Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
DAX
Dax tapped his pen rapidly, staring off into space, completely ignoring his work. He was too busy contemplating what to do about Mateo and their mate bond. He only had the guy’s email, which seemed wrong. That was an in person conversation. Right?
He really needed to call his brother. He wasn’t sure he could figure this out on his own, and Rovan was always the one he called when he didn’t know how to deal with something himself. But this was his mate—surely he could figure it out on his own…
Giving into the urge, he picked up his phone, heading for the breakroom for a little peace and quiet. Most of the research floor had already had their lunch so it was empty for the time being. He wasn’t sure how long that would last, but hopefully this conversation wouldn’t take that long.
Rovan, ever the protective older brother, picked up on the second ring, immediately asking, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. Why would something be wrong?” Dax asked, frowning. Why did he always go there first?
“Because you’re calling me in the middle of the work day, Dax. Normally, nothing can pull your focus from your work. So it has to be important if you’re calling me. What’s wrong?”
He sighed. How his brother saw right through him was still a mystery. They hadn’t even lived in the same realm for decades and still Rovan knew him best.
“I, uh… I think I found my mate.”
The line was quiet for a long moment before Rovan replied. “You… think? You’d know, Dax. Why do you think and not know?”
“Because he’s human?” Dax replied, still frowning. Mateo didn’t show any signs of picking up on the mate bond. He still wasn’t sure humans even had mates or if maybe this was one sided. That would be his worst nightmare, honestly.
He could practically see Rovan’s brain working, his eyes darting back and forth like they always did when he was considering something important. Like he was reading some kind of big brother manual that only he could see. It always made Dax smile, even now when he couldn’t actually see him.
“Okay… I can see why you’re confused. I take it you felt the bond?”
“Yeah,” he agreed a little breathlessly. He’d never felt anything like it. Like a bone deep knowledge that he’d found the other half of his soul. Just thinking about it made his chest tight.
“And he didn’t feel anything? What did he say when you told him?”
Dax winced and didn't immediately answer.
Which of course Rovan took as an answer in and of itself. “You didn’t tell him?”
“I’m not sure it’s a good time,” he hedged.
“We only met once last week, and today was… It was a bad day for him. He was so overwhelmed with personal stuff, he looked ready to cry. It felt wrong to drop something else into his lap, especially if he doesn’t feel the same way. I don’t know what to do!”
“Okay, okay, calm down,” Rovan coached, waiting for Dax to take a few deep breaths before speaking again.
“You’re right if he’s going through a hard time, now might not be the right moment to bring it up.
I don’t know a thing about humans and their mating habits, but if he doesn’t feel the bond the same way, it’s best not to push until you know each other a little more.
Maybe take things slow? Go on a few dates, that kind of thing.
I’ll do some research, see if I can find out more about human mating habits.
Maybe they just experience it differently than we do.
Most supes don’t feel their mating bond for a while. Humans could be similar.”
True. Maybe with time, Mateo would come to recognize Dax as his mate.
If he had been another species, Dax couldn’t expect them to feel the same thing right away.
Not unless they were also a kraken. Or a fairy.
He was pretty sure he heard that fairies felt attached to their mates upon first meeting.
He’d need to look into that to be sure, though.
“Okay… So I should wait to mention it until he knows me better?”
“Right,” Rovan agreed. “Give him a little time to deal with whatever is causing him so much stress at home, let him get to know you a little.” Dax could practically hear the frown in his voice when he added, “Try not to come on too strong. Your instincts will be screaming at you to take care of your mate. It’s just how things work with our kind.
If he’s going through something, that kind of behavior might scare him off. Try to rein it in a little.”
Dax felt his stomach twist uncomfortably. “What kind of behavior?”
Rovan wasn’t the only sibling of his that was mated, but he hadn’t been around during any of his siblings’ mating periods. And his parents never talked to him about it. He wasn’t sure what to expect.
Rovan sighed, his tone remorseful like he didn't want to be the one to tell Dax this information. “Hovering, not wanting to separate, feeling anxious apart, wanting to feed them, care for them, make sure they’re happy. It can be overwhelming, and combined with the possessive behavior all mates experience, it might be a little much for a human. Try to limit it to what a friend would do at first. Once he knows you a little better and you feel comfortable bringing up the bond, you can explain your instincts and see what he’s comfortable with.
Our instincts want their happiness first and foremost. If he says something makes him uncomfortable or unhappy, the urge will lessen. ”
Well, shit. He already felt that way now.
Just letting Mateo go upstairs to his office had been hard.
He’d wanted to follow him, make sure no one got close to him so he could get some real rest. Knowing it was instinctual and would likely not be going away any time soon made this a whole lot harder.
A tug in his chest made his head jerk up just in time to see Mateo outside the open breakroom door. His breath caught, and he launched out of his chair, only stopping himself from running to meet him by sheer force of will. He really was going to need to rein in his instincts.
“Uh, Rovan, I gotta go. I’ll call you back later.”
Rovan sounded amused when he asked, “He’s there, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. I gotta– I’m just gonna–”
Laughing, he said, “Go, Dax. Go get to know your mate. And call me later. I want to know about my new brother.”
A bubble of elation filled Dax’s chest, and he barely remembered to acknowledge his brother and say goodbye before hanging up.
