The Alpha's Dynasty

Had we known what lurked behind the darkness, we wouldn't have enjoyed the party as much as we did. The party was held in an abandoned mill in the forest outside Misenium city. It was amazing, the best party I had ever been to. The two storied structure stood proudly in between tall trees, its walls hidden by the green leaves of creeping plants. Blue lights lit up the inside while the white bulbs were hung over the trees. Loud music blasted from the speakers and over a hundred young men and women danced and drank.

Aaron grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the dancing crowd. I laughed out loud as I allowed him to lead me away. Sober me wouldn't have gone anywhere with Aaron Smith but I was too drunk to care.

"Where are we going, Aaron?" I yelled over the music.

"What did you say?" he asked, stopping. He pulled me to himself and planted a short kiss on my lips. I giggled and pulled his head back.

"Kiss me properly, Aaron."

Aaron didn't waste any time, he had been trying to ask me out for over a year but I always turned him down because he was not my type. Kissing Aaron was alright, nothing special. I pulled away after realising it was not what I wanted. I just wanted to have fun.

"Aaron, let's go back and dance."

"No, let's just take a walk in the woods."

Any sensible girl would say no to an invite like that, especially if it was coming from her workmate, who she wasn't allowed to date. The fact that that Misenium forest was said to be very dangerous meant there was only one good choice I could have made. I used to be sensible, but on that day, the drinks had taken away all the sense I had.

"Okay, let's check this so called dangerous forest," I said, laughing. "If it's so dangerous, how come we've partied it for two hours and nothing has happened?"

"Right," Aaron agreed.

We walked under the moonlight while talking about the party. Suddenly, I heard howling coming from a distance. I froze and grabbed Aaron's wrist. "What's that?"

Aaron chuckled. "You're such a scared-y cat. It's just a wolf."

"Wolves kill people, don't they?"

"I'm not sure but either way it sounds like its far."

The howling increased, and it seemed to be coming from more than one wolf. My hearts started pounding against my chest. The howling was now coming from different directions, as if we were surrounded. My whole body started shaking. I glanced at Aaron's handsome face. He did not seem so confident anymore.

"Aaron, we need to go back."

Aaron nodded, and we started walking back where we had come from, following the wide path. The howling seemed to be getting closer. Pulling my hand out of Aaron's tight grasp, I started running. We had walked so far that we couldn't see the party venue, but we could hear the music.

Suddenly, leaves moved from behind us. I didn't dare look back until I heard a growl. I looked back and saw a big black wolf following us at walking speed. I started to run faster. My chest was aching, and it felt like my lungs were on fire.

"Run faster," I told Aaron who was behind me.

"MAYA!" He cried out and I turned just to see the big black wolf lunging on him. Screaming, I turned on my hell and ran out of there as fast as my legs could carry me. I did not stop until I reached the mill. My screaming made some people turn heads. Before I could get to the main crowd, a man grabbed me aside and held me tight.

"Let me go," I screamed out but he clasped his hand over my mouth. Four other men came surrounded me. Since I couldn't scream or say anything, I couldn't cry. No one else seemed to be paying attention as they were lost in the music, alcohol, and drugs.

"Promise not to scream," the man said.

I thought of all the things those five burly men could do to me. The only chance of survival had would disappear if didn't obey them.

I nodded. He withdrew his hand. "Okay, we won't do anything to you. We want you to tell us everything. What happened in there?"

"My friend Aaron, I think a wolf ate him."

The men did not seem surprised by what I said.

"There are wolves in the woods, but they don't eat people. Maybe you saw another animal. A bear, perhaps."

I shook my head. "No, it was a wolf."

"Listen here girl, it was dark, and you were confused. You probably confused a bear for a wolf. Your friend may be dead, and if he is, it wasn't because of a wolf."

"Why are you not going to check on him? He could be alive."

"There's a good reason why we said that anyone coming for the party should not go beyond this designated area. Which group did you come with?"

"Ahhhh," I screamed out loud. This time people heard me because the music volume had reduced. People turned and just like that, the five men disappeared into the woods.

"They're going to kill him," I yelled. "Please help."

I saw Aria Mann and Jace Killman walking towards me.

"Aria, Jace. We have to check on Aaron. An animal attacked him."

"Where did you go?" Jace asked.

"In the woods."

Aria Mann stepped forward and slapped me. I gasped as the pain coursed through my cheek, my hand flying over to it.

"What the hell?"

"Let's go," Aria said. "Lead the way."

Still shocked at the slap, I started walking, leading them to where Aaron and I had met the wolf. When we got there, there was nothing. Not even a single drop of blood or a sign that someone had been attacked there. It was so strange.

"What? This is where it happened."

"We have to go back," aria said.

"But what about Aaron?"

"The police will handle the rest."

We were about to start walking away when we heard a deep animalistic grown. Aria and I glanced at each other, fear written in our eyes.

