Sidra was busy catching up on some work when her phone rang. Beta Edward's voice came to her, a little hesitant:
"Alpha... We lost the deal, it's all his."
Feeling angry, Sidra frowned before saying sharply: "What am I hearing? How did this happen?"
Edward hesitated for a moment before explaining in a strained voice: "They offered a lower price than we did."
Sidra stared in front of her in shock, her mind trying to process it. She muttered after a moment: "But we offered the lowest possible price... How did they get past us?"
"I don't know, ma'am, but they offered almost nothing. I can't imagine how they did it."
Furious, Sidra slammed her fist on the desk and said sharply: "That bastard... He's trying to launder his money."
Sidra hung up the phone sharply, then leaned back in her chair, letting out a heavy sigh of frustration.
On the other side...
Albert picked up his phone, addressing Elias in a triumphant tone: "Boss, we got it."
Elias chuckled, his eyes twinkling slyly before he said: "Well done, Albert! What about the girl? Did she come herself?"
"No, she didn't. I sent her right arm instead."
Elias slumped back in his seat, arching his eyebrows for a moment before muttering with false regret: "Too bad... I would have liked to see her expression when she realized we had taken her away. That girl... She's a true warrior."
He leaned forward, his voice taking on a tone of interest: "I want to know everything about her."
"Well, by evening, all the information will be ready."
Sidra grabbed her phone again, turning it over in her hands thoughtfully. Her hesitation didn't last long before her eyes twinkled slyly. She smiled lightly, then dialed a number burned into her memory, speaking in a tone that combined humor and deceit:
"Oh, dear! I haven't heard your voice in a long time."
A light chuckle came from the other end, imbued with the same slyness:
"And what does the queen want with her darling?"
She pretended to think, though she knew exactly what she wanted. But she had a little fun with the mystery game before she said:
"Hmmm... I need you to hack into someone's accounts."
"Well... Who?" His response was calm, but caution crept into his tone.
She answered as smoothly as if she was asking for something trivial:
"Elias Stephan."
As soon as she said the name, she heard him choke on the liquid he was drinking, stumbling momentarily as he tried to regain his breath.
"M-what?! Elias Stephan? Did I hear that right?" His voice was a mixture of shock and disbelief. "Are you asking me to mess with the head of the most powerful mafia? Are you out of your mind? Do you realize what they call him? The Black Wolf!"
She replied nonchalantly, as if it wasn't worth the panic:
"So what? We're already wolves."
He interrupted her, letting out a muffled curse, before responding sharply:
"Your stubbornness is beyond the pale, Sidra! You're throwing yourself into danger. Playing with fire... with the one who loves her!"
"Blah, blah, blah... The same words I always hear!" Sidra said wearily, before continuing in a condescending tone: "You're all afraid of a man just because he put fear in your hearts to protect his interests!"
On the other side, her interlocutor exhaled impatiently, then ran a hand over his face and said seriously:
"Sidra, you don't know much about Elias. Let me tell you some of the rumors about him."
She raised an eyebrow, pretending to be interested, but really she didn't care much about what he had to say.
But he didn't care about her pretense and continued in a low voice, as if the mere utterance of the words could get him in trouble:
"Elias Stephan is not just a mafia boss... There are rumors that he's a vampire."
Her eyes widened for a moment, before quickly catching herself. She choked for a moment in shock, but held it together, pretending to be unaffected.
"You expect me to believe this nonsense?"
He replied in a firm voice: "You better believe it. No one knows his real age, but he's been controlling the mafia world for over fifty years... Whoever sees him thinks he's only in his mid-twenties."
Now, her interest was piqued. Vampires have been extinct for over a century! They hadn't been heard from in a long time, and now he was telling her that this bastard was one of them?
She spoke with obvious curiosity: "How is that possible? Isn't he human?"
He answered her in a hushed voice, as if he was afraid of being overheard:
"He was... However, in one of the operations he carried out for his former boss, he was fatally injured. He was left for dead, but... Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for everyone else, he was found by an original vampire."
Her breath halted for a moment as he continued in a heavy voice:
"That vampire circled him, then disappeared without a trace. And when Elias woke up, he wasn't just a survivor... He was a monster. That night, he killed everyone who stood against him in the operation, and seized the deal. He returned to his leader, covered in blood, his eyes carrying a new darkness."
She couldn't stop herself from blurting out another question: "And what happened next?"
"When his boss found out who he really was, he realized he was more powerful than he expected. Instead of getting rid of him, he made him his right-hand man, helped him control his bloodlust... But it wasn't easy. It took years of pain and suffering for him to be able to control himself."
Sidra didn't comment. For the first time since the beginning of the conversation, she felt a chill run through her body. Was she in more trouble than she expected?