A/N: This chapter comes directly after the sleepover at Orion's house. It focuses mostly on a mated Nye and Richie interacting on a bonded level, how the interact with a young Packmate and how they work together to deal with Pack security in the face of the Chosen kidnapping/murders. 

Things have been hectic this past year or so with college, internships, job hunting, law school applications, money stress and so many other things. I just want to thank those of you who were patient and stuck around after such an impossible wait. I'm half surprised there are still so many of you still supporting me and the story but I'm definitely grateful. I've been trying to fight this writers' block for months. My writing just felt off and the story didn't look right no matter how much I edited, but at this point I'm just saying "Screw it". You guys waited long enough. 

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::CHAPTER 33::

Richard's POV

As I rounded the corner into the main hallway, I caught the hushed sounds of Orion and Kevin talking. Well at this distance it was more murmuring than talking to be honest. It was as I was about to approach them that a sudden chill shot up my spine. My arms broke out in goose bumps. Whoa, I shivered, Okay what the hell was that?

I stopped in my tracks, compelled not to disturb the scene in front of me. It was kind of like a part of me knew that this – whatever this was – wasn't meant to be interrupted under any circumstances. I frowned. Kevin and Orion were talking. Just talking. I waited for something interesting to happen but nothing did. Neither seemed to be doing much but this was...important.

Nye sidled up behind me to peer over my shoulder, trying to see what had my attention. There was no reason for us not to simply head out and go home. The door was right there behind the two boys and it wasn't as if we could spy from here. They were talking in low voices so we couldn't make out a single word. I glanced over at a beaming Nye and back at the other pair. Fine. Maybe I'm the only one who can't hear from this distance.

What I could see though was Orion shoving a slip of paper into Kevin's hand. He closed his fingers shut over the other boy's. Almost as if insisting that Kevin keep it despite some silent protesting. The younger boy looked down at his fist as if considering keeping it but also as if he considered giving it back. Just when I thought he'd go for the latter, Kevin took a breath and nodded. He folded up the paper as neatly as possible given its crumpled state. It was then placed into his pocket with notable care.

Judging by the quiet satisfaction in Orion's eyes, I would bet good money that his phone number was on that thing. His satisfaction quickly morphed into surprise when Kevin took the pen from his hands.

Kevin muttered something low with a shake of his head and a rueful smile even as he scribbled across Orion's wrist. Closing the cap over the nib, he hooked the pen onto Orion's shirt collar and looked up at the taller boy through his lashes. The unsure smiles they exchanged lingered on their faces even as Kevin left.

Orion didn't have to say it. He was freakin' thrilled to have those digits marked onto his skin. As Nye and I walked out of our hiding place, we beamed extra wide at him. Orion gave a great big sigh. He knew the teasing that was about to come and clearly wasn't going to give us the chance to do it.

Nye was the first to get near, giving Orion a big hug. "Exchanging numbers, huh?" Nye nudged his Packmate, "I smell progress." Orion neither confirmed nor denied but it was hard to hide a blush with his complexion. He rolled his eyes and opened the door to kick us out, his eyes still dancing and bright all the same.

"Get out already. I've had enough of you two," he shooed us outside with a half smile, "We just had school on a Saturday and then sat through the worst movie in existence." I opened my mouth to tease him but he held up a finger. "Now half of my Sunday's already gone and I need to cram for exams," he said and slammed the door behind us.

I glanced over at Nye who made a face. "School on a Saturday really was a bit much," he agreed, "But I guess it's worth it. Exams will be over before you have to leave and we can get a little extra time together." I was definitely on board with that.

When we drove up to my house a little later, I heard Nye give a sigh beside me. There was Mikhail, sitting on the front porch with his legs dangling over the edge of his seat. Even in the sweltering afternoon sun, he was dwarfed in his father's leather jacket as per usual.

"I'll get the bags," I offered, "You can call the den and let them know he's here."

"Thanks," he mumbled already punching in the numbers.

Grabbing the things, I went up to the porch and opened up the door for the kid. He made a B-line for the kitchen and grabbed a chair at the table.

"You want something to eat?" I asked.

He nodded, looking a little grateful that I'd offered. It made me wonder how long he'd been waiting out there.

"Sandwich or snack?"

"Yes, thanks."

