After Rebirth, I Took Revenge On My Scumbag Ex-Alpha Mate!-Chapter 19: Stage Three: Fame, Power and Status

DARREN

"We’ve arrived, Sir." The voice of my driver alerted me and I immediately recollected myself.

Ever since I dropped Kalia off, I couldn’t help but think about her and how she was faring. What if her family had decided to attack her? or worse, beat her up to a pulp for spending the night at my place.

I know that I’m not supposed to think the worse and that they might actually not result to that but I still couldn’t help but get worried.

They had done much harm than good to her so I wouldn’t be surprised if they went ahead to do worse because judging from everything that she had gone through in that house, it’s quite obvious that she’s not loved by any of them and it showed.

Makes me wonder how anyone could be so cruel? And to think that Callum was in on everything that happened.

I never expected such attitude from him. I know that we don’t see eye to eye but still, I expected him to do better.

At this point, I wouldn’t even tell Kalia to stop if she decided to ruin him. He very much deserved it.

"Sir?" Charles called out to me for the second time and I jolted back from my reverie.

My whole life has been one big blockbuster movie in such a short period of time. Damn!

"I’m sorry Charles. I just have a lot of things going through my mind right now." I said to him and made my way out of the car.

"You’re free to leave and take the rest of the afternoon off if you want to. I’ll call you should in case anything comes up later."

"Okay." He answered politely and with a curt nod, I took my briefcase and made my way into the company.

I got stares coming from different angles as I walked through the lobby that led to the elevator.

I couldn’t understand why people were staring so much. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that I had a mole or mask stuck to my face but that was not the case.

I get that I was the Alpha’s son and usually get these type of stares a lot but still, these eyes staring at me right now were not the look of recognition or familiarity.

These eyes were filled with questions and a lot of judgement. Not like I cared anyway.

I got into the elevator and pressed the button to the top floor but just as it was about to close shut, Rain, my Assistant intercepted and forced his way inside. The door slide close after him.

I glanced at my watch. "You’re late Rain." I blurted out. My eyes fixed at the door as we made our way towards the top floor.

"Well, it’s not like you’ve ever been to work on time anyway. Why do I even bother to complain?"

Rain, was not only my assistant but my closet friend and my Beta. I have known him since childhood and we pretty much grew up together before I chose him to be by my side.

Since we were blended with the human world, we did our very best to hide under the guise of our human appearances.

The outside world has never been good for us werewolves for the longest of time.

Although, we employ and work side by side with humans, we try our utmost best to coexist amongst them without revealing our identities.

It’s bitter work but we’ve gotten used to it over the years. Shifting to our wolf forms had suddenly become an hassle but we still manage to get by and make the most out of it.

"I’m late because of you and you know it." He spoke back, his voice agitated. The door dinged open and I stepped out and made my way towards my office with Rain trailing closely behind me.

"Have you even seen the news that has been circulating around the media since this morning?"

"I literally just arrived to work not too long ago, Rain." I reminded him, my feet quickening with every step I took.

"I’ve not settled down in my office neither do I have the luxury of going through my phone to check out the trending gossips so how on earth do you expect me to see the news that has been circulating around?" I stopped briefly and arched a brow at him before stepping into my office.

The building was designed in a way that the top floor belonged solely to me as the CEO.

My father had put me in charge of handling the hotel and other major affiliated companies connected to this one while Callum was in charge of aviation even though I knew that he had always wanted to work here in my stead.

"I expected you to see it because it’s about you? You’re trending and not for the right reasons." He alerted me, prompting me to stop in my tracks.

I turned to face him and he held up his cellphone for me to see and what caught my attention was the headline.

"They’re saying that you’re having an affair with your stepbrother’s fiance." He read it out for me.

"And the comments are brutal. This is why I never liked us living with humans in the first place."

"Ex-fiance." I corrected him.

"What?" He blurted out.

