by Fel Fern
Deciding to give his mother a call, he looked over his cubicle mate, Cassie. “Hey, Cassie, if anyone asks, I’ll just be out for five minutes to give my mom a call.”
The blonde looked up from typing on her computer. “Telling her the news?”
He made a face, unable to read her tone. Chester always took little breaks here and there, not caring about the clock. Sometimes, Chester was gone two hours for lunch break, and when Neil pointed out that wasn’t fair to the other employees, Chester merely laughed at his face.
“I didn’t intend for Chester to lose his job,” he finally said. Neil wouldn’t go so far as to say he wished he could take that moment back, because he didn’t. Chester was a horrible boss, an even more terrible teacher. Everything Neil learned, he had to do it on his own, or ask the other employees.
Cassie laughed. “Hey, don’t sweat it. Everyone in this department kind of agreed Chester was a dick. He always flirted with the women, too. Sometimes his jokes were inappropriate. We’re glad to see him gone.”
“Ah, okay.” He didn’t know what else to say. “Five minutes.”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “I’m not worried about you. You’re always the first one here, the last to leave.”
She went back to her typing, and he exited the office to stand on the sidewalk. More two-floor shop houses lined the street, like their own office building. There was an independent bookstore across the street, a charming cafe and antique shop next to their building. When he’d first moved into Snow Valley, he hadn’t been sure how he was going to like living in a small town, given he’d been a city boy all his life.
The Sharp Fang pack was one of the few packs in the country that took a city as their territory, whereas most shifters preferred living near nature. Snow Valley had grown on him, although he could tell his mother and his stepfather longed to return to the city. They stayed though, for his sake and his daughter’s. Once he was settled down, maybe he could convince them to move back, although he still didn’t know how to balance his time all that well.
Neil took deep breaths. One thing at a time, he told himself. His mom answered on the third ring.
“You coming home late tonight, honey?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, but I have good news though. Um, I sort of got Chester’s job.”
A squeal from the other end. “What does that mean? That you’re a full-time employee there?”
“Yes.” Okay, he still had to iron out the details with one of the brothers and probably the HR department, but the job seemed to be good as his. Still, thinking of the mess Chester left behind was frustrating. Neil needed to clean up the clutter, before he could get anything done, but he didn’t tell his mom about the other details yet.
“Anyway, I still have a few things to sort out. I’ll tell you all about it later. How’s Janine?”
His mom must have pressed the receiver to his daughter, because he heard her voice. “Hello, Daddy! Granny and I just made cookies.”
He grinned, suddenly wishing he was home, but never mind. Neil made the best of his free time during weekends and at nights, spending time with Janine.
“Well, save some for me, okay?”
“Okay!” They talked some more, mostly about what Janine had done that day, before she passed the phone to his mom again.
“Thanks for understanding, Mom. I’ll see you guys later,” he said, noticing he was nearing the end of his five-minute break.
“Okay, honey. Take care,” she said, putting the phone down.
Newfound determination in place, he headed back to the office, eager to tackle the task in front of him.
Chapter Four
Nash busied himself when Friday came around. He went to two project sites and checked in with the renovation crews before lunch. After that, he had three other meetings. He’d hoped the last one would last a little longer.
“Well, our nest is looking forward to working with you, Nash,” said Glenn Lee, the Alpha of the new small eagle shifter group in town. “I’m sorry for keeping you so late.”
They shook hands. Their clientele had started with paranormals, but now their clients included both humans and the supernatural.
“It’s not a problem. If you have specific requirements, we can narrow it down.” Okay, a poor attempt at stretching time. His brothers always accused him of being a workaholic. Maybe he was, he didn’t care, but eventually, work ran out.
Glenn laughed. “I shouldn’t keep you. Besides, I like the initial design sketches of our pack house. My wife, Martha, and I are celebrating our ten-year anniversary.”
“Congratulations,” he automatically answered.