I chuckled at that. I'd been around Mikhail long enough to know that meant sandwich and a snack. I also knew that the fact that he was here at all meant he had either gotten into trouble again or ran away from the den to see Nye. He still seemed a little shy around me, but I didn't take it personally. That's the way it was with kids. They latched onto some people easier than others.

With the deli meat warming up in the microwave, I grabbed the bread and started slicing up some cheese and tomato. It kept me occupied, but not too busy to notice Mikhail sneaking glances up at me.

"So what is it this time?" I asked, "Fight? Trouble with school?"

"Um..." he paused throwing a glance over his shoulder before turning back to me, "Don't tell Mr. Nye, 'kay?"

"I can't promise you that, buddy. You know if it's serious, I'm going to have to tell him."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved a dismissive hand, "Because you're mates."

"No," I smiled at that, "Because he's an Alpha and I'm not Pack like you two."

"Bullshit," he scoffed under his breath. I heard him just fine.

"Watch your mouth, 'Hail," I waved a mayo-covered butter knife at him, "You know better than to use that kind of language here."

"Sorry, Mr. Richie," he huffed rolling big, brown, puppy dog eyes.

"Alright." It was that easy to forgive him.

"But you gotta admit, you're kind of Pack now," he said before adding in a stage whisper, "Even if the Pack doesn't know it yet."

"I'm not. Not really. And even if I was, I don't have the right to keep Pack secrets from Nye."

"It's not a Pack secret. It's just something that happened and..." he wrinkled his nose, "You know how over-protective he is."

"Don't I know it," I muttered, "What is it, then?"

It seemed that his confidence in me was wavering now that he knew I might tell Nye. He deliberated over it for a bit. I let him. The ham was ready to go on the sandwich anyhow. Plus I had some Tupperware filled with watermelon that I'd sliced and set aside for when he inevitably came over. And another held halved grapes with the seeds picked out like he liked it. I cut up an apple to add in knowing how much he loved some crunch in his fruit salads.

Once I set his sandwich, a bowl of fruit and a glass of juice in front of him, he looked up at me and seemed to make up his mind.

"Some of the den kids make fun of me," he blurted out. Yes, this might be in the list of things that Nye doesn't need to know. Mikhail doesn't need him turning that place upside down to find the tiny bastards who's messing with him.

"You don't sound very – uh – upset," I searched his eyes. He looked more concerned than anything.

"I'm not," he shook his head, "I used to spend most of my time with my dad. You know, at home. I never hung around the den like the other kids at school."

"You don't have any friends there?"

"I do, but I'm not as close with the Pack as I should be."

"I didn't know there were kids who weren't at least semi-raised inside the den."

"There aren't any. 'cept for me. I'm too little for Pack runs and I don't do a lot of group training or bonding activities. That's part of why some of the others tease me so much."

"They treat you like you're not really one of them," I guessed, "And I suspect there's something more to this."

"Some of the kids call me human. I know that's not a bad thing," he added quickly and probably a little too defensively, "There's nothing wrong with being human."

"I know there's not," I gave him a small smile, "It's okay. I get what you mean."

"Yeah. Um..." he cleared his throat, "They think I'm hiding that I'm human because I've never shifted in front of them. They think I can't shift."

The silence that hung in the air was tense with a million unsaid things. I walked around the kitchen counter and sat beside him. I didn't know if I even wanted to ask what I needed to.

"Mikhail," I frowned and lowered my voice, "Can you shift?"

"...no," he shook his head and added in a rush, "But I promise, I'm Chosen. The doctors checked me out and everything."

"Does Asher know?"

"Of course. He's the Alpha. He figured it out pretty early. He personally trains me, but he doesn't always have me train with the group."

"And the other kids noticed."

"Exactly," Mikhail nodded.

"Okay so it's a secret. Who else knows?"

"Just me and my dad. And you. And I plan to tell Mr. Nye too."

"How come you told me?"

"You take care of me."

The small boy gestured at the sandwich and fruits all prepared exactly the way he liked. I looked at them and back at him. He seemed to think that explained it all. And now that I thought about it, maybe to him it did.

According to Nye, the den had an entire area only for children. It worked as a day care, a pre-school, a nursery, an orphanage and a play pen all in one. There were kids of all ages, sizes and dominance levels there.

