CHAPTER NINE

Klyde’s heart is hammering in his chest as he sees the familiar sight of Wade’s building. It’s quite far from his so he had to drive to go there. His hands are sweating on the steering wheel, he took his feet off the pedals of his car as he can’t stop them from fidgeting. He’s been taking deep breathes too, but he can’t seem to calm down.

But how is he supposed to calm down, his mind supplies. His husband, contract husband, just called him to inform him that his pack wanted to meet him! How is he supposed to calm down?!

Packs aren’t really that common nowadays, but not rare either. Wolves evolved from living in packs to carrying on their own. Packs are not necessarily supposed to be family related; it’s usually just made up of wolves who find deep connections with each other. Klyde never had a pack, his family doesn’t count. So, he’s freaking out with the thought of meeting one today, his husband’s pack at that.

He takes a last deep breath before opening his car and getting out. He pats his pockets for his phone, he almost left it. He ducks down inside the car again to grab it from the cupholder. When he deemed himself ready, he squared his shoulders and marched up to the building.

Everyone gave him a smile as he entered the building. The receptionist, the one he remembers from last time even bowed at him. It should make him relax but it only made his heart pound louder. He hoped his scent is not giving too much away. People might think he’s anxious to meet his husband.

He walked to the elevator. It’s the first time he’s going here ever since they got married. He forces himself to calm down before he stinks up the elevator. When it pinged open, he almost jumped at the sound of it.

He nervously walks through the hallway leading to the only door there. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He was about to knock when the door suddenly opened.

He blinked up at the man in front of him. He’s not much taller than him, his doe eyes staring down at him. A beta, he concludes. The scent is faint as betas’ scents are.

A smile formed on the beta’s face, and his eyes turned even bigger.

“Are you Rehan?” the man excitedly asked.

Klyde wordlessly nodded, eyes going around to search for Wade when the man suddenly exclaimed.

“Oh my gosh!” Klyde startled when he was suddenly pulled inside. The sight of five other people sitting on the couch and visitor chairs greeted them. His eyes trailed to them before his eyes met Wade’s who looks shocked before he recovered and immediately stood up from his swivel chair.

“Rehan,” the alpha called out in a soft voice. That’s new.

The beta whose name he still doesn’t know is still holding his arm. He gently pried it off and met Wade midway. He felt the alpha’s hand come up to his waist. Even through the thick fabric of his clothes, he can still feel the warmth coming from it.

He stood straight beside him, bravely meeting the curious eye of Wade’s pack mates, he assumes they are.

“Everyone, this is my husband, Rehan,” Wade said, introducing him. It still feels odd to be addressed as such, but he swallows through it.

A man sitting on the couch stood up, his eyes look playful. He approached them with a playful glint in his eyes.

“Wow, you lucked out here,” the man, an alpha based on his scent, said. He’s tall, as most alphas are, but not taller than Wade. His skin is a healthy tan, almost like honey, his eyes are intense, nose high and lips pink as if bitten.

Klyde flushed at his words. He heard Wade scoff beside him. His finger is drawing circles on his side, Klyde doesn’t know if he’s doing it on purpose but the action oddly makes him relax.

“I’m Kez,” the alpha said, offering his hand. Now that he’s close, Klyde can pick out his scent, a combination of cedarwood and peppermint. It’s a nice scent, he thinks, but still too much for him.

Klyde glances at Wade briefly, meeting his eyes. The alpha’s eyes are gentle as he met his, he tilted his head to gesture at Kez’s waiting hand. Klyde looked back to see the alpha amusedly looking at them. He warily reaches for his hand and briefly shakes it before immediately pulling his hand back.

“The dumbass who dragged you inside is my brother, Aien.”

There’s a loud “hey!” at the background but Kez just shrugged.

“Who knew you were hiding a cutie?” another person stood up, it’s a girl this time, an alpha too. She smells of dark chocolate and roses. Klyde fights the urge to scrunch his nose, it’s nothing bad, but the scent is strong.

“I’m Shane, it’s really nice to meet you.”

After they were all done introducing their selves, Klyde tried to remember their names. There’s Aien, the beta who opened the door, Kez, an alpha, Aien’s brother, Shane, the only female alpha of the group. There’s Ruan too, a female omega whose scent he really likes, it’s calming. There’s Tristan, a male omega like him. He smells of peaches and cherry blossoms. He only looked and smiled at Klyde, did a small wave, cute dimples lined his cheeks. 

He stood there trying to memorize their names, at the same time overwhelmed by their mixed scents.

They all looked at the two of them with so much curiosity, Klyde almost squirmed under their gaze.

