27 Parker He sat in his office staring at the photos on his desk .
They were pictures of Carina , she being his new Mate and Luna , she needed to have a picture attached to his human world profile , he hadnt even announced his divorce from Belladonna to the human world .
But her father had checked his profile and seen that his daughter was not yet there recognised as his wife .
He had couriered overnight half a dozen photos of the girl for him to pick from and use .
They were all nice photos , suitable for the company profile , formal photos of her , all dressed up nicely .
He knew he had to pick one .
Kane was standing next to him waiting for him to make the decision .
Shes not even got a plan , no degree , hasnt started university even , is 20 , and I cant say anything about her .
he muttered .
Parker , I suggest you take Bellas picture down and leave the space blank , announce youre divorced but not remarried .
Its not going to look so good to the public , especially seeing as shes 20 , and youre 43.
Im aware of that , her father is pushing .
He nodded .
Tough hes a Beta , youre an Alpha .
You also didnt put Bellas picture up for a full year .
I know , just a few shots in the society pages of us together that first year , casually talking .
It looked like we were dating , how I wanted it .
one photo every six to eight weeks , usually when she was in the hospital .
Annette had taken most of them .
Visiting his girlfriend at work had been the catchphrase for most of them .
The humans hadnt liked the 15 year age gap between them .
He was already dealing with his PR team , in talks about what it was going to do , affect the companys stocks , to see hed divorced Bella for a girl of 20 , who was 23 years younger than himself .
It was going to look like hed traded Bella in for a younger model ; that is how the PR team put it .
The stocks were going to take a hit , even harder if there was no separation from Bella, no divorce and time apart before it was announced hed remarried .
As for the reason behind the divorce , theyd state irreconcilable differences were best , but expect them to speculate hed been unfaithful , and with Carina .
Seeing as they were married so quickly .
Ill deal with it later , have Belladonnas photo removed and take my quote down , start with 1/4 * 1 Painti 27 that .
See what the human press does with it .
If they notice at all , if not , it might slide by , our marriage was quiet and unassuming .
He took the call from Carinas father that night and stated simply Ive removed Belladonnas picture from the portfolio , I did not put her photo up for a full year next to mine .
Ill be doing .
that with Carina as well .
I dont want my stocks taking a massive hit over it .
Shes your Mate .
You should want everyone to know that .
Greg had grated out .
And when the time is right , I will put her picture up there .
She hasnt even selected a career path .
What do you want me to say about her , 20 and uneducated ? Because that is what she is .
at this point .
Greg had snarled at him , and Parker had clicked the line closed .
He wasnt going to be made to do anything by that man , there was no Mating Alliance between him and her pack , because Carina had not wanted to wait for one .
So , he wasnt actually accountable to anything but the actual Mate Bond .
He would not betray her and cause her pain .
He was not an abusive beast of a man , so she would be perfectly safe inside his pack .
Even without a mating alliance .
He did sit her down and ask her what she was going to study , what she wanted to be , and shed stared right at him , Im a Luna , I dont need to be anything other than that .
Actually , if you want to be attached to my human portfolio , you need to be doing something with your life .
Or youll look to them like a blonde bimbo who seduced me out of my wife , who was a doctor , an Ob/ Gyn .
Very intelligent .
She glared right at him Make something up .
shed stated , A doctorate will do , shed huffed a little and thought about it .
Im a Luna , so , a psychiatrist should do it .
Ive got that Luna Calm and the pack will come to me for advice .
So that suits my title .
Im not going to lie , do you want to study that , Ill have you enrolled next semester ? Hed stated .
Im not actually going to study it .
I like fashion .
I could model for your magazine .
That would work , and I dont need a degree to be a model .
Shed smiled at him now .
My wife , a beautiful runway model .
Oh , I like that .
Are you going to do that ? hed asked .
If you insist , She shrugged .
Ill have a contract drawn up , and youll follow it to the letter , attend photo shoots on time and do the job properly .
He told her and she frowned directly at him .
214 27 +18 Bent Im also not attaching you to my human world portfolio for a year .
That gives a good separation between you and my ex .
He refrained from using Belladonnas name as per Carinas request .
Thats a bit stupid , were not human who cares what they think .
I care about the stock market and the company shares dropping in price , you should as well .
If they drop , youll get a limit on that card of yours .
Again , she frowned at him but said nothing .
She didnt know him well enough to know if he was telling the truth or not .
He would do it .
The first ones to absorb that monetary hit and give back to the pack would be him and his Luna .
Both their cards would be limited , seeing as it would be their fault for the stocks dropping in price , it would be directly related to them and their sudden marriage , so no pack members would be expected to tighten their budgets .
Theyd both be on limited funds until the shares returned to normal .
Hed done it before , could and would do it again .
He didnt really spend anything on himself anymore , he had everything he needed .
Spent money to make money , or to make the packs conglomerate more prosperous .
He had a wardrobe full of clothes and a car .
That was all he needed at this point in life .
His and Carinas bond was still forming , and he could see it was going to take some time .
He knew it would grow day by day until it was fully realised .
Hed watched Carina leave his office and heard her mutter about how she would go and buy what she wanted now then .
Hed stood and washed his face in his office bathroom and sighed heavily .
His eyes landed on the silver filigree on his neck , it too was different from the last one hed sported , it was simple silver swirls that curled around and fanned out .
His previous one had been silver but had what looked like pale blue glitter through it , as had Belladonnas , and theyd both gotten what looked like a soft all sparkly blue Belladonna Lilly flower in the center of it .
Her own namesake on both their skin .
It was almost as if shed branded her name on his skin .
Or that was how he had seen it , had liked that tiny flower glittering up at him as well, it was sweet like she was .
His two mates couldnt be any more different from each other.
Perhaps it was meant to be like that , to help him let go of the first one .
The s * x was also different .
Carina climbed on him every day , touched him and wanted to have s * x ; told him she did .
They had s * x two or three times a day , it was a nice feeling to not always be the one to initiate s * x , be wanted by his Mate Vex was also allowed to Mate her wolf Ruby , which was good for his beast .
Hed called her 3 / A +10 Point 27 out , and shed come right to him without issue to be mated by her wolfen mate .
They mated in human and wolfen form now .
Their bond was good and solid , from what he could tell .
Which showed him that he and Carina would be in time .
She was just very different to his former Mate , who was quiet and unassuming .
Had never demanded , let alone even asked anything of him .
Just left him be , to run the packs and the company and did her Lunas duties diligently .
Carina wouldnt sit in that office until it was fully redecorated to her liking , and didnt want to work in a room designed by the previous Luna .
To which hed told her , Belladonna hadnt changed a thing , had simply worked in the office as it was .
Carina had frowned and stated Really ! kind of disbelievingly .
Yes , chosen not gifted , hasnt changed anything ever .
He nodded .
Though that had made him walk up to the Luna suite and look at it .
It , too , was as it had been the day shed moved in .
Shed personalized nothing in this packhouse , not even the room shed lived in for near on a decade .
No , she didnt live here , he realised , had resided here , with a view to leaving one day .
He knew nothing about her at all .
Eight years and he did not understand her .
He had loved her .
But he only now realised he loved a complete stranger , because in all likelihood hed fallen in love with only who shed presented to him ; not who she truly was .