With damn near all the Pack kids spending their time there at one point or another, everything was uniformed. Kids ate the same sized meals that were all prepared the same way. No special care was taken for personal preferences since Chosen didn't get allergies. And that was understandable with so many kids and so few soldiers on kitchen duty at a time.

But when Mikhail came here we knew his favorites, how he liked it made and how to make it special. Nye had bought sandwich cutters so that sometimes Mikhail had a dinosaur shaped PB&J at lunch. Maybe a robot shaped ham and cheese like today. Some mornings, he could get me to make pancakes that looked like angels. He wasn't just another face in the crowd here.

If someone added all the years I'd been babysitting to how much Nye had taken a shine to the kid, it was clear why neither of us had seen it as any trouble. We didn't see what we were doing as anything special. It clearly meant the world to Mikhail though. It also explained why he kept coming back. I mussed up his curls and smiled through my sigh. Well behaved as he was, the kid was a handful.

"Silver let you out again, huh?" Nye came in tucking his phone into his pocket.

"I think I'm her favorite," he said with that glint of mischief in his eyes that seemed too common in Silver's favorites.

"Probably because you run away almost as much as she used to when she was a pup."

"Speaking of pups..." I nudged the boy's ankle with my own and kept it there for the sake of touch comfort.

He got the hint quickly enough, grateful for the quiet support. I figured that hiding something like this from the Pack hadn't been easy on him. Having kids picking on him for it certainly didn't make it any easier.

"Picking on him?" Nye frowned at my thought and whipped around to face Mikhail.

I was his mate and even I found the sudden intensity of Nye's animal a little bruising. The boy flinched under the attention of both Alpha and animal. Luckily Nye had enough presence of mind to rein the wolf in. Even still, the anger was very present in his voice no matter how soft it was when he asked, "Who's been messing with you, 'Hail?"

"No one. It doesn't matter."

"You're lying to me?" Nye raised a brow. The words 'To Pack?' was implied clearly enough that the kid ducked his head in shame.

"'M sorry."

"It's okay. Look I know I can get a little—."

"—Crazy?" we cut in.

"Protective," Nye somehow managed to scowl at both of us simultaneously, "But it's only because I—."

"—Am crazy?" we scoffed in unison.

"Care," he glowered, "You know what? Since you're so ungrateful, just continue getting your ass pummeled. Whatever."

"He's not getting beaten up," I said, paused and then turned to him, "Wait, you're not getting beaten up, right?"

"No," he sighed as if thoroughly fed up with our nagging, "They just harass me about never shifting."

"Then why don't you?" Nye huffed and made his way to the fridge. It was on the way that the silence in the kitchen seemed to nag at him. He turned and eyed the boy. Then he turned to me. Then to him. "Ahmose," the word was barely a whisper, "You're a Dormant Chosen? Asher never told me."

"'Cause I asked him not to. I wanted to do it myself...eventually."

"He hasn't told anyone else, has he? You don't want him to."

"Dad used to say I shouldn't tell anyone. He talked to Mr. Asher about it. I think he didn't want them to treat me badly."

"Oh right. Well that's working out splendidly," I murmured.

Mikhail cracked a tiny smile at my sarcasm and relaxed a fraction. I notice the way he leaned just a little bit into my space, but I didn't comment on it.

"Can you sense your animal at all?" I asked, "Nye couldn't at first but then he started to."

"Only sometimes. She comes and goes."

"She?" we chorused.

His mouth clamped shut and his eyes were two saucers. "I-I..." he stammered, "I m-meant..." I was sure there'd be a blush on his face if the brown of his skin wasn't obscuring it. It made me uncomfortable to see him like this. Like he was scared. Of us of all people. Nye was the one to think fast enough to say something before Mikhail's panic set in.

"She huh?" Nye laid a hand on his back for the sake of calming him, "A girl wolf. Nice."

"It is?" Mikhail made a face, "How come?"

"Well girl Chosen wolves are usually more on the powerful side. Aggressive, but powerful. We have some total badasses in the den if you hadn't noticed," he smiled.

"But I'm a boy. Dad said that boys have boy wolves and girls and girl wolves."

"He said that when you told him that your wolf was a girl?" I asked.

"He...he said I was wrong. He said I was just too little to know for sure."

"You're not an idiot," Nye frowned, "I'm sure you can tell what's in your own head. You can feel it in you."

"He said I'm not supposed to talk about it to anyone. But now kids are figuring out that I'm – what did you call it?"

