Rogue Alpha (Jacky Leon Book 7), page 1
ROGUE ALPHA
A JACKY LEON NOVEL BOOK SEVEN
K.N. BANET
CONTENTS
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Chapter Nineteen
20. Chapter Twenty
21. Chapter Twenty-One
22. Chapter Twenty-Two
23. Chapter Twenty-Three
24. Chapter Twenty-Four
25. Chapter Twenty-Five
26. Chapter Twenty-Six
27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
30. Chapter Thrity
31. Chapter Thirty-One
32. Chapter Thirty-Two
33. Chapter Thirty-Three
34. Chapter Thirty-Four
35. Chapter Thirty- Five
36. Chapter Thirty-Six
37. Chapter Thirty-Seven
38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
39. Chapter Thirty-Nine
Dear Reader,
The Tribunal Archives
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by K.N. Banet
Copyright © 2021 by K.N. Banet
knbanet.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
CHAPTER ONE
APRIL 10, 2022
Jacky,
Please reply to my emails. Answer my calls or respond to my texts. Give me anything. I’m trying to talk to you about this. With your fiancé, I made mistakes. I didn’t tell you the whole truth, and I regret that. Now I am trying to keep you from being devastated again. Heath Everson is not safe. I understand you love him. You are my daughter, and I won’t raise a hand against someone you love, but I won’t stop trying to protect you either. I won’t question what your heart is telling you, but I know werewolves. He’s an Alpha of considerable power, and he’s only growing stronger, thanks to the circumstances surrounding the two of you. Heath Everson can’t be trusted with your heart. I can’t trust him with it. Be his ally, his friend, even his confidant, but please don’t continue this relationship. I am pleading with you, publicly renounce this affair. Make him move just outside your borders. Keep Carey in your life. I know she means so much to you, but not this. He will always be for the werewolves first, and I don’t want you to get hurt again. Please. I don’t like seeing you blinded by your affection for him. This won’t end in broken hearts, Jacky. It will end in your death.
Your father,
Hasan
Anger pulsed through me. Every heartbeat was the drum of my fury.
You’re the blind one, Hasan. After everything he’s done for us…
I reread the email twice before closing it when the doorknob on my office door tried to turn. Once a week, like clockwork, there was a new email. They all said about the same thing—words from the heart poured onto the screen, rewritten to talk sense into me. There were a dozen ways I knew he was genuine. The voicemails he left me were him trying to hide it all, but I knew him too well. I knew when he was holding his jaw tight, controlling his anger. I knew every moment he would rub his temples. I knew when his clipped professional way of rationally trying to speak to me turned into a father’s desperation for his daughter to listen. I could hear the fear he had in those moments.
That he was genuine only made me angrier. It made me furious to confront his unbending, relentless belief that my werewolf was anything but an honorable man.
I never replied. I couldn’t bring myself to.
He wasn’t alone. I hadn’t replied to Mischa’s ranting fit of an email, which I had opened expecting something completely different. Hasan’s emails couldn’t make me cry. They only pissed me off. Mischa had cut me open like a butcher and left me bleeding out and in tears.
I can’t even bring myself to open Davor’s. Why put myself through that? Does Davor really think I’ll read his email after how he’s treated me?
I stared at the long list of emails until a soft knock made me look over my monitor. Only one person gently knocked on the door, patient and polite.
“Yes, Oliver?” I called, dismissing my anger as I did every time I was done with Hasan for the day. Turning off my monitor, I wondered why Oliver was around. The only reason I was at the bar was I was tired of being at home.
“Jacky? May I come in?” Oliver asked from outside my office. “I have papers to file, and I didn’t know you were in.”
“Yeah, sorry.” I jumped up and unlocked the door, letting him in.
He looked at me, then went about his business, taking my seat behind my desk. He made sure I had any documents on hand that might be needed for the IRS, the BSA, or any of the other acronyms out there. Normally, I wasn’t in when he did it, but I had been feeling bored this morning and came in.
“I was reading my emails,” I explained, sitting across from him. “You promised me you would start taking Sundays off like everyone else.”
“I got a little behind this week, helping plan Carey’s birthday party.”
“Heath said he would do all the planning for her birthday. How did it get all the way to you?” I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but sometimes, they could defy expectations. They already had. Oliver was helping with Carey’s party, which wasn’t what I was expecting to hear, with the party less than a week away.
“He was in charge,” Oliver agreed, looking up with a sheepish smile. “You did a renovation instead of a repair, which messed up his entire schedule, from what Landon told Dirk.”
