He didn’t have to say it twice.Matthew grabbed his stuff and rushed toward the showers, cursing for even having to waste the time.He wasn’t about to subject the people who would be in the room with him to how he smelled after training, though.He was pretty sure Moore would kick him out of Rikar’s office if he tried.
Thankfully, Rikar had warned him ahead of time, so Morin and Nysys weren’t there yet when he reached Rikar’s house after showering.Alan was, though, tucked in a corner of Rikar’s office.He visibly relaxed when he saw Matthew, and while Matthew told himself not to hope too much, how could he stop himself from doing just that?It was clear that Alan was happy to see him, even if it was only because he wanted support.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Alan murmured.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” Matthew whispered back.On impulse, he leaned down and kissed the top of Alan’s head.Alan blinked up at him, but before he could ask what Matthew was doing, two men appeared at the center of the room.
“Did you guys miss me?”Nysys asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
Matthew heard Moore sigh from where he was on the other side of the room.He snickered.This was going to be fun.
* * * *
ALAN LIKED NYSYS.HEwas incredibly colorful, but it wasn’t only that.Even though he was bonded to Morin—who kind of scared Alan considering who he was—Nysys was easy-going and always had a smile for everyone.He’d made Alan feel comfortable the last time they’d seen each other, even though he didn’t know him.He’d been as outraged as Morin when he’d heard about Victor working with their company, but he hadn’t gotten angry or made Alan feel like he should’ve kept his mouth shut.He was a nice guy, and Alan had been surprised to find out that he was a council member.He didn’t seem like the type, but it wasn’t a bad thing.In fact, it was a very good thing.Maybe the council needed more people like Nysys so it would work even better.
But it was obvious that not everyone knew what to do with Nysys.Moore, who was technically Matthew’s boss, looked like he wanted to run out of the room as soon as Nysys appeared.The only reason he didn’t was probably that he wanted to find out what the fuck was happening with Victor.They all did.
“Thank you for coming back so quickly,” Rikar said with a smile.“I hope it means you found something?”
Nysys pouted.“Do we really have to go straight to business?I thought we’d have a little fun first.”
“We’re not here to have fun,” Moore snapped.
Alan glared at him, even though Nysys didn’t seem to care about Moore’s tone.The problem was that Moore turned toward him at that moment and caught him in the act.Alan pressed his lips together and quickly looked away.He didn’t want to make an enemy out of Matthew’s boss.
He didn’t want to make an enemy out of Matthew’sfriend.In the end, that was what they all were.More than coworkers, they’d become a family, and these people meant something to Matthew.If Alan was going to be in Matthew’s life, he had to stay on everyone’s good side.That included Moore.
When Alan turned back to him, he saw that Moore looked a little hurt.He didn’t understand why, but the expression vanished when he smiled at the man.
Maybe Moore wanted Alan to like him as much as Alan wanted Moore to like him.They were both in Matthew’s life to stay, after all.
“Did you find anything, then?”Rikar asked, as always the voice of reason.
While everyone else in the room was bickering, Alan could count on Rikar to keep the focus on what was important.He was a great tribal leader and a kind man.Alan was lucky he’d ended up here of all places.It would’ve been much worse if he hadn’t met Rikar and his mate.
Morin nodded and sat in the closest empty chair.“We did.Someone’s been funneling money to the labs.They’re not supposed to exist anymore.I closed that division of the company as soon as I took the company over.The labs were supposed to be a thing of the past.”
“We all thought they were.”
“But I should have known they weren’t.This ismycompany, and after what my father did, I thought I’d cleaned out all of his supporters.Clearly, I was wrong.”He glanced around the room.“My goal is still to make the world a safer place for shifters and supernatural beings.I might be human, but my family isn’t.Mymateisn’t.I won’t let anyone who might possibly hurt him get away with it.I’ll find whoever’s behind all of this, and I’ll stop them.”
Moore cleared his throat.Alan half expected him to start bickering with Morin, but instead, he nodded at Morin when the man turned toward him.“You won’t be doing this alone,” he declared.“Us mutants are in this for the long term.We won’t rest until all the labs have been closed.”
“What about the hunters?”Nysys asked.
“We were never in this for the hunters,” Moore told him without snapping at him, which was a minor miracle.“Our main goal has always been to close the labs.”
“Because of what happened to you and your people in those labs.”
“Yes.We’ve been hurt enough to know we don’t want anyone else to have to go through that.I don’t know what the council will do about the hunters, and we’re willing to help if you need us to, but our main priority is the labs.”
“Unfortunately, I think they go hand-in-hand,” Morin said.“If the hunters have been providing the labs with people, they’re involved with my company, too.You won’t be able to stop the hunters if you don’t get rid of the labs, and the opposite is true, too.The labs aren’t going anywhere until the hunters are stopped.”
Alan frowned.“But during that conversation, I heard that the hunters aren’t providing the labs with what they need anymore.That’s what the man with Victor said, anyway.I don’t know how true that is, but why would that man lie?Considering how much money Victor was asking for, I doubt he’d want anything to do with him if he had any other choice.”
Rikar stared at Alan for a moment.Alan wondered if he should’ve kept his mouth shut, but when Rikar nodded, he knew he’d done the right thing by speaking up.
“That’s true, too,” Rikar said.“It’s clear we don’t know enough about the relationship between the hunters and the labs.”
