♥ 5 Years Later ♥.

It wasn't the way the office buzzed with people trying to make sure things were set for the board meeting later. Left for Zach, he would skip the whole thing and go sign attendance in some local bar. He loved spending time there these days instead of attending to the affairs of the office.

Who could blame him? He was a lost man.

He had no idea where Alina was and the worst part was that she was with his child. Each day that passed by, Zach was more frustrated than ever and he took that out on everyone around him.

In the past years, he had become way more ruthless and careless to the mix.

"It's time for the meeting sir." His secretary said,

Zach glared hard at her as he stood up, straightening his jacket and following her out. He didn't want to be present for this board meeting. Heck. He didn't even like going for board meetings but James had been able to convince him that the collaboration with this pack would be good for the pack.

In the end, despite whatever he was going through, he was an Alpha and had to act like one.

When they arrived at the company, Zach walked into it like he owned the place. He looked around, taking in every detail of the place when something hit him on the leg.

He looked down to see it was a red balloon ball. Zach frowned slightly, picking it up. Just then a little boy dressed in a school uniform ran to him, stopping right in front of him.

"What?." Zach asked, his frown still in place. He had never been around children and didn't know how to act or what to say to the child.

The child pointed at the balloon. "It's mine." The boy said.

Zach looked at the boy, a crease forming on his forehead. He shuddered uneasily when he realized the boy had his eyes. There was no mistaking it.

"Here." He said handing it over to the boy. "And where's your mother? Surely this isn't the place for a child to be in." Zach snapped, annoyed that a woman had left her son in her place of work.

The boy shook his head, springing to the defense of his mother. "My mum works here. She's quite known too. Soon she'll be out and we'll leave." He replied with a smile on his face as he kicked the ball elsewhere.

Zach was about to ask him further questions when a woman walked up to him with a fixed smile in place.

"Luna will see you now. Everyone's waiting." She said leading Zach.

Alina chewed on her pen in her office as she thought of ways she could excuse herself out of the board meeting and go attend to her five year old son. A knock on her office door brought her out of her thoughts as she turned her seat to find her secretary and Beta Carl standing in her office.

"Thank goodness you're here Carl. I was going to tell you I can't make the board meeting. Roy's out of school so early and I can't leave him by himself." Alina said, gathering her things as she prepared to leave.

"No Luna. You can't leave. This meeting is really important." Carl replied, stopping Alina. " And you don't have to worry about Roy. He's in the lobby playing. I brought him straight from school here because I thought you'd want to have him closer." He quickly added.

Alina breathed out a sigh of relief, sinking back into her chair. She was grateful that Roy was close by but somehow it irked her that she couldn't ditch the damn board meeting.

"What's with the clients we're having today? I've seen everyone on edge and I'm really wondering why because if anything, we should be quite confident." Alina said .

Carl nodded his head, straightening his suit. "Yeah. I looked them up and well if we were to match them as a competitor, we'd be going with one as strong as ours." He replied.

Alina leaned into her chair, swaying from side to side. "And you don't find it suspicious that they want to be in business with us? Instead of taking us down and taking all the profit?" She countered.

A woman walked in suddenly into Alina's office.

"Luna. The clients are here. Everyone's waiting for you in the boardroom." She said,

Alina shook her hand at her, signaling her to leave as she left. She looked into Carl's eyes, sighing deeply. She didn't know why but she wasn't comfortable with whomever these clients were. A lot of companies which came to her company to collaborate usually did so because they were in dying need of a profit.

"Let's go." She said to Carl, leading the way to the board room.

Alina walked with confidence into the boardroom, taking a seat comfortably as she looked at everyone in the boardroom all seated.

"Good day gentlemen and ladies." Alina said. She was about to continue when she noticed an empty seat.

"Are we expecting anyone?." She asked, looking at Carl.

Her question was answered as someone walked into the boardroom, walking straight to the empty seat and sitting down.

Alina felt her breath seize as her heart pounded frantically in her chest. It couldn't be. She could not believe this was real. It was him and damn him because her heart had skipped a beat the way it used to at just seeing him again.

Their eyes collided and Alina smirked as his mouth opened in shock.

"I guess that answers my question. Welcome Alpha Zach. You're just in time for the presentation." Alina said with a smile as she stood up.

Carl's questioning eyes didn't go unnoticed by her but Alina pretended not to see it.

Immediately after the presentation, Alina was pleased there had been no delegation and everyone had agreed. She was about to leave the board room and as she passed by Zach he stood up, holding her wrist.

"Let me go." Alina gritted out, taking her hand out of Zach's hold and leaving. She was able to take the elevator, making Zach use the stairs as he ran after her.

Alina got to the lobby, looking around for Roy but could not find him. She walked up to the receptionist.

"Where's Roy? He was meant to be here at the lobby." She said, her eyes already going crazy.

"Luna.." the receptionist started but Alina wasn't interested in anything she had to say as she walked outside, hoping he was playing outside.

Alina walked out to see Roy being hauled into a van.

"Roy!." Alina yelled out, her heart pounding frantically in her chest.

She quickly walked back into the lobby to get her car keys when she bumped into Zach.

"Alina please..."

"Zach please not now. Give me your car keys." Alina said sharply.

"What?." Zach asked, confused.

"Your keys! They are taking my son! I have to save him!." Alina yelled out, tears springing to her eyes as she sighted Carl who broke into a race to meet her.

"What do you mean..." Zach started out.

"You heard me. My son was just kidnapped! Our son!." She yelled out.

