Rebirth of the Alpha's Slave Mate (Samantha and Kade) novel Chapter 161

Chapter 161

Kade’s POV

“I’ll have no choice but to pull out of this trade agreement if we can’t come to a compromise, Alpha Atwood. I’m sorry, but I have to look out for my people, too.”

Kade crossed his ankle over his knee beneath the table, leaning forward on his elbows. Across the table, the opposing Alpha glared back at him, his two rather squirrely advisors scribbling furiously on their notepads on either side of him.

They’d been at these negotiations for hours. Kade had other things to handle today, but Alpha Atwood had proven just as stubborn and selfish as he was reputed to be.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Kade?” Atwood slapped his hands on the wood, making his advisors jump. One even dropped his pen and quickly picked it back up with trembling fingers. “I was promised that land in exchange for an extra share of lumber this year. You can’t pull back now.”

Kade turned back to face the Alpha and leveled him with a stern gaze that left no room for argument. To his relief, the Alpha sighed.

“Fine. I will consider giving you the deed to the silver mine in exchange for the land, but not today. I’ll have my Beta contact you when-or if-I make a decision.” With that, Atwood snapped his fingers at his advisors, and all three moved to stand in unison.

Kade could only watch in horror as all three men immediately tumbled over themselves, crashing to the floor in a cacophony of shouts and clattering chairs.

“Why, I never!” Atwood scrambled to untie his shoelaces, which had somehow been knotted together while he was sitting. “You know what? The deal’s off!”

The three men picked up what remained of their dignities and took off, the door slamming behind them hard enough to rattle the paintings hanging on the wall. Kade’s jaw clenched when he heard the tiny giggle come from beneath the table. He strode over, dropping to a crouch, and lifted the tablecloth.

As suspected, he found Ivy sitting on the floor beneath the table, grinning like the cat that got the cream.

“Ivy, what have you done?” Kade asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Come out here this instant.”

The dark-haired little girl scampered out from under the table and looked up at him with those big blue eyes that were always so hard to say “no” to. She knew exactly how to push his buttons, exactly how to piss him off and soften him at the same time.

Worst of all, the seven-year-old reminded Kade of Samantha.

Not the broken, tired Samantha who had died during childbirth. But the childhood version of her- rambunctious and energetic, willful and stubborn. And lately, she’d become more of all of those things than usual. More than Kade could handle, that was for sure. Gone were the sickly days of her infancy, replaced by a little girl who ran Kade ragged.

“Why did you do that?” Kade asked, struggling to control his temper.

“Those guys were mean.” Ivy shrugged and stuck her thumbs under the straps of her overalls. “I was helping

Chapter 161

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you.”

“You weren’t…” Kade rubbed my temples, feeling a headache forming already. “Ivy, I told you to play in your room. You’re not supposed to be in here.”

“But it’s boring in my room!” Ivy stomped her foot and crossed her arms. The way she wrinkled her nose and pushed out her chin in indignation was both cute and frustrating at once.

Just then, the door opened. Serena, wearing a golden dress that made her hair look like it held the sun, swept into the room. She hadn’t aged a day over the past seven years, although her eyes had grown harder, especially whenever she saw Ivy.

“There you are! Misbehaving again, I take it,” Serena barked. “Go to your room, missy!”

Ivy stuck her tongue out at Serena and stormed past, knocking her shoulder into Serena’s hip as she strode by. Serena gasped and practically shoved the child out of the room with a hot huff, slamming the door behind her.

The hatred between Ivy and Serena wasn’t unnoticed by Kade. Ever since Ivy recovered from her illness and Kade brought her back to the Alpha House, it was as if a switch had flipped. As Ivy grew, she and Serena seemed to resent each other more and more.

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