Bound To The Broken Alpha (Amy and Daniel) novel Chapter 397

Chapter 397 Today Is Important

AMY

I woke up that morning with a clear head, which was rare lately.

The North had been restless for weeks, but for once, things were finally lining up.

The joint Carter Holdings–Northern pack operation was ready to move into its public phase.

It wasn’t flashy, but it mattered. Supplies, logistics, shared oversight. The kind of structure that told both investors and wolves the same thing: leadership was still intact.

I reviewed the final framework before sunrise. Every line. Every approval. I signed off knowing exactly. why visibility mattered right now.

People didn’t need speeches. They needed proof that nothing was falling apart.

By midmorning, the building was already buzzing.

Daniel stopped by my office with coffee, his expression calm but alert. He leaned against the desk, scanning my screen.

“Today’s important,” he said.

“I know,” I replied. “That’s why I’m not rushing it.”

He gave a small nod. “Clara already submitted her coordination notes.”

That gave me a brief pause.

Clara’s role in this had been limited. Scheduling access. Internal routing. Minor coordination. Nothing strategic. Nothing sensitive enough to cause damage.

I had been careful about that. After everything that had happened, I didn’t hand out trust freely anymore.

“Did anything stand out?” I asked.

“No,” Daniel said. “Clean. Normal.”

I exhaled and turned back to my work.

The first alert came an hour later.

It wasn’t loud. No alarms. Just a quiet ping from internal compliance. Then another. Then my assistant knocked on the door, her face tight.

“Amy,” she said carefully, “you need to see this.”

She handed me a tablet.

At first glance, it looked harmless. Approval logs. Timing records. Internal route permissions tied to

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9:56 pm PDM

Chapter 397 Today Is Important

Northern supply movement. All real documents. All approved by me.

But something was wrong.

The pages weren’t complete.

Finished

Context was missing. Notes stripped out. Cross–approvals removed. The documents, laid out like this, told a different story. One where safeguards were skipped. One where I had signed off without proper review.

“This isn’t public,” I said sharply.

“Not yet,” she replied. “But it’s spreading internally. Fast.”

My chest tightened.

This wasn’t an accident. These weren’t random files pulled by mistake. Someone had chosen exactly what to release and exactly what to leave out.

Daniel was already on his feet. “Who had access to these logs?”

“A small list,” I said. “Very small.”

We both thought the same name.

Before either of us said it, the door opened again.

Clara stepped inside.

She looked unsettled. Pale. Concerned in a way that read as genuine at first glance.

“I just heard,” she said softly. “I came as soon as I could.”

I studied her without speaking.

She moved closer, holding up her phone. “I’ve already sent my access logs to compliance. Everything I touched, every file I opened. I don’t want there to be any confusion.”

That was fast. Too fast.

“I trusted the process,” she continued. “I trusted that everything had been reviewed properly. If something slipped through, I want to understand how.”

She wasn’t accusing me. That was the clever part.

Daniel crossed his arms. “You didn’t send anything out?”

Her eyes widened. “Of course not. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Her pulse stayed even. Her scent stayed calm. No fear spike. No guilt signal.

Wolves noticed things like that.

Within hours, the atmosphere changed.

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Chapter 397 Today is important

Finished

No one confronted me directly. Instead, they asked questions. Calm ones. Polite ones. Why certain safeguards hadn’t flagged carlier. Why oversight seemed thin at this stage. Why timing mattered so much

now.

Each question landed like weight.

By afternoon, internal chatter had grown louder. Not rebellion. Doubt. The worst kind. Doubt spreads quietly and settles deep.

I stood before a small review panel, Daniel beside me. I answered every question clearly. I explained the missing context. I pointed out what hadn’t been included.

They listened. They nodded.

But I could feel it.

This wasn’t about truth. It was about perception.

In pack logic, intent mattered less than control. A leader didn’t need to be corrupt to lose ground. She only needed to appear stretched.

During a brief recess, I stepped into the corridor to breathe.

That’s when I saw Clara again.

She was speaking softly to two senior staff members. Her posture open. Her tone careful. She glanced up and met my eyes.

For a second, she forgot herself.

The look crossed her face quickly. Controlled. Small.

Satisfaction.

It was gone almost immediately, replaced by concern. But it was enough.

My stomach dropped.

That night, the decision came.

It was delivered with calm words and professional distance.

“For stability,” one of them said. “For now. Just until things settle.”

I was asked to step back from direct oversight.

Temporary. Precautionary. Necessary.

I agreed.

I had no choice.

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