"A Dormant Chosen," I said, "You don't need to hide it if you don't want to. People had gotten used to Nye being Dormant."

"Your dad wanted to protect you, which is great, but things have changed in the Pack," Nye added, "It's not such an impossible thing to understand anymore."

"And what about my wolf? Yours is a boy. How do I know they won't make fun of me for mine like dad said?"

"One of these days I'm going to introduce you to my friend Kenny," Nye said only barely able to smile the venom out of his tone.

"Yeah. You'd love her. She's smart, strong and amazing," I nudged him, "She's a medic and her wolf is a boy."

"Seriously?" Mikhail perked up, "How?"

"You are not your wolf, 'Hail. You're connected but you're not the same. She has her own form and you have yours."

"And just because your wolf is a girl doesn't mean you have to like or do girly things," I said because I could tell that that was his father's fear when he tried to stifle the truth.

"Of course, there's nothing wrong with it if you do," Nye said with a raised brow at me.

"True. I guess your choice is yours to make either way," I gave a shrug.

"My dad's probably scowling at you guys from wherever he is."

"I think I can handle it," Nye scoffed and made his way back to the fridge.

Nye brought a glass of juice for me and a bag of chocolate dipped pretzels. Mikhail perked up at the sight of chocolate and shoveled down the last of his fruit in a few bites.

There was a much needed lull in conversation after that. Mikhail certainly had a lot to think about and I could still pick up the residual anger from Nye in spite of his blank face. I got it. I didn't want to speak – or think – ill of the dead, but Veda had some seriously messed up ways of dealing with this.

Obviously he loved his son. No one denied that. But he had too many prejudices of his own to properly deal with what Mikhail was going through. Ignoring it hadn't helped at all. Hopefully the den soldiers would help him through it better.

Asher certainly needed to keep a closer eye on things. I didn't like the idea of him being picked on any more than Nye did. I had to admit it was nice of Asher to keep the secret to himself until the boy was ready to come out and face it. I bet the Alpha was itching to come clean to his Pack. He didn't seem comfortable lying to them.

On the surface Nye looked as calm as a person could be. Even before the mating I would have been able to see through that. At the moment I could actually sense his anger simmering in my own veins. I wasn't sure how to navigate our bond yet, but I wanted to calm him.

It was barely the inkling of a thought, but it was enough that his head snapped up. His features smoothed out more and the tension leeched out of his shoulders. Surprise filtered into his expression at first, but an eye roll later and it was replaced with almost exasperated affection.

"That wasn't necessary, y'know."

"I know."

Mikhail looked from one of us to the other and went back to the chocolate pretzels without a word. This wasn't the first time he'd witnessed us having some seemingly arbitrary conversation that wouldn't make sense to anyone else. He'd lost his confusion and curiosity about it long ago.

"Hey can I sleep over?" he asked suddenly around a mouthful of pretzel.

"You know you're not allowed," Nye replied, "And even if you were, we shouldn't be rewarding you for running off."

"I'm eating chocolate snacks right now," he pointed out.

"Kid has a point," I nodded, "Asher could allow a night, couldn't he?"

"He's a ward of the den," Nye stretched his legs out, "He's not even supposed to be here without a soldier."

"But I'm not here without a soldier, am I?" Mikhail grinned at his own sneakiness.

"You know what I mean, 'Hail." Nye gently kicked at his chair, "I'm not an on duty caretaker."

"Maybe you can get Mr. Asher to put you on duty and then you can let me sleep over."

"Maybe. Strictly speaking, soldiers aren't supposed to. For safety's sake. We can't have people taking kids home from the den whenever they wanted."

"Oh," I made a face, "Good point. That's creepy."

"I won't run off anymore if I get sleepovers," Mikhail promised, "C'mon. Your food's better and you guys have cable."

"Hear that? He just wants us for the food and TV," I huffed, "Frankly, I feel used."

"You? What about me?" Nye snatched his bag of pretzels, "I feel so cheap."

"Plus you're funny," Mikhail laughed.

"Hmm..." Nye slid over the bag, "Tell me more."

"And cool and fun and strong and smartff and mmfnice," Mikhail added sounding increasingly muffled as Nye fed him pretzels as payment for each compliment.

"I don't think he can fit anymore in there," I took the bag away from them.