"Here's here," Sherry whispered. I stood up straight and pretended to be writing something on the book at her table. It was a big risk, but I was willing to take it in order to catch a glimpse at our new CEO. He had started walking on the previous day, but try as I had, I had failed to see him. I just wanted to know if the pictures did justice to him or not.

"He's entering," Sherry said.

I tried to see him using my side eye but couldn't get a good look. Sherry gasped. I turned to her and saw her looking horrified. She pulled the visitors book from me and I tried to pull it back.

"He's looking at us, you idiot." She said, and I instinctively turned.

Our eyes met and I immediately turned back to face Sherry who was trying hard to look busy. I started to sweat. Don't run, I told myself.

After a few seconds, Sherry took a deep breath. "He's gone."

I realised a breath I had not realised I was holding. I turned just in time to see the executive elevator closing.

"Did you see that?" Sherry said. I turned back to her. "Isn't he the sexiest man you've ever seen? For me, he is."

"I have to get to office," I said and hurried past the security guard who gave me a weird look. He probably knew I had stayed just to catch a glimpse of the new CEO which made me seem shallow and pathetic.

I didn't understand myself since that man had set foot on our premises. Why had I wanted to see the man so desperately? Since he came to the company, I had felt a deep desire to see him. I had never behaved like that, and it was not normal. Although I was looking for love, I was not boy-crazy, or man-crazy in that case.

There was nothing boyish about Zane Carrington. He was a very tall muscular man with a handsome stern face lined with a strong jawline. He had a straight nose, dark thick eyebrows and perfectly kissable lips.

It seemed like I was in some kind of haze. Now that I had seen the man, I wanted more of him.

"This is not me," I told myself as I reached out and grabbed the door handle. Opening the door, I walked into my assistant's office before proceeding to mine. Kim, my annoying assistant stared at me with narrowed eyes. I found her very disrespectful but I ignored it since she was new and I had way too many issues to deal with.

It had been two weeks and Aaron had not yet been found. Just like that, he had disappeared. The authorities of Misenium city had said they were doing everything possible to find him but I knew they were not doing anything.

Unfortunately, external officers could not do anything in that city.

Misenium city was a city on its own. In fact the whole of Misenium county was secluded. Its inhabitants lived like they were not part of the rest of the world. For some reason, authorities seemed not to mind. It was weird, how that place was not investigated as much as much as it should.

The party had been my first time there although it was two hours away from Sunham city where I lived and worked. Misenium County was shrouded in mystery. It was said to be a dangerous place with very dangerous people and wildlife. Most of what we heard about it was from rumours spread by others and warnings from the older generations. As expected, young people rarely took the warnings seriously.

When in Misenium, you could feel something was different, even from the vibe given by the people there. One fact that stood out was that people from Misenium were very good looking, in an otherworldly way.

It was one of the reasons I wanted to see Zane Carrington, the new CEO. He was from Misenium. Now I had confirmed that the part about good looks was actually true.

One of the human resource officers had quit after hearing that our new CEO was from Misenium. Neah Braman had claimed she was just tired of her job, but most people suspected it was the CEO.

In fact, we were all bit scared. After everything we had heard about people from Misennium, we couldn't help but worry. Everyone had braced themselves for terror. After seeing the intimidating man, I was sure things were about to change at Milner Insurance company.

Another weird thing was the fact that our old CEO Mr. Milner had sold the company. The company was Mr. Milner's only family business and he had loved it like it was his own child. His son had been about to replace him. The man had been an insurance sales agent as a young man and he developed passion for it. He later started his own whole business from scratch. Using savings from his job. It grew steadily and it was now the biggest insurance company in the state. It was worth a lot. How did he end up selling it to someone who was not known in the insurance world?

A notification popped up on both my monitor and phone at the same time.

"Please report to the conference room for a meeting."

An impromptu meeting? We had not had any of those in a very long time. Standing up, I ran a hand through my hair, picked up my phone and notebook before stepping out of the office.

"I'm going for a meeting in the conference room," I told Kim who was writing something in a notebook.

"I didn't know about that," she said.

I breathed in and walked out of the office without another word. One day I was going to deal with her but not that day. If the old CEO had been around, I'd have already fired Kim but I didn't know how the new CEO would operate. Didn't want to get on his bad side when he had just come.

I entered the conference room. All the senior and junior executives were inside. I sat next to Harry Smith and was about to ask him what was going on when the room descended into total silence. I turned to the door and saw him walking in with another man who was equally good looking and built like a Greek god.

I almost gasped when I saw the man who walking in. He was the most handsome creature I have had the honor of seeing. His neatly combed black hair was short. His lips looked so beautiful I feel like grabbing him so he could kiss me. He was very tall with legs that seem to go on forever, the perfect man to star in a billionaire romance movie. He was the full package and I wanted to have him even more than anything else. He was wearing a suit that looked like it was made for him, and only him.

My heart was pounding fast as I watched every move he made. The man was literal perfection. He took a seat at the head of the table and scanned the small gathering. Maybe I imagined I, but I thought his eyes rested on more longer than everyone else.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen."

