I wanted to upload so much sooner but I wound up writing a 3.8K snippet full of angst and fluffy sweet stuff for a future chapter before I finished this. I can't wait to upload that part though.

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::CHAPTER 34::

Richard's POV

I stirred under the soft kiss brushed onto my forehead and the thumb trailing across my jaw. I grumbled, pulling the blankets higher. "No," I grunted. A quiet chuckle sounded near. The bed dipped. I felt knees settle on either side of my hips and hands on either side of my head. The blankets were drawn back. "Too early," I grumbled, my eyes remaining shut.

Through the haze of half-sleep I felt sharp teeth nip at my mouth just hard enough to startle a gasp out of me. My eyes shot open and I froze. Nye's face was bare inches from mine. He looked feral this close. I startled, pulling away out of some bone deep instinct I couldn't name. While my senses shrieked danger, in the very back of my mind I reminded myself that Nye would never harm me...not intentionally.

Despite that, there came a swooping sensation in my stomach – almost as if I'd missed a step walking in the dark. I'd have made a noise of surprise if the sound wasn't lodged in my throat. His face was so near and yet it was the wolf who was really looking down at me through pale gold eyes.

"Rise and shine," he murmured. His voice sounded unusual.

It was lower; more pointed edges, jagged roughness and raspy. I blinked up at him, not sure how to move away when the presence of the wolf roamed unhindered and wild around me. He smiled and the clawed scars on his cheek pulled taut with the movement. His attention sharpened to focus on me.

There was a prowling quality to the way he moved, looked and sounded. The way his head tilted to one side was primal. For the first time, it truly felt like Nye was a wild wolf wearing a human.

I liked to think that I was used to the sheer Chosen-ness of him but this morning he was...more. He didn't reign in the animal like he usually did. The dominance levels were ever expanding in the room. You could almost breathe it in it was so present, potent and all encompassing. Though I knew I was in no danger, I felt as if I was standing on tiptoes on a tightrope stretched between skyscrapers. And yet all Nye had done was hover over me, asserting himself into my space.

I didn't fear him. It was only a side effect of coming facing high dominance levels. How I felt was more instinct than anything else. That didn't take away from the fact that the animal was closer to the surface right now than I ever remembered. I couldn't tell whether or not it was on purpose. Before I could mention it I paused, distracted by something else entirely.

I caught the aroma of buttermilk waffles covered in homemade banana foster syrup and hot chocolate. I turned to see that very same platter laid out in all of the best dishes sitting on a tray. My belly spluttered a noise of distress that pulled another smile out of Nye.

He'd made me breakfast in bed and even had a nicely folded napkin and everything. I shoved aside the panic to make room for the warmth creeping inside me at the gesture. I couldn't help but return his smile.

No partner had ever made me breakfast in bed before. And I certainly had not gotten it with an all star cast of my favorite foods either.

My first thought was that it was sweet – romantic even. However once I sat up, I was able to extract myself from the wolf's pull enough to focus. Tommy was in here too. I hadn't even noticed. He was sitting far enough away that I knew he sensed Nye's wolf this morning.

There were two trays of food on the bed that nearly matched my own. Those didn't have plates or mugs as nice as mine. And there weren't as many sliced bananas or slivered almonds in their syrup either. There wasn't even a well folded napkin. I resisted the instinct to feel smug about the small differences.

"Thanks Nye," the words were quiet my voice hoarse from misuse. Despite the very present fight or flight response he incited in the room, I also felt the shot of affection coming down the mating link. "It's nothing," he shrugged.

My eyes now scanned the rest of the bed. It was a mess of brightly highlighted documents piled atop each other. Many of them bore the Ackles Corp. letterhead.

"Amose, Nye. How long have you been awake?" I asked.

"You ask, but you really don't want an honest answer to that question," he said getting to his feet.

I took that to mean that he got very little if any sleep at all. It could explain why his animal felt more present in every cell of him today. Maybe he was too tired to exact as much control over the dual sides of his nature as he would on an average day. He had to be sleep deprived for it to get this intense.

The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was him sitting on the floor with his feet folded under him. He had been flipping through document after document on Tommy's tablet. He was intent on combing through damn near every file in every folder that pertained to our project.

Nye soaked up information quickly and processed it even quicker. His mind was razor sharp and he wasn't afraid to ask questions or make suggestions. He certainly had more than a few opinions of his own.