"You have no faith," Nye said and turned to survey his work.

Mikhail was wide eyed with crumbs all over his mouth, avidly trying to chew with both cheeks full. "But," Nye conceded, "It is possible that you're right this time. You want milk?" Mikhail nodded.

"Richie, could you?"

"But you're the one who asked him if h—."

"—Hurry before he chokes to death and it's all your fault."

"This is ridiculous," I grumbled all the way, "Kid won't be able to fit through the front door when you're done feeding him."

Nye didn't drop Mikhail back to the den until hours later. When he returned to the house, he seemed in good enough spirits that I just had to ask.

"You're cheerful."

"True."

"...how come?"

"Dropped 'Hail off and I noticed he was acting a bit shifty around a couple of kids."

"The ones who've been messing with him?" I straightened up.

"Yep. He got all tense when I made eye contact with them. They've got bully written all over them."

"Oh God," I groaned into my hand, "What did you do? Do I need to talk to anyone's parents?"

"I'm not gonna hurt any kids," he had the grace to look a little offended.

"So what did you do?"

"Nothing. My wolf just roamed near them. I gave 'em a little scare to let them know that 'Hail's with me. And under my protection."

"You scent marked Mikhail before you left, didn't you?"

"Naturally," Nye's eyes turned topaz at that.

"You're going to be dropping by to see him all unannounced now, aren't you?"

"Just to keep them on their toes. They won't want to risk me passing by on the wrong day."

"You're such a mother hen," I teased.

"You cut his sandwiches into shapes," he shot back.

"You bought the cutters."

"You asked me to," he pointed out, "Oh man his new guardians are going to have a time with him."

"New guardians?" I got up and moved to the living room with Nye in tow, "He's getting adopted?"

"Maybe. A couple of people came in and they seemed interested."

"I hope he gets a nice family," I yawned and lay in Nye's lap, "Kind people, you know?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "That boy seems pretty particular about who he wants."

"What do you mean?"

"He's turned down two offers already. Seemed like good people but he said they didn't feel right."

"It's still pretty early," I shrugged, "His dad hasn't been gone very long. Joining a whole new family is a big adjustment."

"And either he's the next great child actor, or he's taking this whole orphan thing remarkably well," Nye frowned.

"You're telling me. Kid is almost freakishly well adjusted."

"Aside from acting out once in a while and an outburst or two, he's almost serene."

"You think it's just bottled up?"

"Definitely. It has to be right? Man, if all I had was my dad and then I lost him? I'd be a wreck."

"You'd be a wreck if you lost your uncle or aunt too. You get attached. Maybe he's just not like you."

"It's his dad," Nye pointed out, "And it wasn't as if he hated the guy or anything. He just kinda moved on."

"You know who he reminds me of?" I paused but he didn't answer, "Orion."

"Ri? Dude, Ri would be a hot, flaming mess if his dad died."

"Oh, I know. Definitely. But when he was a kid, he kinda freaked out the older folks a bit."

"I didn't know that."

"Oh yeah. Kid was unnaturally calm, cool, collected and perfectly behaved. He just kept to himself and did what he was told. Always."

"I remember that, yeah."

"And he was almost stoic too. Hardly emotional in public. It was like he didn't want to burden anyone else with his feelings."

"Are you thinking that their personalities are the same?" Nye asked, "Or their wolves?"

I gave a shrug. Seconds were pretty rare but who knew? Nye was a Dormant Chosen Alpha. Why wouldn't a Dormant Chosen Second present himself, or in this case herself, in one of the kids? It would explain why the boy latched onto Nye so much. Aside from the fact that Nye tried to help his dying dad at his own expense.

"I suppose we'll see in time," I shrugged, "He's a good kid. I'm not too worried about him."

"I was a good kid too and frankly, I was a lot to worry about."

"Oh, I know," I side eyed him, "You don't have to remind me."

He rest socked feet onto my lap, content to lie sprawled out on the couch. I turned my attention back to the TV. A quiet fell between us. Although he didn't respond, I could feel his stare. Almost like a sixth sense, I could feel the weight of his thoughts on my own mind. He guarded them carefully so that I didn't have to read them, only sense them. I was curious, but not enough to try prying into his head.

