BXBX NOVEL Chapter 16 - The HR Manager
Bass Cooper didn\'t like to work. He was the laziest wolf in the pack, so Alpha Nate employed him as HR Manager.
They had never hired anyone before, so his job was mostly to listen to some people that stumbled there by mistake and say he would contact them later if they needed resources. Yet, they never did.
LY Corp was run by wolves. The CEO was their Alpha, and his right-hand men were managers or directors here and there. Everyone had a job allowing them to live together but integrated into human society.
They even got tax returns because they weren\'t using most of the human infrastructure. For example, they didn\'t need health insurance.
Rarely wolves would get hurt and fall ill. And when that happened, a human doctor wasn\'t able to help.
They also had a kindergarten and elementary school to keep the pups under control. After turning ten, they mostly were able to attend human schools. But, until then, they were taken care of in the pack.
In such an environment, there wasn\'t much need for an HR Manager.
They didn\'t hire.
The employees wouldn\'t make problems. And it was Nate that would solve those until the appearance of a female Alpha to share the burden with him.
Till that day, they were a stable and mysterious company, with a charming yet useless HR Manager.
Bass Cooper liked being useless.
Still, one day, Alpha Nate ordered him to hire a human.
He wasn\'t even sure how much that woman knew about wolves. She did have two pups with her, but she didn\'t seem to recognise the wolves\' nature in the other employees.
As such, he couldn\'t send her just anywhere. He had to ponder about that matter. And he hated thinking.
«I guess the girls will be sensitive enough not to reveal too much or scare her,» he said.
He was alone in his office, reading the woman\'s curriculum.
He was surprised Nate would be so interested in those pups. A human woman and two wolf cubs without a pack. That sure was interesting...
Yet, from when would they insist so much on a pair of lone wolves?
He sighed, seeing it was almost nine o\'clock. He had to get up early that day! He hoped Nate wouldn\'t need him to follow the woman in her job any more than that. He was already tired.
When his secretary walked in with a mug of - spiked - coffee, he smirked and reached out to the cookies already on the desk.
«It must be hard on you, Bass,» the woman said with her kind voice. «Getting up this early... I feel sorry for you.»
He sighed, nodding at the secretary\'s words.
«But now you should start understanding how it is for me every day.»
He stopped nodding, freezing on the spot. It was one of those days, right? His mate would pick on every single thing. She would make him feel useless and even more lazy than he actually was.
«My deer, it\'s different for you,» he pointed out.
«Different?» she stuttered, slightly bothered. «How different?»
Her voice didn\'t turn less gentle, but her eyes didn\'t show any warmth anymore.
«You are used to it!» Bass replied. «And you\'re so hard-working and competent.»
«Oh, this is what you meant,» she sighed, relieved she didn\'t need to get angry just yet. «Indeed, someone has to earn money for us.»
«Sure!» He nodded. «I\'m so lucky to be your mate!»
In the end, it was thanks to her that he could live a good life. She was the real HR Manager there, even if she acted as his secretary in front of clients. Whenever problems would arise in the pack, she was the only one capable of solving them.
At first, Bass wasn\'t happy about letting her take that role. In the end, those were the Alpha\'s mate\'s duties. Yet, anyone else wouldn\'t do such a good job. And any other female wolf would think she had a chance to become Nate\'s mate and seize power in the pack.
Bass knew it wasn\'t possible. He never heard the whole story, but Nate told him that he had met his one and only mate. At the time, they were having a big crisis, and Nate lost his mate soon after meeting. He couldn\'t find her later because they were founding the company and getting rid of rebellious Betas who didn\'t follow the pack rules.
«Roxy, I have a doubt,» Bass said. «Where should I put a human woman to work?»
«Human woman?» the secretary replied. «What is happening?»
«Nate said we should employ her, but I\'m not sure how much she knows about us.»
The secretary tilted her head, considering the matter. She tapped with her perfect, manicured nail on her chin.
«Alpha Nate told you?» she repeated.
«Yes.»
«And... Do you know the reason?»
«She has two pups.»
«Just because she has children?»
«Wolf children.»
«Oh,» the secretary realised. «Two wolf children? Are they strays, perhaps?»
«Yes, they are. I couldn\'t sense any other wolf on them. It\'s just her and the kids.»
«How odd. What happened to the woman\'s partner?»
«He died.»
«I understand,» she sighed. «We have to find out how much she knows. Only then, we\'ll be able to decide which department is better for her.»
«How could I cope without you, Roxy?» he said, reaching out to the woman\'s hand and pressing it on his face. «You\'re my saviour.»
«And you\'re too lazy for this pack. If you mess this up, Alpha Nate will kick you out for good.»
«I would be at your mercy in that case. You\'d have to sustain me even more.»
«If only you had some use other than your good looks, it might be worth it,» she commented, caressing his cheek and smiling at him.
Wolves mate for life: they don\'t change partners like other animals. And Roxy was stuck with her husband.
She knew he was lazy when they got married, so it was late to change her mind either way.