Page 34 of Christopher

Chris felt his body relax. That was what he’d been aiming for, and he was glad it was working. The more tense Drake was,the more he tended to yap and overwhelm himself. When that happened, he obsessed over trying not to be himself and being unable to make that work. It made everything worse because it was too much for him to deal with, and he panicked.

Chris didn’t want him to panic now. He doubted Gal would have anything bad to say about Drake even if he did, but he knew how important it was to Drake to make a good impression. His old pack might not have been as bad or complicated as Chris’s, but it didn’t mean he had many good memories or experiences.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Drake said as he stopped in front of the door to Gal’s office.

Chris turned to reassure him, but the door flew open before he could say anything. Liam squinted at them, and his gaze stopped on Drake. “Why don’t you think you can do it?”

Drake opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “I’m really sorry,” he blurted out.

Liam waved his words away. “I’m serious. Why are you so nervous?”

“Because you’re the alpha mate, and you’re intimidating.”

Drake looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here, but it was too late for him to change his mind. Liam had him, and Chris could hear Gal in the office. He had to be listening to them, which meant he’d heard everything.

Liam snorted. “Intimidating? Me?”

Chris had to press his lips together. He understood where Liam was coming from. Even though he was the alpha mate, he looked gentle, which made sense because he was a gentle man. He was on the tall side, although nowhere near as tall as his mate, but he was slight, with dark blond hair and kind brown eyes. He made people feel at ease, which helped in his position.

“I suspect that’s because of your position as my mate,” Gal said from inside the office. “Let them in, will you?”

Liam stepped to the side. Chris walked into the office, but Drake didn’t follow. He stared at Chris with wide eyes, his mouth slightly open, a wild light in his gaze.

He was panicking. Chris didn’t know how to help him, but he doubted that forcing him to come into the office would do anything good. “Breathe,” he said gently.

“I called the alpha mate intimidating to his face,” Drake said. “He’s going to kick me out of the pride, and I’m not even a real pride member yet. I ruined everything.”

“Nothing bad is going to happen,” Liam said. “If anything, I’m kind of happy that I’m intimidating. That’s not something that happens often.” He puffed out his chest. “Heard that, Gal? I’m intimidating.”

Gal had clearly had enough of waiting because he appeared behind Liam. He seemed amused as he wrapped an arm around his mate’s shoulders and kissed the top of his head. He could do that because he was six feet four and towered over all of them.

“So very intimidating,” Gal agreed. His attention turned to Drake. “Why don’t you come into the office? I promise I won’t eat you.”

Chris hadn’t thought that Drake’s eyes could go even wider, but they did. He stared at Gal as if he was contemplating running away. He actually might be, so Chris grabbed his hand and pulled him into the office. “Stop panicking,” he murmured. “Gal and Liam like you. They’ve already made their decision, and this is just a way for you to get to know them and for them to get to know you. Just be yourself.”

“That’s never worked well in the past,” Drake pointed out.

Chris squeezed his hand. “I don’t know about that. I think it’s worked pretty well between us.”

Drake finally relaxed, although not a lot. He leaned against Chris as he took in the office. “It has worked pretty well with you, but you’re my mate. You kind of have to accept me.”

“I don’t have to do anything. I accepted you because I like you, and I’m not the only one. You have your friends, don’t you? They love you the way you are, as I’m sure other people do, too. You need to get out of your head.”

“Have you met me?” Drake asked, sounding amused.

“We haven’t yet, but we’ve been looking forward to it,” Gal said as he closed the door.

Drake jumped, and his smile fell.

Chris sighed. They’d been making progress, and he hoped they hadn’t lost all of it. At this point, Drake was nervous enough that he might run out the door screaming, and Chris wasn’t ready to run after him.

But if he had to, he would.

* * * *

Drake was all over the place, and he hated it. When he’d left his apartment, he’d told himself he could do this, that he could be relaxed and suave and impress the alpha and his mate. Now that he was here, he knew that hecouldn’tdo it.

It didn’t seem to matter. He didn’t need to impress Chris because they were mates, and the alpha and the alpha mate seemed to like him even though he was a mess. It was hard to believe, and he still wasn’t entirely sure he trusted whatever was going on, but as the alpha gestured at the couch under one of the wide windows, he told himself that whatever happened, it didn’t matter. As long as he and Chris were happy, he didn’t have to be a pride member. It would make things awkward if he and Chris couldn’t move in together when they were ready, but they’d find a way to make it work. Chris didn’t have to live in the pride house. Right now, he wanted to because that was where his family was, and Drake would never ask him to choose, but they had time. Even if it took them years to move in together, that would be fine.

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