"Richard..." his voice was quiet. Careful. That didn't matter of course. Hearing my full name coming from him grabbed my attention. It lent a hollow feeling in my gut. I didn't like it. It was an unfamiliar sound. Forced. It didn't fit. He rose up to a sitting position so that we were eye to eye. "Why did you come back?" he asked.

"What? Why does that matter?"

"When you first showed up I thought maybe you came back to reconcile, but it wasn't that."

"Not only that," I shook my head, "You know I'm on business too."

"I know," he said slowly. His finger traced the seam of my jeans; absent and aimless. It felt like he wanted to say something else. Hell, I could feel it in that part of my mind where his consciousness seemed to linger.

"The company needed some things taken care of here in Rondesdale. Honestly they could have sent anyone with Tommy," I said, "Anyone could have done it, but I volunteered. I wanted to come home." He nodded. It seemed as if that answer was enough, but I could feel a shadow of anxiety in my head. It wasn't mine.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing really. At first I guess I just thought that you came to see me and...and you brought your work home with you. Not the other way around. I hadn't thought about that for a while."

"Does it make a difference?" my fingers brushed a lock of hair from his forehead.

"No. I suppose it doesn't. Just makes me wonder how long it would have taken before you decided on your own to come see me."

"I'd been busy but I would have found the time, Nye. Where's all of this coming from?"

"I – uh – I talked to Asher a little while ago. He made me wonder some things."

"Asher should mind his own business."

"Watch it," the response was whip quick and heavy with the kind of intensity that I was still getting used to.

I'd upset both man and animal. That alone was cause to proceed with caution. There had been loyalty in every syllable. I knew in that moment that he'd never let me disrespect Asher in front of him any more than he'd stand for Asher disrespecting me. I stayed silent.

"Anyways," he continued, "It wasn't like Ash was prying. He was trying to tell me about your business offer."

"He did?" I frowned, "We had an agreement to keep that conversation amongst himself, Tommy and me."

"Be that as it may he seemed under the impression that I would know regardless."

As calm and level as his tone was, I caught the mild irritation in the clench of his jaw. It echoed across our mating bond. The link was still so new and so fragile that it was a shock to the senses to feel emotions that so clearly didn't belong to me. And in a weird way, I knew it didn't really belong to the human side of Nye either. This time it came from the wolf half of him.

No one needed to tell me where that irritation came from. I could tell that he was annoyed with me for keeping things that mattered from him and Nye. He didn't like that his Alpha knew Pack matters that I didn't seem to trust him with. He especially didn't like that Asher had assumed that I would share important things with Nye while I hadn't so much as considered it. His new mate had been keeping Pack business from him when they were supposed to be a team with anything that concerned the Pack.

I pulled him closer until he sat in my personal space. My fingers slotted between his. "I'm sorry. I should have spoken to you both. This is your Pack and my business here affects it and you," I took a breath, "And as much as I knew Asher would talk to you Alpha to Alpha, you should have heard it from me first."

He nodded at that, forgiveness running across our bond crisp and bright. I had to suppress a shiver. The emotion was cool to the touch in the back of my mind. Like a mouth full of melted ice cream; pleasant under the chill.

His tone was warmer, more curious than accusatory next time he spoke. "So how come you didn't mention it?" he asked eye trained on our linked hands.

"Hey," I reached out and tipped up his face so he'd meet my gaze, "I promise I'm not trying to intentionally shut you out or anything."

"I know that," he assured me, "My wolf can be more primal than rational in his reactions at times. He takes things to heart."

"And he's twice as sensitive when it comes to me, isn't he?"

"Yes. But with time our mating will mature he'll learn to trust our bond more. He won't be so quick to read things as a betrayal."

I aimed a smile at the wolf now creeping into his eyes. The dark brown was paler; closer to whiskey than chocolate. It was a piercing stare that was as gorgeous as it resonated withheld danger. Despite that, I knew the animal wouldn't harm me. No matter the violence he was capable of, I could feel the adoration that constantly thrummed under my skin and I knew it was him and Nye.

He and Nye could block their emotions from me but they chose not to. The link between us was an unhindered direct line. It had been from the moment the mating came into play. I knew I was adored and he never hid that from me. Sometime I'd catch stray fragments of thoughts from the wolf that flickered into my mind. Some of them, like "Precious one" and "My brilliant mate", had caught me off guard when it whispered against my thoughts.

