“We make sure of it,” he added with a nasty glint in his eye.
“Just the sort of pack I’m looking for,” I nodded, rubbing my hands together as if pleased with what I’d heard. “Look, I know a lot of packs won’t take on a second alpha, but I think we have the same… outlook… on things and there’d be benefits to working together. Another alpha who has your back.”
I leaned forward, planting my hands on the edge of the desk, and lowered my voice confidentially. “Sometimes betas get a bit too big for their boots, y’know, think they’re running the place. You go away for a few days and they start thinking they’re the boss.”
From the look on his face, I could see I’d either struck a sore nerve, or else pointed out something he hadn’t consideredbefore, and like with many of these types of brash guys, his bluster hid a deep insecurity.
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“I can take care of things when you’re away and have your back when you’re here,” I continued, relaxing back into my seat. “And two heads are better than one with business ventures. I assume you’ve got a little bit of… business… happening here?”
“We do. We haven’t been here long. Only moved here recently, but sure, we’ve got something going.”
“Anything interesting?” I fished, thinking any information I could get might turn out to be useful. “I’m sure someone astute like yourself would come up with something worthwhile.”
The blatant ass-licking seemed to go over his head, and he treated the comment like it was genuine. Arrogant fucker. He leaned forward and lowered his voice.
“Well, you could say I’m into commodities,” it was said with a leer, and I felt a sudden chill run down my back. I hoped he wasn’t suggesting what it sounded like. I raised my eyebrows, encouraging him to say more, but he just nodded and smiled as if we already shared the secret. Something told me that if I really was the kind of person I was pretending to be, I would have caught his meaning, so I didn’t probe further. I forced a smile and suppressed the shiver that ran down my spine. I felt out of my depth. With a sudden pang, I wished my Alpha was here taking care of this, but he wasn’t, his omega was in trouble, and since I was on the spot, it was up to me to step up.
At any rate, Zarbius seemed to have been sufficiently distracted not to think about the risks of introducing another alpha into his pack, which had been my intention anyway.
“I’ve got business experience,” I told him when he didn’t say anymore. “Got a diploma from tech school and had my hand in a few different things too. Got IT skills too if you ever need those.” I hadn’t seen a computer anywhere onsite so far, but if they’d only recently moved here, I guess that was reasonable. Didn’t mean they hadn’t had them before, and I had to bring something to the table, if I wanted them to accept me. I might have been overstating my credentials and my abilities a little… I had a brain that seemed to understand that sort of stuff and I could find my way around a computer - well enough that Talius allowed me to help him with his – but my training had all been informal.
“Don’t have any computers right now,” said Zarbius, thoughtfully, “but sure, if the business takes off – which I reckon it will – I guess we’ll want those so we can scale up, reach our clients directly.”
I could almost see the dollar signs in his eyes as he dreamed about the extensive enterprise he was going to be handling. Personally, I was skeptical, he didn’t seem the sort to be able to handle a proper business – more ego than substance - and if it was the kind of business I thought it was, I wouldn’t be helping him with it anyway. But I had to go along with it for now. I didn’t plan on being here more than a few days. Just as long as it took to sort out the situation with Irian and convince my omega to leave with me.
“I can certainly help with that. When we’re ready to move onto computers, I can set it up and maintain it for us.” I slipped into ‘we’ mode as though it had already been agreed I was joining the pack.
Zarbius nodded his head, as if he was contemplating. The nods increased, and his torso rocked back and forth slightly as he appeared to come to a conclusion.
“Good, good,” he muttered, releasing a sigh. “It’d be good to have some decent help around here. Those betas are bloody useless. Lazy fuckers!”
He leaned back in his seat, and without getting up, opened the door to a little bar-fridge in the corner behind him and pulled out a couple of beers. Handing the cool bottle to me, he said,
“What did you say your name was, again?”
“Agelius.”
“Agelius. Right. Welcome to the pack, Agelius. Reckon we’re gonna get along just fine.”
I clinked my bottle against his, “Looking forward to working with you.”
We both took a sip of our beers. The liquid was bitter, the flavor complex and strong. Twisting the bottle in my hands, I perused the label. It was a boutique brand. Pricey. Not what I’d have expected from a rough-looking guy like this, but maybe consistent with his big ego. I ran the back of my forearm across my lips, the coarse hairs mopping up errant drops of the bitter liquid.
“Okay, if we’re going to keep this pack in line, there’s something we need to get on to straight up,” I said, getting down to business.
Zarbius raised a bushy eyebrow. “Oh, and what’s that?”
“Those betas. Before you got back today, I caught one of them mishandling that omega you have locked up in the shed.”
He shrugged. “He’s an omega. They can do what they like with him.”
I jerked in my chair, raising my upper lids and brows in an exaggerated expression of surprise. “You’d let them squander the value of a valuable commodity like that?”
He frowned. “What does it matter what condition he’s in? He’s only good for one thing anyway. Just a hole for someone to fuck.”
“Well, maybe I’ve misunderstood your intentions here. What did you plan to do with him, longer term?”
