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Reece

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  Life was getting busy again. I didn’t get to see Mom or my Little Bunny all that much lately. I had been back to work a little over a week and spent almost every day at the office until very late. I did know that Mom and Little Bunny had decided on how they wanted to run the daycare they had thought of. I was brought some paperwork on the idea they had, and it really was a good plan.

  They were going to take on some more help, apparently my Little Bunny had convinced her Aunt Eve to help as well. They would offer daycare services on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I was initially confused about it not just being Monday, Wednesday, and Friday which I thought made more sense, but it appears that my Little Bunny wanted to give parents a weekend day that they could be kid free as well.

  It wouldn’t be for long, and it would be early, but this way it would count as a date opportunity for them. My mate was truly generous and kind to others. She was also going to be at all the sessions unless she had business with me elsewhere. And until we got this issue with rogues and warlocks taken care of, she couldn’t go with me anywhere. I truly regretted that.

  I had gotten home from the office just after dinnertime and went straight to my home office. Things were busy right now as I was in the middle of a major acquisition at the moment. My company dealt with lots of minor firms. Almost any industry that wolves could want to work in needed to have a way to keep us a secret from the humans. Not just us either but the other supernaturals as well.

  So, it was with that manner of thinking that my family started this business four generations ago. In a way, we are a supernatural management firm. But what we do is make ourselves so powerful, so well known that no other company can turn us down. We have ties with medicine, research, securities, sports and entertainment. You name it and we probably have a wolf working in that field.

  My pack would have remained small and relatively powerless, like all the others around us, if we hadn’t done something to raise us up. We have wolves that come to us from all over the world looking for help. They don’t want help in our little patch of the world, but in theirs. The beauty of the situation though, is that we are powerful enough to make it happen.

  The empire left to me by my father when he died, that so many people thought was just going to collapse because I was too young and inexperienced, has only risen higher than anyone ever predicted.

  Yes, I might have only been eighteen, but I was already a sophomore in college at the time, working on my business degree. I continued to work and go to school, and I did so while making sure that not a single person in my company had to worry about their future.

  Did I have help? Yeah, sure I did. Who doesn’t get help from time to time? But I made certain that I was able to do what I needed to, eventually. I made sure I was the boss, the Alpha, the President, that everyone needed me to be.

  That’s why I was handling this new business personally. Major things like this always went through me. This company was a major security firm in LA. They handled all the high-profile bodyguard work. Their issue was poor management skills. Even though they were known as the best they were struggling just to get by. That’s where I come in. I had wolves from all over the world who would love to work in LA, and this company was another step to help them. It was a win-win.

  I would be flying out to meet with them in just under two weeks. I was going to have a series of meetings with their current management, I needed to know if they were trustworthy or not, if I needed to clean house in the administration when we took over. Things like that we needed to meet with them in person for, sniff them out so to speak.

  I had mountains of paperwork to go through. I was having each member of their staff investigated and thoroughly vetted so I knew if they were up to our high standards or not. I didn’t take on riffraff, that wasn’t my style at all.

  But all this work was making me tired. I think it had to do with the fact that I couldn’t see my Little Bunny. I had grown used to spending a lot of time around her during my vacation, so I wanted her by my side. But until this current business was over, I was working mainly from the corporate office and not my home office so I couldn’t make up an excuse to call her to me. My wolf whined like crazy all day long while I was trying to work, making it take even longer.

  I heard the sound of soft, feminine footsteps coming down the hall. My wolf was momentarily elated at the sound, until the scent reached my nose. Mom was coming toward my office, my hopes fell, and my wolf whined. I felt guilty for being so disappointed, but I couldn’t help it.

  Mom came right in without knocking.

  “So, you are still alive. I was worried that you might be dead, or a vampire, since I hadn’t seen you in so long.” She joked with me as she sat in the chair across from me at my desk.

  “I know, but it’s been crazy lately.” I sighed, exhausted from so many consecutive late nights in a row. I even worked straight through this past weekend.