Open affection and tenderness flickered against my senses at all times. The wolf knew my romantic and sexual past and he still didn't care. Nye didn't care. They ensured that I never forgot what I meant to them. I'm not sure if they knew what these little things meant to me, but I like to think it showed through the bond. Sometimes my mind went dark, thinking that I didn't deserve this after cheating on Nye – even unknowingly.

The wolf refused to let my thoughts linger in dark corners for long without doing something about it. His need to help was sweet. Sometimes it was through the emotions flowing over to me and other times it was the brush of fur across my skin when Nye and I sat close enough to touch.

Just last night when my thoughts had gone especially dark, I caught the words "Don't...please." Nye had been asleep but the pang of hurt that echoed from the animal made me push the thoughts away as best as I could. He didn't deserve that.

At my smile earlier, I sensed his adoration pulse stronger behind my ribcage. "Hey," I muttered to the wolf. His presence brushed against my mind in cautious hello. He wasn't always shy but he could be that way from time to time. Even now he hesitated before impossibly soft fur tickled my nose and cheek.

Nye's fingers tightened around mine, lips quirking up as he sensed the exchange. "You're so good with him," he commented. I grinned at that. Detaching our hands, I leaned into his space and nipped at his lower lip. It was a playful Chosen action that pulled a grin out of him. "I don't think I'm not that good with him. I think you two are just suckers for me," I teased him. He rolled his eyes but he didn't deny it.

"You didn't distract me you know," he eyed me but there was no heat in the statement.

"What are you talking about?'

"I asked you why you didn't mention that you had a business deal with our Pack."

"I don't. Not yet at least. Right now I'm trying to get Asher to agree. He's thinking about it but he has his reservations."

"Why all the secrecy?'

"We only recently finished developing the new tech. We haven't been advertising or doing anything flashy. No one talks about it outside of the company inner circle."

"And Asher since he's a potential client."

"Well the clients know because we're talking to Alphas from different Packs. They're not blabbing though. Not when they know secrecy may one day benefit them."

"What exactly is the tech?"

"Eco-friendly surveillance technology."

"What? What the hell does that mean?"

"Equipment that blends near perfectly into the natural environment. It's too strong to be broken by curious animals and it's built to withstand the elements. It also has a hidden heat signature to make it harder to detect."

"With all of the shit that's been going on lately, that is useful as hell. We'd see intruders coming long before they can come close and they won't know where the equipment is."

"I mean I know that Rondesdale is the centre of this issue, but other Packs are vulnerable to other forces too."

"Why isn't Asher jumping at the chance to get his hands on these?"

"Most of the people on the team working on this are human."

"Oh. He's afraid of potential tampering, spying, hacking, copied footage, and who knows what else they could get up to."

"Precisely. I mean we've got Chosen on the project too but they're mostly consultants."

"What about you?" he asked, "You're keeping an eye on this aren't you?"

"Naturally. This project is my baby. Unfortunately I know jack shit about computers and coding and whatever else they're using to make this as untraceable as possible."

"So you have no one you can really trust to make sure no one abuses this."

"There's Tommy. He's amazing with that techy mumbo jumbo. He seems to get it and he keeps an eye on things but he's only one man and there are so many moving parts."

Nye frowned. "Can you get me a copy of the specifics? I know people in the Pack that I can trust to check it out and maybe they can join the team remotely...if Tommy finds them up to par."

"You're willing to lend us more hands? Do you have the authority for that?"

He blinked at me as if that was the dumbest question he'd ever been asked. "Just see if you can get me the all that I need and your contact list of people working on this. We can't give up Pack members but they can work from here and work long distance."

His tone had taken a hardened edge to it that I wasn't familiar with. I could see the gears turning in his mind as he tried to work out the issue.

"One of the main problems with this is getting the clients to trust your tech team," he said, "I work as a liaison with other Packs. If we iron out some kinks, run background on your team and make sure the Chosen has their finger on the pulse of this then it can work. Otherwise the other Alphas will be as wary as Asher."

"And if we can convince Asher then the others will be more likely to come on board," I nodded.

"Exactly. The Alphas want to trust you. They want to be able to defend their people. They want what your tech can do. We just need to help them get there."

"So does this mean you're joining the team?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

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I ain't even gonna lie I've read these words so many times I'm not even sure if it's half decent anymore. On the bright side it can't be worse than nothing at all so hopefully there's that :D