Zach took hold of her running to where his car was parked as they both got in, driving after the kidnappers.

Alina's POV

My heart pounded against my chest as Zach's car tire screeched. He turned the wheel quickly and drove into the street like he was in some kind of a street racing competition.

I had never seen him in such actions before, but it seemed like he was used to it and maybe he could have been practicing a lot lately.

I fastened the seat belt as the speed of the car increased, my hand going numb as I clutched them against the seat.

Although I didn't really care about how he drove at that moment, my major aim was to get my son back from those criminals. But I didn't know if Zach would succeed.

"Zach," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, "do you really think we will find him?"

He didn't take his eyes off the road. His jaw was tight. "We will. I am not letting anything happen to my son, Roy."

With that, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. I didn't know who it was but I was certain the call was for backup.

"My son is being held hostage by some unknown men, Black van, East, City Main road." He said and dropped the phone beside him.

"Who was that?" I asked.

He didn't reply to me, his focus was on the wheel.

I was surprised, because I knew at Zach's age, he would definitely need an heir to his pack and that was my son, Roy. The pack would do anything to protect him and that includes Zach, even though he never accepted me back then.

While we followed the car trail, another call came on Zach's phone.

Zach picked the phone and put the call on speaker.

"We spotted the van on Highway, heading north," said a deep voice. "We're tailing it. You better hurry."

Zach didn't reply. He just stepped on the gas, and the engine roared.

I looked out the window, trying to stay calm, but my hands were shaking. My little boy. My baby. Someone had taken him, and I hadn't been able to protect him.

"We are gonna get him back," Zach said suddenly, softer this time. "I promise, Alina."

My mind was still heated up but I felt a little bit of peace because of his words. He was a man of his words and the fact that his team had found the van made my heart calmer.

I turned towards Zach whose eyes were still focused on the road, they were covered with rage, the anger to tear the criminals apart. And for the first time, I saw how much I mattered to him.

He turned the wheel and headed towards the north. And after a few minutes' drive, he finally arrived at a narrow road the map they sent to Zach had described.

Two black SUVs were parked by the side, and a few men in suits stood around with their sharp claws.

"That's them," Zach said, pulling over.

"Who?" I asked as I loosened my seat belt.

Zach jumped out of the car, and without hesitation, I followed right behind him.

One of the men who looked familiar but I couldn't remember walked towards Zach. "Welcome Alpha," he said.

"Where are they, Kelvin?" Zach asked.

"They stopped at an old building," Kelvin said. "We have got them surrounded. They couldn't drive further so they ran away, leaving the kid behind."

My heart suddenly stopped racing. "Where's Roy?" I demanded without delay.

Kelvin pointed behind him.

"He's safe. Scared, but unharmed."

I didn't wait. My legs moved before my mind did. I ran past the SUVs, past Zach's men, and then I saw my son.

"Roy..." I called out.

He was seated inside one of the cars, although the door was open. His eyes were filled with tiredness and worry. I knew how exactly he could be feeling at that moment, the fact that he was almost kidnapped.

The moment he saw me, he jumped out of the car and ran towards me. "Momma," he called out.

I couldn't help but open my hands wide to embrace him. When he got to me, I wrapped my hands around him and before I could make a blink, he had broken free from my grip.

What's happening? Where was he going?

The next thing, my little boy was in Zach's arms like he had known him before now. I couldn't remember introducing Zach to him as his father.

What was with the whole interest? The bond at that moment was unexplained.

Zach wrapped his arms around him like he would never let go. "I have got you, buddy. You are safe now."

Tears welled in my eyes, imagining how beautiful they were together. But I was jealous and still wondered how Roy had made it look like I didn't even exist at that moment.

"I was so scared," Roy sobbed into Zach's shoulder. "They said they were gonna take me far away."

Zach looked him in the eyes. "They are never touching you again. Ever."

Roy sniffled. "Promise?"

"I promise."

I walked towards them and kissed Roy's forehead and stroked his hair.

"You are okay, sweetheart. You are fine now."

"Thank you mom," Roy said, but his grip never left Zach's hand.

Could it be he was drawn to his father? I didn't want to believe that because I wasn't going to allow him to take my boy, Roy away from me. Not now that I had finally learnt how to leave with the boy by my side.

I was supposed to be happy that the boy might easily accept his father, but my heart was swirling. It was covered with confusion, a type I couldn't tackle even if I wanted to.

Zach had only just come into our lives... and now he was the hero?

I said nothing. Just stood beside them and wrapped an arm around Roy, careful not to interrupt the moment. I had to keep it together, and that was for Roy's sake. The last thing he needed was more chaos.

"We should go to my place, I will arrange for dinner." Zach said, his eyes flickering towards me. "The child is hungry and needs to break out from this fear that had gripped him."

I chuckled and turned my face away. "Don't think this would change anything, I can't accept you back into my life, Zach and don't even think you can blackmail me, using our son."

"Can't you see how happy he is, don't deprive him from the things he could acquire from being an heir to my pack. He would be the next Alpha," Zach insisted.

My eyes flickered around, making Roy's attention somewhere else before I spoke again. I couldn't let the boy know the trust just yet.

"The boy was just frightened and that's all, get your mind off it."

Zach didn't say a word until we got to his car. He opened the door for Roy to go inside, but I stopped him.

"We aren't going to your place, maybe you could help bring another car to take us to the place where I joined you." I suggested.

Zach's eyes widened in surprise. "What's all this Alina?" He asked, his voice gradually rising. "Is it obvious that I want you back now?"