In the folder, I saw that there was a community called The Oakridge Haven. It was under the real estate brochure, and it consisted of a small community not incorporated into the core company.

Damon’s company bought the land that surrounded Oakridge Haven. There were minerals, raw materials under that land, and Damon used political influence to claim everything, including the minerals underneath the land. He used three false companies to do the transaction.

He was clearly violating the law, yet he was getting away with it.

The raw material they found there was Lanthium. It was raw metal, and it was used to make high-powered military machinery. It was, of course, used in the creation of electronics as well.

So, Lanthium was highly profitable, and Damon’s company was not letting go. This is how the non-compliance acquisition of mineral rights settlement read:

‘Adjust land value; Lanthium take over, to be claimed in Oakridge Haven. Compensate with land value.’

I typed frantically at the keyboard. I checked everything, from the ID of the property that was bought, to the legal documents that the Pack provided.

Unlike Riannon’s father, the people at Oakridge were not competitors, especially not financial or corporate ones. They were merely landlords that had been living in that location for a long time and had somehow naturalized there.

The Shadow Pack considered them easy to defeat. They were human after all. Weak and powerless. Damon hit them hard. He didn’t just steal their assets and properties, but he stole the entire livelihood of these people. They depended on him.

He used his status and aura as an Alpha to bully them and take their land so that he could mine Lanthium there.

I was disgusted. I was not just fighting a mean and notorious businessman, but a ruthless and heartless man albeit. He was wicked to anyone who could not defend themselves. He was merciless with them.

I considered this war. It was far beyond survival but war.

I felt sick at the tug of the mate bond. When it came, I considered myself attached to a monster, and it caused my stomach to churn.

I felt a new drive to fight for justice. My defiance propelled when I saw all these facts. All I needed were two things. Contact from outside, and a bit more proof.

I dug deeper into the legal documents and found a PDF file that was not encrypted. It was a cease-and-desist letter that the community that Damon had displaced had filed against him. When I looked at the bottom of the file, I saw a name and a phone number.

Attorney Lidia Chen.

Lidia Chen spoke on behalf of the displaced humans.

I had to save that number, so, in primitive style, I used my eye pencil to write it inside the linen of the dress I had on. It was a skill that I had always known and ended up getting used to it over time.

‘Lidia Chen. That would be my first lifeline.’

Suddenly, I heard the main door click. Not the door that connected me to Damon’s room, but the main room door.

I snapped the tablet shut with my heart pounding as I imagined it to be Rys, or maybe another servant. Anyone.

Thankfully, the screen if the tablet immediately navigated Damon’s front page, highly secured, so I hurried away from the lounge and hid the clothe where I had written Lidia Chen’s name and phone number down.

To my surprise, when the door swung open, it wasn’t Rys. It was Damon.

He had dressed up in formal clothing again. Fully dressed in a three-piece suit, his hair was wet, meaning that he had been working out for a bit. He looked sharp now, and very aware.

Damon’s deadly eyes swept over the room, scanning everywhere. He looked at the closed tablet, the coffee that I hadn’t touched, and then me. He didn’t even notice the door that had been left ajar.

‘’Elara, it’s 9AM.’’ His low and rough voice stated clearly. ‘’Report to me now. What I gave you was a grace period, and not sabbatical leave.’’

When I got up, I was very confident. What I had seen about Oakridge Haven boosted my confidence against Damon. I pushed the table back and got up.

‘’Alpha,’’ I said with a professional tone. ‘’I have analyzed Falcon Group’s purchase. There is a lot of Lithanium to tap from, but finances are the primary set back. If in the third quarter there is still no profit, it will be catastrophic. I have laid out a spreadsheet to highlight the points we will take for the hostile takeover.’’

When I finished speaking, I kept the tablet neatly on the desk. I moved with grace, but I never moved towards him. Also, Damon did not bother to take the tablet to look at it, all he did was stare into my eyes to locate any form of deceit.

He commended me; ‘’you have excellent precision.’’ Again, he flashed that possessive smile that he was so used to. ‘’Mate, you are of immense value. You work so well under pressure. But your defiance might cost you. That is the only problem.’’

He walked around the desk and stopped in front of me. He was too close to me, and that bis overwhelming scent of rain and all what not hit me again.

I was ready. I braced myself as I expected him to violate the no-contact agreement we had. A touch, a threat. Which one would he choose this time?