Chapter 40
Cato
Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate.
That’s all my alpha has said since we met Hestia. It’s a constant refrain in my mind, the backdrop to everything I do.
Mate is the only clear thing I’ve ever heard him say, likely because we’re finally on the same wavelength since I’m thinking the same thing. I want to bite and bond and care for and cherish our omega.
I can hardly focus on anything that doesn’t involve Hestia. Even in the field, I’m thinking about how doing a good job will make her happy. I know how much she cares about helping others.
I enjoy helping people too, and it always felt like a good balance to the aggression I dealt out. Except now, everything revolves around my pet, and I don’t feel the need to fight anymore or the desire to sleep with anyone but her.
I know my packmates feel the same, even if we haven’t discussed it. We’re still blocking our thoughts about Hestia in the bond, which is foolish at this point, but who doesn’t love a little self-denial.
It’s obvious Hestia wants us just as much as we want her, and my omega deserves to get whatever she wants. But she’s a good girl, and I know she’s too nervous to break the rules on her own without a little motivation and encouragement
As the cleverest among my packmates, I took it upon myself to come up with a way we can be together without getting fired. And it starts with convincing them to grab our omega by the hips.
Hestia is safely tucked in for the night, so it’s time to round them up and talk them into doing things my way.
Magnus is already moping in the living room, and Charm is in there poking forlornly at the fireplace. That means I only have two left to corral.
I’m sure Henri is in his little security office furiously jerking off.
Orion also wandered upstairs. Odds are he’s reviewing reports or something equally unnecessary and boring to anyone who’s not a workaholic.
Henri is my first target. Once I have him in tow, I’ll tell Orion we’re having a pack meeting and he’ll be happy to come along. Henri would argue if I tried that approach with him. For some reason my packmates, barring Orion, never like my reasons for calling a pack meeting.
I slam open the door to Henri’s office and stride in.
Henri jolts and jerks his hand up, pausing whatever’s on the computer screen.
“Stop jacking off to Hestia and come downstairs. If you don’t come with me now, I’ll tell the others what you were doing,” I say.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is a little blackmail goes a long way.
“What!? I’m not! I was just—I wasn’t doing that,” Henri says, stumbling over his words and avoiding eye contact.
Sure, he just happened to have his hand on his dick while Hestia was on the screen. And I’m sure he was only reviewing the camera recordings for security purposes.
Henri is still stammering something. I lean against the doorframe and wait.
Eventually he runs out of half-baked excuses and relents.
“Fine. But I wasn’t masturbating. I’m only coming with you because otherwise you’ll be difficult,” he says, shutting down the computer.
I step into the hall to give him a moment to get himself back in his pants.
We collect Orion with little fanfare, and they follow me downstairs.
“We’re having a pack meeting,” I inform Magnus and Charm upon entering the living room.
They’re too lost in their own thoughts to argue. Don’t worry, boys, I’m about to fix all our problems.
I tell Henri to close the doors. I can’t have Hestia stumbling past and overhearing us if she goes looking for a late-night snack.
Once I’m sure I have everyone’s attention, I say, “I’ve gathered you here to explain the plan for how we’ll be courting Hestia by Yule.”
They’re silent for a beat and then everyone’s talking at once.
It’s a good thing I had Henri shut the doors. At this rate, Hestia would hear us from her room.
“You know we can’t date a trainee, the power imbalance—”
“How did you come up with that idea.”
“That’s inappropriate to even suggest. We could never—”
“We only helped with her heat, that doesn’t give us permission to ask for anything else.”
It’s hard to catch everything since they’re talking over each other, but it doesn’t matter. I tune them out after I gather they disagree with me.
I wait until they’ve worn themselves out to continue, “If we follow my plan, it’s possible. There’s no reason to wait two years when our omega wants us now.”
More blustering denials that I ignore. They think if they lock down their end of the bond, I can’t sense how they feel about her.
“We’ll seem like a poor excuse for a pack if we don’t coordinate on this. What omega would want to join us if we can’t get along?” I say.
“Getting along isn’t the issue,” Magnus says.
“Your goal is the problem,” Charm growls.
Where’s that charming silver tongue now?
My packmates never appreciate my good ideas, but I’ve come to accept that about them. This is important though. I have to convince them to do this.
“I will admit my feelings for Hestia go deeper than being coworkers, or even friends. But we’re not allowed to be anything else, per company rules. Not while she works under us,” Orion explains patiently, as if I’m simply unaware of the roadblock.
Henri isn’t arguing anymore, but that may be because he’s worried I’ll bring up my blackmail if he keeps going. Which I will.
So I’m counting Henri as on my side.
That’s one down, three to go.
The giant should be the easiest to fell.
“You and Hestia are always spending time together. Don’t you think she likes you as more than a friend?” I ask Magnus.
I think he actually blushes.
Magnus fidgets and mumbles, “We are friends. Even good friends, maybe. But that’s it. Outside of our team-bonding activities, we really only spend time together when we’re gardening.”
I resist the urge to snap at him. With my teeth.
Team bonding.
Is that what these idiots have been telling themselves?
Taking Hestia ice skating, buying her anything she wants, cuddling while we watch movies, decorating gingerbread houses together, all of that is just team bonding?
“Do your other friends get so wet that you can smell how badly they want to drain you of come?” I ask.
More squabbling ensues.
If they’re going to complain after everything I say, this is going to be a long meeting.
I don’t even bother listening to them.
“You scented her yourself. Don’t act like you haven’t noticed Hestia’s interest in us,” I say.
Her descenters and suppressants aren’t able to hide the nuances of her scent anymore. They can’t completely block scent matches from each other anyway, but especially now that we’ve smelled her unfettered arousal, it’s easy to pick up those subtle notes.
“You can’t assume how someone feels based on their scent,” Orion says.
“You don’t know what she’s thinking,” Magnus says.
I growl.
If they think that, they’re not paying attention. Hestia’s eyes dilate when she looks at us, always following us around to be near us. Cuddling on the couch, letting us feed her and buy her things. She wouldn’t accept so much attention and affection from alphas she wasn’t interested in.
“She wants us just as much as we want her. Why are you lying to yourselves,” I say.
There are fewer objections this time. Finally, we’re getting somewhere.
“Even if Hestia is interested in us—” Orion says.
“She is,” I interject.
“Nothing can happen. She’s still our subordinate,” he finishes.
“I have a Plan. If you do what I say, we’ll be together by Yule, with company approval,” I say.
“And how exactly is that going to happen?” Charm asks skeptically.
“Just follow these simple steps, and I promise we’ll be mated by New Year’s,” I say.
They interrupt before I can explain what to do. Maybe I should have held off on telling them about the bonding part.
“Even if your plan works, our pack is legally closed. We’re not supposed to be courting anyone,” Charm says.
“So, we open it up,” I say, and forge ahead before they can make up another argument.
I only lay out the first few parts of my Plan. After how long it took them to agree to it (or shut up long enough to listen), I want to leave a little mystery so they can’t pick it apart.
They try to make me tell them the final few steps and how I’ll get HR to agree to this, but I don’t give in. We need to stay focused on the present to ensure the first part of the Plan goes well. Otherwise, we won’t make it to the end anyway.
After more unnecessary back and forth, they concede to trying my ideas. They claim it’s only because it involves things we’d do anyway, but I know they’re just afraid to admit they want to follow my Plan.
And just in time. I hear Hestia shuffling down the hall, coming to raid the kitchen.
I slip out the doors ahead of my packmates to join her midnight snack party.