Unlike me he seemed to actually make sense of a lot of the tech talk so his contributions held a different weight. Whatever he'd picked up in his advanced classes and college reading assignments was coming in useful. His accelerated, fine tuned, cognitive function was becoming a valuable asset. The Chosen mind worked like a superpower when trained as diligently. What it took me a week to read and understand, it appeared he'd done in a night.

What was surprising was that in spite of how late he'd surely stayed up perusing files, he still managed to wake up long before I did. He didn't seem sleepy and his side of the bed was sufficiently rumpled so I assumed that he did get some sleep. Yet at the same time I couldn't understand how he got everything done. I couldn't account for how aggressive his wolf felt on the outside no matter how calm they were within our link.

Both Nye and Tommy sported nothing more than their underwear and a serious case of bed head but otherwise they looked ready to get to work. I got the feeling that they'd already started discussions while I was asleep.

Tommy had that look on his face. The one that reminded me every once in a while that he was the man in charge and excelling at it for a reason. It reminded me that he could shut his playful side under lock and key until business was wrapped up and thriving.

Nye also had the tell tale signs of someone who didn't have time for anything but the work ahead of him. I was reminded in that moment that my mate worked two jobs, went to school and was training for his eventual Alphaship all at once. He may be on vacation from the auto shop, but he was there was no vacation time from being a Pack soldier. He could multi-task and manage his time while making sure that things got done.

There was organized chaos on Nye's side of the bed; leaves of paper strewn across the sheets, a tablet, a laptop, a pile of stationary. Everything seemed a mess but on closer inspection, I spotted a pattern of organization in how things were meant to be laid out.

My gaze rose as the guys plopped onto the bed and began practically inhaling the food. All the while they discussed how best to move forward now that we had the backing of Nye. He was well known and considered to be a prominent member of the most influential Chosen Pack in the world. That status needed to be put to use.

Before now Tommy and I were just two humans spearheading an initiative with a predominantly human tech team. That team was tasked with designing a line of surveillance equipment meant specifically for Chosen. As Nye said, the Packs were very interested in the protection and peace of mind that could be had with our technology. The problem was convincing the Packs that this human venture was not created to betray their trust and endanger their people.

The project seemed sketchier when so few Chosen were employed. I had originally wanted a predominantly Chosen team to avoid just this problem but I was overruled by the board. They didn't feel it was necessary somehow to include the people who would use the product in the making of it. They hired local Chosen consultants but that was about as far as the inclusiveness went.

They felt that the company had always done well enough with human employees. They insisted on hiring only people who had completed tertiary education. That in itself was difficult for most Chosen to gain access to. It was no wonder Alphas were having trouble trusting it when our target market was being treated like that. The board had made this needlessly more difficult.

I checked the time on my phone and frowned. "Nye, isn't one of your exams in three hours?" I asked, "You sure you shouldn't take the time to study?" He let out an unattractive little snort at that. When I didn't respond he glanced up from the tablet.

"Oh," he mumbled through a mouthful of waffle, "You were serious?"

"There's no point getting awful grades because you were too busy with this project," I said, "You need to graduate."

"He's right," Tommy added, "You can't waste this time just to line the pockets of a couple of fat cats."

Nye looked from one of us to the other before settling back against the headboard. "Okay first of all, you're both two of the fat cats in question. Don't act like you're not going to make money on this," Nye sighed, "Secondly I'm not doing this to line anyone's pockets. I'm trying to make sure this works so the Packs will be safe." Before I could say anything he raised a hand to stop me. "And lastly I'm going to pass with flying colors. I've studied and done every practice test I could afford to buy. I'm pretty sure that if I tried to top those scores it would only be showing off."

I had to admit that Nye always tested well. He might hate school but he had a thirst for knowledge that flourished best outside the classroom. So while I was itching to push him to take some time to study, I didn't.

He was old enough to make his own decisions and to know if he was ready. I trusted him to do what was best for him even if habit made it harder for me than it should have been. I needed to learn how to stop acting like I had authority over him.

"Stop worrying," he said, "I promise I've got this."

"If you say so."

