adjective ~ causing annoyance, anger, or another strong reaction, especially deliberately

PHOENIX

It was after lunch by the time my beta entered my office. He was sheepish, but the moment he stepped closer to me, I recognised why. My nose crinkled, but I couldn't help laugh.

"Again?" I mused. "How many times is that in the past twenty-four hours?"

Charlie scratched the back of his neck. "Four."

I laughed, shaking my head. Rising from my desk, Charlie observed me with scepticism. My lips quirked as I rounded the table and held out my hand. My beta blinked, staring at my outstretched palm with wide eyes.

"The hand won't stay there for long." I smirked. "It may turn into a hug."

The wide eyes met mine, and Charlie laughed. His hand took mine with a firm shake before we pulled into a one-armed hug. I patted his back with congratulations, before leaning away from him.

Is this how I smelt when I slept with Nova? It was rather over-powering.

"I'm glad for you, bro."

He grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "I can't believe it."

"That she loves you?" I mused. "Or that you lasted longer than ten seconds?"

He growled, playfully nudging me. I chuckled, falling back a step and rounding my desk.

"Bitch." He muttered.

Rolling my eyes, I sat in my chair. "Since you are so late and love working so much, I have had to do this all by myself."

"Please, you are a control freak." Charlie tutted, sitting opposite me. "I doubt it was anything you could not handle."

Sobering up slightly, I inhaled deeply. "Charlie, as much as I love that you and your mate have bonded, it can't happen again. You cannot sneak out of work. We had a video call with Alexander this morning."

His eyes widened, muttering a soft curse. "I completely forgot that was today!"

I nodded. "Ten o'clock."

He cursed again. "I'm sorry, Nix."

I smiled softly, waving him off. "I will give you this one get-out-of-jail card."

His nose twitched with humour, a small smirk on his lips. "You've changed."

Rolling my eyes. "It's called aging."

"No, no, you have." He snorted. "For the better, brother."

"You think so?" I mused. "How so? Grey hairs?"

"Please, even if you turned grey, it would still look good on you." He scoffed. "I meant you've just changed. Becoming a father, and a mate, has really changed you. If I had flaked out on you for a girl before all of that, I think I would be in the cells scrubbing shit off the floor."

"Or running laps till you passed out." I pointed out.

"I still remember that."

"You were a dick that day."

"My wolf was a dick that day." He corrected me.

"Both of you were." I snorted. "Running was a well-deserved punishment."

"I literally fell down and broke my ankle." He stated.

I laughed at the memory. It was when we were both young adults. Charlie had issues with his wolf when I first came across him, and it was on a day I showed him mercy. I didn't kill the rogue in my territory, too sullen to care. When he shifted, it took me by surprise, but the lack of control he had on his wolf was worse.

This day in particular, Charlie had lost it after failing in my training. He shifted, charging me in his wolf form. It was uncalled for, and it enraged me so much I forced him to run the perimeter until he was exhausted. And then when he felt exhausted, I made him do three more miles. His paws sluggish, he tripped over a fucking tree root and snapped his leg.

I left him with a broken leg, with zero sympathy for the wolf that attacked me when my back was turned. Any other wolf would've been dead, but Charlie was my friend. Despite how antsy my wolf was, I couldn't kill him.

"You shouldn't have been a dick." I pointed out.

"Phoenix!" He grunted. "Meanie."

"You sound like Nova." I laughed.

He laughed softly. "Is she with Calida?"

"I think they are still together, yeah." I nodded, turning my attention to my computer.

"Do you think my mate will still like me after?"

"Please, Nova was the most excitable ball of energy. She rang Pollux earlier and promised him gossip later."

I noticed his interest quirk at the mention of the other brother. "How is he doing?"

"From what I heard, he's settled fine. He's hunted, and will soon venture into a human village."

"For what?"

"Non-perishable foods, I guess. Maybe a shit on a toilet, I don't know." I laughed. "Now, are we going to work or are we going to gossip like our mates?"

The grin on Charlie's face told me the gossip would not stray far. But he nodded, agreeing to crack on with the work I could not do by myself. That included arranging outer pack surveys. It has been a few months since I have left the pack to survey another, and the thought of leaving Nova for a weekend unnerved me. Charlie would have some solo ones, but others we would do together; it depended on the size of the pack.

"We should start with Nova's old pack." Charlie pointed out. "I want to see what has happened to them."

"I don't know..." I mumbled. "Should we start big or small? Going direct to one seems off."

"Can't let them know we are coming. Going biggest to smallest means someone is bound to whisper to another pack we're coming." He stated.

"You make a good point." I hummed, thinking it over.

It would make sense to be more random. Before, packs have hidden their indiscretions. Look at Nova, for example. She was under the radar because the last two checks were calculated. They had a chance to hide and sober up. We visited most packs every two years, and often when treaties needed reevaluating.

"How shall we decide?" I wondered.

Charlie grinned before routing around my desk. I scowled as he messed up my paperwork and routed through my drawers. Seeming to find what he was looking for, he went toward the large map on the wall.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, we don't have a dart, and pins are too small to stick into the paper."

"Right?"

"This goo Nova got you will come in handy."

My eyes dropped to the jar of slime Nova gave me. She had found it in a store when she went shopping with Molly whilst pregnant, and it has sat in my drawer ever since. It cleaned your keyboard, but I never got round to using it.

"If you get slime on my wall..." I warned him.

Charlie rolled his eyes, ripping off a piece of the goo and rolling it in his fingers. "This will work. It won't touch the wall, or the rug."

I crossed my arms, watching him as he lined up his shot. He inhaled sharply before throwing the goo, and much to his delight, it stuck to the map.

"Ah-ha! See!" He bellowed, grinning. "This shall be pack number two!"