That deep, raspy voice sent me to another world. By the time I wanted to reply to the greeting, the chorus response had reached its end.

"You there," he said, looking directly at me. "Are you too good for my greeting?"

"No, no, no, I'm so sorr..."

"Stop babbling, now let's get to the serious stuff."

Harry touched my hand under the table. I glanced at him and saw that he was hiding laughter.

I was mortified.

Making a terrible first impression had never been part of the plan. After graduating from college, Milner's was my first work place. For over two years, I had worked there and made the best impressions on my seniors. It was how I had managed to rise to the position of Junior Actuarial Manager and made it as a junior executive.

Now, a new era was about to start at Milner insurance and it seemed like I was destroying everything I had built? There was a possibility that Mr. Carrington would want to change some of the staff.

After pretending to be at the reception for a work issue and this, I was sure I was close to number 1 in Mr. Carrington's staff-to-fire list. That was if I wasn't number 1.

Mr. Carrington was a very eloquent man and everyone listened to his words attentively. I looked around and saw that everyone was looking at the man and no one was murmuring. Harry who was fond of making jokes with the former CEO's son during staff meetings was now silent as a grave.

The meeting was so tense that by the time it ended, everyone felt relived. Mr. Carrington seemed to be a very serious man. He had not smiled throughout the meeting. I wondered if he knew how to laugh. If I hadn't gone to that party in the woods, I would have thought everyone from Misenium was grumpy.

Harry and I were close friends. We had started working at the same time and so bonded easily due to facing similar struggles.

"Things are about to get tough around here," Harry said as we entered my office.

"Good morning, Harry." Kim said.

Harry frowned. "That's Mr. Smith to you."

He followed me to my office and sat on the chair opposite mine.

My office was extremely neat and everything was in order. There was a table with two chairs, one in front and the other behind it. On the tabletop was a computer. There were folders, papers, pens and other office stationary on the other side of the table. There was also a framed photograph of me at her graduation with my parents. Next to it was another photo of me in a red jersey and shorts of the same color, carrying a football. Behind me was my best friend who had a very wide smile and was wearing the same kind of clothes.

Harry placed a bundle of papers on the table. "Could you please sign these for me? You don't have to read through them."

"What, you want to steal from me now?" I joked.

"Like you have any money in your tiny bank account?" he scoffs. "Are you done paying off student loans?"

"Haha," I said. "I should be asking you."

I stared at Harry longer than I should. I'd always wondered why I never fell in love with him. Harry was great and could be the perfect guy for me. He was also my best friend at work. Maybe that was it. I valued our friendship a lot and thought it would be ruined if we started dating.

I lowered my head and started signing.

"By the way, have you finished your presentation for Friday?" Harry asked.

"I haven't started yet," I told him. "I had a lot of work to do. Now, that Kim is here, I'll be able to finish everything in time."

I had been swamped with a lot of work after Aaron went missing. They had not yet found a suitable replacement. It was why I had ended up requesting for an assistant to help me with the smaller matters while I dealt with the big issues.

"You complain about work a lot," he said, collecting the signed documents. "I wonder why they haven't fired you yet."

"Because I'm the most competent employee in this company," I grinned. "Trust me, when I manage to convince the CEO that we need to have the employee of the month award, I'll be the first to win. Shit, I forgot that Milner is now gone."

"Yeah, you're going to have to be more careful with this one. Forget Milner who used to love you like a daughter, or was there more to that? Sometimes I wonder if there was something going on behind the scenes. I mean he was always too nice to you."

I chuckled. "Jealousy doesn't suit you, Harry."

"Okay, I'll pretend that I believe you. See you later."

He laughed and stood up before striding out of the room. When he was gone, I went to ask Kim to set up a meeting with one of our clients. There was something wrong with his bank account.

"He's really handsome," Kim said, probably just to see how she I would react.

"Yeah, I guess." I smiled. I was hoping she was not about to set her eyes on my friend. Although, Harry really needed a woman, Kim was not the type I felt he should settle for. He needed someone less evil.

After giving her instructions, I went back to my office and opened my email. My eyes narrowed when I saw the name Zane Carrington.

"Oh my goodness!" I said as I opened the email, eager to see what Zane wanted to say to me.

"Come to my office tomorrow. 10 am. Keep time and doesn't tell anyone about this."

I leaned back against my chair, shocked to the core. When the shock wore off, fear set in as I wondered what Zane Carrington could possibly want from me. I grabbed my phone and dialed Anna's number before remembering that he had said I shouldn't tell anyone.

Well, that was going to be hard. Anna was my best friend and we shared everything about our lives. It was like this man had arrived to cause chaos in my life.

I remembered how good he had looked and found myself smiling. The fear of getting fired reduced as I considered other possibilities. After minutes of allowing myself to enjoy beautiful fantasies, I knocked myself back to the real world.

There was no way on earth that meeting could be about something good. After my terrible first impression, I had to prepare for the worst.