Page 2 of A Clutch for Hutch
The treetops were a blur below us, the moon high above shining down. A fairy tale in the making and a dream I hadn’t even known I had come true.
A real dragon—and Fate sent him to be mine.
The buzzing alarm told me I’d stayed up all night—again. Father was going to be most displeased if I didn’t perform well today. He was ready to make the announcement of his retirement, if only I could perform up to his standards.
Closing my laptop, I allowed myself to accept the truth. My stories were going to have to be set aside, maybe even until my time to step down as alpha many decades in the future.I’d known that at the beginning but had gradually picked it up again.
I could not do both. The fluffle came first.
Chapter Two
Hutch
“Boss? Boss?”
I turned to see my right-hand man, Burns, standing behind me, and I waited for him to continue. I wasn’t in the mood for work. My dragon was itching to get out, and I thought maybe going up on the roof might help.
It didn’t. Not anymore. Once, it would’ve been enough, but he was good and done with this city stuff. He wanted to fly and roam and settle down, and I had reached the point where I agreed with him. If only I weren’t tied to my company.
“Johnson Incorporated is here for their meeting. Should I tell them to come back another day?”
“Yes…wait. No, I’ll come down. I just needed some air.”
“Boss, with all due respect, you don’t need air. What you need is a vacation.” Burns always said what was on his mind. He wasn’t a yes man, rather an independent thinker and a large part of the reason my company was flourishing.
“Ain’t that the truth.”
I patted his shoulder and then walked past him down the steps toward my office. Needing more than a vacation, I didn’t think it was possible to get everything I longed for with this company to run.
I’d built it from the ground up and had a huge nest egg. The company, which started out so far in the red I didn’t think we’d ever manage to get out, was now at the top of our industry. But despite our admirable hoard, my dragon wasn’t appeased. Me either.
“I’m so sorry I was late. I was on an errand.” I stepped inside to see my guests already seated at the conference table.
“That’s fine,” Stan, the alpha mate of the pair, said.
Johnson Incorporated had made a name for themselves in three years. The young wolf couple, while still in college, had created software that changed the landscape of technology for manufacturing. They’d set out to make a name for themselves and were worth more than my company by a significant amount. Surprising they had called and wanted a meeting. There really wasn’t much I could offer them anymore.
Once upon a time, we did a lot of work together, but they’d leapfrogged me. I had to admit I was jealous of them. Not for the business success, I had more money than I could spend in a lifetime, but because they were doing it side by side. They even had a couple of little ones at home. Unlike me, they’d found their mates their first year of college and had been living the dream ever since.
I shook my head, trying not to get too deep into thoughts about things that I couldn’t control, mainly my own loneliness. “So, what can I do for you guys today?”
“Well…” They slid a folder across the table. “We don’t want to insult you, but we’ve been talking about this for a while, and we were thinking of maybe forming a partnership.”
I opened it and flipped through the enclosed documents one at a time. “So, combining our companies? Merging?” I didn’t see the value to them, but they nodded. “I don’t know, honestly. My dragon’s not doing so well lately.” I was surprised at the words that flew out of my mouth. It should’ve been an instant no, right? “All this concrete and steel is not his favorite.”
“Is it yours?” Stan Johnson asked.
“Nah, it’s not.” I wasn’t quite sure what to do about it, nor was I sure why I was spilling the beans to these guys, but here I was doing exactly that.
“If you didn’t have this company, what would you do?”
“What would I do? I’d find a house with lots of acreage and a place where shifters were aplenty and, I don’t know, try to makea life there. But I do have the company, so let’s talk about this merger.”
“Unless…” Stan grabbed his mate’s hand and squeezed it tight on the table. “Unless you’d consider selling to us. We don’t have an offer for that, but we could work on one.”
The beginning of our negotiations. At one time, I would’ve done anything to hold on to this company with both hands, never to let go again. But now it felt like the right decision. I sold for less than it was worth. I didn’t need the money. I had plenty, and I knew they would treat my baby right. After reading their proposal for the merger, I understood how my assets would help them, and I wanted that for them.
I spent a lot of time looking at properties across the country. I didn’t really have a location in mind, just that I wanted it to be out of the city. I considered the mountains and another place near the shore. I searched the Corn Belt, anywhere and everywhere, trying to find a place that would work for me.
