Alpha's Faire

XV

"You'll have to forgive me," his chilled voice sent shivers down her spine as his gray eyes turned to steel. "But, your father's work focused on several things on the orchid, but it never touched on modifying its basic structure."
Jexanna looked away from him, his gaze. Even in a state of controlled rage, he still lit something inside of her. She decided to call it, her sense of approaching danger.

"My father enjoyed preparing his work ahead of any experimentation, doing theoretical work most of the time." She replied, trying to block the memories of her father scribbling away on any surface he could find at a moments notice. "Therefore, most people are unaware that majority of his work has never been seen nor published. It was mostly theoretical. My father had a theory when I was young that the orchid's structure and genetic code, if modified, would potentially increase its benefits and properties ten fold." She tried to seem as calm as possible, or at least seem nervous for even bringing this up. But she was well aware that the man was honing in on her reactions as his eyes watched, waited for a slip up. His stare sent shivers down her spine, chills that brushed against her core. It was unnerving, the sensations that were filling her being.

"But he never actually did the experiment?" Raphael crossed his arms, brow raised pointedly at her. His voice, God. It was deeper and raspier as his rage snuck through. Jexanna steeled herself, because this was a game, a dance, a battle to see who could slip up first. And she sure as hell wasn't going to lose.

"No," she replied. She did. She created one successful batch after her father had died. It was when she was gaining large success on the black market for the first time. She knew of her father's theory, and attempted to make it. But she found it was too risky to release at even four times it's strength. It could easily lead into severe overdoses. Which was why, she destroyed that batch and her notes. But her infamous partner, Damien, must have pulled seeds, knowing their strength before she did. He grew and distributed that strain behind her back. It honestly shouldn't have been a surprise. But she still couldn't believe it. Jexanna did her best to clench her fists at the reminder. She wasn't alone. Alpha Raphael Stone was present. And she doubted he wasn't picking up any of this. The man was too good at reading people.

"Did you make the strain then?" The words pierced her heart. She narrowed her eyes. He didn't wait to cut to the point.

"Any fool could see that this strain should never have been made, let alone released to the public?" She hissed in fury at him. Rage filled her with ire directed at the Alpha who was able to make the connection, the fool who stole from her, and most of all, herself for making the damn strain in the first place.

"Dr. Lewis, you're the only one that had access to your father's research." He reminded her.

"Do you really think I'd deal this, knowing that it could kill so easily? Do you think I'd disgrace my father like that?" She felt the fury rise to the top.

"I don't know, Dr. Lewis." Alpha Stone's tone was calculating, cold. "It's not like there weren't any rumors about you after he passed."

It was at that moment that Jexanna had a choice. She could have done the smart thing and let it go, play off the comment, and keep her cool like Shou had trained her to do. If it were anyone but him, that's what she would have done. Owned up to the reality of her reputation, pretend to even flirt with the Alpha.

But there was something about his gaze at her, pure steel. He saw her, through her facade, understood that she wasn't what she was rumored to be. It unnerved her. She didn't like to be exposed, but the longer she stayed in his presence, that's what she felt. Exposed.

She couldn't help but snap.

"Everyone grieves differently, Alpha Stone." The words came out low and dangerously calm. "So just remember as you think about those rumors, that the woman sitting in front of you, is not the girl who was orphaned ten years ago. People change, and I would expect you of all people to understand that. " She hissed back, pushing herself up out of her seat.

"After all, your pack, not too long ago, hoarded the orchid to themselves. Their creed was to not give a shit about the outside, if I remember correctly. Your father only allowed mine access to the damn thing because he was dying, after all. Even that came with the stipulation that the research was going to be used for him alone." She saw his jaw tick in response. But at this point, she didn't care. Jexanna gathered her packet and began for the door.

But as she took her first step, a warm hand went touched her shoulder. Electricity ran through her body at the touch. She didn't bother to turn around, but she didn't move towards the door either. Instead, she stayed.

"Watch your next statement, Dr. Lewis." The deep voice warned. She resisted the sensation of falling that was overwhelming her being. His voice was irritatingly addictive and damn attractive. "I apologize if I stepped out of line."

"Which you did." She interrupted.

"But you still haven't answered the question." He pointed out. "So that makes me think you have something to hide."

Well shit. Jexanna sighed and turned around to face him. He towered over her, eyes softer now, albeit much more like iron is softer than steel, but she was going to take what she could. She would have to be honest to him in her answer, otherwise, he would know.

"I did find his theory after he had passed. I thought it was sound, and wanted to purse it. But I knew Whitehaven would never approve. So I looked to other sources." Jexanna admitted to him. "I had reviewed the possibilities and found the black market was the best option. But my research and my fathers were both stolen when I tried to get the seeds from the black market."

"And so that was how you were able to lead the FLA to the dealer?" Raphael asked, still unreadable. But Jexanna continued.

"That was when I decided that the dealer needed to be turned in." She nodded. "I told Commander Trellis about the dealer and my research. The dealer has actually trashed my lab when he stole everything, so I tried to see if the FLA would recover it."

"So you could pursue it still?"

"After almost being killed for it?" Jexanna rose a brow at the statement. "Please. I wanted to burn it all at that point. But the FLA's raid resulted in their operating base in being burned to the ground. So I thought it was safely destroyed."

"But you were wrong." He nodded, understanding.

"Yes, I was wrong." She spat out, fists clenched. "And people died as a result, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop doubting me and my intentions. I wanted to start that research to help people, but now it's killing them. I'm going to spend the rest of this and possibly my life, making up for that."

She hadn't lied entirely. The emotions, the guilt, the rage were all true. She was going to spend the rest of her life, trying to rectify the situation. It meant that after all this was said and done, she would have to track down Damien's customers and destroy every single gram of the orchid.

But was emotion enough to fool Alpha Stone?
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So this was first chapter written entirely on mobile...I'm sorry if it's not edited.