“My house is finished,” I reminded Oliver, crossing my arms. Sure, we did a three-room addition along with a new garage, which didn’t help the turnaround time, but it was done, and Heath’s company had been paid exceptionally well for it. I had moved back in before it was even finished. “I’ve been back in my house since last October when it was livable again. It was finished in February, so Landon doesn’t get to blame this on my house.”
“Heath started planning Carey’s party in early February when she started making friends at her new school and riding lessons,” Oliver countered. “Work on your house slowed other projects for his company. Apparently, they’re rather busy with an influx of clients. Another company, same industry or something close, closed their doors in Dallas over the holidays, and Heath stepped in, taking on their contracts. He’s honoring what was written, with a few exceptions.”
“Oh shit, that’s right. The Dallas pack closed their development and construction company,” I mumbled, shaking my head. Heath and I had had a few long conversations about him taking some of their problems personally. He’d built those companies, as well as his personal ones, making sure the pack had ownership over something that could hire and provide an income source for all of them.
“Yes, that was it,” Oliver confirmed. “Well, Heath has been busy because he’s behind. He asked Landon to help with the party, but Landon works for Heath and does some of his own projects. Landon asked Dirk to step in, but Dirk knows nothing about planning parties for soon-to-be fifteen-year-old girls, and I think Carey being Landon’s little sister makes him uncomfortable. So, they asked me to step in.”
Wow… I’m a little offended.
“Oliver, do you know anything about parties for fifteen-year-old girls?” I asked softly, crossing my arms as I studied my gentle soul of a manager and personal assistant. He could be incredibly professional when he was working, earnest and lovely when he wasn’t. I waited for him to consider what I was already thinking.
“No, but I can research, and I know Carey,” he answered, his hands slowing as he stopped working. Then I saw the lightbulb. “Why did no one ask you?”
“No idea,” I said, chuckling as I lifted my hands. “I’ll tell you what. Finish working, then we’ll talk about what has already been put together for the party, and I’ll handle the rest of the planning. Have the invitations been sent out to her friends?”
“Yes, they were.” Oliver went back to sorting the paperwork into his perfectly labeled files. He made it all very easy for me. He filed tax documents together by year and even had little tabs for specific sections that were often requested. Although he was from London and it might have taken him a year to figure out American taxes, with the help of my accountant, he’d done it. He’d learned every regulation, law, bylaw, and anything else that could come up. If someone came knocking, he’d prepared me to win whatever war the government wanted to fight.
Once he was done, he got up, closing all the drawers, and grabbed his tablet. H e carried that thing with him everywhere, always jotting down notes for future improvements, menu changes, and customer feedback. Sometimes, he was terrifying to me. He led me to his office and sat down. In one corner of the room were bags of party goods, streamers sticking out the top of one bag.
“She gave her father a list.” Oliver shuffled through the paperwork. “And everyone has RSVP’d already.” He pulled out a single sheet and held it out. “It will be at their home. Horse-themed. Some of her friends are from her new school, and the others are from her riding lessons. There are only eight, not including the four parents who will come, which is twelve people. Three of the children can drive and will come on their own.”
“Children,” I said, shaking my head. “Oliver, they’re teenagers. You’re not much older.”
“Please, don’t remind me.” He ran a hand through his auburn hair. “Really, though, why didn’t anyone ask you to help?”
“I really have no idea,” I said, chuckling. “I’ll bother Heath about it. Probably Landon and Dirk as well, when I get the chance. Have you seen those two in the last couple of days? Dirk requested some time off, and I haven’t heard from him since I approved it.”
“Well, they’re always together when they’re not working. Can’t you just track Landon?”
“I’ve gotten so good at ignoring them, I don’t even think about that sometimes,” I admitted. “Plus, it’s not my business to track them like kids out past curfew. They’re grown men.”
“Landon was over last night when I got home. He and Dirk left together once I was in.” He smiled. “I think they were making sure I could make the drive without hitting anything.”
“And the mailbox survives another day,” I teased, getting a laugh out of my best businessman. “Do you mind that Dirk is out of the house so often? I know you two aren’t the best of friends, but you’re both away from your home countries. Sometimes, I worry, you know?” Especially about him. Dirk was finding his perfect place in my little piece of the world. He was even dating a werewolf, and from the outside, that seemed to be going well. Oliver seemed to work and go home, and I was worried about that.
Am I not providing him with the life he deserves or needs?