Before he could peel the goo from the map, it slunk and fell to the floor. Charlie paused in his footsteps, staring down at the green blob stuck in the tufts of my new rug. He swallowed, nervously glancing at the smears on the wall.

Agitation ticked at my jaw, and I crossed my arms. He nervously laughed, standing in front of the rug with a timid expression.

"Well, looks like we visit Eastwood second."

I glared at him, and he grinned, swinging on his tip-toes.

Grunting, I shook my head. "I told you so."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"You gonna clean it?" I wondered.

His nose wrinkled, but when my eyes lowered, he was fast to brush it off.

"Clean what? There is nothing to clean, Alpha!"

The alpha card.

Charlie knew he was in trouble.

"Say, fancy going for a run?"

His eyes widened, and he scrambled from my office. "I'll clean it!"

My laughter vibrated my chest, and I shook my head as I turned back to my desk. Scrawling down Eastwood's pack in the number two spot, I waited for Charlie to come back.

It didn't bother me as much as I put on. Yeah, it was a brand new rug that I paid a decent amount for. But the smears would vanish and a few precise movements should shift most of the slime.

Charlie came back not much later, a cloth and spray in his hands. I watched him as he sprayed the cloth and dabbed at the wall. His eyebrows creased with a frown, staring at the smear on the white wall. He then scrubbed harder, and the scowl only deepened when he realised he was taking the paint off.

"I'll come back to that." He stated, turning to the rug.

It was too amusing not to watch him as he picked the slime out of the rug. The strands were about an inch long and fluffy. Nova liked soft, fluffy rugs, no matter how hard they were to vacuum. The offices were a place of little footfall and were the only places we agreed to have such a rug. The twins were only small, so I hoped they wouldn't get ruined just yet.

Charlie shot up with a napkin full of goo and a broad grin. "Did it!"

My lips quirked. "Thank you."

He exhaled loudly, throwing the goo into the bin. "So that was a bad idea."

I only hummed an agreement, watching as he blindfolded himself instead.

"Spin me!"

"I don't think-

"I didn't ask for your opinion! Spin me!"

"Damn." I mumbled, rising from my seat.

Charlie was a few inches shorter than me, and I played into his game with a smirk. I got to spin him three times per choice, and an extra two if it was the same pack. It took way too long than I'd care to admit, but I actually enjoyed myself. It was nice to embrace Charlie's playful side, and I got to spin him until he fell over.

From the floor, his eyes span with stars. "Okay, I'm done! Did we get them all?"

"We did." I chuckled. "About nine spins ago."

He growled at me. "Rude."

Snorting a laugh, I helped him stand. "Payback for the slime."

He squeezed my hand tightly. "I wiped it."

"And I told you so."

"Geez, are you my dad now too?" He rolled his eyes.

I didn't miss the way his eyes softened, a sadness slumping his shoulders. I patted his shoulder, squeezing it tightly. Charlie did not like speaking about his past, even more so his loneliness.

"Calida will never meet my parents." He mumbled. "They will never see how amazing she is."

I winced, knowing the feeling all too well. "They know."

"Do they though?" He frowned, his sad brown eyes looking into mine.

My jaw hardened at the sudden intrusion of emotion. I would usually shut down here, lock away my thoughts and feelings, and leave him to it. But Charlie needed reassurance; a friend to rely on.

Metaphor. My mate would say, lips curling into a smile.

Embrace it.

"Of course." I mumbled, my eyes searching his. "They would've loved that you got someone to keep you busy."

"I wouldn't be here if they were still alive." He muttered. "Fate works oddly. It takes my family away but gives me my mate."

I smiled softly. "Yeah, but it also gave you a new family."

"You think so?"

"Of course, brother."

"You just called me brother." Charlie smirked. "You love me."

"Not as much as Calida does." I winked.

His eyes lightened, his smile turning more genuine. "True. I wouldn't be who I was without all of this happening."

"Embrace it." I stated. "You cannot change the past, Charlie, as much as you can't guess the future. It is who you are and what has happened has made you the man you are today. The man I love, the man Calida loves, the man we all love."

He stared up at me, a knowing glint in his eyes. "I get it now."

"Get what?"

"I get why Nova gushes over your every word." He smirked.

Smirking, I shoved him away. "Leave my mate out of this."

He laughed, fist bumping my shoulder. "I love you, brother."

"I love you too." I rolled my eyes.

He grinned, suddenly giddy. "You do?"

"Do what?"

"Love me back?"

Oh no, what can of worms have I opened?

"Of course I do, Charlie. You are my family." I tutted.

"Yeah, but you said it!" He grinned. "You love me!"

"You make it sound like I'm going to kiss you." I quirked an eyebrow.

"You wish you could kiss me!" He laughed. "I am a taken man now, Nix!"

I laughed softly, agreeing. "And I am a father."

"Ew! We are old!" He frowned.

"There is no one else I would rather have as my best friend." I hinted.

"Stop! Stop being so nice and loving to me or I'm going to have to suck your dick!" He complained.

Our laughter was loud, ricocheting around the room. Shaking my head at my best friend, I smiled.

"Thank you." Charlie sighed, calming down.

"For what?"

"For being there for me." He shrugged. "You could've turned me down from day one, and you didn't."

"Yeah, and now you want to suck my dick." I snickered. "How the tables have turned!"

Charlie laughed. "I'm glad to experience this side of you, Nix."

"I am learning to open up more." I shrugged. "Nova... she has helped me."

"It's good. She's good for you, I mean-and in general. I love that girl like she is my little sister." He smiled softly.

I chuckled. "She is good. That is something we can agree on."

Charlie nodded, grinning as he stretched his arms above his head. "Now, shouldn't we actually do some work?"

****
QOTD:
If you could visit any country or city for a weekend, all expenses paid, where would you go?