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“Two. I’ll provide you with an heir in two years and secure the throne.”

My voice sounded alien to me—like someone else was saying the words. Still, it was enough to silence the crowd, and the meeting progressed to more important things.

“You have to act fast. They’re growing in numbers as the days go by,” Elder Gideon, my father’s personal advisor, said in a hushed tone as the room emptied. I nodded, promising to do my best.

I didn’t know how I was going to do it, frankly. I didn’t think much about it before I answered, but I guess if sleeping with Lilith was what it would take for me to lead my people into the future I dreamed of, then it was a little sacrifice to make for the greater good. I just had toget my head ready for it and time the occasion to align with her fertile period.

*****

I had made so much progress, and I was so close to achieving my dreams that I couldn’t let anything mess with that, especially now that my half-brother had resurfaced and declared a sudden interest in the throne.

“It’s time for your meeting with the board, my prince.” Michael, my personal assistant, informed me, and I got off my chair and followed him to the car.

It was barely noon, and I was already exhausted and ready to call it a day. But this was a deal I’d been working on for almost a year, and I would not let Lilith’s antics or the court’s power tango ruin it for me.

Partnering with Donovan Pharmaceuticals and scientific research would be a turning point in the paranormal community.

While we share physical characteristics with humans, our physiology couldn’t be more different. Our spines are flexible and modified to accommodate shifting. Our muscles bulk better, we heal at an incredibly fast pace, our blood group does not belong in their ABO system, and our heartbeats are a lot faster than theirs.

As welcoming and open-minded as humans may claim to be, it’s common knowledge that they do not respond well to change and have a track record of destroying whatever they don’t understand. So, staying under the radar has become very important to our survival.

While we’ve made tons of progress in the tech space and have successfully manipulated the entertainment industry into thinking that we only existed as fantasies and nightmares, the health sector was proving to be more difficult to break into, but Donovan was going to change that.

With them, we would get the license to build a lab and conduct scientific experiments without constant intrusion or sanctions from the government. They would get the funding they needed, and we would get a space to run our tests without risking exposure.

The meeting kicked in as soon as I got to the conference room with the company lawyer reviewing the final adjustments to our agreement. It was a step I saw as unnecessary since I would be signing the document regardless, but the board said it was due process. So I sat, counting down the minutes until the due process was over.

“Errrrr… I think you might want to see this.” Micheal whispered, stretching out his tablet to me.

At almost the same time, one of the board members flicked on the TV, and the face of the CEO of Donovan Pharmaceuticals filled the screen, his voice laced with excitement as he talked extensively about how he had just sealed a deal that would steer his career in the direction he had been dreaming of.

“I didn’t realize you could talk about an unsigned deal on television like that,” I mused, leaning back into my chair.

“The contract for the research party has been signed, just not with us.” Michael’s voice was controlled and careful.

I clenched my fist under the table, holding in the growl threatening to spill from me and willing myself to remain calm in the company of humans.

The dirty swine,my wolf hissed inside me, and I couldn’t agree more.

Kelvin Smith, the current CEO of Donovan had given his word on how the deal was practically done and what was left of it was mere paperwork. Yet, here he was, beaming at the camera with twinkling eyes like a teenage girl speaking to her crush for the first time andtalking about how he just signed a deal that would turn his entire career around and set Donovan on a path to groundbreaking success.

“Bastard.” My COO slammed his fist on the table, shaking up the room, but I remained calm, searching my brain for loopholes and how to salvage the situation.

“Who did they partner with?” If the company was good enough, maybe we might have something to offer, and we might form some sort of partnership. This wasn’t a deal I was willing to let go of without a fight.

“Diamond Corp,” Michael replied, and an alarm went off somewhere in my head.

“Diamond Corp? Do we have any history with them?”

“Not directly, sir, but they’ve beaten us to a deal twice this year.”

Twice? Once was a chance of fate. Twice might be a coincidence, but three was definitely a pattern, and I haven’t come so far in business by not paying attention to patterns.

“Who is the CEO? What do they do, and what do they want?”

Michael pushed his tablet at me, and a document containing information on Diamond Corporation was displayed on the screen.

“I conducted a thorough search on the company after they came for the second deal. They appear to be a finance company and have a long history of expansion through mergers and acquisitions.”