Free The C Word (Just a Word Book 1) by Kerry Heavens

child and I have done everything I can to prepare for it. Finance
is an orderly way of life that perfectly suits my controlled way of thinking.
My siblings are all on the board, but they all have their own things going on.
Not one of them has what it takes, or cares to try.
    My father’s
pride in me and the knowledge that I am trusted to take over from him as
president when the time comes, is all I’ve ever strived for in life. It is an
honour that every alpha in my family for generations has been bestowed with, so
for it to come to me is incredible indeed. I am no alpha, nor do I claim to be.
But my father is a wise man and there is sense in his decision.
    I hope he
still thinks so after my outburst today. I feel much calmer but I have to get
my shit together because he’s going to want to talk things over the minute I
get home and I’m not sure how I feel. I guess, embarrassed. It felt like a
major drama earlier and now I feel kind of silly. Things have been undoubtedly
tough lately, and then there was meeting T last night. I may have freaked me
out but I felt an ease in his presence I have never experienced. Talk about a
head fuck.
    Dad is never
going to understand, he will tell me to avoid all contact. Not that that’s a
problem, I don’t know how to get hold of T anyway. Although he seemed very
confident when he told me he would see me around. Shit, I don’t like that one
bit, I’m the one who calls the shots. I don’t like that stuff being left to
someone else. And yet, I get a thrill just thinking about him potentially
springing up in my life again.

 
    In a half
daze, I find my way to the estate and follow the private road which forms the
neighbourhood of our pack. To the outside world it looks like just another one
of the many private estates around here. Gated entry, and within the gates, a
small community of large expensive looking homes. The kind you see in
magazines. Driving all the way through brings you to the largest of the houses.
My home and beyond it our expansive land.
    As my car
draws to a halt on the driveway, the front door opens and my father rushes out
with a stern look. I climb out of the driver’s seat and begin to greet him,
when I am interrupted.
    “Your mother
has been worried sick!” Which is ‘Dad’ for, I have been worried sick.
    “I did say I’d
be going home first to get some things.”
    “That was
hours ago son and you haven’t answered your phone and you’ve been blocking me.
What were we supposed to think?”
    I pull my
phone from my pocket and see all the messages and calls I missed. “Sorry, I
didn’t realise.”
    He sighs. “We’re
worried about you, that’s all. Now come in and let your mother fuss over you
and tell me what’s been going on.” He places his arm on my shoulders and guides
me to the door. I lock the car from my key fob as we go inside. I guess I’ll
get my bag later.
    As we enter
the huge kitchen that is the heart of the house and of the pack, my brother,
Alex bellows across the room, “Ahoy!” and stands to attention, giving me a
salute.
    I glance at
my blue and white striped shirt, which I suppose at a push is slightly nautical
and hold in my grumbled reply of, ‘very original’, instead opting for a one
fingered salute of my own, which earns me a lemon to the side of the head.
    Dad takes the
keys from my hand and tosses them to Alex. “Make yourself useful, bring your
brother’s things in from the car and put them in his room.” Then he lets my
mother at me for that motherly once over thing they do when they’re concerned,
even though she only saw me like two days ago. I swear if I let her, she would
check my ears and make me say ‘ah’. Thankfully, Dad comes to my rescue and
tells her he needs to talk shop in his office.
    It’s not
really shop he wants to talk though and my mother knows this. He’s not shutting
her out either. My parents have the most beautiful relationship. He discusses
everything with her; they are very much