Chapter 321 Power Couple
Author
When the twins hit four months old, Elara started working remotely for Park Hotel Group. She did Zoom calls and strategy sessions from their home office.
But honestly, she was going crazy. She loved the babies more than anything in the world. But she needed something that belonged to her.
So she called HR at Park Hotel Group and pitched a work from home setup.
After three weeks of back and forth, a signed contract, and one seriously secure home office, she was back in the game.
Her days looked nothing like before.
Mornings started at 8 AM sharp with Caleb in a bouncer by her desk and Hailey on a play mat right at her feet.
She would mute her mic to calm a fussy baby, then unmute and keep talking like nothing happened.
The board members stopped caring when a baby scream interrupted their quarterly numbers.
"Sorry, that’s Hailey. She doesn’t like our Q3 strategy."
Her clients thought she was amazing. A power mom, they called her. A woman who could make a deal while holding a baby on each hip.
But the truth was simple. Elara missed using her brain for things other than nap schedules. She missed wearing clothes that weren’t covered in spit up. She missed being Elara, not just mom.
Alpha Dominic watched her from the doorway sometimes.
She would be on the phone, laptop open with spreadsheets, both babies happy and occupied nearby. The sight got him every time.
"You’re staring," she said one afternoon, right in the middle of a call.
He didn’t even try to hide it. "I’m admiring."
"Admire quieter. I’m trying to close a deal."
She was back. Not completely. Not yet. But she was getting there.
--
The Pack’s business operations practically ran themselves at this point. Alpha Dominic went to the pack office maybe three days a week, and spent the other two at home with the pups.
Pack members had learned not to bother him during family time unless someone was bleeding out or the building was on fire.
During a business magazine interview at the New York Business Journal, the reporter asked, "Alpha King, the media has nicknamed you ’the Wolf Pack’s Super Dad.’ How do you feel about that title?"
He didn’t even blink. "How do I feel? I feel sorry for the rest of you. I can change diapers and still make more money than all of you combined. I’m not saying you guys should aim to beat me. Hell, just try to reach my pinky finger first."
The reporters in the room turned bright red. But none of them dared to argue with an Alpha King.
The pack warriors standing by the doors smirked. That was their Alpha.
The story spread through the pack grapevine before Alpha Dominic even made it home. By evening, every wolf in the territory knew their Alpha had put reporters in their place.
When he got home that evening, all that Alpha King confidence disappeared the second he walked through the door.
"Babe, people were mean to me today." He buried his face in the crook of her neck like a sad wolf pup.
Elara pushed him away gently, focused on dangling a toy in front of the babies. "Who could possibly bully you? You’re usually the one doing the bullying. I heard you made a bunch of grown men cry at your interview."
"That’s different. That was business. I need my woman to tell me I’m pretty."
"You’re pretty. Now shut up and let me get Hailey to say ’Mama’ again."
Little Hailey was adorable in her pink dress. Tiny pigtails stuck up on either side of her head, just like her mother’s hair when she let it curl naturally. She looked like a doll come to life.
"Mama!" Hailey’s pronunciation was already clearer than her brother’s.
Caleb, the jealous little wolf he was, crawled toward Alpha Dominic. "Papa!"
"It’s Da-da!" Alpha Dominic corrected him seriously, like a language teacher with zero patience.
Caleb completely ignored the lesson and kept chanting "Papa! Papa!" while drooling all over his father’s expensive Italian shirt.
Alpha Dominic made a face. "Caleb, you’re disgusting! I just had this dry cleaned."
The baby’s face immediately fell. His lower lip trembled. Then he turned and launched himself into Elara’s arms with a dramatic wail.
"Bad!" he declared, pointing at his father like he was testifying in court.
Alpha Dominic blinked. "Did he just tattle on me? He’s four months old."
"Mama, mean." Caleb tattled again, his pronunciation suddenly crystal clear when it came to throwing his father under the bus.
"Dominic!" Elara immediately went into protective mode. "He’s a baby! Stop picking on Caleb. You’re being ridiculous!"
"I wasn’t picking on him! I just said he’s disgusting because he drooled all over my—"
"Don’t argue with me."
Alpha Dominic shut his mouth. He knew that tone.
He looked over at his daughter, hoping for some support. But Hailey was completely absorbed in her stuffed wolf toy, biting its ear and totally ignoring her father’s suffering.
Great. Even his little angel had abandoned him.
"I’m surrounded by women who don’t respect me."
"That’s because you’re dramatic. Go take a shower and cool off."
Alpha Dominic sighed, kissed the top of Caleb’s head as an apology, and headed upstairs.
Being an Alpha King was easy. Being a dad was the real challenge.