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A New Normal
Kade
Astheyhadsaid, Blake and Deke dropped me off at work with time to spare after our breakfast. Blake and I had made dinner plans in Northarbor with another enforcer taking the driving duties.
I kissed Blake’s cheek as I exited the car, whispering, “pack another bag,” and closed the door.
He wound down the window and beckoned me closer, his fingers tangling in my hair as he gave me a proper goodbye kiss that left my knees feeling weak. He kissed his mark and rested his forehead against mine for a second, then let me go. “I’ll miss you, my mate.” I was pretty sure that the feeling would be mutual. Kiss drunk with a silly grin on my face, I turned to face the music.
A cheer went up as I entered the warehouse, with several people dropping whatever they were doing to come over to greet me. My smile was wider than it had ever been, my heart warmed by how happy they were to see me.
“Hey peeps! Thank you for the flowers, Avery, Alex and Taylor.” I hugged each of the ogres. “That meant a lot. Was great to see you, too.” They brushed off my thanks and returned to their tasks as Isaac approached.
“Hey, Kade. I’m so sorry.” Isaac’s face was pinched and tired.
It was awkward to be next to him. Like an entire lifetime of things had happened and separated me from my friend. I didn’t really know what to say to him. “It’s okay. Dakota said you, ah, had some issues?” It wasn’t meant to sound like a question, but there it was.
“Yeah, still though. I’m sorry. Life has been really hard recently. Meera and Ishar aren’t getting on and, well, it’s a whole thing. I’m stuck in the middle.” He shrugged.
Anger bit at me. I’d gone through so much and hadn’t even had one text from Isaac. Not one. And somehow I was supposed to feel sorry for him? He hadn’t even asked how I was!
“Hey, you smell different? What’s that about?” he asked.
“I met my mate.”
“No shit!”
“Yeah, we have a partial bonding. We’re sorta dating, figuring things out.” I really didn’t want to get into it with him. Five minutes in the place and he’s stolen my buzz from that amazing kiss. “Look, I have to go check in with Dakota and see what he wants me to do today. Catch you later?”
“Sure.” He turned to move away before turning back. “Did Dakota really come around to your house and sleep in your bed? Shelby said his scent was all over your house.”
I ran a hand over my face. Everyone was probably talking about it, so I needed to get this out in the open now. “At the moment, Dakota is probably the closest friend I have,” I said plainly. “He was my emergency contact and picked me up from the hospital. He looked after me when I could barely function.” I looked around and saw that most of the staff were listening. Not even hiding it. “I’ve met his parents, his pack. The whole time he didn’t ask for anything and I think now we are in a great place.” It was my turn to shrug. “So yes, he stayed at my house. In my bed. My wolf is touch starved, Isaac, so I needed that closeness. He gave me everything I needed before I knew what that was. Dakota got me through something awful and I wouldn’t have managed it alone.”
“Kade.” I heard Dakota’s voice ring out clearly from the other side of the warehouse, in the doorway of his office. He’d likely heard everything I’d said. “Office please. We’ll go over what needs done.”
“See you later, Isaac.”
“Kade, wait!” Isaac called as I hurried to the office where my friend waited. I didn’t turn around.
“Back to work, everyone.” Dakota barked.
Slumping in a seat, I straightened when Dakota slammed the door shut and marched around his desk to his chair. He ran a frustrated hand through his thick hair and blew out a breath. “You okay?” He managed a gentle tone with me, though his irritation was clear. “You don’t owe anyone an explanation. Especially him.”
“It’s hardly ideal to be making a scene at work, but it’s better than the rumor mill working overtime.”
“True, but I know you value your privacy and, well... Isaac.” Dakota looked truly concerned.
“Ugh. I totally didn’t see Isaac as such a fickle friend. He’s our union rep. At the very least, you’d think he’d have checked in since I collapsed at work.”
Dakota grimaced. “I smoothed that over, but you can check what I wrote on the incident form.”
I almost laughed. After the last ten days or so, I’d seen so many parts of what made up Dakota that I’d also forgotten he was technically my boss. “It’s cool. I trust you.”
He smiled. “Thanks. I saw Blake dropped you off. Everything okay with that?”
“Yeah, he confirmed my dad is in Sweetwater, but he seems to have given them the slip.”
Sitting up straight, Dakota was fully alert, as if my dad would burst right in and try to steal me out from him at any minute. “It’s cool, Kota. I told Blake that you have me on office work for the foreseeable.”