Was what it about this date that everyone seemed to be celebrating some event or another? That was just envy talking, Nash knew. In the past, he could have hung out with other shifter friends, except most of those friends were busy with their packs and families. Like his brothers, he didn’t want to bother any of them.
What was wrong with him? Not long ago, it wouldn’t have bothered him, having some quality alone time.
“Thanks. I’ll give you a call soon,” Glenn replied.
Nash saw the eagle Alpha out of the office. By then, most of the employees had clocked out. Their people did overtime when necessary, when projects needed to be rushed, but now wasn’t that time as most of their projects were in the initial stages. He headed back in to pick up his car keys and wallet. His brothers had already left, he noticed, the lights in their offices turned off.
After retrieving his personal belongings, he passed by empty cubicles, save one. Nash walked over to where Neil was furiously working at a computer screen. Occasionally, he caught some of the younger interns playing games, but no. Neil was actually doing some work. The human bit on his lower lip in frustration, and the urge arose to drag Neil up on his feet, get a taste of those lips.
Nash shook that image away. Three days had passed since Neil had taken over Chester’s work, and he’d definitely seen a lot of improvement. This wasn’t his area of specialty, but he’d taken an interest in the interior design department ever since the incident with Chester. Chester had always submitted his work late, had a bad rep with clients, but it seemed Neil was the exact opposite.
Tidy, efficient, and a hard worker. Nash had wondered why they hadn’t hired Neil earlier. Then Nash had looked through the HR records, surprised to find that Neil, despite being twenty-four, was a new graduate, so he’d had to intern first.
Neil must have finally spotted him, because the human yelped.
“Did I surprise you?” Nash asked.
God, he wanted to step a little closer, but he made sure to keep his distance. Nash had wanted to brush by Neil many times, just to glimpse the little human who had somehow managed to fascinate his wolf. Neil’s scent lured his wolf out in the open, sheer temptation, but Nash refused to act on his primal emotions, to crush his lips against Neil’s, tuck that lean body against his, to see if they fit.
He put those emotions aside because Neil wasn’t like any of his ex-lovers. Neil was one of their employees, certainly a valuable one.
“Yeah, I didn’t even hear you,” Neil muttered.
“Why are you still working? It’s seven thirty,” he pointed out. “Why don’t you leave that for Monday?”
It was a push, because Nash saw the signs of physical fatigue. Under those thick-framed glasses, Neil had shadows under his eyes, and the human was too thin for Nash’s liking. Was Neil eating right?
“I can’t,” Neil instantly replied, the determination and frustration in his voice surprising Nash. “I mean, I need to finish this. That’s all. Chester didn’t know how to organize.”
Nash frowned. “Do you need additional help? I can get one of the interns to help you.”
“No thanks.” The answer came out rather abruptly. Nash raised an eyebrow as Neil explained, “I mean, I was one of them a few days ago. Some of them—”
Neil didn’t continue, as if not wanting to implicate the other interns. Nas
h approved of Neil’s loyalty to his former fellow interns, even if it was misplaced.
“Have there been complaints?” Nash queried.
“There have been rumors,” Neil muttered, not meeting his gaze, and his wolf didn’t like that at all. He reached out unthinkingly, to tip Neil’s chin so the human looked directly at him. Surprised brown eyes met his.
“Explain,” he stated, thumbing the day-old stubble on Neil’s jaw.
Curiously, the human didn’t jerk back, didn’t tell Nash to stop touching him. Oh, he was well aware he was crossing the boundaries, lines he’d drawn in the sand. Nash had promised himself he’d keep his distance. It had become apparent to him that Neil was lethal.
Neil might be human, didn’t have claws, teeth, or the physical strength to best him, but he possessed a greater weapon, one capable of undoing Nash. His wolf wanted this human, yearned to feel Neil beneath them, to do what he liked, but he couldn’t have that.
“Are you always this bossy?” Neil demanded.
Oh, despite Neil’s frightened reaction three days ago, this human clearly had steel in his spine.
