, breathing heavily.

"We will be losing millions," she said as if that was a good reason to keep them around. Unfortunately for her, I didn't care about the money. I had more than enough to last me a few lifetimes, even with the extended life expectancy of a shifter.

I was more than happy to burn the company to the ground before I helped the fucking Silverblood pack.

I could rebuild, but fuck me if I wasn't going to make it difficult for them to do the same.

My silence must have clued Bernadette into exactly how I was feeling. "Understood, Boss. I'll make sure that it is done immediately."

"Thank you," I said sincerely. "A member of their pack threatened my father."

I very rarely explained my actions or called Paul my father. But Bernadette knew me well enough to know how far I would go to protect those that I loved.

"Understood." This time her voice was hard as nails. There was no sympathy for the pack that brought this on themselves.

----

"What the fuck!" growled Dominik so loud that Damien slammed on the brakes of the car he was driving. The SUV came to a sudden stop, causing other motorists on the road to have to steer away from them or risk getting into an accident.

"What?" demanded Raphael, looking at his second.

"A.M.K just sent me a message. They are canceling all of our contracts effectively immediately. They have even sent over the exact amount owed in terms of penalties," replied Dom, passing his phone over to his alpha.

Raphael quickly reviewed the contents of the email and quickly dialed a number.

"Yes, this is Raphael Silverblood. I would like to speak to Ms. Smyth about our contract."

"I am sorry, sir," came the voice over the phone. "I have been informed that you no longer have any contracts with us. I believe that Ms. Smyth has covered everything in the email that she sent."

"I am afraid that I have some questions about that email," said Raphael, his teeth clenched so hard that the other men could hear them grinding together.

"Very well. I'll see if she is available."

The call was put on hold for a few minutes, and Damien took the opportunity to pull over to the side of the road so that they were no longer blocking traffic.

"This is Smyth," came a second woman's voice over the phone.

"Bernadette, it's Raphael. Could you let me know what is going on? Why have all the contracts been terminated? I was under the impression that we were even renegotiating and increasing the amount of heat suppressants that we needed," said Raphael, switching the phone to speaker mode.

"We were," said the CEO of A.M.K. "And now we are not."

"Please, Bernadette, you know we need those suppressors. We have thousands of women counting on us having it for them in their time of need." There was no way Raphael would ever beg someone for anything, but this was as close as he got.

"There are plenty of other big pharmas that carry them. Feel free to go to them."

Raphael undid a few of the buttons on his shirt, the need to shift almost overwhelming him. "You know they aren't nearly as good as yours."

"Oh, I know," came the smug reply.

"Then could you at least tell me why?"

There was a low chuckle over the phone, a tone that Raphael had never heard coming from the woman. "Maybe instead of calling me, you should be on your knees begging forgiveness from whomever you pissed off."