16. Wonder

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.

"Alright. Might as well get started."

Cracking his knuckles, Drake began with the first computer of information. It took him nearly half an hour to go through it all, then another twenty minutes to go back and make notes on what he thought was off or important.

He then moved on to the second of the three, finding that there was a lot more going on with the marketing department's finances than the other parts of the company. Almost twenty-one percent of the funds were disappearing.

How did I not catch this before? He wondered as he chewed on the end of his pen. Of course, he knew the answer to that, and it made his stomach turn with a rare feeling of guilt. It's my job to catch this stuff, yet I let whoever was doing this get away with it long enough to cause so much damage.

A grin slowly began creeping across his face as Drake dug further into where exactly the money was being withdrawn from. What projects they were. Who had a hand in them. And specifically, who had a hand in every single one of them.

"Got ya." He said right before yawning.

It was nearly midnight, but he'd found who the person was. The man had been a recent hire a few months back, and had seemingly done a very good job of managing the money for the projects in his department. Very good handling, indeed.

After scheduling an appointment with the man first thing in the morning in Warden's office and sending Warden an email about it, he shut down each laptop, then leaned back in his chair with a tired sigh.

"Working sucks... but dammit if I'm not glad that I came in. At least the damage is manageable and shouldn't affect the rest of the company's budget by more than a percent or two. It was still a lot of money, but he knew that he could get a good portion of it back from the sneaky bastard with one of the company's lawyers.

Time for a quick nap before I head back to War's. Hopefully he's home...

Drake's eyes were closed before he even finished his thought. His mind went blank a few moments later, not even giving him a second to set the alarm on his phone.

The strong smell of bacon and sausage woke Drake several hours later. He hadn't eaten much the night before, so he was immediately reaching for the box of food he knew would be on his desk. Thank god I always tell that receptionist to get me breakfast when I'm scheduled to work. He thought as he began shredding the paper, only to realize that there was something off about the meal.

"She... didn't get it wrong?"

She always got it wrong. Always.

"Hey."

Jerking his head up, Drake's mouth dropped open, only to snap shut again. Mine! His wolf shouted in his mind, making Drake bite his lip to fight the beast's sudden urge to tackle the man. After several deep breaths, he was able to force himself to carefully set the box of food down on his desk and stand.

Warden flinched when he got up, making Drake's chest tighten. He stayed where he was, knowing that Warden might run if he got the slightest hint that he still couldn't control himself. It took an excruciating five full minutes before Warden took a step closer... then another, and another.

When hethe man was nearly toe to toe with him, Drake realized that he hadn't put shoes on. Also, he couldn't help leaning forward and tugging his best friend into his arms. At first, Warden's body was stiff, but when nothing else happened, he slowly relaxed and returned the hug.

"I vacuumed." Drake mumbled as he held himself back from nuzzling Warden's neck, even though his wolf was wanting him to.

Warden nodded, but when he didn't speak, Drake hurried to continue. "I came into work last night and actually worked. I figured out who was taking the money."

When Warden chuckled, but still didn't say anything, Drake gave out a quiet whine. "I didn't eat the rabbit..." He tried one last time, sniffling as he blinked back a tear he refused to shed.

"I accept your apology, Drake." Warden finally said as he gave his head a soft pat, then backed out of the hug. "I'm going to take care of things with the meeting you emailed me about. Is it okay if you take Cerat again today? I already called in and told his boss that he'd be a bit late."

Drake had been looking forward to chewing the thief a new asshole, but Warden was probably right. It would be better if he took Cerat for the day and let him deal with the guy. Shrugging, Drake nodded and grabbed his box of food, not wanting to waste it. Before he could make it to the door, however, he felt Warden grab his free hand, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

"Is everything okay, Drake? Is something bothering you, because you know I care about you a lot. You're my best friend." Warden said, making Drake purse his lips to keep from baring his teeth. His wolf didn't like the friend title anymore.

"Drake?"

Feeling a growl build up in his chest, Drake tried to pull free, but Warden had a damn good hold on him. Fuck it. He whirled around, startling Warden enough that he finally released him, but Drake had already been reaching forward, and when Warden tried to step back, he grabbed the man's hair in a tight grip and yanked him forward. Their lips met for only a brief moment before Drake snarled loud enough to vibrate the walls, then turned and stormed out of the office before he did something even more idiotic.