The Sterling pack had always been professional. Jackson didn’t have to worry about their strength-and weakness? Not an issue -so he simply nodded his agreement.
His concerns with MPC handling Knight pack projects couldn’t be resolved just by Tara saying things were fine. Jackson would have to see how everything was actually handled…not how they SAID they were going to handle it.
Seeing that his Alpha had relented, Beta Smith spoke. “Ms. Thorin, yes, the Sterling pack has worked to remove the Midwest Packs Corporation from handling Knight pack business. I’ve spoken to my team regarding this, and they have ceased their efforts.”
Of course, Tara didn’t believe what he said, but she wouldn’t embarra*s the Sterling pack Beta in front of everyone here. Instead, she said, “In that case, let’s turn hostility into friendship. We can cooperate well and help each other in the future.”
After that, Tara picked up her gla*s and toasted Alpha Sterling and Beta Smith. After she finished it, she smiled, then stood. “I’ll see you all at the bidding.”
The main reason why Tara dared to end the meal prematurely was that Griffon was impatient.
Although the Sterling pack and the Knight pack were equally influential in the country, the Knight pack was one of the leading packs in the world. They had a long, remarkable bloodline and could trace their roots farther back than any other packs. It was even said that the Knight pack might have been THE original wolf shifter pack.
And just as she thought would happen, instead of rising when she did and being on their way, they all looked to Griffon.
They would not dare to get up before him.
Griffon nodded, stood, then grabbed Tara’s hand and walked out of the room with her.
Everyone was stunned when they saw that the Alpha rumored to be indifferent to women took the initiative to hold Tara’s hand.
The relationship between them seemed more intimate than they had imagined, instead of just being for show and power.
They didn’t know if the Weston City project would be managed fairly by the Midwest Packs Corporation because of this relationship. It was the duty of MPC to make sure that all of the different packs inter-pack business was handled to the letter of the pack law, regardless of how they personally felt about packs.
Not all of the packs got along, but not all of the packs could handle everything on their own and needed to rely on each other. That’s where the MPC came in.
Plus, pack law stated that if there was something that a pack could not do themselves and needed outside a*sistance for, they were required to use another pack if another pack could perform that task.
Human services and companies were a last resort.
If multiple packs were able to perform a service, a bidding date was set for packs to bid on the project, with the MPC overseeing the bid awarding after reviewing all of the contracts to see whose bid was not just the lowest, but the fairest and most reasonable.
This was what the Sterling pack was most worried about. Otherwise, they would not have taken extreme measures to target the Midwest Packs Corporation and their involvement in Knight pack projects.
Griffon taking Tara’s hand…they weren’t sure how to view that.
For a multitude of reasons.
When the door opened, I immediately stood up.
Griffon held Tara’s hand and walked out of the room.
Seeing their fingers clasped together, I blinked, then blinked again.
I wanted to pretend nothing had happened and look away.
But when I lowered my eyes to avert them, I couldn’t help but look at Griffon’s large hand wrapped around Tara’s tiny one.
It was like a beacon drawing my gaze to it.
Griffon held her so tightly.
So different than when I bumped into him and he was disgusted by it.
I’d fantasized countless times that Griffon would hold my hand like this one day, in public no less.
He couldn’t hold my hand in public, though. This was the difference between me and Tara.
When the two of them pa*sed by me, Tara stopped. “Taya, remember to take Alpha Sterling back to the hotel.”
I forced myself to nod politely. “Okay.”
Only then did Tara hold onto Griffon’s arm with a smile and walk towards the elevator.
They turned their backs on me, and only then did I dare to look at them.
The two were a perfect match, and I was just a pa*sing leaf in the wind.
I smiled weakly. This bit of pain was nothing.
I would let go of Griffon, just as I had forgotten about Silas.
Jackson Sterling was leaving the private room, and I looked over at him.
“Alpha Sterling, I’ll take you to your hotel. You’ll be staying at a different one than this.”
Thankfully, he didn’t push back, simply followed me out to the car.
Once I had arrived and Jackson and his Beta were out of the car, I started to pull away. I wanted to get away from Jackson as soon as possible.
My heart had other plans. My chest convulsed in excruciating pain.
And my foot was still on the accelerator.
My body was twisting in pain, and my foot pressed down on the gas pedal.
The car shot forward and hit the pillar at the hotel entrance.
Jackson startled when he heard a loud bang behind him.
He rushed over to the crashed car and saw Taya slumped against the steering wheel, her face wh ite as a sheet.
His chest tightened subconsciously.
He yanked at the door handle to get her out, but the car was locked.
Knocking hard on the window, he said, “Ms. Palmer, open the door!”
Taya didn’t move to unlock the doors.
Shi t. She must be unconscious.
Jackson smashed the back window on the driver’s side so that no gla*s would get on her, then reached through it to unlock the front door.
Thank the goddess he was a shifter, or else he wouldn’t have had the strength to break the window so easily.
He opened Taya’s door, the quickly and carefully pulled Taya out of the car.
She wasn’t unconscious, but she was almost there. Taya grabbed his arm as if she were desperate. With difficulty, and after a couple of tries, she spat out the word “oxygen.”
Jackson’s mind went blank when he heard that word. Scenes flashed through his mind so quickly that he felt a headache coming on.
Rather than lay her on the ground, Jackson picked Taya up and carried her. He turned to his Bela. “Get someone from the hotel to bring me oxygen.”
It would be too late for them to go to the hospital now.
Jackson hoped this hotel was equipped with more first-aid items than a lot of shifter hotels were. Shifters didn’t need much in the way of medical treatment unless it was a more serious wound, so many places didn’t keep much of anything on hand.
They figured their guests could shift into their wolf form to heal, then shift back.
Fortunately, this hotel was owned by the Sterling pack. Since they were a pack who dealt with humans, they had made sure that the hotel was prepared for human first-aid needs.
The hotel manager quickly sent someone to get the small oxygen tank they kept on hand in case of extreme emergencies.
Jackson carried Taya into the presidential suite she had booked for him. Goddess, her face was so pale.
Suddenly, he was afraid she would d ie like this. He hurriedly contacted his good friend Eric Sinclair, who happened to be at a conference in Arcadia.
After waking up Eric-who had an extremely regimented schedule-Jackson gave him the address, told him to hurry, and then hung up the phone.
Eric frowned in confusion. He tossed his phone aside and rolled over to go back to sleep. After a couple of seconds, he opened his eyes again.
“Did I hear that right? Jackson asked me to save someone?”
Jackson was the most even-keeled person Eric knew, who had no real emotion attachments.
Who could make Jackson call him in the middle of the night?
Eric’s OCD was telling him that he HAD to sleep right now. Part of managing his compulsions was keeping a rigid schedule that he didn’t deviate from.
But he found he could not sleep. At all.
Apparently, tonight he would be breaking his self-imposed rules.
He got up, picked up his car keys, and headed to the address Jackson had given him.