He stared at me for a few seconds before getting up and heading to a duffle bag in the corner. He returned to dump what looked like almost three dozen test booklets onto my lap. The scores scrawled onto the covers were remarkably high. "Wow..." Tommy muttered picking up a few, "If there were Chosen colleges here any one of them would want to snatch you up." Nye looked smug in a way that reminded me of Mikhail whenever he talked his way into extra dessert.

"Okay fine fine. I concede," I grumbled.

"And?"

"And my mate is freakin' brilliant."

"That's more like it," he smirked.

"Y'all are gross as all hell," Tommy shook his head, "I feel so blessed."

Nye nudged him playfully before shoving the booklets back into the duffle. He took his seat and grabbed the laptop. With a few clicks he pulled up a proposal he drafted last night. This boy didn't get any sleep at all, did he?

"Alright," he announced with a clap, "This project is the first one you two are working on since you got the company, so I assume the board is watching you like a hawk with binoculars in the bushes."

"They're more obvious than that but yes. Pretty much," Tommy said, "They want to hear everything about everything and then some."

"Well I've done a bit of research on your company and no offense, but your board is full of piece-of-shit people."

"No please tell us what you really think," I raised a brow.

"I plan to," he eyed me, "Ackles Corp. is a powerful, multimillion dollar, international conglomerate with not a single Chosen on the board."

"My father could be open-minded if it profited him," Tommy sighed, "but I don't think he was ever exactly inclusive."

"No shit, Thomas. Every person on your board is rich, white, human and male. Did no one else notice or..."

"Well," Richie cleared his throat, "Uh...we do have a female board member."

"One woman," Nye blinked, "Yes, marvelous job guys. My point is moot now. Except if your roster was any more male that building would be a post office."

"I saw what he did there," Tommy grinned.

"Good. So you'll fix whatever issues you have with hiring ladies because a lot of the qualified people I have in mind are women. They won't take kindly to being looked over because of that."

"No, they really would not," Richie said, "We are going to have to deal with that sooner rather than later."

"I'll have a board meeting organized," Tommy made a note on his phone, "And we'll add any other issues that need to be addressed to the agenda."

"That's going to be a hell of a list and it's going to need more than one meeting to fix," Nye frowned, "Before they agree to the changes they will have to get past their thinking which is still telling them that none of these issues need fixing."

"They are experienced and have been crucial to how powerful the company has grown to be but they are old and stubborn when it boils down to it," I said.

"We'll never be able to change their minds about their problematic approaches, but we may be able to change their stances if we approach them in the right way."

"Like with this project," I nodded, "We never would have gotten them to agree to it if we didn't show them how useful and profitable it could be."

"Your board is the most elitist thing I've ever witnessed. Those people breathe in money and breathe out privilege." Nye took a sip of my hot chocolate, "They don't care about the Packs because they don't have to and the Packs know it." Tommy and I shared a glance. He wasn't wrong. I don't know if either of us realized how obvious it was to people outside the company.

Nye continued, "Our next course of action is making them see that since the Packs are the target market, things need to change if they want to turn a profit on this. So before we do anything else, Ackles Corp. needs to stop excluding the people they're selling to from the process and speak to them. Get your public relations team on that. Right now all of this comes across as suspicious, anti-Chosen and exploitative."

Tommy let out a long breath at that. He and I had to convince a group of close minded people to integrate more Chosen into the staff when it was the last thing they wanted. Usually the hiring and firing of people would not require much fuss but this was different. Sufficed to say adding a significant number of Chosen employees to our roster would incite friction on the board. Well needed, long overdue friction but friction nonetheless.

To the board selling to Chosen was one thing, hiring them was another. They would much rather take their money than hand them money. It didn't matter if that money was fairly earned.

We needed a persuasive game plan, irrefutable debate points and data to back us up so they couldn't stonewall us. It would be difficult for them to turn us down if we had things set in place to prove that this was the only way to go. Nye offered an outsider perspective on the matter since he didn't work in the company. So far that perspective had been a wakeup call.

It helped that his proposal draft had compiled a shortlist of Chosen from this and two other Packs. He'd spoken to other Alphas and convinced them to allow their Packmates into this project. He promised that their members would remain in the Pack physically and would work online. We'd need to interview these people at some point but first we'd need to meet with the board.

It was a draining morning all in all but by the end of it I felt like we were going in the right direction. It was also kind of nice to be working with Nye on something this big. He'd quickly become part of the team and I enjoyed getting to share this side of my life with him.

