The Wolf House | OffGun - TayNew |

02 | Tay

Symposiums were inherently boring, ravaging on and droning like the undead. Even the keynote speakers, despite their best efforts to liven both themselves and the crowd, were emotionally and intellectually drained by the end. Tay kept glancing at his watch, hoping for the whole affair to finish earlier than scheduled. While driving this morning, he felt really bad for breaking his promise to New. So he had decided to make it up to him—maybe in more ways than one.

The thought of it made his wolf howl inside of him.

When the host of the whole affair said thank you to all the guests and attendees, Tay glanced excitedly at his watch again: Yes, he can drive home and cook dinner! New would be pleased. There was nothing more he wanted in the world than to see his mate, his omega, so happy. It wasn't easy to be a journalist, Tay knew that much. When they were in university, New would be awake all night editing videos and typing up scripts that need to be passed, only for them to be rejected by his professor the next day. New would cry and cry and then fall asleep. Even now, when they were alone together, Tay could see the visible circles under New's eyes. He didn't want to bring them up because New might think his alpha doesn't find him attractive anymore. And now, the least he could do was welcome him home with a warm meal and try to keep their kids from fighting. Others would say that isn't the job of an alpha like Tay but he begged to differ.

Stuffing his notes (more like doodles) into his bag along with his other belongings, Tay started to get up when a towering figure blocked his way. Joss Way-ar was smiling expectantly at him. He knew where this was going and as someone who doesn't like the crowd, Tay already knew he would say no to whatever Joss' invitation was.

"I'm not letting you go that easily, Tawan," said Joss, raising his eyebrow. "You've been slipping past every opportunity you have to socialize with other departments. We're not that scary you know."

"I know you're not scary," said Tay, glancing at his watch again.

Ever since he started working at the university, his colleagues have been hounding him to socialize with their merry band of academics who groan about their students and the impossible workload the university was dumping over their heads. Tay didn't like wasting time with such trivial thoughts but he didn't want to say that out loud at them. He wanted to keep things cordial and well-mannered, especially because they knew all about his family in the north.

Joss groaned. "Please don't tell me you have another alibi..."

"I do, actually." Tay smiled sheepishly. "My husband's at work so I have to make dinner. Sorry about that. And I don't think I've said this enough but...I don't like socializing."

"Oh, come on Tay, live a little!" Earth Pirapat, another one of his colleagues like Joss, popped out of nowhere. A tall man who was often nicknamed "The Giant," Earth had been a good friend to Tay since they were young in the north but the life in the city has changed his perspective too much. "You're an alpha! You can do whatever you want!"

"I may be an alpha but—" Tay raised his hand with a silver band on one of his fingers "—I'm also married and have kids. You should try it sometimes. Get married. Have kids. It really lends perspective."

Earth frowned. "Did I strike a nerve? C'mon, Tay, I was only teasing. We've been friends since we were in primary school and now, I hardly ever talk to you except for work stuff."

Tay shrugged and patted Earth's shoulder. "I'm not that kid anymore, Earth—we both aren't those kids anymore. I...yeah...I really have to go now, sorry."

With the speed of his wolf, Tay walked past his two fellow professors at the university and headed out the lecture hall. "Are you sure he's an alpha?" he heard Joss say to Earth who shushed him, but he didn't care. No one else's opinion matters. The pack is more important, muttered Tay in his head as he headed down the flight of stairs. The fleeting golden rays of daylight seeped through the corridor windows and Tay felt his feet involuntarily pick up the pace. The amount of desire he had at that moment to get home was almost as if he'd transform into a wolf if he moved faster and leapt into the air.