Chapter 165 Borrowing Her Name
Alpha Sebastian had never been the kind of Alpha who dealt with household details.
His father had led the Hale Pack while Alpha Sebastian was growing up.
Once Alpha Sebastian became strong enough to take over, the Pack had fallen in line behind him.
After bonding with Eira, he buried himself in Hale Group business while she quietly handled everything else. Household matters. Pack disputes. The endless small problems that never made it to his desk.
Lately, those problems had become his responsibility.
They wore him down more than border disputes or territory talks ever had.
With Eira around, life had been easy. He had only needed to lead. She had taken care of the rest.
He missed her.
Before he could think better of it, he found himself walking toward Number Nine.
He had barely made it halfway up the driveway when he spotted two of Alpha Killian’s guards beside the front gate. Each man held the leash of a massive German shepherd.
Alpha Sebastian slowed.
The guards noticed him at once. They stopped, turned the dogs toward him, and let the animals see exactly who was approaching.
"Woof!"
The second dog joined in.
The barking tore through the quiet evening. Alpha Sebastian’s brow tightened. He took one step toward the gate.
The guards took one step toward him.
The shepherds lunged against their leashes, barking and baring their teeth.
This was no coincidence. Someone had placed them there to keep him away.
Alpha Killian’s idea?
Lila’s?
Or Eira’s?
Every possibility made Alpha Sebastian’s jaw tighten.
"Ei..." he began.
The guards loosened the leashes.
Alpha Sebastian turned around and walked away.
--
Inside Number Nine, Mrs. Jones opened the front door when she heard the barking. She saw the guards standing by the gate and Alpha Sebastian’s retreating figure. Nothing looked out of control, so she closed the door and went back to ironing.
When she finished, she found Eira stretching beside the desk near the window.
"Miss Crawford, tomorrow’s outfit is pressed and ready."
"Thank you, Mrs. Jones."
Eira went to bed early. She had more important things to deal with than the aftermath of cutting Alpha Sebastian out of her life.
The Sovereign Processor Initiative would officially launch the next morning.
Alpha Killian had presented the project himself at the procurement summit. The processor would support three major sectors: defense, agriculture, and industry.
The Pack Council was watching the project closely. Reliable energy meant stronger defenses, better food production, and more control over Pack territory. It also meant the Hales would no longer have to depend entirely on human power suppliers.
For smaller and more remote Packs that still relied on the human grid to power their border systems, the technology could mean the difference between survival and losing their land.
Three hundred engineers had been divided into three teams.
Professor Davies led the industrial division, while Claire headed agriculture.
Eira worked with the defense team, officially as an assistant. In reality, she shared top-level oversight with Sterling’s Director of Research and Development, George, and Alpha Killian himself.
Three divisions. Three project leads. Separate authority, with built-in checks and balances.
There would be no public launch or press event—not yet. Until the final processor was ready, the entire project would remain strictly confidential.
Each division had its own entrance and iris scanner, and team members were not permitted to move between facilities without clearance.
Only Eira, Alpha Killian, and George had unrestricted access to all three divisions.
Lila had been assigned to the defense team. Sterling heiress or not, star protégé or not, she was still junior enough to spend her time logging test results and cleaning up data.
She didn’t care. She was happy to be there.
--
Across town, Alpha Sebastian heard about the launch. He set his work aside and looked at Beta Jordan.
"Any media coverage?"
Beta Jordan pulled up Sterling Industries’ website on his tablet. "One group photo and a short press release."
The photo showed engineers, researchers, and several young wolves from Pack families. Alpha Sebastian barely noticed them. His eyes went straight to Eira, standing in the center of the front row.
Alpha Killian stood beside her.
Of course he did.
Alpha Sebastian clenched his jaw. That project should have been his. So should the place beside Eira. Alpha Killian had taken everything from him.
He pushed the tablet away. "Get Finn. We’re meeting with Snowmark’s representative."
They met in an ultra-private dining room, where Beta Jordan had arranged dinner, drinks, and the kind of discreet, polished service expected at a high-level business meeting.
After a few rounds of cocktails, Alpha Sebastian brought the conversation back to business. He placed the proposal and contract on the table.
Soren, Snowmark’s executive, had already reviewed the proposal. Otherwise, he would never have agreed to the meeting. The deal should have been straightforward.
But Soren still hesitated. He clearly wasn’t convinced that Hale Group had enough influence to handle the partnership. Instead of signing, he brought up the American-made processor that had recently appeared and shaken up the entire industry.
Finn and Beta Jordan exchanged a quick look.
Does he know we lost the bid?
Alpha Sebastian asked a few careful questions and soon understood what was going on. Soren had not heard the result of the procurement process. He had only heard the rumors surrounding the Sovereign Processor Initiative.
An idea came to Alpha Sebastian.
"Soren," he said, "the initiative you mentioned is being led by my wife, Dr. Eira Crawford."
He pulled up Eira’s feature article on his phone. Then he opened a photo from his wedding and placed the phone beside the proposal.
Soren’s hesitation disappeared.
If Eira was truly leading the project and was married to Alpha Sebastian, then Hale Group had a direct connection to the technology. At least, that was the conclusion Soren drew.
Soren stood and extended his hand.
"It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Hale."