Page 38 of Silas's Sweetheart

“Nope, have you sent out the emails with the offers to the new hires?”

Over the weekend, Silas had used some of his time to catch up on ranch business. Ethan had arranged interviews the day before for the new ranch hands they needed. They’d used Zoom to carry them out in Dad’s home office. From the six applicants, they’d chosen three men.

Silas hadn’t been sure about the last one, Amos, a little omega who looked as if a strong wind would blow him over. Or that a day doing hard manual labor on a ranch the size of Darling Ranch would send him running for cover. Silas allowed Ethan to guide him, and he’d see which way the cards fell, but his gut said the guy wouldn’t go the distance.

Ethan was an excellent judge of character, unless it came to his pecker. When that ruled, he could lose sight of the wood for the trees. Amos was most definitely Ethan’s type.

“Of course I did. I have an ass for a boss who’ll ride me hard if I didn’t,” he quipped back, and Silas was back to rolling his eyes.

“The only person riding your ass is—”

“I wouldn’t go there, boss, unless you want me to talk about—”

“Shut up, asshole,” he said with no heat. Ethan was the only person who knew what Silas’s preferences were when it came to sex after he’d stumbled across him and an omega late one night in the hayloft on the ranch.

“Have they all replied?”

“Yep, and accepted. I sent the stuff to the accountant to sort out payroll and start dates. I had a word with Cranny about the cabins to see which were free.”

“Good—”

“Sorry to interrupt but Pam says Booker… needs you.” Wendy’s worried stare got him hustling out of his seat.

“Shit, I’ll call you back later, Ethan.” He didn’t wait for Ethan to answer before cutting off the call. He ran and charged into Booker’s office, going straight to him at the visible distress. He looked like a wild, untamed bear wearing a suit.

“What… argh, shit Booker! What do you need?” He felt how Booker shook as he ran hands over his back, focusing on his breathing, which was erratic.

“Not sure… Frey is in the building.”

“Isn’t he…” Wait. What the fuck?

He didn’t have time to question what it all meant. He’d given in and checked the heat diary, so he knew Frey wasn’t supposed to be back at work until tomorrow.

“Breathe. Fuck Booker, breathe for me. In and out, slowly. Come on, you know the drill, work with me Booker,” Silas cajoled continuously, while working to keep his own stress levels down, despite questions swimming around his brain like sharks ready to attack him.

Some minutes later, Hollis stepped into the office. “I hope this is…” He gave Silas an alarmed look. “What’s wrong?”

Booker’s eyes opened, and he growled ominously.

Silas considered his options. “Get Frey out of the building, now!”

It seemed like the best solution if Frey was in heat. They didn’t need an alpha rampage in the building, with Booker leading the charge.

“What…” Hollis frowned and stepped closer to Booker’s desk. His gaze swept over Booker, and he blushed. “Oh…I see.”

See what? Silas looked from the tense man to Hollis and back, at a loss.

“You see nothing,” Booker forced out.

Hollis quietly shut the door to the office, blocking out those who were in the hallway, gawping at the show they were putting on.

“He’s not in heat,” Hollis advised softly, holding Booker’s gaze.

“He is,” Booker snapped back, his teeth clacking together.

“No, he’s not. I can’t say more than that. It’s up to Frey to explain,if he wants to.”

Silas worked not to gawp, then grinned at what that meant. Ziggy hadn’t…

---