CHAPTER 106: CHAPTER 106 PACK DISCIPLINE

Draven’s POV

I was losing myself in Caroline’s kiss, my hands sliding up her thighs as she straddled me on the new couch.

had deliberately blocked Ryan’s mind-link when I brought Caroline into my office, knowing exactly what I wanted to do with her on every piece of furniture here. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten to silence my phone, and Ryan’s distinctive ringtone ruined the moment.

Caroline giggled against my neck as I groaned in frustration. "Cockblocker friend strikes again," she whispered.

I grabbed my phone. "Ryan, you better have something extremely important to tell me!"

"Sorry, Alpha," Ryan’s voice came through, unusually serious. "But I need you out here right now. It’s urgent."

What now? I hung up with a sigh and gave Caroline one last quick kiss as she climbed off my lap. "I’ll make this up to you later," I promised.

When we stepped out of my office, the scene before us was absolute chaos. Linda was straddling Ava on the floor, yanking her hair and slapping her repeatedly while Ava struggled underneath. Linda was screaming that Ava was an opportunistic whore while Ava shouted for Linda to let her go. Two employees were attempting unsuccessfully to pull Linda off because she had a death grip on Ava’s hair and had locked her legs around Ava’s sides.

"What the hell is going on here!" I roared, my Alpha voice making everyone freeze in place.

"You manipulative little bitch! You worthless trash! I’ll make you regret the day you walked into this office, you home-wrecking she-wolf!" Linda was screaming like she’d lost her mind.

"Congratulations on your public meltdown, you psychotic harpy! Now crawl back to whatever hole you came from!" Ava shouted from beneath her.

"Ryan, Kyle, help get Linda off Ava now!" I commanded, my voice thick with authority.

Finally, they moved. While the other employees, Kyle, and I restrained Linda, Ryan carefully pried Ava’s hair from Linda’s grip. Once we had Linda restrained, Caroline and Ryan helped Ava to her feet, settling her in one of the reception area chairs.

"You just got here and you’re acting like you own the place," Linda spat venomously. "I’ve been with this company for years. I’m a trusted employee!"

"Want respect? Try earning it instead of attacking people," Ava shot back, still being steadied by Caroline and Ryan.

Caroline had called security, who quickly established a barrier between the two women. Alaric was restless inside me, sensing the tension between the two she-wolves.

"You jealous witch! You’re trying to steal my position, but you won’t succeed!" Linda wouldn’t stop screaming.

"At least I don’t need to assault colleagues to feel important," Ava responded.

"Draven, Draven, this conniving little snake is sabotaging me," Linda said, starting to cry theatrical tears. "She wants you to fire me. She told me she’s going to make you get rid of me."

"That’s rich coming from you! I’ve never seen someone lie so shamelessly," Ava was fuming with justified rage.

"ENOUGH!" I roared, my Alpha voice making everyone flinch. "Both of you be quiet right now! This isn’t how pack members behave!" They fell silent immediately. "Did anyone see what happened here?"

"I did, Alpha," Kyle stepped forward. "Ava was explaining to Linda that starting tomorrow, the reception area would be reconfigured according to your instructions. Linda started causing trouble because, according to her, she should be the one making those decisions since she’s been here longer."

"You’ve always hated me, Kyle. That’s a lie!" Linda hissed.

"I’ve had enough, Linda!" I cut her off, feeling my patience evaporate.

"I saw it too, Alpha," Rose, one of our cleaning staff, raised her hand. "That’s exactly what Kyle said. And Linda has been antagonizing Ava since her first day. I’ve seen Linda being cruel to Ava multiple times, even grabbing her arm forcefully when no one was looking."

I looked at Ava closely. She was trembling, disheveled, with scratches on her arm, slap marks on her face, and a small cut on her lower lip. In contrast, Linda looked merely rumpled without a single mark on her.

"Ava, did you attack Linda?" I asked calmly.

"No, Alpha Draven. I only tried to defend myself by blocking her hits, but as you can see, I wasn’t very successful," Ava replied, gesturing to her injured face.

"Do you want me to call the authorities? Will you press charges for assault?" I asked Ava.

"Alpha Draven, this is ridiculous..." Linda started.

"Silence!" I commanded.

"No, Alpha," Ava replied quietly. "I’d prefer to handle this within pack protocols."

I nodded, appreciating her discretion. "Linda, you’re fired effective immediately for assaulting a coworker. And since we have multiple witnesses, I don’t think you’ll contest this. Gather your things. Security will escort you to HR to sign your termination paperwork."

"But Alpha Draven, you can’t do this to me!" Linda wailed, tears streaming down her face.

"Of course I can. This is my company and my pack," I stated firmly. "I don’t tolerate this behavior from anyone, especially not from someone in a position of trust. You’re dismissed from your position effective immediately."

Through the mind-link, I added in a tone only she could hear, “You should consider yourself lucky I’m not casting you out of the pack right now. But hear me—if you stir up trouble again in our territory, banishment will be the least of your worries.”

Linda paled, understanding the severity of my warning. She grabbed her purse while I contacted HR with instructions for her termination. I asked Kyle and Rose to accompany her and sign as witnesses, and instructed security to escort Linda until she was out of the building, making it clear that her access was revoked permanently.

Riley brought ice for Ava to reduce the swelling on her face,and Caroline got the first aid kit to clean her cut lip.

After they took the elevator down, I stood by the reception desk with my arms crossed, watching Ava sit with Caroline, who was trying to comfort her.

"Now, Ava, can you explain what really happened here?" I asked, sensing there was more to the story.

"You needed a legitimate reason to fire her, right?" Ava said calmly. "I gave you one. No way was I going to let that snake near Caroline. The moment you two arrived, she picked up the phone to call Howard to report everything."

I started laughing, and Ava joined in. Everyone else looked at us like we’d lost our minds.

"Ava has been subtly provoking Linda since she started working here," I explained. "We needed a reason to fire her. We hoped Linda would lose it and tell us something bad, but I never thought she’d attack you.Now how am I going to explain this to Joseph? He’s going to want my head on a platter."

"I can’t believe you planned this. It’s clever but sneaky!" Ryan said, laughing. "I was wondering why Ava didn’t fight back at all."

"The urge wasn’t lacking, Ryan," Ava explained with a small smile. "But if I had, she could have used it against me."

"Ava, take the rest of the day off," I told her.

"Absolutely not! I have too much work to do, especially now that Caroline’s back. I’m excited to work with my friend," Ava said enthusiastically.

"You know I have to tell Joseph before you tell Eleanor, and it won’t be long before he shows up here demanding answers, right?"I asked, knowing Joseph would be furious when he learned what happened to his "goddess."

"I’ll deal with Joseph, Alpha. I need to go to the bathroom to pull myself together," Ava said, keeping her pride.

"Take all the time you need! And thank you for your loyalty. Today I’m taking you ladies to lunch!" I said to her and Caroline with a grateful smile. "Come on, Ryan, let’s fill Kyle in on what happened." Kyle had just returned from HR and looked at me curiously.

As we walked away, Alaric rumbled contentedly inside me."Our pack is stronger now without the traitor."