“This is complete bullshit!”

Kara stormed out of the office, drawing the eyes of every employee in the main space. Heads poked up over the tops of cubicles like meerkats on the savannah as the irate alpha stormed past, down the hallway, and into the restroom. She paced the small sitting area outside the toilets, fighting the urge to hurl one of the atrocious pink-upholstered chairs across the room or slam her fist into the closest mirror. It had been years since the last time she did any property damage, but it had also been years since she had been this angry.

The door opened and her aunt entered the room, looking like Kara’s opposite in almost every way. Her blue eyes were cold and calculating where Kara’s were flaming with emotion, her dark hair was down in immaculate curls where Kara’s blonde locks were rapidly escaping the ponytail she kept them in, her suit was impeccably crisp whereas Kara’s blouse and trousers were rumpled from her outburst.

“What?” Kara demanded as her aunt’s passive expression just stoked her furor.

“Do you really think such an outburst will change things?” Astra asked patiently. “If anything it just proves your parents’ point— you aren’t ready.”

Kara snorted. “They’re dead, how could they possibly know if I’m ready or not? And how can you say that I’m not ready? I’ve worked for this company for years, just like they asked. I’ve worked in every department, at every level. I know my employees, I respect my employees, from the custodians who clean up in the evenings and the mail boys who deliver packages to Phipps up there in the executive suite— I don’t like him, but I respect him. How can you say that I’m not ready to lead this company?”

“You’re impulsive,” Astra said evenly. “You charge into quarrels without thought. When you’ve got your mind made up, you refuse to listen to the advice of others. You think of your employees in your decisions, yes, but you often lack the ability to see how your decisions will play out in the long run. It’s not that you’re not a good leader for this company Kara— it’s that you could be better.”

“And you think having a mate and a child would make me better?” Kara demanded.

Astra clenched her hands in thought. “Your parents thought so. I know you weren’t old enough to remember them the way I do, but you’re very similar to Zorel. He was a good leader, but impulsive, smart, respectful, but he lacked vision. When he and Alura married, it changed him, and when they had you… Suddenly he had more to think about than just himself, he had a legacy. I imagine when they wrote this clause, they believed that they would be here with you when this time came, that they would be able to guide you.”

“But they’re not,” Kara said bitterly. “I have you, though. Surely there’s something you can do about this, Aunt Astra.”

Astra sighed. “I’ve spoken to the attorneys. Your parents’ wills are ironclad, Kara. Contesting it would put us in litigation for years, it would mean removing you from the company for that time and leaving you with less than you have now. Not to mention the press for the company and how it would affect our numbers.”

“So the easiest thing to do would be for me to just accept it, is that what you’re saying?” Kara asked.

“You know, having a mate and children isn’t exactly the end of the world,” Astra told her. “If I remember correctly, there was a time when you wanted just that.”

Kara bristled. “Yeah, well, that was a long time ago.”

“To you, perhaps,” Astra shrugged. “Of course, to me it wasn’t very long ago when we were playing hide and seek in the gardens at your father’s estate and you were little more than a flaxen-haired cherub. Now here we are discussing business negotiations and mates.”

Kara sighed, sitting in one of the ugly pink chairs. She pulled her hair loose and pulled off her glasses so she could pinch the bridge of her nose, hoping to alleviate the headache she could feel coming on. “So I have…”

“Three months,” Astra told her. “You must obtain a mate and conceive an heir in three months, or your shares in the company are forfeited.”

“And how exactly do I get that done in three months?” Kara demanded, though her earlier anger had faded slightly.

“Well you’ve known about this clause in your parents’ will since your eighteenth birthday, so forgive me if I don’t pity you for procrastinating,” Astra said. “But if you at least have the mate part, perhaps we can push a bit on the heir part of the contract. Conception can be a tricky thing, balancing heats and ruts and…”

“I’m aware,” Kara grumbled. She stiffened her spine and stood, smoothing down her blouse and trousers. Astra circled around her and began gently pulling her hair back into a neat updo, her long fingers soothing along Kara’s scalp much like she remembered her mother doing when she was a child.

“There,” Astra said as Kara replaced her glasses. “Now, go apologize to Mr. Jones and his associates for your outburst. I won’t have my niece being seen as some beast of an alpha who can’t control her testosterone.”