The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate (Jason and Laila) by Caroline Above Story novel Chapter 61

Jason’s POV

Vanessa was clearly defending William. He even glanced at her with some relief in his face. My eye twitched but I stayed otherwise still.

“That’s not necessary,” I said flatly.

Vanessa nodded. “We should also discuss the trade routes. William’s first suggestion was through an industrial part of town. These are not roads typically traversed by regular commuters. In fact, the most recent surveys show that since the industries here are mostly automated, hardly anyone actually travels on these roads at all. No one should be affected by these routes.”

The more Vanessa was coming to William’s defense, the higher and hotter the fires grew inside of me.

“I’d like to see those surveys,” I said.

“Of course, I have them here.” She reached into her own briefcase and produced a packet of papers which she then passed out.” I brought enough for everyone to see, in case this was brought into question.”

“You are very thorough,” mentioned one of the other partners at the meeting.

“I can’t take the credit,” she said. “William and his company always prepare packets like this. They are a good business and their track record proves it. Even you have worked with them in the past, haven’t you, Alpha Jason? I’ve heard you had nothing but good things to say about them before.”

“Things have changed since then,” I said, with a bit more bite in my voice than before. “William has become not as reliable.”

“In what ways?” Vanessa asked, pushing back just as fiercely as I was pushing. We seemed caught in the middle, glaring at each

other.

Each and every defense she gave for William felt like a knife stabbed into my heart, twisting.

“I don’t need to explain myself to anyone,” I said, my voice deep now, almost a growl.

The others at the table looked at me with some nervousness now, and even started trading worried looks with each other. The tension in the room was rising steadily, and I knew I was the source.

I also knew I was bordering on being unprofessional.

I didn’t care, on either count. The fiery rage inside of me was too much, too loud, too hot. It was all I could focus on, could care

about.

In this moment, William was my enemy. Nothing else mattered while he remained a threat.

Vanessa glowered at me, but even she backed off then, possibly realizing there was no reasoning with me in this moment. The best she could hope to do was regroup and wait for another moment, maybe when I wasn’t being so difficult.

I could acknowledge my own difficulty, my own spikiness, but I didn’t think it would ever go away now, where William was concerned. If Vanessa hoped to convince me, she would be facing a losing battle. 1

When the meeting ended, the mood stayed tense, each person quietly gathering their supplies.

Across the room, I heard William whisper to Vanessa, “We should have dinner tonight with Ava.”

Vanessa gave William a small smile. “That would be nice.”

It was a simple exchange, but it seemed entirely comfortable between them, like they had said these words to each other

hundreds of times.

The sheer domesticity of the quiet moment made me want to rage. I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into my palm.

Chapter 41

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