The Beginning (2)

The moment she left her office, the chauffeur took her directly to Aspen Airport, and the flight was booked, so a plane would take her to Denver Airport in Washington, where she had another car that was to be on standby 20 minutes before her arrival time. This car would then directly take her to the office before dropping her belongings at the hotel she frequented during her trips there.

Upon arrival at the airport, her door was opened for her and she stepped out to find her Beta, Duncan Balor, waiting for her. 

The crisp mountain wind whipped around them, refreshing Nox, and carrying with it a crisp, minty scent of pine and lavender, which created a soothing effect. The twilight sky looked even more ethereal, especially because they could easily see the sun gently setting behind the mountains around them.

"What brings you here, Duncan?" She said, her tone flat. He motioned to the side of him, and a female beta appeared, bowing in reverence to her. She glanced at the lady, recognizing her as one of the Beta warriors of her pack. If her memory served her right, the woman before her with hazel-coloured eyes and flowing brown hair was called Lila.

"Why is Lila here?" She asked, her gaze resting on Duncan's face. The person in question smirked at her, the smirk seemingly holding endless promises of dangerous mischief.

"I brought her as George's replacement." He said, knowing that today was the last day that George would breathe, and knowing his Alpha, she'd want a replacement within the hour. Just as he thought, a small smirk bloomed on Nox's face, and she nodded and headed for the boarding gates, Lila and Dale trailing after her. 

Duncan, satisfied with the outcome, returned to the pack house to continue with his duties until Nox's return. Nox boarded the plane, deciding then and there that she'd take a nap first, knowing that what she was about to do would ensure she got no sleep. 

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It was 1:00 am by the time she arrived at the company doors, where the staff, who had all been informed of her arrival, all except George, opened the doors for her, giving her a silent welcome as they awaited instructions. They had all completed their daily obligations and had no pending tasks, which was expected of them, as they were the best of the best.

Nox nodded in acknowledgement, heading straight to the elevators with Dale and Lila in tow. Dale pressed the button that went straight to the top floor, where the Director's office was located. A minute later, they stepped out of the elevator to find a beautiful blond beta with icy-blue eyes waiting for them. The moment she stepped out, the beta bowed in respect and did not lift her face.

"Francene," Nox spoke,"... where's the little rat?" She asked, her cool, clipped tone seemingly lowering the temperature in the area. She had not even released her pheromones, not that she ever had or ever needed to. Her narrowed eyes and regal stance already spoke volumes of her dominance, all without her input. Francene swallowed audibly, beads of sweat forming on her brow as she struggled to find a way to explain to her Alpha that George was, in fact, out of the office at the moment. She battled with it for a few seconds before deciding that her life was more important than George's , especially now that the Alpha was directly involved in the matter.

"He is out of the office at the moment, Alpha." She eventually said, unable to lift her head to glance at the woman before her. Nox's eyes narrowed, almost amused at the audacity of the creature. Though, she supposed, this made everything so much easier now.

"Lift your head Francene." She spoke, strolling past her with relaxed, graceful steps that reminded one of a panther stalking its prey. Francene quickly caught up, opening the office door for her Alpha and waiting in front of the desk for further instructions.

Dale and Lila followed Nox, positioning themselves like Francene had. Nox sat down and looked at them, figuring out what instructions should be given to each.

"Dale. I want you to work with the employees to figure out what bullshit marketing strategy was used, why it tanked, and if and how we can salvage this situation." Dale nodded, heading out of the office, quickly heading to the elevator and down to the employees gathered. 

"Now that that's complete, Francene, get me the report on the product and all its features. I also want you to take Lila though the daily operations of the branch, as she is to be George's replacement. Then, I want the both of you to help Dale and the employees then present the results to me in one of the meeting rooms." 

"Yes Alpha." They both said, bowing before hurrying off to do their assigned tasks. Francene walked in five minutes later, handing her a file that contained the product and its features before walking out to begin giving pointers to Lila. It was a brand new app that was supposed to act as an online fashion store, offering options for clothes, shoes and accessories. 

The product itself was not a bad idea, as more clothing apps were always needed by the globe's inhabitants. The problem was how to make the app appeal to the masses in a way that has not been utilized before. Nox spent the better part of three hours perusing different known marketing strategies and figuring out how they can be used to present the product.

A knock on the door interrupted her concentration as Dale walked in after confirming her assent.

"Alpha, we've completed the task and I 've sent the employees home and allowed them to report at 10:00am instead of the usual 8:00 am." She nodded, concurring with sending the employees home today, as they have a lot of work ahead of them later in the day, no doubt they needed some rest.

