Page 13 of The Wolf's Bullied Mate
“You’re smiling more those days,” Ryder gave me a puzzled look. “Anything good happening?”
My smile widened when I thought about the reason for my joy. RedRuby. I didn’t know her name or the pack she came from. Yet, with every conversation we shared, I learned more and more about what kind of person she was.
She seemed shy at first, easily spooked when I tried to flirt with her, but gradually, she opened up to me. She told me more and more about herself and her life with her pack. From her words, I could tell she wasn’t happy there. She wanted to get away.
I didn’t want to just be a means of escape for her from whatever misery she suffered, but at the same time, I wanted to help her, protect her, support her. I was starting to have a lot of serious feelings for someone I hadn’t even met in person yet. Nonetheless, they were my true emotions towards RedRuby.
“You could say that something good happened,” I shot Ryder a toothy grin. “But it’s too early to talk about it.”
Ryder shrugged. “You’ll tell me when you’ll tell me.”
I appreciated him not pressing me for answers. I hadn’t told anybody yet that I had matched with someone on the Twin Tails app. I didn’t want to put what I was experiencing with RedRuby into words just yet.
I wanted to meet her in person but refused to rush anything. I didn’t want to spook her with my eagerness to mate. I had a good feeling about her, though. With her, I felt a sort of kinship I now knew I was missing in my life. I wanted to say I was content just chatting on the app, but the reality was that I wanted to see her, even just once. I wanted to make her smile and see happiness on her face.
“This is the data for last month’s expenses,” I tapped my fountain pen on the big number at the bottom of the sheet I had printed out to look over together with Ryder. “And this one is the income.”
“We’re in the green again this month,” the alpha murmured.
I nodded. “With how much the pack has saved up over the years, we’re ready to reinvest the money into reopening the canning factory.”
“Right,” Ryder said. “That should strengthen our economy.”
“I’m almost done with the report on our prospects in that area,” I said. “I should be able to present it to you in a week.”
“Great,” he nodded. “Now, let me see the rest of the numbers.”
Together with Ryder we went through the sheet, making note of the pack’s biggest expenses and discussing how we could reduce them if possible.
After half an hour we were done reviewing the data, and I made my way back to my office. When I sunk into my comfortable office chair, I put my hand into my pocket.
As I was pulling out my phone, I found myself already anticipating getting a message from my new favorite conversation partner. Indeed, the notification on my screen told me I already had a new message from RedRuby. A big smile appeared on my lips. Happiness bloomed in my heart. I unlocked the phone and read what she had written.
Busy?
The short message had arrived ten minutes ago. RedRuby wasn’t active during the same hours as I was, since she worked in shifts. She was a waitress at a diner, an occupation that didn’t exactly make her happy, but it paid her bills.
Not anymore.
I thought about sharing more with her about myself. So far I had omitted telling RedRuby I was the beta of my pack. Too often, women approached me only because of my high status. I was Ryder’s second-in-command. Though I mostly handled accounting matters and conflict mediation, I was far from being a physically weak wolf. I could stand up to anybody but Ryder in a fight.
Maybe it was time to come clean to her? I certainly wanted her to trust me more, but first, she needed to know more about me. Maybe she would open up even more to me once I became less of a mystery to her.
Got something to tell you,I wrote to her.
Hm? Is it a big secret?
Yeah, kind of. I told you I was in charge of accounting for a company in my pack, right?
...Yeah? So… you’re not?
I kind of am, kind of not. I’m actually the beta of my pack, so I’m in charge of accounting for the whole community as well as resolving packmates' problems with each other and helping the alpha.
She didn’t reply for a moment. My heartbeat quickened as I waited for the sight of the three dots that would indicate she was typing a message back to me. Had I messed things up between us? Was she no longer interested in me now that she knew my role in my pack?
That’s a big reveal, she finally wrote.
My hand tapped a nervous rhythm on my knee.
