Page 32 of Baby and the Beast

He didn’t and Kyle glanced back. Cyrus’s eyes were open wide, as dazed as he was sure as his own were, but as he stared he noticed the glint of sudden moisture in them and his heart sank. Cyrus pulled his hand free. “I can’t.”

Kyle opened his mouth to point out they were mated and that he’d been set up, and Cyrus owed him, and, and…he closed it, deeply ashamed of himself.

“I understand I have to stay here, Alpha, unless you find a way to break the bond.” He looked up. “If that happens there’s a shifter rescue place in North Carolina. I know they’d take me once I’d worked off the money.”

Kyle didn’t answer right away. He didn’t trust whatever words might come out of his mouth. “If that’s really what you want, I’ll make it happen. Don’t worry about the money.”

Cyrus picked up the monitor, tucked it in his pocket and walked out back towards the pack kitchen.

Kyle rubbed his head in frustration. He wanted to go for a run and his wolf pricked it’s ears up at that thought. Yes, they both needed a run. He headed to the kitchen to tell Marnie where he was going. He hoped Cyrus had gone somewhere else.

Baby and the Alpha

Chapter Five

Cyrus sat on Chloe’s empty bed and hugged the dragon. He’d dodged out of the way until Kyle had gone. He listened to Aiva snore and wished. Wished for so much. Not that wishing had ever done him an ounce of good. Determined not to wallow, he headed to the pack kitchen. Marnie was in there alone and she didn’t need anything from him. He looked up as Liam walked in.

“A little bird told me you want to look at the books for the business?”

Cyrus looked at him in surprise. Now was perfect as neither of the girls needed him. “Will Martin mind?” he asked, falling into step with Liam, and wondering how he had found him. Liam grunted.

“Martin isn’t there. The office is empty, so I thought now would be a good time for you to nose about.”

Cyrus glanced over in surprise. It almost seemed like Liam was wanting to do this without anyone else knowing which seemedstrange. Liam unlocked an office door, turned and handed Cyrus the keys and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. “These are all the passwords.”

Cyrus gaped, both at the casual trust, and the horrendous security. “Are you sure this is okay?” he looked around at the large office. It was neat. Not a speck of dust, not so much as a paperclip out of place.

“Absolutely. None of us know what we’re doing and as alpha it looks bad if he hasn’t a clue. I’ve heard Martin try and explain, but it’s like listening to a rocket scientist explaining advanced calculus to someone just starting kindergarten.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Best not tell the boss I said that.” Cyrus chuckled and turned on the computer.

“Seriously, what Kyle needs is all this explained to him without Martin being there so he gets it. It would be a huge thing if you could do that. It would really help.” Cyrus nodded almost absently as he entered the password.Wolfie?Really? He almost rolled his eyes.

Liam grabbed the monitor from Aiva’s room Cyrus had just put on the desk. “I’ll take care of the princess.” He closed the door behind him.

In another hour Cyrus was knee deep in old fashioned handwritten ledgers that desperately needed to be digitized. He’d already identified an easy way he thought Kyle could save at least $5,000 a year and he was pretty sure there were some business grants in Tennessee that Kyle should be able to apply for. He smiled absently at Marnie as she put a cup of coffee and some cake in front of him an hour later. Cyrus frowned at one of the ledgers and tried to match it up to the bank statement. He wished he had another slice of cake—he was hungry—and started trying to hunt for more statements. He hadn’t meant to fall down this rabbit hole, but once he’d started, he couldn’t stop. There had to be another statement somewhere.

“Supper’s ready.”

Cyrus looked up in surprise at Kyle’s voice. “Or it will be in five minutes and Chloe is hungry.” He left as quietly as he had arrived. Supper? With Kyle and the girls? What did that mean? Although he might just be eating with the girls. Maybe that’s what Kyle had meant. He certainly hadn’t seen much of him at mealtimes the last couple of days. Cyrus gathered up the sheets he had printed off and decided to take them with him to have another look through later. He quickly tidied everything else and turned off the computer, then locked the office and went into the pack kitchen. It was empty, so he carried on to the smaller one and heard Chloe before he stepped inside.

“But I want Cyrus,” she said stubbornly, and he heard the sigh from Kyle.

“I know pumpkin. I just went to fetch him while Amanda helped you wash your hands.” Cyrus’s heart thumped weakly. So, Kyle had come for him to appease Chloe, not because he wanted him there.

He plastered a smile on his face and walked in. Chloe screeched her delight and Aiva threw her book on the floor. He grinned at their antics, kissed them both, promised two stories after bath time and then glanced at Kyle who was looking at him with a bemused expression. He turned, picked up a glass of wine and held it out. “If you’ve spent a couple of hours in the office, you’re probably ready for this.”

Supper was spaghetti and meatballs that Kyle admitted he’d only had to warm up thanks to Marnie. Kyle positioned himself next to Aiva to help her eat at least some of the spaghetti she delighted in trying to throw everywhere. Cyrus grinned at Chloe when she pronounced she wasn’t eating worms, but he soon had her seeing how long a piece of spaghetti she could suck in in one go, which was entertaining for them all.

They both got the girls bathed and in bed, then tiptoed out of the nursery. “Liam told me you were looking at the accounts,” Kyle said as they both walked back to the kitchen. Cyrus was ready for a bath himself, but the kitchen was a spaghetti disaster area and he couldn’t leave that to Kyle. He started collecting dishes.

“I was going to offer to digitize everything because your accountancy fees are off the charts. Then I can work on two or three grants I think you would qualify for. There’s a special one for regeneration and from the files I saw you plant a lot of trees.” He nodded to himself. “If that isn’t regeneration, I don’t know what is.”

Kyle stopped and stared at him in astonishment. Cyrus paused. “I’m sorry. I don’t have to. I don’t want to overstep.”

“Oh, please do,” Kyle said fervently and Cyrus smiled hesitantly.

“I need some information. I couldn’t find the invoices for the accounting fees and I was shocked at how much you pay. I’d need to see an itemized list.”

“Tell me about it,” Kyle groaned.

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