"Alright, then let me see the findings. " She said, standing and following Dale out of the office and into the hallway, before entering the only meeting room on the top floor and sitting down at the head of the table.

"Alright, you three, let's see what you've come up with." She said, watching as Lila and Francene began the presentation.

"This product is unique, as it not only offers clothes, it offers shoes and accessories, where the three can be merged to form an outfit in order to view whether they match, but it also offers a chat system where the consumer can ask for fashion tips and advice on how to style the articles. " Francene began, before Lila took over.

"The product is outstanding, but was promoted through the use of social media influencers, when the default strategy, which was the use of content marketing, failed due to a mismatch between the product information and features. However, the problem lies with the use of influencers, as they are unable to bring out the use of the full features available." Lila spoke, turning to Dale, who took over.

" After thinking about it and even consulting the IT team, we agreed that the best option for the app was to add the use of augmented reality as a feature, then use a brand ambassador as well as adverts to skyrocket the popularity of the app. After many choices, we decided to use Alcee Williams, the model who single-handedly started a fashion brand that blew some big-name brands out of the water as the brand ambassador." He said, all three of them turning to Nox. 

A small smile graced her face, letting them know that they had done well in the excecution of the task.

"Since everything has been taken care of, is there a relaunch date set? And is the app going to be renamed? The name Beaux seems to have been accounted for." Nox said, turning to them.

"Of course, Alpha." Lila spoke," The date has been set to two week from now, and that includes four tests for the product before its relaunch. We also decided to leave the renaming up to you as we could not seem to come up with a name ourselves." Lila said, turning to Nox.

"Very well, the name of this app shall now be Cadhla. Let's complete this project soon. Lila, meet me in the office alone and let Francene help Dale with finalizing the specifics before the employees return. " Nox said, sighing at the work that George caused. She stood up, walking back to the office, Lila trailing behind her.

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Nox sat, motioning for Lila to take a seat in front of her, though she doubted that Lila would take the seat, a doubt which was proven to be true within seconds, as Lila just politely shook her head at the gesture.

"Alright, Lila, I want a report on on the ins and outs of the company from what you have deduced." Nox spoke, knowing full well that due to her nature, Lila had already memorized everything about the company.

"Yes, Alpha. I have observed that while the employees certainly do their best and put their all into their tasks, the former director had little to no involvement with the running of the branch. He left most of his managerial tasks to Francene. There is also a discrepancy with the allotted budget and its utilization. Finally, he seems to have some shady dealings with the Whiteshore Pack. That is all, Alpha." Lila finished. It seemed like the training that she had put all the warriors of the pack through was more than adequate. Which was demonstrated by Lila's exceptional observation.

"Good work Lila. I presume you have already completed your training on the management?" Nox asked.

"Yes Alpha. There would be no issues even if I was to take over management right this second." Lila replied.

Nox was pleased with this answer, especially because she was well aware that the reason Duncan had sent Lila over was due to her excellent memory, a quality she had observed in person during the warrior training sessions. 

"Good. Now, get that rat in here." Nox spoke, a chilling smile gracing her lips, her violet eyes glinting with an almost sinister tint, making Lila have the overwhelming urge to pray in thanks to the Moon goddess that she was not the target of her Alpha. 

One thing that was certain was that the fool seemed to forget that one must never bite the hand that feeds them, as the useless dogs are stewed after the hunt.

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It was now 6:30 am in the morning, and Nox just wanted a steaming cup of some coffee or she was gonna lose it. She hated pulling all-nighters, especially now, since a little rat was the cause of this shitty mess.

As she contemplated torturing the rat to satiate her ever-climbing irritation, a knock sounded on the door to the office. After giving her approval, the door opened and Lila walked in, dragging George by his hair into the office, before tossing him in front of the desk and returning to the door, which she closed and stood in front of, facing Nox.

"Good work, Lila." Nox spoke, her gaze focused on the rat trembling before her.

George looked up at the woman before him, his hair standing up as warning bells began ringing in his ears, every instinct screaming, crying, begging for his legs to move, to ferry him as far from the woman before him as he could. However, that was only a fleeting dream, as he could feel that he was losing his motor control, the realization of exactly what was going to happen to him finally setting in.

Nox watched in disdain as the rat before her began to tremble, shaking uncontrollably, as if it were having a seizure. She stood, kicking the rat in its ribs a second after, the trembling having long become an eyesore. The rat squealed in pain and tried to scuttle away, like the vermin it was. Lila stood, watching the scene before her with apathy, especially as she knew that the dog had bitten the hand, and now it was time for it to be stewed.