“So, tell us!” Aien urge on, he’s once again sitting on the biggest couch beside Shane.

Wade’s eyebrow raised.

“What would I tell you?” he asked. His hand fell from Klyde’s waist. Klyde won’t admit it but he already misses the warmth. He walked to his desk and sat on his chair. Klyde remained on his spot, not knowing what to do under other people’s gazes.

“Since when are you married asshole?” Kez exclaimed from his seat. His eyes are huge as he alternates his gaze between Wade and Klyde.

Klyde sharply turned his body around to look at Wade, eyes wide in shock.

“You didn’t tell them?” he mouthed to him. Wade sighed and sagged on his seat.

“Come and sit here, sweetheart,” the alpha only replied, gesturing to the visitor’s chair in front of his table.

Klyde flushed at the nickname, he thinks he faintly heard someone repeat the nickname in a whisper before he walked to plop himself down on the chair.

He looked at him questioningly, eyes demanding answers. Wade sighed again, averting his gaze.

“I forgot to tell them,” he reasoned.

“You forgot?” Ruan sarcastically asked.

“You forgot to tell your pack mates that you’re getting married? We did not even get to attend your wedding!”

“Yes! I forgot!” Wade exclaimed. He muttered a curse under his breath. Klyde quietly watched the interaction.

“Who was your fucking best man then, if not me?” Kez loudly asked.

“Wait, you thought you were going to be his best man when I am here?” Aien replied, mocking his brother. The two of them then started bickering with each other in the middle of the office.

There is a collective look of resignation on the rest of the pack’s face, and Klyde wants to laugh. He ended up chuckling, which got Ruan’s attention.

“Guys aren’t you embarrassed? Rehan is here,” she called out, calling the attention of everyone in the room.

For some reason, Klyde feels uncomfortable with her using his second name like that. So, he cleared his throat and answered.

“Klyde is fine.”

Her eyebrows shot up, eyes darting to Wade but didn’t say anything.

The brothers eventually calmed down, Aien sulking as he seemingly lost their bickering.

“How long have you been married anyway?” Tristan asked.

“Almost a month, I think?” Wade answered.

It’s almost comical how their eyes simultaneously went wide in shock. Shane even got up from her seat.

“A month?!” she exclaimed.

“Do you even have plans on telling us?!”

No. Not really, Klyde’s mind supplies. This is all for business anyways.

“I forgot, okay?” Wade exasperatedly replied. He runs his hand down his face, looking at his pack members tiredly.

“You forgot to tell your pack mates?!” she asked back. Wade groaned.

Tristan chuckled at them.

“Let them be, love,” Tristan said, pulling Shane close to him, hugging her from the side.

“Maybe they had their reasons.”

Shane pouted at this but still squinted her eyes at Wade.

“Yes, Shane. Listen to your mate,” Wade rolled his eyes.

“Why do you not have a bite though?” Aien wondered out loud, making both Wade and Klyde freeze.

"You don't smell of each other too."

“They have all the time in the world to mate, pup,” Kez answered after a beat of silence, ruffling his brother’s hair. Aien only swatted his hands away, lips pushed in a pout as he tried to fix it.

“Just because Shane and Tristan are two horny assholes who couldn’t wait to bite each other, doesn’t mean everyone else is. Plus, they're businessmen who have to be professional everyday.”

That earned a shout of “hey!” from the couple.

Klyde feels grateful for Kez’s answer. He honestly doesn’t know what to say to that.

“Anyways!” Aien exclaimed when he was done fixing his hair.

“Bite or not, hello Klyde! Welcome to the family!”

It shouldn’t make his heart beat that loud. It shouldn’t melt it into a puddle. It shouldn’t make him perk up and almost preen in happiness. But it does. Family. Wow. When was the last time he heard that?

But this is for your company, this is fake, his mind supplies. But a bigger part of his mind is telling him that he’s part of a family now.

He pushes his lips into a thin line as he felt his eyes watering. He chuckled wetly, releasing a shaky exhale. He met everyone’s eyes, excluding Wade. They all have bright smiles on their faces, eyes all genuine with happiness. He somehow feels bad to be lying like this, but their marriage isn't a lie, is it? It's not. Maybe they're not telling them some aspects of their relationship, but it isn't a lie.

His voice was vulnerable when he replied, but no one commented on it. It came out shaky, as he didn’t really want to cry.

For the first time in a while, he feels like he's bursting in sheer happiness. He pours his emotions into his words, and he badly hopes they feel it.

He gave them a shy smile, but still so genuine, then whispered;

“Thank you.”