“Yes, that’s what I thought too,” I added.
Isca looked pleased. A soft little smile crept across his face and his eyes twinkled.
“I’ve only just started,” he said shyly, “but it’s something I’m really interested in, and I’m enjoying studying. I wasn’t allowed to do anything like that in Zarbius’ pack.”
Isca rarely mentioned his old pack. There was too much pain in the memories.
“He’s also working on getting his driver’s license,” I added, “and he’s learning really quickly. He’s going to be a good driver.” It was true. I’d been nervous about teaching him, but he was naturally cautious and so far hadn’t added any grey hairs to my head.
Isca literally preened with my praise. I smiled fondly at him.
“I’d better go and clean up the kitchen,” he murmured, and his softly padding feet headed towards the door. I couldn’t help the way my eyes watched his pert ass as he walked away. He filled out his jeansnicely.
“Thanks for the coffee and sweets,” said Johnson.
“Wait!” I called out to Isca, “You forgot something.” Isca paused uncertainly in the doorway and turned towards me. I was already out of my chair and halfway across the room. When I got to him, I tenderly cupped his cheek in one hand.
“You forgot the most important thing,” I murmured as I lowered my head and covered his mouth with mine, one hand still on his face, the other slipping around his shoulders and pulling him towards me. Instinctively, his mouth opened to me and his hands slipped to my waist. He moaned softly as I plundered his mouth, and his body relaxed into mine. The hand cupping his face, slid down, and shielded by our bodies, squeezed hispackage through the denim. He moaned into my mouth. When I ended the kiss before things went too far, his eyes were closed and a blissful expression graced his face, a smile curling up the corners of his mouth. His eyes fluttered open and he gazed dazedly up at me.
Then he seemed to remember Johnson was in the room, flicking a glance quickly in his direction, before a delightful pink stained his cheeks, and he hastily took a step back.
“I’ll be in the kitchen,” he said breathlessly, before escaping from the room.
I cleared my throat and adjusted myself before turning around and going to sit at my desk again.
“Now, where were we?” I asked.
Johnson snorted and shook his head, then proceeded to give me a run down on the status of a number of farm issues we’d discussed the previous week. Everything was progressing satisfactorily. Then we moved on to any personal issues within the pack.
“Did Agelius ask you for any extra leave?” Johnson asked. “I haven’t seen him since his RDO, and that was several days ago. I assumed you must have given him leave.”
“No,” I told him. “I haven’t heard from him.”
“That’s really odd. He’s normally very reliable.”
“Did he tell you what he planned to do on his day off?” I asked. Johnson had a lot more contact with Agelius than I did, and I wondered if the topic had come up in conversation.
“Not really. He doesn’t have any family or close friends hereabouts, so I don’t think he does much on his days off. I’m pretty sure he sometimes runs in the forest. He’s a bit of a loner.”
“Maybe he went into the city to visit someone,” I suggested.
“Maybe,” said Johnson, but he didn’t sound convinced. “He’s never mentioned having any friends in the city, though.”
“He’s never done this before, has he? Disappeared or not turned up for work, I mean.”
“No. He’s one of our most conscientious workers. I think he’s still terrified of being thrown out of the pack, to be perfectly honest.”
I snorted. “That’s so not going to happen. He’s a good fit for our pack. I thought giving him leadership tasks would have helped him realize that. Maybe I need to talk to him again and make sure he understands he belongs here. I hope he hasn’t had an accident. Have you tried calling him?”
“He doesn’t have a phone. He was completely broke when he arrived here, remember?”
I did remember - the too thin young alpha in tattered clothes had been so desperate for a pack to call home. He looked quite different now with several months of good food and manual labor behind him and it was easy to forget he’d arrived with nothing.
I was horrified at the omission. I should already have thought of this. Maybe the whole situation with trying to bond with Isca had distracted me too much from my pack responsibilities. Or maybe servicing two omegas was taking more out of me than I realized. I needed to be more on top of my game. And take vitamins.
“When he comes back, get him a phone,” I instructed. “Everyone in the pack should have one in case of emergencies. In the meantime, there’s not much we can do. You could ask around the pack and see if anyone knew where he was going. Let me know what you find out.”
“Will do,” replied Johnson. “That’s all I had to discuss. Unless you have anything…?”