  “You’re not alone anymore Reece, you can’t throw yourself into your work nonstop.” She lectured me.

  “I know, but I have a major situation right now. Once this is done, I will have more time to spend with you.”

  “I’m not talking about me.” She snapped at me angrily.

  “What?” I was confused. “I thought you were mad because I wasn’t home to spend time with you now that you were awake.”

  “I’m talking about your mate, Reece.”

  “What about Trinity? She hasn’t seemed any different lately.”

  “How would you know? You haven’t been around to see anything.” She was angrier than I had seen her in a long time.

  “Has she said something to you?” I asked worried about my Little Bunny.

  “Reece.” She shook her head at me. “If only you knew how she feels, what she thinks.”

  “What?” I was not liking how this conversation was going.

  “Sweetheart, she still thinks you hate her. She’s justified to herself the reasons why you rejected her and nothing I said to her was enough to make her think otherwise.”

  “What? How could she still think that? Haven’t I been showing her, proving to her that I don’t hate her?” I was so confused. “I have been trying to be there, and show her that I want her, not just physically, but her to be there with me. But now that I think about it, she kept asking me who was making me spend time with her. Like she didn’t think I would be near her willingly.” I sighed dejectedly. “Mom, how do I fix this?”

  “Have you talked to her?” She asked me.

  “Yes, we have talked a lot. We got to know a lot about each other on our dates. All three of them went well enough. The last one went great. How could she possibly think like that still?” I shook my head. “I know she thinks I want her just for sex, that’s why I behaved myself perfectly last time, to show her that I wanted her and not just her body.”

  “Have you ever told her that you don’t hate her? Have you told her you don’t reject her and never truly did?”

  “I told her that I regretted saying those things.” I answer.

  “Was that all you said?” Mom asked me. “You didn’t say anything like I don’t hate you, or I accept you as a true mate?”

  “Well, no. Not in those words. But I told her I regretted having told her those words.” I tried to explain again, to see where I might have gone wrong.

  “You idiot.”

  “What?” I yelped at hearing her yell at me again right now.

  “Think about it. Truly think about how she might see it. You regret saying those words. That doesn’t tell her that the words aren’t true, just that you wish you hadn’t told her. Like you think life would have been easier if you just kept your mouth shut.”

  “But that’s not what I meant.” I tried to explain it to her. “I was saying that I wish I hadn’t said them because I didn’t truly feel that way.” Mom got up and began pacing at my words, she was clearly frustrated. I watched as she stalked toward the window behind me in her anger.

  “How is she supposed to know how you feel if you didn’t actually tell her?” Mom demanded.

  “I thought I had made things clear with my actions and telling her my regrets. I’ve been trying to show her that I accept her. We’ve gotten closer, in more ways than one.”

  I was trying to figure out this mess I suddenly found myself in when I felt a sudden sharp pain on the back of my head. I hadn’t expected it, so my head went flying forward several inches.

  “You moron.” Mom screeched. I spun around to look at her in shock and saw her holding a thick book from the shelf behind me, she had clearly used that to hit me. “How the hell do you expect her to know how you feel if you don’t say anything. No wonder she thinks you just want her for sex. Getting closer in more ways than one. You’ve tried getting physical with her without telling her how you feel, so she doesn’t trust the progress you’ve made at all. She’s going to think she’s nothing more than another notch in your belt.”

  “You know, she even told me refused to be just another notch for me.” I chuckled without any humor. “I really have been trying, but I didn’t know I had messed up so bad. How do I fix this?” I pleaded with Mom, I needed to know.

  “You talk to her, explain some things to her. And for Goddess’s sake Reece, keep it in your pants and your hands to yourself when you do.” She was glaring at me. I hung my head in shame as I nodded.

  “Alright, I will make sure I talk to her soon.”

  “When?” She demanded.

  “Tomorrow. At breakfast.” I answered.

  “Fine, I will take breakfast in my room tomorrow to give you privacy. I will also tell everyone to vacate the room once you’ve been served.” Mom was still glaring at me, she was still very angry with me.