He was shoving his phone into his pocket while beelining for Mateo when he noticed how strained he looked.
He slowed his pace, taking in the exhaustion and the forced smile when he looked up at Dax’s arrival.
Now was definitely not the time to come on too strong.
“All fixed?” he asked, keeping his tone light and easy so Mateo didn’t think he was upset that it took time to resolve the issue.
“Yeah. All good. Fair warning, Roz put a monitoring spell on it. If you don’t change your password to something decent within the next week, she’ll lock you out until you take one of her courses.
” He grimaced apologetically when Dax’s eyebrows shot up.
“It was the best I could do. She wanted you to take the course right away. I talked her down and convinced her this was a lesson in and of itself, and you didn’t need a course.
Please don’t make me a liar. She’s terrifying when she wants to be. ”
Nodding rapidly, Dax pulled up a chair next to Mateo’s after he’d plugged it all in, sitting in front of it as it booted and loaded up.
He didn’t want to make his mate’s day any harder than it already was.
He’d figure out a way to make it work. “I’ll think of a good one, I promise.
I already changed it after you took my computer away so I can always–”
“Don’t use the same password on your laptop as your desktop,” Mateo chided, somehow seeing right through Dax’s plan. Dax pouted.
“Really? How will I remember it, then?”
“Use a phrase you won’t forget for each device. Switch out some letters and use numbers and symbols instead. Don’t add a one at the end unless you want Roz to torture you with hours of security courses.”
Dax just stared at him blankly. He was expected to think of something like that when he’d just met his mate? How was he supposed to do that?
With a sigh, Mateo loaded up the device and pulled the password change page up, his fingers dancing along the keyboard as he typed something in.
“There. I chose ‘KrakensL0veSwimming!’, but I switched out the letter ‘o’ with a zero and capitalized each word, then put an exclamation at the end. Can you remember that?”
Blinking, he leaned closer to look at the password Mateo had made up for him. “It’s really that simple?”
“I mean, it’s a start. In general, you shouldn’t actually have words in your password since someone might be able to guess it, but I don’t think Roz can expect more complicated passwords outside the security team.
This is fine. If you want to keep the passwords similar between your laptop and desktop to remember it easier, try putting the distinction in the password itself.
Like ‘KrakensL0veSwimming!Desktop’ and ‘KrakensL0veSwimming!Laptop’.
Honestly, the longer the password, the better, since it takes longer to crack it. ”
Well… that wasn’t as hard as he’d expected. He reached for a piece of paper to write it down, but the minute Mateo figured out what he was doing, he smacked his hand and took the pen away, scowling at him. “Absolutely not. You don’t write down passwords on paper where anyone can find them.”
“But–”
“No, Dax. Do you have any idea how easy it would be for someone to find the note? You’re basically handing over your password to anyone who has access to the research floor.”
Dax looked down at the workspace he’d commandeered for the experiment. It was pretty clean given that most of his experimentation was taking place outside the office. Mateo had a point that the post-it would be easy to spot.
“What if I tape it to the underside of the keyboard?” he suggested with a frown.
The password seemed simple enough, but he didn’t trust himself not to forget when he was distracted, especially now that he knew Mateo was his mate.
He didn’t want to get locked out of his system and make more work for the exhausted man.
Or face whatever torture Mateo’s boss had in store for him.
The look on Mateo’s face, eyes wide with horror and indignation, told him without saying anything what Mateo thought about that idea. He slumped. “I don’t want to forget and lock myself out again! I’ve caused you enough trouble.”
That softened Mateo at least a little. Dax was getting a little worried he’d made such a bad first impression that Mateo wouldn’t even want to spend time with him outside of work.
He was glad when Mateo pulled out his phone and started typing something, his fingers flying rapidly over the screen.
Dax wasn’t completely useless when it came to tech, but he didn’t come anywhere near that fast when using his own device. His mate had skills.
“Alright, pull up your app store on your phone. I want you to download this.” He tipped his phone, showing Dax an app he’d pulled up on his screen. “It’s a password manager. You only need to memorize one password. The app will remember the rest for you.”
“Only one?” he repeated curiously. He tapped to download the app Mateo suggested, watching it download with aching slowness. Mateo noticed and snatched his phone away, frowning. Dax didn’t even have a second to enjoy the thrill of Mateo’s hand touching his before he started talking.
“Why is it so slow? Do I need to– Wait, hold on–how many apps do you have?! And why are all of them open? Dax!”
He grinned sheepishly at the wild-eyed human. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t decent with tech. He could use the stuff for his experiments just fine. But when it came to his personal devices, he was less diligent about caring for them.
While Mateo started messing with his phone, probably fixing whatever Dax had done wrong, Dax scooched closer to the desk, snagging the keyboard so he could log in with the new password Mateo had provided for him.
He pulled up the program that logged his research, frowning at the missing data that Mateo hadn’t been able to rescue for him.
He’d need to share this with his team members, let them know he’d run into an issue.
He seriously hoped it wouldn’t mean he’d need to start this phase of the experiment over again.
It was only a day since Mateo managed to give him access on his laptop the next morning. That wasn’t too bad… right?
“Okay, here. It’s downloaded. You should really think about getting rid of some of those apps. Your phone memory is almost shot.”
Was it wrong that he enjoyed his mate chastising him? Stern Mateo was adorable. And kind of sexy.