“It’s in my nature,” he replied.
“Alphas,” Neil grumbled, then had the gall to roll his eyes.
Delighted, he pulled his fingers away. “You sound like you speak from experience.”
“I was raised in a werewolf pack in the city.”
That explained why the firm had hired him. They didn’t practice preferential treatment, but it was best if a potential employee had some experience working with shifters and were comfortable around them. Despite the paranormal coming out of hiding a century ago, prejudice wouldn’t easily be wiped away. Nash ought to know.
He’d hated humans right after his rescue, even Isiah, but slowly, that hatred dissipated the longer he spent time with Isiah.
Intrigued, he asked, “Oh?”
Neil nodded. “My mom remarried and the pack took me in, too. The Sharp Fang pack accepts humans and their families, who’ve mated their pack members.”
Nash sensed old hurt there though. Something had happened to Neil that prompted the human to move out of his pack and into this town. As a werewolf, he knew of the surrounding packs in the areas, even the nearest cities. The Sharp Fang pack sounded like it had a decent Alpha. Curiosity prickled at him.
“Sorry. I don’t know why I’m sharing this with you. You’re my boss.” Then Neil blushed. “Oh God. Was I out of line?”
Nash told him the truth. “You’re refreshing actually. Don’t you have a daughter to get home to?”
Neil’s eyes widened. “How?”
“I make it point to know all my employees.” Okay, it wasn’t normal for him to dig so much into an employee’s background, but he needed to know more about Neil. He knew Neil lived with his mother and stepdad, and was a single dad. Very interesting.
“I see. Of course.” Neil stared at his screen. “How about a compromise? If I really can’t sort this out, can I ask for that intern?”
“Alphas don’t compromise.”
Neil sucked in a breath.
“But I accept, on the condition you head home early tonight.”
Neil thought about it some more, then saved all his open files and shut the PC down.
“Good boy.”
Neil glared at him. “You always pushy with all your employees?”
Just you, except he didn’t say that out loud. “I’ll drive you,” Nash said instead.
“Um, what? I’m fine, really. I usually take the bus,” Neil said quickly. “Besides, you might be busy.”
“I’m free. Why, little human? Scared to be alone in a car with your werewolf boss?” Nash didn’t know what possessed him to say those words.
Fuck. He was actually flirting, a first for him. Usually, when hunting for a hook-up, he didn’t need to do much. He’d enter one of his usual bars, and sooner or later, a few unattached shifters would approach him and he’d have his pick. Nash might not possess Malik’s exotic good looks or Cole’s charm, but they were drawn to him nonetheless.
All they cared about was the fact he was a good lay, not caring Nash was broken underneath. It was clear there was physical attraction between him and Neil. He had smelled a hint of Neil’s need three days ago, and he couldn’t stop thinking about what it was like, having the human in his head, but things would have been simple if it had just been desire. Lust could be easily sated—no harm, no foul—except Neil challenged him, intrigued him on so many levels.
“F-fine. I accept the free ride.” Neil gathered his bag, resolute expression on his face. “I never back down from a challenge.”
Nash flashed him a smile, showing teeth. Something about those words triggered something in him, broke his ridiculous rule about staying away from this particular human. The wolf was done waiting, stalking.
“Me neither.” Nash nudged the human out of the office. Neil looked like he began having second thoughts, but didn’t open his mouth to protest, a good sign.
“Where’s your ride?” Neil asked.
Nash nodded to his bike parked on the side of the street.
Neil gulped. “I’m going to ride behind you?”
“You have a problem with close proximity?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t think of you that way, boss.” Neil added the last word like a second thought.
Other dominant shifters males might take offense at that, but not him. His wolf rose up inside him, pacing, interested, excited to see what this delightful human prey might do next.
“Then we have no problem.” Nash took out his spare helmet from the back. “Put this on.”
Chapter Five
“I don’t know how,” Neil admitted.