“Truthfully? I’m doing rather well. My work with you and Kick Shot? It’s really all I need.” His smile grew. “I’m fine if he moves out. I’ve grown accustomed to living here, and the locals know me. Some women my age, and possibly much older ones as well, have tried hitting on me more than once. I’m not lonely. I might not be going on all the adventures you find, and I’m not tough like Dirk to protect everyone, but I like where I’m at in life.”
“Some girls finally figured out you’re a polite British man, huh? You’re the real deal.” I should have bitten my tongue, but it was too good to pass up.
“They did, but I politely told them I’m not interested in that sort of thing. Dating and all of that?” He shrugged. “Not for me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m aroace.” He didn’t seem too surprised by me or my reaction, but a small blush crept up his neck, and his cheeks turned pink. “Do you want a quick explanation, or do we want to shift this back to business? I’m used to explaining.”
“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” I said politely. I wasn’t an idiot. I could Google and save him the clearly uncomfortable conversation. “But all I really need to know is if you’re happy, and you seem to be.”
“Thank you. I guess that sort of thing never really interested me. Coming out here has given me time to really think about it. Watching you and Heath, Landon and Dirk, it’s not for me. I don’t think I could handle someone in my life like that all the time, and I don’t want to. I like this.” He ran his hands over his desk. “I enjoy being part of this… community. Your assistant, running Kick Shot, Dirk’s roommate and friend… I like my place here.”
“I’m glad,” I said with a small smile, pointing at the bags. “Now, let me get all of this stuff out of here, so I can handle the party.”
“Ah, yes!” He stood and started grabbing the bags, handing some to me. I eventually took all of them, not bothered by the weight. He frowned, then shook his head, dismissing it.
“What’s the theme?” I asked, trying to look in the bags and already forgetting what Oliver had said.
“Horses, of course. It’ll be at Heath’s home, which has confused me. I was thinking about maybe doing it outside by their little barn with Midnight Dancer, but that was rejected. They’d already told me they couldn’t do it where she takes lessons, though it would have been perfect.”
“Midnight Dancer really doesn’t like or trust me, no matter what form I’m in,” I explained. “So, if it’s done out there, I couldn’t attend without stressing the poor pony out. Nothing we’ve done has made her comfortable to come anywhere near me. Heath is actually going to stable the pony where Carey takes lessons, so it can pasture with her new big mare. You know, the Christmas present.”
“You mean the present Carey got for not having any more fights in school before the semester ended?” Oliver looked so innocent with a sweet smile.
“I see Landon talked to you or talked to Dirk, who then talked to you. All of you men are gossips. Yes, that horse. Firestorm. I’m also the reason Carey’s riding place isn’t a good idea. Can you imagine over thirty horses, completely untrained with werewolves and werecats, with three suddenly in their barn? Someone would get hurt.”
“That’s right.” Oliver nodded. “You know, maybe it is better you finish the planning. I have so much work to do, I missed such an easy explanation.”
“I have it,” I promised. I started walking out with the bags, Oliver rushing to get the door for me. Once we were down to my car, he even unlocked it and helped me load up.
“I know better than to pry, but…” Oliver seemed uncomfortable as I went to get in.
“What’s up?”
“You said you were coming in to check your emails earlier. Any word from your family? It’s been months, and… well, from what I know, everyone knows about you and Heath now.”
“None worth mentioning,” I said, opening the driver’s side door. I hadn’t told anyone but Heath what the family was saying and only then because it was his life on the line. “Take the rest of the day off, Oliver. You’re not supposed to work on Sundays anymore.” I got in, giving him a look that hopefully drove the point home. “Remember?”
“Of course.”
I drove away, heading for Heath’s house. He was going to answer for the mess that was Carey’s birthday party. It was certainly easier dealing with Heath and a birthday party than with my family.
2
CHAPTER TWO
I left the stuff for Carey’s party in the car and didn’t bother knocking when I got to the front door. I knew Heath was here alone, enjoying his quiet Sunday like he normally did. Landon was at his house, and Carey was at her riding lessons. They had begun at the beginning of the year, a reward, just like the new horse. She was officially homeschooled, only needing to see other students twice a week in Tyler, not Jacksonville. She had more time for things like riding lessons and friends now. Thankfully, a nice mom from the lessons lived nearby and took Carey with her and her daughter, so Heath and Landon could stay away from the horses.
Leaving me the perfect few hours to strike. I knew Heath would try to relax. I went directly to Heath’s office, barging in.
“Heath Everson, we need to talk,” I declared. He put down his book and leaned back slowly as I closed us in the office and locked the door.