My life in Rondesdale had been separate from my Ackles Corp. life for so long that I hadn't considered that they could be merged. Tommy was great; smart, efficient, diligent, personable. Still I couldn't help but love working with Nye too, even when he was brutally honest. Especially then.

Nye didn't try to soften his opinions because we were in a relationship. He respected me enough as a partner to know I could hear the hard truths. He wouldn't hold back the punches because he knew what he had to say was only to help.

I watched as he made his way back into our room after a shower. Tommy was still here but Nye didn't pay him any mind. He removed his towel to dry his hair while sifting through the drawer I'd cleared out for him. By chance alone, Tommy glanced over only to get an eyeful of naked ass.

It took everything I had in me not to laugh at the way his eyes popped open before his head swiveled toward me apologetically. I gave his shoulder a pat. I knew it was an accident. He wasn't trying to check Nye out or anything. But it was something I never thought I'd see. Big, bad, flirt extraordinaire Thomas Ackles freaking out over a bare bottomed guy in a bedroom. I didn't think I'd live to see the day.

"Does he realize that I'm still in here?" Tommy hissed.

"He does," I replied.

"But he couldn't care less," Nye added over his shoulder.

Tommy flinched, realizing belatedly that Nye could hear him from that distance. "He's been shifting back and forth for a while now," I pointed out, "and sometimes he winds up naked in public. Pretty sure he's indifferent about nudity at this point."

"That doesn't mean other people aren't. I mean he's...not that it isn't a great body but...you're fine with this?" Tommy demanded.

"It's the culture here. It's not my place to tell him how to feel about his body."

"How to feel about his body?" Tommy spluttered, "He's walking around naked in public, Richard. Not feeling fat in a crop top."

"Not my body, not my right. Especially since I wasn't there while he was learning how to get comfortable with that body in front of the Pack."

"You're a bigger man than me. I'd be uncomfortable as hell with any partner of mine parading around naked."

"I'm hardly on a float now am I, Thomas?" Nye teased doing a pageant wave before he pulled up his jeans.

"He's not even wearing underwear!" Tommy turned to me, "He's going to school commando!"

"Well it would be inconvenient to bother with it if he needs to shift at a moment's notice, don't you think?" I asked.

"Y'all are on another level," Tommy shook his head.

I couldn't see Nye's face but I could tell he was smirking. He loved messing with Tommy whenever possible no matter that the two were on good terms now.

"Nye, could you dress a little faster?" I asked, "You're gonna give Tommy hives if he stresses anymore."

He didn't dress any faster. He did however aim a slow smile over his shoulder at Tommy. It was as playful and teasing as it was flirtatious. "Asshole," Tommy grumbled keeping his eyes firmly on the documents in front of him, "I'm no prude but it's weird having your best friend's boyfriend butt naked around the house is all I'm saying."

"Noted," Nye gave a mock salute, "Fully dressed from now on. Can't promise the same for the rest of the Pack of course."

He was indeed fully dressed now and looking delectable at that too. He aimed a half-smile at me as if knowing exactly where my thoughts had gone. Ahmose bless the almost canine quick growing rate of the Chosen. It looked like Nye was ready to be about as tall as I was soon enough.

"Can I drop you off today?" I asked.

"If you want. Sure," he nodded, "But that means you'll have to pick me up afterwards."

"It's a burden I'm willing to bear."

He gave a shrug and grabbed his bag. "Would you mind washing up, Tom?" Nye asked gesturing at the breakfast trays. Tommy made a face at that but agreed. Not before mentioning for the hundredth time that we needed to invest in a housekeeper. And also complaining that dish water was bad for his manicure and it dried out his hands. And then offering to buy us a dishwasher as a mating gift.

In the end I just offered to wash up instead. Tommy promptly shut up after that. I shot him a look at plainly said that I knew damn well what he did. Tommy in turn tried to look appropriately guileless. He failed.

Quickly I threw on something to wear. Nye raised a brow but didn't say a word. I wore a pair of running shorts he had deemed too skimpy to be appropriate outdoors and a loose fitting tank top.

"Did you get those in the kid's section?" he grumbled as I made my way to the car.

"You walk around naked in public but you're offended by my shorts?"

"Baby, that scrap of material is not a pair of shorts. It's underwear. Besides, I'm only naked for short periods of time. You go jogging around and go grocery shopping in those."