His heart beat like the erratic wings of a hummingbird against his rib cage. Damn it, Nash could probably tell he was nervous, but who wouldn’t be, in this situation? His hot Alpha werewolf boss had insisted on driving home. Well, had practically told him he had to get his ass home.
Maybe he needed the break, too, but of all people, he didn’t expect it would be Nash to convince him he was working too hard. Neil was a workaholic, he had to admit. Even when Chester was being an ass, he had done the work anyway, thinking it was an opportunity to learn.
“Let me,” Nash insisted. The scars on the Alpha’s neck stood out in stark relief under the street lamp, but that didn’t deter Neil from admiring the rest of him.
Part of him still couldn’t believe this was happening. Maybe in reality, he’d fallen asleep on his desk and this was one of his daydreams, because Nash hadn’t spoken to him in three days. It was easy to assume his boss had lost interest, so what gave?
He stood still as a statue, as Nash helped him put the helmet on, buckling it snugly against his chin.
“There. Don’t worry, I’m a careful driver.” Nash mounted the bike, and he took a couple of seconds to savor the sight of the powerful Alpha male straddling the Harley. His mouth went dry.
“He’s my boss. I shouldn’t be ogling him.” It took him a second to realize he’d said those words rather than thought them.
Nash glanced at him over one muscled shoulder. It was the first time Neil had ever seen the Alpha grin. At the office, Nash always seemed to be frowning, brows furrowed in concentration. The sight was refreshing, unexpected.
“See something you like, little human?”
He adamantly shook his head. Tangling with a werewolf was dangerous, he knew that from personal experience, but an Alpha, even more so. Neil wasn’t about to back away though. Nash had offered him a ride home, simple as that. He slung his bag over his shoulder and joined Nash. The Alpha offered him pointers, safety tips, then they were off.
Neil had never ridden a bike in his life, so the experience was a little mind-boggling. He yelped at first, not expecting the sudden speed. Neil wrapped his arms tighter around Nash’s huge solid frame, but soon relaxed. Unlike a closed vehicle, riding a motorcycle turned out to be more liberating. With no walls closing down on
him, he enjoyed the wind on his face, the scent of the gorgeous male in front of him. Wait, no. He shouldn’t be thinking about the big strapping Alpha werewolf in front of him.
For one, Nash was still his boss and workplace romance was a huge no, especially since he had just taken over Chester’s duties. Neil didn’t miss the looks the other interns gave him. They’d never gotten along, simply because Neil was older than all of them and didn’t have the same interests. Neil certainly had plenty to prove, not just to the employees and the bosses who believed he could do Chester’s job, but also himself.
Neil was halfway through college when Lyle started dating him. Lyle was like all typical dominant shifter males and insisted Neil didn’t need to work. Neil refused to bend though, insisting interior design was his passion. When they adopted Janine, they both decided it was for the best Neil pressed the pause button on his education to take care of the new baby.
It took hard work, months of sleepless nights, to get where he was now. Mucking that all up now wasn’t an option. Neil blinked, realizing he longer heard the purr of the Harley. He looked around, surprised to see his neighborhood.
“How did you know where I lived?” he asked, getting off the bike and taking off the helmet.
Nash accepted it. “Your address is on your file. Pretty rough neighborhood.”
Neil didn’t know whether he should be pleased or worried Nash knew where he lived. He felt he had to defend his choice though. “The rent’s cheap, and back when my family moved here, it was the only one in our budget.”
It was the truth. Back then, Neil took odd jobs here and there, until he finally got the internship at Alpha Wreckers Inc. Neil didn’t plan on staying in one tiny space with his mother and stepdad, but since he got a job, he planned on renting another place.
“I see. Good night then, Neil,” Nash eventually said, as if sensing the awkward tension.
“Thanks for the ride,” he told Nash, meaning it. Nash revved the engine, and Neil stood there a couple of seconds, watching Nash’s bike disappear down the street. Tonight was odd, he decided, heading inside his building. Since the elevator wasn’t fixed yet, he took the stairs.