"My stepbrother’s ex-fiance and yes, they’re no longer together so the news isn’t accurate." I rounded the table to my seat and lowered myself on it.

"Who cares? Does it even matter right now?" He retorted. "It still doesn’t change the fact that they just called off their marriage days ago. They are calling you names and leaving snide comments."

"Why are you even getting involved in this? You should’ve been out of the country by now. Is this why you decided to stay back? Was this the plan all along? To get involved in a family scandal?"

"Rain—"

"I don’t understand what’s happening Darren." He interrupted me. "You are next in line to rule after your father. You’re supposed to succeed after him."

"Do you think that this kind of controversy is what we need right now? Why don’t you explain to me what’s going on because I’m completely lost and none of this is making any sense to me."

"I want you to trust me, Rain." I said instead. Even though I trusted him, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him anything.

Kalia had specifically stated in the contract that no one must find out that our relationship status which is fake and I wouldn’t want to put her plans in jeopardy at the cost of our friendship.

"Just trust me." I repeated again.

"You don’t get to ask me for that, Darren. Especially not at this point." He shunned me.

"Why didn’t you at least give me a heads-up so that I can decide if I should trust you earlier or not?"

"Do you have any idea about what this article could do to your reputation as the Alpha’s heir?" He asked, raising up the tabloid on his phone for me to see.

"This could ruin you and alter everything that you have worked and struggled so hard to build over the years."

"Is your mother even aware of this? Does she know?" He asked out of the blue and I darted my eyes at him without uttering a word.

"Wait, your mother isn’t aware!?" He shrieked in utter frustration as his eyes widened in shock.

It was almost like his soul had just left his body. "By the gods. This is a disaster, Darren. If your mother and father finds out about this, then there’s no telling what they might do to you."

"Which is why you should handle it before they see it."

"Don’t you dare." He lifted a finger at me and hurriedly dropped it before he continued. "I don’t get to clean your mess all the time, Darren. What do you take me for? Your personal eraser?"

"Yes." I answered almost immediately. "You’re my Beta and it’s your job as my right hand man to make sure that my reputation remains intact without a single dent."

"And how am I supposed to do that when you’re not making things any easier for me?" He questioned.

"You’re a handsome man, Darren. You have it all. Money, fame, power and status. You’re considered a full tier package. Any woman would go nuts for you if you really wanted to get involved or settle down with one."

"Any woman would do everything in her power to be with you so why does it have to be her? Why choose her out of all of them? What’s so special about her anyway?"

"The plan was to succeed your father and have a mate to rule by your side. At this rate, I don’t even think that you’re looking for one." He shook his head apologetically.

"You’ve gone and tied yourself down to a woman who was not only engaged to your half brother but is also an Omega of her pack. She is as useless—"

"DON’T!" I snapped angrily. My eyes taking the color and shape of my feral form. I saw him swallow in fright. "Don’t you ever call her that, do you understand?"

He gestured me to calm down. "I’m sorry...I um...I never meant to say that. I got carried away because I was angry." He apologized and I relaxed visibly, my eyes changing back to its original form.

I don’t like it when my wolf gets too close to the surface. He is wild and dangerous so I have always tried to bury it deep down inside me in the darkest place where the sun doesn’t shine and with good reasons too.

"Just do what you have to." I told him. "Make sure that everything is cleared out before my father sees them and also—"

My words are cut short when my phone vibrated inside my pocket. I signalled him to hold on while I check who it was.

I pulled it out to see an unknown number displaying on the screen. Without giving it a second thought, I swiped the receive button and placed it to my ears.

"Darren?" A voice filtered through. I recognized it to be Kalia’s voice and I could tell from her heavy breathing that she was somewhat restless.

"Kalia? Are you okay? Why are you—"

"Please help m-me D-darren..." She stuttered in a shaky whisper.

"P-Please come quickly..." She trailed off followed by an ear splitting scream and before I could respond, the phone went dead.