ra
small box f
the ribbon and
ap, mass-produce
uld buy at any corner
r lump in my throat a
red, the words feelin
ning his massive
y Alpha frame across the roo
gle, hot tear escaped and struck t
of the coffee tabl
asked, my voice steady de
es. "The territory negotiations took h
without a sin
ctly. "Are you hidi
e, reaching out
cles around his eyes remained inert, a strained and hollow performance.
to his lips and
is breathing evened ou
ed in
I clearly saw the faint smudge
ng perfume of Sele
ed from his pocket and lande
p with a new mes
from
ight, Alpha. The
d into the plastic casing of my own phone that
hat my thumbprint remained a registered key. I pressed it
s messages
er. There were photographs of a design
found the bank tra
rom the Pack's emergency funds to b
he messages and opened the P
as struggling, that we had to
n like swallowing crushed ice spread from my stomach, a chill that crept up my spine, yet
k CEO were massive. Ther
s offshore
ared Pack accounts over the last year. The latest transfer mem
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