"Yes. That's definitely worse than your balls out in public," I agreed, "You're so right."

"I-I'm Chosen!" he spluttered, "It's totally different."

I gave him an indulgent smile and pat his leg. It didn't take long to get to the school after that. When we pulled up in front, I caught the hesitation when he looked at me. His eyes flickered down to my lips but he resisted the urge to kiss me goodbye. I did feel the brush of fur against my cheek. It was a private thing but it meant just as much.

"Love you too. Survive the day," I said, "And good luck on the test."

"Thanks," he gave a small smile and hopped out of the car.

It was only as I was nearly at the corner that I heard the sharp bleep of an incoming text message. I turned at the familiar sound. Sitting in the passenger seat was Nye's phone. It had clearly fallen out of his pocket without him noticing.

With a roll of my eyes, I made the next available turn to go back down the street. I doubted that he'd gotten too far.

I wasn't too comfortable parking my car in the street, but I reminded myself that it wouldn't be for long. Besides, the sports car was difficult to hotwire with its anti-theft security features. I doubted some punk who had never seen a sports car in real life could figure it out in the short space of time I'd be away.

That calmed me enough to chance leaving it before I made my way inside. The guard recognized me quickly enough. He'd been working there for as long as I could remember. I'd even babysat for his daughter a few times back in the day. He barely blinked when I mentioned Nye. He waved me inside without any trouble.

I glanced around the yard to see so many bodies walking around that I doubted I'd find him easily. I did notice a few students slowing down as they walked by me. Some offered tentative smiles, while others were more openly interested. It was uncomfortable to say the least.

Letting my mind go quiet, I let my senses reach out for Nye hoping that would help. Almost instinctively I started walking through the yard and past a pair of double doors. Half a corridor down and around a corner I spotted him talking to Orion.

I didn't have to call out to him. His head whipped around as if I had. At the confused look on his face, I fished his cell out of my pocket and wiggled it for him to see. His hands pat his pockets reflexively though he was looking at the phone in my grasp.

"Shit it must have fallen out," he sighed when I handed it over, "Thanks for bringing it in."

"No problem," I shrugged, "Hey, Orion."

"Hey there," Orion grinned down at my shorts, "The guard let you in wearing that?"

"I...I'm actually not sure if he saw them that high up in the booth," I laughed.

"I'm positive he didn't," Nye frowned down at it, "They are way shorter than dress code regulation."

"They're not that bad," I rolled my eyes.

"I'll deck the next person who walks by and checks out your ass."

"Well he is technically single," Orion pointed out as the previous offender rounded the corner.

"He's not technically shit," Nye growled at his Second.

The earlier intensity of the wolf flared again at that. Orion held up his hands in surrender. I did the same when he rounded on me.

"Hi there," someone said from behind me. I turned to see a girl walking by with a friendly smile and a wave. Again the attention was unsettling for some reason. When I turned back, I found Orion holding Nye in place with a single hand. Nye hadn't moved but I could tell it was for caution's sake.

"Relax, Ri. I'm fine," he said, "It's not anyone's fault but my own that they don't know better."

"Look at you being reasonable," Orion smiled lowering his hand.

"But," Nye continued, "I am going to fuckin' burn those microfiber daisy dukes if it's the last thing I do when I get home, so help me Ahmose."

"You were doing so well," Orion sighed.

The bell rang around us, signaling the start of the school day. Before I could react, Nye was tip toeing to hug me around the neck. His cheek brushed mine in such a subtle yet purposeful way that made it obvious – to me at least – that I was being scent marked. It was as much a self soothing measure for him as it was a neon sign saying 'back off'.

It was hard to believe that he was the one who didn't want people to know about the mating when he did things like this. It didn't seem to matter that sharing a bed every night had already marked me with his scent. But he seemed to need it so I allowed it. If that would calm his frazzled nerves when he had a test in a few minutes then so be it. I dropped a Pack kiss onto his lips, rubbed his back and pulled away while it was still chaste.

Nye was in the kind of mood where he might do something reckless and in public wasn't the place for it. Hopefully he could get some proper sleep tonight. That should be enough to take some of the edge off from his animal.

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Ahh yes. Things are going just fine. Just sowing seeds as I go. I hope it all comes together when it needs to. Vote, Share and (my fave) Comment!