"Where's Eric?" I ask Bear who is still standing guard by the door when I walk out of the conference room.
"I don't know Alpha, I've been here since the time he asked me to guard the door. Should I mind-link him for you?"
"No, no, never mind. I like taking him by surprise. I wonder what he's up to this time." I say, grinning as I switch to my werewolf senses to easily find him. The thought of knowing about my mate has really put me in a good mood.
As we walk back to the main wing, I notice Bear stealing glances in my direction with a strange expression on his face.
"What!?" I ask smilingly. "I just want to pull a prank or two on him, relax. Where's the harm in that?"
"No harm! There's no harm in that at all, General, just that, you surprised me you know..." He shrugs with a smile of his own.
"Oh! Surprise you. How did I surprise you?" I ask
He hesitates for a while before he answers.
"You're smiling..."
"Ookaayy..." I drawls. "So?... I'm sure this is not my first time smiling– or laughing. I've done the act before so what's your point?"
"Well, before... hmmm, you kinda had this strange way of smiling..."
"Like a Hyena!?..." I interrupt with a raised brow.
"Yes, like that!..." He eagerly says pointing at my face before he realizes my words and what he just did. "Oh, no, Alpha, I didn't mean like a hyena. I mean you have that exact smile on your face right now."
I'm a bit surprised by his boldness. Bear might be the biggest among us but he's the youngest and the gentlest in mannerism. In fact, he's the only one among my men who has never gotten involved whenever Eric and I roast each other.
And apart from Eric who has the free pass to go wild at my expense, none of my team members dare poke fun at me in that manner. Like the way I laugh for example.
I pride myself as a fair boss who allows my team members to express their opinions and also joke with them when it's necessary but there's a limit to how far they can go with me. They knew where I drew the line that only Eric us allowed to cross.
He however starts to explain himself when he realizes I'm not pleased with his observation. It's not about him though. I'm generally not pleased with any comment that has to do with the way I smile.
"General, I really don't mean that! I wouldn't dare, you know, say that to you, you understand. I was just pointing to the way you smile just now.
I don't know if you understand. Before I made that comment about you having a strange laugh, I observed you were talking and smiling with your eyes and not just your mouth like before. You know you seemed genuinely happy. I have never seen you like that before.
But immediately I pointed your attention to it and said you had this strange way of laughing... You didn't allow me to finish what I was about to say before you interjected with, you know... And then your smile and your face automatically reverted back to what it was..." He pauses and sighs. Then say...
"Maybe I shouldn't have opened my mouth. I should have just let it be and enjoyed the view in silence... Uhm maybe I should just shut up right now..." He says, making a show off zipping his mouth shut.
"Yeah, maybe you should," I say with irritation. The conversation of me having a strange laugh or a happy laugh at that is making me uncomfortable and I want us to quickly put an end to it before we get to Eric. The idiot will take the conversation to another level the moment he hears about it.
We arrive back at the mansion's living area and I signify to Henrik and Ivar who immediately stand the moment they see me enter to return to their seats. I continue alone, tracking Eric's essence to the office area. I arrive at the door and open it without knocking.
"Hey, oh... You got your own office, I see." I say with surprise when I see the interior of the room I entered
"I never knew you hated seeing my face so much." I joke as I step further into the room, looking around.
"Uhh, what's that?" I ask, indicating with my head toward the envelope he's hastily shoving inside his desk drawer.
"You know, General, there's something in the civilized world called knocking or asking before you enter or invade people's private space. You should give it a try." He replies and locks the drawer, removes the key, and puts it inside his pants pocket.
I don't know why but I suspect that envelope has information about my mate.
"That didn't answer my question!" I growl at him, as I feel my good mood slowly dissipate.
Even though I told myself I would investigate and find my mate on my own without involving him. I still can't help but ask. Everything I need to find my mate is probably inside that envelope and I'm sure he won't share the information with me. He'll tell me to wait till the end of the remaining two weeks if I want to know.
He's smiling but his usual playful smile just irritates me now. I'm a desperate man and he doesn't know how desperate I am to find my mate.
"Stop growling!" He deadpan and I find myself chuckling despite my annoyance. The idiot can make me angry and smile at him at the same time.
"Why were you sneaking around anyway? Were you hoping to catch me doing something bad?" His brows furrow with a fake frown as he asks. I should have known the bastard would smell me coming from miles away.
I know he's trying to change the subject though.
"God Eric! You know what I want to know so fucking tell me already! What the fuck is your problem!?" I say as I plop myself into one of the two chairs in front of his desk.
"You call yourself my best friend yet you didn't notice I'm more emotionally stable these days...
Bear noticed the new me. He told me just now that the way I... I mean he told me that I looked genuinely happy, you know."
"Hmmm..." He says wonderingly with the fake frown still on display.
"Well, only Bear has seen you looking genuinely happy, the rest of us haven't. So because of that, I implore you to be patient, I'll tell you everything..."
My anger returns in a flash. I suddenly stand and sweep all the stuff he has on his desk to the floor in one swift movement before storming out of his office, making sure to slam the door so hard it feels as if the whole building shakes with the force.
As I furiously walk down the passageway, I hear the door open behind me...
"Wao Thor! Can you see how emotionally stable you are? As a matter of fact, you're the epitome of emotional stability, I think we should all emulate your behavior." He says sarcastically.
I know I messed up but I don't turn back. My pride won't allow me to stop and admit to him that he was right about me. I'm nowhere near being emotionally stable and I just prove that to him with my irritable behavior.
"Where's Ella?..." I ask the guys the moment I get back to the living area.
"Ella!?" I shout her name without waiting for their reply
"General?..." She calls back from the top of the stairs, rushing down at the same time.
"Follow me!" I command, immediately turning towards the door.
"Yes sir!" She replies
Henrik, Ivar, and Bear attempt to follow me but I growl without looking in their direction...
"Please don't follow me if your name is not Ella!"