“I’m sure.Or you can go and find Shane if that makes you more comfortable.Heisthe boss, after all.”
“I’ll do that, if only because he asked me to talk to him before I leave.You don’t need me anymore?”
“I don’t,” Thomas promised.
For a moment, he and Rowan stared at each other.Rowan wanted to come up with an excuse to stick around, but he could see that nothing would work, and that was okay.
“See you tomorrow, then,” he said.
“Tomorrow,” Thomas confirmed.
There was nothing more for Rowan to do in the break room, so he headed to the tiny office where he’d sat with Shane this morning.The door was open, and Rowan peeked in, relieved to find Shane behind his desk.The computer was on, and Shane was typing, but he stopped as soon as he saw Rowan and gestured at him to come in.
“How was your first day?”he asked.
“A lot, but I like it.”
Shane smiled.“Working with animals can be a lot.I already told you that this morning, but you need to be prepared.I heard about the rabbit that arrived earlier.”
“We took it to the vet.”
“The rabbit will be fine.Other animals might not be, though.”
Rowan nodded.Shane had warned him about that earlier, and he’d told the man he’d be okay, but he wouldn’t know until he actually lived through that.“I’m sure I’ll be fine.I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but I can do this.”
Shane grinned.“Good.Did you need anything?”
“No.Thomas said I could go home, but I wanted to check in with you first.”
“Well, if he says you can go, then you should go.Is he still working?”
“He’s in the break room, but yes.He’s doing some paperwork.”
Shane grinned.“There’s a reason I hired that man.He does the paperwork for me.”
That sounded a bit like Shane was taking advantage of Thomas, but Rowan was sure he was wrong.It was his first day here.As far as he knew, Thomas enjoyed doing paperwork.He wasn’t going to ask, and he certainly wasn’t going to accuse his new boss of taking advantage of Thomas.
Rowan quickly left the building after that.He took a deep breath once he was outside, allowing the warm summer air to soothe his nervousness.He’d done it.He’d had his first day of work, and he’d survived it.It had gone better than he could’ve expected, and tomorrow would go just as well.He wasn’t excited about having to eat dinner on his own, but he’d known he would have to.He’d known he would have to spend a lot of time alone after he left his pack, and he was ready for it.
Or at least, he hoped so.
He’d known this new life would be incredibly different from what he was used to, and he was fine with that.It was the reason he’d left the pack, after all.He’d had enough of the rigid rules and having to follow the pack’s stupid traditions.He wanted to be free, and he was.
He was also a bit lonely.
He’d never spent as much time alone before as he had since he left the pack.He knew he just had to get used to it, but sometimes, he wondered if he could.Was he going to be lonely for the rest of his life?That sounded stupid even to think, but it was a possibility.Maybe he wouldn’t be able to make friends outside of people who were basically forced to be friendly to him.Maybe he’d regret leaving the pack and would go back with his tail between his legs.
Or maybe he’d thrive.Overthinking wasn’t going to help him.He’d made his decision, and he’d taken the steps he’d needed to take.He’d left the pack and was living on his own.He couldn’t give up already.It had only been a few days.He was sure things would be okay.
There was no reason for them not to be.
Chapter Two
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SOMETIMES, THOMAS FELTlike he didn’t know what not being exhausted was like.When was the last time he’d felt fully rested?Had he ever?
He groaned and took a sip of his coffee as he leaned back against the counter.Maybe he had in the beginning, after they’d moved to Mayport.It had been hard for him to relax back then, but he had eventually.He’d finally been able to sleep more than a few hours every night because he’d known he was safe enough to do so.He’d had a comfortable mattress and a roof over his head, and his stomach was full of food after spending so much time empty when he’d lived on the street with his family.The first few weeks had been blissful.He hadn’t had anything to worry about.He was safe, and his family was, too.
