16. Wonder

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Get him back! Get him back now! 

Drake snarled at his reflection in Warden's bathroom. He still had tufts of fur receding back into his skin and some of his wolf's fangs out. He'd never gotten so out of control so suddenly. Especially not over a girl, let alone a guy. He thought, shaking his head to try and dispel his wolf.

It was rare that he disagreed with the beast, but it had been years since the last time he'd chased Warden off so aggressively. You didn't chase him off, you made him run away from you. He reminded himself, growling at the thought.

"Well, there's not a damn thing I can do about it right now." He grumbled as he turned from the mirror and stalked into the kitchen. It only took him a few minutes to finish cleaning the dishes, but he needed something to keep distracting himself, so he searched the apartment for the vacuum cleaner they had brought over.

It took him fifteen minutes after finding the thing to figure out how to turn it on and move it correctly. He immediately hated the repetitive gestures, noise, and frustrating contraption that never seemed to want to move in a straight line, but it thankfully did get his mind off of Warden.

When he finished, he did their laundry with the ancient machine he'd found, then switched over to the dryer when it had finished.

He heard his phone ring from where he'd left it in the kitchen as he stood debating whether to vacuum again or clean the bathroom. Eager for an excuse to stop being useful, Drake hurried to the kitchen, answering the device on the last ring.

"Hello, Drake?"

Shit, of course it's him.

"What do you need this time, Merlin?" He asked, already frustrated that it wasn't Warden, even though he knew the man's cell phone was sitting on the floor in his bedroom.

Seemingly sensing Drake's anger, the man on the other end stuttered for a moment before replying. "We need Warden to come back for a little while. There's a, uh, problem with some numbers."

That's my job.

"And why are you not asking me to come in?" Drake growled.

There was shuffling on the other end, then the man responded as if he had a knife held to his throat. "I, you always tell me to ask Warden."

Thinking back on his words, Drake couldn't find a single time where he actually went in to work when he was called. He never worked enough to qualify for overtime, either.

"Well I'm your boss, and you better ask me every single damn time from now on, got it? And I'm coming in. Have everything ready for me to go through when I get there." Drake snarled out before hanging up.

He tossed on the jacket Warden had removed, buttoning it just enough over his bare chest to seem presentable. After a quick glance in the mirror, he finished getting dressed, then grabbed his keys and headed out. Instead of driving, he decided to run.

Stupid mutt. He growled into his mind as he stepped outside and began jogging down the street. His wolf growled back at him, but he just ignored it. It had already gotten him into enough trouble with Warden. He didn't want to deal with it anymore that night.

Once finally at work, Drake was greeted by several laptops open on his cluttered desk. He always did the bare minimum at work, but he knew that as soon as he agreed to come in, he would have a ton of shit on his plate to deal with. He'd heard horror stories from Warden.

And yet you still signed up for this.

Shaking his head, Drake dropped down into the chair behind his desk and began reading the sticky notes posted on each laptop's keyboard. He knew that Merlin was too afraid of him to talk to him face to face. He'd gone off on him more than a few times, and it hadn't been pretty.

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